1 Chapter 1: Shadows Under the Radiance(1)

December 27, 1992.

Just after Christmas, Oxford Street in London's West End was bustling with people, and Muggles in their brand new clothes filled the streets. Children played and laughed, young people met and exchanged sincere New Year's greetings. Everyone carried in their hearts a longing for a better life, their smiles undimmed even by the falling snow.

For wizards, Christmas was equally important, but wizarding families celebrated it differently from Muggles.

They preferred to stay indoors, listening to the crackling sound of flames burning in the fireplace, sitting under the Christmas tree adorned with silver frost and parasitic mistletoe, discussing Quidditch or recent news.

Therefore, Diagon Alley, the wizarding commercial center, was particularly deserted during the New Year, not to mention Knockturn Alley, which was already sparsely populated on regular days.

Clank, clank, click!

Amos Diggory, hidden beneath a large black cloak, stepped down from his miniature version of a Gringotts cart. Despite feeling queasy in his stomach, he had to maintain his indifferent demeanor.

The air was filled with the pungent odor of fermented Bubotuber pus-soaked rotting frog entrails. The uneven ground was damp, and rows of inverted torches hung in the air, casting an eerie green glow that illuminated the vast, fan-shaped underground cavern like a haunting specter.

Amos looked around, and 200 feet to his left in the "pet" market, a troll, standing fifteen feet tall with its limbs securely bound by thick iron chains, sat weakly on the ground, almost merging with the dark rocky walls.

Its owner was an old hag from Moldova who brought it here hoping to fetch a good price for the troll . With the money, she could treat her dragon pox.

Unfortunately, after two years, there were still no takers.

At the moment, the old hag leaned against the foot of a slave, cursing and berating a group of domestic house-elves nearby, accusing them of polluting the environment.

They were a group of house-elves that had lost their masters and gained their freedom.

Of course, describing house-elves as "free" was no different than calling centaurs "beasts." They wouldn't appreciate it.

Most of these poor creatures used to belong to small wizarding families or secret magical orders. Their masters had vanished into the river of time for various reasons, leaving the house-elves forced into freedom.

For a house-elf, not having a master was a terrifying thing. It almost deprived them of their sense of purpose and value. So, these little fellows gathered here on their own, hoping to find new masters for themselves.

But to be honest, except for some Dark wizards who needed living subjects for experimenting with curses and potion effects, they were generally ignored.

The giant creature was quite friendly towards the house-elves. Amos had witnessed the ravenous giant creature swatting and killing several of them, then gobbling them up with great relish.

Apart from the giant creature and the house-elves, the "pet" market, with its scent resembling that of a toilet, was filled with other interesting characters. There were centaurs who had lost the protection of their herds, captured veela (a hot commodity), caged vampires, and even excellent specimens like Irish leprechauns.

Basically, except for magical creatures like dragons and unicorns that were taboo, you could find almost all the magical creatures that currently existed in the wizarding world in the underground pet market.