- Are there other neighborhoods?
"Of course, but they're not as large-scale. For example, near Hogwarts in the magical village of Hogsmeade, there are a few shops, a third-rate pub, a tea shop, and another decent pub. In Ireland and Scotland, there are wizarding fairs where wizards gather on Saturdays. The main trade takes place here."
Richard glanced around and wasn't very impressed. A cobblestone street twisted and turned into the distance. Slightly slanted two- and three-story stone and wood buildings loomed on both sides. The ground floors housed small shops.
The first thing that caught my eye was a potion cauldron shop. Its display case revealed a multitude of containers of various types and sizes.
On the other side, the hooting of owls could be heard, and from the sign "Owls Shopping Center," one could understand that they were selling animals inside.
- Hmm... Quite atmospheric...
Richard was skeptical of everything around him. If he had been a little boy, he would surely have been captivated by the medieval setting. But as a child of the future, he treated even late twentieth-century technology with disdain, and such beauties made him wrinkle his nose.
Madame Marchbanks began to move purposefully towards Mulpepper's drugstore, which stank terribly.
Richard casually browsed the shops and pondered the local business situation. His conclusions were disappointing. Diagon Alley, the wizards' largest trading hub, only had small businesses. Customers were scarce, suggesting that business was slow for the locals. Furthermore, it could be concluded that businesses were passed down through generations, with new players rarely appearing. The conclusion was that investing in local businesses was pointless. Profits, if any, were very low.
But Richard had other thoughts. He knew that in the future, the world would be threatened by a powerful wizard. However, the transmigrator didn't know what kind of danger this would be, and he regretted it. Now he would happily read the old children's books about the adventures of Harry Potter and rewatch all the old films and holo-series. But the moment had passed.
In any case, facts are harsh things. Harry Potter exists. Wizards exist. The School of Magic is still in place. Therefore, it's safe to assume that an evil wizard will emerge, and a threat to the world will loom. But the children who will be studying at Hogwarts will be the first to be hit.
Richard would have happily gone to study at another school of magic, but unfortunately, from the information he managed to glean from his mentor, it turned out he couldn't, as he was officially considered a Muggle-born, entitled to attend the local magical school, even though it was obvious to anyone he was half-blood. Of course, Richie had the option of negotiating with the Minister of Magic or pressuring her through Grandma Lisa. He could bribe the Minister with another plot of land, but... What was the point of fleeing somewhere if the entire solar system was in danger? Or was it?! This uncertainty was terrifying. If the traveler had been almost one hundred percent certain he'd landed in the book version of the universe, where the evil wizard wasn't so dangerous, he would have boldly abandoned everything and gone off to study magic in another country. And it's not a fact that everything in the books is so rosy, after all, he'd only heard about them. Another big problem is that Richard is an aristocrat. He is obliged to set a patriotic example and study in the UK.
So, Richie decided not to rush into things and instead began preparing for trouble. To do this, he needed to acquire a variety of items that would help him survive in any situation.
If this were happening in the transmigrator's previous world, he would simply go to a military supply store and a tourist shop. In the former, he would pick up some decommissioned military junk, like an outdated paratrooper flyer, an ancient model of an armored exoskeleton with repulsors, a bunch of civilian weapons, and so on. The tourist shop also offers a variety of interesting options. For example, a hunting suit with a holographic invisibility system, and an automatic security and alarm system with a stun gun, designed for tourists traveling to colonized planets with abundant wildlife.
Nothing like this existed in this world, but magic did exist here. Richard intended to cross a hedgehog with a snake, that is, to force magicians and advanced engineers to work together to develop useful gadgets. But the statute of secrecy stood as an impenetrable barrier to achieving this goal.
Richard tried to think of ways to circumvent the statute, and little by little a plan began to take shape in his head.
Madame Marchbanks's loud voice brought Richard out of his thoughts:
- Darling, I'm done here, we have to go.
- Okay, ma'am.
Richard trudged leisurely alongside his mentor, past shops selling robes, telescopes, and strange silver instruments. The storefronts along the street were filled with barrels of bat spleens and eel eyes, tottering pyramids of books, feathers and scrolls of parchment, vials of potions, and lunar globes.
One of the display cases contained brooms, some of which were quite futuristic in appearance.
In front of this display case, Richard slowed down and asked his mentor in surprise:
"Ma'am, are you supposed to sweep with brooms like that? It's so inconvenient."
Madam Marchbanks paused and glanced at the Quidditch Supplies window. A croaking laugh escaped her lips.
"Richard, what makes you think these brooms are for cleaning? The store's name says they're Quidditch supplies."
"Ma'am, it says 'Quidditch Supplies'." I assumed, judging by the abundance of cleaning supplies, it was just another idiom. Like, just as wizards might call ordinary people 'Muggles,' so wizards might call a house 'Quidditch.' The first thing that came to mind was a hardware store selling 'everything for the home.'
"Oh-ho-ho, little one, these brooms aren't for sweeping," the old woman replied cheerfully. "You can fly on them!"
Richard's eyes widened, he was incredibly surprised.
- How do they fly? On brooms?
- Yes, yes, on brooms.
- ON BROOMS?!
- On brooms!
- Psychos!