Chapter 15

After saying goodbye to Lucius, Severus didn't immediately leave Diagon Alley, but headed towards a small two-story building with a dark wooden sign that said "Mulpepper's Pharmacy." 

As soon as the young man entered the store, a lot of smells of a wide variety of herbs and potions immediately hit his nose.

The walls were lined with cabinets filled with glass flasks containing dried plants and roots, various powders, and a variety of other ingredients.

And at a small table stood an elderly man in a white coat with a slightly tired look. 

"Hello young man, can I help you with something?" he asked, looking up at Severus's pensive face as he examined the vials. 

"Yes,"  taking out a piece of paper folded several times from his pocket, he handed it to the pharmacist, and he continued to examine the ingredients with interest.

Putting on his glasses, the older man quickly scanned the list, and when he reached the very end, he frowned. 

"The last two… Outlander Slime and Kelpie Blood—these two ingredients I can't sell you: the latter is out of stock, and the slime is only available with the permission of the Ministry of Magic, for the reason that it is most often used for cursed potions or dark rituals."

"Well, you can cross out the last one, collect the rest, and I will also need a cauldron and glass flasks."

"Of course, give me a few minutes, and I'll collect everything ... "

"I'm not in a hurry, take your time."

"Of course…" Nodding slightly, the Old man turned around and, opening the door behind him, went down the stairs.

Severus himself, covering his eyes, whispered a few words, and in the next moment, a wave of light magic passed through the building.

"It's a pity… there are too many tracking spells, and the feeling that someone is watching me, and this "someone" is at the level of Slughorn, the Master of the peak stage, in magical power. Not very good. And even though the wizards of this world are rather weak, but fighting with someone in this crowded place will only lead to unnecessary consequences, I will have to find another way to get them ... " taking a deep breath, the wizard decided to leave the thought of taking the last two ingredients by force and simply continued to inspect the vials , put on the shelves ... 

And ten minutes later the old seller returned, followed by a hundred jars with a variety of ingredients. 

"Your total is three hundred and forty-nine Galleons, would you like to order delivery?" 

"No need." taking out a bag and pouring gold coins onto the table, he intercepted the jars and, waving his palm, turned everything into needles, which, under the surprised look of the old man, immediately put them into a spatial artifact.

"Understood," removing the galleons, he turned around and walked towards the stairs leading to the second floor.

"The simplest boiler will cost eleven Galleons …" the old man said.

"It will do."

 "Alright, I'll bring it now …"

A few minutes later, the wizard left the store, leaving its owner only to stare thoughtfully after him. 

"Tuni, did you feel anything?" In the next moment, a small wrinkled creature with large green eyes and long ears appeared near him, wearing rather strange clothes resembling a rag. 

"Tuni saw how the young wizard used some kind of spell, Tuni was frightened and prepared to protect the owner, but the young wizard did nothing, so Touni also did not "get on the rampage", as the owner said," the creature quickly murmured in a female squeaky voice, looking at the old man. 

"It's clear, most likely, he noticed you ... well, it's good ... and so the time is turbulent ..." With a weary sigh, the elderly man took out a smoking pipe and sat down on a chair.

"What a dangerous young man, and his meticulous control of magical power scares even me and makes me jealous…" 

---

After this expensive purchase, the wizard had less than a hundred galleons in his hands, but he still decided to take a little more walk along Diagon Alley. And just like that, he wandered into a rather strange place.

It was a small dark street adjoining Diagon Alley. It also housed small shops, but there were only a few people, and their appearance did not say anything good: it was immediately clear that these were not the "brightest" wizards of the magical world. But Severus didn't care much, he just continued his walk, ignoring the gloomy faces of the wizards watching him. - "Borgin and Burkes", stopping in front of the shop, he looked with interest at a huge number of things through a glass display case. 

"Looks like artifacts, or maybe antiques…?" but still the young man decided to go inside, because, in addition to simple trinkets, he saw several swords lying in a barrel in a corner of the room.

"Hello, young man, did something catch your attention in my humble shop?" came the slightly sarcastic voice of a man with rather unpleasant features, directly shouting: "Slippery type, with whom you need to be on the lookout." 

Severus himself examined the ten swords with interest, not paying attention to the owner of the shop, who was not offended by such an attitude at all, because he had seen many strange customers.

'Each of them is cursed… and most of the things in this shop are exactly the same, and after all, the sale of such things is suppressed by law, and if you remember the names of other shops, you can easily understand that I ended up in Knockturn Alley…'. Knockturn Alley was an analogue of the black market of the Muggle world, which sold dark artifacts, ingredients for dark magic, and many other things prohibited by law. 

"How much is this sword worth?" Severus asked, taking out a slightly worn, simple-looking silver sword. Disappointment flickered in the seller's eyes when he saw the customer's choice. 

"I would recommend you to choose another one: this sword is the most common and we got it from one Squib without a family, that is, it does not carry any antique value …"

"I want it." With a sigh of displeasure, the seller turned and walked towards the counter. 

"Thirty Galleons," the man said irritably, sitting back at the table and taking the gold coins extended by the Archmage, took out a book and no longer paid attention to him. 

Severus himself, silently turning the sword into a green needle, put it in his shirt pocket and left the shop without turning around.

---

Only half an hour later, the Archmage left Knockturn Alley and returned to Diagon Alley, which sold legal goods, and headed towards the bar with seven Galleons in his pocket, but with a pleased smile, because he was able to get the last two ingredients, albeit at a higher price, than if bought with the permission of the Ministry of Magic.

"Now I can begin to create a foundation for the body and prepare for taking the potion. I hope Lucius will have time to find the ingredients by the beginning of the school year, and we need to decide what to do with the snake tongue…" While Severus was thinking about his plans for the future, a powerful gust of wind hit him from a small alley, accompanied by a dull sound of impact.

"Hmm?" Looking down the alley, he saw a group of six mages in cloaks surrounding a young man whom he recognized as Regulus Black, whom he had previously met before entering the Leaky Cauldron. 

"That's why you shouldn't go alone in such a turbulent time," the wizard nodded to his thoughts, having examined the six wizards. "And especially if you are from some famous family ... And what to do?"

While he was watching, three of the six released three different spells directly at Black, but Regulus managed to put up a barrier and defend himself, but he was no longer able to counterattack due to the fact that the other three attacked at the same second. 

It was clear that those six were not in a hurry to deal with the aristocrat, but, on the contrary, were having fun, while throwing all sorts of offensive remarks like: "What the hell, purebred, where is your strength, or have you screwed yourself already?"or "At school you behaved like a king, but now what? Did you swallow your tongue? Damn bastard! Black! Malfoy! You are all just bastards! And when the damned Dark Lord is dead, you'll be next in line!"

Regulus himself tried not to respond to their insults, because he understood that they were only trying to piss him off.

Although real rage still burned inside him, because they affected not only the Dark Lord, whom he greatly respected, but the entire Black family, and for a man brought up with the value that the honor of the family comes first, it was like throwing a red rag right into a bull's face.

"Hey, need help?" at the moment when one of the attacks almost hit the leg of the young man squeezed in the corner, a transparent barrier appeared in front of him, reflecting a blue beam. 

Hearing this voice, Black twisted his face with displeasure, because he immediately recognized his new acquaintance. And no matter how much he wanted to send this impudent wizard, but gritting his teeth, he nodded.

"Yes, if you help me, my family will thank you very much."

"If so, then I will gladly help, but do not forget your promise." With these words, Severus shifted his gaze to the six and smiled.

"No offense, but you will die today…" The next moment, the temperature in the alley began to rise at an insane speed, and flames engulfed the body of the Archmage, and as soon as he raised his palm, fiery spears materialized behind him, rushing towards the six.

Those Six, of course, tried to use the Protego and defend themselves, but the spears easily passed through their shields and entered the chest of the wizards, and then the flame engulfed their bodies in an instant.

They didn't even have time to squeak, as only ashes remained in their place. Black himself felt a chill at the sight of the death of six wizards.

'What was that spell…? After all, a simple flame is not capable of burning a human body so quickly!' and while the young man was trying to understand what had just happened, he saw a dark-haired woman, who appeared ten meters away from them, holding a magic wand pointing directly at Severus.

"Everte…"

"Stop, Bella!" Regulus shouted, trying to stop her, but it was already too late. "…a statue!"

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Thank you for reading, do drop some power stones.

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