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Chapter 2: Shopping again in Knockturn Alley

Shopkeepers are quite easy to bargain with; they just need some... convincing - MN HJP to one of his apprentices.

Knockturn Alley was believed to be the home of dark and evil magic and their users. It was however not exactly the case. The alley tended to have things that were gray legally as well as the shops that could not pay the exorbitant prices that renters in Diagon paid. Sure there were the less desirables and questionable people there, but even with the fact that most Aurors would make at most a cursory pass through the alley that didn't mean that it was totally irredeemable.

At this moment however an eleven year old boy was once more walking down the alley. Unlike the first time they parted with a suddenness that even the Dark Lord at the height of his power didn't command. He would only kill you and maybe use the Cruciatus on you for a while. That was a much preferable death than what the boy brought. It didn't really matter what type of dark creature or being one was, they had equally shuddered under the memories of that day.

Harry had been going down the alley for the first time with KiKi by his side as usual. He was less than nine years old and as such seemed to be the perfect prey for the inhabitants there. Oddly enough it had been hags that had first accosted him. He barely paid attention to the ones selling fingers though he had frowned at how little they were going for. He had even managed to start bartering and asking if they would like some fresh ones.

Unfortunately one of the hags had taken that for the boy volunteering to lose a few fingers, it was not like they couldn't be regrown after all. The poor hag never knew what happened as KiKi had jumped on he and started chattering as her fingers started to dig into the hag's neck.

"Bad KiKi!" Harry had yelled as he scolded his companion. "No eating people! You know better you don't eat people unless they are trying to kill us!"

That had startled the hags but they had though the little thing a simple construct so that led to their next mistake. Kiki had jumped down and was whimpering from the scolding. It wasn't her fault the food seemed to want to come so close.

"Now boy don't struggle too much," One of the hags had said. "You wouldn't want your pet hurt..."

"Fine KiKi," Harry grumbled. "Just don't create too much of a mess..."

KiKi had cackled before jumping on the hag. After that it was a rather sudden scene of carnage. KiKi had managed to tear the Hag apart before starting to rip chunks off to eat. KiKi was practically giggling in her own way as her hands sliced the muscle cleanly off the bone. Sadly the Hag was paralyzed except for the screaming or more accurately gurgling. Poor thing was being eaten alive.

Normally the inhabitants of the alley had some sense of self survival. Sadly one took a rather unfortunate step toward the corpse and KiKi had sprung up and effortlessly snapped the spine of the poor soul. When she started to gnaw the flesh from the bones of the second victim the surrounding patrons tried to curse her.

KiKi was different from a Wizarding creature. Unlike Golems or lesser skeletons she was not affected by blasting spells nor cutting spells. Unlike normal undead she was unfazed by the fire spells. This of course was an important advantage compared to normal necromantic constructions.

The last had caused Harry to mutter, "Right type wrong kind," before he shook his head at the carnage around him.

Pain curses and others had shown no effect even one of the scared sheep casting Crucio had no effect. So why with one or at least two Unforgivables tried did one of the fools try using the killing curse?

Harry just laughed at that before telling the crowd, "Now why would a death curse work as KiKi is already dead? Ah well KiKi I know you are hungry but you really should finish your meals instead of playing with them..."

KiKi had tilted her head before calling her ax to her. She cackled as she jumped about dismembering the people who stayed there. Seeing that those intending to harm them had left he called KiKi off. Sadly one of the more prominent vampires of the area had been caught in the attack.

Harry had glided over to the figure with his dagger drawn. Everyone had been so engrossed by KiKi induced carnage that he had been ignored. It was a stupid thing as one of them was about to find out.

"You know I can understand KiKi being a bit excited," Harry told the shaking vampire as he licked his own lips showing his own elongated fangs. "I am a bit peckish myself..."

With that the somewhat old vampire was drained of his blood before Harry ritually carved out the heart. With a shudder he ripped the heart out where it began to beat as the body dissolved into ash before flowing into the heart.

"Blood stones are so hard to come by," Harry said with a sigh. "Vampires are normally so elusive as to avoid being hunted that it makes getting one so hard to get. Still some more rituals I can do now..."

Suffice it to say that after that he was never bothered in the alley again. In fact the denizens tended to treat him with a deference he wished his relatives would at times without the fear aspect. The people who dwell in the alley respected his power and that more than their fear was what drove their actions.

"Good day," Harry said as he came to the rather out of the way shop. "I have a business proposition for you."

"So buying or selling?" the shopkeeper had asked as soon as he saw who it was as he had no preference which unlike some of the snootier pure bloods would have induced.

"A bit of both," Harry answered honestly. "Some of the harder to find books and tools to buy and some rather hard to attain items to sell. Dung seems to be rather unavailable lately perhaps you might know why our resident fetcher is being so hard to find?"

"Dung is having a bit more attention brought on him," the man admitted. "Seems that Dumbledore is searching for something and is quite insistent on his focusing on this item for him..."

"Dumbledore," Harry said with the same revulsion as the shopkeeper had said, "is far too meddling and self assured for anyone’s well being. He cares for 'the greater good' and sees us as nothing more than tools. The Light Wizards would never believe their precious hero would do what he does. I have heard a new rumor that will be most unsettling for us. Seems he likes to gather knowledge and leave none to the family heirs if he can. Add to that he allows far too many pure and mixed blood children to think they are merely from common muggle stock. Now while I care more for ability than blood this is costing us valuable information..."

"How bad?" the shopkeeper asked in shock. "Surely not trying to steal family magic?"

"Several of my own families Grimores have been tracked down to his possession," Harry said with a snarl. "Thankfully they were not the more useful tomes for him. They were safeguarded against the fool and those like him ever successfully casting them. Now as we both have little time to business. I need several of the more rare daggers as well as some common ingredients."

"Which daggers?" the shopkeeper asked. "You tend to sell some of the more desired ones as well as some of the more useful ingredients. So which are the ones you need?"

"We travel in different circles so some things are easier for me to acquire while the reverse is also true," Harry conceded. "The daggers have to be crafted quite particularly. Obsidian carved without magic or muggle tools as well as goblin forged daggers preferably with silver or copper inlaid. The common ingredients are harder to find outside the more magical forests though I will need some more esoteric parts. Re'em horn, Dementor’s bone, mermaid scales, werewolf fangs and bicorn hair are the more pressing ingredients. The rest I can acquire from most potion stores."

"You do realize that most of those are rare if not restricted items?" the shopkeeper asked as he looked about. "I wonder about why Re'em horn and not blood?"

"The blood is easy enough to get," Harry admitted. "The Horn is more noticeable in acquiring. In exchange for several of the more inaccessible items. Bone, blood and flesh of the less approachable species as well as several of the more rare ingredients such as venoms and scales. So how in demand are Lethifold and basilisk ingredients?"

"You always do deliver," he said in shock. "So what I have in exchange for that with some galleons in exchange? You neglected the books though..."

"They are far more dangerous for either of us to acquire," Harry admitted with some reluctance. "My own collection is dangerous in its own although my main book would most likely have the fools at the Ministry automatically sentence me to the Kiss. Officially there is no copy and it never existed. On the plus side while the books mentioned as reference materials exist they have no mention of the book so as long as they are unable to read it there is no problem. The books I require are on the more reviled of traditions. Blood magic, soul magic and the grand rites would cause too much of a stir if it reached unwanted ears..."

He gulped at the topics as the Ministry had made most of those very hard to come by and only a handful of the most ancient of families would have the clout to have one found in their possession. What little he knew of the boy had long since given him a sense that he was staying low so the Ministry or more likely Dumbledore could not gain access to the clout he would wield when he came of age. A lost scion of the Black was a possibility though some of the more ancient and most believed eradicated families was a choice. He had hazard a guess that whichever line it was had most likely spawned a few Dark Lords or at least truly powerful Dark Wizards in their time.

"So we need to just settle the matter of price," he said after composing himself as it never do to give up too much. "Five hundred galleons and the parts in exchange for the items you require."

They haggled a bit before settling on the small amount of a hundred galleons for the items. He needed more difficult to acquire items in the muggle world for the more intricate rituals they had been performing. Sadly a few of the items were not in, but would soon be acquired so he arranged for delivery for those items. He knew that some of the other ingredients would be difficult to acquire as they had to be given of the creatures own free will or the effects would be disastrous. He had long since learned the difference in intent in the nature of his magic.

A quick stop at the less restricted book stores, apothecaries and the more elusive tailor led to a sizable dent in his petty cash reserve. However he had all the things the idiotic list required as well as better quality in the items for less than those overcharging mercenaries in Diagon charged. He had neglected the wand. Anyone could make a wand with enough practice. The theory was rather simple and he had managed to read in the book how to make a tailored and perfectly suited focus.

The only problem was that he was so used to casting through a dagger that having to learn wand movements seemed stupid to him. A simple and easily damaged if not broken piece of wood felt cheap to him. He had listened to the other people who milled about and knew better than to go into Diagon to the Ministry sanctioned and regulated Ollivander's. He had been tempted to go to a wand crafter, but the few that existed and the one in the alley were paranoid beyond even the whispered Mad Eye. He still had his blood stone to allow his magic to work with some ease.

He had in fact thought of using some of the Dementor’s bone to fashion his wand. He knew he wanted a multiform focus and that he would most likely work on it before September. The difficulty was not just in enabling the forms, but in picking them. As much as he might desire the services of a wand crafter there were issues that he had with finding them. One had to be recommended by a customer and directed to them there was also the fact that most of them were very expensive and far too many would rat him out to certain parties and as much as he was desensitized to killing those particular individuals would need far more effort to successfully get away with their disappearance.

'What to pick?' he wondered as he window shopped. 'Concealable would mean a smaller form than a wand such as a ring, amulet or bracer though I don't want to over limit the power. I need a form that would allow for my chosen art. I also want one that is good for mass use. Shame if I use multiple focus that there would be a slight variance in the signature and those meddlesome minders at the Ministry would get me on multiple focus charges since one needs a restricted license to have more than one wand although they won’t track a relatives wand even if they are dead.'

Harry finally had decided that he should have variety and that perhaps he should think about getting the other things for the girls. It was a shame that Hermione had said that she was accepted to some boarding school, but there were still the breaks to catch up on the actual practical work. He had been driving his two official apprentices to the limits as he was unsure when he would have time off to teach them. He hoped that he could find a way to bring them the next year.

"Elegant Enchantments," Harry said as he looked at the shop. "Perhaps there will be something useful here after all."

There was a sole person in the shop. He was rather strangely dressed with clothing that looked like he was thrown through a clothing blender and emerged covered in his attire. The boots and gloves were black in color with a reptilian hide appearance while bright red skin tight leather pants were accented with a brown rope belt and the shirt if it could be called that was more an example of impressionist paintings in motion as the colors moved about and changed into different forms and shapes. Now above all of that was a leather collar complete with a short chain and it was obvious that this particular person was so far out of the norm for the hidebound wizards to be a breath of fresh air and for once Harry was grateful that Alice was not here to see this person as she would most likely insist on keeping him and calling him Dan. It was bad enough that he had to repetitively ensure that certain individuals and their eccentrically dressed as well animals were kept far away from her.

‘We are all crazy in our own way,’ Harry thought with a slight smile. ‘Alice is just a bit more odd in her form of crazy. Really trying to keep a little fuzz ball that looks cute but is all teeth and stomach was a bit much especially when they are more ravenous than KiKi. We would have run out of bodies way to quick.’

Harry could just imagine what happened if he said she couldn't keep him. She would have most likely skulled Mischief if he hadn't been dead already and raised him to keep her company when life prevented them from hanging out as it were. It had been a near thing with the mime or the clowns though. He had to restrain her from clubbing them to death with a baseball bat she had found so that she could create an army of mimes and clowns to rule the world.

Harry had been rather confused on why anyone would want to rule the world. Sure he would admit to himself that it might be fun conquering the world but from all of the paperwork he noticed the adults have to fill out it seemed way too much stress for such little gain.

He was rather concerned that Alice might revert to even more child like behavior or worse the conditioning her uncle had put her through. He had never been able to look at lollipops, bananas or Popsicles the same after that. Child like kill and keep pets like dolls was a lesser concern than that. She wasn’t even ten and he worried about her causing normal males to gain Lolita complexes from the things she did when she sucked any of those things.

He still shivered at what had happened when he had confronted her. She had responded like her uncle wanted when he acted like he had. He had barely been even remotely concerned about the future possibilities of such actions being too concerned at the time with gaining enough power, skill and control to reach his goal of speaking to his parents. It did make him wonder why Moldieshorts had to use that curse as it made calling their spirits let alone reanimation or maker forbid resurrection a near impossible dream. He had been able to call forth long dead spirits, raise a skeleton and make it a near indestructible killing machine, but to talk to his deceased parents there was a lack of success. At least he finally had learned why his attempts had failed so far. Stupid curse to ensure the body and spirit rested in peace.

His thought was derailed as it flicked back to what Alice and even Anne had tried to do when he confronted them. Prevent a punishment by making the authority happy. After Alice he had been prepared and was a near thing in stopping Anne before she was on her knees. He was still embarrassed that he had been so shocked that Alice had done that and he had been unable to stop her. The blood and such he had been used to, but he was too shocked with physical contact to react.

Harry forced down the menace his thoughts were bringing. It would not do to menace the strange man. Even if he was remembering his first consensual contact with caring he experienced that had brought a rather long lost emotion to him again. He felt shame for the simple fact he had been too shocked by the hug and kiss to respond when she had pantsed him and then kept him distracted like she would her uncle. He had jumped back and pulled her head back in shock, but it had been too late for that. He had been shuddering from what she had done and had been hard pressed to deal with the new sensations. They had been so different to the rush he had experienced from his kills. The tingling seemed to rival when he had first drunk blood and seemed to almost eclipse the euphoria of his first taste of human blood.

His shame in fact had prevented him from permitting himself to allow the girls to thank him as they had been trained. As it was the three only cuddled, but he knew that he would someday have to put the shame away as the two had point blank told him that they had no interest in guys unless it was him. Every time the three were together their hands wandered and he was certain that their hands wandered more when the two had their sleepovers. The closest he had come to that again was the protection spell and the monthly ritual to alleviate their unpleasantness. He justified it with the fact that willingly given blood strengthened his reserves and that blood was more potent than any other save those he would not permit himself to sink to. The lifeblood of a virgin while being violated being one of the few things he had no desire to imbibe regardless of what it offered. He already had the offer of willing given blood of a virgin as well as when they eventually lose it.

He shuddered at the knowledge that it was inevitable. The life death balance of his art would demand that eventually. The yearly rush had thankfully been constrained to heavy petting as it were. A few more years and the lot of them would spend one night a year rutting like wild animals regardless of how they felt about whoever they were with. It was perhaps a small price to pay for the power they had gained and it was not like any of the things they had done were physically unpleasant to experience just perhaps a few years to soon even with how emotionally and mentally mature he was.

"Yo," the oddly dressed shopkeeper said. "What can I do for ya?"

Harry grinned beneath his hood this one was amusing before asking, "What ya got?"

"Many a thing," he said with a smirk to his lips. "So many colorful and useful things there are items of intrigue and enchantments useful to everyone are a few of those things this shop carries. Baubles of basic protection as well as some would call dreadful daggers if that is what you seek. For those interested in knowledge there are several key items for those seeking the wisdom of the wise that were so less constraining than certain people wish others to believe. So any of these things call to you or at least tickle your fancy? We pride ourselves on finding anything that our clients wish for as long as there is the coin for it..."

"Oh I have the coin for it," Harry replied with a smirk, "but how do I know that it is worth the coin you want for what you provide? A few sample wares demonstrations might better allow me to gage the coin value for the items available...."

"What else would one expect form a wise client?" the merchant asks in a mocking tone. "We do specialize in already enchanted and enchanting items. And as one as well informed as yourself understands why such a thing is a niche market. The masses seem to find easily charmed spell crafted items to be so popular. True enchantments last for generations while charms degrade after a certain time. Still some are more concerned with the enchantments to assign a trinket to their lines. That is rather expensive since the thrice corrupt ministry seems to only prefer grandfathered in items to be permitted that use such foul magics to be made."

"Anything in a ring or bracelet maybe a tor if you have one," Harry asks after some thought. "I do have a few ideas for what I want but to bind a shifting enchanted item to my blood is a rather pressing matter."

"Someone that is interested in the more useful of tricks," he responds with a grin. "Now this might be fun."

"I hope it will be," Harry said with a grin. "A shame the minders want us to ignore so many useful and fun things..."

"So I see a multi is it," the shopkeeper said with a grin. "Don't be so surprised. There is a rather hard to find wand crafter that makes them and I am still trying to gain the methods of recreating something like that. So if you do come up with it there are a rather select clientele that would be more than willing to pay for some custom creations. Besides you do have a reputation in this alley."

"I guess that I do have somewhat of a reputation," Harry said with a grin. "So I take it we can do some business than?"

"But of course," the clerk said. "I hope you don't mind that I cannot seem to decide what I am called from day to day. Perhaps the closest I have come is to call myself an Elegant Enchanter though some think me to have too much of an ego... So please do tell what catches your fancy here?"

"Three rings of silver, three bracelets of platinum and three rather sharp daggers curved if you would for a start," Harry said with a smirk. "I know that they need to be a special mix if you know what I mean..."

"You know that most don't understand why certain enchantments stick to certain materials better or worse than others," EE said. "It will be some rather pleasant business between us. If you do get good at those skills I would be more than willing to market some of them for you?"

"As a rather interesting man said," Harry began with a shark like grin. "This looks like the beginning of a fruitful relationship..."