Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Serena POV.
"Welcome to Diagon Alley," I said playfully as the bricks moved aside to reveal the alley's entrance. I simply looked at the group of six—Riveria had come too—who all seemed to be expressing different emotions. In the end, the whole group had really gone on a field trip, and our first stop was Diagon.
"Oh! It's so exciting!" Enid squealed excitedly as she practically bounced into the alley. The others followed, their faces filled with different expressions. We started walking down the alley as everyone looked at the various shops.
"It's... similar to and very different from Orario," Riveria said, looking around. "The architecture is eerily similar, but there's... magic everywhere, not just magic in the air, but all the items and objects for sale are magical, even if they're toys or harmless things." Riveria said, almost in awe. I nodded.
"Yes, you've been studying enchantments and other magic. Enchanting an object is terribly easy. While magic isn't exactly powerful, it's really versatile," I said easily.
"I mean, it's just as crowded as any alley in Night City," Rebecca said, looking around. And indeed it was New Year's Day, and people were coming and going. There was a crowd surrounding us, both adults and children running around. Our group stayed close together to avoid getting separated—well, except for Enid, who I saw happily hopping into another store.
And then there were the shops and houses that were practically squashed on top of each other or simply on top of each other. I mean, buildings don't have to look 'practical' from the outside, when there was magic to make everything more like the inside, so it gave the feeling that everything was cramped.
"Well, there are few places that are completely magical and Muggle-free. The alley has a limit, so we have to make do. It's not like it's really a problem. With the expansion charms, the interiors are much bigger than they appear from the outside. And besides, our population isn't growing enough to warrant any kind of expansion." I said with a hum.
"Mmm, it feels much better than Night City," Freya said easily. "In the... 'non-magical' part, I could feel the same emerging pollution as in Night City, although yes, to a much lesser degree, but it was there. But here, it seems cleaner." Freya wrinkled her nose. Both Rebecca and Lucy sighed.
"Almost anywhere is cleaner than Night City; it's not a fair comparison," Lucy said with a smile. I chuckled.
"And that's because technology doesn't work well with magic, with magic forming a kind of insulator from the Muggle world, helping to separate both sides enough to make a difference." I said easily as I gazed at the sky. My Six Eyes could see the magic surrounding the Alley with great ease.
"So, what's the plan?" Rebecca asked, looking around. I shrugged.
"We can look in the shops for a while; there are a few where I have errands to run, and then I have to go to Gringotts," I said simply. "And make sure we don't lose Enid," I added, watching Enid wander off, bouncing with excitement.
"I'm fine with anything." They said, shrugging their shoulders.
"Did you need something from the Goblins?" Ravel asked intently. I hummed.
"I was hoping to get some Goblin-forged Silver, some weapon, or anything really. Goblin silver has really interesting properties, like absorbing whatever strengthens it and containing ancient magic. There are some interesting things you could do with goblin silver." I said, almost expectantly, at the possibility of having goblin silver in my hands.
Actually, goblin-forged silver was quite common; you could buy various things made of it even in the shops here in the alley without needing to go to Gringotts, especially cutlery. Even Lucius had several sets of it in his mansion; in fact, all the standard Hogwarts cutlery was made of goblin silver.
But even though those objects were still made of goblin-forged silver, they had far less power than something like the Sword of Gryffindor.
After all, thousands of pieces of cutlery couldn't absorb basilisk venom and strengthen themselves so easily. They still retained some properties, such as repelling common dirt and being practically indestructible, but that was the extent of their effectiveness.
I needed something truly high-quality, forged by the elves for what I really needed. Pushing my thoughts aside, I could hear several snorts around me.
"Nerd," Rebecca said mockingly. I rolled my eyes and smiled.
"Come on, let's catch up with Enid, I'm losing sight of her," I said playfully. They all nodded, and we started walking, looking at the shops around us.
Walking and exploring the alley had its charm, especially with someone as lively as Enid. It was almost nostalgic in a way; I could remember the first time old Serena had been here and the same excitement she felt. I, on the other hand, had been too busy with everything at The Company to appreciate Diagon Alley the first time I'd come here, and now I was all alone.
So it was good to simply enjoy the tour with the girls despite the simplicity of many of the shops in the magical world compared to what we had seen in other worlds.
One would think that Diagon Alley was simply a kind of one-way street, a long alley, and all the shops clustered together in that place, but there were several branches, side alleys, and areas that branched off from the alley.
It was more like a compact shopping district or a small neighborhood, large enough that it would take a couple of hours to explore most of the streets and shops. A few were still closed for the winter holidays, but most were already open.
Perhaps I should go to France to visit Place Cachée, or to other countries and see their shopping districts. Enid would definitely be delighted; she had practically bought a huge number of souvenirs.
Time passed quickly, most of our errands were already finished, I had even had time to go to Knockturn Alley and visit the old hag Mary's apothecary, it was good to see her again, although it took me a few attempts to convince her that no, I wasn't deceiving Bellatrix, and that no, I didn't need any kind of poison or advice to get rid of her.
After that, we went back to Diagon and were eating ice cream, even though it was practically winter, and a lot of magical sweets. None of us were really bothered by this amount of cold.
My Reality Marble copied absolutely everything I was looking at around me, especially a large number of wands, as well as various objects I mentally noted down to replicate and introduce into Pentagram City, such as many of the joke objects to take to Jester.
The girls escorted me to Gringotts, and after a long discussion and negotiation, I was now the owner of a small silver dagger forged by goblins. I had already scanned it with my Reality Marble, enough to know that its properties were exactly what I was looking for.
It was good that the money that had been accumulating at The Company could be exchanged for Galleons, so it was no problem to pay the full price for the dagger.
I was also able to see the method of forging silver and the magic used in it, along with the biology of the goblins that had been recorded; I could practically start forging goblin silver if I wished.
Unfortunately, alchemy wouldn't work since enchantments weren't something that could be replicated with alchemy. Now, I plan to create a wand for Cia to absorb, along with other ideas.
I needed a staff. Or rather, it would be the easiest way to achieve what I had in mind. I had to adjust my entire fighting style if I wanted to use Cia. I mean… I already had several stored away, and Assimilation had the Mimicry ability, which meant that Cia could change her form from a wand to a staff.
Alfs 's appearance had been easy, but I didn't feel right with her; I needed something more... basic. A wooden staff would be more than enough. Then I would have to create several wands or canes, or perhaps catalysts with transmutation circles and working alchemy formulas, so that I could use them through Cia.
I had a few ideas, and if they worked as I envisioned, I could use Cia as a conduit and perform alchemy on anything she touched. It would slightly increase my reach, and it would be far better than simply fighting with my bare hands.
The only problem was that I could only store certain transmutation circles, so I would only have access to the alchemy I pre-saved, say, flame alchemy, ice alchemy, railgun alchemy, Meltdowner alchemy, and so on. But I still didn't know how to get a wand to replace my body to act as a transmutation circle for clap alchemy, so that problem remained.
Something to work out later.
"Last chance, do you really want to go to Spinner's End?" I asked while making a face.
"Let's go already." Rebecca grumbled, the others agreed, and I could only sigh. We had gotten far enough away from Diagon Alley that it wasn't clear I was opening a portal to Spinner's End.
Everyone wrinkled their noses when they smelled the pollution in the air and the trash from the nearby murky river; it wasn't really pungent, but for any of us with a more sensitive nose, it was easily noticeable.
I moved my hand, removing the dirt from the air around us, and placed a small shield to prevent it from returning to our surroundings.
"Thank you." More than one of the girls sighed.
"It's like being back in Night City," Rebecca said dryly, looking around at the houses half-ruined by poverty, their chimneys belching black smoke. I just shrugged and gestured for her to come inside.
I moved the door, wincing at the creak of protest. I looked around and saw the inside of the house; it almost looked abandoned, and that wouldn't be surprising, really. Tobias had escaped, leaving me half dead. I hadn't heard from him, and I didn't expect to, so after I left, there was no one to look after the house.
After more than four months of neglect, the house had become dusty, and the air felt stale. I moved my hand and wiped the whole place in a single sweep, though it did little to improve the rest of the dilapidated furniture, which looked ready to collapse.
Finally, I went inside, stopped, and looked down at the floor, where I saw several cards. I bent down to pick them up and wrinkled my nose.
"Come in, you can look at whatever you want, although there's not much to see," I told the girls as I stepped aside. All the others came in to look around. I could see worried expressions on more than one of their faces, but I ignored them. I focused on the letters, discarding several. They were from services that had been cut off; with no one paying, they were obviously going to cut off all the services.
Finally, one caught my attention enough to open it, I started reading it, and my eyebrows rose slightly.
"Wow, Tobias is in jail." I couldn't help but say out loud.
"And that's not good?" Lucy asked, grabbing a dusty book with a grimace.
"Does that mean the house is yours?" Freya said, looking around with a grimace. She had stood in the middle of the small room with her arms crossed, looking around.
"No. The house is still in his name; Tobias being imprisoned doesn't change his rights to the property." I said easily as I folded and placed the letter on the table.
"Do we have to get rid of him?" Rebecca asked as she opened a piece of furniture, only to be left holding the drawer handle. She blinked before setting it aside and opening another drawer.
"Not really, I... I don't have any attachment to this house," I said with a soft smile as I looked around before my gaze settled on Cia. She seemed to be trying to get her fingers into a small crack in the floor. I looked at her, confused, before approaching her.
I crouched down beside her before using magic to levitate the wooden board on the floor. My eyes widened as I peered into it.
"Eileen's wand." I said, surprised.
"From your mother?" Enid asked as she came closer, looking. I grimaced.
"Yeah... well, not really? I never really knew her; she was already... dead." I said honestly before moving the wand to prevent Cia from grabbing it. She glared at me, and I just rolled my eyes before handing it to Cia.
Cia shrieked with joy, easily grabbed Eileen's wand before bringing the tip to her face, then opened her mouth several times wider than should be possible and bit off a large piece of Eileen's wand.
I watched almost morbidly as Cia began to eat the wand piece by piece. She didn't fully absorb it, as Rimuru, a slime, would. Cia literally started biting it; each time she bit, the sound of wood creaking could be heard, and she easily tore the wand apart.
Finally, she finished eating the wand before hitting her stomach, truly satisfied.
"Anyone else find that disturbing?" Rebecca asked from beside me. I snorted as several people immediately nodded. I rolled my eyes as I picked up Cia and placed her on my shoulder, deeply satisfied. I could feel through Cia that Eileen's wand was inside her, ready to choose. I suppose that answers the question of how Cia consumes items outside my Reality Marble. Could she eat something like the Ainz Ooal Gown staff in the same way? A question for later.
The girls finished checking the house and rooms while asking questions. I answered them as honestly as I could while looking around. Even so, we didn't really stay much longer.
I left the letter on one of the rickety tables, and we all left the house.
"Serena?" I shuddered at the sound of that voice. I turned around and saw Lily Evans several meters away, her eyes wide. I started cursing under my breath. Seriously? Of all the times I decide to come to Spinner's End, do I ever run into Lily?
I mean, yes, she also lives in Cokeworth, a short distance from here, but Lily wouldn't have any reason to come near here, I just sighed.
"Evans," I said simply. Lily looked confused, her gaze darting around at all the girls, studying them closely. I mean, I couldn't blame her. None of them were from Great Britain.
None of them had really changed their appearance except for Beca, whose skin tone had momentarily changed. While her skin was now a soft, healthy pink, her hair was still turquoise, so she still drew attention. Although I would admit she looked odd, it wasn't that she looked bad; I was so used to her pale blue skin that seeing her in another color felt strange.
And then there was Lucy with her multicolored hair, Enid was blonde with blue and pink highlights, and Riveria had green hair; the only normal ones were Ravel, who was blonde, but still attracted just as much attention as the others, and finally Freya, who didn't even have to explain why she attracted attention.
"Who are they?" Lily asked cautiously. I raised an eyebrow. I opened my mouth to speak, but Beca stepped forward and grabbed my arm.
"We are her lovers," Rebecca said lasciviously. I froze in place. I could see Lily let out a squeal of surprise as she looked at me.
"B-but weren't you with Black?! You're engaged to her! You were in the newspaper!" Lily accused me, almost with a grimace. I groaned loudly as I heard Rebecca laugh.
"Who said Bella doesn't know about this and isn't joining in?" To my surprise, it was Ravel who asked, sounding bored. I could see Lily take a few seconds to process the words before she exploded in a deep blush. My hand finally hit my face. I groaned loudly and pinched Rebecca, making her squeal.
"Okay, that's enough," I growled at them both.
"Oh, darling, she's your... lover too? Will she be joining us tonight?" Freya purred as she grabbed my arm and clung to it, shamelessly pressing her ample breasts against it. Lily squealed once more, staring at me in near shock before turning and running off.
"Seriously?" I asked Freya curtly. I could hear Rebecca laughing amusedly while Freya smiled innocently at me. The feeling of amusement and approval from Bella in the back of my mind didn't help either.
"What? You didn't seem to want to talk to her, and I thought we were getting rid of her. I was doing my part," Freya said innocently, smiling. I just huffed loudly.
"Let's go back already." I grunted wearily as I opened a portal and pushed them through. Great, just what I needed. If Lily talks to any of her Gryffindor friends, everyone at Hogwarts will know before she even returns to the castle. I really hoped Bella and Lucius could manage to keep her from going back to Hogwarts before the winter break was over. Honestly, the paperwork was such a pain.