Chapter 54 - Diagon Alley.

[Chapter Size: 1800 Words.]

Third Person POV

Diagon Alley.

...

...

Diagon Alley was bustling as usual on the weekend, with people hurrying and strolling back and forth, eager to buy some item or something they needed.

"Hey, are you reading the newspaper about the attack that happened two days ago?" An older wizard spoke to a lady in a corner.

"Yes... You-Know-Who, sent his group to rob a shop of the Berk family's artifacts?" the woman replied cautiously while looking around to see if anyone was listening.

"That's why there are so many Aurors here today..." He spoke while there were some men from the Ministry of Magic in the crowd and some keeping watch from the tops of the buildings, overseeing the area as a form of security.

"They are getting bolder..." the woman murmured.

"I hope the Ministry of Magic puts an end to this... my business is becoming less profitable with fewer wizards daring to go out on the streets for fear of being attacked by these thugs..." the man complained.

In different areas of Diagon Alley, the discussion turned back to the events of recent days, while they showed a newspaper featuring a shop torn apart with dark smoke emerging from the hole created in the wall.

The Death Eaters were not very active yet, with Voldemort waiting and planning his force to dominate the entire magical world of England, so their actions were calculated and not so frequent before launching a full-scale attack.

Meanwhile, although Diagon Alley was still very busy, perhaps not as much as at the beginning of the school term, but still crowded, in a teleportation house, where people used fireplaces with small fees to travel to any part of England and the world, one of the fireplaces exploded into green flames as a young man walked calmly out of the flame explosion.

"A Hogwarts student?" A man looking at the day's newspaper, closed it while raising an eyebrow.

"Here." Snape spoke as he handed over the paper to the man, who nodded while taking and reading it.

"Alright... a Hogwarts hall pass." He said and handed it to Snape.

The latter nodded, leaving the shop and entering the midst of the crowd, following the flow of people, staying discreet as he could hear some people murmuring about him with suspicious glances.

He continued until he stopped at a shop that interested him, with the sign saying, Slughorn's Apothecary, a small shop filled with dusty bottles and jars containing basic and even rare ingredients, but even though he couldn't take the latter, he would still find many ingredients he wouldn't find at Hogwarts.

He entered the place, with a man just finishing serving some people, as soon as these people paid the man, he came over to Snape, looking at what the shop could offer. "Young man, what brings you here today?" asked Mr. Slughorn.

"Asphodel root, belladonna essence, Unicorn Hair, and Valerian Root." Snape replied.

Mr. Slughorn nodded, he started looking through his boxes around the shop, while speaking as he searched for the ingredients. "You don't seem to be someone who's graduated from Hogwarts yet..." He already supposed.

"I'm in my fifth year if that's what you're asking, but I have a hall pass to leave the castle this weekend..." He spoke while the man nodded, finishing picking up the last pieces and placing them on the table for Snape. "I bet you'll make all kinds of potions with this... sounds interesting." The man didn't fail to comment, seeming like Mr. Ollivander according to Snape's memories from many years ago.

"I'm working on some potions for my personal study," Snape replied vaguely.

"Understand... well, that'll be 10 Galleons." He spoke and Snape took out his purse, paying the man while storing the items and beginning to leave the shop.

"Yes, I know," Snape responded, taking the packages and carefully storing them in his bag.

He resumed his walk through the alley until he found a bookstore, entering while attending to a young lady. She was quite terse in looking at him, but Snape didn't mind as he began to select the books he wanted, his terse look returning to someone quite surprised when Snape had bought more than 100 Galleons' worth of various books, placing them in his bag after paying for them and leaving the shop.

He went to a pet shop afterward, where there were all sorts of animals that a wizard might fancy—owls, rats, cats, snakes, and more. But Snape was interested in none except for the owl, which he needed so as not to rely solely on the Hogwarts owls.

"I like this one," Snape said, looking at an owl as black as night with sapphire blue eyes, which also seemed to look back at him with interest.

"This is a species from the swamps of Africa, very rare in England, with only one wizard able to possess such a one," the man said, although looking at Snape as if he doubted he had the money to pay, given his not exactly rich-looking attire.

"How much?" Snape simply asked.

"300 Galleons..." the owner said, watching Snape to gauge his reaction.

"Here." Snape pulled out all the coins and tossed them to the man, who was slightly surprised and changed his demeanor as he nodded with the money in hand.

"Of course, dear customer, would you like anything else?" he said as Snape looked at the man but made no further comment about it.

"Can you send the owl to Hogwarts?" Snape asked, and the man nodded.

"Of course, we can send her without any problem. Just give me your name and house," he said, as Snape provided the information.

He was finishing up here, but before that, he also asked one last question: "I noticed that you don't sell anything other than animals. If I wanted to buy a house-elf, where could I get one?" Snape asked, curious.

"Well, Mr. Snape, it's quite difficult and bureaucratic... To get a house-elf, you have to wait for the Ministry of Magic to release them for sale through auctions, which happens once or twice a year at most, and there was one last month. So, until the end of the year, or even next year, there might be another, we don't know..." He said, looking at Snape with a gleam that held further information. Seeing this, Snape tossed a few more coins to him.

But the man smiled and continued: "You could also find one in the black market, although I don't recommend that due to the places being infested with followers of You-Know-Who, making it not very safe, even for people wanting to buy illegal things," he said.

Snape raised an eyebrow and asked: "And where is this place?" He inquired, curious, the black market was a place Snape had only heard about over the years, and he was interested in acquiring some rare ingredients even though he wasn't a master in potions, which could only be achieved with that formal title.

The man pursed his lips, a bit cautious, but the young man had already paid him and even bought the most expensive animal in his shop, so he decided to answer. "The black market is hidden in a wall next to the wand shop... You'll see a door almost camouflaged in the wall, you enter and you'll be in an alley, and you have to go to the end of it, where there's a man guarding the gate, if he lets you pass, you enter," he said as Snape nodded with that information.

After that, Snape left the shop, satisfied with his purchases, but he still needed one more thing as he looked at his attire—it was time to change his clothes. He headed towards a clothing store where a lady was sewing something to pass the time while there were no customers.

These shops were only frequented by great nobles, and when it wasn't the start of the school term, it was hard to find the shop crowded with people. As soon as Snape walked through the door, she looked up and saw the young man entering as she approached him.

"How may I assist you, young man?" she asked.

"I need clothes, lots of them, to change my entire wardrobe. I want high-quality clothes," Snape replied.

The woman nodded but with a cautious look, since Snape did not appear to be someone wealthy. Seeing this, Snape spoke. "If you are wondering whether I have the money, I plan to spend at least 200 Galleons here. So, I want the best quality clothes," he said to the other woman, who now had a much more animated demeanor.

"Of course, young man, let's get started!" she said, rising to her feet.

He spent some time choosing his clothes until he finally left satisfied, asking to have all his purchases sent to Hogwarts. "Now let's check out this place..." Snape murmured and re-entered the crowd, heading towards the wand shop.

Next to it, Snape found the door, which was not too difficult for him, and he approached it, entering and drawing the attention of a few onlookers who understood what that meant but continued on with their own affairs.

Snape found himself in an alley and followed it to the end, where indeed there was a man stopping with a hood, leaning against the wall, a wand hidden in his hand, watching Snape approach closely, ready to react to any threat, be it from Death Eaters, Aurors, or nobles.

"What do you want here, boy?" the man spoke.

"I want to enter the black market," said Snape.

The man raised an eyebrow. "Is this a place for children?"

"How much do I need to pay to enter?" Snape didn't waste any time.

"Twenty Galleons," the man replied.

Snape eventually agreed, thinking it better than trying to force his way in or sneak into this place.

After tossing the coins, the man caught them and touched the wall with his wand, before it began to open at that moment, similar to Diagon Alley when they entered it.

"Good luck, or just be careful. It's quite possible you could die in there and no one would care, not even the Ministry of Magic can do anything about it," warned the man, assuming Snape was no one notable since he carried no family crest and looked like a newcomer there.

Snape nodded and entered as the cheerful atmosphere of Diagon Alley shifted to something darker; even the place was darker, with various wizards wearing hoods walking down those shadowy streets. Snape did the same, donning a hood and taking his first steps into the place, interested in what this place might have to offer.

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