"Blimey, Harry, you should've woken me," Hagrid grumbled, his voice a low rumble above the roar of the motorcycle as they sped down the motorway.
"Sorry," Harry shouted back apologetically. "We talked so late last night, I thought you needed the rest."
"Ah, forget it. Can't blame you. My own fault for oversleping," Hagrid said, though his tone was still annoyed.
The wind whistled past Dudley's ears, and the deafening noise of the engine turned heads everywhere they went. People stared in shock at the sight of the speeding motorcycle, but mostly at its enormous rider.
"Hagrid, where are we going?" Dudley asked, his voice raised to be heard over the engine.
"To London!" Hagrid bellowed. "To get you your first-year things!" He seemed to remember something. "Oh, right, almost forgot. Harry, in my left coat pocket, there's your booklist. Go on, take it out and have a look."
Harry reached into Hagrid's cavernous pocket and, after a moment of fumbling, pulled out a folded piece of parchment. Dudley leaned over his shoulder to read along. The list detailed all the necessary supplies for a first-year student at Hogwarts: spellbooks, robes, a pewter cauldron, dragon-hide gloves, and other strange items.
But what truly caught Dudley's attention was the last item on the list: one magic wand.
As expected, he thought. He recalled that he hadn't seen Hagrid use a wand, or even carry one. Is a wand essential for a wizard to cast spells, or are there exceptions?
Harry, meanwhile, was staring at the list, his face a mixture of wonder and anxiety. "Hagrid… how much will all this cost?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper. He had no money, and while Dudley had offered to help, they had left in such a hurry that his cousin probably hadn't brought any cash either.
"Oh, almost forgot to tell you," Hagrid said with a hearty laugh. "You don't have to worry about that. Did you think your parents wouldn't leave you anything?"
"Your money's all safe in the wizarding bank, Gringotts. That'll be our first stop. Can't buy anything without a trip to Gringotts first."
"A wizarding bank?" Dudley's mind raced. The magical world truly was a hidden society, operating parallel to the mundane one. It seemed to have stricter rules than the world of Beyonders; wizards here appeared to have almost no interaction with ordinary people.
"Only one wizarding bank," Hagrid explained, "and it's run by goblins."
"Goblins?" Harry asked, surprised.
"Yep. Clever little blighters, but not the most friendly. Best not to cross 'em. Gringotts is the safest place in the world, I reckon. 'Cept for Hogwarts, maybe. You'd have to be mad to try and rob it."
Goblins, Dudley mused. An extraordinary creature, similar to elves.
By the afternoon, they had finally arrived in London. Hagrid skillfully navigated the roaring motorcycle through the city's winding streets, heading toward a predetermined destination. Dudley's Arbitrator-enhanced memory recorded the route with perfect clarity. He was confident he could find his way back here on his own.
Behind them, he could see his parents' car struggling to keep up.
After another twenty minutes, Hagrid pulled up in front of a small, grimy-looking pub on a street corner. It was so inconspicuous that it seemed to blend into the background.
"Here we are," Hagrid announced. "The Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place for wizards in London."
Dudley looked around. The bustling crowd of people on the street seemed to walk right past the pub without even noticing it, as if it didn't exist. He blinked, activating his Spirit Vision. A strange, translucent halo shimmered around the pub, a powerful enchantment that seemed to peel it away from the real world, rendering it invisible to mundane eyes.
What powerful magic, Dudley thought, impressed. This was an ability that could directly affect the senses of others, a power wielded by high-Sequence Seers in that other world.
"Right then, let's go in," Hagrid said, gesturing for them to follow.
"Wait," Dudley said quickly. "My parents are still behind us." He didn't have any money on him. If he was going to buy anything, he'd need them. And if they went in now, his parents would likely be left standing on the street, unable to see the entrance.
"Oh, the Dursleys want to come in, do they?" Hagrid said with a hint of a sneer. "Well, I hope what's inside doesn't scare 'em too much."
Just then, Vernon and Petunia, having finally found a place to park, rushed over, looking panicked and out of place. Petunia clutched Vernon's arm, her eyes darting around nervously, terrified of being seen with someone as strange as Hagrid.
"Where are you going?" Vernon demanded, his face pale with a mixture of fear and anger.
"Takin' your son to buy his things," Hagrid grunted, clearly unwilling to waste any more time on Vernon. He led Harry straight into the Leaky Cauldron.
"Mum, Dad, let's go," Dudley said, waving them forward. "It should be fine." He then followed Hagrid inside.
Vernon and Petunia exchanged a look of pure terror, but with their son already gone, they had no choice. They braced themselves and, with a shared, shuddering breath, stepped through the doorway and into the magical world.
***
(End of Chapter)
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