Books Galore

Serena walked around Florish and Blotts hesitantly, unsure of what books to get. Finally, she walked up to the front desk. "Um, excuse m-me." She stuttered, swallowing nervously. "Um, what books will I need for Hogwarts?" She asked.

"Oh, take anything you want." The man who was standing at the front desk leaned upon the table, wan in his hand as he said this. His hair was short, brown and extended to his forehead but this was styled in such a way it overhung his forehead slightly. He had brown eyes and wore very smart clothes.
"I would reccomend at least one class looking book though, for example: potions." He advised.

Serena bit her lip and nodded at the man in thanks, before turning back to the books. She picked up some books and took them back to the counter. "Um... could I please get these?" She said softly, holding out her books. She had Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology and Astronomy. She placed them on the desk gently, careful not to damage any of them.

"Eight books on the basics of each subject, eh?" He inquired. Two sickles each, that's sixteen sickles. I jest though, if the price is lower!" He chuckled, holding out a hand over his desk for the money he expected to recieve from the student.

Serena reached into her bag and pulled out the small bag with money in it. She placed it on the table and looked inside, before looking up at the man in confusion. "Uhm... which one is a sickle?" She asked sheepishly. She guessed it wasn't what she knew it as, because she was pretty sure he wasn't going to be asking her to sickle her feet as payment. So she figured that it was one of the coins in the purse, but she wasn't sure which one it would be.

"The silver ones are sickles." The man pointed to the money in the bag. "From the looks of it, you have five sickles." He clarified for the girl. He didn't mind doing this because it was very common for a new student not to know the ins and outs of the wizarding world quite yet.

"Okay. And I need 16 sickles. I have 5, so I need another 11. I'm going to guess that this one is bigger?" She asked, holding up the gold coin. There was only one in the bag, so she figured that had to be worth more than a sickle. "How much is this one worth?" She asked softly.

"Ten sickles." The man chuckled lightly. "Very analyctic detective work there. That'll take you far." He smiled. "But you still only have enough for one less book than all the books you've chosen so far. I would drop one book, the one you think is least important though." He advised. "Not every student has to take every subject I believe."

Serena sighed in frustration. She laughed slightly at the mans advice. "Oh, I know." She said. "I just like learning." She smiled in thanks before she looked over the books for a while. She left seven of them on the desk, and placed the Astronomy book back on the shelf. She passed over the big, gold coin, and the 5 smaller, silver 'sickles'. "Just out of curiousity, how many of the bronze ones are there to a 'sickle'?" She asked. "And are there any other coins?" She gathered her new books carefully into her arms, gazing at the man with the curiousity that always engulfed her mind when she was learning something new.

"100 bronze knuts make a sickle. 10 silver sickles make a Galleon." The man told the girl as he took the money for the books she was going to pay for.
"Fourteen sickles required. You have given me fifteen." He corrected her, handing back a sickle. "Now if you haven't already, I would go and buy any other necessities you think you may need later such as a pet. However, that may have to wait a while seeing as you didn't get much money to start with." He shrugged. "Enjoy your books!"

Serena smiled. "Okay, thank you." She said, picking up the extra sickle, blushing slightly. "I don't normally make mistakes like that." She paused. "I'm pretty sure I have everything I need. Thanks again!" She turned around and walked out of the store, heading off to find her father. He would make sure she got to "Hogwarts" in time, she was sure of it.