Chapter 3 The Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley

Chapter 3 The Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley

As soon as she entered, the bustling atmosphere that was just lingering outside was shattered by the huge contrast. What came into view was a structure like a medieval cave. The entire hall was lined with several long dark tables, filled with people who wrapped themselves tightly. Many of them were wearing clothes that Della had never seen before. Not only that, there were also many strange-looking people, with all kinds of strange accessories, all crowded in this dim bar and suddenly poured into Della's pupils, roaring and shattering the cognition she had built up in the original world.

The discussion in the bar was very lively. People were talking fiercely. Only a few eyes were cast on the black-haired girl who was following the bird and carrying a small bag. The noisy voice made it difficult for Della to hear the details of their discussion. She only caught a few frequently appearing words such as "Harry", "Potter", "that person" and "savior".

Although she was curious, she did not pause for long, and her thin body continued to follow her bird across the long wooden table.

The bird finally landed in front of a pointy-nosed creature standing on the bar. If Della saw correctly, the little thing was wearing a pillowcase, and the exposed skin was a dark flesh color. It looked stranger than anyone else in the bar.

The bird in front of her circled twice, turned into a stream of light and flew towards Della. Della subconsciously reached out her hand, and the bird turned back into the admission notice and list and returned to Della's hand.

"Oh! You must be Miss Riddle! Dumbledore asked Quasi to wait for you here! Next, Quasi will take you shopping and then send you to the station!"

The little thing in front of her made a high-pitched sound that was almost a scream, but the sound was a delicate balance between a child's voice and a girl's voice. Although it sounded rude, Della didn't mind.

"Hello, Quasi, I'm Della Doreen Riddle, you can call me Della." Della grinned and smiled at him politely, shy like a normal child.

"Oh! Della! Della is so nice! Quasi will definitely take good care of Della!"

The elf that Dumbledore mentioned screamed loudly again, but the discussion in the hotel was so heated that it was drowned out.

"You, you are a freshman at Hogwarts this year?"

There was a stuttering voice of an adult man nearby, and Della then noticed that there was a hunched man wearing a purple turban standing next to her. Suddenly, she felt a strange smell rushing into her nostrils through the mixed smells in the bar.

Although she felt uncomfortable, she still faced the strange man with the same smile she always used to face her uncle and aunt. However, she was very cautious and did not use her ability. Della had a hunch that her unusualness might only be considered unusual in the Muggle world, and she thought that she probably would not use her eyes on wizards easily.

"Ah, yes."

"Oh! Oh! Della! This is Professor Quirrell! He will teach you Defense Against the Dark Arts later!" As he spoke, Quasi became even more excited. "It's all Quasi's fault! It's all Quasi's fault! It's Quasi who didn't introduce Professor Quirrell to Della right away! Quasi is going to punish himself! Quasi is going to hit his head hard!"

Della looked at the little thing that started to hit the stone wall in surprise, and said hurriedly, "It's okay, Quasi! Stop it!" As she spoke, she quickly glanced at the man next to her with a dull look in his eyes, and added without hesitation, "I don't think Professor Quirrell would mind!"

Quasi stopped hitting and turned his head to look at Della with tears in his eyes, "Really?"

"Really, really! Am I right, Professor Quirrell?" Della nodded in response to Quasi's words and looked at the man who she felt was a little cowardly.

"Ah, yes." Quirrell responded to Della's words in his strange stuttering tone.

"That's great! Let's go, Della! Quasi wants Della to have more time to choose!"

Della bowed to Professor Quirrell beside her and said, "I'll be leaving first, Professor Quirrell. I look forward to taking your class at Hogwarts."

"Okay, okay."

Della looked up and gave him a polite smile again. Just as she was about to turn around and leave, the man in front of her tremblingly extended his hand to her, "I'm looking forward to seeing you in class, Della."

Della felt a little strange, but she still smiled and shook his hand, said goodbye again, and then walked out of the bar with Quasi. The man who had held her hand behind her suddenly stiffened strangely, with a distorted expression on his face. It took him a while to walk to the other side with his hands and feet together.

Della followed Quasi, who was walking in small steps in front of her, out of a small door. There was only a narrow space outside the door, and it seemed that there was only a road in the sky. But after passing the telephone booth and the alley, Della was mentally prepared for magic.

At this time, Quasi stopped. He carefully checked the door that Della had just closed, then happily took out two heavy bags and handed them to Della.

"Della! This is given to you by Headmaster Dumbledore! Dumbledore likes Della very much! Quasi likes her very much too!"

Looking at the little thing's excited eyes in front of her, Della took the two bulging, golden cloth bags with both hands. Although Dumbledore said there would be funding, these two adult-palm-sized bags filled with so-called gold Galleons really shocked Della, and she spoke cautiously.

"Quasi, do we need to spend so much money on this purchase?"

"No! Of course not, Della! Quasi thinks the money in one bag is too much to spend! Headmaster Dumbledore must like Della very much! It was Headmaster Dumbledore who asked Quasi to bring so many gold Galleons to Della! Headmaster Dumbledore said he hopes Della can enjoy life at Hogwarts!"

Quasi's words touched Della's heart, and for the first time she showed a genuine and happy smile to the enthusiastic elf in front of her.

Facing the smile blooming on the girl's pale and delicate face, Kwasi also shouted excitedly.

"Wait a minute, Kwasi, I'll put this bag of money in the briefcase the principal gave me."

"Okay, okay Della!"

Della opened the small handbag, carefully put a bag of gold coins that was obviously wider than the handbag into it, and then closed the bag. She then opened another bag and put the money inside into the four pockets on her coat and trousers little by little. However, in order to be as inconspicuous as possible, there were not many gold coins in the four pockets.

Looking at the still bulging bag of gold coins, Della felt a little worried, and wondered if her pocket could also be transformed by Dumbledore.

"It's okay, Della! Quasi can get it for you! It won't be snatched away by anyone!" Quasi saw Della's distress and jumped up and down to promote himself.

"Really? Thank you so much, Kuasi."

"Ms. Della thanks Quasi! Della thanks Quasi!" Quasi happily took the bag of gold coins handed over by Della, and shook his hand to make the bag disappear.

"Then we are going to Diagon Alley, Della!"

She watched Quasi jump and tap a few times on a dented wall, and the moss-covered bricks on the wall began to twitch and rotate. A fantastic street appeared in front of Della as the bricks faded away. The buildings on this street were crowded together but did not make people feel stuffy. The twisted windows and balconies were not only not strange, but also gave people a full sense of wonder.

The street looked very crowded, and most of them were dressed in long robes and pointed hats, which was consistent with Della's initial fantasy of the magical world. After all, the headmaster seemed to be dressed like that.

Della admitted that the excitement of this moment was unprecedented in the previous eleven years.

"This is Diagon Alley! Della, let's go shopping according to the list!"

"Oh! Okay." Della followed Quasi, who was jumping in front of her, in a daze, and picked up the wrinkled admission notice and list in her hand. "First, a magic wand!"

"Wands! Quash knows! We're going to Ollivanders! They all say that's the best wand shop in Diagon Alley!"

Quasi in front of her looked very motivated. Della followed him while looking at the bizarre streets. Through the yellowed glass, she saw the ruler in the clothing shop floating in the air to measure the customers, the automatic writing and ink-refilling feather pen, and the various owls displayed in cages.

She felt elated, and when she came to her senses, she was already standing in the Ollivander's Wand Shop that Quasi had mentioned. Della looked up at the large words "Ollivander's Wand Shop" with peeling paint on the arch, and next to it were the words "Making fine wands since 382 BC".

Della took a deep breath and, under Quasi's encouraging gaze, pushed open the door of the historic store.