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 91: I Need a Guide
He received many curious looks as he ventured into the dimly lit corridors of Knockturn Alley.
James had not changed his physical looks, just his robes to avoid displaying any Hogwarts insignias.
Hiding his identity would defeat the purpose of coming here personally in the first place.
For the past months, James had been dealing with several merchants and earning a reputation by showing the quality of his creations. If he now came here as some unknown individual, he would need to start all over again.
"Oi, boy. Are you lost?"
"Shouldn't you be in school?" two middle-aged ladies asked him as he passed by some shady beauty salon.
James stopped walking. He just realized something...despite knowing the name and address of the shops he was going to visit…it had been an extremely long time since he had walked through these narrow alleys.
Knockturn Alley is even larger than Diagon Alley and contains a massive amount of closely knit narrow alleys that form a complex labyrinth. It is nearly impossible to navigate for those who are not used to it.
The two witches stared at him with curiosity. "Oh?...do you perhaps want to keep these young ladies company?"
"Haha, I bet this green boy wouldn't even know where to begin," the other one added.
James pulled a couple of gold galleons from his pocket. "I need directions to a couple of shops in this alley."
One of the women looked around to make sure no one was watching. "Boy, you better not flash gold around here. Do you really not know where you are?"
The other one pointed in the direction he had walked in. "Yeah, you better go back to Diagon Alley before something happens to you. We don't want to have the Aurors coming here to meddle in our business because some little boy got killed near our shop."
"Never mind then…I'll find them myself." James ignored the warning from the two witches and went further ahead.
It may take him a while, but he was sure to find what he was looking for eventually.
However, much like the witches feared, his display of wealth had caught the attention of a couple of ruffians, who saw James as easy prey.
They were somewhat subtle at first because they didn't want to bring anyone else's attention to themselves, but once they saw James entering a road they knew was a dead end, they decided to act.
"Tsk…maybe I should have been more insistent with the witches," James said as he stared at a grey stone wall that was blocking his path.
The steps of the two men who had been following him for the past minutes were now much louder.
'So they decided to show themselves…' James turned around and saw them.
They had their faces covered with dark cloaks, but it was obvious by looking at the rest of them that these two were young men, perhaps in their late twenties.
They pointed their wands at him in a threatening manner.
"Drop all the coins you have, and anything else of value," the first one ordered him.
"Do it quickly and we may not have to hurt you, boy," the second one added.
James wanted to roll his eyes. "I'm getting tired of being called 'boy' all the time…" He looked at the two thieves and approached them. "Perhaps you two can give me directions. You are from around here, right?."
"Stay right there!" One made a stabbing motion with his wand. "Did you not hear what we told you?"
"Let's just curse him and be done with it," the other one added.
James raised his hands. "What are you getting nervous for? I'm not even holding a wand…see?"
"That's it, take this!. " Thief number two seemed to have run out of patience and shot a bone-breaker hex at him.
From this distance, a spell like that was easy to deflect for James. He just created a magical shield with a concave shape on the path of the hex.
The spell bounced back to the caster and hit his wand hand.
"Ahhh!" the thief screamed and dropped his weapon in the process.
James saw the other one moving. "Depulso." He gave his hand a wave and sent the other young man crashing against the wall behind him.
"Youngsters have no manners these days…wait, no, that doesn't make any sense. This is the past." James muttered to himself.
"Urgg…" The broken-hand thief tried to make use of his other hand to grab his wand. "T-Take…this!..."
"Puff." The spell that he tried to cast disappeared in a cloud of grey smoke.
James scoffed. "Can't even use the other hand for a simple cutting charm? Should have paid more attention in school." He pointed his finger at him.
A flash of light shot at the young man's face.
This one started screaming immediately, just as painful boils began to appear all over his face.
James then turned to look at the other one. He was standing up with difficulty and went to grab his wand.
"Accio wand." James made a simple gesture and pulled the wand towards him.
"W-Wait!" The thief began to panic. He rose his hands up. "Please, don't shoot me! We just wanted a few coins, that's all."
James glanced at the thief. "You can earn mo—"
"Ahhh! It hurts!" Thief number two was screaming while scratching his face.
James hit him with another spell and this one collapsed on the ground.
"D-Did…did you kill him?" The thief's face had gone completely pale.
"He's just asleep, forget about your friend." James pulled a single galleon this time. "If you want money, you have to earn it…now, take me to The Creeping Ivy."
"You want me to serve as your…guide? No way!" the thief exclaimed.
James pointed the wand at him. "I won't be so nice if I have to ask again."
The young man trembled. "What I meant to say is…this way!" He hurried to point to his right. "We just have to follow that road and turn right…it's very close."
James smiled. "That's better. Go ahead. I'll follow."
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