In the end, Tom failed to find his favorite part-time job in Diagon Alley. So, he set his sights on that place: Knockturn Alley.
When it comes to Knockturn Alley, he is not as disgusted or as negative as other wizards. In his opinion, Knockturn Alley is just a special business scope that involves the gray area of the magical world. To work part-time in such a place,
It will help increase your knowledge!
And... maybe because I "personally" inspected this place, I have no fear of Knockturn Alley - the current Knockturn Alley has just been cracked down by the Ministry of Magic and is still very "clean".
As soon as he left, Tom entered Knockturn Alley directly.
Just as he thought, the inspection by the Ministry of Magic did not make this place deserted. There are still many wizards of all kinds coming in and out of various shops, doing some shady or shady things.
The flow of people is the same as before the inspection, except that there are many new faces and the ground seems to be a lot cleaner.
Tom passed by the place where Borgin and Burke's Magical Items Store used to be - this antique shop had been resold and is now a shop called "Pony's Alchemy Workshop". It is said that after the inspection, a group of
The creditor came here and cornered Mr. Bock, one of the two store owners, and forced him to repay the debt. There are two versions of what happened next.
Some people said that Mr. Bock had already prepared many rare magic items in the underground secret room. Just as he was about to take the items out of the secret room, a careless creditor accidentally triggered the secret in the secret room.
The trap caused the secret room to be enveloped in a sea of fire. Bock was burned to ashes on the spot, and the treasures stored in the secret room were also destroyed.
However, some people think that this is all a farce directed and performed by Bock. These are just tricks he tried to get out of. At this time, Bock had already left with his savings.
Both theories are very popular. The whereabouts of Bock are actually very easy to confirm, if Gringotts is willing. Gringotts has the flow of funds in various accounts. If the goblins are willing to disclose it, everyone can naturally confirm it from the dynamics of Bock's account.
his status.
If a lot of money was suddenly transferred from his account, then he must be alive and just absconded with the money. If there was no movement in his account, then he might have died in the fire.
However, the goblins of Gringotts will definitely not disclose their account movements. This is their old trick. In history, there are some wizard families that suddenly died - such as the days when Grindelwald rose, or Voldemort
During the Wizarding War, those wizarding families became extinct overnight. If no one could find anyone to inherit the property they left behind, it would be sealed in the underground vault of Gringotts.
Gringotts' external statement is: Gringotts will never misappropriate your wealth. Gringotts is only the custodian of the property.
But who can say for sure what the real situation is? Gringotts refuses to reveal the status of these vaults anyway.
And regardless of whether Bock is alive or dead, the store has changed hands. Those creditors who escaped death sold the store with the idea of recovering a little bit of their capital.
"Why don't you come in and take a look?" Maybe Tom stood outside the store for too long and attracted the attention of the store owner, so he walked out from behind the counter and came outside the store, inviting Tom to come in and take a look.
"Ah, I'm not here to shop." Tom said that the shopkeeper misunderstood and took the initiative to explain. He noticed the name "Alchemy Workshop" on the sign and his heart moved.
It seems like this is a good place for you?
He excused himself from the shopkeeper, who was wearing a gray robe, was tall, had gray hair, but had no wrinkles on his face, and looked to be in his early fifties.
"Aren't you here for shopping? Are you here to be an alchemy apprentice?" The store owner took a look at Tom's age and felt that he must not have graduated yet. Then his purpose of coming here was already clear: to find a part-time job during the summer vacation.
Thinking of this, the shop owner frowned, "I have no shortage of apprentices here, and I can give you a free suggestion: Don't do summer part-time jobs here. You kids should go to Diagon Alley to find a job."
The shop owner's words made Tom feel a little fond of him.
"I'm not here to be an apprentice. I'm an alchemist. I wonder if you are short of people here?" Tom's answer shocked the shop owner.
"Alchemist, you?!" He looked at Tom's appearance twice carefully and felt that he had nothing to do with the profession of alchemist: he was too young.
Tom nodded.
boss:……
"If you are really an alchemist, then I really need you here - come in, if you pass my test, you can stay. But I must remind you that you need to pay for the materials consumed during the test.
.”
"That's very reasonable." Tom didn't think there was any problem and followed the boss into Pony's alchemy workshop.
There are no fancy decorations in the store. It has wooden floors and red brick walls. There are a few lamps that look like kerosene lamps hanging on the walls, which are acting as light sources. The overall lighting in Knockturn Alley is extremely poor, and indoor lighting is needed.
Plenty of light.
There are not many things in the store. There are only two display stands with various alchemical creations. Apart from that, there is only a cashier counter. Of course, there is also a door on the wall leading to
The alchemy studio in the back.
The boss took Tom straight to his studio.
After opening the door, a dark room was revealed in front of Tom - the lighting in the store was already very poor, and the completely windowless studio was as dark as a basement.
"Please wait a moment - don't use fluorescent flashes." The shop owner did not use fluorescent flashes for lighting, and specifically warned Tom.
He groped for a while in the dark on the wall of the room, and then there was a jingling sound, like coins rolling. Then, there was the mechanical sound of clicking gears.
After doing this, the shop owner changed positions, found a switch in the dark, and twisted it, and a "click-click" sound was heard.
Tom:?
This sound reminded him of a gas stove in the non-magical world.
Along with this strange sound, light came.
A flame appeared in a wall lamp, and then expanded rapidly, blooming with the light of the flame, and also revealed the situation in the room: the layout here is very similar to the 19th century room in the movie.
In front of Tom is a cabinet with countless small boxes neatly arranged on it. The boxes are all labeled with labels indicating their contents.
On one side of the cabinet is a huge table, and the wall lamp is just above the table. Compared to the cabinet, the table is undoubtedly a lot messier, with many tools placed on it.
When Tom looked at the store owner, he couldn't help but smacked his mouth.