Without betraying anything on his face, Eric took the trunk in hand and gave it a light lift.
Even with more than a dozen books packed inside, he could barely feel its weight.
Judging from Mercer’s expression, he had absolutely no idea that there was more to the trunk than met the eye.
As far as Mercer was concerned, he had simply given Eric an ordinary enchanted travelling trunk.
Now that Eric had obtained what he wanted, there was no reason to linger.
With Mercer taking the initiative to approach Eric, the frightened witches and wizards surrounding them gradually realised that the boy who had caused such a commotion wasn’t actually dangerous.
No Dark wizard had attacked Diagon Alley.
It wasn’t some vicious incident.
It was simply a young wizard who had “accidentally” unleashed an extraordinarily powerful burst of magic.
Even so, that was more than enough to make it the biggest story in Diagon Alley that day.
As the crowd continued to grow, Eric even spotted several reporters armed with cameras, furiously snapping photographs in their direction.
He immediately understood that it was time to leave.
If they stayed any longer, they genuinely wouldn’t be able to get away.
After thanking Mercer and leaving him his contact details, Eric exchanged a few quick words with Tom.
The two of them then rushed out of the crowd together and disappeared into a narrow side alley.
Naturally, the reporters had no intention of letting them escape so easily.
They shouted excitedly and charged after Eric and Tom in a disorderly mob.
All they left behind were countless astonished stares, and the beginning of a bizarre rumour about a mysterious young wizard who had nearly blown up the whole of Diagon Alley.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Several hours later, a tremendous crash suddenly came from the storeroom of the Leaky Cauldron.
One of the wooden boards in the floor was shoved upwards, revealing a pitch black opening beneath it and sending a thick cloud of dust billowing through the room.
“Lumos.” A wand emerged from the hole first.
As its tip lit up, the Wand Lighting Charm finally brought a little illumination into the equally sunless storeroom.
“Damn it.
No one’s used this passage in far too long.” Tom looked around and grumbled, brushing dust from the top of his head as he climbed out of the opening with Eric following behind him.
“Do you ever clean this pub?” Eric asked casually, frowning as he surveyed the storeroom.
“Be grateful.
The other secret passage is even filthier.
That one comes out in the lavatory.” “How many secret passages does the Leaky Cauldron have?” Tom chuckled.
“Even I don’t know.” Eric smiled and didn’t press him further.
The fact that the Leaky Cauldron contained secret passages connecting it to the surrounding area wasn’t especially surprising.
The pub served as a point of contact between the wizarding world and Muggle society.
If Tom didn’t possess a few tricks of his own, he could never have held onto his position as landlord for so many years.
Eric had never underestimated him.
Tom might be getting on in years, but he had a wealth of experience and contacts in both respectable and less respectable circles.
If they hadn’t taken advantage of Tom’s familiarity with Diagon Alley earlier, they probably wouldn’t have shaken off that pack of reporters so easily.
Eric followed him out of the storeroom and into the familiar main bar.
Since their departure earlier that day, business had returned to normal.
Witches and wizards sat scattered around the room in twos and threes.
“Follow me.” Tom said nothing more and led Eric towards the stairs.
As they passed through the pub, Tom greeted his customers with practised ease, behaving as though absolutely nothing unusual had happened.
Rumours travelled quickly.
Eric could already tell that quite a few people had recognised Tom as one of the figures who had been standing outside Flourish and Blotts during the disturbance.
And Eric himself matched the description of the culprit rather well.
Tom, after all, was known by practically everyone in Diagon Alley.
“They’ve recognised you,” Eric remarked with a smile.
“And me.” “I know.
But this is my pub.
If they don’t want to be thrown out, they’d best not do anything stupid,” Tom replied without the slightest concern.
Sure enough, one or two witches and wizards kept their eyes fixed on the pair as Tom led Eric past them, their interest obvious.
In the end, however, none of them stood up or attempted to stop them.
Tom ignored them.
Eric naturally did the same.
He had already considered the possible consequences before making his decision earlier.
As far as he was concerned, the way things had developed wasn’t particularly bad.
He simply understood that from tomorrow onwards, his name would inevitably begin appearing on certain people’s radar.
Tom soon led Eric into a small room on the second floor of the pub.
Compared with the filthy main bar and storeroom, this room could actually be described as clean and tidy.
The furniture and decorations were simple, and the room itself wasn’t particularly large, but at least the floorboards didn’t stick to the soles of his shoes or creak with every step.
Nor were there thick cobwebs hanging from the ceiling.
“You said you were an orphan, didn’t you?” Tom turned to Eric.
“For the next few days, you can stay here if you like.” Eric looked around the room and smiled.
“I’d be delighted.” The immediate answer caught Tom by surprise.
“You would?” Eric set his trunk down, casually found himself a chair, and sat as though he already owned the place.
“Do I look like someone who has a home to go back to?” “I thought you’d refuse.” “I think you have quite a few misunderstandings about me, Tom.” Eric smiled, his voice clear and composed.
“Under ordinary circumstances, I’m always happy to solve problems through conversation, and I have no desire to make enemies.
But you obviously couldn’t persuade a swarm of flying Monster Books to behave themselves by talking to them, could you?” “So I chose another method.
It was unavoidable.” He paused, his mild smile never changing.
“Generally speaking, I consider myself quite easy to get along with.” Tom nearly lost control of his expression.
His weathered face twitched visibly.
The boy possessed absurd magical talent, apparently had no interest whatsoever in hiding it, and yet somehow described himself as easy to get along with.
As far as Tom was concerned, there was definitely something wrong with Eric.
Mentally, at least.
Mysterious, direct, confident, and unwavering.
Those were the strongest impressions Eric had left on him.
Looking at the gentle smile on the boy’s face, Tom involuntarily shivered.
There was something faintly terrifying about Eric, an aura so utterly at odds with his age that Tom found it difficult to describe.
He swallowed and wisely kept that observation to himself.
Somehow, he had the distinct feeling that Eric didn’t particularly care what he thought anyway.
“Regardless, it’ll make things easier for me, and for the Ministry, if we know where to find you.
You can stay here until term begins,” Tom said.
“You still haven’t bought everything you need.
I’ll take you back out in a few days, but for now, you need to keep your head down.” “I can guarantee that no reporters will bother you while you’re staying here.
Unless, of course, you’re desperate to become famous.” “Thank you, but I’m not.
I’m perfectly satisfied with this arrangement,” Eric replied with a smile.
Tom studied him for a moment.
“I’m not going to ask how you knew about The Standard Book of Spells, or how you know all the other things you seem to know about the wizarding world.
I don’t particularly care.” “But if you intend to go out, tell me beforehand.” “The wizarding world hasn’t been particularly peaceful lately.” Eric smiled and nodded his agreement.
“Then that’s enough for today, Mr Clapton.” Seeing that Eric had no objections, Tom turned towards the door.
“If you have any other questions, I’ll be downstairs behind the bar.
But unless it’s important, I’d rather you didn’t bother me.” He put a hand on the door.
“I’ve lived this long because I don’t have much curiosity.” “Ah, one more thing,” Eric suddenly said just as Tom was about to leave.
Tom stopped.
“What?” “Just call me Eric.” Tom turned back.
Waiting for him was the same almost unchanging, gentle smile on Eric’s face, one that somehow made it difficult to feel any hostility towards him at all.
Tom drew a deep breath.
He nodded without saying anything, then turned and walked out of the room.