Chapter 16: Crystal Bird Snake Skull and Magic Eyeball
After buying the wand, Lockhart asked Ron to go back to school first.
He had Ron go back from the fireplace at Ollivander's shop and carefully confirmed with Professor Sprout on the other side of the fireplace that Ron had arrived safely.
After all, taking a second-year wizard out of school was not very regulation-compliant. If he took him to Knockturn Alley, full of dark wizards, Professor McGonagall would have something to say.
He bought a black wizard robe with a large hood at the "Madam Malkin's Robes" shop in Diagon Alley, and then casually picked up a funny mask with the publisher's GG logo from the "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes" shop. Then he walked to the Leaky Cauldron at the end of the alley.
Tom, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron, provided some little-known services, such as renting out guest rooms for changing clothes. This kind of thing was common in this bar located at the intersection of Knockturn Alley, Diagon Alley, and the Muggle world outside.
Lockhart just nodded to Tom subtly, and Tom skillfully took him up the dark passageway to the back guest room, opened a small single room on the second floor, and changed his clothes before going down a deeper staircase directly into Knockturn Alley.
Many people knew the internationally renowned author Lockhart. Some down-and-out dark wizards who were desperate might not mind trying to find a way to make a fortune from him. Moreover, his identity was not suitable for coming here directly, so he often disguised himself as a dark wizard.
With his whole body covered up, this sneaky look was very common in Knockturn Alley.
He soon reached Borgin & Burkes.
It was easy to find. This shop was the largest and best-located shop in Knockturn Alley, a standalone building with two bright bay windows, not worried about being robbed, showing off the precious magical items inside to the evil dark wizards on the street.
When he arrived, a beautiful young noblewoman was choosing antique jewelry. She was the same fan from the pureblood family who had sent him a swimsuit photo.
Receiving such a letter on the day he crossed over had given him a great boost, instantly igniting his yearning for the wizarding world.
Lockhart didn't go up to greet her, patiently waiting on the side.
He put his hand into his wizard robe to suppress the restless golden retriever. As soon as it came to this shop full of jewelry, it was like a dog coming to a dung pit, becoming extremely excited. The powerful creature was not afraid of the protective jinxes cast on the goods, but this was not appropriate.
Finally, when the young noblewoman was satisfied and left with her jewelry, he walked from the side of the shelf to the counter.
Before he got close to the counter, a gilded mummy sarcophagus on the counter suddenly shook violently. Mr. Borgin's expression changed, and he drew his wand and pointed it at Lockhart, "Stop! What are you doing!"
Lockhart looked at the wand pointed at him and his expression turned cold.
This was different from facing Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall. The dark wizards in Knockturn Alley were really likely to attack him with a spell.
With his current strength, he couldn't deal with any combat at all. Well, he didn't have any strength at all, just like a Muggle.
Even if faced with some probing spells, he would be exposed immediately!
Just like a bare-handed person running into a den of gangsters full of guns, it would make people panic.
But the more he was like this, the less he could show weakness!
"Pointing a wand at me is not a polite thing to do!"
Lockhart snorted coldly, deliberately patting his wizard robe pocket to soothe the golden retriever. This dark magic creature apparently aroused the vigilance of the shop's defensive magic items, "It's me, Mr. Borgin."
As he spoke, he turned his back to the shop door, took off his mask, and put it back on after Mr. Borgin looked confused.
"I don't know what's in your pocket, but watch it!" Mr. Borgin pointed his wand at the mummy sarcophagus to make it quiet, then took a box down from the shelf behind him. When he opened it, there was a crystal skull with a long, pointed beak inside.
The part without the beak was slightly larger than an adult human skull.
"This is?" Lockhart had seen a lot of things, but he had never seen this before. He looked at the object in front of him with some confusion.
"Buddy, you've come at the wrong time. The family that makes the Pensieve is now in a family feud, and no one has time to make Pensieves. The channels from America have also been watched by Aurors, so they can't send them over for the time being."
Mr. Borgin took the skull out of the box, turned it over and placed it on the table, then held the pointed lower jaw and opened the entire skull, making it look a bit like the ancient bronze wine vessel in Lockhart's previous life.
"This one has been used, but I've asked someone to try to clean out the memories left inside with potions. If you don't mind, you can use it as a new Pensieve."
Mr. Borgin didn't hide this information from a regular customer and supplier like Lockhart.
"This shape is really unique." Lockhart held up the crystal skull and weighed it, finding it not very heavy.
"It's made from the skull of a bird serpent. It's the oldest crystallized crystal Pensieve craft in Egypt. It's extremely valuable..." Mr. Borgin said with a sigh of regret. "It's said that there was an accident during the transaction, and the previous owner who knew the control password died."
An accident?
He probably just robbed him and killed him so he couldn't get the password to the safe in his memory.
The bird serpent was a very interesting magical creature that could change its size at will. It could be bigger than a dragon or small enough to easily fit into a small teapot.
Apparently, the wizard who made it used this aspect to make it portable.
Unfortunately, no one knew the password to control its size, so it was useless.
"Fortunately, it can be used with this." Mr. Borgin pulled out a small cloth bag from under the counter. It was made of coarse linen and looked poorly made.
He held the cloth bag in one hand and the crystal bird serpent skull in the other, stuffing the large magical object into the palm-sized small bag with difficulty.
"A bag with the Imperturbable Extension Charm..." Lockhart's heart skipped a beat. This was a rare item. The Ministry of Magic strictly restricted the use of this magic under the instructions of the International Confederation of Wizards. Aurors were investigating it closely, and it was extremely difficult to find such items even on the black market.
But he didn't show it, just looked at the bag with some disdain and said, "Mr. Borgin, do you think this will work?"
Mr. Borgin threw the bag on the table and spread his hands. "I think it's about the same."
Heh~
Lockhart didn't bother arguing with him, just asked, "How much?"
Mr. Borgin's eyes narrowed, revealing the oily smile of a typical profiteer. He rubbed his hands together and said, "The price is exactly the same as the goods you asked me to handle last time."
Wow!
Lockhart didn't expect that he still had a batch of goods in Borgin's hands. He quickly searched his memory for information and his expression suddenly darkened. "Exactly the same? Mr. Borgin, that's not fair!"
MMP!
You greedy bastard!
At this point, he didn't care about his strength anymore. He slammed his hand on the table and leaned over the counter, looking down at the old man with a dangerous look in his eyes.
Mr. Borgin was obviously intimidated by his aura. He didn't know that the other person was bluffing. In his memory, Lockhart was a ruthless man who could always get his hands on some high-quality dirty goods. He shrank his neck, swallowed his saliva, and explained in a weak voice.
"Ordinary Pensieves would be cheaper, but this is a top-of-the-line Pensieve. It's not made of mud or stone. The crystallization of the bird serpent skull alone is an extremely rare alchemical technique. It's extremely expensive..."
Lockhart listened to him with a cold smile, and said lightly, "It's second-hand!"
"Hey, you can use it as a new one! It won't affect anything!" Mr. Borgin was anxious.
"The bird serpent skull is indeed precious, but it has lost the effect of the bird serpent skull. Without the control password, it's useless!" Lockhart's voice was full of disdain.
People who knew how to appreciate goods were the real buyers. Those who didn't would turn around and leave. Mr. Borgin knew this. He put his hands on the counter, stood on tiptoe, and stared at him with his old eyes wide open. "You should know how to appreciate it!"
Appreciate it?
Lockhart, of course, knew how to appreciate it. He quickly glanced around the shop. There were many things here that he could name.
The shriveled hand in the glass case, called the "Hand of Glory". It was made from the hand of a greedy gambler. If you put a lit candle on this hand, only the person holding the Hand of Glory could see the candlelight.
The hideous wooden mask hanging on the wall had no name. It was usually used by witch doctors in African tribes. It had an evil and twisted power that could make people see the mask and become terrified and mentally distorted.
The black cabinet was the other Disappearing Cabinet that matched the one in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was repaired by Draco Malfoy in the original story.
The opal necklace with a vicious curse on it. The cursed jewelry was inherently very fairy tale-like, and the reason why Mr. Borgin placed it solemnly in the cabinet was because it had killed nineteen Muggles, and it was an object with mysterious legends attached to it.
There were too many.
Lockhart could say something about many of the items in Borgin & Burkes.
He quickly recalled the memories of the original Lockhart and his memories of the original story, and picked up a glass jar from the shelf with a spinning eyeball inside.
He placed it next to the cloth bag. "Add this, and we're even!"
Mr. Borgin shouted, "No way!"
"I know you still have a profit margin, you greedy bastard!" Lockhart retorted. "I risked my life to get that batch of goods! You should know that!"
"You're the greedy one! You know how precious this magical eye is? Mad-Eye Moody had one of these! He was able to achieve such great feats because of this eye!"
"Oh, is that so?"
Lockhart folded his arms and looked down at the other man with a cold smile. "I think Moody should know where his eye came from, but I don't know the origin of this eyeball!"
"It's said that such magical eyes might come in pairs. I don't know if the other eye was damaged or lost, or if it's being held by someone with ulterior motives, ready to curse the current owner of this eye at any time."
Mr. Borgin smiled sinisterly, his eyes staring straight at him. "Now that you know, do you still dare to take it?"
He soon couldn't laugh anymore.
Lockhart grabbed the golden retriever by the scruff of its neck from his wizard robe. Even though it was obeying the agreement not to attack anyone, it still made people feel an uncontrollable fear when they looked at it closely.
Mr. Borgin screamed in horror, "Three hands? Take this monster away! Damn it, take it away!"
Lockhart chuckled. "Of course I dare. This magical eye is a toy for it."
The golden retriever's eyes lit up as it looked at the eyeball in the glass jar, and it whimpered at him.
"Look, it likes it." Lockhart raised his eyebrows at Mr. Borgin.
"I'm going to lose money on this." Mr. Borgin subconsciously moved away from the powerful dark magic creature, pressing his back against the mummy sarcophagus, but this didn't give him any sense of security.
He hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded, waving his hand in disgust as if shooing away a fly. "Take it, take it. If you bring this monster back next time, don't even think about stepping into my shop!"
The deal was done.
The reason why Lockhart showed off the golden retriever was to let Mr. Borgin know that the magical eye would be in the golden retriever's hands. Heh, if he dared to use the other possible eye to curse him, he would be the one who suffered.
Of course, this wasn't just a toy for the golden retriever.
Lockhart clearly remembered what would happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year—the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets!
This magical eye would give him the ability to look directly at the Basilisk.
Danger was coming, and he had to be prepared.
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