Vizette came to a stall and saw one of his targets: a cage of live Horklumps.
They looked like plump pink mushrooms, covered with dark bristles on top, with thick tentacles coiled below, slowly swallowing their food by gripping it with their tentacles.
Vizette squatted down first. "Excuse me, how much is a live Horklump?"
"A connoisseur indeed!" The vendor first glanced at Vizette, then his gaze swept over Xenophilius and Luna, and grinned.
"Horklump from Sweden is the best quality! A whole cage like this costs only fifty-five Galleons. How about that? Pretty good deal, right?"
Vizette continued, "What is the juice yield?"
The vendor's smile faded slightly. "Looks like a clever little wizard after all; he knows quite a lot!"
"This Horklump is of very high quality; it will yield at least twenty pints of juice. It's a sure-fire way to make a profit!"
Vizette nodded, examined Horklumps in the cage, and mentally labeled the vendor a swindler.
A pint of Horklump juice costs three Galleons. If you could actually produce twenty pints of juice, it would definitely be a sure-fire way to make a profit.
It's worth noting that this cage of Horklumps was of good quality.
However, even if Snape himself operated the machine, he could not extract twenty pints of juice; at most, he could only extract twelve pints.
Taking quality into account, his target price for this cage of Horklumps had been forty to forty-five Galleons.
Vizette glanced at several stalls in the distance and found that the quality of Horklumps was similar to that of the stall in front of him.
He stood up and asked in an inquiring tone, "Mr. Lovegood, what do you think?"
Xenophilius felt an itch on the back of his head and immediately understood.
He bent down with a gloomy expression, as if carefully examining the cage of Horklumps. "It does look alright, but it's not worth the price."
"Why isn't it worth this price?" Seemingly intimidated by the gloomy expression, the vendor asked instinctively, "Then how much do you think it should be?"
Xenophilius felt the touch of his hair and, in a deep, husky voice, announced the price, "Hmm... thirty Galleons!"
"Impossible!" the vendor retorted immediately, pointing to several other stalls around him. "Where else can you find such high-quality Horklump?"
"Are all of yours about the same quality?" Xenophilius raised his eyebrows. He had just noticed that Vizette had looked at the stalls next to him.
Trusting Vizette, he continued, "How much juice can it yield? Do you think I, a potion master, don't know? Let's compromise: forty-two Galleons, you'll still make a profit!"
The vendor's eyes gleamed. "A potion master?"
"If you weren't a potion master, would you have time to buy live Horklump?" Xenophilius retorted. "Kids don't know any better; they'd ask you about the juice yield. I'm not that easy to fool!"
"Does the potion master's skill determine how much Horklump juice you want to extract? Why don't you do the juicing yourself? I only want the finished Horklump juice, plus an extra five Galleons for processing fees."
"This..." The vendor hesitated, sensing that the gloomy-faced man in front of him might actually be an expert.
"It's already afternoon, you probably haven't opened for business yet, have you? It would be great if you could open for business first!" Xenophilius said calmly. "The price is negotiable, I'll add two more Galleons!"
"Forty-four Galleons..." The vendor hesitated for a moment, but eventually agreed to the price.
...
Pulling up the iron cage containing Horklumps, Vizette lowered his voice and exclaimed in admiration, "Mr. Lovegood, I never expected your acting skills... to be so good."
Xenophilius touched his nose. "Ahem... I do know a potion master!"
Luna praised repeatedly, "Dad is the best! He's good at everything he does!"
"Of course!" Xenophilius's eyebrows practically shot up to the sky. "My darling understands me best!"
In street markets, where there are no shop fees, the prices of goods are significantly more affordable compared to those in Diagon Alley.
However, there are also corresponding risks involved. If the quality cannot be accurately judged, it is still easy to be deceived.
Thanks to Vizette's judgment and Xenophilius's acting skills, they managed to select a considerable amount of potion ingredients and some souvenirs, making it a truly fruitful trip.
Back at the hotel, Vizette began to deal with the Horklumps, boiling them all into an invigorating potion.
He planned to collect and select a batch of Horklumps by hand on his return trip, as a gift for Snape.
...
After a good night's rest, even if they got up very early the next day, as long as they drew back the curtains, they saw bright sunshine.
They originally planned to go to Zoo Island to visit the aquarium and eco-museum, and finally visit the Vasa Museum to see the difference between the model Vasa and the magical Vasa.
Unfortunately, the aquarium seemed to have been mysteriously robbed and was currently closed, with police tape posted outside.
Vizette carefully read the message and discovered that the aquarium had lost three sharks and was currently searching for them.
The message wasn't long, and it was vague and disjointed, as if the three sharks had simply vanished into thin air, making it hard for Vizette not to imagine that they were wizards.
Xenophilius offered his opinion: perhaps because the Swedish Aurors were capturing Obscurials, a wizard took a liking to them and stole the three sharks for amusement, giving off a rather whimsical vibe.
As the newspaper's editor-in-chief, he had heard similar news stories, all about wizards doing strange things to amuse Muggles.
For example, someone could disguise themselves as a key maker and cast spells on duplicated keys. Once the keys were in the hands of Muggles, they shrank day by day until they disappeared.
Or they might disguise themselves as clearance vendors, selling various magically enchanted cups that, once in the hands of a Muggle, suddenly sprayed out hot water, scalding the Muggle.
Such situations were common and usually required the intervention of Ministry of Magic staff to resolve the issue and seek compensation from the offending wizard.
After the perpetrator heard their accusations, he laughed heartily, offered compensation, and then committed the same crimes again after a while.
...
After visiting the Vasa Museum, they rented a small boat to continue their journey for the day.
Known as the "Venice of the North," this place boasted a network of waterways, making it perfect for boat trips.
Vizette was skilled in using the Silent and Wandless Levitation Charm, which allowed them to navigate waterways without actually rowing; they could simply hold up an oar and pretend to row.
They followed the waterway to Stockholm's Old Town, where most of the houses were two-story Swedish wooden buildings, exuding a calm and retro atmosphere, as if time had silently settled here.
As they entered Lake Mälaren, flocks of seagulls appeared overhead, spreading their wings and occasionally skimming across the water, leaving a trail of long cries around the small boat.
Luna seemed to be particularly popular with the seagulls, with several flocks circling overhead.
Seeing other travelers feeding the seagulls, Xenophilius took a loaf of bread from his pocket, put it in Luna's hand, and said, "Honey, you should feed them some too!"
Luna nodded, pinched off a few slices of bread, held them tightly in her hand, and then gently tossed them into the distance.
The seagulls seemed to have been looking forward to this moment. They nimbly turned in the air, flapping their white wings, vying for the falling pieces of bread.
Several seagulls swooped down successfully, nimbly catching the bread pieces in mid-air, their eyes seemingly gleaming with pride...
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