Knockturn Alley

The next day, a thick layer of snow fell on the City of London. I have several projects for this holiday and little time to realize them.

My parents are in the dining room having lunch while Coopy, our house elf, has a tray filled with pastry floating behind him! My parents had apparently chosen to reconnect with the typical English breakfast, eggs, bacon, sausage, and beans in tomato sauce.

After a hearty breakfast, my father uses the fireplace to join the ministry while my mother joins the office to continue her management of our affairs.

I grab my coat and my savings in my room and jump down the stairs before going to the fireplace of the mansion.

"Diagon Alley." I catch a handful of floo powder and throw it at my feet in the chimney.

I find myself swallowed by the flames to reappear a little later in the chimney of the Leaky Cauldron. After a nod to the tenant, I leave the inn and walk with a brisk step towards Knockturn Alley and its famous store, Borgin and Burkes.

I quickly change my appearance to that of a man in his thirties with short cut black hair and grey eyes. I check my appearance, disguised like that, no one will be able to guess that I'm the one hiding behind this mysterious mature man.

Mr. Borgin's shop is more like a garage sale than a real store, it looked like someone had piled up all the magical objects of the world in one place, Egyptian necklaces, as well as rare ingredients for potions. We can clearly find everything in this shop.

"What do you want?" The owner is standing behind the counter and he's clearly not very pleased to see me. However, I did not expect another reaction from him. I know he'll be a lot more welcoming when he sees the color of my money.

"I'm looking for some items, starting with vanishing cabinets. Do you have that in-store?" I already know the answer, but if he thinks I'm coming especially for the one he got, he would probably increase its price.

"I do have one in the store, but it won't do you any good as it is. It was sold to me without his twin and it is impossible to know where it leads, or if the other one is still intact. And I confess that I'm not crazy enough to try it." Borgin looks bored, I'm pretty sure he's imagining this sale will be a waste of time.

"And I suppose you have no way of knowing where the other is or if it's still functional?"

"Oh, but there is one method. Feel free to try it out." A smirk appears on his face.

"No thanks. How much are you asking for it?"

"You want it?! Well, I won't make things difficult if I can get rid of it, 40 galleons."

"20 galleons. As you said, it is impossible for me to know if it works properly."

"35. It still has some value as a curiosity."

"30. It may be a curiosity, but I won't go any higher until I know if it works."

"Sold" He seems happy with the sale and displays a victorious smile. I'm sure that in his mind, he imagines that he rip me off. "It's a pleasure doing business with you."

"While I'm here, do you have any exotic books in the store?" I emphasize the word exotic enough to make him understand the meaning of my request.

"A few. Please come with me."

He guides me through the maze of various items that make up his shop until he arrives in front of a library filled with illegal and even rather dangerous black magic books. I look at the content of some of them with promising titles, <1001 ways to win your duels without honor>, <Blood Magic: The Secret of Life> , <Controlled Evolution: Making Alchemical Chimera>.

The first book is a collection of spells that the author finds particularly effective in real combat situations and which are as dangerous as the mortal spell when used properly. The book on blood magic is a pure flash of genius. I think that the author, in addition to having created spells that manipulate the vital essence, has also created a magic of DNA, because he speaks of corruption that causes mutations in living beings.

If the second book is a flash of genius, the third is purely a heresy of life and one of the blackest magic I have ever seen in the universe of Harry Potter. Although incredibly black, it remains theoretically less black than the immortality spell that created the vampires in Vampire Diaries. It allows to create a new living being by merging two other creatures selected for their magical characteristic. The main subject recovers the magical essence of the former in order to get his powers and temporarily take a new form when predetermined conditions are met.

"How much for these three books?"

"15 galleons for the book of duel, 45 for the one on the magic of blood and 100 for the chimeras. This makes 190 galleons in all with the wardrobe"

I pay the bill before I shrink the cabinet and put it in my pocket and take the books wrapped in kraft paper.

"I'm looking forward to doing business with you again." I can see Borgin rubbing his hands as I leave his shop.

"As I do."

I leave the shop and transform back to go to Diagon Alley, I have one last thing to do before I can go home. For that I go to Flourish and Blotts to look for a book on a very particular potion.

There's only one wizard going through the libraries in the shop. I walk down the aisle of the potion books looking for a book that teaches the wolfbane potion, but after almost an hour of looking through the books, there's no way to find the recipe. I thought it was made public by the creator?

I'm going to see the store owner who is sorting out a case full of book on the counter. "Hello. Could you tell me where the book with the recipe for the wolfbane potion is?"

The man seems astonished. "The wolfbane potion? I'm sorry, but the recipe for this potion has never been made public. If you want to know it, you'll have to ask its creator, Damocles Belby."

It's strange, I thought I remembered that the potion was very difficult to make and very expensive because of some rare ingredients but I did not remember that it was not available to the general public. I will have to think about asking Marcus Belby where his uncle lives as soon as I have the financial means to carry out my project.

"I see, thank you anyway."

I leave the shop and start walking towards the Leaky cauldron to go home when I hear a voice calling me behind my back. "Sean!" I turn around to see Daphne walk quickly in my direction accompanied by an older woman who must be her mother and a younger girl who is probably her younger sister.

"Hello Daphne. I didn't think I'd see you so soon after last night." Daphne blushed and took a step back.

"You must be Sean Bones. Daphne told us a lot about you at home." Ah! I'm a little afraid of what she told them. Knowing Daphne, she either did a glowing portrait, or she made me look like an idiot, or maybe a little bit of both. "You've helped her a lot with her homework from what she told us. She's also been a lot more cheerful since she came home."

"Oh, it's okay, Daphne is a good friend. It's only normal that I help her if she needs it."

"Oh, I'm being really rude. My name is Marylis Greengrass, but you can call me Lys if you like. And this is my youngest daughter, Astoria."

I'm leaning towards the girl who I think is about nine years old. She looks very much like Daphne with her brown hair and piercing eyes. But she looks thinner and more tired than her sister as if she was always sick. "Nice to meet you Astoria."

The girl is a little shy and hides behind her mother.

"Your hair color is quite particular. I know only a few wizards with white hair from birth." Daphne seems tensed when she hears her mother's comment.

"Ho, it's just because I have veela's blood in my veins." She has a tense smile and the benevolence that I was feeling from her just disappeared.

" I see, how interesting. Daphne, Astoria, we still have to pick up your dresses for the New Year's. It's been a pleasure meeting you, Sean."

They move away in the direction of Twilfitt and Tattings. Daphne turns around for a moment and I see from her look that she is really sorry. So, the Greengrass family is part of the supremacist of pure blood wizards. It's good to know, at least Daphne doesn't look as intolerant as they do even though she doesn't like muggleborns.