The Failed Immortal

Not far from Diagon Alley, there is a very famous shop, though most people give it poor reviews when mentioning it. This is because the owner is stingy and greedy; the stolen goods sold here are often squeezed down to a very low price, right at the edge of what the seller is willing to accept.

Borgin and Burkes is the largest shop in Knockturn Alley. The reputation of the Burke family is quite poor in the wizarding world, but no one is willing to provoke them, because none of the guys who tried to provoke them in the past ever lived to see the next day's sun.

However, many people favor this shop because Borgin and Burkes buys everything. Even if you bring a pocket watch still stained with warm blood to sell, they will wipe the surface clean before giving you a quote. As for whether you accept it or not, that is your business.

The business philosophy of maintaining strict confidentiality for clients is also the key to why this shop has lasted so long. Thieves, pickpockets, and even dark wizards love and hate this place in equal measure. The same goes for Aurors; after all, this is a shop that openly sells dark magic items and artifacts. Unfortunately, they dare not touch it—touching it means death. Furthermore, in certain matters, the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic have to hold their noses and deal with them to obtain things that are inconvenient to acquire, such as intelligence.

The lights in the shop were not yet extinguished. After the door was pushed open by Ezio, an old man sitting behind the counter gently pushed up his glasses and shifted his gaze over.

There was no "welcome" greeting. Borgin and Burkes just swept a cold glance at Ezio: "Buying or selling?"

As the number one figure in Knockturn Alley who deals with both the black and white markets, Borgin and Burkes naturally sells intelligence in addition to dark magic items. However, Ezio dared not expose the matter of the 12 Moons for the time being. What if he turned around and sold him out? Ezio dared to tell Snape because he knew what kind of person Snape was; after defecting to Dumbledore, he had no other path to take. Telling Snape this also carried the intention of having him pass the message to Dumbledore.

It was just a pity that Dumbledore was not very satisfied with him and even harbored a sense of wariness. Ezio could only take it slow and find an opportunity to inquire later.

The reason he came to Borgin and Burkes was because he still had some very interesting things for sale.

Ezio was not interested in those dark magic items for the time being, but he was very interested in dark magic books.

Although a large portion of dark magic books carry a certain "malice" that bewitches people while they read and can even affect a person's inner emotions.

But as long as they did not contain evil hexes or curses, Ezio had no worries at all. To be on the safe side, he also bought a pair of dragon-hide gloves with anti-curse effects. Dragon hide naturally has excellent magical resistance, and wearing these gloves while browsing dangerous books could avoid the vast majority of trouble.

If these books wanted to lure him toward darkness, Ezio would instead like to ask: "Do all the letters and symbols in your book add up to more than the number of people who have died by my hand?" Although he didn't really consider the NPCs in the trial space as people.

"Buying books."

A sharp, thin voice came from behind his face mask, indistinguishable as male or female, sounding more like a goblin from Gringotts. Ezio's current height was not tall; if judged by adult standards, he indeed looked a bit like an adult wizard who was part goblin or mixed with some other short magical creature.

"The shelves over there—look, don't touch. Tell me when you've chosen."

Borgin and Burkes spoke indifferently. Upon learning that the visitor was there to buy things, his attitude improved slightly.

Ezio walked to an old bookshelf, raised his eyes to scan it, and felt a bit surprised in his heart.

As expected of a shop specializing in dark magic items, there are quite a few good things here.

Many fallen wizarding families chose to come here to liquidate their belongings. Dark magic items aren't something you can just sell anywhere. Although Borgin and Burkes is stingy and drives prices down, once you sell to him, you don't need to have any worries. Many spendthrift heirs from wizarding families would steal things from home to exchange for money here; selling to this place is the safest option.

There should be a sign in front of the shelf holding the magic books: If you don't want to die an unnatural death, please do not reach out and touch the magic books.

Those magic books that looked evil just by their names radiated a visible aura of evil. One book titled Blood Ritual: Ladder to Godhood wasn't even made of paper; the twisted, tiny tentacles and fleshy texture of the book were even slowly squirming, and inexplicable pus flowed through veins like earthworms, giving off a strong Cthulhu vibe.

Ezio didn't look at the books that were of no help to him. What he needed were things that could improve his own strength. Dark magic is a taboo forbidden from study in the wizarding world, but it cannot be denied that they are indeed very useful. Compared to "white magic," dark magic spells are rougher, more primitive, and closer to the way magic was when it was first discovered and used. In terms of pure destructive power, dark magic is stronger and more effective.

After confirming the books he wanted to buy, Ezio turned around and strolled through the shop. Borgin and Burkes is not very large, about two hundred square meters or so. Placed near the display windows were all kinds of dark magic props.

For example, withered human hands, moving eyeballs, blood-stained masks, ritual vessels made of human bone, and tools for bloody sacrificial rites. Among them, there was no shortage of necklaces containing deadly curses and blood-colored nooses that would automatically move to tighten around a person's neck.

Just as Ezio finished admiring these strange and peculiar things and was preparing to pay for the books, a new mission popped up, catching him off guard.

[New mission enabled]

[Failed Immortality: You have explored an important location where the legendary figure: Tom Marvolo Riddle (Voldemort) pursued immortality]

[Mission Objective: Completely kill the failed pursuer of immortality]

[Mission Difficulty: ★★★★★ (Extra +★ for legendary figure)]

[Mission Reward: Piece of Eden: Staff of Hermes]

Legendary figure? Voldemort? Ezio was slightly stunned, then shook his head slightly, sighing in his heart: In terms of actively seeking death, this guy is legendary enough.

Although he had some objections to this in his heart, if he hadn't read Harry Potter, the base 4-star difficulty would have been quite accurate. Without knowing the original work, the places where Voldemort hid his Horcruxes were indeed very hard to find. Setting aside Dumbledore, it is estimated that no one else in the wizarding world could find all the Horcruxes.

But knowing the plot, the difficulty of this mission plummeted instantly. For Ezio, the biggest difficulty of this mission lay in how to kill Harry Potter—or rather, the piece of Voldemort's soul inside Harry Potter—under Dumbledore's protection.

As for the Piece of Eden reward, Ezio knew a thing or two. This staff, which could merge into the body to change one's appearance, could erase the influence of time on oneself and had impressive healing capabilities. Under normal circumstances, the wielder of the staff could truly achieve a certain degree of immortality, but no one could truly live as long as the sun and moon, because if a person is killed, they will die; the successive wielders of the staff were no exception.

Ignoring the new mission for the moment, Ezio walked to the counter, ready to buy the few interesting books he had just selected.