A/N: This would count as my second fic, but the first one didn't count cos I kinda abandoned it. ((: PLEASE REVIEW!!!
Professor Mcgonagall strode into the Great Hall, where a throng of chattering fifth-years were milling about, waiting for her.The rim of her spectacles reflected the bright sunlight that shone from the Enchanted Ceiling above. As she walked, the fifth-years were immediately silenced as the hook-nosed prim woman strode closer, her green tartan robes swishing rhythmically behind her.
"Ahh. I see most of you have gathered already, on time. Well then!" the Professor smiled. Her eyes glanced once around the room, checking that there were no unauthorized people; then, with a sweep of her hand, the doors leading to Hogsmeade were opened with a large 'clang'.
"Enjoy yourselves!" called the Professor over her shoulder as the students rushed outside, tasting the cool winter air on their tongues.
Among the crowd were the Slytherin trio - Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson. Draco swept a hand back against his blond, gelled hair and announced, "I need to buy myself a couple of new quills, the old ones were getting a bit blunt. I'll see you two around!" With that he disappeared, walking briskly down the street, flanked by his usual two dumb bodyguards - Crabbe and Goyle - who had hung at the back just now. Blaise was about to tell Draco that the quill shop was not in that direction, when Pansy - who usually followed Blaise - declared she had arranged a rendezvous with a couple of the other Slytherin girls at the Three Broomsticks, and so had to hurry off.
Quirking a single eyebrow at the sudden attempt at disappearance of his two friends, he grumbled slightly, then let Pansy go. She traipsed off, in the same direction as Draco, and soon vanished around the corner - without so much as a wave goodbye. Well he could always do with new friends, and there were plenty of Slytherins about who would gladly be his companion for the day. He was, after all, Blaise Zabini, second-most handsome Slytherin, and of course, the most sought-after possession.
But he was not for the taking, and didn't really feel like hanging around with the bunch of morons who were currently trying to get him to join their slobby clique. He was way to classy for that type. Why the Sorting Hat even considered them part of Slytherin was a mystery to him.
They're probably trying to get back at me for the time I switched both of their pumpkin juices for Hiccuping Potion, Blaise thought, chuckling at the memory of both of them hiccuping their way through death threats, and trying to cast a charm heal themselves, but ended up making themselves look like they've spilled diluted Bobotuber pus over themselves. Ah well. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth - that's the way it works. He turned at another corner down to High Street, planning to go to Zonko's, and most likely meeting Theodore Nott there, whom he decided to walk through Hogsmeade with. As the majority of the Hogwarts trickster population rushed into Zonko's, he followed, and purchased some stuff - including a vial of Poop Powder, and a Tickling Quill - just in case Draco and Pansy got more than a little something up their sleeves.
Biding a goodbye to Malcolm Baddock whom he bumped into (well more like was squeezed into - Zonko's was packed like a goblins in a gold mine), he hid his purchases in the folds of his cloak, then slinked out again, having not found Nott in Zonko's. He looked up and down the street, scanning Hogsmeade for any sign of his black-haired friend.
He did not see Theodore anywhere in the crowded, dirty streets, but he did catch a glimpse of a unfamiliar shop with a mushroom cap for a roof, right on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. It hovered in view for a moment before a large hag walked right across his line of vision, guzzling a bottle of Firewhisky.
There's an adventure, Blaise thought to himself. He was getting rather bored of seeing the same Hogsmeade skyline, and all the stuff here were stuff that he could order with a catalogue, an owl, and money - all of which he had. Even the occasional sight of a group of banshees in the corner of the Hog's Head didn't even surprise him anymore. He was a Zabini, and he had seen worse things than that. He decided in that minute to go and check out what that mysterious shop was. He had already explored the whole of Hogsmeade - even the Shrieking Shack - and considered himself an expert on that area. He'd even found an entrance from Hogwarts into Honeydukes, something which he thought only he knew - although, of course, the Weasely twins are by far better than him. Then again, Blaise didn't have an inkling that something like the Marauder's Map existed.
Blaise walked swiftly down the street, Slytherin cloak swishing behind him, heading towards the direction where he thought. Pushing past a few Ravenclaws on the way, he finally turned a corner and reached the street where the shop was.
The street was deserted.
There was along the one short dusty stretch of road, then the shop at the end - and nobody else. Feeling a tad bemused, Blaise stepped forward, and crossed the threshold of the equally deserted shop, and gazed around.
It was a dim-lit place with various goods littered all over the place, and no shelves at all - everything was strewn all over the floor, or hanging on the wall, or displayed on the counter. A colony of spiders stared at him from the corner; there was a weird glowing halo perched on top of a mannequin's head. As he stepped nearer, Blaise saw a funny looking white-feathered quill that had a red tip, displayed on the counter inside a glass box that had mirrors as three of the walls and a transparent front wall. He wondered which bird it came from. He leaned closer. It seemed to be glittering... Squeaky bats were staring at him from where they hung on the wall, and the small circular rug underneath him - right in front of the counter - suddenly lifted its edges. Blaise quickly stepped off the rug. There was a neat stack of books, too, and a couple of broomsticks with odd runes on them leaning against the wall, but Blaise suddenly felt that he wanted to get out of here. He made a beeline for the doorway when -
"Miaow," purred a cat as it jumped out in front of his face, and padded softly to him, scratching at the hem of his cloak. Blaise realised, with a small gasp, that the cat had been lying on the ceiling - upside down! He shuddered. This place was odd... He tried to shake off the cat, but it just wouldn't let go. It was then that the shopkeeper hobbled in from the door behind the counter.
"Lad, wanna buy something?" he rasped, gray eyes fixed on Blaise's back with intensely. Blaise froze, then turned around with a forced smile plastered on his face.
"No thanks, sir, I was just, uh, checking this place out, you know." he stuttered. Mentally, he chided himself, Since when did a lame old man make you stutter? Get your nerve together! "Really, sir, I have to be going now."
"But you are interested, aren't you? I sell things that you have never seen, or dreamed, before. Things that you would desire if you knew what powers they had." The shopkeeper's voice dropped to a low, husky pitch. "I know your heart, boy. Look around and buy what you would like." He swept a vague hand over the shop.
Blaise was almost captivated by the shopkeeper. He was a stooped, hooded man; his hood covered most of his old, wrinkle-lined face, but two bright ruby eyes shone out of it, almost like a beacon in the darkness. And as the man swept his hand, Blaise could see a wrinkled claw portruding out from under the baggy sleeve of the robe - then it disappeared again. The man grinned toothily at Blaise.
Blaise tried to hide his eagerness as he walked around the shop with a slow, reluctant pace. He approached hungrily towards a broom. He was meaning to switch it with Potter's Firebolt, maybe - he doubted that any of the brooms here fly faster than a Firebolt - but as he grabbed the handle of the broom, he noticed a little tag on it.
"This broom would allow the flyer to become invisible for any amount of time," Blaise read the spidery handwriting, his eyes growing wider with each word. This must cost a fortune! He turned the tag around, but there was no price on it.
"That would be ten Galleons, lad," whispered a hoarse voice near his ear. Blaise nearly jumped out of his skin. Whirling around, he saw the creepy shopkeeper standing behind him, grinning at him again. Blaise forced his heart to stop pumping so hard and smiled forcefully back at the man. "That's cheap," he commented dryly, still wondering how the shopkeeper had limped towards him without making a sound that Blaise's sharp ears could pick up. He tucked the broom under his arm, thinking, I bet a million Galleons, old man, that this broom is phony.
However, now Blaise's interest was really aroused. He scanned the room a second time, his eyes lingering various objects of curiosity. There was a glove draped rather unceremoniously over the books. Don't tell me that a simple, Muggle's gardening glove could also have some magic power, Blaise thought, walking towards it, occasionally looking over his shoulder to check that the freaky shopkeeper was back at the counter already. As he drew near he noticed something different about the glove.
The glove's opening reached up to around his elbow, and had some weird runes around the fingers. The tag read, "This glove fits any hand like a second skin. It allows the wearer to phase through walls, or any solid object - right up to the elbow. It only can be pulled off by the wearer itself." Most queer, indeed. I'm starting to think that this shop is either crackpot, or a Dark Arts shop...
"That would be seven Galleons, young man," murmured the shopkeeper again, who had silently sidled up to where Blaise was standing. His ale breath tickled the hairs on Blaise's neck, and goosebumps rose all over him as he jumped sideways.
"Um. Right." he stammered, then accidentally knocked a pouch off the hook where it was hanging on the wall while he raised a hand to run his fingers through his hair - a gesture of his whenever he's nervous. "Oh - I'm sorry," he said, bending to pick up the furry drawstring pouch. He thought that the fur was a weird velvety kind of fur which he had never felt before - which was odd, as his dad was a enthusiastic hunter who brought all sorts of furry biting creatures from the wild, and also had a large collection of furs all around the house - carpets, tapestries, clothes - many of these were made from fur. But this one felt weird, even alive, under Blaise's touch. He shuddered, then read the tag: "You can steal anything your heart desires from this pouch. Just concentrate on it as you draw your item out." Steal? How do you steal something from a pouch? Blaise thought, rather confused.
This time, though, he was well aware of the shopkeeper coming up behind him and breathing down his neck, "That would cost you fifteen Galleons."
By now Blaise arms were full of the broomstick, the glove and the pouch. Quite an odd assortment of items.
The shopkeeper grabbed his arm suddenly, dragging him to a desolate corner. "I have a feeling you would like to look at this. It's a cheap nine Galleons," rasped the man, his claws digging into Blaise's tanned skin. The shopkeeper bent down and picked something up, then shoved it into Blaise's pile of goods. It appeared to be a flute, cut out from some sort of coarse white and hard material. Blaise angled his head to read what the tag said. "Anyone who can hear the curse of this beautiful music would pick up their legs and run - in a direction which they cannot control." A smirk spread across Blaise's face. He'd be sure to use this flute on his dormitory mates - especially Draco.
"What do these do?" said Blaise as he pointed at a couple of eyeballs in a jar, each with wildly colorful irises, that were staring spookily at him. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as the jelly-like things wobbled.
"Oh, those are just for pure gastronomical pleasure," explained the shopkeeper. "If you suck on them, your tongue, lips and teeth will turn the color of the irises. They glow in the dark." Awesome, thought Blaise, his smirk curling into something more like a snarl. He was starting to like this place - maybe one of these days he'd slip back and buy some more; this place was almost as good as Zonko's. He'd give some of these to Millicent and tell her that they were Gummy Eyeballs from Honeydukes. She'd believe any word he says.
Feeling rather weighed down by all the stuff he had in his arms, he decided to only buy these few things. He pulled out his large, jangly moneybag and began to count out the golden coins, when the funny-looking quill caught his eye again - as well as a vial of black powder. The tag on the quill (which he hadn't noticed before) read, "Write the full name of any two people, any gender, with a heart between the two names. Within a month they will fall madly in love with each other! Note: You can only use this for couples where at least one of them has a spark of love for the other." The tag on the vial said, "Pour a little bit of this powder on any non-living thing - corpses included - and it will come alive - for a limited amount of time - depending on the object. This vial of powder will never run out."
Most interesting.
Blaise made his purchases, then walked out of the shop while the shopkeeper stood at the door bowing, with the quill and the vial of black powder also in the large bag. Turning back into High Street, he saw Draco and Pansy coming towards him, and waved.
"Hey Blaise, buddy! Where have you been? We've been looking all over for you," grinned Draco, who was sucking gleefully on a Liquorice Wand.
"Oh, me? I was checking out the new shop that was just around that corner - here, let me show you -" Blaise turned back to where the shop was, pointing -
- to nothing. There was just the long stretch of road leading off to the far distance, beyond the boundaries of Hogsmeade.
Feeling confused, Blaise spluttered as Draco and Pansy laughed, "It really was there - a couple of minutes ago! Serious!"
But the two of them only clapped him on the back and said, "Nice joke, Blaise. I bet you've been wandering around the Shrieking Shack, or something. If you don't want to tell us your secret, we're cool. Come on, let's get back, or Mcgonagall would have a fit." Chuckling, the two of them tugged Blaise back to Hogwarts. But as Blaise cast one glance back, over his shoulder, he could swear he could see a hooded, stooped figure with two rubies glinting back at him in the far distance.