Banners fluttered above Diagon Alley, bold slogans printed across them in glowing letters:
"Instant Language—Bringing You Closer Than Ever"
"Beyond Old-Fashioned Letters: The New Way to Connect"
"Worried about your kid alone at school? Instant Language lets you reach them across any distance—real connection, real peace of mind"
…
Above the main shop, a massive enchanted screen looped crystal-clear demos: two people chatting face-to-face across miles, photos flashing back and forth, group chats lighting up in real time. The whole thing looked smooth, modern, and impossible to ignore.
The street in front of the shop was a solid wall of people.
Harry stood in the middle of the crowd feeling completely lost.
He'd come with Ron and Hermione to check out the official launch—summer break meant no excuses to stay at the Dursleys, so why not? They'd planned to meet right outside the shop, but none of them had expected this. The line stretched all the way toward Gringotts.
And because they were still kids, they were completely swallowed by the sea of taller wizards.
"Oh, Potter. Looking for the end of the queue? You look pathetic."
The familiar drawl came from behind him.
Harry turned and, of course, found Malfoy's smirking face.
How the hell did he always manage to find them in a crowd this thick?
Harry rolled his eyes and pulled his own Instant Language from his pocket.
"Malfoy, did you leave your brain at Hogwarts? I already have—"
He didn't finish.
Malfoy's smirk turned downright triumphant as he flipped his hand.
Harry squinted against the sudden flash.
The device in Malfoy's palm had a matte dark-green leather cover, buttery soft with fine silver threads tracing elegant vines along the edges. It looked expensive without screaming it.
Harry stared for a long second.
"…Another custom luxury edition?"
Malfoy nodded, clearly enjoying himself, then opened the device and swiped.
A soft chime rang out.
Harry's own screen lit up with a new message—from "Malfoy."
The text itself was nothing special.
But the sender's profile stopped Harry cold.
Malfoy's avatar had a glowing gold border that pulsed gently. His name shimmered with the same faint golden light, like it had been dipped in real gold leaf.
It was basically screaming: The person messaging you right now owns the fancy version.
Harry's mouth twitched.
Malfoy shook his head with fake pity.
"Details, Potter. That's what separates real quality from the rest. You'll never get it."
A little ice cream shop nearby.
The man responsible for turning Diagon Alley into a madhouse sat at a small round table, completely relaxed, spooning sea-salt ice cream into his mouth. The shop called it "Bouncing Bouncing Heart-Cooling," but Lucien had decided it was just fancy wizard naming for salted vanilla.
The cold sweetness melted on his tongue with a hint of salt.
His real attention wasn't on the ice cream or the crowds.
It was on the system panel floating in his mind—specifically the repayment bar for the Jade Record fragment.
Not bad.
The number was climbing fast.