Chapter 22: Mr. Burke's Dilemma
Chapter 22: Mr. Burke's Dilemma
"Are you Mr. Burke?" Moon looked at the man in the shadows.
The man nodded, emerging from the alley, bowing slightly to Moon. "Sir, please believe me; I didn't expect Mundungus to resort to extortion. The reason I sought you out is that I need some help from you. However, this isn't the place to talk. If you don't mind, could we move to my shop?"
Moon glanced around and nodded.
With Moon's permission, Mr. Burke also drew his wand, aiming it at Mundungus. "Let's go."
Mundungus, tearful, had to lean on the wall for support and climb to his feet, whimpering as he nodded repeatedly.
Mr. Burke's shop was just across the street, not far from the entrance of the alley. The color of the wall didn't match in some places, indicating recent repairs on about a third of the building.
Upon entering, the full view of the shop revealed a spacious yet dimly lit space. Candles hanging on the walls burned continuously, releasing a calming smoke.
Moon noticed that on the newly repaired wall, some spaces remained empty, indicating that enough merchandise hadn't been placed yet.
"That's the aftermath of the indiscriminate curse you released," Mr. Burke explained calmly.
However, there was no anger in his tone, just a calm statement of facts. Mr. Burke didn't want to dwell on it too much; he considered himself lucky that only a portion of the items displayed in the showroom were taken by that terrifying curse, and they weren't particularly valuable.
In contrast, the shop specializing in various cursed candles in front of his had been completely destroyed, causing significant losses.
"So, what do you want to tell me? My time is limited," Moon said, examining Mr. Burke's merchandise.
On a cushion in a glass case beside him lay a withered hand, a stack of blood-stained playing cards, and a menacing mask leering down from the wall. Various bones were displayed on the counter, with rusty, jagged instruments hanging from the ceiling.
These items were clearly not "friendly" and would never be found in Diagon Alley.
Moon picked up the blood-stained card; it was a tarot card with a star map drawn on the back in gold and silver.
"Please wait a moment," Mr. Burke said, standing in front of Mundungus. In his fearful eyes, Mr. Burke drew his wand and placed it on Mundungus's temple.
"Memory Separation!"
A low incantation sounded, and Mr. Burke's wand tip emitted a faint silver light. Mundungus's expression suddenly became vacant and lifeless.
Then, Mr. Burke slowly withdrew the wand, dragging out a silver thread. He took out a small bottle, shimmering with light, clearly containing many such silver threads.
After placing the extracted silver threads from Mundungus into the bottle, he patted the man's face.
Mundungus suddenly looked confused, staring at the person in front of him. "Burke... sir, why am I here?!"
"You can go now." Mr. Burke clearly didn't want to say more to him.
Dazed, Mundungus stumbled away from the shop.
Leaning on the counter, Moon was curious. "Memory-related magic?"
Mr. Burke hesitated, not expecting this person, who could resist the Killing Curse, to express such curiosity. Was this reasonable?
He raised the bottle and introduced it to Moon. "This contains all the memories of witnesses about you from today."
"Are you trying to threaten me?" Moon, with one hand cutting through cards, looked at Borgin with curiosity.
Mr. Burke immediately shook his head, a hint of merchant's obsequiousness appearing on his face. "No, no, no, sir. I think you misunderstood. This is a gift."
"A gift?" Moon looked at him.
"Yes." Mr. Burke nodded.
"So, these are the memories of bystanders at that time, and you extracted them all before the Ministry of Magic arrived?" Moon examined the memory bottle.
"It's just that the efficiency of those Ministry of Magic officials is too low, giving me an opportunity. It's not a difficult task." Mr. Burke didn't dare to exaggerate, lowering his head as he spoke.
Moon drew a tarot card, flipping it over.
[XVIII]
[The Moon]
"I'm not a wish-granting genie," Moon looked at the Moon card, laying it out on the table. Then, he looked at the card with the small Arcana.
"I just want to seek some help from you," Mr. Burke hurriedly said.
Moon laid out the cards one by one, not rushing to flip them, waiting for Mr. Burke's continuation.
Mr. Burke, observing Moon's actions, nervously scratched the loose skin on his face. "I think you can see that I am a small merchant who has been dealing with dark magic for a long time. Many years ago, I accidentally touched an ancient dark magic item, resulting in a curse on the soul level. Since you can resist the Killing Curse, I'm sure you understand the soul. So..."
Moon slowly revealed the card, gripping a longsword.
[Sword I]
Mr. Burke looked solemn; this card usually represented misfortune and death.
"It seems I'm lucky," Moon said with a smile.
He then put away the card, saying, "The interpretations of Tarot divination are varied, and everyone understands the meanings based on their own methods of meditation, association, and deduction."
Moon's words made Mr. Burke more nervous. This man must have profound knowledge of divination.
"So, my interpretations of Tarot are generally straightforward. If I say lucky, it will undoubtedly be fortunate. If I say unlucky, I will make it unfortunate."
Finishing his words, Moon, meeting Mr. Burke's gaze, lifted the Moon card again.
"I think something quite pleasant will happen today. What do you think?!"
"Of course!" Mr. Burke, sweating profusely, quickly bowed, "As long as you are willing to help me, even if it's just a hint, I am willing to offer a generous reward."
"Speak, about your curse." Moon, sensing Mr. Burke's aura, felt a faint familiarity.
It seemed like he had encountered it in the Caribbean Sea...
Then, Mr. Burke began to explain the curse he had encountered.
It happened more than forty years ago when he recovered an item from a destitute family in France. Allegedly, the item came from that family's decision to move, responding to the newly enacted Wizarding Secrecy Law.
At that time, Grindelwald had just fallen, and the magical world was wary of severe consequences for violating the new law. No one wanted to incur such penalties.
Later, on the small island in the English Channel, where they settled, they clashed with the local merfolk tribe over a lake. This conflict, to some extent, violated the local magical creature protection treaty. To evade scrutiny, the family smuggled items captured from the merfolk tribe to him.
That's when the curse emerged.
It was due to an ancient golden disc pendant. Mr. Burke had been cursed, turning into an undead incapable of physical sensation, unable to die, even if his head was severed, easily reattaching the severed parts.
While Moon perused a magical manuscript from Mr. Burke's collection, he listened to the narrative, feeling increasingly familiar.
"Does it also turn you into a skeleton under moonlight?" Moon suddenly interrupted.
Mr. Burke stared at Moon in shock. His initially unbelieving face gradually transformed into uncontrollable excitement.
"Yes, you know! You know about my curse!"
Moon was also a bit surprised. This curse...
Yes, he knew, and he knew more.
Even in the Caribbean Sea, when he had a strong curiosity about magic, he actively sought out this curse.
Ding-ling-ling—
The bell behind the shop door suddenly rang.
A man with a pale pointed face, golden straight hair falling backward, and dressed in a black wool coat entered, leaning on a cane of civilization. He raised his head, using gray, indifferent eyes to assess Moon up and down, then said, "Mr. Burke, it seems you're busy?!"
(End of this chapter)