46 A strange Stone

"To honor our future cooperation, I will give you an exclusive offer of only 500 Galleons for these seven very rare and regulated Books." offered the greedy man with his oily voice.

'This fucking greedy asshole, even if these Books are rare at most they would cost around 200 Galleons.' Thought Matthew as he smiled politely back at the business Shark, and replied with a serious but still polite voice, "Ah, Mr.Borgin are you trying to cheat me?. Although they are quite regulated, I would be able to buy them in other shops here in Knockturn Alley. At most I could offer you 50 Galleons." Began Matthew to haggle.

"50 Galleons do you want to rob me, Mr. Magus? We could become good friends in the future, but we need to be fair to each other. How about 400 Galleons?" counter-offered the greedy snake, Mr. Borgin.

"That's more like it but still far over their value. How about 120 Galleons?" replied Matthew still trying to lower the price.

"No, I still need to make a bit of profit. How am I supposed to eat if I gift my goods away? 300 Galleons is my last offer!" offered Mr. Borgin with a glint in his eyes.

"Hmm, that's still quite expensive. How about 250 Galleons and you add that hand in your glass case to it and we have a deal. I would be then inclined to return for more deals in the future to your nice store." Offered Matthew as a last effort.

"Ah, the 'Hand of Glory' you have picked quite the valuable artifact there Mr. Magus. But to honor our future business relationship I will have to accept your offer." Accepted Mr. Borgin while faking his unwillingness. After all, he was still making quite the Profit here, and the Hand wasn't quite as valuable as he pretended. He stretched his hand out.

Matthew shook his hand to accept the Deal. After paying 250 Galleons to Mr. Borgin he took out his Trunk and enlarged it. Meanwhile, Mr. Borgin retrieved the 'Hand of Glory' from the Glass case and handed it to Matthew who put it into his Trunk together with his new Books.

After shrinking his Trunk once again and putting it once again away onto his necklace, he left Borgin and Burkes Antique Shop after saying goodbye to Mr. Borgin. Once again he stepped onto the shady alley.

'So that's finished.' Thought Matthew while observing the sky. 'Well as expected it wasn't that easy to gain books on Souls. My only hope remains that place. Sarah? How much time has my Polyjuice Potion left?' asked Matthew mentally hoping to make another stop.

[Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour 32 Minutes]

Replied the Mechanic Voice of the AI inside his mind, 'Should be enough time.' Mused Matthew as he headed to the shop next door. He entered the Shop named 'Ye Olde Curiosity Shop' located between 'Cobb & Webb's' and 'Borgin and Burkes'. Inside he found a small room with many different shelves full of different Objects of all sizes and shapes. Behind the wooden counter stood a bearded Wizard with dark hair who promptly greeted him.

"Welcome Customer, take a look at my goods. If you should have any questions, you can ask me." He began with a grumpy voice, while his eyes stared seriously at Matthew.

"Thank you. Don't mind me. I will just take a quick look around." Answered Matthew politely with a small smile. He began to look through the different shelves inside the store.

The Store had quite the assortment of different things, there were a lot of goods that looked broken or just plain useless. There were broken brooms some even with curses on them on one shelf. Next, he found a collection of different daggers, some of them rusted on most of them the runes and enchantments already faded. On some of them, he still could pick up remains of the enchantments, which were there to keep the daggers sharp or rust-free. They must be quite old or have gone through quite the fight to end up in such states since they originally seemed to be of good quality. They were no use to Matthew since he could just create the enchantments himself if he needed them.

Next, he found a shelf with different enchanted clothes, none of them piqued his interest since they were either plainly cursed to harm the wearer or had a useless enchantment on them. Like putting the wearer's arms into the air on command and silly stuff like that. Then there were some old wands, but Matthew was quite happy with his and didn't need a second one since he was quite adept in wandless magic.

On some shelves were just some broken non-Magical Objects, like broken TVs, Radios, Umbrellas, Car Parts, or other things. One Shelve even had just a collection of stones on them. As if to mock the Customer. Matthew was prepared to leave the Shop disappointed because he hoped he would find some kind of hidden treasure, but everything was just useless. Until he suddenly heard Sarah inside his head.

[Beep! Picking up energy readings of a Soul inside one of the Objects! Right in front of the host. On the upper shelf on the right back side.]

'What did I accidentally stumble on a Horcrux of someone?' thought Matthew while observing the place which Sarah pointed out. It was the shelf with the collection of Stones. In the right back corner of the Shelve lay a strange-looking stone, it was yellow-white and shaped very strangely. It was multi-faceted made of a few cubes in different sizes but still hanging together, while one side seemed broken off, it had the size of the front of Matthews Thumb. 'Is this the Horcrux?' wondered Matthew mentally while observing the Rock.

[Yes and No. This is the Object which contains a part of a Soul. Based on my Energy readings the complete Soul should be more powerful than any human Wizard. But this doesn't seem to be a Horcrux, more like a Power source. More Data is needed! The Stone is just a small part of an about Softball sized Object]

Answered Sarah while analyzing the Stone. 'Hmm, it doesn't matter if this is a Horcrux. It should still be useful to study souls.' Thought Matthew as he picked the strange Stone up and brought it to Counter where the bearded Wizard was waiting for him.

After pretending that he was disappointed that he didn't find anything of interest for him, he was able to fool the bearded Shopkeeper that he was buying the stone as a decorative ornament. Unlike Mr. Borgin the bearded Shopkeeper didn't try to extort him and he was able to purchase the strange Stone for a few Sickles.

After putting the Stone into his Pocket, he left the store and headed back into the Alley. It was almost time for him to turn back, he only had about half an hour of his Polyjuice Potion effect left. He headed back to Diagon Alley where he once again dropped his hood since it would only look suspicious here.

He left the Alley through the Leaky Cauldron again and headed back to the Back Alley. After making sure with a quick 'Homenum Revelio' that he wasn't followed he opened once again a blue swirling Portal and landed in the Drug Dealer Alley again. From there he jumped once again into his Room.

A few moments later the effects of his Potion began to fade. His body once again began to feel on fire. The Bones and Muscle began to move back into their original Places, his skin was bubbling again while he was shrinking considerably. After a few minutes, he once again was back to his normal form. Now he stood in his room with clothes a few sizes too big for him.

He quickly changed into some comfortable clothes and checked if Sarah had enough Data to improve the Polyjuice recipe.

[Beep! Enough Data gathered. Ready to make a few improvements. Estimated Time Needed: 12 Hours 52 Minutes. Should I continue?]

Just as he was about to Confirm his Body began to feel strange. 'Sarah, what is happening? Scan my Body please.' He requested hurriedly.

-----------------------------------------

For 10+ advanced Chapters check out my patre.on:

https://www.pat.reon.com/Arrowinmyknee