Harry Potter: This senior is pretty strong

Once upon a time, there was a wizard who, while crossing a bridge, accidentally dropped his wooden wand into the river.

Looking at the rushing river, he was very anxious, not knowing how to retrieve the magic wand. Just then, a river god floated up from the water.

The river god, holding a magic wand in each hand, smiled and said to the wizard:

"Young wizard! Did you drop this golden wand or this silver wand?"

Well, Qin Yu's mood at this moment is probably similar to that of the wizard who lost his wand. They probably both have a similar thought in their minds: Is someone really going to care about my business?

In short, when he heard someone speaking to him, Qin Yu was first taken aback, and then turned around to look in the direction of the voice.

Then he saw a young man standing behind the bar, wearing a staff uniform—this was clearly the one who had spoken.

Looking at the shop's signboard, Qin Yu was somewhat surprised; it was actually "Florin Cold Drink Shop"!

That is, the ice cream shop that Hermione mentioned on the tram.

I never imagined that my frantic chase would lead me to the vicinity of this shop.

If the young shop assistant hadn't stopped him while he was walking with his head down, Qin Yu probably wouldn't have noticed this.

"Thank you, but you probably don't have what I'm looking for here," Qin Yu replied politely with a forced smile.

"Oh? What do you want? I might be able to offer some suggestions, after all, I'm quite familiar with Diagon Alley," the young clerk said with a smile, looking very curious.

In the dead of winter, business at the cold drink shop was slow, and Qin Yu guessed that this guy was just bored and had nothing better to do, otherwise he wouldn't have started chatting with people so casually.

However, what the other person said does make sense. As a "staff member" who has been in Diagon Alley for many years, they must know this place very well.

So, Qin Yu, with a "let's give it a shot" mentality, voiced his thoughts:

"I wanted to buy a newspaper, but Flourish and Blotts was sold out. I just tried to catch up with the last person who bought it, but I couldn't."

"A newspaper? Which newspaper is it?" the young clerk asked, puzzled.

"The Voice of Wizards, the latest issue." Qin Yu stated the name, then added, "It's a North American newspaper; you might not have heard of it..."

Before he could finish speaking, the young clerk casually tossed something onto the counter with a "thud" and asked in a somewhat surprised and hesitant tone, "Is this it?"

Qin Yu was even more surprised than him, because the newspaper was the very one he was looking for, "The Voice of Wizards," and it was the latest issue!

Could it be that I, Old Qin, have really encountered a meddlesome river god today?! And what about the other gold and silver newspapers? Hurry up and let me choose!

"How did you get this?" Qin Yu pulled himself back to reality and said in disbelief, then explained, "I mean, this newspaper isn't very popular, and bookstores don't usually stock many copies."

"Well, it's part of the job," the young shop assistant said with a matter-of-fact expression.

"Huh?" Qin Yu didn't understand. You work in an ice cream shop, what does that have to do with newspapers?

"What I mean is, my job can be quite leisurely at times, so I need to read newspapers or novels to pass the time," the young clerk explained immediately.

"Oh oh oh."

You must have a lot of free time.

In his previous life, this person would have been scrolling through TikTok non-stop when he had nothing to do.

Upon thinking about it this way, Qin Yu instantly understood.

"So, this is what you're looking for?" the young shop assistant steered the conversation back on track.

"Yes, yes! It's this newspaper!" Qin Yu nodded repeatedly.

"What a coincidence! I never expected that this was exactly what you wanted!" The shop assistant seemed even more surprised than Qin Yu.

That expression probably conveyed a feeling of wanting to help but thinking it might not be helpful, but unexpectedly, it actually turned out to be helpful. To summarize it simply, it could be described as "a lucky break that turned out to be a lucky break."

"If possible, could you sell me this newspaper?" Qin Yu asked eagerly, not wanting to miss this opportunity again.

"Of course!" the young shop assistant readily agreed. Without hesitation, she handed over the newspaper and said to Qin Yu, "I've already looked at it. Five copper nut will do. That's the price I paid when I bought it. I hope you don't think I'm overcharging just because it's secondhand."

Of course not!

Qin Yu didn't care about the price. He quickly took it, flipped through it, found the page he wanted to see, and instantly felt relieved.

"Thank you, thank you so much! You've really helped me a lot!" he said repeatedly.

"You're welcome. I'm happy to be of help," the young shop assistant said with a bright smile.

That's exactly like a random passerby buying a set of three antique construction site items on the street, only to unexpectedly acquire a genuine Qianlong-era jade bowl. (Note: "Genuine" means immediately authentic, a term used in the antique world.)

Qin Yu didn't have time to care about the other person's expression or thoughts; he was genuinely happy to have received the newspaper.

So, when he paid, he asked the clerk to pack two more ice creams, the kind with raspberry sauce.

The shop assistant joked that there was no need to patronize the shop to thank him, since a bad business couldn't be salvaged by just one or two orders.

"No, it's just that my sister really wanted some. She specifically mentioned your ice cream before she came here today," Qin Yu explained.

"You have a younger sister?" The young shop assistant seemed a little surprised to hear this.

Hmm? Is it strange to have a younger sister? Doesn't everyone have a smart, obedient, cute, and sweet-smelling younger sister?

Qin Yu was taken aback by his question and almost blurted out those words.

However, thinking about it, it's a bit inappropriate. After all, we're in London, so let's not be so Versailles-like.

So Qin Yu explained seriously, "She's not my biological sister, but a little girl from the family I'm staying with. We're very close, and I've always treated her like a sister."

"Oh, I see," the young shop assistant said with a sudden realization.

The deal was done. All that was left was for the clerk to pack the two ice creams, and then Qin Yu took them and the newspaper back to find Hermione.

……

Qin Yu sat in the reading area on the second floor and recounted the whole story to Hermione.

Of course, the details were well-balanced, without any lengthy embellishments or extravagant descriptions. They certainly wouldn't mention trivial matters like being bombarded with questions by the female clerk on the first floor. After all, they were in a bookstore, surrounded by many people reading, so whispering for a while was fine, but talking for too long wouldn't be appropriate.

Hermione was quite moved when she heard the end of the story, saying that she could understand why Qin Yu had left without saying goodbye, because things had indeed happened too suddenly.

"You were thinking you'd be back soon, but you didn't expect to be gone for so long. Luckily, you finally got that newspaper!"

Hermione was happy for Qin, who had unexpectedly gained something amidst his disappointment.

"Yeah, thank goodness we got it..."

As Qin Yu spoke, he held the newspaper tightly, hesitant to open it.