Harry exerted all his strength, finally managing to break free from the surrounding crowd of fanatical star-struck Wizards.
Panting, he followed Hagrid, Adelaide, and Hermione through the noisy, bustling bar, finally arriving at a relatively quiet small courtyard surrounded by four walls.
Hagrid stood by the wall, focused on counting the bricks. Beside him, Hermione whispered softly to Adelaide, "This is simply unbelievable! I can't understand why the school would hire someone who stutters so much to be a Hogwarts Professor—what if his stuttering makes his teaching too slow and delays the normal curriculum?"
Hearing this, Adelaide couldn't help but chuckle.
She gently patted Hermione's shoulder to comfort her. "Don't worry, Hermione. In Hogwarts, a Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor delaying the curriculum isn't exactly a big deal—take last year, for instance. Professor Jack MacFusty, who was responsible for teaching us Defense Against the Dark Arts, only taught for two months before ending up in St Mungos Hospital. He was only discharged fully recovered a few days ago."
"Most of the remaining teaching tasks for Defense Against the Dark Arts last year were pieced together by Professor Snape and Headmaster Dumbledore in their spare time. Even so, didn't I pass the final exams in the end?"
"Furthermore, last year a full ninety percent of the students successfully passed their Defense Against the Dark Arts exams with a passing grade or higher. So, even if this Professor Quirrell might have some small issues, as long as he can hang in there, you don't need to worry about the teaching progress; if he can't, you need to worry even less, as there's still Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Snape."
However, it truly felt bizarre to Adelaide. Professor Jack MacFusty, who had been half-dead in the St Mungos intensive care unit last school year, saw his physical condition undergo a dramatic transformation after the Hogwarts summer holidays began.
On the first day of summer break, Professor MacFusty, who could previously only lie in his hospital bed, actually managed to sit up with difficulty;
On the second day, Professor MacFusty already possessed the ability to feed himself;
On the third day, Professor MacFusty could get out of bed and walk without assistance... it was as if some powerful life magic had been cast upon him; his body recovered faster with each passing day.
By the tenth day of summer break, Professor Jack MacFusty had completely recovered and successfully completed his discharge procedures.
Three days after being discharged, he couldn't wait to set off for Romania to find his beloved younger sister.
Such a rapid recovery process was practically a 'medical miracle' in the Wizarding World, so much so that the Healers in the Curse Damage Ward at St Mungos Hospital couldn't help but be amazed by it.
Adelaide narrowed her eyes, thinking mischievously of the timid Professor Quirrell in the bar just now. She was somewhat curious: would the soul fragments of Lord Voldemort be affected by his own curse?
When school started, she would find an opportunity to invite the Weasley Twins to test it out together.
After Hagrid finished counting the bricks, he raised the umbrella in his hand and tapped those specific bricks with the tip.
With a few crisp tapping sounds, the wall in front of them began to shake violently, as if driven by some mysterious power.
Immediately after, the entire wall slowly moved and shifted, as if a pair of giant invisible hands were manipulating it—this was undoubtedly an extremely sophisticated form of spatial magic.
Adelaide had once conducted an experiment; if one didn't tap those bricks in the correct manner and chose to simply climb over the wall, the other side would be an abandoned parking lot.
Clearly, the precise coordinates corresponding to Diagon Alley on Earth were not located directly behind the Leaky Cauldron. Only when a Wizard tapped these bricks according to specific steps could they successfully activate that spatial passage, similar to a Floo network, and smoothly enter Diagon Alley. Such a design could be said to be a clever protective measure by Wizards for their own safety.
After all, as far as ordinary Muggles were concerned, they had neither wands nor the ability to understand and utilize such profound magic. Even if they forcibly demolished this wall, it would ultimately be in vain; one could not reach Diagon Alley through physical means.
As the wall stopped moving, Harry and Hermione, seeing Diagon Alley for the first time, were completely stunned by the sight before them. The dazzling array of various magical shops related to magic left them overwhelmed, making them feel as if they were in a dreamlike world.
Whether it was the Potion bottles shimmering with strange light displayed in the windows, the oddly shaped magical creatures at the entrance of the pet shop, or the flying broomsticks that flew across the sky from time to time, every detail deeply attracted their gaze, making them wish they could sprout eight eyes to take in everything around them.
For every young Wizard from a Muggle family, the first stop upon entering Diagon Alley was invariably Gringotts to exchange currency.
Adelaide's usual pocket money had always been distributed monthly by Dumbledore, a fixed 100 Galleons per month, with summer school supplies being a separate expense.
She had never worried about money, and this was also her first time coming to Gringotts.
Back on the train, she had secretly pondered that since she was here, why not join Hermione and follow Harry and Hagrid onto the Gringotts cart to visit the underground vaults, treating it like a roller coaster ride.
Adelaide requested Hagrid to visit the underground vaults. Hagrid didn't think it was a big deal and readily agreed.
The group of four walked slowly along the snowy white stone steps, and before long, they arrived at the spacious and bright hall of Gringotts.
The short but sharp-eyed Goblins at the entrance quickly stepped forward, warmly leading them to a vacant counter.
First, they exchanged 2,000 pounds for Galleons for Hermione at an exchange rate of one to five. Then, Hagrid pulled a pile of junk out of his pocket, and after rummaging for a long time, he finally produced the key to the Potter Family vault and a personal letter from Dumbledore, handing them to the Goblin behind the counter.
The Goblin took the key and the letter, examining them carefully. His pointed ears twitched from time to time, as if he were seriously discerning something.
After a while, the Goblin looked up and called out loudly for a Goblin named Griphook to come over.
Griphook was the guide specifically responsible for leading visitors to the underground vaults. Hearing the call, he walked over quickly, and everyone followed him down a narrow stone corridor behind a door and squeezed into a small cart.
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