Harry pointed at the counter in the corner, looking curiously at Hagrid, "Is that the Silver Flash blind box they were talking about?"
"That's right." Hagrid nodded and smiled. "Each of those boxes costs ten sickles. You can draw a prize after opening them, but only on site; the boxes can't be taken away. What you get from inside is completely random. If you're lucky, you might get something good right away. If you're unlucky, you might buy dozens and only get cheap stuff."
While Hagrid was explaining to Harry, he saw a young wizard carrying four blind boxes to the wall. After muttering something to himself, he seemed to make up his mind and opened all four boxes at once, then immediately reached his hand inside. Then Harry saw a shocking scene: the square box in the young wizard's hand was clearly only about ten centimeters long and wide, but the person actually extended his entire arm inside.
And judging by the young wizard's expression, it was as if he had put his hand into another space, fumbling around with effort for a long time before pulling his hand out with a mighty tug. Immediately after, Harry saw that the person actually pulled out a paper tube forty to fifty centimeters long from that small box!
"What! It's another poster, and it's for the Falmouth Falcons! If it were the Caerphilly Catapults, it'd be decent. How unlucky!" The young wizard unfolded the paper tube, glanced at it, and then threw it aside in disgust before reaching into the next blind box to rummage. Then Harry saw the young wizard pull out a quill, an unmatched long sock, and a fist-sized lollipop from the remaining three blind boxes!
"For Merlin's sake, I refuse to believe I can't get anything good!" The young wizard bit the lollipop in a fit of pique, then pulled out some loose change from his pocket and rushed toward the counter behind him.
"Uh... why do those blind boxes seem to have a low winning rate?" Harry observed carefully for a moment and found that most of the blind boxes bought by the young wizards didn't yield anything good. Even Harry could tell that the consolation prizes weren't worth much.
"That's why they're called blind boxes..." Hagrid scratched his head and chuckled awkwardly. He naturally knew that it would be a miracle to get anything good from those boxes.
Alan had secretly told him that ninety percent of these blind boxes contained trash, nine percent were outdated products that couldn't be sold, and only one percent were genuinely new items. Moreover, only one percent of this one percent were high-value items; the rest were cheap goods like records. These things could probably be bought directly for fifteen sickles or one Galleons. In fact, the value of these products might not even be as high as the box itself, which was a high-grade item enchanted with a Traceless Stretching Charm. So Hagrid still didn't understand why so many people were keen on drawing blind boxes, and many even got addicted to it.
"If you're interested, you can go and try later, but we need to get your teaching materials first." With that, Hagrid dragged the reluctant Harry in another direction.
There was also a counter here, but only a few people gathered around it. At this moment, a witch with curly hair was behind the counter, resting her chin on her hand, staring blankly, bored.
"Vivian! The shop is so busy, what are you doing daydreaming here?" Hagrid saw his large figure approach but failed to make her snap out of it, so he couldn't help but shout.
"Oh...!" Hearing Hagrid's voice, Vivian shivered as if she were a startled hen with ruffled feathers. Then she glared at him with an unpleasant expression. Realizing it was Hagrid, she grumbled irritably, "Oh, it's Hagrid. You scared me half to death! I was just simulating a game of mahjong in my head with someone. Can't you stop being so startling?"
"I've been standing next to you for a while, and you still didn't react at all," Hagrid complained a bit speechlessly, then asked curiously, "by the way, don't you usually stay at the mahjong room? Why are you free to come down and mind the shop today? I remember Shalltear was in charge of this counter before."
"Hah, don't even get me started. It's all because of our unscrupulous boss!" Speaking of this, Vivian first rolled her eyes in annoyance, then began to chatter incessantly, "Do you think it's easy for me to painstakingly manage the mahjong room every day? It's all to help the company sell a few more sets of magic mahjong. But that scoundrel actually slandered me, saying I've been lazy and that if I don't come down to help during peak season, he'll kick the mahjong room out of the second floor! What kind of logic is that? So I was forcibly sent down to be in charge of the new students' teaching materials counter. It's so boring!"
Harry, standing by, watched this seemingly young witch, whose mouth was like a machine gun, spewing out such a long paragraph in just a few seconds. He couldn't help but gape in astonishment. Was this also magic? So amazing!
Hagrid, standing nearby, couldn't help but chuckle at Vivian's exasperated look. "It's all your fault for being too idle and leaving all the shop's work to Evan alone. It's summer vacation now, and there are naturally more customers. Even Hog and Shalltear have come to help out, so how could we let you continue to be idle?"
"Hmph, you always take his side. If the shop is short-staffed, then hire more people! It's not like we can't afford to pay wages. If you ask me, that scoundrel is too stingy. He won't even hire temporary workers. Otherwise, why would I, the designer, have to come out personally? You should know that my usual work is also very tiring. Playing mahjong is for collecting inspiration!"
Vivian still had that indignant expression, and it was then that she noticed Harry beside her. Then she glanced at Hagrid. "I was wondering why you suddenly came to the shop. So you've brought a new student to buy supplies again. Wait a moment, both of you."
With that, Vivian turned her head and rummaged through the cabinet behind her, then took out a pile of items and placed them onto the counter.
"Here, all the teaching materials you'll need for enrollment are here: one textbook on Tactical Training Studies, two sets of summer training uniforms, one set of winter training uniforms, one pair of all-terrain training boots, one sensing ball, and one identification tag. The total comes to twenty Galleons. This is a special student discount price. Thank you for your patronage!" Vivian casually placed the teaching materials one by one in front of Harry and then spoke weakly.
"Wilderness survival tools are only needed by older wizards, Vivian. Can you please wake up?" Even the usually good-natured Hagrid couldn't help but rub his forehead in exasperation at Vivian's listless appearance.
"Oh! I forgot. Look at my brain—I feel completely out of sorts as soon as I get off the mahjong table recently." Vivian chuckled awkwardly at the sight, then put away the extra small box from the counter. "Without the wilderness survival tools, it's twenty Galleons, hehe."
Seeing that this witch in front of him seemed a bit unreliable, Harry could only smile awkwardly and pull out money from his pocket. As Vivian was collecting the payment, she inadvertently caught sight of the lightning-shaped scar on Harry's forehead. Her eyes widened as if she had suddenly come to life, "Wait, that scar on your head... Are you the Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter?"
"Uh... yes, ma'am." Harry smiled bitterly and awkwardly at her words. Ever since he entered Diagon Alley from the Leaky Cauldron, he had noticed that all the wizards he met seemed to know him, but he was completely bewildered by it. He didn't even know how to respond to them.
"Merlin's beard, I can't believe you're so big now. Oh dear... time really flies!" Vivian did not react like other wizards who recognized Harry, who were either reserved or surprised; instead, she shook her head and sighed with emotion.
"You know me? I mean, did you know me before?" Seeing Vivian's reaction, Harry couldn't help but let his imagination run wild. *Is this lady connected to me, or did she know my parents?*
"No... I haven't seen you before, but someone I know is very close to you." Vivian chuckled softly, then looked at Harry and couldn't help but frown, "But why are you so thin, kid? If that person sees you, they're sure to get angry."
"Ah? Who are you referring to?" Harry scratched his head in confusion. This lady knows someone very close to me? Do I have relatives? And why would that person be angry?
"Heh, you'll find out then." Vivian smiled slyly, then reached out and pinched Harry's face, "Remember to eat well when you go back and don't be a picky eater; otherwise, you'll have a hard time when you start school."
"Oh, I got it." Harry's voice was distorted from being pinched, but he could feel that the other person genuinely cared about him.
"Hmm, that's good. I'll help you pack your things. When you come back next time, if the shop isn't busy, Auntie will teach you how to play mahjong!" Vivian smiled and took out wrapping paper, carefully wrapping all of Harry's teaching materials.
"Thank you." Harry nodded gratefully, then seemed to think of something and suddenly asked, "By the way, do you know about the Garden Symphony outside the door? Do people who are favored by those flower fairies become especially lucky? If I go to draw a blind box, will I win a big prize?"
"You mean those light projections? Those are all fake. There's no such thing as good luck just because a flower fairy notices you. I bet some dog deliberately spread that rumor." Vivian rolled her eyes and waved her hand.
"Ah? Then why did that flower fairy come up to me and blow on me? I was clearly so far from the display case?" Harry still held a sliver of hope in his heart; he always felt that the flower fairy seemed very spiritual.
"Hehe, you don't understand this, do you?" Vivian smiled and leaned her head close to Harry's ear, whispering, "That Garden Symphony set in the display case is specially customized. That lamp has been enchanted with a Gold-Sniffing Charm, so those flower fairies will only go close to people who have Galleons on them. She likes you... which means you're rich!"