"Are you buying a Hogwarts school uniform, dear?" As soon as he enters the tailor's shop, a short, stout Witch greets Albert with a smile.
"Yes, ma'am," Albert nodded, "Please."
"What a polite young man. Come, let me take your measurements." Madam Malkin's fingers snapped, and the measuring tape, pins, and scissors flew towards Albert, automatically measuring his body. Herb was stunned by the scene.
Tailoring clothes is a complicated process, and it took half an hour. Madam Malkin told them to come back after they had finished shopping to pick up their packages.
"Madam, in addition to the school uniform, I would like to order a black pointy hat and a plain black cloak, to fit my measurements, but without a name tag. Oh, and please wrap it separately. Albert tidied up his somewhat messy clothes and said to Madam Malkin.
"A black pointy hat and a plain cloak?" Madam Malkin looked at Herb with a puzzled expression and repeated Albert's words.
"Yes." Herb nodded, knowing that this was a gift for Nia.
"Okay." Madam Malkin did not think twice about this strange request and nodded to show that she understood.
After paying a down payment of galleons, the two left Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and went to the Wiseacre Magic Supplies store, not far from there, where they purchased the brass scales, brass magnifying glass, and glass vials on the list.
In fact, Albert simply handed the list to Wiseacre and said he needed to buy the items on it.
In total, it cost 13 galleons. In addition, Albert bought an hourglass for an extra 2 galleons.
With Wiseacre's enthusiastic introduction, Albert easily found Potage's Cauldron Shop and bought a tin cauldron there, spending 15 galleons.
They also found the pharmacy through the owner, Potage, where they purchased the ingredients needed for the potions class.
The pharmacy was definitely not a pleasant place to be. The moment you walked in, you could smell the sickly sweet smell that seemed to be specially prepared to drive customers away.
The shop was full of strange things, with jars of herbs, dried roots and brightly coloured powders on the shelves.
There were also bundles of feathers, rows of fangs and furry p hanging from the ceiling.
How on earth did the Wizard manage to boil all this down into potions and drink them?
Herb didn't dare to think about it any more, because he saw a jar of slugs, which cost one galleon.
That was disgusting.
The boy's father was already starting to doubt his decision.
Perhaps it was not such a good idea to send his son to Hogwarts.
In addition to the potions, Albert also bought some tools that are used when making potions.
After paying, he led Herb, who was looking very confused, out of the pharmacy.
"Albert, why don't you just quit?" Herb pulled Albert away from the pharmacy and said with a serious expression on his face, "Go to Eton College."
Albert's face twitched and he shook his head.
"I'm starting to think this is a bad idea. Maybe Daisy's right." Herb looked at his son with a complicated expression.
"We still need some books, a wand and an owl." Albert looked at Herb and said, "Don't jump to conclusions until we know more about the magical world."
"Okay." Herb was a little gloomy, but he still nodded in agreement.
After buying the books on the list at Flourish and Blotts Bookseller, Albert also bought some books on the history of the magical world.
Albert actually wanted to stay in the bookstore for a while, but he gave up on that idea in the end, considering the limited time he had. He asked the manager for a list of books that he could order later through an owl.
Then, in the Diagon Alley stationery store next to the Quidditch boutique, he bought a large amount of parchment, quill pens and ink.
With the owner's help, he found the Eeylops Owl Emporium, which was easy to find on the north side of Diagon Alley, with a large number of owls on display outside.
An owl was a necessity, otherwise he would not be able to contact his family.
Herb also helped him buy a bag of owl food and owl nuts.
Pushing the trolley, Herb crossed off the items one by one, leaving only the wand.
Ollivanders Wand Shop is on the south side of Diagon Alley. They learned the location of the wand shop from the witch who sold the owls.
It was a small, shabby shop.
When Albert pushed the door open, a tinkling sound came from inside. It was small and contained nothing but a bench. When Herb entered with the trolley, it felt as if it had suddenly filled the entire shop.
Albert had a Pumpkin Tart in his hand too. He was hungry.
"Excuse me, is anyone there?"
"Good afternoon." A soft voice rang out and Ollivander stepped out from within.
"Hello sir, I'd like to buy..." Albert said as he put down the Pumpkin Tart he was holding.
"A wand, certainly a freshman of Hogwarts."
"Yes sir."
"What's your name, by the way?" Ollivander, probably seeing the confusion in Albert's eyes, explained, "Wizards who buy wands from me are required by the Ministry of Magic to leave a record."
"Albert Anderson." Albert introduced himself.
"Yes, Mr. Anderson." Ollivander pulled the tape measure out of his pocket, "Which hand do you favour?"
"I'm right-handed." Albert lifted his arm up.
Ollivander began to take Albert's measurements, first from shoulder to fingertips, then from wrist to elbow, an intricate process that made both father and son suspect that Ollivander wasn't selling wands, but clothes.
"Every wand I make is unique, and Wizards can always find the perfect match here." Ollivander was measuring and talking to himself, but Albert was already a little sceptical, the tape measure was actually automatically measuring the distance between his nostrils.
Albert reached over and pushed the measuring tape out of the way and walked towards the counter.
Ollivander had already removed a wand from the shelf and introduced it, "Made of holly wood and Phoenix feathers, seven inches, very pliable."
Albert had barely reached for it when Ollivander had it taken away from him.
"Try this one, made of ash tree and Unicorn hair. Eight and a half inches long. Extraordinary combination, great elasticity."
Albert took it and swung it, with little effect.
"Doesn't seem to fit." Ollivander said to himself, "Try this for another..."
Albert tried wand after wand, sometimes the wands showed great destructive power, the vase on the counter blew up, startling Herb.
"I love picky customers." Ollivander fetched another stack of wands and grinned, "Made of red cedar wood and Phoenix feathers, nine inches long and nice and flexible."
Albert took the wand and felt a slight warmth coming from his fingertips, he gave it a little tap and a red spark emitted from the top of the wand, it was like a firework blossoming across the shop.
"That's it." Ollivander happily placed the wand in the box and smiled at Albert, "Legend has it that a wand made of red cedar wood will bring luck to the user."
"Do you believe that?" Albert asked rhetorically.
"No, I don't believe so, I think that wands made of red cedar wood are attracted to certain specific Wizards who are already equipped with the ability to turn danger into good fortune when they encounter it."
"So it's not so much that red cedar wood brings luck, but its owners who have made its reputation for being lucky?" Albert raised an eyebrow.
"You could say that." Ollivander nodded, "Ten galleons in total, thank you for your patronage."