Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 21: Unsavory Encounter
The narrow, dark alleys reminded Harry of that neighborhood in the non-magical part of London he had recently visited.
He could also detect the traces left behind by the continuous use of dark spells. This kind of magic would typically leave behind some of the negative emotions that the casters experienced at the time.
Only those with his extreme sensitivity would be capable of picking up on this.
This also allowed him to sense when someone got too close to him.
"Is there something you need, Miss?" Harry turned his head to the left.
"Hihihi… can you see me, young one?" An old female voice could be heard, but no one could be seen.
"I do not appreciate being spied on. If there is something you require of me, then speak of it. Otherwise, leave me alone. I'm currently busy." Harry's eyes were not able to see this person either, but his senses were precise enough to create a silhouette based on the magic she had placed over herself as concealment.
"Very harsh words for a kid." The old witch removed the invisibility charm and stared at Harry with interest. "Forgive this granny, I was merely checking if you came here alone."
"And if I was?" Harry noted there were more eyes on him now, but these were keeping their distance.
The witch pointed at the dark alley ahead of them. "I was going to warn you not to go in there… that is the most dangerous part of Knockturn Alley. Not even the Auror Department wants to go there. A kid like you would likely get killed and turned into potion ingredients."
Harry glared at this woman without saying anything. She appeared to be telling the truth, but even if that was the case, this was not enough to deter him from continuing.
His eyes moved to the large white chain that kept going into the alley.
"I'm not turning around. There is somewhere I must go."
The old witch frowned. "Oi, I was trying to be nice because I didn't want the Ministry coming here, looking for some stupid brat who disappeared. That is not good for business, you know?" she said while pointing at the shop behind her.
Harry gave it a quick glance. It appeared to be a shop that sold magical antiquities.
"I may come visit your shop in the future. But right now, I have something to take care of." Without saying another word, Harry turned around and ventured further into the eerie alley.
A moment later, three shadows moved quickly and went in the same direction as Harry.
The old witch frowned. "Damn it… I tried to warn that kid. Stupid!" She huffed and went back into her shop.
"Stupid kids!." She was already dreading the future visit from the aurors.
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"Mmmm? Is that it?" After several more minutes, Harry finally found the end of the chain. It appeared to go into a house at the end of a road with no other exit.
The building appeared extremely old and was constructed from a dark grey stone. There was a window at the front, but it was completely painted over, making it impossible to see anything inside.
"No, wait, that is a shop of some kind." Harry spotted a sign hanging above the door. "Miss Yafel, Ingredients and artifacts."
He also noted that all the houses in this narrow street appeared to be abandoned and in a grave state of disrepair. If it wasn't for the chain guiding him, Harry would have assumed that this was an abandoned street with no one living there.
The three individuals who had been shadowing him so far had finally decided to make themselves known.
Harry had, of course, known from the beginning that he was being followed.
Three men wearing black cloaks appeared around him. One got in front of Harry, while the other two stayed behind him, blocking any way of leaving the narrow road.
"We knew you were lost, but to think that you would come to such a desolate part of the alley…" the one in front of Harry said.
"No one goes into that shop. The witch living there is very cranky," another one added.
Harry was about to ask them what they wanted, but stopped himself. That would be an unnecessary question, as their intentions would be clear even to someone without the ability to read people's emotions.
These men held a tremendous amount of darkness in their hearts. This was something typically found in those who made a living from killing.
The men continued to speak to him, asking questions like "What is your name?" or "Where are you from?"
Harry had no intention of engaging in a conversation with them.
"Hlíf seo lyft (I parch the breath)," He muttered under his breath.
All the magic in the surroundings reacted to his will.
"Winda wræccan, gewîtaþ nû (I exile the wind, depart now)."
"What is he muttering about?" one of the cloaked individuals asked.
"Hehe, I think the boy is just scared," the one in front of Harry said with a wide grin on his face as he pointed his wand at him.
"Let's just get this over wi—" The last one was cut mid-sentence.
"Se rûm is rêowig, rîmleâs næniþ (The space is barren, a boundless nothing). So mote it be." Harry finished his chant, and the three men felt the effects immediately.
Their voices died down, and their eyes opened wide when they realized that they could no longer speak or breathe.
His magic had removed all air from their surroundings, and even the air they still had inside their lungs.
Harry glanced over at the men as their skin turned blue and their consciousness began to fade away.
It took them ten seconds to become unconscious and sixty seconds to die.
He shook his head in disappointment. "What foolishness. What made them so assured of their victory that it prevented them from raising some defenses before I finished my chant?" Harry wondered if, in modern times, these wizards had lost their edge.
Just as he was considering this, the door of the shop opened, and someone walked outside.
It was a woman dressed in a dark tunic. She stared at the men on the ground with a furious expression on her face.
"Who dares to kill in front of my shop?!"
Harry stared at the woman in shock...he recognized her.
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