Chapter 27    

The next morning, Toffy woke him up and served him a warm meal which he happily ate. His mind slowly wandered to all the people he considered dear to him and there were currently only two of them, one of them stood in front of him while the other was probably in his house.

While Aman was his friend, Toffy was the only one he considered as family.

After his breakfast was done, he walked out and talked to his neighbours. It was just an exchange of information and it was very common in Knockturn alley.

By the time he was done, it was noon. He entered his house and closed the door behind him before he took out a small slip of paper which said,

[ Floo to the transporter's hut.

Ask to be sent to the Hunters Den

One gold.

You will find what you need there.]

Floo powder was quite cheap so he bought a large bag for five sickles from a neighbour who gave it to him at a large discount. He walked into the fireplace with a fistful of floo powder.

He threw it down and said, "Transporter's hut!"

He felt his stomach being twisted for a second and then felt his legs touch the ground. He looked at the room that was filled with a lot of shelves. There were a lot of things that many would consider garbage on those shelves but Alex knew that those things would all be used as port keys.

A bulky man stood at the counter with his upper body bare as he showed off his impressive tattoos and a large belly.

"The transporter?"

"Yes. Location?"

"The hunters den."

"You know the price."

Alex placed one gold coin on the table before looking back up at the man who pointed his finger to his right.

"Take that copper mug in that shelf."

"Thank you." Said Alex as he walked over and held the mug.

He was instantly teleported to a smelly old bar. He was covered by a thick grey smoke cloud and someone threw a long black cloak along with a mask the moment he entered and the smokescreen formed.

"Put them on. The identities of every single person here is to be kept a secret."

Alex changed his voice with the help of a charm before speaking up.

"Thank you."

He then wore the cloak and the mask before turning towards the person who gave him the items.

The man seemed to be blind but his ears seemed to be quiet sensitive.

"Don't bother with the eyes. I'm a blind man when I work while I can see clearly when I'm done with my shift. This is just a security measure in case the smokescreen doesn't work."

"Alright. Can you tell me what goes on here?"

"This is a place where people who want rare animal parts gather. You will have to pay a price of ten galleons to be able to join the hunting group for a week.

Each week, they hunt for a specific magical beast or animals. You will be able to join the group from tomorrow if you pay now and since the hunting target changes next week, you might be able to take full advantage of this opportunity."

"What if the beast that will be hunted from tomorrow is not the one that I want?"

"You can trade after hunts." The blind man answered shortly. Alex thanked him before heading to the counter where a middle-aged woman sat.

"I would like to join tomorrow's hunting team for a week."

"Ten galleons or anything of the same value."

"Same value, you say…" muttered Alex as he pulled out a strand of silver hair.

"Here you go. Unicorn hair."

The woman nodded before tapping his cloak, which then began to grow white patterns at the border of his sleeves.

"The patterns will vanish at the end of seven days mark."

"Understood. Do you have a place where I can sleep or do something?"

"There is a market underground where you can buy or sell various things and we have lodgings on the top floors. People with patterned sleeves can stay for free and… this will be the key for your room."

"Thank you."

Alex checked out the room which was pretty spacious with a large bed, a kitchen and a large bathroom.

It was still afternoon, so Alex decided to go shopping for the day.

The market was huge, almost as huge as the Hogwarts grounds. Alex looked at the systematic arrangement of stalls and was quite pleased as it made it easier for him to search for things.

After looking at the things that were displayed in the stores, Alex was certain that this place was the black market for the body parts of magical beasts. Unicorn horns, Hippogriff feathers, dragon blood, phoenix tears, you name it all and they had it all.

Alex's mood improved as he continued to pass through the stalls and after he looked through almost all the stalls, he saw a small shed like room which made him a bit curious as it also had a pretty large door.

Two guards stood at the entrance and Alex approached them.

"Am I allowed to go into the room?" he asked and the guards nodded.

"Only sellers can go inside."

"Oh… I do have quite a lot of things to sell."

"Then please do enter, sir."

Alex nodded and walked inside where he was greeted by a masked lady.

"Noble sir, what would you like to sell?"

"Unicorn parts. Meat, bones, hair, and the other stuff."

The expression on the lady's face could not be seen but from the way her blue pupils moved and by seeing her body language, Alex could tell that she was very interested in the things he had.

"Please do place them on the table."

"Alright…" he said as he took out the boxes and transferred the contents onto the table.

The woman weighed every single thing as she wrote down their weights and did the calculations.

"Could you tell me what the meat and organs are used for?"