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(HPMM)Chapter 16: Shopping spree
🕑 Added 2025-09-05 15:06:37 +0000 UTCWith my stuff in hand I left the alchemy shop and headed for my next destination as I slipped my new items into my inventory secretly. My next stop was Madam Malkins to upgrade my wardrobe. Presentation is very important when conducting business after all and if I looked like a shabby broke person then my credibility drops on first meetings. I would be making sales across the multiverse after all so my appearance was doubly important since I couldn't exactly build up the usual street cred for reliability.-
Even just in this world alone ones appearance played a large part in how you were seen. I planned to do business here as well so I wanted to set the best first impressions I could. Madam Malkin seemed surprised to see me again so soon and looked about ready to catch a fly in her mouth when I told her why I was here and showed her that I did indeed have the funds to pay for it. Still the woman was a business owner after all and quickly got to work fulfilling my order. Three pairs of fine shoes, five pairs of pants made of rich materials and fine embroidery.-
Twelve shirts of Acromantula silk and a single long black cloak with gold stitching and an embroidered dragons head with a gold coin in it's mouth over the left breast pocket. When I finally walked out of the shop I looked like a whole new person. No longer a malnourished orphan but a thin scion of some noble house in appearance. A falsity for sure but one that served my purpose perfectly. The way some of the wizards warily moved out of my way as I moved towards my next target was plenty indication the image I cut was perfect.-
My next stop was an old run down second hand bookstore called Pages and prints. It was not well maintained as dust hung thick in the air and the building itself had peeling paint and foggy windows from age. The books weren't even on proper shelves but piles haphazardly placed all over the shop while a bored middle aged witch sat behind the counter reading the Daily Prophet newspaper. She looked up from it only to freeze when she saw me.-
"Are you lost sir? This is a second hand bookstore, you'll find only old used things here." she said confused.
"I know, that's why I am here. I wanted to know if I could find any old copies of my school books that a senior may have left notes in. Additionally I want any books on potioneering or alchemy you have." I said seriously.
"Oh? Now theres a surprise. Most of you noble types tend to snub your nose at anything second hand, didn't expect one of you lot to understand the value in it." she said as she put the paper down to go looking for the books I requested.
"Stereotypes are not absolute. The Weasleys for example are pureblooded wizards and neither rich nor snobby." I say calmly.
"Suppose that's true enough, good folks those Weasleys. Too many kids though." she said with a begrudging agreement.
She kicked up dust as she dug through the piles of books and picked out the ones that fulfilled my conditions while I waited nearby. Soon enough she had two large stacks of books teetering hazardously on the counter for me to go through. I wordlessly flipped through the schoolbooks and those with little to none in terms of notes in them were discarded unless from a higher year.-
The ones with plenty of notes were set aside for purchase alongside the books on potions and alchemy. Like I expected there was not many on alchemy at all as most people wouldn't get rid of such books to begin with. The three books here likely came from mass purchases after someone died and their books were sold in a lot auction. A lucky find but not much better than that. The final lineup for the books I wanted to purchase was ten textbooks of this year and higher years with notes and five higher year textbooks without notes.-
There was three alchemy books and four potioneering books as well. Twenty two in total.
"You sure you can carry all of this?" the shop keeper asked after I paid a hundred galleons and sixteen sickles for the lot.
"Probably not, can you hold them for a few moments while I go purchase a trunk for them?" I asked sliding her an extra galleon.
"Of course." she said eagerly taking the coin.
I left the shop and went a few doors down to the trunk shop where I purchased a plain wooden trunk enchanted to be light weight with wheels for five galleons. I returned to the bookshop and loaded the trunk up with the books before leaving for my final destination, the Diagon alley Honeydukes candy store. I liked candy as much as the next person and now that I had the money saw no reason why I shouldn't pamper myself a little. The place smelled super sweet upon entering as it should with the sheer volume of candy here. I ended up buying some every flavored beans to try as well as some of the stranger treats like cockroach clusters, pepper imps and chocolate frogs.-
The fact the Cockroach clusters moved and looked like real cockroaches didn't bother me any as I popped them into my mouth and crunched on them for that sweet peanut and caramel filling they had. The chocolate frog I opened tried to escape but ended up wriggling in my mouth in the end. The card I got for it was of one Cornelius Fudge. I shrugged at that and put the card away for now since I didn't really feel like trying to collect a full set or anything.-
When I got back to the pub Tom looked at me in surprise.
"Goodness me! What sort of windfall did you find to have this sort of money?" he asked curiously.
"Best if I keep that to myself. Anyways this should hopefully cover my room until school starts." I say as I take out a handful of galleons and set them on the counter.
Tom counts it all seriously before returning me seven of the golden coins "Consider the room yours till the year starts. Lunch is still hot if you want some. Roast ham with bread rolls with butter and honey." he says with a smile.
"Yeah i'll take some." I said as I sat down on a bar stool.
