[Rohan POV]
The next day, I made my way to the leaky cauldron. It was still morning, so the place was crowded with people. It was rush hour after all. The entrance to Diagon Alley was through the leaky cauldron. It was so for hundreds of years, and over the years, this place had become a hub for transit. People kept flocking in from the door and the floo network one after another; the tables were also full as it was common for people to have their breakfast here before leaving for work. I could see Tom and his staff running around with no time to breathe. I discreetly walked to a corner and waited for a table to clear up. I was finally able to find a table to sit at after a few minutes of waiting.
Today I was not here for just breakfast. The main purpose of my visit today was meeting my broker. He was not just any broker, but a broker that had dealings in both the wizard and muggle worlds. I got to know about him about two months ago when I needed to buy some magical items.
There were a lot of brokers in the wizarding world as the rich did not want to dirty their hands, so they sent these people to do their business on the black market. What made my broker special was that he was willing to exchange magical items for muggle money. This was something unheard of in the wizarding community.
The last time, I met him was to buy some simple enchanted items such as a notice-me-not-enchanted ring. It was not made normally because such charms were really basic and any wizard could cast them. I was sure that this item was specifically made for muggles who wanted magic items.
Today, I was meeting him here because I needed him to convert all the gold I had into galleons and cash as soon as possible. The gold the Ancient One gave me was in a bag that had enchantments to store and carry the gold, but for some reason, the magic was slowly wearing off. This was not supposed to happen as the enchantments were supposed to be permanent. I was certain that in a day or two, the bag would just burst open and scatter all the gold around. That is why I needed to get rid of all the gold ASAP.
It was alright though, as I needed a lot of money to set up the business anyway.
When I was eating breakfast, a man came and sat in front of me at the table. It was still rush hour and most tables were full. It was common for strangers to sit together and have breakfast quickly and leave only for a new one to sit. so no one really cared who was sitting with who at this time.
I lifted my head up to see who it was. He was a man in his forties; he was a lot taller than average. He was wearing a suit with a red bowtie. Once I saw the tie, I knew who it was; his name was Martin. My broker. He was born in America. He was taken from his parents when he was young by MACUSA. He was not that talented at magic, so his life in the magical community was difficult. Later he decided to work as a broker and moved to Europe where he now lives.
That is all I know about him. Don't know if it is true or not. The first time I met him, he looked like an African American. I was only able to recognize him as Martin now was because he was wearing the same red bowtie. He must have been under a poly juice potion the last time I met him, which means he is probably also under one right now. And the tie was supposed to be a kind of hint.
He picked up a newspaper and started to read seemingly not minding me. he said while reading "Looks like It's going to rain today"
That was our secret code; I replied back reluctantly, "No,i think it's going to rain frogs today"
'I know this is a stupid code, but I cannot do anything. It was his idea.' i grumbled and filled my mouth with food.
Martin then started speaking to me while looking at the newspaper. As a matter of fact, he never makes eye contact with me or anyone; I think it is a good habit as you don't know when someone will use Legilimency on you. I think this is even more important to him because of the nature of his work.
"Looks like you are safe, It must mean that you are using the items I sold you responsibly" Martin had said in a monotone voice, seemingly uninterested.
I could only cringe at that as I never got to use them. I said with a stiff smile "of course, you think I am an idiot? and thank you for your concern by the way."
"don't misunderstand, I was just curious because of how well the ministry works in these matters. "
He was right, the ministry was really good at finding magic items in the muggle world; What they always looked out for was the sudden emergence of strange reports and rumors from the muggle world. They then sent Aurors to investigate. If something actually comes up, they just confiscate the item and extract the information out of the defenseless muggles and Obliviate them. This is how they can quickly track down the origin of such items.
I took out a paper from my pocket; it was a list of things I needed to get that I was not able to buy. I discreetly kept the paper on the table and it magically floated to him behind the newspaper. He then started reading it quietly. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke" Your request will take some time to collect, what are you even going to do with so many wands anyway?" He asked curiously.
I replied "you don't need to know "
He looked at me over the newspaper for a moment before looking away. and kept on reading the list. "There are a lot of items here, Are you sure you have the money for it?"
"That is another matter I want to discuss with you. I have raw gold that I would like to convert to both galleons and pounds." I said
"not a problem, how much gold is it?"
"around 180Kg"
"come again. how much?" I could now see a little emotion on martin's face this time. He was shocked.
"180 Kilograms, with a K-I-L-O , or do you want me to convert it to stones or something?"
He just looked at me for a few moments, then sighed "No, I get it... It will take me at least a day to send you the money. I have never done such a big role Where is the gold anyway? I will need to personally check them first" His monotone expression started to crumble.
"it's in my hotel room, ready for you to pick up," I said.
After that, we negotiated and came to an agreement where Martin would get 12% of the gold for his service. I was going to convert most of the gold into galleons for the magical services I will be needing in the future and the rest will be converted to pounds.
The rush hour was almost over so we decided to leave. I returned to my hotel and found that a short old man was waiting for me at the reception. He looked very old, but I saw the red bowtie and figured out his identity (Martin). I went to my room and brought the bag with me and passed it on to him.
"Please return the bag when you are done"
"hmm" he nodded
'You might think why am I trusting him so much, as he can run away with the money quickly? The answer was simple. I had signed a contract with him. This contract was a type of contract that made sure that we both maintained each other's privacy and were truthful about our dealings. This was supposedly a type of contract that all brokers sign with their clients as there have been a lot of betrayals and bloodshed in the past.
===
The next day I was inside Gringotts to store the newly converted galleons. Martin came to me this morning and returned the bag along with all these galleons. There were now around 140,000 galleons in total in my vault. It may seem a lot, but it was just barely enough. After this matter came to rest, I went to the goblin at the counter and asked if there was any real estate they had on sale. They showed me a list, but none was to my liking. The buildings that were up for sale were rather small and old. Most likely they belonged to some poor wizards who started a business, only to go bankrupt for the bank to seize the property. I decided that it would not be good to start my new business over someone's shattered dreams. So, I decided that I would buy a building in the city and renovate it accordingly.
I then returned to my hotel and looked for a property agent by scouring the newspapers. By afternoon I was already in the office of a real estate agent. I was under the effect of an aging potion, so the property dealer did not find anything suspicious.
The property dealer showed me a number of buildings to my liking, but the price was too high for me. I finally selected the three cheapest buildings. So now it was time for me to visit them and look for myself.
The dealer drove me to the locations. The first and second locations were acceptable, but I held off from making any decision until I saw the last one. Now, we were driving to the last location. I was leaning my head against the window glass, dozing off. I was really tired after the whole day of running around and my back was also aching from the long drives.
When the car stopped, I looked outside and was surprised. I was in the exact neighborhood where the London Sanctum was located. The property dealer got out of the car and I followed him. In front of me was an old building. It was three-story tall; It appeared to be an apartment building that had been long abandoned. The windows were dirty and closed with wood. The green paint was also faded. The dealer started to explain "This building was made in the 50s by an American businessman. I don't know much but his wife was apparently from London so he gave her this house as a gift. When he died, his wife moved here and lived here till her death a few years ago. As they didn't have any children or family, this building was in a bureaucratic hell for years until recently that is. "
I looked at the dilapidated building and the surroundings and was surprised to find that this building was in the exact spot where the sanctum was in the MCU. "is this a coincidence?" I muttered to myself. This place was not magical at all, and what's more, there was nothing special about this place. It was just a random house in the city, but to me, it was special as I was the only one who knew the significance of this place. I walked inside the house and looked around. This was nothing but an old dirty house that was barely standing. In fact, it was the worst house I had seen today.
After coming back to the car, the dealer said "this building has not yet been renovated so the price will be cheaper than the rest. But I do not recommend it. It will be better to build a new one in its spot than to fix it. I suggest going for the first one as-"
When the dealer talked, I interrupted him "no, I will be getting this one."
I was not sure if it was a coincidence or not, but I felt something strange about all this. 'How is it possible that the day I went to look for a building, I found an empty building ready to be sold at the exact place where the sanctum is built in another universe for a reasonable price at that. It was very suspicious.
'The three Sanctum Sanctorum are special places that were built on top of magic focal points. All three combine to form a protective shield around Earth that prevents extra-dimensional beings from invading Earth. Here in the HPU, this place is just a normal place with no magical focal point so it is normal for there to be a building in this place, I can accept that, but what I cannot expect is for me to find this place conveniently ready for me to buy when I am in need of a place. Just what the hell is happening?' I decided that I would have to get every information I could get about the previous owner.