Chapter 45: Early Morning
Time flew by. It had been more than ten days since Lyra's chat with Luna. School was about to start, which meant... Lyra's summer vacation was coming to an end.
During this time, she had crafted the formation items she would need for class, studied the map of Hogwarts carefully, decorated the meadow in the spatial storage book with Miss Lovegood, and checked her Hogwarts Express ticket at least a dozen times.
Now, there was only one thing left to do before school started.
Early in the morning, Lyra wrapped herself in her cloak, put on her mask, and walked out of the tavern. She was heading to Knockturn Alley... to buy the ingredients for the Wolfsbane Potion.
She had wandered around Diagon Alley for a long time yesterday, but she hadn't found a single vendor selling Mandrake... even though she had put a lot of effort into it.
She had walked around Diagon Alley holding a sign asking to buy Mandrake.
The result was that she gained nothing but a lot of strange looks.
So today, she had no choice but to check Knockturn Alley... Hogwarts started tomorrow.
If she didn't buy the Mandrake today, she would have to ask for help from... Professor Snape.
Just the thought made Lyra tremble with fear... If it really came to that, she reckoned she would just faint on the spot.
Perhaps because school was about to start, Diagon Alley was packed today. Even though the sun had just risen, many young wizards had already arrived with their parents.
Lyra blended in with them, looking just like another Hogwarts student.
"Ngh..." Lyra carefully avoided the wizards, steering clear of the entrance to Flourish and Blotts, which was bound to be extremely crowded. She had heard yesterday that Mr. Lockhart was releasing another new book today.
His writing speed was incredible... It hadn't been long since his last book came out... He was much more impressive than her.
Lyra's notes on Magic Formations were only a few tens of thousands of words so far.
When will I ever become someone like Mr. Lockhart... Of course, Lyra didn't want to be famous like him.
Being recognized everywhere you go... isn't that just terrifying?
Being unknown like this is actually quite nice...
"Miss Lyra Hamil?"
"Eek!"
Lyra jolted, carefully turning her head to look at the person greeting her, then froze.
"You... do we... know each other?"
"You truly have a short memory for the little people." It was an old man clutching a wand, sitting on the steps of a shop, looking at Lyra. "Just a month ago, you caused me to lose quite a bit of money."
"A month ago?" Lyra pressed her lips together and instinctively looked up. Then she saw the name of the shop.
Borgin and Burkes.
.....
"Cough, cough... cough!"
A boy with glasses coughed as he slowly climbed to his feet, looking around in confusion.
His name was Harry Potter, a famous figure in the wizarding world, also known as the Boy Who Lived.
Of course, for the Boy Who Lived to appear in such a strange place was indeed a bit unusual.
Where am I?
Harry frowned, carefully scanning his surroundings.
Is this a shop?
It looked rather old and dilapidated... I definitely said 'Diagon Alley'... Did I say it wrong?
But now wasn't the time to worry about that. The first thing he needed to do was figure out where he was.
Harry could only determine that this was a shop, and one that hadn't been open for a long time. It was not only dusty, but... there wasn't much merchandise.
Harry reached out and touched the counter, then quickly shook his hand to rid it of the thick layer of dust.
"Is anyone here?" he thought for a moment, then called out. "Hello?"
"..."
The only answer was silence.
Harry swallowed hard and carefully pulled out his wand. "Lumos."
Although he wasn't very good at spells, a point of light slowly appeared at the tip of his wand.
With the light, Harry could explore better... at least figure out where he was...
But after only a few steps, Harry saw a seal on a jar.
Ministry of Magic Prohibited Item. Do Not Touch.
The Ministry of Magic?
Harry had a vague impression. He remembered Ron's dad worked for the Ministry. So this place was related to the Ministry?
Harry looked at the jar, scratching his head. He was actually quite curious about what it did... Could there be endless Fizzing Whizbees inside?
Of course, speculation was just speculation. Harry knew better than to touch things carelessly, especially when they had a seal on them.
But he still reached out and poked the jar. After confirming nothing happened, the corner of his mouth twitched up.
If Hermione were here, she'd definitely slap his hand.
Thinking this, Harry walked to the shop door.
As he expected, the dirty glass door also had a seal on it. Even with a bit of force, he couldn't push it open.
Maybe it's some kind of magic?
Thinking this, Harry wiped the grimy glass, and then he saw two people standing outside the dingy window.
One was a short figure wearing a hood and a mask, looking like a student. The other seemed to be an old man, his back to Harry, stooped over.
Maybe they can help me... Harry instinctively wanted to bang on the window to get their attention.
But in the next second, he saw a red spell fly from the old man's hand.
BANG!
Before Harry could react, the spell was deflected by the hooded figure, who had drawn their wand at some point.
They... they're fighting? And... so fast!
This was the first time Harry had seen a duel between wizards... or at least, seen one outside of school.
He hid behind the glass, watching the two figures facing off with curiosity.
Faintly, he could hear the old man shouting something, while the hooded figure just watched him. Maybe they were speaking too... but because of the mask, Harry couldn't be sure.
"Enough! I have nothing left..."
The old man's voice seemed to grow louder. He raised his wand, his face twisted. "Go to hell! Avada Kedavra!"
A sickly green light flashed. Harry clutched his head and fell to the floor. He felt a sudden, sharp pain in his scar, and then he seemed to hear a woman's scream.
It took a few seconds, or maybe ten, for him to recover. He struggled to stand, using the wall for support.
What spell was that?
Harry didn't know, but he could feel it definitely wasn't a normal spell... Was that Dark magic?
I wonder if the other person is okay... Thinking this, Harry looked out the window.
There was only one person standing outside, but it wasn't the old man. It was the mysterious figure. The old man was lying on the ground, motionless.
How did they dodge that spell... and... did they kill him?
The hooded figure looked exceptionally sinister and terrifying. They looked around, seemingly checking for anyone else.
Harry instinctively shrank back, wanting to hide, but in the next second, he felt a chill.
The pale white mask was facing him quietly.
"..."
The masked figure didn't wave their wand. They just walked slowly toward him. Harry wanted to run, but he felt an inexplicable cold spread from his feet to his head.
For some reason... he couldn't move.
He could only watch as the pale mask came closer and closer.
Finally, the mask pressed slowly against the glass. Through the eyeholes, Harry could vaguely see a pair of blue eyes.
"..."
Under Harry's gaze, the mysterious figure slightly raised their right hand and pressed an index finger to the bottom edge of the mask.
It was a shushing gesture.
Then, they turned and left.
Harry stood frozen in place, unsure how much time had passed...
Click.
The shop door suddenly made a soft sound and swung open with a gust of wind.
It seemed someone had lifted the spell on the shop.
Gulp.
Harry swallowed hard again, then carefully stepped out and ran.
He was no longer curious about where this was. He just wanted to leave as fast as possible.