Homecoming from Hogwarts

Harry arrived at Diagon Alley again with his nostrils twitching. Faintly, he could smell the burning smell of war in the air.

Like Fred, George and Ron who had arrived at the ruins of Diagon Alley earlier, he looked at the fireplace he had just walked out of.

Just like the fireplaces embedded on two walls of the Ministry of Magic's reception hall.

The Ministry built a half-mile-long, ten-foot-high wall leading to the industrial area, with fireplaces built inside the wall as windows for people to enter Diagon Alley.

Harry moved a few steps away from the fireplace to make room for Hermione, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley who were following closely behind.

The ground beneath his feet was not the stylish cobblestones that Harry was familiar with, nor was it even concrete or slate, but simply compacted ruins.

The Ministry of Magic obviously does not have the energy to compact the entire destroyed Diagon Alley in the short term.

The compact land was limited to the drop-off platform where they were and a road leading straight into the wilderness. As for the area outside, it was still in ruins.

The broken supporting pillars pointing obliquely to the sky silently tell people about the intensity and cruelty of the war.

Diagon Alley

Ginny murmured incoherently, and the Weasleys and Hermione were also speechless.

After all, the photos in the Daily Prophet are not as impactful as seeing it in person!

Only Harry, who had been to the battlefield himself, was a little dazed.

"Don't just stand there in a daze, everyone. The people behind you are still coming out!"

A wizard wearing a green armband saw them staring blankly at the surroundings in front of the fireplace, and shouted loudly, pushing through the crowd and walking towards them.

"Oh, sorry--"

Harry looked at the armband of the approaching wizard. It had the words 'Public Order Management' written in silver on a green background. He guessed that he was hired by the Ministry of Magic to maintain order.

Harry nodded in apology, then pointed to the sides of the avenue, where wizards were climbing up and down the ruins, occasionally cutting the crystalline stones with their wands.

"Excuse me, are those people the owners of the shop here?"

"Oh--"

The young wizard with short brown hair and as many freckles on his nose as Ron glanced at the people climbing up and down the ruins and said in a disapproving tone,

"Only a small number of them are. Most of them are scavengers who want to try their luck and find something valuable."

"Scavengers?"

Ron squinted his eyes and looked at the clothes those people were wearing, and shook his head in disagreement.
"They're better dressed than I am, Harry—"

Ron suddenly became excited.

"Maybe we can give it a try. There should be a lot of good things buried under the ruins!"

"I don't think that's necessary, Ron—"

Harry shook his head and said in a low voice,
"If you had seen Professor Blaine's battle with Voldemort, you would have known that there could be nothing left there."

The security warden had seen a lot of people pointing fingers at Diagon Alley after the war these days, and he was a little impatient as he arranged Harry and the others to line up at the exit of the drop-off platform and in a passage surrounded by two rows of fences.

People's discussions about Diagon Alley after the war gathered together like the buzzing of bees' wings.

Harry and his friends pricked up their ears and listened widely to people's views on the war and their attitudes towards the fact that the commercial center of the British wizarding world was in ruins.

Surprisingly, the vast majority of people are optimistic.

Perhaps it was the Ministry of Magic's tough attitude towards the enemy and the Daily Prophet's repeated praise for the victory of the war in recent days.

Everyone began to believe that the Ministry of Magic, supported by Amos Stark and Albus Dumbledore, was able to control the situation on a large scale.

"You know, dear, it's a good thing he--"

A lady wearing a bowler hat with several colorful feathers on it did not mind being heard and said to her companions,

"I had been planning to leave London for a while but after the war I wasn't too worried.

A friend of mine is a reporter for the Daily Prophet. He was hiding in the rice field in front at the time. He told me that the You-Know-Who didn't get any advantage from him from beginning to end. At least they were evenly matched, and Dumbledore hadn't even joined in yet!"

Harry and the other two looked at each other and smiled.

They all knew who the 'he' in the lady's words was referring to.

Some of the views about Diagon Alley surprised Harry even more.

"Honestly, nothing has changed here since I was born!" said an old lady with a cane and gray hair tied in a bun like Professor McGonagall to her equally old partner.
"Now this is a bit novel!"

Harry grinned and laughed.

"Oh my god, does she really think Diagon Alley is nice now?"

"Oh, of course not--"

Hermione disagreed with the old lady's opinion. She looked in awe at a marble pillar that was stuck in the ground and had an outer contour of four or five feet.

This pillar obviously belongs to Gringotts, but the original site of Gringotts is still several hundred feet away. It is very likely that it was blown up here.

"The most important reason people can remain optimistic is that they know the Ministry can't just leave Diagon Alley alone like this."

Harry nodded, agreeing with Hermione.

"Hey, it's you!"

As soon as they followed the team out of the platform passage, someone waved and greeted them.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione!"

The people around them immediately looked at them, and Harry was so scared that he quickly lowered his head.

"Ernie?"

Only Ron had no psychological burden. He waved happily to his classmates at Hogwarts.
"Are you here to buy something too?"

"Of course!"

Ernie came running over and greeted everyone again.

"I came here with my mother. She was buying me a robe over there. I was a little bored, so I came out for a walk—"

Ernie said excitedly, pointing to the ruins not far away, trying to suppress his excited tone.
"This is amazing, isn't it? It's all Professor Blaine's fault. Oh, what a pity! Our PE classes will end next semester, and we are not old enough to take the NEWTS course in PE!"

Before they could reply, Ernie continued to talk.

"Hogwarts is about to start. I'm so happy. I can finally watch Quidditch games this year. There are a few vacancies in the Hufflepuff team. I plan to persuade my mother to buy me a flying broomstick and try my luck.

Harry, of course you'll remain Gryffindor's Seeker, and Fred and George won't be changing either, so what about you, Ron? What are your plans?"

"Wood graduated, didn't he?"

Ron's heart was pounding, and he bit his lip and muttered.

Harry nodded,

"I guess Angelina will be the captain of Gryffindor. Wood is leaving. So that means we need to add a goalkeeper."

Ron's heart was pounding. He turned around and looked at Mrs. Weasley with longing eyes.

A flying broom is very expensive, and Mrs. Weasley frowned unconsciously.

"A sweep will do, mother, no need for Nimbus or Firebolts."

Ron said pitifully.

"Oh, you're still counting on the Firebolt?"

Seeing Ron's miserable appearance, Mrs. Weasley smiled.

"Well, I don't see why not, Ron. After all, it's your money. You can go pick out a broom."

Ron hadn't cheered so excitedly all summer!
Ernie still needed to try on robes, and Harry and the Weasleys needed to go to Gringotts to get money, so Ron and Ernie agreed to go to the Quidditch Boutique to look at brooms later.

They officially walked into the post-disaster Diagon Alley neighborhood.

Merchants set up magic tents on both sides of the road paved by the Ministry of Magic. In order to let people know what they are selling, a large banner with the original store name was hung on the top of each tent.

They were pleased to find that most of the original shops were still in business.

They strolled along the street, looking at the tent shops of various shapes on both sides of the road, and felt as if they were back at the camping site during the Quidditch World Cup.

"It's quite amazing,"

Ginny expressed the same opinion as Harry.

"I think it would be nice to keep this feature after Diagon Alley is rebuilt -" (End of this chapter)