The elderly sorceress laughed even louder. Tears sprang to her eyes. She conjured up a handkerchief and wiped the corners of her eyes. She flushed with mirth.
"Mistress, you're not kidding me, are you?" Richard asked incredulously. "I know I've only recently learned about magic, but I can't believe anyone would fly on a broomstick."
"Cough," Madame Marchbanks choked on her laughter. "Richard, remember what I told you first."
- Magic can do everything?
- Yes. Magic can do anything!
- Do all magicians fly on brooms?
"That's it," the old woman confirmed with a nod. "There will be broomstick lessons in first year at Hogwarts."
"Uh-uh..." Richard caught the blue screen. "This is crazy. Are you building antigravity into brooms?"
"I don't know what antigravity is. It's probably something Muggle. Brooms have special charms placed on them that allow them to fly."
"Can this spell be cast on anything else? After all, simple logic dictates that flying on a stick is inconvenient, especially for boys."
"For convenience, there are special charms that can also be cast on broomsticks. But in theory, any object can be enchanted to fly. Perhaps the Ministry recently, about a hundred years ago, banned enchanting Muggle objects. Wizards used to fly on anything: shields, barrels, boats, ships, chairs. And in the East, they still fly on carpets. I even heard that Arthur Weasley enchanted a Muggle carriage to fly. It was, what's it called... Autobille."
- A car, perhaps, ma'am?
"Yes, yes, exactly! A car," Madam Marchbanks agreed with her charge. "What a weirdo that Weasley is!"
Richard realized that this was it-the prize of the century. A flying machine! This was something he absolutely had to have. It was practically the same old flyer.
- Excuse me, Mistress, but you just said that you can't enchant Muggle objects.
"Not if they fall into Muggle hands. Um..." the old woman paused, as if remembering something. "Ah, I remember! My boy, I was slightly mistaken. There's no ban on enchanting Muggle things. There is a ban on using enchanted items in the presence of Muggles. Arthur lives in a wizarding village and makes this thing for himself. That's the official line."
- What if it's unofficial?!
- It's just that Arthur works at the Ministry of Magic as the head of the Sector for Combating the Illegal Use of Muggle Inventions.
- Mmm... I see. Mutual responsibility. What I guard, I keep... Ma'am, how can I contact another wizard?
- Either send him a letter by owl or talk through the fireplace.
- A postal owl?!
Once again that day, Richard's eyes became the size of cherry tomatoes in amazement.
"Yes, yes, Richard. Wizards send each other mail using owls. Incidentally, you can buy a messenger bird at the shop we saw at the entrance to Diagon Alley."
"Mistress, I suddenly realized I need a postal owl. Do we have time to buy one?"
"I suppose we can spend a little time on this. But first, Richard, we'll need to visit Gringotts Bank. I understand correctly that you don't have any magical money with you?"
- Yes, ma'am. How can the bank help us? I have some pounds with me. Can I exchange them there?
- You can do that, or you can take the money from your safe, which the Ministry of Magic opened for you to pay the land rent.
Gringotts... The tallest and most monumental building in Diagon Alley. It simply couldn't go unnoticed. A snow-white building, polished bronze doors, white stone steps.
A goblin in red livery greeted visitors at the entrance to the bank.
The goblin's appearance was quite distinctive. A head shorter than Richard, he had an intelligent, dark face, a pointed goatee, and a prominent nose. His fingers were also longer than those of humans. Overall, the goblin could easily be mistaken for a dwarf with only a few minor differences in appearance, simply a slight deformity.
Inside the spacious operating room, there were even more of these short men. They sat behind high counters and looked down on the visitors. Apparently, this was their way of satisfying their sense of self-importance.
After the bronze doors, the visitors passed through silver doors, behind which two goblins greeted them with bows.
Madam Marchbanks headed for the nearest available goblin. The others were busy: writing in ledgers, examining gold coins through magnifying glasses, weighing and examining precious stones.