The Day of the Draw at Hogwarts

Chapter 417 Tour Guide: Minerva McGonagall

"Awesome." Huck sighed, and then he remembered that Tom had paid for his ticket just now.

This is not okay. I am a cabinet minister. How can I ask a child who has not graduated yet to pay? Huck's sense of justice was aroused.

He took out his wallet and cleared his throat, "Tom, how much was the ticket just now?"

"Ten silver coins," Tom scratched his head, "You don't have to pay for it, you really don't. The currency and exchange rate are different."

"Take it." Huck forced a ten pound note into Tom's hand. Compared with this small amount of money, a term Tom just said caught his attention.

"Yin Xi Ke?" He looked at Tom with curious eyes.

"The currencies of the magic world include gold Galleons, silver Sickles and copper Knuts. One Galleung is equal to 17 Sickles, and 1 Sickle is equal to 29 Knuts. Silver Sickles is the second-level currency." Tom said as he spoke. He took out one coin of each of the three currencies and handed it to Huck.

Hearing the weird exchange system, Huck showed an understanding smile: As expected of the British wizarding world, the currency system is almost the same, which is exactly the same torture.

After complaining about the currency system in the magical world, Huck began to carefully observe the three coins in his hand. The three different metal materials used in the British wizarding world reminded him easily of the currency used in ancient Europe, which also used gold, silver and copper.

Huck didn't have much interest in the copper coins and silver coins. His attention was completely attracted by the gold galleons. That was gold! People's love for gold is written in their genes. But after a brief obsession, Huck realized that the gold coin could never be pure gold because it didn't weigh enough.

Huck is not from a poor family, and he has a very intuitive concept of the density of gold. As soon as he got his hands on it, he realized that the gold coin was not pure enough.

"These currencies are minted by the goblins of Gringotts. The numbers on the edges of the currencies are their currency numbers."

"Gringotts?"

"Wizard's Bank."

Huck knew almost nothing about the wizarding world, so Tom and Hermione mainly explained various terms to him along the way. The three of them chatted happily in the rickety carriage.

Unlike ordinary Muggles, Huck, as a political figure who experienced the Cold War in the 1990s, is not like those idiots of the 21st century, but he still has some level of skill. During the chat, Huck was keenly aware of some strange things in the magical world, or in other words, abnormal developments.

For example, wizards in the magical world seem to have no concept of finance? It seems they don’t have an army yet? There are also a few schools, but this is understandable, their population is not large - it is a pity that they cannot attract enough votes from the magical world.

Of course, understanding these is just Huck's instinctive reaction. What he is really interested in is agriculture in the magical world.

"So you can grow pumpkins as big as a carriage? A few vegetable plots can sustain the consumption of the entire school? My God, this is so shocking." Huck really understands agriculture, and he understands what magic means to agriculture. What are you wearing?

"I wonder if these magics can..."

"Of course not." Tom knew what Huck was thinking and told him decisively that there was no way. This method of increasing production in the magical world cannot get rid of wizards. To popularize it on a large scale would be tantamount to exposing the wizarding world to the eyes of Muggles. The risks involved are not something today's wizards can bear.

Soon, the car stopped. Hogsmeade has arrived.

Huck stepped out of the car and breathed in the fresh air. The journey just now made him a little dizzy.

However, after a few mouthfuls of cold air were sucked into his chest, Huck recovered. He began to look around, observing the scene around him. What you see when you enter is completely like a British countryside scenery. If Tom hadn't told him in advance, he would never have thought that this was a village composed entirely of wizards.

"We have Hogsmeade days every once in a while. On that day, we can come here and hang out and buy some snacks, toys and the like."

Huck:…

This sounds similar to a boarding school...

"Welcome to Hogwarts." Just as Huck was thinking wildly, a middle-aged female voice came from behind them.

As soon as Huck turned his head, he saw a tall black-haired witch with a serious expression striding towards them. She wore emerald green robes and a pointed black wizard's hat.

The witch stretched out her hand to Harker, "I am the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall. Nice to meet you."

"Jim Harker, Minister of Administrative Affairs, PC of the Labor Party." Harker quickly shook hands with her. Before coming, he had already learned about Hogwarts from Tom. In his eyes, Hogwarts is no ordinary magic school - in terms of academic status, Hogwarts is the only magic school in the UK and the number one magic school in the world.

In terms of political status, almost all Ministry of Magic officials came from Hogwarts, which is outrageous! How deep-rooted the connections at Hogwarts are! Harker believed that even if the power of the Minister of Magic collapsed, it would not affect Hogwarts. Because the new minister must be a graduate of Hogwarts, and the members of the new minister's "cabinet" are also graduates of Hogwarts - it is a matter of changing the soup without changing the medicine.

This does not include Dumbledore's own strength and influence...

As the vice-principal of such a school, Huck really didn't feel that there was a status gap between himself and Professor McGonagall. Dumbledore sent Professor McGonagall to meet Harker because of her identity, and of course because of her friendly attitude towards Muggles. For Professor McGonagall, it is not unacceptable to allow a Muggle to enter Hogwarts. After all, there has been precedent before. Compared with the bakery owner, the identity of the would-be prime minister is obviously more convincing.

"Please follow me." Professor McGonagall led Tom, Hermione and Huck towards the direction of the school castle. They first arrived at the train station in Hogsmeade, and then turned onto a steep and narrow path. At the end of the path was the Black Lake of Hogwarts.

Professor McGonagall will take Harker into Hogwarts in the most traditional way - by boat.

After the four of them got into a small boat parked by the lake, the boat sailed forward across the mirror-like lake.

On the boat, Professor McGonagall carefully explained to Huck the tradition of crossing the lake by boat. Tom, who was sitting in the back row, had the illusion that Professor McGonagall was acting as a tour guide.

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Today, today I will tell the story of Evangeline Orpington, the seventeenth Minister of Magic. Evangeline Orpington was a witch who served as Minister for Magic from 1849 to 1855. She was the first person to come up with the idea of ​​building a hidden platform at King's Cross Station for the Hogwarts Express.

When Evangeline Orpington turned eleven, she bought her own poplar wand from Ollivander's Wand Shop in Diagon Alley.

Wandmaker Garrick Ollivander once mentioned that there is an old joke among wandmakers that no poplar wand has ever chosen a politician. However, this also reveals their tragic ignorance: two of the most accomplished Ministers in the history of the Ministry of Magic, Edrich Diggory and Evangeline Orpington, both had poplar wands made by Ollivanders. holder.

In 1849, Evangeline Orpington was appointed Minister of Magic.

At the time, one of her predecessors, Otalian Gamble, had prepared the Hogwarts Express and built a train station in Hogsmeade. However, the Ministry of Magic at that time was not in a hurry to build another wizarding train station in central London, because it was in full view of Muggles and might violate the International Statute of Secrecy if not paid attention to.

King's Cross Station opened in 1852, during Orpington's tenure. She accidentally thought of building a hidden platform in the newly built King's Cross Station that only wizards and witches could enter: Platform 9.

Minister Orpington was good friends with Queen Victoria, but she never told the Queen that she was a witch or the Minister of Magic. Some believe that she used magic to illegally intervene in the Crimean War.