Borgin & Burkes

Borgin & Burkes

Harry was startled as well. Compared to his first visit, there were far too many people in Diagon Alley today. It was packed to the brim.

"So many people. Are they all wizards?" Chris asked.

Uncle Mu En nodded. "Most of them are wizards, though it's probably so crowded because the school term is about to start."

"The school term?"

Uncle Mu En did not rush to answer. Seeing the crowd pressing in on every side, he was in no hurry to shop either, so he suggested, "Let's sit in a café for a while. A lot of the shops are probably swamped right now."

The group made their way through the crowd to a café in the middle of Diagon Alley. Hermione had been left wide-eyed the whole way, seemingly brimming with questions. Harry was not much better; it had not been nearly this lively when he came last time.

After ordering drinks and a few snacks, Chris had intended to pay, but the moment he saw the Gold Coins Uncle Mu En took out, he immediately withdrew his hand from his wallet.

"These are Galleons, the Wizarding World's currency," Uncle Mu En explained. They sat beneath a sunshade by the street, passing the time.

"Mr. Jones, what did you mean by the school term?" Chris asked impatiently at once.

"Hogwarts' school term. It's a Magic School that specifically enrolls young wizards of the right age and teaches them how to use the magic within them."

"A Magic School?!" Shock flashed through the couple's eyes. "Does that mean our daughter will have to go there to study in the future?"

Uncle Mu En nodded. "Yes. According to the information I found, practically every Young Wizard has to go there. By the way, how old is your daughter?"

"I'm ten this year," Hermione immediately answered.

"You're the same age as me. Then we should be starting together next year." Harry looked at Hermione in surprise.

"Pete, you can take Hermione around for a look," Uncle Mu En suggested. He had already noticed how restless the two children were.

"Mum, can we?" Hermione looked at her mother. Seeing her hesitate, she added, "You can come with us."

"Martha, go have a look around. Little Hermione is clearly dying to," Chris said with a smile. Then, suddenly remembering something, he turned to his daughter and said softly:

"Sorry, sweetheart. Your mother and I didn't believe what you said earlier."

He naturally meant what had happened on Charing Cross Road.

"It's okay, Dad." Hermione smiled happily, then took her mother's hand and followed Harry away after saying goodbye to the two men.

"Pete, stay in Diagon Alley. Don't go too far," Uncle Mu En instructed.

Harry nodded. The first time he had come here, Uncle Mu En had sent him alone to the sweet shop, so he was not entirely unfamiliar with Diagon Alley.

As for Knockturn Alley, even though more than a month had passed since that incident, he absolutely would not go anywhere near it. Not even a little.

After the children left, Uncle Mu En and Chris talked for quite a while. When Chris heard that his precious daughter would have to go far away to school in the future, his first reaction was reluctance.

But after Uncle Mu En told him what would happen if a wizard could not master the magic in his body, he fell silent again.

"There is still a year to go. You don't need to worry too much," Uncle Mu En said calmly.

Chris rubbed his forehead helplessly. "I don't know... Today's news has been too much of a shock. Maybe when I wake up tomorrow, I'll suddenly feel like this was all a dream.

"And as parents, how could we not worry?"

After saying that, Chris suddenly asked, "Mr. Jones, is Pete your child?"

Uncle Mu En shook his head. "He's the child of my neighbor. He hasn't had an easy life, as I'm sure you can tell. So I take him out from time to time."

"Oh, all right." Chris felt that he should let the subject drop.

As for Uncle Mu En, he divided part of his attention and began scanning his surroundings. Since earlier, he had felt someone watching him.

Before long, he locked onto someone amid the passing crowd.

It was a short, fat, greasy-looking man with bowlegs.

The moment Uncle Mu En met his gaze, the man smiled, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. He then pulled a piece of parchment from his clothes. Drawn on it was a cat-headed, human-bodied figure.

Once he confirmed that Uncle Mu En had seen it, he vanished amid the crisscrossing crowd.

Uncle Mu En narrowed his eyes into slits, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth. He rose and straightened his clothes. "Mr. Granger, excuse me for a moment."

"Oh, certainly. Please, go ahead," Chris said, extending a hand.

Uncle Mu En nodded and moved down the street with the crowd. In the blink of an eye, Chris could no longer find him.

Knockturn Alley had already returned to normal after the massive explosion a month ago, thanks to repairs by all sides.

At that moment, a figure darted out of Diagon Alley. With bowlegged strides, he ran without pause toward the depths of Knockturn Alley. He looked extremely flustered, yet whenever he neared a corner, he kept looking back.

Mundungus looked at the crowd behind him, confusion rising in his heart. Had he mistaken the man? Or had that fellow not followed him at all?

With that thought, he turned around again and ran deeper into the alley.

But to his surprise, a figure had appeared in front of him at some point. Before he could react, he crashed right into him.

With a bang, Mundungus felt as though he had run into an iron plate. For a moment, he even had the illusion that Rubeus Hagrid was standing in his way.

Clutching his aching nose, Mundungus slowly opened his eyes and finally saw who stood before him.

It was the very man from the café.

Uncle Mu En brushed at nonexistent dust on his chest and looked at the man with a half-smile. "I'm curious. You deliberately showed me a portrait of myself to lure me here. What exactly are you trying to do?"

Mundungus scrambled to his feet and put some distance between himself and Uncle Mu En. Clutching the parchment bearing Uncle Mu En's likeness, he forced himself to look smug as he said:

"I didn't expect you to actually dare follow me. Don't say I didn't warn you—if you dare try anything, your face will be in the Auror Office's mailbox tomorrow."

Uncle Mu En looked at him. The bravado hiding the man's weakness was plain for him to see.

"So what are you trying to say?" As he spoke, Uncle Mu En suddenly raised his hand!

The next moment, Mundungus's body flew through the air and slammed heavily into the space before Uncle Mu En. Before he even had time to panic, a hand seized his neck, producing cracking sounds.

Was this... power a wizard could possess?!

At that moment, Mundungus felt as though an iron vise had clamped around his throat.

Uncle Mu En spoke softly. "I asked what your purpose was."

As he spoke, he snatched the parchment away. After unfolding it and taking a glance, he tossed it into the air.

Under the sunlight, the parchment rapidly corroded into ash and vanished.

Uncle Mu En loosened his grip slightly and waited for the man to continue.

"Cough, cough... I... cough, cough..." Mundungus suddenly went limp, trembling as he collapsed to the ground. One hand clutched his throat while the other clawed at the ground, trying to get farther from Uncle Mu En.

Those two moves had terrified him out of his wits.

Having spent his life at the very bottom of the Wizarding World, he had no ability whatsoever to resist that feeling of death looming right before him.

"No, sorry, I'm sorry!! Please don't... I didn't mean to provoke you... cough, cough... He told me you were a criminal and told me to find you in Diagon Alley.

"So when I found you... I wanted to squeeze some money out of you. I'm sorry! Please, let me go..."

Uncle Mu En walked slowly toward Mundungus, frightening him into retreating again and again.

"Who is this 'he' you mentioned?"

"Borgin. You previously—" Before he could finish, a green beam suddenly shot out and struck Mundungus, cutting off his words.

Tongue-Tying Curse!!

Uncle Mu En looked toward where the spell had come from. It was an alley between two buildings. A hunched, stoop-backed man stood in the darkness, his rugged, wrinkled face shrouded in gloom by the shadows.