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 92: The Creeping Ivy
"Here it is…" The young thief pointed to a shop.
It was at the end of another narrow street and could easily be missed if one didn't already know it was there. There was no name on the sign, just a small drawing of an ivy plant over a blackboard.
James was about to walk inside when the thief called for him again.
"W-Wait, what about my…" He glanced at James's hands.
"Right. What's fair is fair." James threw a single gold galleon to him.
The thief quickly grabbed it. "No, but…my wand…"
"Oh, I see." James was still holding onto the young thief's wand. "Buy yourself another one." Once he said that, he walked inside, ignoring the young man's complaints.
The inside of the shop wasn't much better than the outside. It was badly illuminated with just a couple of candles, and there was a powerful smell that was likely the result of many batches of potions being brewed in a poorly ventilated space.
James didn't seem bothered by any of this and just walked to the counter.
On the other side was an old man with messy white hair and an unkempt beard. He wore a set of old brown robes that seemed to be covered in all sorts of stains, but the man did not seem to care.
"Hmmm?... What do you want?" he spoke to James with a tone of annoyance.
"If you know who I am, then you know what I want," James responded.
The man frowned. "Tsk…arrogant brat. I thought you were not going to sell anymore…this old man has ears in Hogwarts."
"Can't use my name any longer. I made a dropbox." He passed the old man a piece of paper. "Use that one to contact me."
"An illegal one, no doubt." The old man seemed amused for a moment. "What about that batch of Felix Felicis I requested?"
"I'll get it done. There is still time."
"No, there isn't." The shopkeeper raised an eyebrow. His eyes scanned over James as if trying to discover something about him. "You barely had time before your laboratory was destroyed. Now it will be too late."
"If I say I can do it, it's because I can."
"You need six months to make that one." The old man pointed out. "You will be, at best, two weeks late."
"I don't need six months," James simply said.
He chuckled. "Truly arrogant! But…I don't dislike it. And you have proven to have skill. Very well, this old man will put his trust in you."
"So, can I count on your future business?" James asked.
The old man looked down at the paper. James had written the name of the dropbox for owl deliveries. It would also serve as an alias of sorts for him, so he would not need to use his real name any longer.
"Ivory Alchemist…"
"Indeed," James said.
"You could have sent me a message to tell me all of this…why come all the way here?"
"And miss the chance of having this lovely conversation? No way." James placed the wand he was carrying on the counter and took a small box from one of his pockets. "And I brought you something interesting."
The old man glanced at the box with a bored expression. "I have seen everything already…nothing will…" He stopped for a moment when he saw what was inside. "A basilisk heart? It looks intact, and…wait…"
He noticed something special about this one. "It's not just big…" His old, tired eyes moved to James; there was now genuine interest in them. "How old was this basilisk?"
"Slightly over one thousand years old," James told him.
"That's impossible! There are no basilisks that old. The Ministry may be incompetent at many things, but they would not have missed something like that," he said.
Basilisks never stop growing, so one this old would be massive, and if it was moving around freely, it would have taken many victims. There was no way the Ministry of Magic would miss something like that.
"Under normal circumstances, that is true. This one was quite special. It was hidden inside Hogwarts…you see, this used to be the pet of a certain wizard of old."
"Slytherin?! Are you pulling this old man's leg?" He stood up. "You're saying that this is the heart of Salazar's pet?"
"Yes. Unfortunately, I had to put it down when it tried to bite me." James said, truly lamenting it, but at least it opened other possibilities.
"And where is the rest?" the old man inquired.
"Some of it is with me. The rest, I sold to the goblins."
"What?! To those greedy bastards?!" The old man looked outraged.
"I reserved the best part for you, so don't complain," James told him.
The old man glanced at James with suspicion. "I assume you don't want gold for it, otherwise you would have sold it to them."
"Essence of an ancient Djinn. I want that in exchange for the heart," James said.
The old man now looked shocked. "How do you even know I have that?"
"Because you tried to use it. There are remnants of its magic that I can trace."
He hoped his lie was believable enough.
The real reason he knew about that was because James already knew about this old fellow. He had met him during his previous life as Harry Potter. But at that time, he was much older and more decrepit than now.
They shared many stories, and one of them was about the Essence of a Djinn that he claimed to have found a few decades prior and attempted to use, but failed in his attempts many times, and ended up wasting the materials.
James was distraught when he heard about it, since it was something he had always wanted to get his hands on.
Djinns had been extinct for over two thousand years, so any materials from them were truly invaluable.
But now he had another chance, and James just so happened to have a good use for that material...making it more valuable for him than even the basilisk heart.
"No matter…it is not for sale. I need it," the old man responded stubbornly and put the box down.
"Hear my deal before making a decision," James suggested.
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