Diagon Alley funneled them to a palace of gold and light.
Gringotts.
Warnings to thieves were etched right on the bronze doors. Hagrid, solemn as a judge, rumbled, "Safest place in our world, this—second only to Hogwarts."
Theo managed a polite smile. In the timeline he remembered, Gringotts would be burgled on Harry's very first trip—and again, disastrously, in seventh year. Second-safest sounded… optimistic. Still, compared with Hogwarts' annual security calamities, fair enough.
They stepped inside.
"Exchange fer a Hogwarts first-year!" Hagrid boomed.
Theo raised a hand. "Do you work with Muggle banks? You can draw against my accounts if need be—London Bank, Santander, HSBC. VIP at each."
The goblin behind the counter—half-bored, idly flicking an abacus—looked up. Interest sharpened his eyes; his tone turned velveteen. "But of course. Discreet partnerships exist." He tapped his chest. "Larring, at your service. Your name?"
"Theodore Ashbourne."
Larring snapped at the clerk beside him. Paper chattered from a charm-rigged printer. Both goblins scanned, blinked—and smiled far too warmly.
"Sir Ashbourne," Larring said, "this hall is boisterous. VIP parlour, if you please."
They didn't notice the answering brightness in Theo's gaze; the pane had already flared:
[On Mount Wuyi you chance upon the itinerants Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao, mid-match at the way of chess. They invite you for tea.]
[Their cultivation is modest, but they jointly refine a wondrous treasure—the Falling-Treasure Coin—which can cast down the prized tools of heaven and earth.]
[Acquaintance → Talent: Wind & Dew Sustenance (akin to Sun & Moon Essence; draw ambient essence from wind, rain, and dew; strongest when paired with Sun & Moon).]
[Close Friend → Talent: Chessmaster's Instinct (their lifetime at the board grants you rare advantage in all games of position).]
[Life-and-Death → Method: Falling-Treasure Coin Refinement. The coin that drops all treasures; even Sea-Fixing Pearls bow to it.]
Theo was getting used to the System's… creative mappings. Why couldn't Gringotts be Mount Wuyi? The Alley was hidden by charm; Wuyi is hidden by cloud. Two goblins bent over an abacus—who said that wasn't "a game of chess"? Counters, pieces—same bones.
His eyes snagged on Falling-Treasure Coin and nearly wouldn't let go.
A star of a weapon, that one. In the old stories, Zhao Gongming strode rampant with his Sea-Fixing Pearls until he blundered into this coin and lost his prize to Randeng. Twenty-four pearls—gone—reforged into guardians of the Western faith.
If Theo could birth a Falling-Treasure Coin in a wand-world, he wouldn't be greedy. Drop the Elder Wand once; knock a Horcrux clean from its keeper. Dumbledore? Voldemort? Fine. If your wand is suddenly in his hand, we can talk close-quarters like gentlemen.
And even the acquaintance tier looked handy: Wind & Dew Sustenance. With Sun & Moon Essence (once he earned it from Roberts), the set might let Primordial training tick along in a world without "qi."
As for Chessmaster's Instinct—well, wizards loved chess. Professor McGonagall loved chess. Social doors sometimes opened to the right gambit.
In the VIP parlour, Larring began his patter on currency.
"One Galleon equals seventeen Sickles, equals four hundred ninety-three Knuts. The pound exchange floats; lately we've favoured roughly one to five."
He smiled with many teeth. "Rates move. Goblins study modern finance. A previous wizard—Muggle-born—attempted to arbitrage us. He now remits a… long-term schedule of repayments."
Larring turned the page. "As a minor, your per-term exchange is capped."
Theo glanced at Hagrid. "I've another matter to discuss with Gringotts. Can you give me a minute?"
Hagrid hesitated, then leaned close to "whisper" at a volume that rattled the inkwell. "Goblins'll sell their mother for the right price. Don't sign anything foolish."
Theo nodded. Hagrid, under the weight of two unfriendly goblin stares, shuffled out.
Theo lowered his voice. "Every rule has a workaround—especially a 'minor's cap.' I don't want to count Sickles at school like a penitent. You have methods. Muggles call it laundering. Don't pretend Gringotts has none."
He smiled like a man laying a friendly card on the table. "You take twenty percent as a convenience fee. Consider it the price of a new friend."
The room held its breath.MLE impound—Arthur Weasley gave the charms a tune-up," Ha
The pane did not. Somewhere behind Larring's careful expression, two quiet figures set down their tea bowls on Mount Wuyi and looked up from the "abacus."
And Theo, very politely, invited them to play.
Note:
Exchange rate: For this story, we fix 1 Galleon ≈ £5 (≈ US$7).