Chapter 81
Chapter 81
The entrance to Gringotts Wizarding Bank was still thronged when Suer emerged. From time to time, a goblin’s voice rose above the hubbub: “This esteemed client wishes to visit a vault!”
After securing the key inside his clothes, Suer got his bearings, descended the marble steps, and set off for Flourish and Blotts, where he had arranged to meet Hermione.
The street outside the bookshop was packed with witches and wizards, most of them middle-aged women. Their noisy chatter and intermittent shrieks battered Suer’s ears until he could not help frowning.
“GILDEROY LOCKHART will be signing copies of his autobiography, MAGICAL ME.”
Suer sighed at the banner stretched across an upstairs window. Finding one person in such a crowd would clearly be impossible, at least for the moment.
He might as well find somewhere to wait until the crowd thinned.
His eyes travelled to the small print at the end of the banner: TODAY, 12:30-4:30 P.M.
At some point, the premises beside Flourish and Blotts had changed hands. The ice-cream parlour that used to occupy them had become a pet shop.
It appeared to sell only one kind of creature: Puffskeins. Suer recognised them. He had used their fur to make scarves the previous year.
“These are a new variety bred exclusively by us,” the assistant explained enthusiastically as he followed Suer about. “They may all be Puffskeins, but one Puffskein is certainly not the same as another.”
“Thanks to our careful breeding and training, they will no longer stick their tongues up your nose.”
“Just look at them. Gentle and adorable.”
“They’re perfect gifts for girlfriends. Look at this pink one. I wager no young lady could resist it.”
“How much is this one?” Suer asked curiously.
The assistant’s smile grew even more enthusiastic. “Hardly anything, sir. Only two Galleons and six Sickles, and we’ll include a little bed free of charge.”
“That’s far too expensive.” Suer frowned.
“Not at all, sir. You must understand, these are specially bred. A colour like this is extremely rare.”
“Make it cheaper and I’ll buy it.” Suer held out a hand to play with the pink Puffskein. It extended its long tongue and curled it around his finger.
“One Galleon,” Suer said.
The assistant looked as though someone had struck him with a sledgehammer.
“Impossible, sir! It took us a very long time to breed these creatures. This one alone cost more than a Galleon to raise.”
“One Galleon,” Suer repeated.
“Impossible, absolutely impossible.” The assistant shook his head, then gritted his teeth. “At most, I can waive the extra six Sickles. Two Galleons, sir.”
“That is the very best our establishment can offer.”
“One Galleon.” Suer shook his head. “That’s the most I can pay.”
The assistant stopped discussing the price and began extolling the advantages of keeping a Puffskein. There would never be an insect in the house again, for one thing…
Suer continued to play with the pink creature.
“I’m a student at Hogwarts. You probably know we have an entire forest there. I happen to be very friendly with its gamekeeper. I’m sure he’d be happy to help me find one.”
“Oh, very well, very well.” The assistant looked utterly aggrieved. After one last failed attempt to haggle, he finally agreed. “One Galleon, then, because you’re our first customer of the day.”
“Good. I’ll take the bed too. You promised it was included.”
“Oh, I can’t do that.” The assistant shook his head. Suer immediately made as if to leave.
“Wait, wait! I’ll give you one myself, all right?” The assistant stopped him helplessly, wrapped the pink Puffskein with remarkable speed, and added a bed to the package.
“One Galleon, please.” He handed it over with the air of a man who had suffered a crushing loss.
Suer paid and left the shop carrying the pink Puffskein.
What he failed to notice was that the instant he stepped outside, the assistant’s woeful expression vanished. Humming cheerfully, the man reached beneath the counter and produced another Puffskein, this one purple.
There was an eternal truth in business: the customer might get a bargain, but the merchant never made a loss.
Suer knew perfectly well that merchants were crafty. If a man agreed to sell something, it was because he still stood to profit.
Even so, Suer thought the Puffskein was worth one Galleon. He had bought it on impulse as a present for Angel. He already knew everything the assistant had told him, but one claim had rung particularly true: no little girl could resist something small, fluffy, and adorable.
“Hit him! Kick him between the legs!”
“Pull his hair, Dad!”
Suer was on his way to another shop to buy some juice while he waited for Hermione when a chorus of shouting erupted inside Flourish and Blotts.
Those were Fred and George’s voices.
He tried to go in and see what was happening, but the crowd retreating from the commotion blocked his path.
Soon, however, a towering figure appeared in Suer’s line of sight. It was Hagrid, and he did not look pleased. Intimidated by his enormous frame, the crowd squeezed aside and opened a passage.
Suer could now see the man whose arm Hagrid had seized.
He was a thin, bespectacled, middle-aged man whose hairline had begun to retreat. His lip was split and bleeding.
Another man had a blackening eye and long blond hair. Suer did not recognise him, but he did recognise the young wizard beside him: Draco Malfoy.
Draco failed to notice Suer at the doorway. With his head lowered, he followed the man who appeared to be his father out of Flourish and Blotts, and they quickly vanished from sight.
“You shouldn’t rise to him, Arthur.” Hagrid smoothed the wrinkles from the thin man’s robes as he complained. “The man’s rotten through. There’s not a decent soul in that whole family, and you ought ter know it…”
“Good afternoon, Hagrid.” Suer walked over to him. “What happened in there?”
“Long time no see, Suer.” Hagrid stopped grumbling and gave him a hug. “Nothing much. Just a bit of a row. Here ter buy next term’s books, are yeh?”
“Yes. I arranged to meet Hermione here.” Suer nodded and looked past Hagrid. Behind him, Hermione stood with Harry. Mr and Mrs Granger were there too, both looking rather pale after the disturbance. “There she is.”
Suer waved and walked over, carrying his newly purchased Puffskein.
As he approached, he heard a plump, brown-haired witch beside the Grangers complaining.
“A fine example to set for your children… brawling in public… What will Gilderoy Lockhart think?”
“He loved it. I heard him ask the bloke from the Daily Prophet whether they could put the fight in the article too… Oh, hello, Suer.” A red-haired boy greeted him with a grin.
“I’m fine, but you seem a little worse for wear.” Suer laughed. “Your hair is full of dust.”
“Oh, that’s nothing.” The boy–Suer could not tell whether he was Fred or George–carelessly dusted off his head, then drew Suer over for an introduction. “This is our sister Ginny. She’s starting at Hogwarts this year. The whole family came to buy books.”
“Hello, Ginny.” Suer nodded to her in greeting, though his eyes shifted to the cauldron she held tightly in her hands. Beneath it, he glimpsed a battered book with a black cover.
“Mum, Dad, and I waited for ages, but you never came,” Hermione explained as she stepped forwards. “Then we ran into Harry and the others outside the bank, so I came here with him to buy our books.”
“Something held me up.” Suer gave her an apologetic smile. “Have you bought everything?”
“Of course. I bought your books too,” Hermione said.
“That’s brilliant.” Suer looked at the chaos inside the shop. Without Hermione, he might have waited a very long time before he could go in. “I’ll buy you some sweets to say thank you.”
“Harry, Ron, and little Ginny, would you like to come too?”