Wish Upon A Star

Diagon Alley

Diagon alley was even more fascinating than in the books or the movies. Her head swung around trying to take in everything at once. 

"Well," Ashlyn told her parents. "I'd need money for the transaction, and as the letter from the Ministry of Magic said, wizards and witches have a different monetary system. So our first stop should be the wizard bank, Gringotts,"

She pointed at the huge white marbled building that towered over the rest of the street. 

". . .On second thought," she muttered looking at the older couple's baffled expressions. "You shouldn't have chased away the Ministry representative. It is understandable that you are cautious, but it would have been much better if you had a professional. They are trained to explain things and run through the entire process,"

Ashlyn kept rambling out of excitement. "I wouldn't really need it though. I already know stuff...Right, I forgot to mention the exchange system, didn't I? So, basically, the currency here consists of coins. Gold, silver and bronze,"

"Won't there be trouble in the financial structure?" Mr Clarke asked weakly as he watched a large book attack its owner, snapping its pages wildly. What was even stranger was that everyone seemed to pass this off as natural, as though it was a daily occurrence.

"Ah," Ashlyn said. "There is an authorization too. It is usually goblins who make the coins, and they have a special serial number engraved on each coin, hence it can't be just made by magic It won't be valid,"

"Goblins?" Mrs Clakre squeaked and clutched her husband's arm tighter, and Ashlyn felt her mother's grip on her arm tighten too.

Ashlyn sighed. "The gold coins are called Galleons," she said. "The silver ones are called Sickles, and the little bronze ones are Knuts. There are seventeen sickles in a galleon and twenty-nine knuts in a sickle, so there will be 493 knuts in a galleon," she recited the stuff she had read on the net before during that time.

"I've heard that a thousand galleons are worth $250,000," she said thinking. "So, in Pound Sterling, it would be. . ." she trailed off. She was never too good at math, and doing such a huge calculation in her head itself was trouble. Not to mention that she didn't know how much US dollar was a pound.

"180618 pounds and 75 pence," Mr Clarke said. 

Ashlyn stared up at him in amazement. She was impressed by his math skills. That was cool. 

She led her parents to Gringotts. They did look terrified of all the strange things along the way.

A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon

liver, sixteen Sickles an ounce, they're mad. . . ." 

Mrs Clarke gaped when she heard that and muttered, "Dragon liver?"

Mr Clarke was shaking his head every two seconds, as though trying to tell himself that this was all just a dream.

Then bringing both her parent's attention towards her, Ashlyn let out a soft squeal.

"That's a Nimbus Two Thousand," she breathed hopping on her feet to see the broom on display outside a store. 

"It's the fastest yet. . .Though it won't stay in that position for long. Once Nimbus Two Thousand and One comes out. And then the Firebolt. But, it's still an amazing broom,"

"A broom?" Mr Clarke said.

"For flying," Ashlyn said promptly. "And look, we're here," 

They had finally reached the snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was a goblin.