Harry did not mention Professor Gageon's problem to Hermione and the others.
Although Qiu knew about the deity, and there would have been no harm in telling her, Harry still felt that it was enough for him alone to know about something so dangerous. There was no need to drag his girlfriend into it too.
That evening, they studied until just before curfew as usual. Then Harry and Qiu took a short walk around the Castle before returning to their respective Common Rooms. They agreed to go to Hogsmeade early the next morning.
The goods Harry had ordered should have arrived by now.
The next day, Harry got up bright and early. After breakfast, he went to Hogsmeade with Qiu. They waited for a while at the Hog's Head before the scruffy shopkeeper slipped furtively into the pub.
As soon as he saw Harry, the man launched into a torrent of complaints. "My dear Mr. Potter, I have to say, this request of yours was terribly difficult to fulfill. I had to ask so many friends and pull so many strings before I found someone who could handle the job. Ah, for this one job alone, there were favors to call in, expenses to cover..."
"A price increase is out of the question," Harry said with a grin. "I know your rules. Once the price is agreed on, there are no increases."
The scruffy shopkeeper faltered, then shook his head with a wry smile and took a little box out of his pocket.
Calling it a little box might not have been quite accurate. It consisted of two small cabinets connected back to back, then shrunk to the size of a matchbox. Two thin black cords were tied around the outside.
"All right, that's the trouble with regular customers sometimes.