Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 26: Meeting Lady Rose
"This is the house, right?" Harry was now standing in front of a small circular clearing near the end of the alley.
Most of Knockturn Alley is kept constantly dark by the close proximity of the buildings and the high floors positioned inwards, covering the sun.
But this area here had plenty of sunlight.
One could see the old stone houses all around it, making the comfy-looking wooden cabin in the middle stand out even more.
It was like someone had taken a scene from a painting and dropped it here without care for how it fits with the rest of the landscape.
"Yes, this is it, but…" V's 'eyes' moved relentlessly from one side to the other. "We have been followed almost since we entered the alley."
"Forget it. I didn't come here for that. Let's talk with this Lady Rose." Harry was a very focused individual. When he had an objective in mind, he had to make sure to finish that first before thinking about doing something else.
Right now, he wanted to procure those materials.
Ignoring the observers, he walked across the grassy clearing and up to the door of the house.
Recalling what V said about being polite with this person, Harry made sure to knock on the door before walking inside.
He only hit the door once when it opened up completely, and a soft voice spoke to him.
"Welcome, come in."
Harry glanced around the house as he walked inside. From the outside, no one could guess this was a shop, as it had no signs. And even once inside, the entrance appeared to be that of a normal home.
He vaguely recalled seeing this place during his stay in the frozen world, but the strange part was that he did not remember anything about the interior.
Harry had no doubt that coming across a location like this would have taken his interest during the period of time when he was trying to kill his boredom by exploring every inch and cranny of the world.
'Could I have been hit by some protective spell without realizing?' he wondered for a moment.
There were certainly wards capable of producing such effects on the mind, making people forget what they were doing or completely lose interest in their tasks.
"This way, my young customer."
The voice came from the next room. It sounded sweet and alluring.
Harry decided not to ponder too much on these matters. After all, even if he had been affected by a protective ward, he kinda deserved it for invading someone's privacy.
When he entered the main hall of the house, he was surprised to find something that looked like an actual shop. After seeing the outside and entrance hall, his expectations had been very low, but now he was in a massive room filled with countless shelves and showcases containing all sorts of objects.
The magical density inside this room was ridiculously high and Harry could feel it on his skin without the need for any spell.
His eyes finally landed on the shopkeeper.
A beautiful middle-aged lady with long black hair and piercing blue eyes stood behind the counter, looking at him with a confident smile.
"Welcome, young one. I can feel that you are looking for something special." The woman spoke with a charming cadence. "I am Lady Rose, and if you have the coin, there is nothing I cannot acquire." She ended her introduction with a playful wink.
Harry was a bit baffled. Not by her attitude, but by the fact that he could not detect any magic emanating from her. There was a lot in the house itself, but not in her.
All wizards and witches, even the youngest ones, always have some magic around them.
The chances of this person being a Squib were zero. Not only was his magical hat wary of her, but so was every single inhabitant of the alley. Otherwise, she would never have been allowed to occupy such a premium spot.
"You know… it is a bit rude to stare at a lady so much." Lady Rose teased, though her tone held an undercurrent of sharp intelligence. "And you have yet to introduce yourself."
"Ehem!" V hurried to answer in Harry's place before noting that the boy had become somewhat distracted. "His name is Harry Potter."
"Hmm?" Lady Rose glanced up at the hat resting on Harry's head. "A living hat? How peculiar…" Her eyes glimmered with curiosity as well as greed. "Are you selling it? You don't see those very often. I'll give you a good price."
"V is not for sale." Harry responded immediately. His tone came out a little harsher than he first intended.
"Is that so?" Lady Rose did not appear offended by it. "Very well. If you gave it a name, it must be very important to you, so I won't insist. You came to buy then?"
"Go on. Tell her what you need." The hat urged him.
Harry went on to enumerate every material that he required, including the two wand cores.
"An unusual request. That is for sure. Not many try to get into the field of wand-making without going through the proper channels. If you are caught by the Ministry making wands without a licence… I believe the sentence is quite hefty." Lady Rose remarked.
"That is not what I'm d-…" Harry stopped himself. "…never mind. Do you have what I need?" He did not want to give too many explanations about what he intended to do with those materials.
Lady Rose smiled, triumphant and enigmatic. "Who do you take me for? I have everything, however… for wand cores, I only have unicorn hair and a single phoenix feather. You mentioned needing a pair, right?"
Harry nodded.
"I can get you a pair of phoenix feathers. It will only take me a couple of days." She wrote something on a piece of paper and passed it to Harry. "This is the price. I'll take the full payment in advance, and there are no returns."
Harry glanced at the price. It was hard to tell if it was too much or not, since he had lost track of how much things were worth. But at least, he was glad to see that he had enough to pay.
He could get the pair of unicorn hairs now, but after a short consideration, Harry decided to wait for the phoenix feathers as he knew they would be a lot more compatible with his magic.
After exchanging the money with the shopkeeper, she handed him most of the materials he ordered.
"I'll send you those two feathers as soon as I have them, Mister Potter." The woman gave him a look that was knowing, unreadable, and coiled with secrets.
It made him uneasy.
'V, what did you get me into?' The only thing that Harry knew right now was that this person was truly peculiar.
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