Wild cards
Chapter 08
…
Be it ever so gloomy there's no place like Knockturn Alley.
After his adventure in Tintern Alley, in which he'd helped set fire to Tintern Alley, he decided to play it safe and expand on his exploration of Knockturn Alley. Those who knew anything about Knockturn Alley would question the feasibility of 'playing it safe' but Harry Potter was not acquainted with these people so walking casually into Borgin and Burke's seemed a perfectly reasonable thing to do.
He didn't buy anything. After fifteen minutes of browsing he hadn't been able to figure out what it was Borgin and Burke's even sold. Mr. Burke hadn't been much help in explaining either though he'd tried his best, especially after Harry accidentally found a large golden key Mr. Burke said he'd been trying to find for ages.
They'd both agreed there was nothing the store could do for him and he'd left. He promised himself he'd visit again in a few years when he had a better grasp on the whole magic thing.
He made a very short trip into an Apothecary that stank of fermented everything and was being run by a ghastly pale fellow with too much grease in his hair. After catching the man following him with his eyes and spotting what he thought was a fang poking out past his lip Harry decided it was time to leave.
He was in such a hurry to get out that he kept going even after he'd escaped the revolting place and its pickled vampire. This unsurprisingly, led him to running into someone else who, like him, was in an unnecessary hurry.
"Ow, geez, that was a sudden stop."
"I'm so sorry" Harry said as he fumbled around the grimy road for his glasses.
"Here."
He felt something familiar placed into his hands and a moment later the world clarified.
"Thanks" he said looking up at the scruffy, girl, before him.
"So, where were you going in such a hurry?" she asked.
"Away from…" *shiver*, "doesn't matter. You?"
"I just like to run" she said, "hard to do around here."
"I see" Harry chuckled.
"I was actually headed to Downtown" she added.
"Where's that?"
Downtown, as luck would have it, was a sort of extension of Knockturn Alley. To get there you had to go, as the name suggested, down.
The way in was at the far end of the Alley. It looked like an old American subway entrance only darker since, ya know, Knockturn Alley.
Harry and his new friend Rhiannon happily strode down the murky tunnel till at last they came to an opening in the darkness and arrived in Downtown. Harry, as he'd done frequently in the past few days, stood awestruck.
Downtown was composed of numerous subterranean levels all constructed around an open central shaft encircled on each level by a heavy rail. Diagon Alley had seemed magnificent, but Downtown was something else, an architectural wonder.
From the top railing where he stood he could see all the levels below, all the people and businesses and there was just so much to take in he had to step back and collect himself.
"Thanks for bringing me down here Rhiannon… Rhiannon?"
But she was gone. Harry sighed.
"She probably had to run."
He snickered at his little joke.
As fun as it would have been to explore Downtown with some company, he was fully capable of doing so on his own. And he would.
The blacksmith was busy but happy to talk as his metal heated. There was an apothecary down here as well. He felt no need to go inside. Harry had chuckled seeing the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker all lined up next to each other. He bought a sweet roll from the baker but passed the other two by.
He was halfway through his sweet roll and casually walking down the street when he was knocked to the ground from behind. His sweet roll went flying and all he could do was watch in horror as it crashed into the filthy merciless stones.
The cause of this calamity had picked themselves up and hurried off before Harry could recover. He caught a glimpse of a dingy coat and top hat before his assailant melted into the crowd.
"What an arse" he grumbled, rising from the ground and giving his poor sweet roll one final forlorn look.
He then noticed something lying next to it. walking over he picked up the thick gold coin. It wasn't a galleon, it was too thick and too big around. The surface was etched in hundreds of tiny symbols Harry had never seen which created an odd illusion as he looked at it from different angles.
"Must have dropped it" Harry thought aloud.
This left Harry with a conundrum. Chase after the jerk who'd destroyed his sweet roll or stick it in his pocket and go on his merry way. Not an easy decision. For a moment, he thought on the only moral teachers he'd ever had and instantly knew what he had to do. Not because the Dursley's had instilled a strong moral compass in him but because he knew what they would have done.
He took off after the man, weaving through the crowd. He tried to spot any hint of the coat or top hat. He came out of the crowd and spotted him walking into the tunnel down to the next level.
He called out, but the man didn't hear him. He ran toward the dark tunnel but paused at the entrance. He couldn't see anything and again he wondered why he was even bothering. Giving a heavy sigh, he cautiously entered.
He'd gone maybe thirty feet when…
"That's far enough."
Harry halted.
"Who's there?"
He heard snickering from several directions and realized he was surrounded.
"Poor little boy lost in the dark" someone singsonged, "find the way to go then you must pay the toll."
"I'm not paying anything" Harry said defensively.
"He says he won't pay."
The other voices echoed this with unnerving glee then out of the darkness something began to glow. It took Harry a moment to recognize the duel board.
"Looks like this boy needs to be taught a lesson" said the first voice now coming from the board.
Harry flexed his wrist, his own board snapped open and began to glow, "You're welcome to try."
"Shit Dickey, he wants to duel."
"You really think you can take me fancy pants?" The apparently named Dickey said.
"Let's make this quick" said Harry.