The randomly spawning legendary merchant

Having stayed up late the night before, Gavin treated himself to a rare lie-in, then headed downstairs for brunch.

The Leaky Cauldron's brunch was a little better than Gavin had expected.

At least the bread was softer than the white bread back home.

"At least I can bite through it. It's been upgraded from building material to edible material."

He offered his verdict after taking a bite.

A heavily bearded wizard at the next table glanced at him.

"First time here?"

"Yeah, first time."

"Then you're in luck."

The man shook the beer mug in his hand.

"A couple of years ago, the bread here was harder than a Troll's skull."

"...That's quite an improvement, then."

The conversation ended there. The man had clearly only wanted a bit of idle chatter, with no intention of getting better acquainted.

As an introvert, Gavin was perfectly happy with that.

After replenishing his body's essential energy, he didn't head straight to Diagon Alley.

Instead, he sat in a corner, ordered a glass of Pumpkin Juice, and drank it slowly.

He lingered until the afternoon, when the pub gradually filled up as last night's drunks emerged in search of food.

Gavin listened carefully, hoping to pick up some information.

"Dittany prices have gone up again. Those bastards at the Ministry of Magic!"

Three tables away, someone was discussing potions prices.

"They charged me two whole Galleons just to repair a Comet 260. Merlin's beard!"

By the window, a young wizard was complaining about broom repair fees.

In a corner, two people spoke in hushed voices, with the occasional mention of "Knockturn Alley" drifting over.

"Just as I thought."

He had already noticed it yesterday.

Diagon Alley might have been a legitimate shopping district, but plenty of things couldn't be bought there.

Or rather—

Couldn't conveniently be sold openly.

And those things were often the most valuable for research.

"For the real stuff, you still have to go to the black market."

He set down his glass, stood up, and went outside.

Diagon Alley was as bustling as ever during the day.

Students, parents, shopkeepers, and owls mingled together, making the whole street look like a pot of constantly bubbling soup.

Gavin didn't revisit the shops he had already browsed.

His goal this time was clear:

Find a connection.

Although Knockturn Alley was dangerous, the risk should be small as long as Gavin didn't physically enter it. Surely no dark wizard would dare attack a young wizard like him in broad daylight in Diagon Alley.

Gavin wandered aimlessly, looking like a curious little boy interested in everything.

In reality, he was quietly observing every person who passed.

Most people on the street at this hour were young wizards buying school supplies, along with their accompanying parents.

The street was lively.

Peddlers selling small items appeared from time to time.

Unfortunately, all their wares were legitimate.

When he reached the entrance of the third general store, he spotted his target.

A man wearing filthy, tattered robes.

He was standing outside an apothecary, trying to sell a family of three the "Dragon Meat" in his hand.

Suddenly, an ill-tempered shop assistant rushed out, waving a broom and shouting:

"Get lost, Fletcher! Stop peddling your moldy Dragon Meat in front of my window! That bag of 'Griffin Claw Powder' you sold my apprentice last time turned out to be nothing but ground-up rooster toenails when we tested it! You damned, smoke-stinking parasite!"

The man named Fletcher deftly ducked his head and quickly stuffed the piece of supposed "Dragon Meat" back into his pocket.

Looking deeply wronged, he raised both hands and backed away. "Whoa! Whoa! Calm down, mate. Just a little business misunderstanding... I'm leaving, aren't I?"

Even as he retreated, he winked and pulled faces at the bystanders, as though telling them not to worry—this was merely a tactic to suppress a competitor.

Gavin grinned.

"Found you."

Gavin didn't approach him immediately.

Instead, he lingered in a nearby shop, pretending to browse.

Only when the man reached the end of the street and was about to leave the crowded area did Gavin follow him.

"Sir."

The man stopped.

He turned around.

A fair-skinned little boy stood behind him.

"You talking to me?"

"Yes."

Gavin stood before him, his tone calm.

"I'd like to ask you about something."

Fletcher narrowed his eyes and looked him up and down.

"I don't know you, kid."

"That's all right."

"Then there's even less reason to ask me anything."

He turned to leave.

"I can pay."

That stopped him.

He slowly turned back.

"What did you say?"

"I said I can pay."

Gavin repeated himself.

"For books."

Fletcher looked at him, then suddenly smiled as though he were looking at an idiot. Buying things from a thief? Fletcher was ready to give this boy a vivid lesson in how the world worked.

"All right, young sir. What sort of books are you after?"

"The kind you can't learn from at school."

A child looking for a taste of forbidden fruit. Fletcher's smile widened.

He had seen plenty of children like this.

"Ten Galleons!" Fletcher tried naming a price.

The little boy took a wallet from his pocket and carefully counted out five gold coins. "But I only have five Galleons left. Can that be the deposit?"

"Not a problem at all, my esteemed young sir." Fletcher practically snatched the five Galleons from Gavin's hand. "I'll bring them to you the day after tomorrow."

With the gold in hand, Fletcher was ready to disappear. He wondered whether the child would go crying to his mother when he failed to show up the day after tomorrow.

"No problem, Mr. Mundungus Fletcher." Gavin nodded and spoke calmly.

Mundungus, who had already turned to leave, suddenly froze, then stiffly turned back to look at Gavin.

"How do you know my name?"

"The famous Mundungus Fletcher? Of course I know your name. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come to you."

Gavin had said something utterly empty, but those empty words made him seem mysterious in Mundungus's eyes.

"Oh, haha, right. That's right." Mundungus gave a couple of dry laughs and once again prepared to leave.

"I'm staying at the Leaky Cauldron. If I don't get my books the day after tomorrow, I'll write to Headmaster Dumbledore and tell him someone in Diagon Alley cheated me out of five Galleons."

Gavin knew exactly what Mundungus was thinking and shattered his last remaining hope.

At the thought of the greatest lord of light of the century, Mundungus shuddered.

"Damn it. Take them back, kid." Flustered and furious, Mundungus reached out to return the coins. "Don't let me see you again."

Gavin didn't take them.

"What are you playing at, kid?"

"This is my introductory gift to Mr. Mundungus. I'm not particularly short of money, and I really do need some books."

"Aren't you afraid I'll report you to Dumbledore, kid?" Mundungus narrowed his eyes. "Don't say I didn't warn you. What you're doing is dangerous."

"I'm just a first-year student full of curiosity about magic. At worst, I'll get a scolding." Gavin shrugged. "But you, Mundungus, the legendary merchant who walks the gray areas of the wizarding world and deals with both sides of the law, would lose a steady source of income."

A legendary merchant? Dealing with both sides of the law? Me? The Chinese-style flattery left Mundungus feeling rather pleased with himself.

"Go on."

"A great merchant never passes up a chance to do business, does he?"

"All right, you've convinced me, kid."

Mundungus completely lost himself in the lavish flattery.

"Let me make this clear first: I can't get anything too high-end."

"No problem. Just bring what you can, and I'll pay you according to its value."

"Sure. I can still get hold of a few things. I haven't asked your name yet."

"Gu Wen."

"Gu... what?"

"You can call me Gavin."

"All right, little Gavin. Here's to doing business together."

"To doing business together."

"Phew."

Closing Wizard Body Structure, Gavin rubbed his brow and began recovering his rapidly plummeting sanity.

The book in his hands had, of course, been procured by Mundungus. Gavin had thought it would be, at most, a book on wizard anatomy, but it was filled with accounts of the various experiments a wizard had performed on his own body.

"This counts as not particularly dangerous? What would a genuinely forbidden book look like?"

Gavin suddenly felt that forbidden books were forbidden for a reason.

Fortunately, he hadn't come away empty-handed. The book showed how a wizard's body reacted under various conditions, and the results largely matched the data Gavin knew about Muggle bodies, indirectly supporting his hypothesis.

Muggles and wizards shared mostly the same physical structure.

The book's final research stopped at the eyes and ears, with no indication of why it hadn't continued.

"I wonder why the author didn't study the brain. Did he just not want to?"

Gavin made the dark joke to himself, suppressed the terrifying suspicion in his mind, and put the book into a small bag enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm. A large pile of books already lay quietly inside, evidently all obtained by the "legendary merchant."

Every one of those books had been selected by Gavin from a heap of junk.

Then he had offered an "appropriate" price.

Mundungus had complained about that plenty.

"You stingy Goblin in human skin!" That was Mundungus's latest name for Gavin.

Despite his complaints, he returned every few days, smiling as he brought Gavin another batch of goods.

Although Gavin hadn't gained any practical magical knowledge from them, his understanding of the darker side of the wizarding world continued to deepen.

"This is the real world of magic. Wizards are far more insane than Muggles."

Gavin fell silent for a long while. He had never underestimated the dangers of the magical world, but for someone born in peacetime, everything he had seen over the past two days had still been deeply shocking.

"Looks like I'll have to put my plans for personal safety into action sooner."

Gavin settled his tangled thoughts and glanced at the calendar on the desk.

August 31.

Tomorrow, he would start at Hogwarts.

"Finally."

Gavin's life as a student was about to begin once again. This time, he would be studying magic.

"See you tomorrow, Hogwarts."