A Troublesome Shopfront

"We ordinary people are truly happy today!"

Having acquired a shop for free without doing anything, Lester hummed a cheerful tune and immediately changed direction, heading towards the address written on the land deed.

Although he is not legally the owner of the shop yet, the previous owner has been burned to death by him, and the shop will be his sooner or later. There's nothing wrong with him going to take a look first.

Some might think this deed is useless, but if Lester didn't have it, he'd rather rob Gringotts and buy another shop himself than take this free shop.

To give a simple example, if he doesn't have a land deed, and he falls out with the Ministry of Magic, the officials Ministry of Magic will have a reason to punish him.

Wouldn't I be in the wrong then?

Therefore, Lester felt that having this land title was very important, since he wanted to expand his influence, and this shop would be his base in Knockturn Alley in the future.

If even his headquarters are to be illegally seized, how can Lester maintain his authority?

With joyful steps, Lester strode out of the alley, only to be met with dozens of wary glances.

A mere child, well-dressed and barely out of wedlock, had come alone to Knockturn Alley —the perfect target for these dark wizards to rob.

Unfortunately, due to the pursuit of the three pure-blooded dark wizards, the others could only give up in silence.

After witnessing Lester enter the alley with the three dark wizards, many of the dark wizards who were preparing to attack gave up, believing that Lester was doomed. But to their surprise, he actually came out alive.

Ignoring the wary looks from others, Lester took the land deed and began searching according to the address and street numbers.

In fact, Knockturn Alley is a very large place, at least much larger than Diagon Alley, which is a commercial street.

After all, that's a prime commercial area where every inch of land is precious, Knockturn Alley is a slum; the two places are vastly different in nature.

Having traversed countless alleyways, Lester weaved through the lanes and alleys, constantly moving through the slums surrounding Knockturn Alley, heading towards the central area of Knockturn Alley.

Along the way, countless sinister eyes were fixed on Lester, but none of them dared to make a move rashly.

The fact that Lester could get here alone speaks volumes about his extraordinary abilities; none of them, who have become dark wizards, are fools.

There are many opportunities to make money, but life is only once, so they all just coveted Lester but dared not even think of making a move.

After all, they didn't know if Lester was the young master of that Pure-blood families. If they really did intercept and kill the young master of a pure-blood noble family, they would experience the true power of the Ministry of Magic.

At that point, the entire Wizarding World will be unable to tolerate their existence.

And so, Lester made his way smoothly to the inner area of Knockturn Alley, which is the commercial district of Knockturn Alley.

It's clear that this place is well-run by the Pure-blood families who have taken root in Knockturn Alley; from a distance, you can see many shops open to welcome customers.

The way pedestrians on the street dress has also improved a lot. However, most of these pedestrians are in a hurry, and they often leave quickly after making a transaction in the shop.

Lester guessed that this group of people must be the backbone of the dark wizarding Wizarding World.

That's right, dark wizards are also divided into levels. For example, those dark wizards outside Knockturn Alley just now often only know a few simple Dark Magic Dark Magic, or even none at all.

They became dark wizards not because of a desire for wealth, but simply because they couldn't survive. They would starve if they didn't become dark wizards, so they were forced into it.

As China texts say, "When the granaries are full, people know etiquette; when they are well-fed and clothed, they know honor and shame."

These low-level dark wizards are just there to make up the numbers; they're practically begging to be lackeys for those Pure-blood families, but they're not even worth having.

These dark wizards who constantly move through the commercial street of Knockturn Alley are quite different; most of them are well-off and have no worries about food or clothing.

However, due to their ambition, they are often dissatisfied with their current lives.

Becoming a dark wizard was entirely their own choice, because dark wizards made money quickly, and if they pulled off a few big heists, their families might even prosper.

Most of these wizards came from Pure-blood families, but unlike the established pure-bloods and those in power in the Ministry of Magic, their families were not as powerful and could not leave them huge fortunes; some families were even in dire straits.

However, although these Pure-blood families are not very strong, they have inherited some magical skills and social connections over the years, which allows them to do quite well in Knockturn Alley.

"Number 23, 24, 25... 46"

As soon as he arrived at the commercial street of Knockturn Alley, Lester began handing out numbers to each door.

Soon, the hardworking Lester found his shop, a small tenement building with three floors.

"You're really exaggerating. This location is supposedly in the heart of Knockturn Alley? If I hadn't come here myself, I would have been completely fooled."

Lester looked at the surrounding slums not far away, then at the very old tenement building in front of him, and felt as if his feelings had been deceived.

In his mind, shops in the Wizarding World, while not as magnificent as those in Diagon Alley, at least resembled shops.

But if Lester didn't have the land deed, he would have suspected that this tenement building was an illegal structure.

"Well, something's better than nothing."

After a small complaint, Lester obediently went to the shop.

Although the shop looks quite dilapidated from the outside, it must be said that the door is actually quite well-made.

The heavy pear wood door, carved with exquisite patterns, stirred in Lester a sense of anticipation for the shop's interior.

When Lester opened the door, he discovered that his expectations had been completely dashed. The dilapidated tenement building not only looked run-down from the outside, but the interior was even worse.

Because this is the Wizarding World, every shop here is enchanted with a Undetectable Extension Charm. Although this shop is dilapidated, it still has Undetectable Extension Charm.

With the blessing of the Undetectable Extension Charm, the entire first floor of the shop is about 200 square meters, which is large enough in terms of area, but the environment inside is really not good.

All sorts of trash were carelessly discarded on the ground, and most of the paint on the walls had peeled off, not to mention the tiny insects scurrying about in the lobby.

"No wonder that Pure-blood wizard went to the Broken Hair Pub to drown his sorrows; who wouldn't be worried if they saw a shop like that!"