Ian's intrigued expression caught Lupin off guard.
To Lupin,
Most young wizards who saw the items in this shop would at least go pale, if not burst into tears. But this one? Ian looked positively flushed, with excitement?
"These things aren't for kids," Lupin said grimly. "A single misstep, and you could be cursed by whatever's attached to them." He grabbed Ian and tried to drag him away.
However, Ian pulled his hand away from Lupin's grip a bit unwillingly.
"I'm an alchemist officially acknowledged by Professor Nick! Of course, I won't be influenced or corrupted by the magic on these items. And I'm looking at these dark magic objects with a critical eye!"
Ian declared with great righteousness, picking up a still-wriggling severed arm. It reminded him of the black-robed skeleton under his bed. He wondered if this dark magic arm could be attached to the skeleton.
"Probably not."
Ian recalled the skeleton's "magic immunity" trait and put the moving arm back down, instead picking up a glass eyeball, something that might be stuffed under a Dementor's eyelid, perhaps.
Lupin looked at Ian with a bit of speechlessness. For a moment, he didn't dare leave the shop first. He knew Ian had been tinkering in his room recently, deeply immersed in alchemy research.
"These are all forbidden items banned by the Ministry of Magic."
Lupin sighed, trying to use the law to scare Ian off.
"I'm not using them."
Ian blinked innocently.
He held up the lone glass eyeball from the display case and looked over to the shop's counter. The eyeball turned on its own as he raised it, its bloodshot pupil glaring at Ian.
"Shopkeeper, do you have a second one of these?" Though the eyeball was clearly cursed, Ian had already used his magic power to briefly block the enchantment.
That little trick seemed to surprise the shopkeeper.
"You little brat, broke, just like your broke parents, you can't afford this." The stooped old man brushed back his slicked-back hair.
He made no effort to hide his disdain.
Shopkeepers know exactly how to judge customers. Seeing the scruffy werewolf standing beside Ian, Borgin & Burke probably assumed the little wizard didn't have a single Galleon to his name.
Of course,
This time, he was dead wrong.
"Huh?"
Ian looked down at his waist. Sure enough, his coat was covering his symbol of status. He quickly pulled it aside to reveal a long string of keys.
"Clink, clink, clang~!"
The crisp sound was oddly pleasant to the ear.
"Open your damned eyes and look again," Ian shot back sharply. He was the kind who would return an inch of kindness with half a yard, but if someone offended him by a fraction, he'd return a thousandfold.
"Don't cause trouble!"
Lupin tensed up the moment Ian started talking back to a black-market wizard from Diagon Alley. His hand reflexively grabbed his wand, worried Borgin & Burke might lash out.
"He's just a kid, sorry, please don't take offense." Lupin's voice was meek. And who could blame him? Even Gryffindor grads knew better than to play hero here.
Knockturn Alley.
This was enemy territory, filled with enough dark artifacts to ruin a squad of Aurors. With an uneasy look, Lupin felt like he and the little wizard were moments away from getting themselves killed.
"Hm?"
However,
The expected attack didn't come. Borgin & Burke frowned for a second, but upon catching sight of the keys dangling from Ian's waist, his eyes visibly sharpened.
As a longtime black market dealer entrenched in Knockturn Alley, Borgin & Burke had his ear to everything happening in the wizarding world. That's how he always managed to slip past Ministry raids.
Precisely because of this,
When he saw the keys hanging at Ian's side, keys that were supposed to belong to more than a dozen pure-blood family shops, he instantly connected the dots to recent big events.
"My apologies. It seems I've been blind and foolish. I should be the one apologizing to you." He put on his pince-nez glasses and spoke with surprising sincerity.
"…Huh?"
Lupin's brain briefly froze.
The Borgin & Burke he knew was never this polite.
Among dark wizards, Borgin & Burke was a name spoken with fear. Anyone able to run a shop in Knockturn Alley for so many years did not survive on goodwill.
"Now you've got me confused…" Ian shot Borgin & Burke a strange look as well, picking up on Lupin's disbelief and confusion. He hadn't expected the shopkeeper's attitude to change so drastically, he didn't even get to play out the dramatic "smirk of the dragon king" scene he had prepared.
"Any intelligent person, upon understanding what you've accomplished, would show due humility before you…" Borgin & Burke even bowed slightly.
"What did you do?"
Lupin couldn't help but whisper.
"I want to know what I did too, for him to actually feel a trace of fear toward me inside." Ian's eye twitched slightly. He had already sensed Borgin & Burke's rather obvious emotions.
"I'm someone who knows how to pick sides well, so you don't need to pretend in front of me. Anyone with eyes can see what you're up to… Maybe you don't trust your werewolf bodyguard here?" Borgin & Burke spoke slowly, his gaze sharp and piercing, somehow instantly seeing through Lupin's identity.
Of course,
It was also possible that the wolfsbane potion Lupin bought earlier had been distributed through Borgin & Burke.
"I'm not a bodyguard! Which eye of yours sees me as one?" Lupin, having his identity exposed, was a bit flustered but instinctively argued back.
"That's right, Mr. Lupin isn't a bodyguard, he's my nanny." Ian spoke up to defend Lupin, though Lupin probably would have preferred he hadn't said anything.
"..."
The down-and-out werewolf wanted to retort.
But,
Remembering Dumbledore' meticulous warnings,
He suddenly realized,
He did seem a little like a nanny assigned to watch over the little wizard.
"Oh, even as such an ally, you still don't trust him, you haven't revealed your plan to him?" Borgin & Burke's tone carried some surprise.
He wasn't sure what kind of misunderstanding was happening here.
"I think your choice of words and your way of thinking… is kind of strange. Maybe you know things about me that I haven't realized myself?"
Ian put down the eyeball in his hand.
He absolutely didn't believe that his secret plan to secretly build a money-printing machine had already been discovered by someone else.
"If you don't want to expose yourself, I naturally won't say more… If you like that eyeball, I do have another one here. I'll give you both."
Saying this,
Borgin & Burke took out a box and humbly handed it to Ian. Although still puzzled, Ian naturally wouldn't pass up something free.
"Thank you."
He even showed some politeness.
Just as Ian received the eyeball, and Lupin was still stunned, Ian grabbed the down-on-his-luck werewolf and dashed out, afraid Borgin & Burke would change his mind at any moment.
"Next time we meet, I hope you'll accept me, a fence-sitting yet destined-for-greatness Ian Grindelwald Dumbledore Ambrosius Prince."
The hoarse voice of Borgin & Burke called softly behind them.
But every word was clear and ringing.
"I knew those guys were still spreading rumors even after going home!" Ian was so angry his hair nearly stood on end. His wand, sensing his emotions, even started to glow faintly.
"What did he call you!?"
Lupin stopped at the doorway.
His body stiffened.
Mechanically, he turned his neck toward the little wizard.
A turbulent storm rose inside his heart.
(End of chapter)
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