Chapter 3: The Paw Shop
Words: 3,834
Recap: The hellish camp training would have been enough to impress Hades himself. It was only thanks to the lovely hospitality from Molly Weasley and her kid, Bill. Not Fabian though, he's a pain in the butt throughout the weeks.
"Alright people, that's a wrap, we're done training."
At Captain's blissful announcement, it didn't matter how high we were, we simultaneously thought Down and let gravity take us to earth's embrace. I wouldn't even notice if Gaea woke up and swallowed me whole, that's how exhausted I was.
To make matters better, it was the last day of training because it's time for us to go to Diagon Alley and packed this semester's books. I think it's the first for everyone to be this excited about going to school.
We thanked Molly and Arthur, Molly's husband, who kindly lent us their backyard for training. They've been a good host for us, and it was nice having Molly fussed over all of us. Arthur had been a different kind of fun, questioning every kind of muggle inventions he had in mind, about muggle rules and norms. When you think he's just an eccentric wizard working-husband he'd snuck me to his garage before curfew, discussing new ways to implement magic and technology without the two backlashing one another without his wife knowing.
We got along really well by that point.
Surprisingly, the hardest part of the day was having to force Bill from latching to my leg.
"Bill! Let go of Percy!"
"No!" He squeezed my leg harder.
"William Weasley!"
"No, no, no, no! Pe'cy don' go! Pe'cy don' go!"
"What are we, chopped liver?" Gideon grumbled.
"Ignored, by our own flesh and blood for a fake ginger," Fabian moaned.
I shot a glare at the twins, who smiled "innocently" back. Those two usually waste their time messing each other, once they have a united target, their combo play just double their annoyance rate.
Looking back at the teary-eyed baby, I sighed and lifted him up by the armpits. "Hey, Billy. I know you don't want me to go but do you think I can ask you a favor?"
"Favo'?"
"Yup. I'm going off to fight an evil witch hidden inside the school who plans to spread her wickedness."
He gasped. as shocked as any 3-year-old would, "Eveel Wi'ch!"
"Yeah, I need to go to school to fight her but to do that, I need your help."
"Want to help Pe'cy!"
"Really? Awesome! So here's what I need you to do." I dug through my pocket, found a pouch where I put in… well... almost everything in it and practically searched through anything I can make use, no matter how random, until I pulled out a purple gem. A gem I had forgotten about. A gem I had mysteriously received from a nymph in the Black Lake in my first year. "This is a… secret powerful gem the Evil Witch wants, can I trust you and hide it for me?"
"Yes!" He jumped enthusiastically. He took the gem from my hand. It was only when he was out of sight did my action dawned on me.
I shouldn't let a mysterious magic item in the hands of a kid, shouldn't I?
I was half-way of raising my hand, my second thoughts at the tip of my tongue when the boy was already on the run, going deeper into the house to hide it.
Dear gods, please don't let this bite me in the butt.
One by one, we each used the floo to send us to Diagon Alley. We ended up in a hubbub for the Floo Channel near Gringots. It was easier at that point to spot Lily with her father where we promised to meet. I was standing already standing beside her, but she gave me no reaction until she really took a good look at my face and met my signature sea-green eyes that rarely anyone has.
She waited for no cue before she leaped into a hug for me. "Miss me that much?"
"You know I do." She grinned widely at me, and her eyes gestured to my hair, "What happened?"
"Got caught up in an accidental magic from a toddler. Be honest, does it suit me?"
She scoffed amusingly and didn't answer me while she pulled her wand and charmed my head back to its original color. Putting out my chance of being ginger and I pouted. Lily then looked around, eyes searching for someone, "Where's Sev?"
"I don't know, we promised to meet up by the bank." While we waited, Mr. Evans gave an amiable talk with my team. Especially Marlene, having forgone her strict mask and back to her polite yet cheery self.
Turns out, we didn't need to wait long before Sev tapped us from behind and greeted us with a smile. Lily promptly pulled him into a hug. "I'm surprised you could spot us in a crowd like this."
"It's not entirely difficult to find red hair as bright as yours, Lily. It's one of a kind."
Our friend blushed from the compliment while I looked affronted.
"And what? So you weren't even trying to search for me?"
"Hello Percy, I'm shocked you have your head intact, much less finding your way around." He greeted with the deadest deadpanned tone he could muster, but there's no hiding the slight curved of his lips.
I mockingly gasp, and clutch my chest like I was in distress, "Ouch, harsh, but fair."
We were off buying everything needed for our third semester. Just when we're about done, Sev tugged on our hands and said, "There's something I want to show you guys." So after persuading Mr. Evans to take a break, believing we could handle ourselves. Sev eagerly had us follow him. At first, we were excited just like him, but then he took us into a really dark, really dingy, really suspicious alley that you don't often see kids like us running through. Street vendors and shops clustered together. The alley was tight enough there was barely any room for the sun to shine from above, making the street dim despite being in the middle of the say. The beggars and creepy-looking signs really didn't help the image, but the window shop that showcased the bone ash of a magical beast I couldn't name, Hate Potions on sale that would work the opposite a Love Potion could, and charmed black pearls that supposedly could let you get away with murder without getting caught.
"Severus, where are we?"
My question was ignored, which prompted me glaring at the back of his head. I knew I made him nervous with the cold sweat running on his head.
"Severus…"
"Alright, alright, I'll tell you, but after I show you this place I found. Trust me, it's nothing bad… technically speaking."
Lily raised an eyebrow, unimpressed, "And in what-speaking do you find it bad?"
"...legally speaking."
"Severus!" Lily cried, scandalously.
"Honest, it's not actually that bad! Look, Lily, Percy, do you really think I would bring you guys to anything I deem remotely dangerous?"
Our silent glare was telling enough.
"...I meant purposely."
I sighed, "Fine, what did you want to show us?"
He gave us one of those rarely given delighted grins and took us further and further deeper into the alley until we reached the end of the line. At first glance, you would think there's nothing but a brick wall, and I thought it might lead to another secret entrance. But then Severus pointed to a hole at the left corner embedded on the wall.
An actual hole that screams shady, like it might lead us to a sewer where a giant mutant crocodile is waiting to get some fresh human meat. That kind of creepy hole. It was also small enough that we needed to hunched our way in. Had we been adults, we might possibly need to crawl.
Inside the hole was a wooden door not unlike a hobbit nest. If the hobbit was even more of a recluse than Bimbo. There was a hanging sign above it, written in a horrible scrawl in marker, instead of wizard's usual quill-used calligraphy, were the words Paw Shop. It gave me the image of a stinky room withheld varieties of magic animals being caged and ready to be adopted. I just hoped those animals aren't ones that count as one of their menus.
"You have no idea how surprised I was finding this in a place like Knockturn Alley," Sev told us.
"Knockturn Alley... I wonder why I'm not surprised by its name."
"How do you even know this place, Sev?"Lily asked him, the edge on concern sipping in her tone.
"...Okay, so my friends from Slytherin decided to visit the area once we were done hanging out for… err… stuff…"
I remembered spotting a street vendor, yelling out to buy Unicorn Blood for half a price, then met Severus' eyes with my own, raising an unconvinced eyebrow, "Stuff, huh?"
"Yeah… stuff..."
He opened the wooden door, cueing the classic doorbell from above, and ushered us in. Whatever Lily and me were expecting, it sure as Styx wasn't what I was seeing.
"Oh my gosh, these are all muggle items!" Lily cheered at the sight.
And it was exactly as Lily said, there were rows and rows of shelved muggle items; retro glasses behind a display cabinet as if it were a deluxe items, skateboards painted with stereotypical hipster-style pics that hung on the ceilings, vintage electric guitar on a glass counter, and even an arcade game at one corner. There was barely any place for us to walk in with clothes, toys, and other muggle-theme appliances in your everyday household being stacked up one another. Everything in the room is all mixed without a match. And while it's a surprise to find a shop that sold muggle things for sorcerers, that's not what fascinated us the most.
At one shelf, you'll find a music box with a literal dancing ballerina in tune with the music fur elise, in another, you can find disco balls that reflected constellations in colors, sneakers that automatically tied its own laces, and microwave that has pictures of food on its button rather than functions.
Overall, if you ignore the weird magic stuff, it looks like a messy but regular paw—"Wait a minute, was the store supposed to be called Pawn Shop?" I couldn't help the ridiculous chuckle that bubbled out.
Sev smirked, "The owner probably saw the muggle shop and thought the name was close enough."
Ooh, that's rich! I couldn't help giggling at the thought.
"But this is amazing," Lily eyes wide and glittered with amazement, "It's like one of those magic toy stores you see in movies."
I picked up a record player that has the words Point at record and chant 'Play' on the disk cover.
"Severus," Lily paused, finding something off about the store, "You said this place is not exactly good? Why is that?"
Sev's smile fell, and wasn't quite forthcoming for a while before giving in, "Right, so you might have noticed that this place we're in doesn't sell much, strictly, legal magic items."
"You don't say."
"Shut up or don't sass out, Percy. I admit most items sold in this particular alley here are dark magic; cursed, jinxed, and all that. But just because it's illegal, doesn't mean it has to be all dark magic. Charming muggle stuff is illegal since muggles can easily mistake them for normal items and accidentally witnessing magic. You can find interesting stuff as a result here."
"I'm surprised you haven't bought one dark item for curiosity's sake." He said nothing, and suspiciously avoiding my eyes. "Se...ve...rus..."
"What? It was a simple jinx item, and it only caused the owner to get a nosebleed. It's harmless."
"Until they actually harm you. Severus, don't you know it's called dark magic for a reason?!" Lily scolded him, but not even her disapproval deterred him.
"No, I don't. And frankly, from what I read, not many do. All we know about dark magic other than negative effects, like curses, is that it basically has no rhyme and reason in how they're used. Nobody knows exactly how they work, especially jinxes. Just look at the DADA position, it's an open secret that it's being jinx but the effect is so random yet with reasonable cause that even sorcerers deem it superstitious at best."
Severus sounded so passionate about dark magic as any scholar would, I felt bad not having the heart to fully support him. To worry just how dangerous the magic that wizarding world dubbed as "dark".
"Not that I don't want to discourage your scientific-magical adventure, but might you be a tad bit obsessed?"
Sev scoffed, trying to brush my worries away, "It's fine, I know what I'm doing, Percy. At least I didn't buy the blatant cursed doll with looks that can kill in your sleep, unlike some people."
I have a feeling I know who these "some people" is.
Our conversation had to be cut when the back door opened or at least tried too. There were stacked boxes that made it hard for the man to open, and we spent around 30 seconds of him trying to fully open the door and forcibly trying to wedge himself in. Once in, I found that he's one of the most odd-looking people; he had a maroon top hat that looked out of place with his red robe over his black suit, complete with a bow tie. As if trying and failing to fuse a wizard and magician clothing into a reasonable fashion.
The man gaped, revealing his buck teeth, supposedly surprised to find customers in his 'humble' establishment.
"Welcome, welcome, thank you for coming—" He tripped and crashed into his merchandise, making us winced at the harsh dropping sound at the pile of junk. He quickly got up and brushed the dust off him, "—to Maglemine's Paw Shop! Where muggle and wizard never stray far. I'm Johnny Maglemine if you hadn't already known." He had his elbow resting on the shelf, but that must have been an old cupboard because it immediately fell apart and the whole merchandise dropped.
The owner looked awkwardly between us and his items before playing it off like it's an everyday thing. "What can I do for you?"
"We're just browsing," Severus answered for us.
"Ah, browse, yes, browsing, then I recommend…" he grabbed an, honest to gods, iconic Elvis Presley jacket, "The changeling jacket, you just twirl around and pop it changed color and motifs." He did exactly that and the white pristine white to a really bright rainbow marred checkered jacket that even the LGBT people would feel nauseated wearing it. "Although it may come out randomly, you will never have to buy any other jacket once you have this."
"That's… nice…" Lily tried to sound interested but it was painfully faux to my ear.
"You really think so?" It must have gone over Mr. Maglemine's head because he started brightening up so badly, we were getting uncomfortable with leaving without buying anything.
"Err… yeah… Oh! What's this do?" I picked up a fire extinguisher and thought, what the heck, this might be funny.
"Interesting choice, my young lad. That is, in fact, an item that could blow out a blizzard-like wind. Muggles do have wild ideas, don't they? Now I modified it to bring about snow in its surroundings."
"This is a fire extinguisher though."
Mr. Maglemine barked out in laughter as if I had just said the funniest thing the whole day, "Oh, you're misinformed, child. But not to worry because I know everything there is to know about muggles."
Lily picked up a black tube-like tumblr that looks kind of, exactly, like a thermos.
"Ah, good eye, Miss. That's a specially-charmed tube so you can keep hot or iced water without having it chilled or heated for an extended amount of time."
"It's a thermos. That's what thermos do."
"Close, but you pronounced it wrong, it's called thermastare."
Lily and I exchanged silent words before turning back to Severus, who was raising his hands in surrender, "I did say this isn't a legitimate business."
. . .
We were done shopping for school and we used our spare time walking around London and taking in the scenery, unlike the few times we were here. We took a walk around Central Park, taking pictures of Big Ben (Getting Severus to do stupid poses was so worth the hex he promised), and took a ride in London's eye. We were on our way to Baker Street for the Sherlock Holmes Museum that Severus was adamant to visit. We had to take a raincheck for the last one when we were halted.
"It's you!"
I turned from the sudden shrill voice, and a teenage girl — probably 18 — with bushy hair was pointing at me accusingly with a triumph glare. She looked familiar, but still, I glanced around to see if she was pointing to anyone else. But that thought was quickly brushed off as she stomped over to my side.
"You!"
"Me, and you?"
"What are you?"
"That's rude. Don't you know you can't just ask people what they are? What if they're not ready to come out of the closet yet?"
"Don't play coy with me, kid. I know what I saw last time wasn't… wasn't normal, and it's been driving me up the walls for a year!"
"Percy, what is she talking about?" Lily glanced in concern while Sev had a suspicious look on him.
"Nothing important, let's go!" I said, brushing her off with a quick walk away with two of my friends. I shouldn't be surprised that she followed me anyway.
"I know what I saw. You with your sword and talking dogs. There's no way I made that up."
Lily and Sev looked pointedly at me, but I kept pushing them onward, "No idea what you're talking about.
"Yes, you do. I know what I saw," she (what was her name again? Harmonica?) kept insisting.
"Look, Miss," Severus started with an open hand gesture, "I don't know what you had seen but maybe it's best you go and talk with someone and get help. Your hallucination is none of our business—"
"I AM NOT CRAZY!" She yelled, so loudly, almost everyone on the block turned to the source in worry. But none was as shocked and stunned as us while being faced with a girl failing to hold back her tears. If the scream wasn't enough to cause worry, the sight of a teenage girl crying in front of a bunch of kids certainly does.
"I'm, I'm not, people think I am but I know what I saw. I know what I saw. Just stop, stop with the lies and the act. Tell me the truth. Tell me I'm not insane."
The tears broke in full force and Lily was there, tip-toed, trying to wipe her wet face. "Okay, okay, we'll tell you, please stop crying."
"Lils!" Sev cried, "Are you mad—?"
"Save it!" She cut him off, "We're telling."
Fifteen minutes later, we were sitting in a quaint-looking cafe and bought ourselves tea and cakes. The drinks were halfway downed but it was cooled enough that it tasted more of leafy-juice rather than actual tea. The girl, Monica Wales, had calmed down significantly, but she was silent from being dumbstruck by the information dump we've given her.
"So to summarize," she began pointing at me, "You're cursed to have monsters running at you as their favorite meal and you two are, what? Wizards? Actual wizards with pointy hats and wands? Seriously?"
"Hey, you asked us for answers. Not our fault you don't like it."
"Because none of what you're saying makes any sense. I mean, magic?!" She burst out an incredulous laugh, "Really? You expect to shove that through my throat and expect me to believe all of it?"
Sev had turned into a shade of red, and I had to hold his arm back just to remind him to keep his cool. "No, we don't expect anything from you so if we're done humoring your tiny-shred of sanity by ridiculing us. So if you're done, we'll be leaving." Severus stood first, and we were about to follow his lead too.
Monica stood before us and held out an arm to block us, "Wait, wait, wait! Don't go! You haven't explained anything."
"On the contrary, we've explained enough," Sev sneered.
"Then prove it to me! You can't just say all these… things… and expect me to believe it just like that."
"Actually, it'd be convenient if you don't. Fewer complications that way."
"Severus…" Lily chided him before facing back to the mortal muggle, "Look, we can't prove anything to you. There's actually a law of underage magic in front of a mug—normal people."
Instead of dissuading her, Monica's eyes widen at a particular word. "Law? There's a magic law. You mean the government knows this?!"
"Err…" Lily turned to Severus, not knowing what to say and left it to the expert in all things magical.
Severus, in response, rolled his eyes, "Yes, the government is aware of our existence. More precisely, the Prime Minister and the Royal Family. Though they don't govern us, that's what the ministry is for."
"Wait, you have your own ministry? Bloody hell?!" Monica sat back down. Her face stuck in a permanent expression like she's halfway choking. The shock made me worried enough to sit next to her and put a comforting pat on her shoulder.
"So, do you believe us?"
She looked down at me then to my two friends and back. Her mouth can't seem to decide whether to gawk or close. "I…I…" she hesitantly started, "I can't. I can't believe this. There's no such thing as magic, or curse, or monster, and...and even if I start believing... that would make me crazy. And I'm not. I'm not crazy. I know I'm not. I'm not crazy, am I?"
She sounded like she was trying to convince herself more and was on the verge of tears. It occurred to me that she was afraid. Afraid of the world she couldn't understand but only she could see, making her doubt what she is seeing and what she believes. I had to remind myself that between my mom and Rachel, their reaction wasn't normal, they were the outlier. I breathed out aloud before taking pity on her. I pulled out my favorite pen and uncapped it. Right in front of her so there's no mistaking her watching the shift between an ordinary pen into a full-blown sword.
This time her shock had her breath hitched, but I barely heard it over the outcry of my name from my two friends. "Relax, you both know it's charmed to put a glamour from any other muggle."
"Yeah, and that glamour seemed to glitch around her so put it away!" Sev hissed in warning.
I was about to just to soothe his worry, but then Monica stretched out her hand and warily but gently put her hand against the cold metal as if it might come alive and bite her. We watched in rapt attention at how she reacted this time. A smile broke through her lips, and she looked halfway to bursting out into laughter but caught herself and turned to a snort.
Then softly, with unreserved awe, she said, "It's true. It's all true."
AN: So, one thing I forgot to explain in my last Author Note. When I wrote Marlene, I was thinking of what Hufflepuff trait I want to showcase that would make her a great leader but still screams HUFFLEPUFF. Because while there are great Hufflepuff characters in HP, they're great because of who they are or their position like Amelia Bones, and doesn't show how amazing Hufflepuff traits are other than they're nice. And while nice is good, but in stories, nice is boring. In fact, most of the Just and loyal traits are more shown by the Golden Trio, which doesn't make them the house any more special. I wish there was a character like Luna Lovegood, who showed how Ravenclaw she can be by looking at things differently than others and make us love her for it. So when I wrote Marlene, my first thought was 'Hard-working' and then I thought, how hard working can someone be to the point of comical? And my next thought was Military Style, and thus the Annual Hufflepuff Quidditch Training Camp was born.
I don't know why I'm explaining with this much details but I have FEELS, okay?! There need to be more Hufflepuff Characters that embodies their traits and not come off as boring or generic!
Also, in this chapter, I figured since charmed muggle items are banned, It's not weird for a store to sell them illegally the same reason why there's still shop illegally selling dark items. But since it's a muggle-based shop in the middle of a dark-based district, it's only fair for it to be at the end of the alley, hidden obscure like a hobbit hole.
Next chapter we'll introduce the new DADA Professor! I'll give you a hint, the character has been introduced in the PJO Universe. In fact, if any of you can guess right who it is, I will post not one, but TWO CHAPTERS! That's how confident I am that y'all can't guess who it is.
Go on, challenge me, I dare you.
And now for the QR&A
dauntlessofthesea: I know! Bill's antic was inspired by my fellow 3-year-old nephew. He's a little hellion, and I can only imagine the trouble when you take your eyes of him for one second and has magic to boot. Bill is the embodiment of that nightmare you can't help but fear as well as love.
Patolemus: I love Marlene's Seargent Mode as well! We need more dynamic Hufflepuff Character and this is my answer to that personal challenge of mine. Bill is a kid in this time period and I couldn't resist putting someone precious in the chapter. That, and for the plot. I want Percy to be Bill's inspiration, someone in the Weasley Family deserves to see him as a childhood hero. The same was we might have seen him as a child when we read PJO. You can guess how Severus know a lot about Knockturn Alley in this chapter.
Folkluz21: Yo hablo poco espanol. It's thanks to a friend of mine, who lives in Mexico, that makes me want to learn Spanish, though I did ask her for the Spanish sentence from before. Both of you are enthusiastically invested in my story and push the right buttons to make me blush like a tomato from all your gushing, I can honestly say I look forward to both of your reviews and keeps me inspired to write more (That, and I can imagine both of you getting along too well in my head.) Always, double-check and copy-paste your comment in ffn. It happens sometimes to me too so that's what I do, especially if it's a long comment. Did you love this chapter too? Which one's your fav scene?
DreamCatcher06: OMG, thank you so much. Your review gives me blush. I'm glad you love how I brought my character to life. I just want people to enjoy my story the same way I enjoy both PJO and HP that is less likely to bore you with the same old troupe. Dark!Percy will come out more in the future.I love jow you love my Golden Trio. I love them so much that I want them happy, yet a part of me wants to make them suffer to make things interesting. It's a dilemma.
64Felicity: Thank you so much! I see you have a soft spot for Domestic and Fluff. I knew Bill was a kid by this time period and couldn't resist pulling him in for my story. Someone has to inspire his Adventure Lust. And of course, I remind Readers of Estelle, Percy is going to be a great Big Brother and it needs a reminder in this story.
Harrison: You know... I thought it was going to be another Trump Joke Bash, but then you started roasting the gods instead and I want to applaud for you for that.
Stjinbus: Great eye for detail, but you forget that Circe had pulled off necromancy on the basilisk and Percy used the same Gryffindor Sword to cut its head off, rendering the dark magic useless while Harry used Riptide to cut the arm of the goddess. Not only did that manage to absorb the Basilisk's poison (magic bullshit, man, it can explain anything) I want to showcase how these two heroes we know and love go against each other's enemy, working together in tandem without ever knowing about each other. And if you're still not convinced, well... that sword lived for a 1000 years, I'm pretty sure it killed a lot of dangerous Basilisk-class beast to get its reputation.
And yes, there'll be moments where more and more Dark!Percy will come out to play. I forgot even before Tartarus, Percy's anger issue has always been dangerous, thanks for reminding me. Thank you for your nice comment, though go eaSEA on me. I have a guilty pleasure for bad puns.
