The Strange Shop
Harry and Percy cautiously peeked their heads through the doorway for a moment and looked inside seriously, with Annabeth right behind them.
Instantly, a strong smell of all kinds of plants and ingredients hit them, making all three of them cover their noses for a moment as they looked around.
The place was… fairly ordinary.
Well, ordinary for the magical world, at least.
But even so, there was something about the place that felt… strange. As if it wasn't somewhere just anyone could accidentally walk into. It was filled with glass displays and shelves holding all kinds of odd objects, most of which seemed to be potion ingredients and other magical tools. There were even some truly bizarre animals locked in cages off in one corner, looking like mixtures of several different creatures fused into one. Meanwhile, in the middle of the shop, there seemed to be a boiling cauldron releasing a thick mist that spread through the entire room, making the place look even more eerie.
"Oh, welcome, new customers," a voice suddenly said right beside the door, startling the three of them and making them jump slightly before immediately going on guard.
They quickly found where the voice had come from.
It was a small man.
Wrinkled face. Quite ugly, honestly. Large ears and a pointed nose. Shorter than even they were.
A goblin, like the ones from Gringotts.
Though this one seemed to have a friendly smile on his face, so Percy immediately felt like there was no way they could possibly be the same species.
He was dressed rather extravagantly. A white formal suit, polished leather shoes of the same color, a watch, maybe a Rolex, on his wrist, and a pair of small round glasses that seemed to be magically attached to his face, since they didn't even have arms.
"Oh, it has been so long since I last had new customers. I'm truly delighted to be of service. Come in, come in," the goblin said with a friendly, almost cheerful smile as he invited them inside.
The three of them, seeming to get carried along by the goblin's welcoming attitude, stepped inside with confused expressions.
"Welcome to the Great Ruopel's Shop of Magical and Special Items," he said while pointing toward what looked like a glowing sign above the counter bearing the shop's name. "We have everything from finely sharpened weapons with excellent cutting power, perfect for killing and disemboweling your enemies. I'm quite certain a muscular and well-trained young man like yourself would be interested," the goblin said to Percy while gesturing toward one of the shelves with his hand.
At that, several swords, daggers, axes, and other weapons seemed to vibrate slightly for a moment, as if they were trying to lure Percy over.
For a moment, Percy actually did feel strangely drawn to the different swords, but he quickly shook his head. For just a second, he could even imagine how useful some of those weapons would be.
But Grover was still missing, and this was not the time to get distracted.
"Sorry, we're here because…" before he could finish, the goblin suddenly rushed over to Annabeth, who instinctively took a step back at the sight of such a strange creature she had never seen before.
"And for the lovely young lady. You seem like the type of girl who enjoys learning everything, and knowledge is great power. Fortunately, in my shop you can find the finest books, both magical and non-magical. Even some believed to be completely extinct, taken from the Library of Alexandria itself," the goblin said while bringing a hand toward his mouth and lowering his voice as if he were sharing a secret.
Though saying it out loud like that didn't really make it much of a secret.
Then another corner of the shop seemed to vibrate again, and there they could see a bookshelf that for a moment appeared to start moving, sliding through the wall and revealing what looked like some kind of endless shelf filled with every kind of book imaginable.
Just like Percy, Annabeth was clearly drawn to that, and she even looked like she was considering walking over.
Percy could tell that this goblin was genuinely good at selling things and seemed to know exactly what to show each of them.
Even so, he tried to get his attention again.
"Excuse me…" he said.
But once again, the goblin seemed to ignore him and moved toward Harry instead.
"And here… a new prodigy of magic. Yes, yes. I can feel a great amount of magical power sleeping inside you. To be honest, when it comes to magic, I consider myself a bit more of an expert. From ancient alchemical objects to the most modern creations made by none other than Nicolas Flamel himself. Wands that might even rival the legendary ones, and robes with truly exceptional style," the goblin said, sounding more and more excited as he went on.
And the entire shop seemed to stir slightly as objects shifted and moved each time the goblin pointed in a direction, displaying magical items that might interest Harry.
Harry seemed very interested in several of them, while Annabeth looked like she genuinely wanted to run straight toward the books.
"Do you take Galleons?" Harry couldn't help asking for a moment.
"We accept all forms of payment, magical and non-magical, from every country in the world. And from time to time, we even accept bartering," the goblin said, still sounding as though he was trying to tempt them further.
"Excuse me…" Percy said again, now looking slightly fed up.
"We also have a few potions, of course. Legal ones, very legal ones, of all kinds," the goblin said, though he sounded incredibly suspicious. "Beauty potions, skincare potions, magical enhancement potions, transformation potions, strength potions… It may sound arrogant, but there is no shop in any world, magical, Muggle, or mythological, that can offer as many things as the Great Ruopel's Shop of Magical and Mystical Special Objects," the goblin said enthusiastically.
"Wasn't the name different before?" Annabeth asked, confused for a moment as she looked toward the sign that had shown the previous name.
But that one seemed to have changed too.
"Oh, yes. Well… I had a small issue with the one who made the sign, so now it's cursed and changes its name all the time. So the shop simply changes along with it. It was either that… or pay ten Galleons," the goblin said with a smile.
Harry and Percy looked toward the goblin.
And right there, they saw the connection to normal goblins.
"Excuse me…" Percy said again, this time louder, finally managing to get everyone's attention. "Do you two remember why we're here?" he asked Harry and Annabeth, both of whom seemed to realize they had gotten a little too distracted and looked mildly embarrassed.
Then he turned back toward the goblin.
"We lost a friend and we need to find him. Do you have anything in this shop that could help?" Percy asked seriously.
"Oh, tracking. Of course, of course. We have many things for that. After all, you are in…" the goblin turned for a moment to look at the new name on the sign.
"Please stop doing that," Percy said immediately, sounding exhausted.
It was a little strange seeing him like that, but after all, one of his teachers was a goblin, and he also knew several of the workers at Gringotts, so maybe seeing this goblin had affected him more than he expected.
All that friendliness and everything.
"Oh, forgive me. Follow me," the goblin said calmly as he quickly walked toward the shop counter. "Let's see… tracking and capture objects… I believe those were on shelf number twenty-six," the goblin said before clapping twice.
And suddenly, the shelves around the shop began to move, sliding across the floor like one of those fair games where you have to find the ball under the cup.
Leaving the three of them slightly surprised.
Especially Annabeth, who was seeing part of the magical world up close for the first time.
A shelf full of all kinds of strange objects immediately slid in front of them. There was one Harry recognized at once: a Sneakoscope. Harry almost stopped to take a closer look at several of them. But if none of that could help them find Grover, then it didn't matter right now.
There were also several crystal spheres that occasionally seemed to show a person.
And there were also what looked like several rolled-up maps labeled with the names of different places.
Percy, mildly interested, unrolled one for a moment.
Inside, he could see little footprints moving across the map… along with hundreds of words scattered all over it.
That gave his brain a small shock and made him dizzy almost instantly, so he quickly rolled it back up.
If reading things made out of neon lights was already hard enough for him, this was worse.
The letters moved.
And that was simply too much for his dyslexia.
The goblin walked over toward the corner where several cages of owls could be seen waiting quietly, then opened one of them and pulled out a completely black owl that did not look friendly in the slightest.
It was even staring directly at Percy, as if debating whether or not to attack him.
"This is good old Radagan. One of the finest tracking birds. You only need something that belongs to the person, and that's all. In the past, Aurors used him to catch hundreds of convicts. His claws can leave quite a mark, and his beak is sharp. Perfect for catching your fugitive. Simply tell him the name, and like any proper owl, he will find them easily. Of course, if they are under Fidelius protection or someone is actively trying to hide them, it will be difficult even for Radagan. But he is an expert at searching, so it will be far easier for him than for any ordinary owl. You may buy him for only two hundred and fifty Galleons, or rent his services for ten. A special offer for new customers," the goblin said rapidly, fully slipping into salesman mode.
Though he had said a few things that were somewhat disturbing.
"Grover gave me his things to hold onto," Harry said with a nod, remembering that he still had Grover's belongings in his magical bag, so this was probably the best option right now.
"Well… I don't think it would be a very good idea for him to attack our friend," Percy said while staring at the owl, which was staring back at him just as intensely, as if it wanted to demonstrate the power of its claws directly on Percy's face.
Which made Percy take an involuntary step back.
"Also, that's a little expensive," he added, clearly not too eager to have an owl anywhere near him. "If we'd known this was going to happen, we should've just kept Bitey with us," he added, as if a familiar problem was better than a new one.
"We'll rent his services," Harry said, ignoring his brother while pulling Galleons out of his magical bag.
"Excellent decision, excellent decision. It would truly be a shame to part with the great Radagan. He is one of my finest sources of income. There are many people constantly searching for other people," the goblin added cheerfully. "Come this way, I'll ring you up," the goblin said quickly and happily while carrying the animal on his shoulder, though it still seemed to be staring fixedly at Percy.
"Why aren't there any cuter tracking animals? Maybe a dog. That's what they use in movies," Percy muttered while staring back at the bird, which was looking at him the same way every owl seemed to.
Harry ignored his brother and followed the goblin.
But suddenly, the entrance door opened, and someone stepped inside with the kind of familiarity that suggested they knew the place well.
Percy, Annabeth, and Harry all turned to look for a moment.
But when the goblin called him, Harry walked toward the counter to pay, while Annabeth now seemed genuinely interested in those books from earlier.
Percy, on the other hand, seemed interested in the man who appeared to be wearing a carved mask that hid his face.
His clothes looked fairly normal and Muggle enough that he could easily be mistaken for some lost random person…
If he didn't have a sword hanging at his waist.
The masked man returned Percy's stare for a moment as well, then gave him a simple nod of greeting before walking toward one of the nearby shelves and beginning to gather up several things he would likely buy.
Among them were weapons, magical ropes, and several other things that looked extremely suspicious.
But Percy quickly lost interest and walked back over to where Harry and Annabeth had gone.