The Real Magical World

The first shop they entered had no sign; only a string of dried bats hung on the door frame.

The bat's eyes were replaced with some kind of luminous ruby, which looked like bloodshot eyeballs in the dim light.

The shop was darker inside than outside, and most of the items on the shelves were not clearly visible; only the shadows of bottles and jars could be vaguely discerned.

Behind the counter stood a male wizard who was as thin as a skeleton, with sunken eyes, pale skin, and long, thin fingers like bird claws.

He saw Orion, grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellowish-black teeth.

"Mr. Black," the wizard's voice was like sandpaper rubbing against a wooden board, "The shipment for this month is ready, the usual."

He pulled a black leather suitcase from under the counter and opened it a crack.

Regulus glimpsed dozens of glass jars neatly stacked inside, each containing some kind of organ.

It has eyes, a heart, fingers, and even a whole baby embryo in a jar, curled up in a murky liquid, its skin so white it's almost transparent, and its blood vessels clearly visible.

Orion didn't touch the box; instead, he handed over a cloth bag full of Galleon. The wizard took it, weighed it in his hand, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Let me know in advance if you need anything next time." The wizard closed the suitcase again. "Supplies are tight lately, the Werewolf are causing a ruckus, and the Ministry of Magic is cracking down hard."

"Understood," Orion replied briefly, turning and leaving.

Regulus followed behind, observing everything without changing his expression.

The second shop sells items related to Dark Arts; several items are displayed in the window.

A magic wand carved from human bones, its shaft covered with densely packed curse Rune.

A mirror that reflects the deepest fears in a person's heart; the frame is pieced together from an infant's skull.

There was also a set of Ritual Dagger, with dried bloodstains on the blades and painful memories embedded in the hilts.

The shopkeeper was a witch dressed in a black robe, with a pure white mask on her face. The mask had only two eye holes, and two will-o'-the-wisps seemed to be shining inside the holes.

She saw Orion, extended her gloved hand, and pointed to a pile of things covered with a black cloth in the corner.

Orion walked over, lifted a corner of the black cloth to take a look, nodded, and handed over a bag of Galleon.

The third shop was even more hidden, tucked away at the end of a dead-end alley. There was still no sign at the entrance, only a distorted symbol drawn in blood on the wall.

Orion stopped in front of the symbol, drew a reversed pattern in the air with his wand, and the door slid open silently.

Inside was a small room, with chains and shackles hanging all over the walls.

A half-human, half-beast creature huddled in a corner; it could be Half-bloods of some kind of creature and a human, or it could be the product of some failed Transfiguration.

It saw someone enter and growled threateningly, but the chains restricted its movement.

A hunchbacked old wizard came out from the inner room, carrying a thick ledger in his hand.

"Mr. Black, the accounts for this month." The old wizard's voice was hoarse and rough. "There's been a problem with the Smuggling Chain; two shipments were intercepted by the Auror, and those losses need to be factored in."

Orion took the ledger and flipped through it, his brow furrowing. "Why was it intercepted?"

"Someone tipped us off," the old wizard spat. "It's been dealt with, but the goods aren't coming back."

"This is a one-time exception." Orion signed the ledger. "If anything goes wrong again, you'll have to cover the losses yourselves."

As Regulus left the shop, he noticed a half-human, half-beast creature staring intently at him from the corner, its eyes filled with hatred, pain, and a hint of desperate pleading.

He looked away and followed his father out of the store.

As Regulus browsed through the shops, he saw many things he had previously only read about in the dangerous books in the Forbidden Section.

There are Magic instruments that can extract souls, candles made from baby fat, and skins that are still wriggling, peeled from living Magical Creatures.

There are Crystal Ball storing the painful memories of others, as well as various experimental records and results that clearly violate basic ethics.

None of the Black family's shop owners in Knockturn Alley looked like decent people.

The skinny, skeletal sorcerer in the first shop exuded a strong aura of death, and his knuckles bore the corrosive marks left by long-term contact with preservatives.

The white-masked witch in the second shop had chaotic and distorted Magic Fluctuation, as if various different types of Dark Arts had been forcibly mixed together.

The third shop was run by a hunchbacked old wizard with cloudy yellow eyes and pupils as narrow as snakes. He always looked at people with an expression as if he were assessing the value of a product.

Regulus knew in his heart that his father had brought him to Knockturn Alley not just to inspect the family business.

Orion wanted him to experience the real Magic world, beyond the classrooms of Hogwarts and the shops of Diagon Alley, the cruel, dark, bloody, and chaotic parts hidden behind the light.

I wanted him to know that the wizarding world is not just about Quidditch and banquets, but also about Smuggling Chain, Dark Wizard, Werewolf, illegal experiments, human trafficking, and organ trading.

These things exist entirely outside the mainstream social discourse, yet they are real.

In some areas, the lines are blurred, with light and darkness intermingling, and the boundaries between legal and illegal blurred.

The shops in Diagon Alley may also be selling illicit goods, and the Dark Wizard in Knockturn Alley may have the protection of the Ministry of Magic.

But Regulus wasn't a real child; he understood the rules of how society worked.

The Muggle world has slums, Black Market, and underground trade; the Wizarding World has Knockturn Alley. Essentially, there's no difference.

They are all shadows beneath the light, chaos outside of order.

Even though he had never been exposed to this aspect of the Wizarding World before, the principles are the same: where there is demand, there is supply; where there are prohibitions, there is Black Market; and where there are laws, there are loopholes.

So he was calm, without shock or fear, and without any moral discomfort.

He simply looked intently and observed carefully, as if he were studying an unfamiliar ecosystem.

Orion kept an eye on her son's reaction.

From the moment he entered Knockturn Alley, he had been watching Regulus's changing expressions.

Regulus's face remained expressionless as he saw the organs preserved in glass jars, the Human Bone Wand and the Infant Skull Mirror, and the half-human, half-beast creature locked in the corner.

He showed no discomfort or aversion; he was simply watching.

Orion breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, a complex mix of emotions welled up inside him.

He certainly hoped that his son would be resilient and unmoved by external things.

In a place like Knockturn Alley, any weakness or hesitation can be a fatal flaw.

Regulus's performance was impeccable: calm, rational, and focused, perfectly befitting the qualities of a Black family heir.

On the other hand, seeing his son remain calm in the face of such darkness, Orion couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion.

An eleven-year-old child should still have innocent fantasies about the world, and still believe in the clear distinction between good and evil, and that justice will prevail.

But Regulus was not like that from a very young age. He saw things too clearly, thought too deeply, and understood the complexity of the world and the cruelty of reality early on.

This reminded Orion of his Patronus from yesterday.

The Starry Sky Kite, a legendary and Magical Creature, symbolizes freedom, exploration, and overcoming all obstacles.

That represents Regulus's deepest, bright, positive, and hopeful desires.

At the same time, he could calmly face the darkest and dirtiest side of Knockturn Alley, walking past those jars soaking organs and those Magic items made from human bones without changing his expression.

Light and darkness seem to coexist in this child's heart.

Orion didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing, but he was certain of one thing: Regulus would become a very, very special wizard.

So special that it might surpass all of Black family's ancestors, so special that it might achieve greatness.

His opinion of his son rose again; "excellent" was no longer enough to describe it.

As Regulus emerged from the seventh shop, he sensed something was amiss.

The alley was still the same alley, dark, dirty, and sparsely populated.

But several more gazes filled the air, carrying undisguised malice.

Those gazes came from different directions, scanning back and forth between him and Orion.

Regulus did not turn to look immediately.

He maintained a normal pace and posture, following half a step behind his father. His Magic Perception spread outwards, and he quickly locked onto several locations.

Ten meters to the left front, in a corner piled with discarded wooden crates, two sources of Magic Power are hidden there, faint and murky.

They used Disillusionment Charm, but their casting was poor; their body outlines were still visible in the dim light, with visible twists and ripples along the edges, and their footprints were left in the dust as they walked.

Two other people stood in the shadow of the porch of a crooked building at the far end of the alley.

One of the Magic Fluctuation was erratic and unstable, possessing a wild, beast-like nature; it was most likely Werewolf, and probably about to transform.

The other Magic Power is even colder.

The four people were clearly working together; two were tracking them up close, while the other two were providing support from a distance—a typical ambush formation.