Chapter 260 Strange Guests in Knockturn Alley
If Diagon Alley in London is the CBD of the British wizarding world and can be equated with the Financial City, Taipei Kiln, and Manhattan, then Knockturn Alley is the largest gray trading center in the British wizarding world.
Knockturn Alley is filled with all kinds of speculators, weirdos, and dark wizards. It specializes in buying and selling magic items with strange properties. And this is just a cover for Knockturn Alley. The real profits here come from gray transactions, or the sale of dark magic items.
In August 1992, Harry accidentally entered Knockturn Alley, where he saw Lucius Malfoy who was handling dark magic items in his home. At that time, Mr. Malfoy went to Borgin and Burkes, the most famous store in Knockturn Alley.
Bogin-Bock, located at 13B Knockturn Alley, is a store with a long history. Mr. Borgin and Mr. Burke are the owners of the shop, and they often work with ancient wizarding artifacts.
And due to the sinister intentions of the cunning customers who come in and out of this store, and the greedy nature of the two gentlemen, this store often handles a lot of gray business, and often sells items containing black magic or other dangerous items.
If they were to ask which business was the most profitable, the two gentlemen would probably think of the locket immediately. With only 10 gold galleons, he purchased Slytherin's relics from one woman and then sold them to another woman. This business was the most profitable for this sinister shop.
And one day in late June, the Bojin-Bocker store will have another big business.
There was not a single customer in the shop that morning, and Mr. Borgin was idly arranging his greasy hair. Shops like this usually don't open for half a year and only open for half a year. It's common for shops to be deserted.
Just when Mr. Borgin wanted to go to the back room to rest, the door of the shop was opened, and a man carrying a suitcase walked in. This man is really too ordinary, not handsome but not ugly, not tall but not short either, so ordinary that you would never find him in a crowd.
Mr. Borkin was certain that neither he nor Bork had ever dealt with this man. But Mr. Borkin was as oily as his hair and he didn't miss an opportunity.
Mr. Bojin took the initiative to walk up and said respectfully: "Sir, I don't know why, but the first time I saw you, I felt happy. Have we met somewhere before?"
The man ignored Mr. Borgin, but looked around as if it was his first time in such a place. After a moment, the man said, "No, sir. I don't think we've ever met."
"Even though we have never met, since we have met today, we can treat it as a reunion after a long absence!" Mr. Bojin said enthusiastically, "Do you want to buy something? Do you want me to introduce it to you?"
The store was a little dark, and none of the things displayed in the windows or on the counter were legal.
On the mat in the glass box, there is a withered human hand, a stack of blood-stained cards and a motionless glass eyeball. A ferocious mask, various human bones, and a somewhat blackened silver hairpin.
But these are just the tip of the iceberg of this store. There must be more unknown and dangerous products hidden under the counter and in the back room of the store.
The man frowned, not sure whether he was uncomfortable with Mr. Bogin's enthusiasm or because he didn't like this kind of enthusiasm. The man said calmly: "No need to bother, I have something I hope you can estimate the price of."
"With pleasure, sir." Mr. Borgin's smile faded a little, but he still said, "Let's go inside and talk!" Mr. Borkin took the lead towards the room inside the store, and the man followed him.
Mr. Borgin's eyes were rolling with his back to the man. He didn't think this strange man could come up with anything good, but his professionalism still allowed him to maintain respect for the man. Mr. Bo Jin secretly decided that if the man really had any good treasures, then he would definitely give him a good deal and keep the purchase price to the lowest.
Inside the room, Mr. Borgin poured the man a glass of wine before sitting down. Mr. Borgin said with a smile: "Sir, what is the item you want to value? Is it in a box?"
The man didn't drink the glass of wine, he directly put the box on the table. The man opened the suitcase and turned it around to show Mr. Borgin.
Mr. Borkin's expression changed. He was shocked by the items in the box. He put on a pair of pince-nez and lowered his head to observe carefully. Mr. Borgin asked: "I haven't seen this thing for a long time. Could it be related to Hogwarts?"
"How could Dumbledore allow this thing to leak out of the school? I have my own channels. And where this thing comes from, you should not be interested." The man shook the wine in the glass and said calmly.
"Of course, we are not the Ministry of Magic, so we are not interested in where it comes from," said Mr. Borkin. He put down his glasses. He had already estimated the value in his mind and began to figure out how to get the basilisk's shed skin and the basilisk's horns at the minimum cost.
Snake sloughs are not very valuable, but basilisk skins are not. This kind of cruel dark creature can only be tamed by Parseltongues. Breeding basilisks is expressly prohibited, and even dark wizards will not violate this law because it is too dangerous. In addition, Britain has not seen a basilisk for four hundred years, so this complete basilisk skin can be sold for an extremely exaggerated price.
Basilisk skin has many uses, it can be used as medicine, it can ward off evil spirits, it can be made into black magic items, etc. In addition, basilisk skin and dragon skin have the same effect, both can defend against magic and resist spells. Therefore, basilisk skin can also be used to make armor, and the finished product is much better than dragon skin.
In addition to the complete basilisk skin, the suitcase that was cast with the Invisible Stretching Charm also contained basilisk horns. According to legend, Salazar Slytherin's wand was made of basilisk horns.
When the wand was passed down to Gormley Gaunt, it was stolen by her niece Isothel and taken to the United States. Gormlegaunt was furious and went to seek revenge, using Parseltongue to put the wand to sleep from which it never recovered. Now the wand is buried in the ground outside Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and a snake tree has grown, the leaves of which have powerful magical healing properties.
Of course, Mr. Bojin has never seen this snake tree, and he doesn't know whether the leaves have such powerful effects, but these all reflect the value of the basilisk horn. Moreover, this snake skin and basilisk horn will be the only ones circulating on the market for hundreds of years. Every businessman knows what this means.
Mr. Bojin calmly adjusted his emotions and said: "Sir, I'm afraid this thing is not as valuable as you think, and because of the law, there should not be many people who want to own it. "
After hearing this, the man did not speak, but silently closed the box, picked up the box and walked directly outside. Mr. Bo Jin originally wanted to lower the price to prepare for the acquisition later, but he did not expect that the man was going to leave directly.
Seeing that the man was about to walk out of the store, Mr. Bojin had no choice but to ask: "Sir, what are you planning to do?"
"Since it's not a valuable thing, there's no need to waste time anymore." The man turned around and said, "My dog just needs a kennel. This snakeskin looks good and is suitable for a kennel."
Hearing these wasteful remarks, Mr. Bojin wanted to strangle this man to death. He even had the idea of taking advantage of others. Mr. Bojin continued: "You are too anxious. If you don't mind, you can store the things in the store temporarily. When you find a bidder, you will receive the money, and I only need some small Hard-earned money.”
The man shook his head. He looked directly into Mr. Borkin's eyes and said slowly: "Because you just lied to me in the house, I have no trust in you. I can't use the basilisk skin and basilisk horns." Leave it here with you. Unless, you pay me the price for the goods now."
Mr. Bojin knew that he had made a mistake. This man had been pretending to be a pig and eating the tiger. This was not his first time in this kind of place. Mr. Borgin, who admitted his defeat, held out five fingers and gave his first offer.
"Sir, you should be able to see that I am not a patient person, so if we have the chance to meet again, please don't lie to me again!" After the man finished speaking, he turned around and continued walking out.
Mr. Bojin had no choice but to stop him again and make a second quotation, but the man still shook his head. After several quotations in a row, the price was close to Mr. Bojin's psychological endurance limit, and the man finally agreed to the price.
However, the transaction of basilisk skins and basilisk horns failed to proceed. Mr. Borgin smiled and said sheepishly: "Sir, the store can't get so many gold galleons for the time being. Please give me a few days." Raise the money. In three days, if you come back in three days, we will clear the money and goods!"
The man thought for a while, shook his head and said, "I will come again in two days, at the same time in two days."
After that, the man walked out of the Borkin-Bock store, and Mr. Borkin watched the man go away. The moment the man left, an inconspicuous little wizard immediately followed him.
