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 128: A Shady Business Transaction
"What is this?" Lady Rose picked up one of the glass flasks and examined it closer.
"What you requested. A method to bypass an ancient sphinx." James saw that she was about to remove the cork from the flask and hurried to stop her.
"Don't do that…unless you want us to spend the next week or two in a profound coma."
"Is it a sleeping potion?" she asked. "It doesn't look like anything I have seen before…this color and shine. What did you put in here?"
"It is a sleeping potion indeed. An extremely powerful one, and it doesn't need to be ingested. The moment the flask breaks, it will release a mist that will put anything in the vicinity to sleep. Even a dragon would fall in a matter of seconds." James explained. "As for the ingredients I used… it's a secret."
The witch stared at him for a moment. "If I cannot test the potion and you won't tell me what it contains… you are asking me to put a lot of trust in you. If this doesn't work, I may lose one of my most valuable assets."
James shrugged. "I think I have proven my skills to you enough. But if you don't want it, I'll take them back."
She took the flasks and put them beneath the counter. "That won't be necessary. I trust your skills, Mister Ivory Alchemist."
"So, can I open the chest now?" James pointed at it and she nodded.
Inside the chest were only two ingredients. One of them was a black chunk of metal, and on the other side of the chest was a large crystal container with a silver liquid trapped inside. The liquid moved like a river of mercury, shining in several tones of silver.
James spent a couple of minutes carefully examining the materials. There was no room for error on this. If they were not what he was looking for, he would have to postpone his plans and keep looking.
Fortunately, that was not necessary, as the ingredients were top quality, just as the witch had promised him.
"Satisfied?" Lady Rose asked, even though she already knew the answer.
"Very." James responded while closing the chest. "About my second request…I know it has been sudden."
"You are damn right it was sudden. If it was someone else, I would have rejected your petition." She reached for a massive tome behind her and placed it on the counter.
She then began turning pages of the tome until she reached the one she was looking for.
Lady Rose ripped the page out of the book, folded it, and kept it in her hand while returning the tome to its original position.
"It was not easy to obtain all this information in such a short period of time."
James nodded. "I can imagine." He had asked for the location of secret hideouts in several places in Europe. These were the hiding places used by groups of dark wizards, vampires, and other dangerous individuals.
She took an item out of her robes and deposited it on the table, on top of the paper she had folded. "An unregistered international key that will take you to Paris. It is good for two uses. Get in and get out, that's it."
"That will do. You have been very helpful."
Lady Rose's expression turned serious. "Before we get to discuss the price, let me tell you one thing. I don't care what you intend to do with these items. I never pry on my clients, that's how I have survived for this long in this business."
James nodded. "That is a good policy." And the only reason he came here in the first place.
"But… if you are caught using this…"
"I didn't get it from you." James understood. International portkeys were extremely restricted items. Anyone discovered using or selling one would get a room reserved in Azkaban.
"Good." She nodded. "Now, onto the payment. I'm afraid that your two potions won't even come close to covering the materials, the intel, and the portkey."
"Yes, I figured that much." James knew that everything Lady Rose had acquired for him was incredibly expensive.
She wrote a number on a piece of parchment. "That would be the price in galleons."
James glanced at the sum. It was even higher than he expected, but he was glad that it was still within his budget. "I see."
"Now, if you are willing to sell me some interesting information, we can work on the price. Like for example, the recipe for that sleeping potion, or something el—"
"No." James's response was quick and firm. "I sell potions, but those formulas are not for sale." He pulled a large bag of money from his robes and expanded it.
"That's a shame." She looked really disappointed. Her eyes moved to the bag and she waved her hand over it. "Mmm… this seems enough as payment."
James stored his items. Tonight he had spent most of the remaining money he had from the sale of the basilisk materials. However, this didn't bother him one bit. As long as he could complete the Philosopher's Stone, money would no longer be an issue.
"That's an interesting robe. Never seen one with so many pockets." Lady Rose was peeking at him with interest.
"Not for sale either." James told her.
The woman simply shook her head. "Always too serious."
"Since our business is concluded, I will take my leave." James said.
The witch raised her hand. "Wait a moment, Mister Alchemist…I have one more thing for you."
"For me?" He hadn't made any other requests.
"Normally I wouldn't do this for free, but you can consider this my way to protect my own interest and a good client." She seemed to take a piece of paper from beneath the counter and put it on top.
James looked at it and was surprised to see a picture of him in the middle of the paper, along with several lines of text and a number at the bottom. "This is…"
"I'm afraid someone put a bounty on your head, Mister...Potter." Lady Rose said while pointing at the name beneath his picture. And at the bottom, it was written the reward offered for his capture.
James read the number. "Ten thousand galleons…not bad."
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