Hogwarts, where the stars shine

At the end of the 13th century, King Edward I of England ordered the construction of 12 monuments with crosses on top to commemorate the death of Queen Eleanor.One of the monuments is located in the village of Charing and is therefore known as Charing Cross.

Charing Cross Street is not connected to Charing Cross, but is named because it leads to Charing Cross Station.

There are various professional bookstores and second-hand bookstores on the street, the most famous of which is Yufushi Bookstore. It was founded in 1903, which is still 15 years away from being a century-old store.

Mesa is reached by train from Charing Cross.Birmingham is more than 100 miles away from Greater London. If Mesa walked to Westminster, the thin soles of his shoes would really wear out.

Walking through the bustling streets, Mesa looked at sign after sign, and finally found the destination of his trip, the Leaky Cauldron, between a bookstore and a record store.

Leaky Cauldron, Leaky Cauldron, as its name suggests, the Leaky Cauldron bar is really "broken" and reasonable, and you can't fault it at all.

It was a dingy, tiny bar that Mesa barely missed.

People rushing past didn't even glance at it, and it seemed that only Mesa could see its existence.

Pushing the door open, the light suddenly became dim.The first thing that catches the eye is a long bar, followed by a large dining area, next to a huge fireplace under a Tudor-style vault, and a blackboard with prices written on it.

Mesa walked to the bar, where stood an old man who looked like a shriveled walnut. It seemed that he should be the owner of the bar.

"Hello, sir." Mesa greeted politely, "How can I get to Diagon Alley?"

Tom, the bar owner, smiled and looked over Mesa.

He said: "New student at Hogwarts? To enter Diagon Alley, you need to knock the right wall tiles, kid. There is a trash can in the backyard patio. Count three tiles up and two tiles across. Then you You can see Diagon Alley."

"But I suggest you wait a little, because Mr. Martin plans to challenge Gamp's old social wine." Old Tom continued, "After that, I can take you there."

Following Old Tom's gaze, he saw a tall, thin young man wearing a pointed hat.Looking at the man's appearance with 100% alcohol content, Mesa inexplicably wanted to shout: Damn it, big brother!

"Hey! Old Tom, prepare your one hundred gold galleons!" the young man shouted, "I will complete this feat today."

Mesa glanced at the wine glass in the other person's hand. He really didn't understand. It was just drinking beer. What kind of feat was this?

Seemingly seeing Mesa's confusion, Old Tom explained: "The Leaky Cauldron was founded by Daisy Doddridge in the early 16th century, but after the implementation of the International Confederation of Wizards Secrecy Act, had it not been for that time The Leaky Cauldron closed down when the Minister for Magic, Ulric Gump, closed down. So, out of gratitude, the pub owner created a new beer brand, Gump’s Old Courtyard.”

At this time, another man wearing a top hat took over Tom's words. He continued: "But this wine is very unpleasant. Even if you can get a hundred gold galleons as a reward, no one can drink a pint." .”

A British pint is about 568 milliliters, which is about the same as a bottle of Big Green Stick. What's not to drink?

What's more, there are rewards. Although Mesa doesn't know the wizard's financial system yet, he feels that one hundred gold galleons should not be a small amount.

"Steele, start quickly!" Old Tom shouted to the young challenger, "I want to take this young gentleman to Diagon Alley!"

Steele Martin smiled, and amid the expectant applause and eyes of everyone, he raised the bottle and started tossing.

It was okay at first, Steele Martin drank smoothly, but when he drank half of the beer, a look of pain began to appear on his face, his brows furrowed, and even the swallowing of his throat slowed down.

It seems that the so-called Gamp vintage social wine is really terrible to drink.

There was about a quarter of the beer left, and Steele Martin finally couldn't bear the taste of the beer. He put down the bottle suddenly, bent down and vomited a large amount of yellow liquid.

The customers in the bar all looked regretful. If he persisted just a little longer, he would have gotten a hundred gold galleons.

Old Tom took out his magic wand and said with a smile: "It's a pity, it's a pity, Mr. Martin, you almost accomplished the feat."

As he spoke, Old Tom waved his magic wand, and the yellow liquid disappeared instantly.

Steele Martin slumped in his chair, his face expressionless. He didn't even have the courage to look at the bottle again.Whether it was the consolation from the drinker beside him or the ridicule from Old Tom, he didn't listen to a word.

"Sir, is gold Galleons the highest denomination in the wizard's currency system?" Mesa asked the people around him softly, "What's the purchasing power?"

The man in the top hat smiled and said: "Kid, my name is Dedalo Digo, you can call me Dedalo. The wizard's currency is very simple, one gold Galleons plus seventeen silver Sickles, one Silver Sickle That’s 29 copper nuts in total. How about it, is it simple?”

Mesa nodded to express his understanding. He had long been unable to complain about the British currency conversion.

Previously, one pound was equal to twenty shillings, and one shilling was equal to twelve pence. It was not until the implementation of the new currency rounding system in 1971 that one pound was equal to one hundred new pence.

"Thank you, Mr. Di Ge." Mesa calculated silently, "One gold Galleons is equal to seventeen silver Sickles, or 490 three copper Nats. In other words, one hundred Gold Galleons is equal to one thousand seven hundred A silver siko, or forty-nine thousand three hundred copper nat.”

Dedalo Dige on the side didn't know whether Mesa's figures were accurate, but he was greatly shocked.

How on earth was this thing calculated?

At this time, Old Tom, who walked over, half teasing and half comforting Steele Martin, came back.As soon as he walked to the bar, he saw Dedalo Digg who was counting on his fingers.

"What's wrong with Dedalo?" Old Tom looked at Mesa, "Is this crazy?"

"It's okay, Mr. Di Ge is calculating whether one gold galleon is equal to 490 three copper nat." Mesa explained.

Old Tom pinched his withered cheeks, as if he couldn't figure out why Di Ge wanted to count this thing.After a while, Old Tom said: "Okay, young gentleman, now I will take you to Diagon Alley."

"Sir, I'm sorry," Meza said without moving, "Sir, may I challenge that Gamp Courthouse?"

Hearing this, Old Tom was stunned for a moment. Steele Martin had just failed in his challenge, and yet another warrior dared to challenge Gamp's old social wine!Old Tom wanted to agree, but then he thought that the challenger was a new student at Hogwarts and an underage wizard, so he swallowed his promise to agree to the challenge.

"I'm afraid not, you are too young." Old Tom said, "You can wait until you are an adult to challenge again. I think even then, no one will complete this feat."

Gamp's Aged Social Wine has been around for hundreds of years, and the reward of one hundred gold galleons has also been stored for hundreds of years. No one has ever been able to drink a pint of this brand of beer in one sitting.

Old Tom's answer made Mesa a little disappointed. Now he urgently needs these one hundred gold galleons, and he can't wait until he reaches adulthood.Besides, when Mesa reaches adulthood, he probably won't need this reward.

"Sir, don't you want to see someone accomplish this feat?" Mesa did not give up. "If someone succeeds, maybe more people will come here to taste Gamp's old social wine. Or meet the successful challenger...but it doesn't hurt the pub anyway."

Little did these old Toms know that he was worried that if he sold drinks to the young wizard, someone would come to trouble the Leaky Cauldron, which would be more than worth the gain.

Seeing that Old Tom was hesitating, Mesa decided to add fuel to the fire and persuade the bar owner with his own fallacy.

"Sir, if I don't give you money, the sales relationship between us will not be established... In other words, you did not sell me any drinks."