Chapter 38: Visiting Knockturn Alley

Disclaimer: 

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I make.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

$Parseltongue$

Chapter 38: Visiting Knockturn Alley

"Okay, this should do it for now."

Harry inspected the briefcase one last time before closing it.

The magical container has been filled with all the valuables he was able to find during his two-month search. He knew he had only scratched the surface of what was stored inside the Room of Requirements but that was fine by him. 

Is not like he was planning on becoming rich by selling antiques. He only intended to get enough money to buy the materials he required at the moment. He was not a greedy person by any means.

Harry left the briefcase and looked at his mechanical wristwatch.

'Eight o'clock, perfect. The shops at the alley must be opening right now. And since today is Saturday, I can spend most of the day away without raising suspicions.'

He then walked to an old full-size mirror that was left in a corner of the Room of Requirements. With a wave of his wand, the mirror became sparkling clean.

Harry looked at his reflection with care. He had to make sure there were no glaring errors in his disguise.

He tried to make the minimum amount of changes since the more you change yourself, the easier becomes for others to discern that something was wrong.

His hair remained the same, his eyes had only changed color to a light brown tone. He was also wearing different glasses and some muggle clothes he had brought to the school.

The biggest change was his face. He had used a mixture of charms and transfiguration to make himself look around ten years older.

Unfortunately, his height remained the same since there was no way to change his size without resorting to illusions or complex potions he did not have access to.

So ended up looking like a very short young man in his early twenties.

'I don't think the shop owner will care that much even if he notices something.'

Satisfied with the changes, Harry went to pick up his briefcase and took his wand out. With a smooth flick, he disappeared from the Room of Requirements without a trace and not even Dumbledore would notice his absence.

<><><><><><>

 With a 'pop' noise, Harry appeared in a desolated corner of Diagon Alley.

After making sure that no one was around, he pulled out his invisibility cloak and covered himself with it.

He had originally planned to go to a different shop. One that was located close to the main street.

But now that he had his cloak back, he could sneak into Knockturn Alley without gathering unwanted attention.

As expected, Borgin and Burkes were empty at this time of the day as the usual clients prefer to go out at night.

After checking his surroundings, Harry removed himself from underneath the cloak and entered the shop.

The ring of the door startled the shopkeeper from his drowsy state.

"Ah... client this early in the morning? that's quite a surprise. Oh?..." Mister Burkes looked at the small frame of Harry with interest as he entered.

" Shouldn't you be in Hogwarts, child? Are you perhaps lost?" he said with a teasing tone.

Harry's eyes moved to meet his and Burkes felt a great deal of anger and hatred in them, that was not a rare thing for his average client, but not something he expected from an individual he believed to be a child.

"I graduated five years ago and I'm not a child," Harry said with a frown that twisted his face, enhancing his more mature features.

"Or are you making fun of me for my condition?" 

Burke realized his mistake after seeing the face more closely. That was not the face of a child.

"My apologies good sir!. I meant no insult.!" he hurried up to say.

"Is just very early in the morning and I had a long night...please forgive this old fool."

"No matter. I came here to do business." Harry walked to the counter.

"Of course. How can I help you?" Burke asked with a polite smile.

With some difficulty, Harry placed the briefcase on top of the counter and opened it.

Burke's looked over with interest.

"May I?" he asked for permission and Harry nodded.

Only then, did the old man start to pick up the objects inside the case and carefully place them on the counter one by one while taking long glances at each piece before putting them down.

"That is quite the collection of antique objects you have here. Many old books, some of them very valuable, jewelry and some very fascinating quills."

"I also have this."

Harry took a thin stick out of one of his jacket pockets and removed the shrinking charm he had placed.on it.

The stick turned into a full-size broom and was also placed on the counter.

"A Nimbus 100!. That's quite the find. The collectors of flying brooms go crazy for these old models." Said Burkes.

He then gave Harry a measuring look.

"I don't mean to be impolite but I am required to ask. If I may, where did you find all of these things?"

Harry was already expecting this question.

"My uncle had recently passed away and left me his house as an inheritance. I found this thing while browsing around the house. Is a very old house you see."

"Oh, I understand. I'm very sorry for your loss. But when we lose something we often gain something else in exchange don't we?" 

It was obvious that Burkes did not believe a word that Harry said. But the man did not really care if the merchandise was stolen.

"So, are you interested in buying?" asked Harry.

"Of course, let me see…" The old man pretended to think for a minute despite already knowing the value of most of the objects he had seen.

"What about ten thousand gallons?"

Harry frowned. He was no. expert in books or jewels but he knew the broom alone should be worth around that much.

'This old goat is trying to scam me…'