Chapter 10

Sirius walked along the Diagon Alley purposefully. He had made some changes to his routine lately. He started to go about some of his errands personally, instead of sending the house-elves everywhere, as he had become accustomed to.

It was a direct result of some of the observations he made about his habits. He had become progressively more and more self-absorbed in these last few months. He always felt in a rush, and as a result, acted somewhat curt towards other people. He probably came on as dismissive and disrespectful or worse. Frank Longbottom even remarked how Sirius seemed really busy, which was probably a way of politely asking why he was brushing them off.

While Sirius did not particularly care about some random people's opinions, he was concerned about having the same attitude towards his loved ones and friends. If he was like that subconsciously to his friends, how long would it take before he started to act the same way towards his family if this continued? So far it had not been a problem, he always loved spending time with them and it felt like a welcome break. But he did catch himself thinking about what he would do later or even checking how long it would be until he could get back to his research, especially when he was particularly invested in it.

Beyond that, it could really affect the political connections he was establishing for himself. Appearances were quite important in the Wizengamot and his lack of interest could seriously come to bite him in the ass with some people. If they felt he had no respect for them and their time it was unlikely they would just let it slide. Nor should they, really.

But it was not an issue that could be solved by simply forcing himself to be nicer to people. At the root of the problem was his mindset. Since when did it become a chore to go talk to a friend about something? Why was he so focused on his objectives, pursuing them every hour of every day, leaving no time for finer things in life? Was his progress really worth such dedication in the long run? He could not find a good justification for acting this way.

And so here he was. Taking some time away from the 'grind', as he began to call it in his mind, trying to make it a habit to spend at least some time outside each day. Immersed in his goal to not get complacent, he went to fat in the opposite direction. Sirius became so focused on those things that he lost sight of what was the initial purpose of it all.

Now that he had accomplished so much in such a short period of time it was probably a good idea to take a step back for a while. He made up his mind. He would only train magically at night, for a maximum of 6 hours a day. He still felt it was a waste of time, but he needed to re-learn to prioritize other things over magical research. Every time doubts struck him, he reminded himself of two people in particular.

Dumbledore. At first glance, he was a role model for everyone and possibly one of the greatest wizards of all time. But when you looked closer you saw an overworked old man, who never got a chance to start a family, instead ending up trapped in a seemingly endless pursuit of power and control. Now, as someone nearing the end of his life, he had many accomplishments to his name. But he became so focused on the big picture that he did not even stop to think about what was right and wrong in the particular situation. Always looking at the long-term consequences for the world and society at large he stopped caring about individuals. All that with no real personal life to speak of, no doubt finding that not many shared his perspective.

The other one was his own grandfather Arcturus, overall a commendable man - a war veteran and one of the best-connected men in Europe. A powerful wizard, always holding himself to a certain standard and sticking to his convictions. He managed to keep a tight leash on the family till his death. Then it all unraveled, showing how great his effort must have been to keep it together. But despite all that he was never really close to anyone, at least to the best of Sirius' knowledge. His wife died young and even then it was an arranged marriage. His other family certainly did not hold much affection for him, despite all he had done for them.

Sirius feared that he was heading down that road himself. And so he resolutely limited the time he spend on his own and find some other pastimes that would ideally have him interacting with people more.

He veered off the main path of Diagon Alley, taking a turn towards Knockturn Alley. His objective was just on the corner of the two, a botanic shop. It obviously offered a wide variety of magical plants, but what was particular about this shop was that most of these were of questionable purpose, at best. They were all dangerous in some shape or form.

It was clear to Sirius that the shop was meant for a very particular clientele. He suspected that a very small group of patrons was responsible for nearly all the income, and the owner's attitude corroborated that assumption. The old man by the name of Povetkin was beyond abrasive and outright refused to sell some of the things on display to Sirius. He was sure that the shop offered some straight-up illegal stuff, but he had no way of accessing those goods. Yet.

The reason why Sirius kept coming back here went beyond his interest in the plants there. He took an inordinate amount of joy in harassing the old man. He was reluctant to throw Sirius out, probably wanting to protect the front of this just being a regular shop. He knew who Sirius was and was undoubtedly aware of how much trouble his complaint would cause.

Entering, Sirius greeted the man with a cheerful wave. "Hey man, how you doing? You got any new stuff for me?"

The old man groaned before looking up from his book.

"What do you want now. You've been coming here over and over for the last couple of weeks." He ground out. "Nothing changed since the last time you've been here, those are not for sale."

Sirius was looking over a vine imported from South America, the name of which roughly translated to 'death vine'. From what he heard it was named quite aptly, as it was known to have caused quite a few of those. It was one of many 'living' plants that preyed on animals and people. It was strong, fast and its thorns were highly poisonous. But what made this one special was something else. It was highly resistant to most types of magic - even the strongest cutting curse would barely leave a scratch. Its only known weakness was highly magical flames and even then the vines did not catch fire, but rather the flame was absorbed by the plant as it slowly withered. It could grow to dozens of meters in length and around a meter in circumference. That area would then basically become off-limits and only a huge expedition of wizards could hope to wipe it out.

Sirius wanted to try and plant it on some of his properties. He obviously wouldn't just let it grow randomly. He had some ideas on how to use a runic stone to basically imitate what was done with Whomping Willow at Hogwarts. With a way to turn it off, there was virtually no downside to planting it in strategic positions. Sirius did not think there would be any real use for them right now, as he did not envision a full-out siege any time soon, but he just found the very idea too cool to resist.

There were a couple of others that caught his eye. For example, a plant that basically shot poisonous splinters at high speeds at any moving target within a certain distance or one that turned the ground around itself into a mud-like liquid, making people sink rapidly. Sirius had no idea how that worked but was excited to find out.

He suspected at least some of those plants were not results of natural evolution, but rather a spawn of some mad mage's experiments. Splicing genetic material of different plants and animals together had been possible in the magical world for hundreds of years. The fact that it was highly illegal would only spur some people on, rather than discourage them. Even the fact that it often resulted in the gruesome death or disfigurement of the wizard in question after his experiments turned out a little too well seemed to not be much of a determent.

"Just give me a sample of each and I'll have no reason to bother you again. It doesn't even have to be much." Sirius genuinely wasn't able to find any other source of those plants. "Come on. What's the harm."

"Those are already ordered and paid for." He could see Povetkin twitching, but his resolve did not appear any closer to cracking. While riling the old man up was fun, he actually wanted to get those plants, so he decided to press him a bit.

"Hmm, I suppose I have no choice, but to look elsewhere." Sirius sighed, but before the old man could process the sudden turn of his attitude he continued. "I'll ask in the department of magical regulations, they probably keep a record of where things like that are sold. I didn't want to trouble them, but hopefully, they will be willing to help."

When he made to leave the old man called after him. "Fine, fine. I guess you could have a little sample for the right price. Call it my loss." Sweat started to form on his temples almost instantly at the mention of the office.

"That's nice. You have been very accommodating so far. I'm sure your prices will be more than fair."

The man's face immediately turned back into a scowl, which seemed to be its default setting. The beads of sweat that had just been rolling down his face seemed to evaporate magically, as rage overcame his forced subservience. Sirius grinned at him, enjoying the way the veins popped on the guy's forehead at the 'praise'.

END