Diagon Alley
The familiar London streets.
The familiar back wall of the Leaky Cauldron.
The familiar trash can…
Lynn, accompanied by Edgar and William, once again stood before the entrance to this magical world.
Lynn pulled out his wand, recalling the method Dumbledore had taught him a year ago, and aimed it at that specific brick.
Tap, tap, tap~
The tip of his wand tapped lightly three times.
Nothing happened.
The wall remained silent.
"What's going on?" Lynn was stunned and moved his wand closer. "Could it be the wrong amount of force?"
Refusing to believe it, he tapped several more times with greater force, but the wall still didn't respond.
Edgar stared at the wall and said, "Did we remember the position wrong?"
William walked around the trash can, stroked his chin, and said uncertainly,
"Lynn, why do I feel like… the position of this trash can has shifted a bit to the left compared to when I came last time?"
Lynn: "!!!"
He suddenly remembered!
When he first came a year ago, it seemed… appeared… probably… maybe… he had kicked it?!
After a whole year, the boomerang had accurately come back to hit him!
[Ding! Mission issued: Own a shop of your own.]
[Reward: A fully functional Alchemy Workshop, complete with 100 Alchemy Golems as staff. No one else can enter unless granted permission.]
[100 of them! Hardworking! Absolutely obedient! No salary required! And they can work 24/7 without interruption~ Action speaks louder than words!]
Lynn: "!!!"
Good heavens!
This reward meant he absolutely had to buy a shop today!
Never mind the trash can moving—even if it had jumped into the River Thames, he would fish it out just to open the gate to Diagon Alley!
Lynn tried again, switching to several different bricks.
Clatter…
The familiar sound finally rang out.
The bricks in the wall slid apart like a receding tide, revealing Diagon Alley behind them.
The three boys breathed a sigh of relief and quickly walked in, blending into the bustling crowd.
Walking down the street, Edgar looked around curiously.
Suddenly, he nudged Lynn with his elbow and pointed toward a nearby building.
"Lynn, look over there. That shop… business doesn't seem to be doing very well."
Lynn looked in the direction Edgar was pointing.
There, in what could be considered a prime location in Diagon Alley, stood a shop named "Sian's Magic Department Store."
The storefront wasn't small, and the décor was decent enough.
However, in sharp contrast to the lively scenes outside the other shops, the entrance to this one was deserted, with almost no customers coming or going.
Most notably, a medium-sized piece of parchment was stuck to the glass door with "FOR SALE" written clearly on it.
Lynn's eyes lit up instantly.
"Let's go," he said decisively. "Let's check it out."
The three pushed open the door and walked in.
The lighting inside the shop was rather dim.
The goods on the shelves were arranged somewhat messily and covered with a thin layer of dust.
A middle-aged wizard wearing worn robes looked up from behind the counter. His expression was listless, but he forced a polite smile.
"Welcome to Sian's Magic Department Store. What can I get for you three gentlemen?"
Lynn didn't answer immediately.
Instead, his gaze swept quickly across the entire shop as he muttered to himself:
This owner is quite a talent…
To turn such a large space in the center of Diagon Alley into something that feels like an underground warehouse clearance sale.
Seeing that Lynn didn't seem to want anything, William spoke up instead.
"Excuse me, do you have any parchment here? I'd like to buy some."
"Of course, sir. Please wait a moment."
The wizard responded and walked toward the mountain of shelves at the back of the store to begin searching.
One minute passed.
Two minutes passed.
Ten minutes later, he returned empty-handed.
His face was filled with embarrassment and apology.
"I'm very sorry, sir… but our parchment… seems to be… out of stock."
Lynn: "…"
Running a department store in Diagon Alley and being out of stock of parchment?!
It would be a miracle if business was good!
Lynn decided to go straight to the point.
"Excuse me, are you the owner of this shop?"
"Yes, sir. I am the owner here—Hines. Is there something I can help you with?"
The owner looked at the three boys—who were clearly still students—with obvious confusion.
"We saw the 'For Sale' notice on the door," Lynn said, pointing outside. "We're interested in this shop and would like to know the details."
Hines froze.
It seemed as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard.
Three young wizards… wanted to buy his shop?
He looked Lynn up and down again.
After confirming that the other party was serious, his face instantly lit up with excitement—like someone who had finally found a scapegoat.
He nodded hurriedly.
"That's right, sir! I'm the one selling this shop! You… you're really interested?"
"Yes. We want to buy this storefront," Lynn replied firmly.
"Wonderful! How much are you planning to offer, sir?"
Hines asked impatiently, skipping all the usual pleasantries.
Good heavens.
So direct?
He really couldn't stand keeping it open for another minute!
Lynn didn't immediately give a price.
Instead, he said calmly,
"The price is negotiable. But before that, could you give us a detailed tour of the shop?"
"For example—does it have a basement, storage rooms, and what's the overall structure like?"
"Of course! Of course you can!"
Hines suddenly became extremely enthusiastic and hurriedly began guiding Lynn around the shop.
To be fair, the shop's infrastructure was actually quite good.
The location was excellent.
The space was large, divided into a front hall and a back hall.
Behind them were a small warehouse and a simple office, and there was even a small restroom equipped with basic magical cleaning facilities.
In terms of layout, it had everything a normal shop should have.
But Lynn wasn't here to praise it.
He was here to bargain.
Following behind Hines, he began criticizing everything he saw.
"Tsk. Boss, this front hall looks big, but there are too many pillars. They block the view and affect customer flow!"
"The lighting is terrible too. It's far too dark. Customers will feel depressed the moment they walk in."
"The décor is outdated as well. It must be decades old, right? Renovating this will cost a fortune."
"This warehouse in the back is too messy—and look, there's mold in the corners! Cleaning this will take ages!"
"And this restroom… is that toilet an antique? The flush button is practically worn smooth! Can it even still work?"
Under this relentless barrage of criticism, Hines's face turned from red to pale.
The veins on his forehead throbbed.
Several times he nearly pulled out his wand to cast Langlock on this sharp-tongued boy.
But when he thought about how someone was finally willing to take over this cursed shop, he forcibly suppressed his anger.
The smile he forced onto his face looked worse than crying.
Finally, after a long and intense round of bargaining, Hines—who was desperate to sell—reached an agreement with Lynn.
For 10,000 Galleons, the shop located in the heart of Diagon Alley, along with all the remaining inventory inside, was transferred to Lynn.
Both parties quickly signed a magical contract and completed the property transfer process.
Looking at the glowing magical seal on the contract, Lynn felt extremely satisfied.
A shop in the core area of Diagon Alley for 10,000 Galleons?
That was practically the same as picking it up for free.
It seemed Hines truly couldn't hold on for even another moment.
The instant the contract officially took effect and the ownership of the shop transferred to Lynn's name—
[Ding! Mission complete! Reward has been issued!]
[Hint: The workshop entrance has been logically placed in the shop's basement, and the golems have been activated.]
[Wishing you a prosperous business!]
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