Chapter Two: The Shop of Wonders
There are several dialogue quotes taken from JK Rowling's Chamber of Secrets in this book. This is to convey the same story she wrote, but from another character's POV. The quotes taken directly from the book have three quotation marks (instead of two) around them to signify she wrote them and that I am citing them. Because I am transforming pieces of her work into something new this falls under the Fair Use Act. Additionally, JK Rowling has stated that she is okay with noncommercial fan fiction. All direct quotes, the Harry Potter storyline, and the characters all belong to JK Rowling.
One lovely Wednesday morning, a couple of weeks before the start of term, Draco woke up to a gentle knock on his door. "Come in," he called lazily, still tucked under his warm covers.
A small female house elf came in, holding a tray of food. "Master Draco," she said, setting down the tray at the end of his bed. "Your father expects you down in an hour to get your school things."
Draco's eyes widened, and he shot up in bed. "My- father?" he asked. "Are you sure? He never has time to do things with me."
The elf looked as if she wanted to say something in response, but thought better, and simply nodded. She then turned and left without saying anything else. Draco picked at his food, too nervous to eat much of anything. He put on the nicest of his casual outfits, and spent an extra twenty minutes slicking back his hair. He made sure to grab his list of school supplies before he walked out the door.
As Draco started down the stairs, he noticed his father already standing there looking about boredly. His heart skipped a beat. It really was his father, standing there, ready to go shopping with him. A part of him was anxious that maybe he would be in a bad mood, or have some ulterior motive. However, they were going out to a public place ,and it seemed as if for once he just wanted to spend time with Draco. Maybe they could turn over a new leaf, and work on their relationship.
"Good morning Father," said Draco happily.
"Draco," Lucius replied, and the two of them made their way to the fireplace.
"I-I'm happy you weren't too busy to take me to get my things," said Draco.
"Yes well, hopefully this won't take too long. In addition to getting your things I have a couple errands to run. We'll pick up your birthday present as well," said Lucius.
Draco couldn't help but grin. His birthday was months ago, and although he knew his father was a busy man, Draco was starting to think he had forgotten all together. "Listen carefully," said Lucius, jabbing Draco with his ornate snake head cane. "I'm getting you a broom far superior than Potter. This way you will have no excuse to not get on the house team. You will have no excuse to be beaten by Potter. And while we're having this conversation, I expect improvement in your class rank as well."
Lucius stepped into the fireplace, grabbed a handful of Floo Powder, and shouted Diagon Alley. Draco followed suit, and they ended up in a small shop. Draco talked his father's ear off about how unfair it was, the way people treated Potter, as they restocked on items for potions, and made a withdrawal from Gringotts. Lucius was growing more and more impatient with his chatty son who was not picking up on his father's annoyance.
Draco was so lost in his very one-sided conversation, that he didn't even notice that he was following Lucius out of the beautiful, energetic, Diagon Alley, and down the dark, creepy narrow road that was Knockturn Alley. "Wait Knockturn-" Draco said.
Lucius gave Draco a small wack on the back of the head with his cane. "I have had quite enough out of you," he said. "Stop embarrassing me with your mindless chatter, and get serious."
Lucius pulled Draco harshly by the arm, into a small antique shop called Borgin and Burkes. Immediately, Draco was overwhelmed by the beautiful items that stood before him. Curious, antiques lined the shelves, and were stacked in every bit of room available.
Draco spotted a large black cabinet that caught his eye. There was something about it that drew him to it. It felt... powerful. Draco couldn't explain it logically. It was as if it was radiating energy. He took a step towards it, hand outstretched.
"'Touch nothing, Draco,'" his father called to him lazily.
"'I thought you were going to buy me a present,'" said Draco, mesmerized by the beauty of the cabinet.
"'I said I would buy you a racing broom,'" Lucius answered icily.
Draco's face fell, and he could feel himself becoming moody. His father had neglected his birthday for months, and now his present came with stipulations. Sure, he wanted the broom more than anything, but not the pressure that came with it. It was like his father said, he would have no excuses not to be the best. It wasn't that he was scared of competition... but his father had quite a temper when Draco didn't live up to expectations.
"'What's the good of that if I'm not on the House team?'" said Draco. His father stared back at him with a cold blank expression, and immediately Draco felt the need remind his father of the favoritism that allowed certain students to succeed better than others. "'Harry Potter got a Nimbus Two Thousand last year. Special permission from Dumbledore so he could play for Gryffindor. He's not even that good, it's just because he's famous . . . famous for having a stupid scar on his forehead. . . .'" Draco continued to look at the various items on display, anything to avoid his father's gaze. "'. . . everyone thinks he's so smart, wonderful Potter with his scar and his broomstick —'"
"'You have told me this at least a dozen times already,'" Lucius spit through clenched teeth, clearly at his wits end with his son. "'And I would remind you that it is not — prudent — to appear less than fond of Harry Potter, not when most of our kind regard him as the hero who made the Dark Lord disappear — ah, Mr. Borgin.'"
Draco huffed, "not when most of our kind regard him as the hero." He understood what that meant. His father wanted him to get along with Harry so as to not raise suspicion to their family's... controversial views. "Easy for you to say. You've never seen what a prat he is," Draco mumbled under his breath.
"'Mr. Malfoy, what a pleasure to see you again,'" said Mr. Borgin, cheerily. "'Delighted — and young Master Malfoy, too — charmed. How may I be of assistance? I must show you, just in today, and very reasonably priced —'"
Lucius cut him off, raising a hand to stop his speech. "'I'm not buying today, Mr. Borgin, but selling,'"
"'Selling?'" Mr. Borgin gulped nervously.
"'You have heard, of course, that the Ministry is conducting more raids,'" Lucius answered. "'I have a few — ah — items at home that might embarrass me, if the Ministry were to call. . . .'" He reached into his pocket and pulled out some parchment for Mr. Borgin to read.
Draco pretended not to listen, as he continued to look around. However, he was soaking up every word, trying to understand what was going on.
"'The Ministry wouldn't presume to trouble you, sir, surely?'" Said Mr. Borgin.
"'I have not been visited yet. The name Malfoy still commands a certain respect, yet the Ministry grows ever more meddlesome.'" Lucius complained. "'There are rumors about a new Muggle Protection Act — no doubt that flea-bitten, Muggle-loving fool Arthur Weasley is behind it —and as you see, certain of these poisons might make it appear —'"
"'I understand, sir, of course,'" said Mr. Borgin. "'Let me see . . .'"
Draco noticed a small hand resting on a black velvet cushion. A small notecard resting against it that read, "For sneaking around." Draco remembered the adventures he had gone on last year, and decided that any item that would help him go undetected was worth having. "'Can I have that?'" he asked.
Lucius shot Draco a look to silence him, but Mr. Borgin was already coming out from behind the counter, eager to make a sale. "'Ah, the Hand of Glory!'" said Mr. Borgin, as he made his way towards Draco. "'Insert a candle and it gives light only to the holder! Best friend of thieves and plunderers!Your son has fine taste, sir.'"
"'I hope my son will amount to more than a thief or a plunderer, Borgin,'" Lucius sneered.
"'No offense, sir, no offense meant —'" Mr. Borgin quickly interjected, but Lucius continued on, slowly walking towards Draco.
"'Though if his grades don't pick up, that may indeed be all he is fit for —'" said Lucius, anger flashing in his eyes.
"'It's not my fault,'" Draco didn't know how to diffuse the situation, so he just tried to reason with his father. "'The teachers all have favorites, that Hermione Granger —'" Draco pleaded.
"'I would have thought you'd be ashamed that a girl of no wizard family beat you in every exam,'" Lucius snapped.
Draco felt himself growing hot with anger. The way his father spoke to him just made him feel so stupid and useless. Was he going to disgrace his family name considering a muggle born was beating him in every class? Logically Draco knew that the answer was no, but in moments like this it didn't feel that way.
"'It's the same all over,'" said Mr. Borgin, shaking his head. "'Wizard blood is counting for less everywhere —'"
"'Not with me,'" Lucius scoffed, glaring at Mr. Borgin for interrupting.
"'No, sir, nor with me, sir,'" said Mr. Borgin, bowing in apology.
"'In that case, perhaps we can return to my list,'" Lucius pressed firmly. "'I am in something of a hurry, Borgin, I have important business elsewhere today —'"
As Mr. Borgin and Lucius discussed prices, Draco made his way towards the large black cabinet, pausing to look at interesting items. He examined a beautiful opal necklace, and almost picked it up, but luckily read the card underneath it first. "'Caution: Do Not Touch. Cursed — Has Claimed the Lives ofNineteen Muggle Owners to Date.'"
Draco was now just a foot away from the cabinet. He held out his hand to turn the handle, when his father finally called, "'Done. Come, Draco —" Draco immediately walked back to the front of the store, not feeling that this would be a good time to push his luck and disobey his father.
"'Good day to you, Mr. Borgin. I'll expect you at the manor tomorrow to pick up the goods'" Lucius said before exiting the shop with Draco by his side. Lucius sneered at the drunken, and homeless wizards sitting in the gutter, as they made their way out of Knockturn Alley as quickly as possible.
For some reason, the sun didn't seem to shine in Knockturn Alley, and Draco felt considerably warmer now that he was back in Diagon Alley. Draco and Lucius made their way to the book shop, Flourish and Botts. "Have a look around. Grab your books," said Lucius. "I myself have some business to attend to."
Draco looked to his father for an explanation, but soon realized he wasn't going to get one. "Yes Father," he answered, and disappeared into the rows of books. Draco scanned his new list.
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk
Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart
Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart
Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart
Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart
Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart
"Why is this the first I am hearing of this Lockhart fool?" Draco muttered to himself. He was an avid reader, and was completely surprised he had not heard of such a hero. Clearly this Gilderoy Lockhart had done many wondrous things. However, as Draco looked at the publication dates of each of these books, he wondered how Lockhart had managed to do all this in such a short period of time.
After Draco had grabbed his new spell book, and the mass of Lockhart books, he continued grabbing things that looked like interesting reads from the shelves. Draco grabbed one that read Rare Mythological Beasts. He flipped through the pages lazily, trying to figure out how many he had already heard of. Suddenly, a particular creature caught his eye. A Basilisk.
Draco remembered back a couple months ago, when he was eavesdropping on his father's meeting. His dad had said "This is the key to the Chamber of Secrets. This will release the basilisk." And here was a page that told him exactly what a basilisk was.
"Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land,there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk,known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which mayreach gigantic size and live many hundreds of years, is bornfrom a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy,and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster,which is fatal to it" (Excerpt from JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets).
"Why would Hogwarts have a basilisk?" Draco thought, "How would Hogwarts hide one?" He was feeling a mixture of confusion and anxiety, when he heard his father call his name. Draco panicked and ripped the page out of the book, folding it neatly and putting it in his pocket to reference later.
Draco waded through the crowds of people. At this point the book shop was completely packed full of witches and wizards. "What the hell is going on?" Asked Draco.
Lucius rolled his eyes. "Not very observant are we?" He asked, pointing to a sign that read "'GILDEROY LOCKHART will be signing copies of his autobiography MAGICAL ME today 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.'"
"He wrote almost our entire booklist this year!" Draco scoffed in disbelief. "I've never even heard of him before."
"You better learn fast," Lucius remarked. "He will be your new defense against the dark arts professor."
Draco picked up a copy of Lockhart's autobiography, and turned it over to see his photograph waving to him and smiling profusely. Suddenly, the room roared with claps and gaps. Draco looked up to see the man from the book just coming out from the back room. His wavy blonde hair held an off set wizard hat. His bright blue robes stood out profusely amongst the crowd.
Photographers pushed and shoved each other to get the best shot, while reporters shouted out questions. Draco rolled his eyes, as he saw practically every woman in the room swooning over this flamboyant man who clearly loved the attention.
If there was any hope of Draco coming to like Lockhart, it was completely extinguished when he jumped up and shouted, "'It can't be Harry Potter?'" Lockhart ran to the crowd and grabbed Potter by the arm, pulling him in front of the cameras and reporters. "'Nice big smile, Harry. Together, you and I are worth the front page.'"
Draco scoffed, and folded his arms angrily. Of course, Saint Potter would always get the attention, regardless of the situation. Draco was quite sure that Potter was loving it. That he was just as arrogant and egotistical as Lockhart. Draco had despised Harry from the moment he had refused to be his friend, but now it seemed that Harry had lost any dignity he had.
"'Ladies and gentlemen,'" shouted Lockhart. "'What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time! When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography — which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge — He had no idea,'" Lockhart said, vigorously shaking Harry's hand, "'that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book,Magical Me. He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!'"
"'As a school governor, I can't believe you let this happen," Draco muttered to his father in disbelief.
"It doesn't matter how influential I am when no one else would consider taking the position," Lucius answered coldly. "Professor Quirrell's... complications were not the best advertising."
Potter shuffled through the crowd with his large stack of books, and passed them off to a tattered looking red head girl to hold. "Using the Weasleys as servants, are we Potter?" Draco thought to himself, as he made his way over to him.
"'Famous Harry Potter,'" Draco called, trying his best not to sound jealous. "'Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page.'"
"'Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!'" Said the red head girl, glaring at him.
"'Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend!'" Draco said, smugly. He watched the girl's entire face turn bright red. Tears of embarrassment started to form in her eyes.
"'Oh, it's you,'" said Ron, as he waded through the crowd to defend Harry and his sister. "'Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?'" Draco saw the smug little smile on Ron's face, and knew he had to wipe it off.
"'Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley,'" Draco refuted, cooly. "'I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those.'"
Ron's face blushed redder than his sister's and he dropped his books in her cauldron, looking as if he was ready for a fight.
"'Ron!'" Mr. Weasley shouted, trying to diffuse the situation."'What are you doing? It's too crowded in here, let's go outside.'"
At that moment, Lucius came up behind Draco, putting a hand on his shoulder to keep him in place. "'Well, well, well — Arthur Weasley,'" he smirked.
"'Lucius,'" Mr. Weasley answered, avoiding eye contact.
"'Busy time at the Ministry, I hear,'" Lucius asked in a tone of false innocence. "'All those raids . . . I hope they're paying you overtime?'"
He reached into the girl's cauldron and pulled out one of her tattered, second hand books. "'Obviously not,'" Lucius said smugly. "'Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?'"
"'We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy,'" Arthur answered, his anger growing.
"'Clearly,'" Said Lucius, looking at the muggle born Granger girl and her parents. "'The company you keep, Weasley . . . and I thought your family could sink no lower —'"
All of a sudden, Mr. Weasley threw himself at Lucius, throwing him back into a bookshelf. Books came down with large thuds, and Lucius was hit with several. Draco's eyes grew wide, and he ran to help his father. Several wizards screamed, and Lockhart's assistant shouted, "'Gentlemen, please — please! Break it up, there, gents, break it up —'"
Mr. Weasley was still on top of Lucius, and Lucius fought back by punching him square in the jaw. Luckily, Hogwart's groundskeeper Hagrid saw the commotion and threw himself between the two men, breaking them up.
In the commotion of everything, Draco saw his father slip the small journal into the Weasley girl's cauldron. Draco may have only seen it once before through a key hole, but he immediately recognized it as the book from the meeting. His father had claimed that this book was the key to the chamber of secrets, which would unlock the basilisk. Draco was now left to wonder what the chamber of secrets was, and why his father wanted a Weasley to have the key.
"'Here, girl — take your book — it's the best your father can give you —'" Lucius snapped, handing her back the tattered book he had taken from her cauldron earlier. He then pulled Draco out of the shop, by the arm.
"Why did you give the Weasley girl the journal?" Draco asked.
Lucius pushed Draco against the wall of a nearby building, "Lower your voice," he murmured. "That is not your business. Your job is to do exactly what I say, and not ask questions. Do I make myself clear?" Lucius asked through clenched teeth.
"Yes Father," Draco answered.
"Good," Lucius said, releasing his grip on Draco. "In that case you should be rewarded. Come, let's get your broom."