Even after a century, the Broken Cauldron Bar was still as dirty and small as Harry remembered.
Pushing the door open, a heavy smell of alcohol greeted them, mixed with the scent of secondhand smoke.
The people here seemed to all know Hagrid. Upon seeing that massive figure, several customers sitting at the bar raised their glasses and loudly welcomed Hagrid's arrival.
"The usual, Hagrid?" the bar owner, Tom, asked.
"Oh no, Tom, I have urgent matters to attend to," Hagrid replied, patting Harry's thin shoulder and boomed: "I still need to take Harry to Diagon Alley."
Upon hearing Harry's name, the noisy chatter in the bar instantly quieted, and everyone held their breath looking towards Hagrid — to be precise, towards the small Harry beside him.
"My goodness, is it really you?" Tom dropped the cup he was wiping onto the floor with a thud.
He hurriedly stepped out from behind the bar and jogged over to Harry, clasping his hands with tears in his eyes.
"Harry Potter, what an honor — welcome, welcome back!"
Harry was somewhat surprised and awkward.
Could it be that people a hundred years later still remember his deeds of vanquishing the Fire Ash Snake Faction and quelling the fairy rebellion?
Since they could recognize him, does it mean—
He didn't know what to say, as everyone was looking at him, stepping forward eagerly wanting to shake his hand.
"Such an honor, Mr. Potter, such an honor."
"I've longed to shake your hand — my heart is pounding."
After allowing the wizards to express their admiration to Harry, Hagrid then pulled Harry aside and said, "I'm sorry, everyone, I still need to take Harry to Diagon Alley to buy things."
With that, he rescued Harry from the crowd.
"See, I told you, you're quite famous," Hagrid said with a smile.
Harry smiled back at Hagrid, asking casually, "They… why are they like this?"
"Why are they like this?" Hagrid exaggeratedly patted Harry on the back: "You defeated the scariest Dark Wizard of the century; you deserve such respect!"
So that's it…
Harry nodded in understanding and felt a sense of relief inside.
It's good that he wasn't recognized as the Harry Potter from a hundred years ago.
Time is a taboo existence; being able to travel through time and return to his youth is crazy enough in itself.
Moreover, "that Harry" was one of the heirs of Ancient Magic, and this wasn't a secret in the Magic World a hundred years ago.
Dark Wizards coveting Ancient Magic could openly launch attacks on the road for students transferring schools; Harry didn't think the Dark Wizards of this era would be any softer.
After returning to the age of eleven, his Magic Strength also regressed to the level of an eleven-year-old. If it were just an ordinary Dark Wizard, it would be fine, but if another Lanlock were to come along, he wouldn't be able to handle it now.
So… it's best not to make this secret public.
Harry silently decided in his heart.
Beside him, Hagrid was still introducing: "Count up three blocks — then count across two blocks — alright, stand back, Harry…"
He glanced down at Harry, who seemed to still be in a daze, thinking he was still troubled by what happened earlier, so he smiled and said to Harry, "Did you hear that, Harry?"
"Oh." Harry snapped back to reality and found himself at the wall of the Broken Cauldron Bar, so he took Hagrid's umbrella and counted a little before gently tapping the wall with the umbrella head three times.
The brick he tapped began to shake and move, a small hole appeared where it touched, growing larger and larger.
Before long, a wide archway, large enough for Hagrid to pass through, appeared in front of them, leading to a winding, cobblestone-paved street with no end in sight.
"Your memory is quite good, Harry," Hagrid said cheerfully, "Welcome to Diagon Alley."
Harry handed the umbrella back to Hagrid, then hesitantly asked, "Um— Hagrid, I don't have any money..."
"Ha, you don't need to worry about that; you surely don't think your parents didn't leave you any inheritance, right?" Hagrid explained to him, "Come on then, since you're concerned about this, let's go to Gringotts to get some money."
Gringotts was the same as ever, unchanged. The bank's entrance faced Diagon Alley, with a white stone step leading to two shining bronze doors.
There was a fairy dressed in a crimson and gold uniform guarding the entrance to Gringotts, bowing to them as Harry and Hagrid entered.
Beyond the first door was an inner hall, and further inside was a silver pair of doors. Harry noticed the following words engraved on the silver doors:
"Enter, stranger, but take heed,
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there."
"As I said, anyone who tries to rob this bank must be mad," Hagrid said.
The two of them walked up to the counter in the Gringotts lobby, where Hagrid found a place where they could be served from among the busy fairies.
"Morning," Hagrid said to the idle fairy, "We need to withdraw from Mr. Harry Potter's vault..."
Before he could finish, the fairy let out a sharp squeal.
"Who?! You said who?!"
The surrounding fairies stopped their work, looking at the sharp-sounding fairy.
Seeing the fairy like this, Hagrid was not surprised at all.
After all, being the Savior who defeated the Black Demon, having fame among the fairies was quite normal.
But he didn't know, that the "Savior" beside him hadn't just "saved" the Magic World once.
"Harry Potter," Hagrid repeated.
"Harry Potter?! I know it's Harry Potter! Which Harry Potter?!" the fairy continued to ask loudly in a sharp tone.
Meanwhile, the Gringotts lobby echoed with a "buzz," the fairies began whispering among themselves, seemingly eagerly discussing something.
"What other Potter?" Hagrid was getting impatient, "Of course it's the Harry Potter who defeated the Black Demon, he's going to start school this year, and I'm taking him to withdraw some money from their Potter family vault."
Upon hearing Hagrid's words, the fairy let out a sigh of relief.
"Harry Potter, I thought it was Harry Potter," the fairy said, putting back on a businesslike face, "Well, do you have the key to the vault?"