Shopping for Supplies in Knockturn Alley

Harry did write to his Uncle Vernon while he was at school, but he didn't have his uncle come to pick him up; he simply informed him that he was coming back.

However... he was very polite in his wording, trying his best to avoid offending his somewhat sensitive uncle.

To Harry's surprise, his uncle even had Hedwig bring him a reply, which surprisingly asked him when he would be back.

This left Harry somewhat puzzled.

He walked to the platform entrance and took a Muggle coin out of his pocket.

He hailed a taxi and plopped down in it.

He had already stuffed the suitcase into the small package of the Untraceable Extension Charm, and Hedwig was also with Pabbie, so he moved quietly and didn't need to drag anything heavy.

Magic is amazing.

"It's a really nice day, isn't it?"

The taxi driver was a middle-aged man who started chatting with Harry as soon as he got in the car.

Harry looked out the car window; the gloomy weather was unpredictable, making it hard to tell whether it would rain or not.

"It's really good," he said.

I chatted with the driver on and off the way, while there were constant traffic jams.

By the time Harry arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, almost an hour had passed.

He walked into the Leaky Cauldron, and Old Tom saw him and immediately came to greet him.

"Mr. Potter Potter, it's a great honor..." he said.

"Hello, Tom," Harry said, "I need a room."

Old Tom led him upstairs and settled him into a room.

After he left, Harry took out the Ageing Potion he had prepared beforehand from his pocket.

A short while later, seventeen-year-old Harry appeared in the room.

He changed his clothes, put the remaining Ageing Potion in his pocket, and prepared to take another dose at any time.

After thinking for a moment, he took out a pair of black gloves from his pocket, put them on, and then walked out of the room.

The Leaky Cauldron was always noisy, and the sudden appearance of seventeen-year-old Harry went unnoticed by anyone.

He walked up to the wall and tapped it twice in sequence, and the door to Diagon Alley opened.

Instead of going to Knockturn Alley as his first stop, he planned to have a meal at a restaurant in Diagon Alley to fill his stomach.

He barely ate anything on the bus; the food he had eaten in the morning had long been digested after a day of bumpy travel.

After eating and drinking his fill, Harry stretched and slowly got up, then walked out of the restaurant.

It must be admitted that the French cuisine in the Wizarding World is indeed very authentic and delicious.

This time, after entering the Knockturn Alley, no one came forward to cause him any more trouble.

The Dark Wizard weren't stupid; after Darkie's defeat last time, Dark Wizard became more cautious.

Be especially careful around men who wear glasses.

Harry used Charms to cover his scars, still curious.

Hey, why aren't any Dark Wizard bothering me?

What will happen to the wand then?

Harry did a quick calculation: Ron one, Hermione one, Neville, Seamus, Cedric... not to mention the possibility of new classmates joining after School Opening, Harry thought he should prepare in advance and have a few more wands.

But no Dark Wizard stepped forward, and Harry felt things shouldn't be going this way.

He thought for a moment and decided to go check out the Borgin Borgin store first.

Upon entering, there was still no one standing behind the counter in the Borgin store.

Harry walked to the counter and rang the bell.

The bell rang, and a moment later, Mr. Borgin appeared behind the counter.

"Oh, it's my esteemed Mr. Sebastian!" Mr. Borgin exclaimed greasyly upon seeing Harry, extending his hands. "It's an honor, a great honor to meet you!"

His respectful attitude wasn't without reason. The last time he came to the Borgin store with "Sebastian, this is none of your business," that Darkie had been turned into Flobberworm and stomped on, his juices splashing everywhere.

Having run a shady business for years, Mr. Borgin had long since developed a superb ability to read people's expressions and demeanor. He locked his attention on "Sebastian" almost instantly.

Of course, Mr. Borgin also understood why Sebastian was so short-tempered; after all, he was a capable man, and one had to be understanding.

Harry extended his hand and shook it lightly a few times before withdrawing it, saying, "Mr. Borgin, I need some in-demand items. I knew last time that you're a capable person, so... I hope you won't disappoint me."

"That's right, that's right." Mr. Borgin proudly patted his chicken-like chest. "In Knockturn Alley, let's not talk about anything else, there's nothing my Borgin Borgin shop can't sell, only things buyers haven't thought of!"

"That's good." Harry casually wiped the Holly Wood wand with his black-gloved hand.

Mr. Borgin's eyes widened when he saw the wand.

But he only glanced at it twice before looking away.

"What do you need?" Mr. Borgin asked.

"Phoenix Tears, do you have them?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Mr. Borgin nodded quickly, "And it's cheaper than what you buy outside. You only need two Galleon and seven Sickle to buy these."

As he spoke, Mr. Borgin took out a test tube and compared it to the test tube.

"I want some," Harry said. "Just give me two ounces of Phoenix Tears."

Mr. Borgin did the calculations for a moment, then said to Harry, "Cheng Hui, nine Galleon and eleven Sickle."

"Counting money is such a tedious job, isn't it?" Harry pulled out some money and pushed it toward Mr. Borgin.

"Yes, yes," Mr. Borgin nodded in agreement, and after examining it carefully, he said with a smile, "Is there anything else you need, Mr. Sebastian?"

"I need a Dragon Heart," Harry said.

"This..." Mr. Borgin hesitated.

"What, you don't have any here?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, no," Mr. Borgin said with a smile. "It's just that Dragon Heart are in high demand, and the price..."

"I'll buy it if it's suitable," Harry said casually.

"Okay, okay," Mr. Borgin said quickly. "Hmm... I have the heart of a Hebridean Black Dragon here. It's a bit pricey, costing thirty-six Galleon, ten Sickle, and seven Knut."

"Why are there odd and even numbers?" Harry frowned. "How about this, if you're willing to sell it for thirty Galleon, I'll take this black dragon heart."

He definitely didn't want to be ripped off; the last time he bought the Dragon Heart, it wasn't this expensive.

"That won't do!" Mr. Borgin immediately cried out, "Mr. Sebastian, these are all fresh Dragon Heart, picked from the dragons less than two days ago. They need to be sealed with proper magic. The price I'm selling them for is absolutely fair and just!"

"Your price is not right for me." Harry remained unmoved, absentmindedly twirling his wand, his eyes fixed on the patterns on the base of the wand.

"Mr. Sebastian, look at this, where can you buy Dragon Heart in Knockturn Alley these days?" Mr. Borgin was still trying to persuade Harry to accept the price, "The Ministry of Magic has long stipulated that to buy Dragon Heart, you must have legal proof of your intended use for it—tell me, besides me, who else can sell you Dragon Heart that you can buy without any qualifications?"

"Thirty Galleon." Harry remained unmoved.

"Thirty-two Galleon, Mr. Sebastian." Mr. Borgin sighed. "I'm not making any money off this—I'll sell it to you at cost price! Consider it making a friend!"

"Thirty Galleon." Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Thirty-one!" Mr. Borgin sighed. "Don't make me lose too much... These days, doing business on the black market isn't very profitable."

"Thirty Galleon." Harry remained unmoved.

Mr. Borgin took a deep breath.

"Fine, then I'll sell it to you at a loss!" he said through gritted teeth, as if this deal was a huge financial loss for him. "Anyway, you'll be a regular customer, so consider it making a friend!"

He turned around and pulled a small magic box from underneath.

"This contains the heart of the Hebridean Black Dragon," Mr. Borgin, carefully opening the box and showing it to Harry.

Harry recognized what it was, of course. After confirming that it was the correct item, he closed the box and put the heart in his pocket.

Then he laid out thirty Galleon and put them on the table.

"Thank you, sir," Mr. Borgin said in a very slick manner.

He was secretly laughing to himself. Thank goodness, this deal... brought him a profit of six Galleon!

Harry looked at Mr. Borgin with a half-smile, knowing full well that the other party would make a profit from this deal.

But he didn't want to push things too far. The Black Dragon's Heart was indeed difficult to obtain, so letting the other party make some profit wouldn't hurt.

After all, it is true, as Mr. Borgin said, that it is not available for sale outside.

"One last thing," Harry asked. "I still need the Basilisk Fang."

Mr. Borgin paused for a moment.

"What did you say?"

He wasn't that he didn't hear clearly, but rather that he couldn't believe what Harry wanted.

"I said, I need some Basilisk Fang," Harry said casually, reaching for the sand on the table and rubbing it in his palm. "This is the Time Sand, isn't it? Weigh me five ounces."

"Yes, sir." Mr. Borgin picked up his small shovel, measured out five ounces of Time Sand for Harry, and then said somewhat apologetically, "I'm sorry, Mr. Sebastian, I don't have any Basilisk Fang here."

"Didn't you say you could get anything here?" Harry looked at him with amusement.

Mr. Borgin quickly waved his hand and said, "But Basilisk Fang are not included. Basilisk are Magical Creatures Sickle the Ministry of Magic has ordered to be prohibited from being bred. If I could find a way to get Basilisk Fang, I would definitely sell them in the shop—after all, selling them isn't illegal, but I don't have a source for them."

"Do you know where the Basilisk is?" Harry asked.

"I really don't know," Mr. Borgin shook his head and said, "Basilisk... are indeed rare creatures. They can't be tamed; they only obey Parseltongue commands—but since the Gaunt family line died out, who among us is a natural Parseltongue? So, no one really wants to breed Basilisk."

Has the Gaunt family died out?

Harry felt a pang of sadness, but no sympathy.

After all, apart from Ominis, the sunny-hearted boy, the rest of the Gaunt family were all bad news.

To say they are mentally twisted is to give them credit.

"What about Greece?" Harry asked again. "I remember that Greece really liked breeding these Basilisk, and that the Basilisk were even first bred by Greece wizards, that Herpo the Foul —does Greece not have them anymore?"

"The Greek Ministry of Magic has explicitly prohibited the breeding of such monsters," Mr. Borgin sighed. "Alas."

"Alas," Harry sighed, shaking his head, "It's a real shame that such a good tradition hasn't been passed down."

Mr. Borgin suddenly looked up and glanced at "Sebastian" with a complicated expression.

Good heavens, you...

What kind of good custom is this? Do you have some misunderstanding about what good customs are?!

However, to some extent, Mr. Borgin did agree with Harry's words.

After all, the Basilisk Fang and Basilisk skin are scarce resources; once used, they become scarce.

Everyone knows that someone is secretly breeding Basilisk —because they are extremely rare.

But as everyone knows, cultivating such Sickle can land you in jail, so no one dares to leak any information.

"In that case, I shall take my leave." Harry bowed politely to Mr. Borgin. "May Merlin guide your path, Mr. Borgin."

"You too, Mr. Sebastian," Mr. Borgin replied with the same polite greeting.

Harry has accomplished a small part of his goal on this trip to Knockturn Alley to buy goods.

The only material needed to open Slytherin Study Angel Feather, which is currently in Gringotts.

He also placed the wands he wanted to prepare for his classmates in the Dueling Club on the Dark Wizard in Knockturn Alley.

He could buy it from Ollivanders's shop—but wouldn't it cost money to buy a wand from him?

If you can buy it for free, why bother spending money to buy it?

Harry can figure this out.

He planned to borrow the wands from the Dark Wizard first. Hmm... since they weren't coming to him, he would go to them himself.

With that thought in mind, Harry pulled his hood down and walked forward.

Harry stumbled into a small alley and looked around. He saw a tightly closed door.

"Revilio (Revealing Charm)!"

With the help of Detection Curse, Harry discovered the Dark Wizard lying in the house.

He knocked on the door very politely.

Who is it?

A rough sound came from inside the house.

A moment later, the door was opened, and behind it appeared a face that clearly did not belong to a good person.

The wizard grinned menacingly.

"What is it, kid?"

"Hello, I'd like to borrow your wand," Harry said politely.

The wizard was enraged by Harry's words.

"Are you trying to humiliate me, you bespectacled kid! Don't you know I'm from Azkaban..."

"Oh, it seems you're unwilling."

Harry raised an eyebrow and pointed a finger at the wizard's chest.

"Well, I'm sorry then—Imperio (Imperio)!"

(Delivered at midnight! 12,000 words! Requesting monthly votes!!!)

(Post more comments, we need to get more comments to break into the circle!)