The Vanishing Cabinet

When Lucius saw William there, he was stunned for a moment, almost thinking he had come to the wrong place.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, frowning.

"Buying things, huh?" William narrowed his eyes, sensing the other party's arrogant attitude. "What, is Borgin and Burkes a Malfoy family family business?"

Although William was speaking to Lucius, his eyes were fixed on old Borgin.

Borgin bowed slightly and said, "Mr. Stark is my customer. Mr. Malfoy, what brings you here?"

Lucius merely grunted and led his son toward the counter.

William didn't leave; instead, he wandered around the store, seemingly wanting to buy something.

Lucius glanced at William, but he brazenly showed no intention of leaving.

With his father there, Draco didn't dare go up to greet him. He could only stand there with his head down, like a lackey.

William seemed drawn to a withered arm and just kept staring at the sign.

Borgin couldn't kick William out either; William was a regular customer and a tech geek, and he didn't want to offend him.

But clearly, with William here, Malfoy wouldn't be selling anything.

After a standoff of about three minutes, Borgin led Malfoy into the back room.

After the three had walked a distance, William spoke up, "Come out, Harry, stop hiding."

The rule here is that no third party can watch when someone is selling something.

William wasn't interested in what Malfoy was selling; he was only there to sell Dark Magic items that couldn't be shown to others.

Clearly, Mr. Weasley's search put him under some pressure.

If William hadn't seen Harry hiding here, he would have left immediately; there was no need for him to stay.

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, a large black cabinet was opened, and Harry crawled out.

William raised an eyebrow, shook his head, and said, "Harry, you're really bold."

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, brushing the soot off his clothes.

"There are many things in Borgin and Burkes that even I dare not touch, yet you went straight into a cabinet you saw."

William really didn't know whether to call Harry reckless or courting death.

However, sometimes being overly daring is indeed akin to courting death.

"Is this cabinet dangerous?" Harry asked doubtfully.

The black cabinet looked unremarkable.

"This is a Vanishing Cabinet, a very valuable magical item," William explained.

Vanishing Cabinet usually come in pairs, similar to Two-Way Mirror.

Placing something in a Vanishing Cabinet will cause it to appear in another cabinet; these are precious magical items that allow for spatial teleportation.

There's only one in the Borgin and Burkes; I don't know where the other one is.

So randomly hiding in Vanishing Cabinet is a very risky thing to do, because you don't know where the other cabinet is.

It could be anywhere, maybe even in Azkaban, and then you'll find a surprise when you open the cabinet door.

William took a Knut out of his pocket and put it in the Vanishing Cabinet, then closed the door. When he opened it again, the Knut was gone.

Seeing this, Harry broke out in a cold sweat. Luckily, he hadn't closed the door completely, only left it slightly ajar to eavesdrop; otherwise, he might have been killed.

"What is this?" Harry asked, looking at the withered arm that William had been observing.

"Hand of Glory." William took the arm.

"This is a creation of Dark Magic; once a candle is inserted into the arm, only the person holding the arm can see the candlelight."

This light could even penetrate the darkness created by Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, something most luminous talismans couldn't do.

Therefore, this is a useful tool for thieves to steal things at night and for tomb raiders to enter ancient tombs.

Hmm... the Goblin of Gringotts should like it; they're ramping up their pyramid clearing efforts.

"How do you know all this?" Harry asked again.

"Read more books, read more newspapers, eat fewer snacks, and sleep more." William put his arm back in the distance.

"Hogwarts Library is the largest library in the world. You can find the answer to anything you don't know there, especially in the Restricted Section."

"But I remember that young wizards aren't allowed to enter Restricted Section..."

"Professor's approval is all I need, and Professor Flitwick always approves for me." William smiled. "Let's go, Malfoy and the others are coming out soon. I don't think you'd want Malfoy to see you like this, would you?"

Harry was covered in soot and wearing broken glasses.

After they left the store, William waved his wand and cleaned the dust off Harry, then repaired his glasses.

"Thank you." Harry couldn't help but look around.

Before him lay a filthy alley, lined with shops that seemed to be selling Dark Magic. The one he had just come from, called Borgin Burke, appeared to be the largest, but across the street, a shop window displayed a sinister array of shrunken human heads.

"William, where is this?"

"Don't come to Knockturn Alley when you're alone," William warned.

William wasn't worried about Harry, but rather that he might be too reckless and bring Hermione here.

This is definitely not a place for a little wizard.

"By the way, why are you here all alone? Where are Fred George and the others?" William asked.

"I don't know either. I think I misplaced the Floo Powder when I used it," Harry quickly explained.

He had come to Diagon Alley with the Weasley family, but he Diagon Alley it as "Knockturn Alley".

As the two were about to leave the alley, an old witch approached, carrying a dish that looked exactly like a whole set of dead man's fingernails.

She squinted, revealing moss-covered teeth.

"Hey handsome, come play!"

Harry took two steps back in fear.

"Get out!" William raised his wand, from which a ball of blazing purple flame shot out and landed on his fingernail.

The old woman hurriedly backed away, cursing as she slipped through a wooden door.

Who is that?

"A dark sorceress. See that plate in her hand? It's made from fingernails taken from living people, then used to create cursed items. She loves lone children like you."

Harry shuddered and decided he would never come here again.

William led Harry to Diagon Alley, where they found Hermione and Anne at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

The two then each bought two more servings of strawberry ice cream.

"Alright, that's enough. You'll catch a cold if you eat too much," William instructed.

Anne grumbled and complained, but William gave her a "candied chestnut," and she immediately quieted down.

Hermione was more obedient and didn't intend to eat any more, but she couldn't bear to throw away what was left, so she handed it to William.

William sat down next to the girl, picked up a spoon, and ate it in no time.

Harry pulled up a chair and sat down next to him.

"Harry, what are you doing here?" Hermione asked.

Harry quickly explained his situation and looked at William.

What do the Malfoy sell?

"It's probably some kind of Dark Magic item from his house." William wiped his mouth.

"Then why don't you...?"

"Stop it? Call the police? Or report it to the Auror?" William countered.

Harry was speechless.

Yes, what could two little wizards possibly do in a shop?

Could he possibly pick up a wand and fight Malfoy while waiting for the Ministry of Magic to arrive?

"I think we can tell Mr. Weasley," Harry suggested.

"Of course, but it won't be very effective." William recounted how the Ministry of Magic had searched the Malfoy family's house.

Even with a warrant, Mr. Weasley couldn't thoroughly search Malfoy Manor, so it's even less likely to work now.

Malfoy is quite powerful, especially skilled in magic related to money.

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