Back Alley Business

Due to the wall of parents blocking his view, George essentially had to guess which direction to start pushing through. Since time was against him, he didn't plan on showing any courtesy to the wizards and witches around him. Therefore, he didn't have any reservations about forcing his body through the crowds like a battering ram whilst ignoring all the complaints being thrown his way.

Once George had trampled his way through a group of loitering children, he arrived on the other side of the street. He had gotten lucky enough to have arrived outside a shop called 'Scribbulus Writing Implements'. Just like he remembered, there was a brick archway labelled with a small sign saying 'Knockturn Alley' only a few yards away.

Even whilst knowing the dangers associated with this side street, George didn't hesitate to start running into the darkness. It only took him a few seconds of running to come across a derelict-looking building with an unusual name, 'Msaw Ætare'. The 'shop' was almost as uninviting as the Leaky Cauldron, the walls were painted grey and the windows were so dusty they were almost opaque. There was only a small lantern in the window illuminating empty shelves covered in cobwebs.

George was about to push the front door open, but a purple blotchy hand reached out and blocked his path.

"I don't think you're allowed in there, sunshine. You better run back the way you came before something bad happens to ya."

The mangled purple hand didn't give George a good first impression, and things only got worse once he turned around and saw the man obstructing his path. The bulbous nose, long thinning ginger hair, drooping bottom lip and bloodshot eyes blended to make a face only a mother could love. The oversized black raincoat and the knee-high leather boots brought the whole child-catcher ascetic together.

"Have I got something on my face, little man?", the stranger threateningly asked.

Fortunately, this degenerate didn't draw his wand after George's ogling. George needed to find a way to make tall dark and hideous step aside without pissing him off. Perhaps telling him the truth would be the best course of action.

"I'm here to see the Broker", George stated calmly.

The stranger seemed amused by his claim, "you're here to buy information? Yeah right, and I'm the Minister of Magic. Don't make me laugh. Now get lost before I put a curse on ya."

A vein started to bulge on George's head, "I'm not joking. I need to see him right now."

"And I'm not joking either, you little gob shite. Now, bugger off!", the stranger spat back.

Since diplomacy wasn't working and magic wasn't an option, there was only one thing left to do. George lunged forward and punched the stranger as hard as he could right between the legs. The guy never saw it coming and he did not attempt to avoid or block the surprise attack. The fist connected, and George heard a popping noise that sounded like two billiard balls colliding.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!"

His punch must have been effective because the guy immediately keeled over and hit the cobbled floor with his purple hands clutching his groin. To be extra safe, George walked over to the half-conscience man and felt around under his coat. It didn't take long before he found a pretty beaten-up wand, it was in such a bad condition that the core was sticking out of the tip. George pulled the barely functional wand out of the man's coat and threw it into an open gutter.

Now that he'd dealt with the riff-raff, George pushed the door open and walked inside the 'store'. He was surrounded by several empty cupboards which appeared to have been neglected for decades. He continued further inside until he reached a collapsed counter with broken cash register parts littering the floor. The only thing that didn't look abandoned was a shiny copper bell mounted to the wall.

He pressed the bell, and a muted chime quietly echoed through the room. After a few seconds, a thick black fog began to pour out of the cracks in the peeling wallpaper until the wall was utterly obscured. Then the fog suddenly vanished, and there was a jet-black door which wasn't there before. The newly formed door swung open and an illusive figure walked out of a room void of all light.

This person was draped in pure black robes that even George's eyes struggle to see clearly. It must have been enchanted to distort people's perceptions. Every part of their body was covered with several layers of fabric, making it hard to distinguish if they were a man or a woman. The only thing George could discern about this person was that they were roughly five and a half feet tall, and they walked with a limp.

The shadowy figure walked right up to him and asked, "what do you desire?"

Just like their appearance, the voice sounded ethereal and had no gender or distinct accent.

George took a deep breath and responded, "I would like to buy a blue cauldron with silver handles."

The figure slowly nodded, "we have only one that meets your requirements, but it's covered in rust."

"That should be fine as long as the price is discounted", George concluded with cold sweat running down his back.

The mysterious figure disappeared into the pitch-black room and returned after only ten seconds had passed. They walked back up to George and presented two items to him. In the right hand was a small bag that looked like it was made out of human skin, and in the left hand was a small piece of folded parchment. George was a little confused but received them nonetheless.

"Are you satisfied?", the shadowy figure asked in its ghostly voice.

George looked into the void room before saying, "isn't there going to be someone else?"

He only got a slow shake of the head in response. That could only mean one thing, George's patron wasn't going to meet him today. George put the skin bag under his arm and unfolded the parchment. The only thing written on it was, 'December 21st, the Shrieking Shack'. The message didn't exactly clear anything up, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to work out what his patron wanted. It looked like their reunion was being postponed for another four months.

After he finished reading the note, the parchment burst into flames. Then George looked at the bag of human skin and gave it a gentle squeeze. He could feel dozens of marble-sized 'sweets' inside, there was easily enough to last him until December. He gritted his teeth and pushed the fleshy bag under his shirt for safekeeping. Once the bag was firmly lodged in place, the front door slammed open and a man came stumbling in.

"I'm gonna wring your neck, you little piece of shit!", the stranger bellowed, sending spittle flying in all directions.

Before George could even think about escaping, the stranger's body was flung across the room like a rag doll. He smashed through three rotting shelves, sending dust and splinters of wood everywhere, before slamming into a brick wall.

"What have I told you about harassing my clients, Francis?"

George looked back at the Broker and saw that he was now brandishing a long white wand. Actually, it was less like a wand and more of an exotically decorated walking stick. The Broker raised their wand, and the stranger's body was lifted into the air via his hands like an invisible rope was tied around his wrists. The expression on Francis's face had morphed from absolute fury to pure fear.

"Please Boss. I didn't mean to. It's that boy. He made me... AHHH!"

The Broker flicked his wand and the fingers on Francis's right hand bent in the wrong direction. The sound of several bones snapping was like poetry to George's ears.

"What did I just say? Do you need me to repeat myself?"

"I'm sorry, Boss. I won't do it ag... AHHHHHH!"

The Broker flicked his wand again and the fingers on Francis's left hand bent in the wrong direction as well. The cracking was even louder and George was pretty sure he could see some bones sticking out of Francis's bleeding knuckles.

"This disobedience of yours has become a habit, Francis. I fear that we have passed the point of forgiveness."

"No, please. I'll do better next time. I promise!"

There was a ghostly sigh before the Broker looked down at George.

"If sir is satisfied, then he may leave in his own time."

George politely bowed his head at the Broker and booked it out of the derelict shop. As soon as the door to Msaw Ætare closed, he could hear the muffled sound of agonising screams behind him. He couldn't be sure what was going to happen to Francis, but George doubted he would be seeing that creep again.

Back at the border between Diagon and Knockturn Alley, George was climbing up a drain pipe so he could see over the massive crowd. The high advantage point provided him with a great way to plot out a path back to Ollivanders.

"George?! What in God's name are you doing up there?!", Dominic shouted from within the crowd.

As soon as George's feet landed back on the ground, his foster father grabbed his arm and dragged him into the current of people. Since Dominic wasn't insisting on an explanation, George was content to go with the flow and allow himself to get pulled along. After walking for around fifty yards without a single word being exchanged between them, they arrived outside Eeylops Owl Emporium.

Remus, Amanda and Ellie were huddled around the entrance of the grey building full of hooting owls. There was a mixture of emotions on their faces, but not one of them looked happy. Remus appeared to have aged ten years through nothing more than pure exhaustion, whilst Ellie was looking like the cat that ate the canary. Amanda seemed calm at first until George saw that familiar twitch in her eye.

Amanda locked eyes with George and her anger dissipated instantly, "George! Thank God you're all right. We were so worried about you."

Before George could prepare himself, his foster mother embraced him in a suffocating hug. Whilst the intense hug was limiting George's ability to breathe, Amanda kept him immobilised and began to inspect his body. The surprise examination ended with only a cobweb on his shoulder being found. A look of relief washed over Amanda's face before she turned back to Dominic.

"Was he still at that wand shop, like Remus said?"

Dominic confidently nodded, "see, there was nothing to worry about. George was absolutely fine."

Now that was an unequivocal lie if ever George heard one.

Remus needlessly tried to raise George's spirits, "don't worry, George. We'll go back and get your wand later. I'm sure Ollivander will understand."

George pulled out his wand from his pocket, "I don't think that will be necessary, Mr Lupin."

Remus's tired eyes opened wide, "you've already gotten your wand, truly remarkable. It had taken Mr Ollivander over half an hour and over two dozen wands to find mine, perhaps he's getting better with age."

"If I may?", he finished with an open palm.

George remembered to give Remus a big smile, like a child proud to show off, as he handed his wand over.

Remus gave it a cursory inspection, "you've got a beautiful wand, George. Vinewood if I'm not mistaken?"

"That's what Mr Ollivander said", George gleefully responded.

Remus handed the wand back to George before saying, "a wand is to a wizard, what an instrument is to a musician. It's vitally important that you never lose it. Even the most unfathomably powerful wizards are reduced to defenceless old men without their wands."

"Don't worry Mr Lupin, I'll take good care of it", George reassured while reclaiming the wand.

Ellie stepped forward and eagerly asked, "can I have a look at it too, George?"

Before George could even think about saying no, Amanda stood in his stepsister's way.

"Not another word out of you, do you hear me? So much as a peep, and so help me God, I'll force you to walk the two hundred miles back to Yorkshire!"

The hammer came down hard on Ellie, and her reaction was appropriately submissive. His stepsister's hazel eyes welled up with tears, but she didn't start crying like usual. George was about to ask about the elephant in the room when he heard the sound of feathers rustling from where Ellie had once stood.

He looked down and saw two cages on the floor with owls inside. They appeared to be of the same breed because they both had identical brown feathers and bright orange eyes. Their signature feature had to be the large black protruding feathers sticking out above their brows like miniature fluffy horns.

Remus pointed down at the cages, "so you've noticed the latest additions to your family."

Hold the phone, George's family, as in the Linwoods.

Remus chuckled weakly at George's befuddled expression, "it's funny, your father had the same look on his face when he saw them for the first time."

"Rightly so. Don't tell me that you bought those birds whilst I was gone. It is a mistake to indulge Ellie's disobedience, she needs to learn running off isn't okay", Dominic rebutted.

"Although I agree that Ellie shouldn't be running off on her own, I can't understate the importance of owning these owls. Please remember that these aren't your normal garden variety pets, Mr Linwood", Remus explained.

"These Eagle owls have been specially bred by Eeylops Owl Emporium for hundreds of years. The owl's sole purpose is to make deliveries and long-distance communication feasible in the wizarding world. They are already fully trained and are self-sufficient as long as you let them out now and then. Every wizarding family I know of has at least one, including my own."

Dominic gestured at the crowd passing by, "but we're not one of these people. We are a family living in the twentieth century. If I want to send a parcel, I use a courier like Royal Mail. If I want to send a message, I use the phone, or the fax machine, or even an Email for Christ's sake. I'm not going to bloody well start using owls and parchment."

Remus started scratching his head, "I can't say I know what an Email is, but that's not the point. These owls are not for your 'muggle lives', they're for your new wizarding lives. How do you think Gringotts are going to communicate with you in the future? And how do you think you're going to send a message back to them? It's all done with owls."

Remus looked at Amanda, "as I've already told you... without using an owl, your family won't be able to communicate with George whilst he's at Hogwarts. I'm sorry, but that's how it is."

Amanda appeared to be on Remus's side, "it's okay, Mr Lupin. We understand perfectly well that this weird world doesn't work the same way we're used to. It's just with my daughter running off and having to leave George... we're a little tense."

"And yes Dominic, I did purchase the owls whilst you were gone. If George attends Hogwarts, he can take one owl with him and we'll have the other", she stated after turning back to her husband.

Dominic looked between Remus and Amanda, "alright then. But if George decides to not attend...", he then pointed at the two owls, "they have got to go."

On that note, Remus clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention, "okay. I know emotions are still high, but there are many places to visit and little time to do it. So, I think we should just get on with it and put this mess behind us."

No one gave an immediate response, but everyone turned after hearing the two owl cages lifting off the ground. Ellie's smile had returned as she held the startled owls aloft.

"Right then. Mum, Dad, where are we off to next?", she asked excitedly.