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After a long wait, it was finally Tom and his friends' turn to leave the station.
"So, do you have any plans for the holidays?" Hermione, looking at the slowly moving queue in front, seemed to suddenly remember something and quietly asked Tom, "Do you want to stay at my house? I mean, we can review the second-year lessons during the holidays and do homework together—the professors left a lot of summer homework! And... we can go fishing together!"
Hermione's voice gradually lowered, "Fishing is quite interesting, isn't it? My dad said that the river has more fish recently..."
It seemed like Hermione wasn't interested in studying but rather in fishing!
However, Tom had no intention of staying at Hermione's house during the holidays.
"Uh, Hermione, I have plans for the holidays. I want to find a part-time job in Diagon Alley..."
Hermione: Σ(⊙▽⊙")!
Tom's words reminded her.
"Oh! Why didn't I think of that!" She stomped her foot, "Indeed, it's a good idea to find a part-time job during the summer. I need to talk to my mom and dad about it..."
Before she could finish her words, it was their turn to cross the platform. They passed through the wall leading to the Muggle world and arrived between Platforms 9 and 10 at King's Cross Station.
Tom saw that Ron's family was also near the platform. His little sister Ginny looked very excited because she had just seen Harry. Harry's figure was about to disappear into the distance. Vernon Dursley, Harry's uncle, didn't want to stay here for even a second. He felt that the "magic factor" in the air was too high.
The Granger couple was also waiting for their daughter on the platform. Hermione passed through the platform and immediately ran to them. But before she could say a few words, Hermione hurriedly expressed her desire to find a magical part-time job during the holidays.
Mr. Granger scratched his head, somewhat puzzled, but still agreed to his daughter's request.
"Is it okay? Then she may have to take the subway home by herself after work..." Mrs. Granger was a bit worried.
Mr. Granger's face tightened, "So what? This is London! The heart of the British Empire—"
Mr. Granger had been to Paris, France once, and the dirty, smelly subway station full of beggars had left a deep impression on him. Therefore, he often used this argument with his friends: the subway stations in France are probably the most medieval places in all of Europe.
To be fair, compared to the subway stations in New York and Paris, the London Underground was clean and hygienic, definitely the face of the British national subway system. But Mr. Granger felt uneasy at the thought of his only daughter squeezing into the subway, given the "magic factor" in the air.
So, he quickly changed the topic, "But I'm very free lately, so I can pick you up after you finish work!"
He was indeed free because he worked at his own clinic, truly achieving a flexible working hours system.
Hermione didn't notice her father's inner struggle. She was summarizing her advantages, trying to leave a good impression on the interviewer during the job interview.
"What about little Tom?" Mrs. Granger suddenly remembered the little boy.
"He should be going to Diagon Alley now, right? He also wants to find a summer job there," Mr. Granger said.
"Oh—" The Granger couple suddenly understood something.
At this moment, Tom had already arrived at Diagon Alley. When it came to part-time jobs, the first place he thought of was Flourish and Blotts. The advantage of this part-time job was that he could read books! Sneaking a read was not embarrassing at all.
So, he walked into Flourish and Blotts and stated his purpose. The manager, Lawrence, was a small and bald middle-aged man. Like many Britons, he was bald. Lawrence looked at Tom with some surprise—Hogwarts rarely had children looking for summer jobs, as most young wizards chose to play with friends or relatives during the holidays.
However, having cheap labor come to the door was, of course, a good thing.
Although Lawrence held the title of manager, there weren't many people under his command. When it got busy, he often had to do things himself. Now, during the summer vacation when Hogwarts was about to welcome new students and a new semester with a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, a large number of new books would arrive. He would likely have to work overtime alone, so he needed to hire people.
So, he invited Tom into the office.
After entering the office, Lawrence sat down on his worn-out armchair and, with a wave of his wand, conjured a chair for Tom.
"What's your name?" He took out a piece of parchment and a feathered quill with falling feathers from the drawer.
"Tom Riddle, twelve years old."
Lawrence glanced up at Tom, "Working in a bookstore is not easy. It involves moving books."
"I'm good at the Levitation Charm." Tom took out his wand and lightly moved a stack of books in Lawrence's office back and forth.
Lawrence looked at Tom with some surprise. Being able to use the Levitation Charm to this extent at the age of twelve was quite impressive; many third-year students might not be as skilled.
"Can I see your grades?" He became interested in Tom.
"Of course." Tom took out his report card and handed it over.
Seeing Tom's ranking on the report card, Lawrence was surprised and raised his head to carefully look at Tom. He suddenly understood why Tom wanted to work here—this was a top student!
"Cough, don't fold the pages when reading, and try not to touch brand-new books. Also, don't interfere with your primary job."
Next was the discussion of salary and working hours.
Lawrence suggested that Tom work at the store on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with an hour for lunch. The pay was five Galleons per day, not including meals and accommodation.
Tom immediately expressed dissatisfaction: Dumbledore could offer Dobby a weekly salary of ten Galleons, and here he was, working from early morning to late evening, and only earning one Galleon per day?
I am a top student at Hogwarts, Dumbledore's confidant, and I deserve more money!
After a lengthy negotiation, Lawrence finally agreed: three days a week, five Galleons per day, excluding meals and accommodation. But if Tom worked for a full month, he would provide a set of second-year textbooks for free.
Everyone was happy.
At this moment, Mr. Lawrence didn't know that the second year was about to have a magical professor named Lockhart, and he required seven textbooks! Seven! This made it difficult for those financially less fortunate young wizards!
In some universities in Europe and America, professors often required students to purchase their own books to make a profit—don't think that books are not worth much; it's common for a brand-new textbook to cost over a hundred euros.
Lockhart, this birdman, required seven books! If you can't empathize,
just imagine receiving an email one day before school starts, saying that you need to spend a thousand euros on textbooks for one course. By the way, Lockhart's books were sold at a high price, five Galleons each. The same required textbook, "Standard Spells, Level Two," only cost one Galleon.
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