It was true to say that the Weasleys were very easy to get along with.
Mr. Weasley had a rich experience dealing with Muggles. After the introduction of Evan and Hermione, he had eased their parents’ anxiety very well, and was basically impeccable except for his occasional obsession and surprise with Muggle items.
As for Mrs. Weasley, the first thing she did once she got out of the fireplace was to give the children a big hug including Evan whose hug was even longer than Harry. She also repeatedly thanked Evan for helping Harry, and he was a little embarrassed.
As for the Weasleys children, Percy, the elder greeted Evan and Hermione with the most formal courtesy, a meticulous manner that reminded Evan of certain aristocracies.
Behind the model Percy, were Fred and George, a pair of very interesting twins. It was hard to hate them except for their occasional mischievous pranks.
Ron, Harry’s best friend, freckled and somewhat clumsy, yelled that he had planned to drive the Flying Ford Anglia a week ago to save Harry, provoking Hermione’s strong resentment beside him.
There was also Ginny, who was always next to Mrs. Weasley, the same age as Evan, a beautiful little girl with red hair, but she was too shy, she hadn’t said a word, and she had been staring at Harry with a red face.
After a brief introduction, the group was ready to go to Gringotts Wizarding Bank to withdraw money.
This was the first time that Evan had seen the goblins. They were not much more beautiful than the house- elves, but there was a shrewd, cunning glint in their eyes that made Evan realize that the goblins and the house-elves were completely two different species.
They walked up white stone steps into a vast marble hall.
About a hundred goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these.
Harry and the Weasleys, led by a goblin called Griphook, were ready to go to their vaults to withdraw money, while Evan and Hermione needed to change pounds for Galleons in the hall.
The Grangers exchanged ten pounds, while Mr. Mason exchanged a large sack of gold galleons under Evan’s insistence, far more than the total value of the items listed on the school shopping list.
About fifteen minutes later, Harry and the Weasleys came out of the underground vaults.
The group broke up on the marble steps outside the Gringotts. Percy was muttering vaguely about needing a new quill. Fred and George had spotted their friend from Hogwarts, Lee Jordan. Mr. Weasley was insisting in taking the Masons and the Grangers to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink.
Evan looked at Harry. He seemed to have something to say to Ron and Hermione alone. After thinking about it, Evan decided to go with Mrs. Weasley and Ginny to buy school robes and wands.
“We’ll meet at Flourish and Blotts in an hour to buy your schoolbooks,” said Mrs. Weasley, setting off with Ginny and Evan. “And not one step down Knockturn Alley!” she shouted at the twins’ retreating back.
“Mrs. Weasley, where should we go to buy a wand? You know, this is my first time in Diagon Alley.” Evan was a little embarrassed.
“Dear, we are going to Ollivanders. You and Ginny need a new wand.” Mrs. Weasley turned and looked at Evan, revealing a smile. “But we have to hurry and return. There are so many things to buy. We can’t be late for today’s signing ceremony for the new book by Gilderoy Lockhart.”
“Gilderoy Lockhart?!” Evan frowned. “I saw his books on the schoolbooks list. I don’t know what the new Defence Against the Dark Arts class professor thinks. Those books are not cheap at all.”
“Yeah, maybe your new teacher is a fan of Lockhart. After all, he is so great, but it is really too much to buy five sets of Lockhart books at once.” Mrs. Weasley looked a little worried. Sorry, Ginny, I think you need to buy a lot of secondhand goods this year.”
“It’s okay, Mom!” It seemed that Ginny already knew it. She didn’t show how depressed she was about this matter. She blinked at Evan and whispered. “My mother is very fascinated by Lockhart, she adores him.”
“Don’t talk nonsense, Ginny!” Mrs. Weasley blushed. “Sometimes, you have to admit that a great wizard like him is really very attractive.”
He was particularly attractive to middle-aged and elderly women. Evan rubbed his forehead with his hand. He didn’t have any good feelings for Lockhart, the big fraud. Anyway, he would be exposed sooner or later. He didn’t want to continue talking on this topic.
In fact, what surprised him even more was Ginny. This little girl was not as shy as she was when he first saw her. As long as Harry was not in sight, she immediately returned to normal, a very talkative, energetic little girl.
Along the way, she told Evan many things about her family.
It could be seen that, unlike Ron, Ginny really didn’t care about using her brothers’ fallen down secondhand objects. Except for one thing, it was to use secondhand school robes, which made her very depressed.
The three of them chatted and came to a narrow, shabby shop.
Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.
In the dusty window, a single wand lay on a faded purple cushion.
A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. Evan looked around and the shop was tiny place, empty except for a bench in front of the counter.
Not far away, there were thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling.
There were all kinds of wands inside. For some reason, the back of Evan’s neck prickled. The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.
Mrs. Weasley led them to sit on the bench and waited for a while, a soft voice came out of the store.
