CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN - Knockturn Alley

While Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys prepared to go to St Mungo's with Mad-Eye, Lupin, and Mundungus Fletcher, Attuoria bid them goodbye, saying that she needed to go buy some things for her new pet Knarl. They all asked for her to stay with them, saying that she could go later, but she declined their offer and went on her way.

Sirius had casted her a hard look of suspicion as she left the house. He thought she was going out to meet Death Eaters. Attuoria was sure that he'd sent someone to follow her, but she wasn't the least bit worried. An innocent person had no need to fear.

The London Underground would've been unnavigable had Attuoria not ridden it with Harry the first time she was in the mortal realm. With a wallet of muggle money Hermione had leant her for the trip, she took the subway to the center of London, where she found the Leaky Cauldron. The inn was all too familiar to her by now, having been there twice.

Diagon Alley was probably her best bet when it came to buying gifts. Apart from Hogsmeade, which was all the way at Hogwarts, Diagon Alley was the only location where she knew she would be able to find reliable magical goods.

Upon entering the Leaky Cauldron, Attuoria headed directly to the brick wall at the back of the inn. She tapped the bricks in the order she had seen Hagrid and Lucius Malfoy do, and the wall opened up in front of her.

The familiar streets unraveled before her eyes. Compared to the week before school, Christmas day Diagon Alley was much less crowded (almost bare), and covered with a blanket of white. She walked down the cobblestone streets, feeling grateful that George had given her the woolen mittens on her hands. Her cheeks were stinging from the cold, even with Fred's long Gryffindor scarf wrapped around her neck.

But as Attuoria glanced left and right down the alley, she found that most of the shops were closed. A sudden realisation hit her - Everyone was probably at home celebrating Christmas day with their loved ones.

Eeylops Owl Emporium was closed, and so was Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop (Attuoria was depending on that to buy a gift for Fred and George), Flourish and Blotts, Madam Malkin's Robes shop, Amanuensis Quills, the Apothecary, Quality Quidditch Supplies - as well as just about all of them.

Attuoria sighed. It didn't matter. She would figure something out.

Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour was still open. And across the street from it was the Magical Menagerie, which was the exact shop Attuoria was looking for to buy items for her Knarl. Luckily, it was open as well.

The tiny shop was filled to the ceiling with cages of animals, squeaking, chirping or hissing as Attuoria entered the room. It was rather smelly too, similar to the scent of Hagrid's hut, but Attuoria didn't quite mind.

"How may I help you?" A woman's voice said from the counter at the end of the shop. She had grey hair that was neatly tucked under a large witch's hat. A pair of thick, black-rimmed eyeglasses sat upon her upturned nose. "It's Christmas day, dear, what are you doing here all alone?"

Attuoria walked up to the counter, scanning the many creatures in the shop as she did. "Someone gave me a Knarl for Christmas. I was wondering if you had a sort of comfortable cage or tank I can keep it in?"

The saleswoman frowned. "A Knarl? That's a rather unusual pet."

"Is it?"

"Well first off, feeding the Knarl is going to be a problem. A Knarl's diet consists only of daisies, but if you offer it any type of food, it'll just ransack your home."

"I know. That's why I want to give it a little garden of its own. Like that!" She pointed at a glass tank that housed a few snails. Through the musty glass, one could see small rocks and bits of dried grass.

"You mean the Streelers?" The witch adjusted her eyeglasses as she peered towards the snails with narrowed eyes. "I don't sell the tanks, but if you bought the Streelers, I suppose the tank would come with it. Same with the toads."

Between the sad looking toads in their thin glass cases and the bright pink snails in the musty glass tank, Attuoria decided to go with the latter.

"How much for the Streelers?"

"If you want the tank you'll have to take both Streelers, so that would be four Galleons."

Attuoria took a glance at her money pouch. She let out an awkward cough. "Er, how much for the cheapest toad?"

"Five galleons for a Common or Natterjack toad. The others sell for nine."

"O-kay," Attuoria reluctantly pulled out four golden coins. "I'll take the Streelers."

The saleswitch happily took the money and shoved it into a drawer under the counter. "Just grab them on the way out. Have a nice Christmas!"

"Thanks, you too."

Back out on the streets of Diagon Alley, Attuoria now walked with a dirty glass tank of poisonous, color-changing snails in her arms. They had switched from bright pink to a pale, lilac purple.

Streelers, despite being a common wizarding house pet, were actually quite dangerous. The trail of slime a Streeler leaves behind is so venomous that it shrivels and burns all vegetation it touches. There were sharp spikes on its color-changing shells, and it injected venom just as toxic as its slime.

Attuoria definitely wasn't looking to keep these things as pets. Giving them to Hagrid was probably her best option.

Glancing over at the ice cream parlour, Attuoria set off on her mission to get each of her friends a gift.

Harry gave her a sneakoscope, which was supposed to warn her about suspicious activity. It was sort of a protective device, and Attuoria thought it was only fair she gave him something protective, too. The only thing she could think of that had any protective properties was her Wiggentree back in her dorm at Hogwarts.

Attuoria decided that Harry's Christmas gift would be postponed until they got back to Hogwarts.

She bought Ron a pint of No Melt maple walnut ice cream, since he bought her bubblegum. As for George, who got her a pair of mittens, she wanted to buy him a new pair of Quidditch gloves, but Quality Quidditch Supplies was closed.

Luckily for her, Twilfitt and Tattings was open. Twilfitt and Tattings was an expensive clothing shop that Narcissa Malfoy had introduced to her previously. They came here to buy Attuoria's dress coat, which was very expensive.

But the Malfoys got special treatment by the owners of this shop, so when Attuoria entered, the shopkeeper recognised her immediately. She let her buy a pair of charmed leather gloves and a black travelling cloak for half the original price, in exchange for a good word to the Malfoys. Although six galleons was still very expensive, it was better than twelve.

The leather gloves were for George, and the travelling cloak was for Mr and Mrs Weasley.

Although the travelling cloak was an odd purchase, Attuoria figured that since both Mr and Mrs Weasley have been on duty for the Order, they might as well have a travelling cloak with them. A good quality one, too.

She had three people left: Hermione, Fred, and Hagrid.

Hermione gave her a quill and a notebook, so Attuoria found a long roll of self-erasing parchment from Scribbulus Writing Implements for her.

That was the last shop in Diagon Alley that was open. Magical Menagerie, Florean Fortesque's Ice Cream Parlour, Twilfitt and Tattings, and Scribbulus Writing Implements. There was nowhere else to go.

Attuoria stood outside the shop, glancing around the street. She slowly spun around in a circle, observing the winter scene around her.

An archway stood right next to Scribbulus Writing Implements. It looked like a tunnel that had been dug through the brick wall. The passage was dark, with a small illuminating spot of daylight far away in the center of the blackness.

A sign hung lopsided at its entrance: "Knockturn Alley" with a little hand pointing towards the tunnel.

Attuoria felt her heart skip a beat. Maybe there were more shops open in Knockturn Alley.

"Lumos," she whispered quietly, holding her wand out in front of her. To her surprise, the brick walls around her were plastered with all kinds of posters. Wanted posters of criminals (Sirius Black's animated mugshot drew her attention the most), propaganda posters (mostly opposing the ministry), and graffiti-written threats on the wall.

A sentence written on the wall in black ink marked the exit of the tunnel. "You-Know-Who is watching you" trailed in her mind as Attuoria entered back out into daylight.

But it wasn't so much daylight. The sky seemed gloomier above Knockturn Alley. The shops around the area were all painted black, the wooden frames resembling more of faded leather than a glossy-coated storefront.

Figures, many hidden under black hoods, were scattered down the street. Everybody seemed to be minding their own business. One or two eyes were on her, perusing the bright red scarf around her neck. Compared to the grayscale colors of this street, Attuoria's Gryffindor scarf stood out like a rose flower amongst a field of daisies.

The first shop that caught her eye was one on the left, with a wooden sign that said "Tallow and Hemp Toxic Tapers". It was a shop that sold poisonous candles.

Attuoria pushed through the old wooden door. A sickly sweet scent immediately wafted into her nostrils, surprising her slightly. It definitely wasn't a smell she expected from a poisonous candle shop.

An old lady at the end of the shop had her head bowed down, the dim light from a candle next to her casting a long shadow across her face.

"Welcome to Tallow and Hemp," the witch said, sounding strained. "What brings you here?"

"Do you have any particularly interesting candles?" Attuoria asked, her eyes wandering along the tall shelves.

A smile curled onto the woman's face, revealing shining white teeth with a speck of silver. "Particularly interesting... Deadly, perhaps?"

"No, no, not deadly. Anything with special effects?"

The witch hesitated, slowly scanning the room. "Reverie Candle is a good one. Very underrated, only seven sickles. Although it's understandable, considering all of our customers come in with only one thing in mind."

"Which is…?"

A malicious smile was all Attuoria needed to understand what the woman meant.

"Ah. So what does the Reverie Candle do?"

"Causes hallucinations. Only for as long as you're inhaling the fumes."

"What kind of hallucinations?"

"Well that's up to you. You sure you don't want any of our speciality candles? A young girl like you might be interested in our Streel Candles, they're ever so colorful."

Two small candles, one a lime green and the other a turquoise blue, was placed on the desk in front of her.

"Deadly ones. Unfortunately we're low on stock, so these are the only two colors left. Didn't think Streelers would be such popular Christmas gifts. We weren't able to get our hands on as many as we had hoped this season."

"Oh?" Attuoria pulled open her bookbag and glanced inside. She had used an undetectable extension charm on her bag, which was technically illegal without a permit. Her tank of Streelers was sitting amongst the mess inside her bag. "I recently bought two Streelers. Would you like them?"

The witch's eyes lit up. "Yes! Yes, I would."

"Alright," Attuoria pointed her wand into her bag and nonverbally summoned the two Streelers. They floated in the air in front of her, traces of their venomous slime hovering around their slimy bodies.

"Three Galleons and two candles," said Attuoria, demanding an exchange.

"Two Galleons and three candles," the woman bargained, bringing out a small jar.

Attuoria calculated the overall price - the woman would be offering her around three Galleons and four Sickles total. A pretty good deal.

"I'll take that," said Attuoria, lowering the Streelers into the glass jar.

The saleswitch placed two golden coins on the desk. She pulled out her wand and two pale white candles flew over from one of the shelves near the storefront.

"That's two Galleons, two Reverie Candles, and one Streel Candle." She pushed the items towards Attuoria, giving her the deadly lime green candle.

"Thanks." Attuoria scooped all the items into her bag.

"Nice doing business with you, young lady," the woman said with a toothy grin. "You might want to ditch the scarf. People around Knockturn aren't known for being very friendly."

"Alright, I will," Attuoria pulled off Fred's scarf, shoving it inside her bag. "Thank you."

The wooden door creaked shut behind her, and Attuoria was back out in the streets of this shady alley. The Reverie Candles were for Fred. She figured it would likely inspire him in creating more of his joke products.

There was one last person she had to buy a gift for: Hagrid.

Hagrid had a thing for adventure and danger. In Care of Magical Creatures, he refused to teach by the syllabus and instead taught his students about the creatures that were the most fascinating.

More than often, these fascinating creatures were either dangerous or illegal.

Attuoria wandered down the street, loosening her hair from a messy bun and pulling the hood of her coat over her head to fit in with the aesthetic of the place. She browsed through a few shops, impulsively making purchases as she went along.

A small aquamarine ring she bought from a shop called The Starry Prophesier found home on her left forefinger. It was supposed to show her the near fate of anything she points at. The shopkeeper gave an example, saying that if a flower was going to wither tomorrow, the ring would tell her.

She hadn't tried it out just yet, but ideally, it should work better than Professor Trelawney's prophecies. Trelawney always told everyone that they were in "grave danger", which is true depending on how one looks at it. Anybody could die at any moment.

Attuoria frowned at the thought. Trelawney was right to a certain extent. There were so many possible ways for a human to die that they could pretty much die anywhere at any time. Poor Cedric Diggory hadn't expected to die that night of the Triwizard Tournament. Had he not touched the portkey, he wouldn't have been killed.

Everything happened by chance. The chance of living was just as slim as the chance of dying. But since both chances are slim, and there's no in between… shaking her head slightly, Attuoria tried to clear her mind of this paradox. Living and dying are easy, but in between life and death? What was in between life and death?

The sky had gotten darker. Attuoria glanced up. Only a thin strip of the cloudy white sky remained amongst the tight valley of roofs. It was as if the shops on this alley closed in on her, and the pavement she stood on was much narrower than before.

The store on her left was completely barred up, with many dark wooden planks covering its storefront. A polished black door sat to the side, looking oddly clean compared to the dusty glass right next to it.

To her right was a typical Knockturn Alley shop, with long glass windows and faded black signs. The shop was illuminated by dim lanterns, and Attuoria could see an assortment of all kinds of curious objects littered inside. It was like an attic: filled a whole bunch of random heirlooms and antiques that didn't make sense together.

Then, she noticed something. There was a reflection of a figure in the glass. It was dressed in black, a long veil hanging across its face. Attuoria narrowed her eyes to get a better look of the glass, but after she blinked, the figure was gone. Must have been a trick of light.

Golden letters above the glass display spelled out "Borgin & Burkes". The paint was peeling, but Attuoria could just barely make out the words "Established 1863, licensed auctioneers".

The shop looked decent enough, so she decided to give it a shot. A bell jingled lightly as Attuoria pushed open the wooden door.

"Hello?" Attuoria called, gingerly stepping by a pile of neatly placed skulls. They stacked up like a pyramid at the foot of a drawer. Her eyes followed the furniture up to a glass case, where a blackened human hand sat on top of a velvet cushion.

There were shuffling noises coming from a door at the back of the shop, but no reply.

Attuoria glanced around, trying to find anything that might interest Hagrid. Anything creature related was sure to do the trick. But this was an antique shop. She probably should've gone into Fledermaus and Tanner Bats & Skins when she had the chance.

She turned to leave, but a voice stopped her.

"There, there, why the rush?"

The guy at the counter was like a mix of Filch and Snape. With long, oily, mousy-brown hair, his smile was crooked, revealing uneven yellow teeth. He scrutinized her with tapering dark eyes, eying her expensive Twilfitt and Tattings coat. There was an odd gleam in his eyes as it flickered down to the blue ring on her left hand.

"Do you have any magical creature related items here?" Attuoria asked, and the shopkeeper's gaze snapped up to meet hers.

"Magical creature related…" he clicked his tongue loudly, scanning the room. "There's a full Erkling skeleton somewhere here, a snuff box made out of Occamy eggs, that's an expensive one, and oh yes, a Pogrebin skull - it's caused quite a few suicides, if you're into that kind of thing…"

"Er, anything… more alive, maybe?" Attuoria said hesitantly, squinting at yet another odd looking piece of bone on the floor next to her.

The shopkeeper snorted. "More alive? Use your eyes, girl, this is an antique store. If you want some sort of animal, go look in Fledermaus and Tanner."

Attuoria, undeterred by his nasty tone, nodded. "I was just about to head over there. Thanks."

She turned to leave, but the man called her back again.

"Wait! Wait," he said, lowering his voice slightly. "We buy scraps here, too. If you've got anything to sell, I could give you good money for it." The man once again eyed the ring on her finger.

"No," Attuoria said immediately. "I have nothing. Sorry."

He let out an ugly snarl, but didn't say anything more.

For the third time already, she turned around to leave. But at that very moment, the bell at the front door rang and two figures stepped in.

Both were blonde.

"Mr Malfoy!" The shopkeeper exclaimed in a cloying voice. Attuoria stood rooted on the spot, her eyes frozen on the newcomers.

Lucius Malfoy's eyebrows raised as he came to a stop in front of her.

"Attuoria Knight," he drawled, keeping his head high as he stared down at her. He gripped his cane tightly in his hand. Draco stood a short distance behind him, glancing at her warily.

"Mr Malfoy," returned Attuoria, her voice firm and steady.

"Fancy seeing you… here," said Lucius, nodding his head towards their surroundings. "Borgin and Burkes, interesting choice."

"I was just about to leave, actually," said Attuoria briskly, recovering strength in her legs. "Have a good day, and merry -"

"Draco," Lucius interrupted Attuoria, glancing backwards at his son. "Wait outside with the girl. There are some matters I must discuss with her." Mr Malfoy stepped past Attuoria without another look at her, and headed towards the nasty shopkeeper.

"I - what?" Attuoria said, glancing back and forth between the father and son. Draco sighed.

"Let's go," he said, gently grabbing her by the wrist and guiding her out of the shop.