Chapter 865: Deep in Knockover Alley
After this period of hard work, Kyle's shop in Diagon Alley has been basically renovated. Several shelves have been placed in the most conspicuous places, and a house-elf is placing the goods piled on the ground on them one by one.
"Thank you for your hard work, Dobby." Kyle came in from outside and handed him an ice cream piled with nuts and cookie crumbs. "You have to come and help me sort out the goods during the holidays."
"Dobby doesn't feel tired at all." The house-elf took the ice cream excitedly, "Dobby just wants a vacation, but Dobby is more willing to help the gentleman."
Even though Dobby actively asked for vacation and salary, which made him an outlier among house-elves, it was more like a formality. Deep down, he still retained the same characteristics as other house-elves.
For example, I can't relax.
When Dobby heard that Kyle was short of a tally clerk, he came over immediately, not caring at all that today was his one day off per week.
"I was wondering why I keep seeing you in Diagon Alley recently. I didn't expect you actually opened a store here." A slightly surprised voice came from outside the door.
Kyle looked back and realized that the person who came was the owner of the ice cream shop next door, Florin Fusco, and he had just consumed in the other's shop.
The two met when the Death Eaters attacked Diagon Alley. At that time, Forsco was one of their targets, but he was later rescued by Kyle.
"Welcome, Mr. Fusco." Kyle greeted warmly.
"I just came to take a look." Fusco said, "This store has been vacant for at least 30 years. It has been closed since I opened the store. I didn't expect it to belong to you."
“It was also a coincidence,” Kyle said.
Fusco walked into the store and looked at the items on the shelves curiously, finally stopping in front of a bunch of things that looked like grapes. "Are you open now?"
"Of course," Kyle said, "As the first customer in the store, you can get a 50% discount on this purchase."
"No need." Fusco waved his hand. "I still have this little money. Besides, I have always wanted to repay you for saving my life."
"What is this?" he asked, holding the bunch of 'grapes' in his hand.
"Oh, you have a good eye. The pods of the royal vine are one of the sweetest fruits in the magical world. They will definitely sell well if made into ice cream." Kyle said.
"The Great King Vine... Isn't this a magical plant unique to North America?" Fusco was stunned for a moment. "I heard that fifty years ago, it was strictly controlled by the local Ministry of Magic."
"Yes." Kyle sighed, "Grindelwald and his dark wizards destroyed the local environment. Only one tenth of the land suitable for the growth of the king vine remains. This thing has directly become an endangered plant."
"How could you get such a good thing?" Fusco was even more surprised.
He did not doubt Kyle's words, because even when he held it in his hand, he could smell a refreshing sweet scent, which obviously meant it was the real thing.
And given Kyle's relationship with Headmaster Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic, he should not bother to sell fake goods.
"Ah, it's just a coincidence." Kyle smiled.
"How much?" Fusco swallowed as he held the pod.
Just holding it in his hand, the sweet smell went straight to his nostrils, and he couldn't wait to taste it.
"Not expensive, only ten Galleons."
Fusco's hands trembled visibly.
"Merlin, ten Galleons a string, is that so expensive?"
"No, not a bunch, but one." Kyle laughed even more happily. "You know, this thing is not available on the market, so the price is naturally not cheap."
Fusco's hands shook even more. He held his breath and carefully put the pods in his hand back on the shelf.
Can't afford it, can't afford it.
He could only earn about five Galleons after a hard day's work. If he accidentally dropped the bunch of pods on the ground, his two months' work would be in vain.
"What about this..." He looked at the bottle of ink next to him.
Although he didn't understand why something like ink could appear on the same shelf as royal vine pods, he could always afford this common stationery... right?
"Mobik squid ink." Kyle looked up and said, "This is cheap, only fifty Galleons... But I need the Ministry of Magic's approval before I can sell it, and I can't do that now."
if only?
Fusco suddenly felt a toothache.
"That's such a coincidence, I quite... like it." He moved his feet and subconsciously moved away from the shelf.
After walking around again and asking about the prices of several other items he was interested in, Fusco suddenly felt that there was no need to be so anxious to repay Kyle for saving his life.
The main reason is that it is too expensive. The ten-gallon royal vine pod is considered cheap. God knows where Kyle got these rare goods from.
But he also consumed it.
I spent one Galleon to buy a box of candy.
"It's amazing that you were able to find this." Fusco looked at the candy that was hovering above his head like a bee. "I remember that I liked this the most when I was in first grade, but it was discontinued not long after. I heard that Honeydukes got a new owner."
"As long as you like it." Kyle said with a smile, "Would you like something to drink? Black tea or butter beer, these are the only two drinks in the store right now."
"Oh, your store also offers free drinks?" Mr. Fusco asked in surprise.
"It's not free, but only for friends." Kyle pulled out a bottle of butterbeer and placed it on the table.
Anyone who has made purchases in the store is a friend. If not... even if Fred and George come, don't even think about drinking a sip of his boiled water.
Although Mr. Fusco's consumption standards were slightly lower, he was the first customer after all, so he deserved some special treatment.
Moreover, Kyle felt that there was a possibility of cooperation between them.
"I think you could buy two royal vine pods." He pulled out another bottle of butterbeer and sat down next to Mr. Fusco.
"No, I can't afford that stuff." Fusco shook his head repeatedly.
Unless he is crazy, he would not spend two days' earnings to eat one fruit.
"You're not eating it yourself, you're using it as raw material to create a new special flavor." Kyle said softly, "You haven't changed the flavors in your store for several years, and the most expensive one is only eight Sickles, it's time to launch a high-end product.
"If you squeeze one royal vine pod into juice, it should be enough to make ten portions of raw materials. Even if you sell it for one galleon each, you'll still make a profit."
"One Galleon... can't be sold?" Fusco hesitated.
"You'll know if you give it a try. If it doesn't work, divide it into twenty or fifty portions..." Kyle waved his hand.
Dobby immediately understood what he meant and trotted over to pick a pod and bring it over.
Kyle handed it to Fusco.
"Just as we agreed before, 50% off. I'll sell this pod to you for five Galleons. How about that? In addition, I'll give you a box of old-fashioned milk candies as a personal gift."
"That...alright." Fusco nodded after hesitating for a moment.
Although the price of five gallons per fruit was also outrageous, he could still afford it if he gritted his teeth.
He decided to go back and try using half a pill as raw material. If he couldn't sell it... he would just try it for fun.
Just like Kyle said, the royal vine pods are really rare and worth a once-in-a-lifetime luxury.
After seeing Mr. Fusco off, a familiar face suddenly popped up from the corner of the street.
Draco Malfoy?
Kyle was slightly stunned, then immediately hid himself.
However, Malfoy seemed to be doing something and did not notice the newly opened shop and walked straight past it.
Kyle hesitated for a moment, then turned around and said:
"Dobby, I have something to do, so I'll leave this place to you. It's closed for business recently, so remember to close the door later."
"No problem, sir." Dobby nodded.
After explaining all this, Kyle tapped his wand on his head, and as the light around him distorted, his figure disappeared.
Kyle then walked out and caught up with Malfoy. He was very curious as to why this little Death Eater who was expelled from Hogwarts midway appeared in Diagon Alley at this time.
Because Hogwarts had already started school, there were not many people on the streets.
As expected, Malfoy quickly turned into Knockturn Alley.
These Death Eaters are really interesting. It seems that they will go to Knockturn Alley no matter what they do, as if they are afraid that others don’t know that they are dark wizards.
Kyle followed in without hesitation.
Knockturn Alley was still the same as before. There was almost no one on this small street closely related to the dark magic. It was obviously a prime location close to the street entrance, but the shops on both sides were empty, and even the owners were too lazy to show up.
This is normal. Maybe in other places this is a prime location, but Knockturn Alley is an exception. People who come here to buy and sell things are most afraid of being seen, so usually they will not choose a place closer to the street corner.
After walking a little further, we began to see more and more people around us.
Several wizards, wrapped tightly in their clothes, were sitting on the ground with a pile of disgusting-looking things in front of them.
Malfoy frowned and walked over faster.
Although the natives of Knockturn Alley were very interested in the little wizard who suddenly broke in, thanks to Draco Malfoy's conspicuous platinum hair, no one dared to have any thoughts about him.
As we all know, the Malfoy family is a popular family around Voldemort, and their standard feature is the platinum hair.
No one wants to make themselves unhappy.
In this way, Draco Malfoy passed through this dangerous alley smoothly.
At the same time, these people did not notice that there was another person following Malfoy.
Knockturn Alley was deeper than Kyle had thought. Draco Malfoy had been walking for more than 20 minutes with no intention of stopping. Kyle was doubtful whether this was still part of Diagon Alley.
He also saw a group of werewolves, the same group he saw when he came here last time. When passing by them, Kyle could clearly see that Malfoy became nervous, but he still walked past without hesitation.
Kyle followed him.
A werewolf seemed to have discovered something and sniffed the surroundings carefully. His cloudy yellow eyes swept behind Malfoy where no one was.
But after a moment, he looked away again.
There were fewer and fewer people around, and it seemed that even the dark wizards were unwilling to come to the depths of Knockturn Alley.
Finally, Malfoy stopped in front of a dilapidated door.
As soon as he approached here, Kyle vaguely heard a slight buzzing sound.
Malfoy looked around nervously, and only opened the door and walked in after making sure that there was no one around.
Kyle's eyes suddenly lit up.
He saw someone, an acquaintance, and also understood what the buzzing sound he had just heard was.
The ear-blocking spell is a spell to prevent eavesdropping.
Before Malfoy walked in, Kyle walked up quickly and stuffed something that looked like an ear into the pocket of his robe.
Malfoy seemed to notice something and turned his head subconsciously, but was soon stopped by another voice.
"Come in, dear."
"Please, Severus, you are the only one who can help us this time."
Kyle hid outside the door, listening to the woman's sobbing through the retractable ears, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised.
Severus...it was Snape after all.
I didn't expect that guy would meet Narcissa Malfoy in such a remote place, and even used the ear-blocking charm.
I just don't know if Lucius knows this.
Kyle looked around with a wicked smile on his face.
Unfortunately there are no windows so I can't take pictures.
What a pity.
There was no choice but Kyle to sigh and continue listening to the sounds coming from the retractable ears.
"I told you, this is impossible. It's useless even if you beg me!" Snape's voice came from inside.
"But Severus, Draco is your godson..." Narcissa seemed to be about to cry.
"Mom, please don't..."
Draco Malfoy seemed about to say something, but was interrupted.
"Stop talking, Draco. Stand aside." After Narcissa's loud rebuke, Draco really quieted down.
"I've said it before, this is impossible." Snape continued, "Although I am the head of Slytherin, I have no right to allow Draco to return to Hogwarts. You should know that what he has done is enough to expel him from the school a hundred times..."
"But that was the Dark Lord's order. Draco was forced to do it. He had no choice..."
"Shut up, Narcissa!" Snape said sternly, "If you still want him to live, if you still want Lucius to live, then get this idea out of your heart. The Dark Lord's orders cannot be disobeyed. We only need to obey. There is no such thing as being forced or voluntary."
"But Severus...Draco will die." Narcissa choked up, "If he is not a student of Hogwarts...he will no longer be protected by Dumbledore...he will die...
"That guy called Kyle... He killed seventy Death Eaters in Godric's Hollow... Seventy... Even Bella was killed. If he knew that Draco had tried to kill him before..."
There was a thud in the retractable ears, and Narcissa seemed to lose her strength and fell to the ground.
Kyle raised his eyebrows, not expecting that he would be involved in this matter.
But think about it, the Godric's Hollow incident happened not long ago, and his name should be in a bad state among the Death Eaters at this time. It is understandable that Narcissa would be afraid.
"Do you think he doesn't know?" Snape said coldly, "Or do you think your clumsy trick can fool him?"
"But I'm alive," Malfoy said, the first complete sentence he had spoken since entering the room.
"Even if he suspected it, there was no evidence to prove that I prepared the opal necklace."
"Evidence, that's what Dumbledore needs." Snape sneered, "Do you think a man who can kill seventy Death Eaters without batting an eyelid needs evidence?
"Unlike Dumbledore, he only needs to be suspicious."
"But he didn't kill me." Malfoy seemed a little unconvinced, "If it's really like what you said, why didn't he kill me?"
"That's because you were still at Hogwarts at the time." Snape said impatiently, "Dumbledore would never let him do something outrageous in front of him in school, so you saved your life."
As someone who had experienced it personally, Snape knew best what happened at that time. He also knew that Kyle knew very well where the opal necklace came from.
If it weren't for Dumbledore, Malfoy might have disappeared in the Forbidden Forest long ago, and there would be no chance for him to stand here and tell jokes.
But he didn't say these words, otherwise Kyle would definitely protest his injustice.
He is not a Dark Lord, so how could he possibly attack his classmate? Not to mention that Malfoy was once his big client and contributed a lot of Galleons to him.
At most, you can teach the other party a lesson.
As for the Death Eaters in Godric's Hollow, it was they who attacked first, and he was just protecting himself.
Besides, Voldemort also had some credit for this, so we can't put all the blame on him.
……
