The task itself wasn’t as small as Magnus had initially thought. Diagon Alley, it turned out, was far rger than he had judged from the films.

  The movies and books had focused on a few key businesses relevant to each se, but iy, the alley was bustling with tless stores and thriving businesses.

  Magnus’s task was simple: to help the man carry the crates of berries into various er stores.

  It wasn’t long before he realized just how in demand the berries were.

  Nearly every shop they visited required berries in varying quantities, and it quickly became clear why.

  Everywhere they went, there were at least two or three Pokémon—some of which Magnus couldn’t even .

  That wasn’t surprising though; even a Pokédex didn’t cover every Pokémon.

  He recalled from the Pokémon world that berries and dies were essential to the creatures, not just as food but also as tools for evolviain species. If these creatures were as popur here as they were in the Pokémon world, then the man’s business was undoubtedly booming.

  Their st two stops were where they finally emptied the cart.

  One was a shop Magnus had never heard of before: The Mystic Brews and Berries.

  Judging by the sign and the shelves stacked with cauldrons and vials, it otion and berry shop.

  They took half of the remaining crates, and Magnus saw several unfamiliar Pokémon as he carried them in.

  There was however no time to check them out as his panion was already guiding the self-pulling cart to their er.

  The final stop was more familiar: The Owl Emporium.

  This version, however, now shared a space with a very noisy Pokémon daycare.

  The daycare was the first simirity this world shared with the actual Pokémon world… No, actually, it was the third.

  The first was the hey all called them Pokémon. The sed was that, in both worlds, they loved berries.

  Magnus had pletely fotten his fear of being tracked by the hospital; his mind was irely drunk on the newfouement of disc this world… Actually, stumbling was more like it.

  He was even beginning to feel impatient.

  When would they be done? Not only did he want to explore Diagon Alley, but there were also Pokémon… If he was lucky, he might even glimpse a gym a a ce to witness a Pokémon battle live… That is, if there were pokemon gyms here in the first pce .

  To his relief, the emporium took all of the remaining berries.

  The daycare, however, ure chaos, and he had to take the long way through the batrao avoid the mess caused by the Pokémon as they tried to grab some berries.

  Just hearing the noise from the daycare made him certain he’d go mad if he had to spend even an hour there.

  From the looks of things, the witches and wizards inside—who were desperately trying to calm the Pokémon—were already teetering on the edge of madhemselves.

  It didn’t take long fnus to figure out why everything was so chaotic.

  Ohing he had noticed so far was that Poké Balls didn’t seem to exist here, which was surprising.

  They clearly reized the Pokémon by their inal names, but they had no idea about some of the most basic tools of the trade.

  The ck of Poké Balls only made things more fusing, though Magnus didn’t have the time to dwell on it.

  “Huff... You’re quite a lifesaver,” Mr. Galloway—whose name Magnus had learned from his ers—sighed as he watched him empty the final crate. “You’ve really saved me a lot of trouble, so I’ll make it five galleons.”

  Magnus blinked in surprise as Mr. Galloway handed him five extra galleons from the payment he had just received from the pet shop.

  He couldn’t believe his luck!

  Only a short while ago, he had been staring dowhreat of starvation, unsure where even a knut would e from.

  Now, he had six galleons in his pocket. If he rationed well, this could st him days—at least as far as meals were ed.

  Sleep, however, was another matter entirely. That, he’d figure out on his own, as he always had.

  The maated as he turo leave, looking almretful.

  “I’m afraid that’s all I do for now, kid. I really don’t have a pce for you to sleep, though I wish I could help...”

  Magnus quickly cut him off. Sympathy made him unfortable.

  “Ah, don’t worry about it, sir. You’ve already helped me a lot,” he said. Then he hesitated for a moment, weighing his options.

  Was he asking too much?

  He quickly pushed that thought aside. Survival came first.

  He’d seen an opportunity for steady ine, and he’d be a fool to let it slip away.

  “I was just w,” he tinued, “how often do y the berries? I’d be grateful if you gave me the offloading job.”

  Magnus was aware that the wizarding world didn’t have strict rules about minors w, especially if magic wasn’t involved. After all, the Weasley twins had started their business before they were of age. Moreover, many witches and wizards learrades through apprenticeships.

  Mr. Galloway seemed to share the same mi, as he smiled broadly at Magnus’s request.

  “Oh, that? I almost fot. Twice a week, during fresh market days,” the man replied.

  Seeing the fused look on Magnus’s face, he added, “That’s on Wednesdays and Saturdays. If you’re here early, there’s plenty more work to be done. You could make a couple malleons.”

  “Thank you very much, sir. You’ll find me waiting,” Magnus said early.

  He swore to himself that if it meant sleeping oreets of Diagon Alley just to be there early, he’d do it without hesitation.

  “No, I should thank you,” the man replied warmly. “You’ve saved me a lot of trouble, kid.”

  “Well, goodbye...”

  “Magnus,” he said as he shook the man’s proffered hand.

  It was clear that Mr. Galloway was expeg a surname or at least a sed name, but Magnus was all he had ever known.

  “Yes… Magnus,” he repeated, feeling a little awkward.

  Mr. Galloway seemed to fill in the bnks for himself. He smiled as he released his hand and stepped away.

  “Well, see you then, Magnus Magnus.”

  And with that, he turned and climbed bato the cart, which pulled away on its own.

  For several minutes, Magnus stood watg as the cart rolled further and further away.

  What he was trying to decipher in his head was what would happen ohey broke out of Diagon Alley.

  Would the Muggles find it weird that a cart ulling itself, carrying an even more weirdly dressed man?

  Then again, maybe that wasn’t what the Muggles saw. Maybe the cart was ented—just like many other wizarding things—so that it would either be invisible to them or else they would see something pletely normal.

  ***

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