New chapter is live.
Settle in, take your time, and let’s see what waits in the dark 🖤
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“Why are your eyes red?”
On the streets of Spinner’s End, Callan crunched into the apple in his hand, passed another to Snape, and asked, “Did your father hit you? Or were your parents fighting again?”
“None of your business!”
Snape bit viciously into the apple, as if taking out his anger on the fruit.
Callan did not take his attitude to heart.
Instead, he murmured in confusion, “Do wizards hit puberty this early?”
“What did you say?” Snape asked instinctively.
He had not heard clearly, but he had the strong feeling Callan had not said anything good.
“Nothing.”
Callan brushed it off casually.
“By the way, you know where The Leaky Cauldron is, right?”
“I know.”
Snape still sounded reluctant, as if he were brooding over Callan’s mutter.
“On Charing Cross Road. Muggles can’t see it.”
“Good. As long as you know where it is.”
By then, they had already left Spinner’s End.
Callan stood by the roadside, looking left and right.
Snape had no choice but to stop with him.
He tossed the apple core into a bin and frowned.
“Why are you stopping? If we don’t hurry, we’ll miss the time we agreed on with Lily.”
“Hurry?” Callan echoed, amused.
“You want to walk all those miles?”
“Then what are you planning to do?”
Snape’s face stayed dark.
Apparently, he did not find the matter funny at all.
It did not take long, however, for his eyes to widen in surprise.
As if performing a magic trick, Callan produced a stack of pound notes.
They were large denominations too.
With a small smile, he said, “We are not walking. We are taking a cab.”
Even when they got out of the taxi, Snape was still in shock.
Compared with Callan’s money, the pounds in his own pocket barely counted as loose change.
“Where did you get that much money? Aren’t you an…”
Snape frowned, but in the end, he did not say the word orphan.
Under Lily’s long-term influence, he had at least learned not to bring that up on purpose.
“Oh?”
Callan raised a brow, but he did not answer directly.
“It seems I am not only stronger than you. I am richer too.”
Snape said nothing.
His face remained gloomy, and the hand in his pocket tightened unconsciously.
“Come on,” Callan said with a smile, as if he had noticed nothing.
“Let’s not waste time.”
The Leaky Cauldron was exactly as Snape had described it.
Muggles could not see it.
Even if someone knew there was a blank spot on the map, no Muggle would be able to find the place.
Perhaps because Hogwarts letters had recently gone out, the occasional parent and child could be seen entering the pub.
Two unaccompanied children, however, were still a rare sight.
Callan ignored the glances aimed at them and walked into The Leaky Cauldron with Snape.
He had been mentally prepared, but the shabby state of the place still made him feel a little disgusted.
For somewhere so famous, it was far too dark and dirty.
It hardly seemed worthy of serving as the entrance to Diagon Alley.
Especially for Muggle families entering the magical world for the first time, the environment was not exactly welcoming.
Tom, still much younger than Callan remembered him, was not nearly as alarming as he would be in old age.
Judging by his slightly thinning hair, he was at most middle-aged.
Tom was standing behind the bar, complaining endlessly to an elderly wizard.
“Fleamont Potter retired far too early. What use is inventing Sleekeazy’s Hair Potion? Who can use that if they haven’t got any hair? If you ask me, hair-restorer would be far more profitable.”
As he spoke, Tom ran his fingers worriedly through his own hair.
The elderly wizard across from him nodded enthusiastically.
When Tom noticed the unusual pair of children, he immediately hurried out from behind the bar.
“Merlin’s beard, children. Are you first-years? Where are your parents? Did no one bring you?”
“Yes, we came by ourselves,” Callan replied politely, offering no explanation.
“I see.”
Tom considerately did not ask more.
Students from difficult backgrounds were not common, but there were always a few.
He remembered meeting a first-year with an equally tragic background back when he had had more hair.
Interestingly, that child had even shared his name.
They had both been called Tom.
Tom looked at the two boys with pity, wondering whether he should offer them free drinks.
Snape could not decide whether to explain or simply say nothing.
Fortunately, before Snape could struggle with the decision for too long, Callan spoke first.
“We would like to go to Diagon Alley, please.”
“Oh, of course. No trouble at all.”
Tom warmly led them through the bar and into the small walled courtyard.
There was nothing there except a dustbin and a few weeds.
Then Callan suddenly asked, “Do you sell Gamp’s Old Gregarious here?”
“Of course, child,” Tom said kindly.
“That beer was named after Ulick Gamp, the first Minister for Magic. It was created to honor his protection of The Leaky Cauldron after the International Statute of Secrecy came into force. It is rather expensive, a full Galleon, but anyone who can finish a pint of it wins a prize of one hundred Galleons.”
“However…”
Tom had clearly noticed Snape’s reaction.
He smiled at him and said, “It is unusually unpleasant. Since the eighteenth century, no one has managed that feat.”
After saying that, Tom added with special emphasis, “Not one person.”
Callan also smiled and glanced at Snape.
Then he carefully watched Tom’s movements.
“Pay attention, children.”
Tom took out his wand, pointed it at the dustbin, and said patiently, “Count three bricks up from the bin, then two across.”
“But if you forget, you can always ask me for help again.”
With that, Tom tapped the wall three times.
The brick he had touched trembled and began to move.
A small hole opened in the center, widening and widening.
Before long, a broad archway appeared before them, leading to a winding cobbled street that seemed to have no end.
“Welcome.”
Tom turned around and smiled at the two boys.
“Welcome to Diagon Alley.”
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Want to keep going?
I hope this chapter gave you another reason to stay with the story.
There’s still plenty ahead, and things are only starting to unfold.