Just as Allen thought his image was completely ruined, Madam Malkin calmly picked up the fallen paper bag and handed it back to him with a casual tone, adding with a hint of advice,
"Oh, keeping things close to the body is certainly safe, but there's always the chance of a little mishap. Besides, wizard robes really aren't meant for storing things inside, are they?"
Allen silently retorted, As long as you're happy.
Outwardly, though, he thanked her in the most sincere tone he could muster. He had to remind himself this was 1990s Britain, not the meme-filled modern era where a wrapped-up book could cause all kinds of misunderstandings.
After collecting his school robes, Allen quickly borrowed an owl from the pet shop to send his enrollment confirmation back to the school. That marked the end, at least temporarily, of his Diagon Alley journey. Until he had some new funds, there wasn't much more he could afford here anyway...
After treating himself to one last cup of malted juice, Allen headed for the exit of the Leaky Cauldron. When he reached for his wallet, Old Tom quickly waved him off.
"Today's on me, lad. No need to pay," he said with a grin.
No wonder this place is always half-dead, Allen thought. Spending so generously… It's a miracle this bar still exists. But he is a genuinely kind guy.
With that, Allen stepped out from the Leaky Cauldron just as he had arrived, only this time, he carried with him a whole trunk full of wizarding supplies and a wand.
If people found out what's inside this trunk, I might end up doing time in Azkaban, he joked to himself.
Despite being separated from the neighboring shops by only a wall, crossing that short distance felt like stepping into another world. The imperial weight of London's atmosphere enveloped him once more.
He flagged down a cab, because really, you couldn't expect this magically concealed area to be anywhere near a subway station or bus stop. The nearby shops were nearly bankrupt as it was.
Must be cursed land in the feng shui sense, he mused.
As the cab driver flipped up the "Available" sign, Allen knew he had reached his destination: the orphanage.
This area was one of London's poorest. It wasn't realistic to expect an orphanage to be located anywhere affluent. Even if they had managed to get a plot of land there, they wouldn't have been able to keep it.
Allen had stayed at this orphanage for three full years. He knew every nook and cranny, where the low fences could be climbed, where the small tunnels led, and which corners were best for hiding things you didn't want others to see.
With the help of the system, he had even discovered a hidden passage concealed by the orphanage's biggest gang of kids, a forgotten WWII air raid shelter dug up by curious children decades later.
Allen didn't belong to any gang. His only close companion, a younger girl he treated like a little sister, had been adopted in his second year there. It wasn't that he didn't care for her, quite the opposite. He had beaten down five older boys to win her that adoption opportunity.
Even with help from the system, there was no way he could protect her from all the hardships in the orphanage. He couldn't even properly educate her. For kids like them, there were only two options: the worst of public schools, or a harshly managed church school. Either way, being adopted was a far better fate.
Allen had done his research. After confirming the identity of the visiting adoptive parent, he had taken decisive action, beating up the boy who used the director's secret to blackmail her spot, along with his four cronies. He also returned the director's stolen land deed as proof. The price? Two weeks of solitary confinement. But his little sister was adopted.
The incident left quite the reputation.
Case in point: the boy now cowering in the corner, trying to make himself invisible. In the orphanage, Allen was a legend, the kid who took down the fiercest gang so his sister could get adopted. And on top of that, he was the head student rep for the public school, appointed by the director himself.
"Hey, Ruby, how about a smile?" Allen patted the boy on the shoulder, watching him produce a grin more painful than a cry.
"Cheer up, buddy. I found a boarding school, I'm finally done with that cursed public school!"
Ruby blinked, then his smile gradually turned genuine. Allen, though disliked for enforcing school discipline, had at least protected them from being bullied. Still, few of the orphanage brats had appreciated him. Now that he was leaving, Ruby could finally feel free.
Behind them, a group of kids couldn't suppress their giggles. Allen sighed.
I've done what I could for them. What happens next is up to them.
Ignoring the whispering kids forming new cliques, Allen made his way back to his little room.
His room sat in the corner of the second floor of one of the semi-dilapidated buildings that made up the orphanage. It was sunlit and quiet, a decent environment, if you didn't mind the room being barely fifteen square meters.
He set down his trunk but didn't immediately delve into his magical textbooks. Instead, he pulled out a small, withered coin pouch. Compared to the plump bag he had withdrawn from Gringotts earlier, this one looked positively starved.
He had 60 Galleons, 12 Sickles, and just under 3 Knuts left.
Excluding a few magical items too difficult to sell and less than £15 in cash, this was everything Allen had to his name.
Oh great system, can you just let me win the lottery or something?
The system's response, however, was exactly what he expected: no lottery functionality. Instead, with a shimmer of light, the system spat out 44 Galleons.
Now, combined with the initial 10 Galleons saved, the system had 450 Galleons in total.
And that, coincidentally, was the exact price of the cheapest hero.
Allen had made up his mind,
It was time to unlock a new hero.