Chapter 43
As soon as the weekend came again, the Archmage left Hogwarts in the morning and, using one of the floo in Hogsmeade, moved to Diagon Alley.
Finally, as he approached his shophouse, he saw a long crowd of wizards standing in front of a closed door, on which was a sign: "Starting at 9:00." Severus didn't enter the building right away, but first, having increased his hearing, he began to eavesdrop on the conversations in the crowd with slight interest.
"...I heard that this store sells a magnificent beauty potion that combines all the effects of potions from Madame Primpernel's store, while its effect is twice as good and more durable…and that also in fewer galleons - but the effect is simply amazing. But there's a condition that if we decided to use the services of Madame Primpernelle again, we would have to spend twice as much," a middle-aged woman nodded with a connoisseur's face, explaining to a younger girl who first decided to look into this store because of rumours.
"This could be easily identified by the slightly distracted appearance due to the huge crowd of mages in front of the building. But today I'm after something else."
"Is there anything more interesting here?" another witch joined in their conversation. "Yes, I'm after a potion that can restore the youth of even the oldest wizards for one day."
"Is there such a miracle potion in there?!"
"Yes, yesterday, when I was returning home, I saw that in the house of my neighbour, who is a rather elderly witch. A young girl of about twenty-five was walking in accompanied by two gentlemen, and, having asked who she was, I found out the shocking answer that she was exactly the same old woman, who took the potion of youth bought in this store...and after that excited female groans were heard from the house all night …" clutching her cheeks, the woman said embarrassedly, but the faces of three men behind her lost all colours in an instant because they imagined in place of those two idiots themselves.
And, quickly moving away from the ladies, the three of them went up to two other wizards and told them about this horror, and after those two heard this, they told others and so in half an hour all the men in the crowd learned about such a terrifying potion.
Severus was a little amused by this situation, especially when two men approached him and began to talk about the effect of the potion, and advised him to be very careful and told him to check the documents if some witches approached him in order to get to know him.
The Archmage himself also told them a terrible secret, because why do elderly witches need wizards at all, if the world outside is just full of Muggle men, and it would be a lot easier to lure a couple of them than to waste your time on wizards.
And, oddly enough, those men had to agree with his words, but they still advised him to be careful.
There were also rumours in the crowd about a potion that enhances magical abilities without side effects, but this was only at the level of tales for the reason that none of the ordinary wizards even saw them with their eyes, because Malfoy's people were always the first in line, and after them were Aurors from the Ministry, dressed in civilian clothes, people from the rest of the gangs and other bigwigs from other spheres, and all because the potions have limits of a hundred per day and ten per person, and they were bought up like hot cakes, while bringing the store nine thousand galleons in a day.
This, of course, does not take into account the cost of raw materials and taxes, and as a net, Severus earns seven thousand two hundred galleons, which is also a very considerable amount.
Of course, such a huge profit was only temporary, because as soon as the raw materials begin to run out and everyone understands what these potions at least approximately consist of, the price of herbs will definitely increase several times, and everyone's wallets are not rubber, and, of course, soon demand will fall, and wars don't last forever.
Today was already the seventh day since the opening of the store, and also the last, after which the Archmage decided to limit the number of potions sold to one hundred a week.
After all, from the very beginning, he started this in order to attract the attention of ordinary wizards to his store, and since the goal has already been achieved, then he can go to the normal mode.
Severus is after all not made of iron to stand by the cauldron for hours and brew potions. And there are also a huge amount of ordinary potions left, and they need to be sold, therefore their prices are 3-5% lower than those of competitors in order to sell them quickly, and not to slow them down much.
Of course, after a superficial inspection of the crowd, he also found several ill-wishers who, well, looked very badly at his shop, because each of them understood what a huge profit the shop was making, and such a bag of money, belonging to a simple Hogwarts student and Potions Master, is simply a sin.
Severus himself was only waiting for them with a smile,
---
Snape didn't draw too much attention, instead of entering through the main entrance, he chose to enter by the alternate entrance which was hidden by an illusion.
And as soon as he entered, he began to watch a curly-haired man of about twenty-seven with interest.
The man was actively running around the room, exhibiting goods and preparing for the opening.
"Apparently, I didn't make a mistake in my choice," The man shuddered at the voice and immediately took out his wand, but when he saw the source of the voice, he quickly lowered it. "Mr. Snape, please don't scare me, I've been on the edge of my nerves lately." With a tired sigh, he put the potions on the shelf and sank into a chair.
"What's happened?" Severus asked with interest.
"Eh ... Some problems …"
"Hmm? I told you to contact me if something happens," Severus said in a stern voice, which made the man hesitate a little.
"I'm sorry, I thought I could handle it myself, using your connections, because you have already helped me a lot by paying off my large debts …"
"Tell me about the problem."
"Yes…..these are local gangs, I used to have connections with two of them, but because of that incident, they both disappeared, and now others are pressing on this place…" Hearing about that "incident", Severus was a little embarrassed, because it was he who was responsible for their disappearance.
[A/N: In chapter 38, where he destroys the two gangs.]
"I understand you, today I will stay with you and help."
"Ah! It's not worth it, I myself…" jumping up, the man murmured excitedly, but the Archmage forced the surprised man back down.
"I want to look at these 'heroes' and future corpses…" Karner noticed a dangerous gleam in the young man's eyes, and goosebumps immediately ran down his back.
Half an hour later, the store opened, and in about five seconds the room was already completely filled, so Shafiqi had to quickly chase everyone out, leaving only five who immediately bought back half of the potions that enhance magical abilities. Severus also did not stand idle, but helped with the sale.
Of course Karner tried to dissuade him but Severus didn't listen to him, so Karner quickly started doing the work which required more physical effort and left the Archmage for counter.
And in an hour of work, Karner noticed with surprise, and also with slight envy, that Snape knew how to talk with customers: when necessary, he joked, at other times he behaved seriously, but at the same time, each of them left satisfied with his purchase, and especially women, some of whom even left their addresses and floo numbers, in response, Severus responded with a half-business smile as he put the notes in his pocket.
But, in addition to flirting with the opposite sex, the Archmage also watched the rest of the customers and read their superficial thoughts with the help of legilimency.
If there were those who thought about something "bad", he put a mark on them.
And there were not so many such wizards, to the surprise of Snape himself - only seven in this hour, but, of course, it was not yet evening ...
---
For the next nine hours, Severus did not leave the counter, continuing to watch the customers entering the store, and his list was replenished with another hundred names.
And when eight o'clock finally arrived, Karner walked out the door and announced the closure.
Although the wizards were unhappy, they had no choice but to disperse disappointedly.
Finally, after locking the store shut, Karner reached out with a weary smile and looked at Snape. "Mr. Snape, I was really shocked today: I could not have imagined that you are so good at trading!"
"Nothing special: the delivered speech and knowledge of the Legilimency will make anyone a god of commerce ... And it turned out well: twenty-one thousand six hundred Galleons in a day, and in a week, not counting the first day, we were able to make one hundred and thirty-seven thousand …" Severus waved his hand and said.
"All thanks to you!" Karner stared at the pouch in the Archmage's hand with burning eyes. "But I wouldn't be able to do this without your help." another bag appeared in the wizard's hand, which he threw into the hands of a slightly surprised Shafiki." This is your award."
"Please don't, you pulled me out from the bottom anyway – I'm glad to help you, and my salary is enough for me, because it's already very high…" Karner held out the bag back, but instead of taking it, Severus walked past him and headed towards the exit.
"If you don't take it, then I'll throw it."
"Um…I…thank you…" Bowing deeply, Karner only heard the sound of the door slamming shut. "He is a very good person…" With a warm smile, the man decided to look into the bag.
"And let it be just a little…" But as soon as the number of coins appeared in his head, his eyes were ready to just pop out of their sockets, for a moment he even stopped breathing. "S-S-How much?!"
Because of his loud cry, a slightly sleepy Nagini crawled out from the shelf on the counter, who spent most of the day doing what she normally does, eat and sleep.
"Look after the store while I'm away," Severus's calm voice sounded in her head, causing her to narrow her eyes in displeasure.
"You could have taken me with you too… " but as soon as a plate of whole chicken appeared in front of her, she looked up narrowly at Karner, who smiled a little nervously at her. "I heard that you like this kind of food…" "So be it, I'll look after the store…"