The tail end of summer had been baked golden by August's fierce sun. On the cobblestone streets of Diagon Alley, the crowds surged like a river restrained by an invisible dam, noisy and restless, gathering the heat of an entire year into this one place.
It was the pre-school shopping season , the annual festival for wizarding families.
Unlike past years, when shopping days were slightly cramped and frantic, this year the Scott family moved with calm precision.
Alan was not there.
He chose to remain at the Burrow, immersing himself in rune matrices far more intricate than even the Ministry's vaults. Yet although he was physically absent, his will hovered over his family with near-omniscience.
Before leaving, he had handed his family not advice, but a complete action plan.
The parchment he had named the "Optimal Shopping Route Map" glimmered faintly in his mother Carla's hand. It was far more than a map. Lines drawn in vibrant magical ink coursed across it like living veins, planning everything with absolute precision.
A crimson main artery led from the back entrance of the Leaky Cauldron directly to the white marble steps of Gringotts, avoiding all crowded side streets and trivial shops.
Four subsidiary routes branched off, each in a different color:
Bright blue: winding between Flourish & Blotts and secondhand book stalls , the knowledge supply line.
Crimson gold: straight to Ollivanders , the wand update line.
Deep bronze: encircling the cauldron and potion shops , the alchemy materials line.
Soft pink: a gentle line terminating at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, marked with a cute ice cream cone , reserved as the afternoon tea rest stop for little Lilia and Carla.
These four independent paths decomposed a day's complex shopping tasks into four maximally efficient modules, each perfectly executable.
But that was not all.
Each member of the Scott family carried a small wooden token on their wrist. Handcrafted from birch by Alan, smooth and warm to the touch, faintly carrying the forest's scent. He called them "communication rune tokens", simple devices that used rune resonance to convey essential messages.
One side etched with the "send" rune, the other with "receive." They couldn't transmit complex syllables or words but could communicate preset messages through rhythmic taps:
One short tap: "Safe" or "Yes."
Two short taps: "No" or "Negative."
Three rapid taps: an urgent, highest-priority request for guidance.
Between the towering shelves of Flourish & Blotts, the air was filled with the scent of fresh ink and the quiet gravity of old parchment. Carla stopped at a thick hardcover:
Advanced Transfiguration Theory and Practice.
The author's name, renowned in the contemporary magical world, was one of the three acknowledged masters of transfiguration. The gold-embossed price label at the spine made Carla's breath catch: fifteen Galleons.
Enough to cover all the school supplies for the Weasley children , with extra left over , yet heavy enough to make her hesitate.
After a brief struggle, she placed the book down and retrieved her smooth birch token. Without much hesitation, she lifted her wand and tapped three times on the "send" side, in a measured rhythm:
Tap, tap, tap.
The signal meant: "Request guidance."
Several dozen miles away, in the Burrow, Alan crouched at his desk among the Muggle clutter of Mr. Weasley's room, flying through complex composite runes with his quill.
His paired rune token vibrated lightly and synchronously: three taps.
Alan paused, picking up the token into his palm.
He didn't even need to close his eyes. Based on the shopping map, his mother should be at Flourish & Blotts. And a three-tap "request guidance" excluded danger. There was only one reason she would signal him in this context: she had found a valuable reference book , one Alan wanted her to obtain, but its price was high.
Without hesitation, he picked up his wand and, aiming at the center of his rune token, struck it firmly once.
"Thud."
That single, steady, and powerful response represented the clearest of commands:
Yes.
Purchase.
Inside Flourish & Blotts, the wooden token in Carla's hand vibrated in perfect synchrony, delivering the message unmistakably. The subtle tremor flowed through her like a warm current, instantly dissolving all hesitation and doubt. She immediately understood her son's intent , it wasn't a suggestion, it was an unmistakable directive.
Straightening her back, Carla let a small, relieved smile appear on her face. She turned, took Advanced Transfiguration Theory and Practice from the shelf, and walked toward the counter. In that moment, her act of paying carried pride and decisiveness.
Later, when the Scott family sat at Florean Fortescue's enjoying strawberry peanut butter ice cream, the Weasleys arrived at the shop like a whirlwind had swept through the street.
Mrs. Weasley was holding onto Ron, who had nearly run off, while her other hand carried several clattering cauldrons, all the while urging the twins to keep up with the crowd.
"Oh, Carla! You're already done?" Mrs. Weasley approached, surprised to see the Scott family so relaxed.
Her gaze fell on the "shopping map" Carla had casually placed on the table. She froze completely. The clearly marked, color-coded routes, the impeccably efficient plan , it left even this capable hostess momentarily speechless.
Then she noticed Mr. Scott and Lilia, gently tapping the rune tokens on their wrists with their wands, communicating as if silently and effortlessly exchanging thoughts about the next stop, whether it was a pet shop or a place to see the owls.
The quiet, synchronized, and intuitive way they communicated completely shattered Mrs. Weasley's last psychological barrier.
"Merlin's beard, Carla!"
The usually energetic Mrs. Weasley couldn't help but exclaim, a mixture of fatigue, envy, and genuine admiration in her voice:
"Your Alan… he really has thought of everything! My kids, every time we come to Diagon Alley, they run around like headless chickens! Oh, I could go crazy!"
Listening to her friend's heartfelt praise, Carla's face lit up with a smile full of pride and happiness. Within that smile was the pride of a mother, the warmth of family, and an incomparable sense of joy wrapped in both wisdom and love.
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