10 Market Spree

Gobbling down the delicious eggs and ham that Sophie had whipped up, I was satisfied with the meal. Ready to run off to my room, I noticed an inexplicable concern in her gaze. Noticing her stare, I decided to delay my initial plan and perhaps hang around her to ease her worries.

"Zack, how are you adjusting to life around here? You know you have me a bit worried, you only come down once a day, and mostly stay reclused in your room all day."

My gut feeling was right, she was concerned...I wanted to ease her worries, but do I explain that I am just busy practicing?

"I am adjusting fine, I like staying in my room.... I mostly just read the books in your bookshelf."

Hearing my answer, her eyes flashed a grieving look....

"You know dear, if you're ever bored or alone, don't hesitate to talk to me", her words did hit the mark. Nowadays, reading and practicing was fun. But I had been mostly alone....

"Actually... I wanted to ask you if I could get some new books. I finished reading the ones in my room, so I was feeling a bit bored..." I showed her a hopeful look.

Sophie mouthed an "O" and then gave an affirming nod.

"Of course dear. I will be visiting some shops today to buy a few things. You can visit a lot of places, and I will introduce you to some of my friends. Would you like to tag along?"

Unexpectedly, I had struck a goldmine....Lady luck was shining on me, my overpowered main character charisma was finally working. That was the ONLY explanation. Would I like to tag along???

YES! I always wanted to explore around, but since it hadn't even been a week since the attack, Sophie had been vehemently opposed to me stepping even a foot outside the pub.

Finally, a golden opportunity had thrown itself right at me. I immediately told her that I would love to go, so she told me to go get ready and put on some new clothes. Thankfully, they weren't as ridiculous as the first ones, just knee high navy blue shorts and a white shirt.

Once I was ready, Sophie waved her wand, and everything in the pub began closing up, the lights turned dim, the chairs dragged themselves towards the nearest table and windows locked themselves tight.

Then we finally stepped outside the main door, as everything locked itself shut behind us. It was about 7 in the morning once we had left.

The sun shined bright and the azure sky bloomed vividly with no clouds in sight. Sophie held my hand and walked me towards one of the walls. She tapped the corner with her wand and the wall began tiling over itself.

A pathway soon emerged and we stepped through.

Damn... this felt exactly like when I had watched the Diagon Alley in the first movie. A small part of me was still anxious about visiting a place where I had almost died, but unbeknownst to me, bloodfly alley was much larger than I had initially anticipated.

Sophie took me through passageways that I wasn't even aware existed, from shifting walls to invisible portals and many more. The Alleyway I had initially seen to be cramped and crowded was nowhere to be seen. Instead it was a very sophisticated street, almost like a small village.

I could see a few other families roaming around, perhaps buying what looked to be school supplies. The place I had first stumbled upon was probably an area rarely frequented by families, hence, far more cramped and harsh.

As I walked along Sophie, she would occasionally receive greetings from people along the street. It was fairly easy to say that she was quite popular in these parts. Of course, she owned the pub and probably met a lot of these people as they wined and dined at her place. People would also notice me and fuss about my cuteness, some even tried to pinch my cheeks....

I was not a fan, and would promptly frown at their actions. However these bastards were sick in the head, because my reactions were just amusing to them. Some of them would just start laughing and even offer me chocolate or candy to cheer me up....

Being a kid was tiring. Everyone wanted to talk, and worst of all, Sophie was like a mother showing off her newborn. She would engage in long conversations as I was forced to stand next to her and listen along....

Thankfully this didn't last long. After a few hours, we finally started visiting the shops. I met a few new people..

Agatha who owned a clothing store, she was an old friend that Sophie knew, they both chatted and gossiped and I even had my measurements taken so Sophie could order some clothes in the future.

I then met Eugene, he was a potion master and also maintained his own garden in his shop. He mainly sold ingredients and that's why Sophie knew him. She asked around for a few specific ingredients she had run out of and once we'd gotten them we moved along.

There were also a few wand and pet shops, but I wasn't really able to go there, since Sophie said that I was too young for a wand and that the pets were hard to take care of, so I couldn't get any because I was not responsible enough....

I did want to argue my case, but I doubt she'd listen. So I kept my mouth shut and treaded along. We finally reached a small shop that had a gold engraving hung above its door.

"Earls' Athenaeum"

Sophie pushed the door open, and we stepped inside. The first thing I noticed, was that it was much larger inside than it seemed from the outside.

Spatial magic? I had seen those tents in the movies have a similar enchantment. But it was a completely different feeling to see it for yourself.

Secondly, the place was lined with bookshelves that were practically littered with books. Books of all shapes, sizes and colors. It was a weird observation... true. But this was just a sight to behold.

I looked around to find a person, but it was almost as if the place had been haunted for years. No human presence had set foot here in years....

Sophie walked over and dusted off the counter, she found a small golden bell and rang it multiple times.....

I waited a few moments, but nothing really happened. Seeing this Sophie took out her wand and chanted.

-Homenum Revelio....

"Come out Earl, I know you're there.".....

An awkward silence later, I could see her frown deepen.

"I swear if you don't come out right now I will tear all your books to shreds".....

I didn't know she could be so threatening.... But it was effective.

Soon a grey mist descended and an old man fussed about the bookshelves checking if anything was damaged....

"Dear God, Sophie you scared me....I was coming you know, I was just taking a short nap really, I would have been down in a minu-" His words abruptly halted as he saw me....

He looked at Sophie with a questioning gaze, and then repeatedly shifted his glance towards our faces...

"Sophie I didn't know you'd had a boy already, how long have I been asleep for? Could have been years.. You know you should have woken me up earlier if it was like this.." He starting mumbling under his breath like a madman, contemplating his own thoughts out loud.

"Calm down Earl, it's only been a few months since I last saw you, Besides I came here because my son wanted some new books".

"A f-few months? Well then young lady how would you explain this boy before my eyes?" He rubbed his eyes like he was hallucinating.

"Well he was sick for a while, and stayed with grandfather because he wanted to nurse him back to health. I decided to have him live with me now because he's all better"

She had instantly crafted up a solid lie, I was a bit surprised because I didn't expect her to be good at this. But you know what they say, never underestimate a woman's tongue...

"Oh my, I see. It's good to hear that you're healthy now young man, what books were you talking about?" he was intrigued when Sophie mentioned books, I could pretty much tell that this guy was crazy about books.

I stared into his eyes, and just as naturally, I could sense it.... curiosity , happiness, surprise. There was a mix of emotions.

He didn't seem to notice my prodding of his mind, or perhaps he didn't mind it... Probably the latter as he showed a sly smile noticing my gaze. But his mind was an iron trap, I couldn't sense anything further.

"You're a sharp one young lad. Terribly sorry, but I don't suppose you've told me your name?"

Yeah this guy was ridiculing me at my own game...

"My name is Zack, what about you?" I put forward my hand, intending for a firm handshake.

"Earl, Earl Finnigan Matthews, a pleasure to meet you" he shook my hand and then started wiping down the counter of his shop.

"So Zack, what kind of books are you looking for? I suppose a young man like you is interested in some stories, I do have some exceptionally entertaining stories, or perhaps you're more interested in magical beasts. I don't mean to brag, but I own every single edition of Newt Scammander's Fantastic Beasts book."

Sophie moved to the side so I could converse alone with Earl,

"I am interested in magic, do you have a book on beginner spells? I've been reading about magic, but I can't find anything detailing the process of spells, casting and descriptions."

"Of course , of course, magic is a welcome subject, excuse me for just a moment." He ran off to the back of the bookshelves and started browsing around, after scrabbling about for a minute or so, he scuttled back to me, clutching a book in his arms.

"May I present what you could be looking for, this one's a personal favourite of mine, *Adamous Gray's Basic Spell Repertoire (1926) First Edition*, I recommend the first edition, it has a larger collection of spells, but I must caution you, some of them can be dangerous to study"

I traced my fingers over the book, flipping a few pages and skimming over its contents, I could see that it was exactly what I had been looking for. A large collection of spells that I could potentially practice. Obviously, these two did not think that I would, and was merely getting this as reading material.

"Do you also have a book on magical tools?" I was curious about them, and since I had a chance right now, it wouldn't hurt to try and find a book.

"Hmm, you hold some peculiar interests, no matter, I have the perfect one in mind", This time he took out his wand and waved it around.

A number of books flew out as he scanned through them, his gaze finally settling on one as he put the others back into place.

"This one is a bit advanced for your age, but I reckon its a good read, *Thomas Ernsteins Magical Applications and Derivations*, it has everything from runes to enchantments."

He handed me the book and I could see the detailed etched into its covers. It was beautifully bound by a hard leather cover, custom made perhaps. I scanned over the first few pages, and it was extensively written and was vivid in detail.

Satisfied with my choices, I looked towards Sophie. She took my hand and moved towards the counter to pay.

"So how much would that come out to Earl?" grabbing the purse she had stuffed into her pockets.

"Oh, nonsense, dear. I couldn't charge you on the boy's first visit. I see that he likes to read so you can consider it a gift from me. Besides I am practically his uncle in-name."

We thanked Earl and then headed back home for the day. The market spree was exciting, mostly because I had gotten new reading material.

Reaching home in the afternoon, I rushed back to my room, preparing to practice a few spells tomorrow.

For now, I decided to fiddle with all the books stacked in the bookshelf. Controlling them to fly out just like earl had done. It was a bit hard at first to maintain multiple objects in the air, since the books were actually heavy. But I slowly got a hang of it.

Imitating his motions, I made them glide above me and then juggled them around, adding to their numbers whenever I felt that it had become easier.

Feeling my magic drain out after a few hours, I stopped for the day and decided to stack them back in place.

I faintly dozed off to a deep slumber, my thoughts enchanted by the spell book I had bought today....

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