The Prisoners of Hogwarts

Chapter 10 Stone Tower Merchant Guild

Harry followed closely behind Hagrid as they entered the Leaky Cauldron.

Everything here amazed him.

The storefront was dilapidated and unassuming, but the dirty, cramped bar was packed with people, all dressed as strangely dressed wizards.

But what surprised Harry the most was that everyone there knew him. They raised their glasses to him, lined up to shake his hand, and showed him great respect. Among them was even a Hogwarts teacher.

Harry, who had never been popular since childhood, suddenly became a beloved figure, which felt somewhat unreal to him.

It wasn't until Hagrid led him to the tavern's courtyard and tapped the bricks on the wall three times with the tip of his umbrella, causing the bricks to shake and clear a space to form a wide archway, that he snapped out of his daze.

As you pass through the archway, sunlight streams down the winding streets, illuminating one peculiar shop after another: stacks of crucibles piled up at the entrances; shop windows displaying books that seem to bite and glittering crystal balls; gloomy stalls selling strange silverware and eel eyes...

Harry was stopped by Hagrid's booming voice, "Hey! Gringotts! This is it, let's go get the money first."

They went in and came out again, and quickly finished what they needed to do in Gringotts.

Hagrid led Harry on a continued walk through Diagon Alley.

But they soon arrived at their destination. Hagrid pointed to a huge building across the street and said, "Look, we're here, the Stone Tower Merchant Guild. You can buy most of the things on your list here, at fair prices and with good quality. That's why more and more wizards have come here to buy things over the years."

Harry was surprised to see a huge white stone tower standing between two houses across the street. It was a square stone tower with simple and clean lines, without any superfluous decorations on the outside. The pure white marble exterior gleamed in the sunlight.

The side of the stone tower facing the street has a huge rectangular stone door, large enough for Hagrid to come and go freely, and wizards are constantly going in and out of it.

At the top of the stone tower is a huge circular emblem, depicting a clenched fist with the index finger pointing firmly to the sky. In front of the emblem are several large, smooth, mirror-like black characters: Stone Tower Merchant Guild.

"The Daily Prophet says the emblem on the top of this tower is the Stone Tower Merchants declaring themselves the world's number one merchant guild." Noticing Harry's gaze drawn to the emblem at the top of the tower, Hagrid bent down, his massive frame casting a shadow. He winked and lowered his voice, saying, "Nobody knows who their boss is, but their business is indeed huge. They have shops in many countries, so calling them the world's number one wouldn't be wrong." He straightened up.

"Alright! It's getting late, we need to hurry and buy you what you need! Dumbledore is still waiting for me." Hagrid strode forward. "Keep up, Harry, there are always so many people around here, you can easily lose track of someone if you're not careful."

Looking at Hagrid's enormous size, which was twice the height of a normal person, Harry doubted he could lose Hagrid, but he still obediently followed and grabbed Hagrid's mole-skin coat.

They made their way through the crowds and entered the stone tower.

To Harry's surprise, the space inside was enormous. The stone tower had five floors, each with an open space in the center. A huge waterfall chandelier hung from the ceiling of the top floor, illuminating each floor.

Harry's first impression was that everything was in perfect order, a world completely different from the Leaky Cauldron he had seen before. He was still wearing Dudley's old clothes, and the bright and clean surroundings made him feel a little uncomfortable.

The floor beneath your feet is polished white marble with natural textures. Different shops are arranged in an orderly manner on different floors according to what they sell, and some goods are neatly displayed at the entrance of the shops.

Numerous guild employees, dressed in matching white robes, moved among the wizards, politely serving each one who stopped. Harry noticed that each of them wore a small badge pointing to the sky on their chest.

He was dazzled, "Why is it that the inside is more...?"

"Much bigger?" Hagrid said, finishing Harry's sentence, and then added, "The Unseen Stretch Charm, a spell that can infinitely expand internal space. The Ministry of Magic is extremely strict about the use of this spell, but the Stone Tower Merchant Guild... they have connections with the Ministry of Magic, and the Ministry allows them to cast the Unseen Stretch Charm in all their branches."

Harry muttered to himself, "This is just like the superstores I've seen in magazines."

"What? What mall?" Hagrid didn't hear Harry clearly. He continued, "Muggles call a mall a collection of shops? Then you're right, Harry, this is a wizarding mall!"

As they walked forward, talking, Harry noticed that on the other side of the lobby on the first floor, a large crowd had gathered, their expressions excited, and they occasionally burst into cheers.

Harry looked curious.

"Oh, is there a competition today?" Hagrid explained to Harry, "It's a wizard-versus-card tournament. It's a tournament launched by the Stone Tower Merchant Guild, and it's become very popular in the last two years. The winners receive a lot of Galleons as a reward and can also represent their country in regional competitions. I heard the Stone Tower Merchant Guild is planning to launch a world tournament, which will be quite exciting."

Due to time constraints, Hagrid didn't let Harry watch the game, and the crowd was so dense that Harry couldn't see anything through the gaps.

But he still paid close attention to that place.

Finally, on the second floor, when Hagrid was taking him to buy the brass balance, Harry peered over the heads of the spectators through the gaps in the railing and saw the wizard card battle that Hagrid had mentioned.

He couldn't help but widen his eyes. In the center of the crowd stood a huge rectangular table, with a young wizard standing on each side of it—presumably the two opponents in the duel. Another person stood to the side of the table, his back to Harry, his age unclear; Harry guessed he was the referee.

What caught Harry's eye the most was the semi-transparent magical phantom floating on the table in front of the two warring wizards, making a movement. In front of the wizard on the right was an old wizard holding a wooden staff and wearing a green robe and pointed hat, while in front of the wizard on the left was a roaring fire dragon that breathed fire!

The wizard on the left pointed, and the fire dragon flapped its wings and flew towards the old wizard, spewing out raging flames.

Just as the audience couldn't help but scream, the old wizard's phantom slammed his staff heavily on the ground. A circle of transparent, invisible ripples spread out, and the fire dragon let out a mournful cry before falling from the sky and shattering and disappearing.

A deafening cheer erupted from the crowd.

Harry was captivated by what he saw.

"Merlin's beard!" A strange voice suddenly came from beside me. It was a few other wizards who had been drawn to watch the match by the railing, talking amongst themselves. "That card is the Great Wizard Merlin! Only one hundred were ever issued worldwide! That Hungarian Hornet Dragon was rare enough already. I thought he was sure to win, but he ran into the Great Wizard Merlin! What a pity!"

Several wizards walked past Harry, talking as they went.

Just then, Hagrid came out of the shop carrying brass scales and a telescope. He told Harry, "Most of what you need is ready; now all you need is a good wand. And there's only one place to buy the best wands: Ollivanders!"

"Olivander is in another place; we have to leave."

Hagrid, with Harry in tow and carrying their purchases, headed towards the exit on the first floor of the Chamber of Commerce building.

As they walked out the door, Harry looked back longingly at the area on the other side of the first-floor lobby where the wizard battle card tournament was being held, before he and Hagrid followed the flow of people out.

In an office at the top of the building, a grey-robed wizard stood in front of a huge floor-length mirror, watching the thin little boy follow the enormous Hogwarts hunting ground manager out of the mall.

......

Almost at the same time Harry walked out of the mall and blended into the bustling crowd in Diagon Alley.

Hogwarts, deep within the Forbidden Forest.

Lin Qi took a deep breath and stepped across the boundary of the stone house.