Chapter 5 — Diagon Alley (Part 2)
"Oh… alright."
Even as she answered, Frieren kept looking back every few steps at the bookstore, already planning to go in and take a proper look once they were done here.
Before long, they arrived in front of a towering snow-white building that rose high above the surrounding shops. Beside its gleaming bronze doors stood a creature dressed in a scarlet-and-gold uniform.
It was small in stature, with dark skin, unusually long fingers and toes, an intelligent face, pointed ears, and slightly bulging black eyes.
"That is a goblin. Gringotts is run by them," Dumbledore explained in a low voice before stepping inside first.
The second door was silver, engraved with words. Beyond it lay a vast marble hall.
About a hundred goblins sat on high stools behind the long counters, busily weighing coins, inspecting gemstones, and recording entries in thick ledgers with quills. Numerous doors led off toward different vaults.
Dumbledore's gaze suddenly shifted through a window, where a familiar owl was perched quietly outside. His steps paused for a moment, and he turned to the three of them with a gentle expression.
"I'm sorry, children, but I may need to step away for a moment to deal with something urgent.
"Go to any free counter and say that you need to exchange money into Galleons to purchase Hogwarts supplies. The goblins there will assist you."
He gestured toward the busy counters in the hall, then turned and walked back outside.
The owl immediately flew to him and dropped the envelope tied to its leg into his hand.
He scanned the contents quickly and fell into thought. Some of his vague suspicions were gradually becoming clearer—but because the conclusion was so unbelievable, he still needed more evidence before he could be certain.
...
"Hello, we need to exchange some money into Galleons to buy Hogwarts school supplies."
As Frieren looked at the goblin's ears, she felt a little dissatisfied.
So that's why I was mistaken for a goblin earlier? I'm obviously much prettier than a goblin.
The goblin behind the counter looked up, his shrewd black eyes first examining Fern, then Frieren and Stark.
"Exchanging Muggle currency?"
"No."
Frieren stepped forward, rummaged around in the seemingly small but astonishingly spacious pouch at her waist, and pulled out a heavy, exquisitely minted gold coin gleaming with a pure golden sheen.
Its design was ancient and unfamiliar. The embossed symbols and script upon it matched no known dynasty in the history of Britain's magical world, yet its quality and weight made the experienced goblin's eyes light up instantly.
"I'd like to exchange this."
Frieren placed the coin on the marble counter with a crisp clink.
The goblin extended his long fingers and picked up the coin carefully. He weighed it in his palm first, then took a complicated eyepiece-like instrument from beside him and inspected it closely. He even bit it lightly with his teeth.
His gaze became more and more focused, and a trace of greed flickered across it.
The purity of this coin was extraordinarily high. Its craftsmanship was ancient and masterful, and its historical value likely far exceeded the worth of the gold itself. To a goblin—one who loved treasures and old metals—this held an almost fatal allure.
"Hm… a coin of… unknown origin," the goblin drawled, trying to conceal his excitement. "The quality is acceptable, but the minting style does not belong to any known magical system. Its value must be assessed cautiously… perhaps it may be converted by weight…"
"How about one to five?" the goblin proposed, raising five long fingers—a ratio that would earn him a considerable profit.
The moment Frieren heard that, her bargaining instincts kicked in at once. She gestured for Fern to let her handle it—after all, she was an expert haggler—then immediately raised three fingers with an expression that clearly said I know exactly what I'm doing.
"How about one to three?" she said, feeling this counteroffer was perfectly reasonable.
Stark stared from the side in utter disbelief and could not help blurting out,
"Hey! Frieren! This isn't buying something!"
The goblin looked at Frieren's clear, innocent eyes, then glanced around and saw there was no professor standing with them.
"A coin of unknown origin like this carries extremely high risk. I cannot possibly go any lower."
He shook his head as if he were the one suffering a great loss.
Frieren elbowed Stark lightly and whispered,
"You say something. You look more intimidating."
She was clearly hoping to use a warrior's imposing aura to help with the bargaining.
Stark looked speechless, but still forced himself to speak.
"Is there no discount for first-years?"
The goblin swallowed at the sight of the massive battle axe on Stark's back, but greed still made him refuse.
Seeing this, Frieren persisted and raised four fingers this time, attempting to compromise.
"Then… one to four?"
"You really are greedy, Frieren," Stark could not help complaining again.
The goblin, too, was afraid these fat sheep in front of him might run off. He was just about to pretend to reluctantly accept a rate that would still be hugely profitable for him—
When suddenly, a hand appeared and lightly picked up the coin from the counter.
Dumbledore had returned at some point without any of them noticing. He carefully examined the coin in his hand—a piece of currency never once recorded in magical history—his fingers tracing the unique texture that only long ages could wear into metal, something no imitation could reproduce.
It seemed he would need to find a few Muggle history books after all.
At this point, Dumbledore was already eighty percent certain of his guess.
"That will do, Mr. Spar," Dumbledore said, his voice gentle but carrying unquestionable authority. "Exchange it at a one-to-one rate. You and I both know that the true value of this coin is far beyond that of an ordinary Galleon."
He placed the coin lightly back into the goblin named Spar's hand.
"Th-this… this…" Spar squeaked sharply, trying to make one last struggle, his eyes full of pained reluctance. "Headmaster, that's against procedure!"
"Is it?" Dumbledore looked at him calmly. "Then perhaps we should ask the gentlemen at the other counters. Or speak to Manager Griphook about it."
At those words, Spar immediately panicked a little.
"Fine, fine! Headmaster, for your sake, I'll take the loss. One to one, then one to one!"
He practically shouted it, then hurried to add,
"But! If there are any more coins like this in the future, you must come to me, Spar, for the exchange!"
He had no intention of missing out on coins of such quality.
Frieren's eyes widened at once as she stared at Dumbledore in shock. He was incredible—he had actually bargained it all the way to one to one, even better than she could. He was clearly an even greater shopping expert than she was.
Stark, on the other hand, looked utterly lost. He had no idea what had just happened or how they had somehow succeeded.
Fern let out a soft sigh and said quietly to him,
"Mr Stark, we nearly got cheated. These goblins are extremely greedy."
"What?! I knew something felt off!" Stark only came to his senses after Fern pointed it out.
"Mistress Frieren, what do you think of this rate?" Dumbledore asked with a smile, looking toward the still-stunned Frieren.
"No problem! Absolutely no problem!"
Coming back to herself, Frieren nodded happily. In her mind, Headmaster Dumbledore was a negotiator even more formidable than Serie.
Before long, a heavy pouch of clinking gold Galleons was pushed across the counter toward Frieren.
"Now then, we may officially begin purchasing Miss Fern's school necessities. First, I believe we should visit Ollivanders—after all, a wand is a wizard's most important companion."
Dumbledore glanced at Frieren as she put away the Galleons, then led the three of them out of Gringotts.