Bigger on the Inside

Twenty minutes of intense negotiation later and the Linwoods were now leaving the Gringotts money exchange. In the end, Dominic got his own vault. Oh wait, that wasn't quite right. He actually got two vaults, one was temporary and the other was going to be made just for him. It turned out that Gringotts didn't have many vaults that can hold over a million galleons.

A small cloth pouch was suddenly thrown into George's arms as the family walked into the centre of Carkitt Market. He instinctively caught it and looked down to see Gringott's logo woven into the side of the pouch. This was one of two complimentary items the goblin had given Dominic after their deal was closed. They could hold over two hundred galleons inside without increasing in size or weight.

"That's yours now to do with as you wish. If you see anything you like, feel free to buy it", Dominic offered while pocketing his pouch.

George scanned the dozens of surrounding shops to find a place to start his spending spree, but nothing was standing out to him.

Conveniently, Remus was here to make a suggestion, "oh look, it's Stowe & Packers Magical Bags. I'd been wondering where they had moved to."

The Linwoods all looked in the same direction as Remus and saw a tiny blue shop tucked away in the far corner of the market. The building was painted dark blue and had small window planes showing off some scruffy-looking bags neatly arranged on shelves.

Amanda turned around and asked, "do they sell anything George needs for Hogwarts?"

Remus rubbed his chin in contemplation, "well... they mainly sell big globe-trotter-style suitcases. I remember having one when I was a first-year."

Amanda shook her head, "George already has a suitcase. Anything else?"

"I don't want to get your hopes up, but they might still have some enchanted bags for sale", Remus suggested before letting out a sigh, "it's a shame. Ever since Packers died twenty-or-so years ago, his shop stopped making new bewitched products. No wonder they ended up downsizing."

"I would like to have a look if that's okay?", asked George with his well-practised innocent expression.

"Of course you can", Amanda responded warmly.

Once they were standing outside the store, the Linwoods had a good look at the products on offer. There was an assortment of tattered bags and sacks resting on an old rickety wooden shelf. Every item had its paper tag displaying some outrageous prices.

Ellie didn't seem impressed, "what's so magical about these old bags?"

A spark returned to Remus's eyes after he heard Ellie's question, "don't let their appearance confuse you. They might look worthless to you, but they're something most wizards and witches can't live without. Each bag uses the Extension enchantment to create a space inside which is much larger than the bag's usual content limit. Some of the most expensive options can keep living creatures and people inside, and I've heard of wizards living inside of their bags when travelling all around the world."

Ellie's mouth fell open in surprise and envy, "really. You can do that?"

Remus chuckled, "yes, it is indeed possible. What one can do with magic truly has no limits. But..."

He gestured towards the glass, "at those prices, none of those bags will be that extravagant. They're most likely very old and can only hold maybe three to four times their normal capacity. Still very useful for some light shopping if not a little expensive for the likes of myself."

Regardless of the lack-lustre stock, George still wanted to go inside. He pushed the front door open and was immediately greeted with a wall of leather. He looked around the cramped interior and saw that the entire shop was full to the brim with trunks. The huge boxes were everywhere and stacked right up to the nine-foot-high ceiling. The only way forward was a narrow crevasse between the leaning towers of trunks.

The family followed George inside and shimmied through the two-foot wide gap until they reached a small reception desk with an old iron till mounted on top. No one was manning the desk and there was no back room. Undeterred by the lack of staff, Remus reached over and rang a dusty bell situated on a narrow plinth. Less than a second later, an elderly woman in a worn-out leather apron sprang up from behind the desk.

The old woman dusted off her apron and apologised, "sorry about that, I was just in the middle of sweeping up my broken Griffin statue collection when you came calling. It's all my fault really, I dropped my father's trunk off my broom like a clumsy troll while I was flying over Bristol. Anyway, enough about my incompetence. I'm Mrs Packers, co-owner of Stower & Packers magical bags. What may interest you fine people today?"

The old witch adjusted her jam-jar glasses and stared at Remus, "just wait one minute... As I live and breathe, is that one Remus Lupin standing before me?"

Remus returned Packers smile, "it is indeed. I'm surprised you still remember me?"

Packers waved her finger around back at him, "I'll never forget you, you little rascal."

She looked at Amanda and Dominic before continuing, "this boy right here used to come back to my father's shop every single year, with his tail between his legs and a destroyed suitcase to boot. For seven years he came back here practically begging for me to fix his case. Oh, you wouldn't believe the excuses he would give me, he couldn't lie to save his life."

Then she looked back at Remus, "but he used to give me these puppy dog eyes and I couldn't say no. That's seven case restorations he weaselled out of me for free."

Remus's face turned red as he fumbled for his wallet, "please Mrs Packer, don't remind me of those days. Begging for your help was never something I was proud of. Allow me to make up for my past mistakes."

Packers reached over and put a hand on Remus's chest, "don't you go pulling your money out, the debt had already been paid many years ago. You don't owe me a thing."

Remus looked up at her, "I don't understand. When did I pay you back?"

Packers chortled while wiping the thick layer of dust off her desk, "well aren't you being modest? What about all those times you visited me after you left Hogwarts, back when you-know-who was around? Don't you think I knew what you were doing? Looking out for little old me."

"Still, I would feel better if I could...", Remus feebly tried to disagree.

Packers put her foot down which caused her to wobble slightly, "enough, I won't hear any more of it. Now, who have you brought into my shop? Customers, I hope."

George had stopped paying attention to the conversation between Remus and the weird woman a while ago. He was being distracted by an unusual odour coming from behind Packers' desk. It was that unforgettable salty smell of the British coastline. An idea popped into his head as George looked over the counter.

It turned out that Packers was standing on the very top of a tall ladder that descended into a large navy blue trunk. The ladder led down into a massive room with a log-burning stove and a leather sofa. There were broken fragments of clay statues all over the tiled floor, some of which had been swept into a corner.

Packers lowered her head into George's line of sight, "admiring my father's handy work, are we?"

George smiled and asked, "did you say that your father made this trunk?"

Packers returned the smile and stepped off the ladder, "it was his masterpiece. One of, if not, the greatest enchanted trunks ever created. Would you like to know more about it?"

George nodded his head eagerly.

Packers knelt down and lovingly caressed the old trunk, "it's had a pretty wild life, this old pile of leather and brass. It was originally made for a very wealthy client but he, very annoyingly, pulled out last minute. So my father was left with a very expensive trunk that no one was willing to buy without him making a loss."

"To cut a long story short, my father ended up keeping it and he continued to improve the enchantments until he died seventeen years ago. It was fair to say it had become somewhat of an obsession of his. Regardless of what anyone said, he never felt it was perfect even on his deathbed. He loved this thing so much that he insisted he was buried inside of it, so he could keep tinkering in the afterlife", she finished with a tear forming in the corner of her eye.

Packers wiped her face before standing back up, "I've prattled on for too long, you didn't come all the way here to listen to me reminisce."

"Not at all, Mrs Packers. It was nice to hear about your late father. He sounded like a great man", Amanda said sympathetically while trying to hide her shock at seeing the inside of the trunk.

Ellie had been desperately standing on her tiptoes to have a peep, but she wasn't tall enough to see over the counter. After a failed attempt to climb the desk, she ended up crossing her arms with a huff and decided to make her own fun. She walked over to one of the trunks and started pulling on a string tied into a bow. That rope must have been holding the whole tower of trunks together because they immediately began to fall forward.

"Arresto Momentum!"

Right in the nick of time, Remus pulled out his wand and stopped the family from being crushed. All the Linwoods looked up to see five cases of varying shapes and sizes floating above them. With another few flicks of the wrist, the trunks started to move back to their original position as if time had been rewound. One of the hovering trunks tipped upside down and spilt all of its content right over Ellie.

With a lot of arm flailing and Amanda's help, Ellie threw all the old clothes and damaged rugs off her head. One of the items that fell to her feet did catch George's eye. Whilst his step-sister was patting all the dust out of her hair, he leaned over and picked up a small tattered leather sack. It looked like the thread holding the sack together was about to snap, but the hide was clearly of high quality. It was marked with the Packers stamp in the bottom corner with a date going back half a century.

"I am so sorry about that. Ever since we relocated, I've been struggling for space", Packers apologised.

Amanda grabbed Ellie's arm again and pulled her away from the teetering trunks, "what have I told you, Ellie? Keep your hands to yourself! Especially today of all days!"

Ellie lowered her head in shame, "sorry, mum."

"It's okay. Just don't make me repeat myself."

George held up the sack, "is this for sale?"

"Well I'll be, I thought I'd lost that old thing. Come boy, bring it over so I can have a closer look", Packers said while holding out her frail hands.

He placed the sack gently into Packers' outstretched hands and waited for her to make an evaluation. She went through an unconventional process of putting her ear up to the leather and scratching the inside of the sack with her fingernails. After about a minute of 'appraisal', Packers put the sack on the counter and looked back towards the Linwoods.

"Mountain goats hide and unicorns hair thread, forth hand and heavily worn but good quality nonetheless. The enlargement enchantments have degraded beyond repair, but they'll still be good for another five years or so. Less with regular use, two years minimum. The space inside is currently... six feet cubed, it's my father's work alright."

She then looked at Remus, "I wouldn't normally sell something this old, it's better for salvage and reprocessing. But, since it's you. I could let you have it for ninety-four galleons. I'll even throw in a brand-new sleeve with protective enchantments to keep the sack inside, for safekeeping. That way, if the young boy is anything like you growing up, he won't destroy it instantly."

"Deal!", George agreed without hesitation.

He took out his Gringotts pouch and pulled out fistfuls of galleons until there was a pile of ninety-four gold coins on the table.

"Hold on a second George. Don't we need to think this through? What about all those bags in the window?", Dominic interrupted.

"If George wants that bag then he can have it. It's his choice to spend that money how he likes", Amanda rebutted.

"If I can weigh in on this, I think George has the right idea. Mrs Packers is being more than generous with that price. A bag like that could sell for hundreds of galleons at an auction. She's practically giving it away", Remus added.

"Can I have a magic bag as well, mummy? I promise I won't touch anything else", Ellie wishfully chipped in.

Meanwhile, George completed the exchange with Packers. The sack, plus a brand new leather protective case, was handed over.

"Thank you, young man. I hope you have a good day", Packers said while happily filling the till with gold.

George turned around to see his family looking at him with weird expressions.

He tried to muster a guilty smile whilst pointing at his new bag, "it looks cool, right? Erh... anyway, shouldn't we be going now?"