Chapter 8: 08 inquisitive questions
"Do you see where the Ancient Spirit Court is across the street? That's the headquarters of the Daily Prophet. A bright little wizard like you, if you learn more, you'll always be able to contribute some great articles to them."
"After all, 'superior intelligence is the greatest wealth of mankind', and a wizard who is good at thinking is more likely to tap into that wealth." The goblin pointed out to Michael with gusto.
After the goblin passed the money bag into Michael's hands, he cautioned again, "But there is an aphorism in the Ancient Spirit Pavilion: 'What will happen to insatiable greed, and the most severe punishment will be meted out to those who ask for what they want without working for it.' You please do not go astray for the sake of Garon."
"If you are expelled from the academy for something, then the Ministry of Magic will recover all the grants previously given to you."
"If you are able to attend until you graduate, then each year you will be able to come here to receive the next year's grant. After you graduate, you will only have to pay back half of the total amount, and there is no interest, and if you are good enough, even half of what you have to pay back can be reduced."
"You know, for those big shots, this amount of money required for a young wizard to attend is not enough for the minimum monthly salary of seven hundred Galleons for a Ministry of Magic striker."
"I really appreciate the help you've given, thank you, see you next time, honorable sir."
After Michael thanked the goblin, he breathed a soft sigh of relief, and in his mind he began to figure out how he could use this information to make more money next.
Just as he was lost in his thoughts, a familiar clamor broke through his thoughts, the voice was like a flood of bells, and he knew immediately that it was Hagrid who had arrived.
"Michael, come on! Let's go buy uniforms!" Hagrid's loud voice snapped in Michael's ears.
The three of them came to the street, Hagrid pointed to Mrs. Moquin's robe store and said to the two of them, "You guys go in and buy your clothes, I'll go buy you some food. Don't wander off when you've bought your clothes, this place isn't very peaceful for little wizards."
"It's to buy Hogwarts uniforms, isn't it, dear?" Mrs. Morgaine, a short, chubby woman in purple, said kindly, "It's almost the beginning of the school year, and a lot of young wizards your age have been picking out their school supplies lately, and there's one trying on clothes right now in there as well."
Mrs. Morkin motioned for Harry and Michael to stand on two footstools in the store, and another witch put a robe on each of the two, using pins to pin out the sizes that would fit them.
The boy who had been trying on clothes earlier struck up a conversation with Harry and Michael. It was a pale-skinned boy with light blonde hair and a pointed face with gray eyes. He was slim and slightly taller than Harry Potter.
"Hey!" The boy said in a loud voice, "You two must be going to Hogwarts for school as well?"
"Yes." Harry responded.
"Oh..! What two odd people." The boy shot Harry and Michael a couple of glances each, noting their hair color, "It's rare to see a young wizard with such features, what family are you from? How come I've never seen you guys before?"
"My parents died and I grew up in my aunt's house."
"Oh, I'm sorry for mentioning your sadness." The boy said, but he couldn't hear the slightest hint of apology in his words.
"What about you?" The boy asked as he looked over to Michael who was having his black robe pinned up by the witch.
Michael was already so distracted by various things today that he really didn't have the energy to respond much, and could only reply coldly, "Me too."
Seeing Michael's reluctance to say more, the boy turned to Harry again, "They're in our category too, aren't they?"
"They're wizards, I think that's probably what you're trying to say?" Harry said back.
"I do think they shouldn't let the alternative enroll, don't you?" Without waiting for Harry to answer, the boy spoke up on his own, "They're different, they haven't been brought up with an education like ours and don't know anything about our world."
"Think about it, some of them had never even heard of Hogwarts as a school until they got a letter, to the point where they had to have the school send someone to give their families instructions and direct them here to purchase school supplies, that's a real shame!" The boy toed the harsh words, "I think the school should only admit students born to 'ancient wizarding families'. By the way, what's your last name?"
The air seemed to freeze, and the movements of the surrounding witches gradually slowed down, silently focusing on their conversation.
Michael's originally calm mind was stimulated by today's events, and the boy's words made him even more emotional. His fingers clenched, his breathing was rapid, and his face was grim.
He took a deep breath and calmed himself, then slowly asked:
"I agree with what you said, and I am indeed very curious about the 'ancient wizard families', where exactly do 'wizards' come from?"
"What exactly is the difference between us and them?"
"If wizarding families are high and mighty, then why do we stay on an island like England?"
"As a descendant of honored, great, ancient wizards, I assume you know that most known spells have their origins in Latin, with only a few originating in English. And where did Latin originate? You should be well aware of that, after all, I noticed that you paid attention to my hair color and his earlier."
The boy was dazed by Michael's barrage of questions, he had never thought about them before and he didn't even think that even his father might know the answers!
Harry was also confused by Michael's questions, he had never thought this much before and wanted to pick Michael's brain to see what was going on inside! But he would never ask Michael for an answer at this point, he'd let the aggressive boy worry about that on his own.
The surrounding witches who were measuring the three heard Michael's question and looked at each other, seeing the "monsters" and "confusion" in each other's eyes, and buried themselves even more in their work.
After a moment of silence, Mrs. Malkin's kind voice broke the silence.
"My dears, you have tried."
The two hopped off the footstool and Michael said to the boy, who was still caught up in his thoughts, "Honorable and wise descendant of an ancient wizard, I will see you at Hogwarts."
The two came to the door and the tall Hagrid greeted them, holding two ice creams in one hand that looked 'miniature' in his hand.
After taking a quick bite of his ice cream, Harry couldn't wait to repeat Michael's question to the boy earlier, looking to him for an answer with anticipation.
"Michael, what was the answer to your question? I'm really curious, did you see the look on that guy's face? His whole face was red from what you said, it was so funny, haha!"
"I haven't come up with an answer to the question yet either, it's probably a mystery that won't be solved until we get to Hogwarts." Michael answered Harry's question as he ate his ice cream.
Michael's answer was a little disappointing to Harry, he had been expecting this new friend to shed some light on the subject, after all, Michael's behavior today made him think that Michael must be a knowledgeable person.
Harry sighed softly as he lowered his head and unconsciously traced circles on the ground with his feet as his mind kept going back to the questions.
Suddenly, Harry felt a gentle tap on his shoulder and he looked up to see Michael looking at him with a smile that seemed to have a hint of apology and encouragement in it.
He looked at Michael, then at Hagrid, and an idea came to his mind.
Harry walked over to Hagrid and gently tugged on the corner of Hagrid's coat to get Hagrid's attention. Hagrid lowered his head and looked at Harry's expectant eyes with a puzzled look. Harry took a deep breath, then slowly spoke up and asked, "Hagrid ..."
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