Ollivander climbed up from the ground in a sorry state, with a black-red bruise added around his eye socket.
But toward Madam Flamel, who had caused all this, Ollivander didn't dare to show any disrespect at all. Instead, he respectfully bowed and said, "Then thank you very much, Madam Flamel."
"Hmph! If I ever hear you gossiping about my son again… you know what will happen next, right?" Madam Flamel coldly dropped a sentence, then turned to Link and said, "Link, let's go."
Upon hearing this, Link nodded, then stuffed both the larch wand and the ebony wand into the wand holster before turning to leave.
Ding-ling-ling~
Accompanied by the heavy closing of the main door, the golden bell on the door let out a string of pleasant chimes.
It was only then that Ollivander, who had maintained a bowing posture until now, slowly raised his head. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
———
[On the Street of Diagon Alley.]
Link was walking side by side with Madam Flamel.
This wasn't the same as Link had expected. He had originally thought that Madam Flamel, upon learning the news, would go 'crazy' again like last night.
But the other party merely said some words like 'My little Link has finally grown up' and then fell silent again, simply staring at Link quietly.
This made Link a bit stiff. If not for the constant smile at the corners of Madam Flamel's mouth and the deeply emotional expression on her face, Link would've almost thought he was exposed.
Just as Link was finally getting used to this silence, Madam Flamel suddenly asked in a puzzled tone, "Are you still planning to use that larch wand?"
"Ah, of course." Link glanced at the wand holster hidden up his sleeve and replied.
He didn't believe in Ollivander's theory about wands choosing the wizard and that a person only has one wand for life.
In his eyes, a wand was just like a gun, there's never harm in carrying a spare. Besides… this larch wand held special meaning.
Madam Flamel clearly understood Link's intention. She gently patted his head, then led him forward again.
In the time that followed, the two of them went to Twilfitt and Tattings to order a set of handmade formalwear for the upcoming summer evening banquet at Victoria Manor. After that, they visited other shops and had basically toured all of Diagon Alley by noon.
It sounded like a lot, but in reality, it was quite simple, because Diagon Alley didn't have that many shops in the first place.
Afterwards, Madam Flamel led Link into a winding and twisting alley. After a dizzying series of turns and circles, a completely new street finally appeared in front of Link.
Unlike Diagon Alley, there were very few people here. Even if the occasional one or two showed up, they were fully covered, faces completely obscured.
Also, the sky here was perpetually gray and hazy, with no sun in sight.
This made the street's lighting very dim, and with a faint mist floating in the air, visibility was even lower. Many buildings had a kerosene lamp hanging outside the door. Only with the dim yellow light could the full view of the street barely be seen.
Link and Madam Flamel had one of those kerosene lamps in front of them as well. By its light, Link could clearly see a rickety, decaying wooden sign above, on which was faintly written a line of words: Knockturn Alley.
This discovery made Link slightly more serious. Because this was the second-largest trading market in the entire wizarding world of the UK.
But unlike Diagon Alley, this place basically only did illegal and dark magic-related business. Countless illegal trades and serious crimes happened here every day. It was a typical underground black market.
It was like the shadow of Diagon Alley, wriggling and growing in the dark corners.
"Link, let's go." Madam Flamel said cheerfully, then led Link inside.
The deeper they went, the more Link could feel the strangeness of this street. It was an extremely peculiar feeling, hard to describe in detail, but it made one's heart thump with nervousness and unease.
Link felt that if he cast the Sensory Charm here, he would surely see dark magic energy lingering all around, and wandering resentful spirits everywhere.
Fortunately, their destination wasn't far. The two had only walked for a little while when they stopped in front of a shop.
[Black Gold Magical Beast.]
As Link silently read out the name on the shop sign, the door finally opened.
What entered Link's eyes first was a "tall" house-elf. He was probably about 1.2 meters tall, wearing a filthy oilcloth jacket. From his bulging upper body, it was clear that he was very strong.
But what was most eye-catching was his face.
There was a scar over ten centimeters long running directly across his left eye. He didn't, like other one-eyed creatures, choose to wear an eyepatch to cover it. Instead, he boldly exposed his hollow, ferocious left eye socket for all to see.
This made him look especially fierce.
And lying at his feet was a massive golden-yellow python. The python's throat and belly were bulging, and its mouth was wide open, seemingly in the middle of eating.
Out of interest in magical snakes, Link looked at it a few more times, and that was when his expression instantly changed.
Because he clearly saw that inside the wide-open mouth of the snake, there was faintly the outline of a human arm.
This snake… was eating a person.
Suddenly, a soft hand covered Link's eyes, and right after that, he heard Madam Flamel's furious voice.
"Krell! How many times have I warned you?! Don't deal with corpses inside the shop!"
"Ah! Madam! Why are you here? Oh, this is all my fault!" A very shrill voice also rang out. "Sorry, I'll take care of it immediately."
After a clattering noise, the hand covering Link's eyes was finally removed.
The scene before him had changed.
The 'tall' house-elf was grinning ferociously at Link, rubbing his hands as he stared. And the belly of the golden python had returned to normal. At the moment, it was slowly slithering up along Link's leg.
"Hissss~" (Welcome, Link.)
"Ah, it's you, Sophia."
Link slightly tilted his head back with a bit of distaste. Toward this golden python that had just eaten a human, he really couldn't bring himself to feel any affection.
However, the golden python named Sophia clearly didn't notice this. She rested her head on Link's shoulder and hissed out, "You really should have Madam give old Krell a good scolding. He always makes me deal with corpses. Those things are smelly and stiff, disgusting to eat."
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