Destiny

Money

Harry was walking down, slightly unnerved by his experience at the wand shop. Ollivander said that his wand was special and also ancient, rumoured to be crafted by death himself. I mean, how is that even possible? He thought. Here also had told Harry to read the story of the three brothers and something about them being his ancestors. Antioch, Cadmus and Ignotus Peverell. Oh he was definitely going to read the story, because he needed answers, and fast. And yet there he was, marvelling at the sight before him. There were wizards and witches bustling everywhere. He saw different shops, some which were very small, but looked bigger on the inside while seeing through the windows. Some looked like different buildings were put together, one on top of the other and all on the brink of collapsing on each other but held together by magic. He entered a few shops and was intrigued by the interiors of the shops. Everything was magical, there was no light bulb or anything but instead a circular ball of light floating around in the air, although some shoos also seemed to use lamps and torches. He soon exited, driven out by the noise of crowd of customers. All the families were here with their children for their Hogwarts shopping. He soon started walking on what could be called the main street. Instead of walking towards the great marble building that was gringgots, which would have been the smart thing to do, he walked towards the direction opposite it, down the slightly sloped path. He saw different types of wizards everywhere. Some of them wearing expensive clothing and having a pompous air around them. With all of that they also had a certain elite aura around them. They all seemed to have a calm, cool expression fixed on their faces. They all seemed very quiet and self preserved. Harry immediately guessed that they were a kind of aristocrats in the wizarding world and that they were important, maybe even in the functioning of the wizarding government. On the other hand, he saw some poorly dressed redheaded folk who unlike the rich guys, were loud and obnoxious. All of them had freckles, which was okay, and a little dirt on their faces, which was not okay. Seriously, didn't these people take a bath or something? Harry could literally smell the stench of their clothes, which looked like it was about 10 years old and had never been through a wash.

He could hear a commotion nearby. Curiosity getting the better of him, he followed the noise. He went towards the left through a particularly crowded street and saw what the big deal was.

'DAILY PROPHET AND THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC PRESENT THE 1 MILLION GALLEON PRIZE TO THE PERSON WHO CAN ANSWER THIS RIDDLE' said a yellow and red colour banner. So this is a kind of lottery he mused. So if he answered this riddle right, he would instantly become a millionaire in the wizarding world. The riddle definitely had to be tricky, if so many people couldn't get it right. He saw a queue of people attempting the riddle. A million galleons was a lot of money and people were definitely taking their chances. It turns out the people who attempted to answer the riddle and failed to do so would have to then pay about 20 galleons as a penalty. Most of the attempters were of the middle class although there were a few wizards dressed in drab who were crying at their failure to answer the riddle which had made them 20 galleons poorer. It was good business for the ministry and the daily prophet, because of they put a hard enough riddle that nobody could answer, and about 50 people tried everyday for a month, they could earn about 28,000 galleons per month! As long as it was a hard riddle so that they didn't have to pay up the million galleons, the lottery was just easy money. Harry had to hand it over to them, this was a brilliant idea! It was extremely risky to put this kind of an idea into action as the loss could be a million galleons! However, if they did it right, then this could be a very easy money making scheme.

Harry had always been good at riddles, and usually got them right. He had started debating if he should give the riddle a try. He didn't have 20 galleons, but wouldn't need it if he could answer the riddle right. This could make him a millionaire, but the issue of paying up 20 galleons if he answered wrong still remained. After a few minutes of debating, he decided he would try the riddle out. Taking a deep breadth, he went to stand in the queue, which had now grown short, with just a few rich guys in front of him. After a few moments he heard one of the angry poor wizard screaming, " THIS RIDDLE DOESN'T MAKE SENSE! I AM GOING TO REPORT YOU TO THE MINISTRY YOU BLOODY MORONS! "" THIS IS BY THE MINISTRY YOU FOOL! AND DON'T YOU DARE SAY A WORD, YOU SWORE AN OATH " shouted back a person who had to be an employee. This incident made Harry nervous. The man could be right, they could just put up a senseless riddle that couldn't be answered! Like 'What came first, the chicken, or the egg?'. Harry started another internal debate in his mind, only to discover that he was next.