Chapter 10: The Shadow of Green Light
"Would you like to open a vault for your own wealth? Special discounts available."
"Okay, Gringotts is always ready for your visit."
...
Exiting Gringotts, Moon looked with interest at the small bag in his hand.
The bag had the Gringotts logo, made of fine fabric, quite decent. Moon sensed two types of magic on it.
One was used to expand the space inside the bag, and the other magic was used to stabilize the former, ensuring its effectiveness for a certain period. It had expanded for about a year or two, with approximately two cubic feet.
Moon put the bag into his sleeve, and after a while, he handed the deflated bag to Harry.
"For you, use it to carry things later," Moon said.
Harry quickly took it, weighing the bag, and a tinkling sound of collision occurred.
"The extra change is for you." Moon walked ahead without looking back.
Harry nodded quickly, somewhat anxious. "Thank you, Uncle Moon."
Moon didn't pay attention to Harry. At this moment, he was watching the wizards passing by, feeling quite abrupt.
Why are these guys dressed...
And why does it look like the 17th century when he was in the Caribbean Pirates?
Or is it in line with the stereotypical image of wizards in the minds of ordinary people, wearing old robes that completely cover their bodies, with the scent of herbs.
Have these wizards already deviated from the normal world?
Strange...
"Uncle Moon, where are we going first?" Harry approached and asked.
"A bookstore," Moon said. He had seen a bookstore called "Lehman" on the way here, and it seemed to be quite large.
He was very interested in the magical system of this world, the magical history of this world, and the composition of the contemporary magical world.
The number of people in the bookstore was not large. Moon took a quick look. In addition to various magical books, there were actually many magical periodicals. And those pictures could move.
This is interesting.
"Sir, would you like to buy Hogwarts textbooks for your child? We have integrated packages with discounts."
Moon nodded and thought for a while, then decided to take a look.
Guided by the clerk, Moon saw all the textbooks from first to seventh grade at Hogwarts.
"Buy all from first to seventh grade."
"Ah?" The clerk took a look, then said somewhat uncertainly, "Do you have seven children at home?"
...
Moon didn't understand the guy's thoughts. After a moment of stunned, he said, "I want to see them."
"Uh... okay." The clerk nodded somewhat dejectedly.
Afterwards, Moon searched in the bookstore. He only looked at the catalogs of most books and decided whether to take them. Unfortunately, almost all of them were some published books, which meant that the knowledge recorded in them wouldn't be too advanced.
But there was also a train of thought, such as from "Ancient and Modern Dark Wizards" and "The Origin of Alchemy." He believed he could find clues to advanced knowledge.
There is a sentence that Moon agrees with very much,
"The more books you read, the more you feel the lack of your knowledge, and at the same time, the more you understand what books you should read next."
But so far, the book he is most satisfied with is—"Complete Household Spells."
It actually recorded many magical spells for dishwashing, laundry, clothes drying, and dust cleaning.
It's simply amazing.
And the magic in it is simple and easy to use. Even a young wizard can quickly master it, making it an excellent introductory book.
Harry will definitely want to learn some from it.
Definitely!
After about half an hour, Harry walked out of the Lehman bookstore with a bulging bag in his hand.
Inside were all the books Moon wanted to buy.
Spent more than 300 Galleons.
Even the owner of the Lehman bookstore was shocked.
After leaving the bookstore, it was around noon. After having some casual meals on the roadside, Moon sat outside a coffee shop to rest.
Harry was sent to the snack shop by Moon. When they passed by earlier, Harry's gaze lingered there several times.
So Moon chose to take a break, leaving time for Harry.
More than ten minutes later, Harry ran to Moon excitedly, smiling, "Uncle Moon, open your hands."
Moon was puzzled and opened his hands. He felt something squirming placed in his hands by Harry.
Is it a caterpillar? Or some strange thing.
But as a seasoned old wizard and a cat, he wouldn't be easily scared.
Suddenly, a dark lump jumped towards his face as he opened his hands.
He squeezed it, realizing it was a chocolate frog.
"To be honest, you startled me." Moon tried to be sincere.
"Not at all, Uncle, your expression hasn't changed at all," Harry said somewhat disappointed.
Moon didn't defend himself, stood up, adjusted his coat, and smiled, "Don't let others see your emotional changes. It's a basic requirement for a mature wizard. In fact, my heart is still pounding."
"Well... maybe." Harry still didn't believe Moon was scared, but then he asked, "So where are we going now?"
"Knockturn Alley."
It's a place Moon heard about here, and it's said to be slightly different from Diagon Alley.
Maybe it will be more interesting inside.
He's quite curious.
Knockturn Alley is just behind Gringotts. In a few steps, they reached the entrance.
Unlike the outside, when entering the alley, Harry smelled a faint, almost invisible odor. The ground was full of sewage, black and green moss grew in the corners, and many walls had peeling plaster.
Underfoot were chaotic and disorderly bluestone steps, long and short, making it difficult for first-time visitors to step down, only able to carefully descend step by step.
After about ten meters, the walls on both sides began to have dirty windows, and the view was no longer a path but spacious.
After walking through these chaotic steps, Harry finally looked up, but this time, he met with a shrunken human head and was suddenly shocked.
"This is the sorcery passed down from the American tribes during the Age of Discovery." Moon explained timely, as if he had eyes on the back of his head.
"The people of the Shiwalo tribe would cut off the heads of their enemies, make these human heads, and use sorcery to give them special powers, making the warriors carrying the heads more powerful.
In addition to the Shiwalo heads, there is also a kind of Maori head, which is a similar magical object.
It's a primitive, bloody sorcery, but... very powerful."
Moon's tone was calm, gradually making Harry less scared, just making him cling tighter.
He felt... this place was completely different from Diagon Alley.
At this time, several ragged wizards looked at them coming in, whispering, and unabashedly cast malicious sneers at them.
The magical world is a small circle, and most of those who can come to Knockturn Alley are already familiar faces. They could tell at a glance that Moon was a new face.
Soon, a few people walked over, semi-surrounding them.
One of them took out his wand and pointed it at Moon: "Took such a big sum of money and dared to come to Knockturn Alley. Kid, hand over all the money you just withdrew."
Moon was surprised, "Did you see me withdraw money?"
The man showed a sinister smile, "Sorry, I witnessed it with my own eyes." After speaking, a curse suddenly struck.
"Stupefy!"
A swift red lightning appeared at the tip of the man's wand, flying towards Moon at a speed that ordinary people couldn't react to.
"Moon Uncle!!" Harry suddenly rushed out, wanting to stand in front of Moon.
Moon slapped away the curse as if swatting a mosquito and looked at the man, "So you don't even ask yourself why I dare to come here, to face garbage like you?"
"Kid, until now, have you only met me as a wizard?" Moon suddenly asked Harry.
"What... what?!" Harry had not recovered from the shock just now.
"Don't confuse me with the rubbish." Moon rubbed Harry's head.
Harry looked up and saw the familiar faint smile.
At this moment, the ten-year-old Harry suddenly felt the meaning behind that smile.
It was absolute arrogance.
"Kid, what do you think the wizarding world is like?" Moon suddenly asked again.
"Damn, what are you talking about?" The wizard's face was full of anger, feeling deeply despised, and then he cast another curse.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Just at this moment, a green light suddenly blossomed before Harry's eyes.
The tall figure of Moon began to tear and shatter in front of him, like a rag torn apart by a strong wind.
The scar hidden under the turban on his forehead suddenly tingled, and before Harry's eyes, it seemed that another figure disappeared in the green light and began to overlap with reality.
Tears uncontrollably flowed from his eyes, reaching out to grab the dissolving figure of Moon.
"Don't!!"
(End of this chapter)