Chapter 73: Chapter 73: Part-Time Work (Edited)
After a long wait, it was finally Tom's turn to leave the station.
"So, do you have any plans for the vacations?" looking at the line moving slowly in front of them, Hermione seemed to suddenly remember something and asked Tom in a low voice, "Do you want to stay at my house? I mean, we could all study for second year and do homework together during the vacations, the teachers have left a lot of homework for the summer! Also... we can go fishing together!"
Hermione's voice gradually softened, "Fishing is fun too, isn't it? I hear from Dad that there are more fish in that river lately..."
It seemed Hermione didn't want to study, she wanted to fish!
But Tom had no plans to stay at Hermione's house during the vacations.
"Erm, Hermione, I have plans for the vacations. I want to find a job in a store or two in Diagon Alley..."
Hermione: Σ(⊙▽⊙"!
Tom's words reminded her.
"Gee! why didn't I think of that?". She stomped her foot, "Indeed, I should get a part-time job for the summer, I'll have to talk to my parents about it..."
Before she could finish her sentence, it was their turn to cross the platform. They crossed the wall that led to the Muggle world and arrived at King's Cross station, between platforms nine and ten.
Tom saw that the Ron family was near the platform, and his little sister Ginny looked very excited to have just seen Harry. Harry was already disappearing into the distance, Vernon didn't want to stay here for a second, he felt the "magic factor" in the air was too high.
The Grangers were also waiting for their daughter on the platform. Hermione crossed the platform and ran towards them. But before they could say a word, Hermione was quick to say that she wanted to find a part-time job in the magical world during the vacations.
Mr. Granger scratched his head in confusion, but agreed with his daughter.
"It's okay, I might have to take the subway home alone after work..." said Mrs. Granger, a little worried.
Mr. Granger grimaced, "What's the matter? this is London! The heart of the British Empire-"
Mr. Granger had once been to Paris, France, and was so impressed by the dirty, smelly, bum-filled subway stations that he often joked with his friends that French subway stations were the most medieval places in Europe.
To be fair, the London Underground is cleaner and more hygienic than either New York or Paris, and is undoubtedly the pride of the subway in the country. But the thought of his only daughter having to take the tube alone was very distasteful to Mr. Granger. So he changed the subject: "But I have a lot of free time these days, so I can pick you up after work!".
Of course he was free, because he worked in his own clinic, which actually gave him a really flexible schedule.
Hermione didn't notice her father's entanglement, she was taking stock of the pros and cons of the situation.
"Where's little Tom?" Mrs. Granger suddenly remembered the child.
"He should be in Diagon Alley by now, shouldn't he? He's also trying to get a part-time job for the summer there."
"Oh~~" The Granger's suddenly realized something.
By this time, Tom had moved to Diagon Alley, and when it came to a part-time job, the first thing that came to mind was Flourish and Blotts Bookstore. The nice thing about this part-time job was that there were books to read. Not bad.
So he walked into the bookstore and told them why he was there. The manager, Lawrence, was a thin middle-aged man and, like many Englishmen, he was bald. Lawrence looked at Tom quizzically: very few Hogwarts boys chose to work part-time in the summer, most young wizards opting to spend their vacations playing with friends and family.
But it was good to have cheap labor arriving on their doorstep.
Lawrence may be a manager, but there are really few people below him.
When things get complicated, he often has to do it himself. It was the summer vacations, and Hogwarts would soon have a new intake of students, a new course, and a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, so there would be a lot of new books and he would have to work overtime if he did it all himself, so he needed to hire someone.
So he invited Tom into the bookstore office.
Once inside, Lawrence sat down in his worn armchair and, with a wave of his wand, brought Tom a chair as well.
"What's your name?" he pulled a roll of parchment and a quill from a drawer.
"Tom Yodel, twelve years old."
Lawrence looked at Tom, "It's not an easy job in a bookstore, you have to move books."
"I'm pretty good with the levitation spell." Tom pulled out his wand and moved the stack of books in Lawrence's office back and forth with a wave of his hand.
Lawrence looked at Tom with some surprise: being able to use a levitation spell like that at twelve years old was pretty good, many third years might not be as skilled as he was.
"Can I have a look at your report card?" he took a mild interest in Tom.
"Sure." Tom pulled out his report card and handed it over.
When Lawrence saw Tom's grades, he raised his head in surprise and looked carefully at Tom. He suddenly understood why Tom wanted to come to work here: he was a student!
"Ahem, don't tear the pages when you're reading, and try not to touch the new books." It only took Mr. Lawrence a second to see what Tom really intended: He had done the same thing when he was younger, "And you can't waste time on your work."
Then came the salary and schedule.
Lawrence suggested to Tom that he come to work on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 08:00 am to 17:00 pm, with an hour's lunch, a galleon a day and no food or lodging.
Tom was unhappy: Dumbledore was offering Dobby ten galleons a week, and I only get one galleon a day for working from morning to night?
I'm an outstanding student at Hogwarts, Dumbledore's confidant, I need to be paid more!
It took a lot of haggling before Lawrence agreed to three days a week, five galleons, no board and lodging, and a set of second-year materials.
It was a happy ending.
Unbeknownst to Mr. Lawrence, the second year was about to have a fantastic teacher, Professor Lockhart, who wanted seven textbooks for a course! Seven books! How could those little wizards from poor families live?!
Professors at some European and American universities often make their students buy their own books for profit; don't think they're not worth a few dollars, it's not uncommon to pay hundreds of euros for a new, authentic book.
This cocksucker, Lockhart, wants seven books at a time! If you are not able to empathize, imagine that one day before the start of classes you receive an email telling you that you have to spend a thousand euros on a textbook for a compulsory subject. By the way, Lockhart books are very expensive, at five gallons a copy. The same compulsory book, "Standard Spells, Level 2", costs only one galleon.
Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Apprentice Rod Maker (Edited)
Once everything was agreed upon, Tom signed a contract with Mr. Lawrence.
With a serious look on his face, Tom carefully signed his name on the contract, then watched Mr. Lawrence quickly sign his name.
"Does this contract have any magic power? For example, if you violate the contents of the contract, just..." Tom looked at the contract carefully, trying to see something in it, it was the first time he had ever signed a magical contract.
Mr. Lawrence was stunned, "Uh.... Does it have legal effect?" But he quickly replied, "This is an apprenticeship contract, you don't need a magic contract! A truly magical contract would only be used for very formal events."
It was then that Tom realized he had made a mistake. But, if he were to sign an important contract in the future, could he see a truly magical contract?
Tom walked out of Flourish and Blotts Bookshop. He had signed the contract today, but he didn't start work until tomorrow, and now he had to rent a place to live.
Tom had a plan for lodging: the Leaky Cauldron, of course. It's not expensive, and there are monthly deals for people like Tom who stay for months at a time. All this from a girl named Hannah from Hufflepuff, whose uncle owns the bar.
But when Tom walked past Ollivander's wand store, his eyes fell on an advertisement: apprentices wanted, board and lodging included, salary negotiable.
Tom couldn't move his feet: This job is perfect!
So he entered Ollivander's wand store.
Wands are not a consumable item. Mr. Ollivander's wand store only does a lot of business on the days of the year when new students start school, but not many in one day. Therefore, the store was a bit "cold".
He entered the store and found Mr. Ollivander standing dazed in front of a mountain of wands.
Hearing his voice, Ollivander looked back with a twinkle in his eye, "Are you Tom? The wand is acacia wood, with horned water snake horns with horns, thirteen inches long..."
"Yes, you have a good memory." Tom's admiration was sincere. Ollivander sold at least a hundred wands a year, but he remembered every wand and its owner by heart. That's the spirit of the true craftsman.
"Are you here to apply for an apprenticeship? Sit down first" Mr. Ollivander also moved two stools and they sat across from each other.
"Do you know anything about wands?" Ollivander cut to the chase.
"A bit of the basics." Tom had already read a book on wands, but it was only cursory.
Hearing Tom say this, Ollivander was filled with energy. Fewer and fewer wizards were willing to study wizardry these days, and even his descendants in the Ollivander family had no one willing to study the craft.
After all, Hogwarts did not offer a "Varitology" course.
Of course, Ollivander did not panic, the study of wands was a very small subject. Only one or two people in the magical world of a country is enough to supply many wizards. To learn this business one would have to open a wand store, but it wouldn't take that many wand stores.
Ollivander thought that he had many years left to live and that the matter of the heir could come a little at a time.
"Then I will ask you, what is the most curious and versatile wood?" asked Ollivander.
"Chestnut wood, which produces a wand with a very different character depending on the core of the wand and is easily influenced by its owner." Tom said.
"Yes, I personally prefer to use unicorn tail hair, fire dragon heart sinews and phoenix feathers for my wands, unicorn tail hair makes the most faithful wands, these are special, can you tell me about them?" Ollivander said.
Tom briefly reminded, "There is a slight disadvantage to a unicorn tail feather as a wand core, it does not make the wand more powerful, and when mishandled, unicorn tail feathers can easily become melancholy. This means that the tail feather has 'died' and needs to be replaced."
Ollivander smiled, got up shakily, went to the back of the store and pulled out some boxes, then pulled a handful of wood from them and asked Tom to identify them one by one.
Tom smiled awkwardly: he didn't know any of them, except the rotten ones like pine and oak.
But Ollivander clearly didn't mind this shortcoming.
"Well, one last question, Mr. Yodel, if you were to make a wand, your first ever, what would you use for the core of the wand?" asked Ollivander.
"Occamy feathers... since it's my first time making a wand and I'm definitely inexperienced, so it would be cheaper to go for a less expensive material." Tom said.
Ollivander smiled: what an interesting boy.
"Occamy feathers aren't cheap, but that's not important, you're hired!" Ollivander said.
At Ollivander's wand store, Tom also worked full-time three days a week: Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays; most stores were closed on Sundays, and Ollivander's wand store was no exception. On weekdays he could stay at Mr. Ollivander's house, and on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings, Ollivander would teach Tom a few things.
Tom's job was simple: he was paid two galleons a week for doing various jobs. Tom accepted, because food and lodging were included, and apprentices were always underpaid, since part of the salary was paid in the form of skills.
The next morning, Tom freshened up, put on some new clothes, and headed for Flourish and Blotts bookstore. He entered the store and took a good look around the largest bookstore in Diagon Alley.
He had always come here as a customer, but now he was an employee.
The bookstore was filled with shelves, each one stacked with books, some of which reached all the way to the ceiling. The larger books were as big as paving slabs, the smaller ones were the size of postage stamps, wrapped in silver-plated cases, and of course, there were some very unique books, such as those with no writing and those that were invisible. In the future, there will be books that bite.
But he found that another person had arrived before him.
It was Hermione, who was also applying for a job with Mr. Lawrence.
Today, Hermione was dressed up, with a sleeveless dark blue dress, a tie around her neck, and her hair was not as messy as usual, but had been carefully combed, and she looked very formal and presentable.
"Well, since you say you're good at counting, I'll put you to the test: a copy of Mr. Lockhart's book, 5 galleons, the bookstore is on sale, buy all seven, it's 10% off, a copy of the Prophet's Almanac, 7 sickle and 5 knut, a copy of the Secret History of Grindelwald, 3 galleons and 9 sickle - 20% off, How about a person buying a set of books by Mr. Lockhart, a copy of the Prophet's Almanac and a copy of the Secret History of Grindelwald, how much does he have to pay in total? He has paid with 34 galleons, do I have to give him change or should I ask him to pay more?"
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