Borgin & Burkes

Chapter 21: Borgin & Burkes

Harry was also startled. Compared to his first visit, Diagon Alley was much more crowded today, practically a sea of people.

"So many people, are they all wizards?" Chris asked.

Mu En nodded. "The vast majority are wizards, but it's probably because the start of the school year is approaching, which is why there are so many people."

"Start of the school year?"

Mu En didn't rush to answer. Seeing the crowded conditions, he wasn't in a hurry to buy anything, so he suggested, "Let's go sit in a cafe. Many shops should be swamped right now."

The group navigated through the crowd and arrived at a cafe in the middle of Diagon Alley. Hermione was mesmerized the entire way, feeling like she had a ton of questions. Harry wasn't much better; it hadn't been this lively when he'd visited last time.

After ordering drinks and some snacks, Chris was about to pay, but when he saw the gold coins Mu En took out, he immediately retracted his hand from his wallet.

"These are Galleons, the currency of the wizarding world," Mu En explained. The group then sat under a sunshade by the street, relaxing.

"Mr. Jones, what did you mean by 'start of the school year' just now?" Chris asked impatiently.

"The start of the school year at Hogwarts. It's a magic school that specifically recruits young wizards of the appropriate age and teaches them how to use the magic power within them."

"A magic school?!" The couple's eyes flashed with shock. "So, our daughter will have to go there in the future too?"

Mu En nodded. "Yes, according to the information I've found, basically every young wizard has to go there. By the way, how old is your daughter?"

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

"Same as me. Then we should be together next year," Harry said, looking at Hermione in surprise.

"Pete, you can take Hermione to look around," Mu En suggested, having noticed the restlessness of the two children.

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

"Martha, go have a look. Little Hermione is clearly bursting with excitement," Chris laughed. Then, he suddenly remembered something and turned to his daughter, saying softly, "I'm sorry, girl. Your mother and I didn't believe you earlier."

He was naturally referring to what had happened earlier on Charing Cross Road.

"It's okay, Dad," Hermione smiled happily, then pulled her mother and bid farewell to the two, led by Harry.

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

Harry nodded. The first time he came, Uncle Mu En had sent him alone to the candy store, so he wasn't entirely unfamiliar with Diagon Alley.

As for Knockturn Alley, even though that incident had happened over a month ago, he absolutely would not go near it, not at all.

After the children left, Mu En and Chris also talked a lot. When Chris heard that his beloved daughter would have to go to school far away in the future, his first reaction was reluctance.

But after Mu En told him the consequences if wizards couldn't control the magic power within them, he fell silent.

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

Chris rubbed his forehead helplessly. "I don't know... The news today has hit me too hard. I might wake up tomorrow and feel like it was all a dream.

And as parents, how can we not worry?"

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

Mu En shook his head. "He's the child of my neighbor. He hasn't had an easy life; I think you can tell. So, I occasionally take him out."

"Oh, okay." Chris felt he should move past this topic.

Meanwhile, Mu En, dividing his attention, began to look around. Ever since a moment ago, he had felt like someone was watching him.

Before long, he identified someone in the passing crowd.

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

The moment Mu En met his gaze, the man smiled, revealing a mouth full of yellow teeth. Then, he took out a piece of parchment from his clothes. On the parchment was a drawing of a creature with the body of a cat and the head of a human.

After confirming Mu En had seen it, and as the crowd flowed past, the man vanished from his spot.

Mu En's eyes narrowed into vertical slits, and a smile curved his lips. He stood up and tidied his clothes. "Mr. Granger, I'll be right back."

"Oh, of course, please do," Chris extended his hand.

Mu En nodded and moved downstream with the crowd. In the blink of an eye, Chris could no longer find any trace of him.

Knockturn Alley had returned to its original state after the major explosion a month prior, with the repair efforts of various parties.

At this moment, a figure darted out from Diagon Alley, running non-stop towards the depths of Knockturn Alley with his bowlegged gait. He looked quite flustered, but whenever he reached a corner, he would frequently look back.

Mundungus looked at the crowd behind him, a hint of confusion in his eyes. Had he mistaken someone? Or had that guy not followed him at all?

Thinking this, he turned his head again and ran further into the alley.

But to his surprise, a figure appeared before him out of nowhere. Before he could even react, he ran headfirst into it.

With a bang, Mundungus felt like he had collided with a metal plate. He even had the illusion that the person blocking his path was Rubeus Hagrid.

Holding his throbbing nose, Mundungus slowly opened his eyes and finally saw who was standing in front of him.

It was the same man from the cafe.

Mu En patted the non-existent dust from his chest and looked at the man before him with a half-smile. "I'm very curious. You deliberately showed me my portrait, wanting to lure me over here. What are you trying to do?"

Mundungus scrambled to his feet, putting distance between himself and Mu En. Clutching the parchment depicting Mu En's likeness, he forced a triumphant expression and said, "I didn't expect you to actually dare follow me. Don't blame me for not warning you; if you dare do anything reckless, your face will be in the Auror office's mailbox tomorrow."

Mu En looked at him, seeing right through the man's forced smile.

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

The next moment, Mundungus flew through the air, crashing heavily in front of Mu En. Before he could even panic, his neck was grabbed, making a crunching sound.

Is this… the strength a wizard should possess?!

At that moment, Mundungus felt as if his throat was caught in a vise.

Mu En spoke softly, "I asked, what is your purpose?"

Saying this, he snatched the parchment, glanced at it, and then tossed it into the air.

In the sunlight, the parchment quickly corroded into dust and vanished.

Mu En slightly loosened his grip, waiting for the man to continue.

"Cough cough… I… cough cough…" Mundungus collapsed onto the ground, his strength gone, trembling all over. He clutched his neck with one hand, while the other scrabbled to get further away from Mu En.

Those two moments had completely shattered his courage.

Having spent years in the dregs of the magical world, he was utterly incapable of resisting the feeling of death being so close.

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

So when I found you… I just wanted to extort some money from you, sorry! Please, let me go…"

Mu En slowly walked towards Mundungus, scaring him into retreating repeatedly.

"Who is this 'he' you're talking about?"

"Borgin & Burkes, you were previously—" Before he could finish, a green light suddenly shot out, hitting Mundungus and cutting off his words.

"Tongue-Tying Curse!!"

Mu En looked towards the source of the curse, an alley between the buildings. A hunched-over man stood in the darkness, his wrinkled face cast in shadow, adding to the gloom.