Adam had slept better than he had for some time. A light tapping noise had woken him. He found the little corridor empty save for a tray with a full breakfast, along with his clothes. Back in his room, he studied the coat and shirt, unable to find the damage or the repair. After eating the excellent breakfast, he made use of the small shower before joining Tony in his room, who was like himself, fed and ready to go. They went through the board, making adjustments before Tony took them to the delights of Diagon Alley in full flow.
This was Saturday and with the school year starting next month, it was full of wizards, witches, and Muggles all mingling together, with a huge number of children running amok. Adam had stopped open-mouthed when two young men swooped down out of the sky. People scurried out of their way, giving them room to land with no fuss or giving them any notice. They landed in the middle of the street, hooked their broomsticks over their shoulders, and walked away. Adam had watched this and not moved since. Tony stood beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder, making him look around.
"I really thought you were taking the piss about flying on broomsticks." Tony slapped his shoulder and laughed.
The walk down the alley had to be completed at a snail's pace, avoiding the more colourful small inhabitants until they came to the wand-makers' shop. A group of young children were gawping in through the curved window.
Tony pushed the door open, and a small bell tinkled, announcing their arrival. Pinne nodded at them as he handed over a narrow, paper-wrapped package to a young couple. Beside them was a young boy, hyped up with excitement as he watched the box go into the large basket his mother was carrying.
Pinne said goodbye to the three people who kept staring at Tony.
"It must be a good day when you buy your son his first wand," Tony said to the couple as they headed for the exit.
"Yes, it is," replied the man as they exited the shop.
Pinne turned towards them. "Tony, Adam, good to see you. I assume you have another wand for me."
"Hello Pinne, what was wrong with them?" Asked Adam. "They weren't thrilled when they saw us."
"She's young, a Muggle. He's also young and a wizard, and this is her first visit to Diagon Alley and they find an Auror staring at them."
Adam looked around at Tony, who was smiling. "How could they know you're an Auror? You're not dressed like one?"
"People just seem to know and I'm used to it." He shrugged his shoulders. "I imagine my parents were the same when they came here the first time."
"They were bloody terrified," Pinne replied. "They were hanging onto Botilda Grimworthy's every word."
Tony pulled the blackened charm necklace from his pocket and placed it on the table. Pinne picked it up and rubbed his fingers over the charred pieces of wood. Then he pulled his wand out and waved it over the charm.
"You noticed that only the green pieces of wood are charred." They both looked at it more carefully. "This tells me that the spell was a version of the Confringo curse. Someone's good with a wand."
"What made you give this to Adam?"
"I was asked to."
"What?" they said together.
"When I went into the Ministry of Magic to look at that other wand, I was asked if I had anything that would keep a Muggle out of harm's way." Pinne looked straight at Adam while he was talking. "They said you could be in great danger."
"Who?" Adam asked.
"I am under instructions to keep that to myself."
"I thought you met with a minister?" Tony asked, suspicion creeping into his voice.
"I was supposed to meet the Minister for Magic, but he was unavailable."
"What did they look like?" Adam asked.
"Small, to me anyway, lots of hair, red flowing dress, one of my favourite people," Pinne replied.
"Ring any bells for you?" He asked Tony.
"Yes". He replied, adding nothing more.
Pinne reached under the desk and pulled a large box out. He placed it on the counter before pulling a handful of charms out of the box. He let them all slip back except for one, which he passed to Adam.
"I sort of make these for fun and to use up the various potions I make. It's better than wasting them, pouring them down the drain." He was talking to Tony rather than to Adam. "I experiment using different charms, spells and potions trying to make the wands better." He paused for a moment. "I also make quite a good profit on the ones I sell."
"Was the type of protection suggested?" Tony asked, staring at the charms.
"No. The charms I make cover a multitude of hexes and spells. I have many Aurors on my books."
"Auror's?" Tony asked in surprise, his eyes lifting from the charm.
Pinne smiled at Tony. "Didn't you know that?"
"No. Can you add me to your list of buyers?"
Pinne smiled as he slipped another charm from the shoebox and held it out to Tony.
"First one's free." He said as Tony took it.
"Thanks. Let me know what they cost. I'll get the Ministry to pay for a few and the ones Adam's had."
Pinne waited while they both placed the new charms around their necks.
After thanking the wand-maker, they headed outside. The alley was more crowded than before.
"If you want to carry on to the Leaky Cauldron. I'll meet you there after I've popped into the office. I have more awkward questions."
"Fine, ten minutes."
"Make it twenty."
"Why don't you want me to meet her? Is she pretty?" Colour appeared on Tony's usually pale face, which made Adam smile. "Pinne seemed to think so."
"Edlyn and I go back a long way, and not in a good way. She's very hard to explain."
"You always have an excuse for why you can't explain things. You fancy her then."
Tony took a deep breath. "When I am with her, I am infatuated with her and I do stupid things. As soon as she goes away, I lose the infatuation."
Adam frowned. "Magic?" He asked. Tony nodded before walking up the alley, leaving Adam confused, as usual.
He wandered from shop to shop, trying to look past hordes of children, all doing the same thing until he came to Flourish and Blotts, the windows free of children. Assorted books were scattered all over the window display, all with unidentifiable comments and titles. Many seemed to be self-help guides; others were life stories, of whom Adam assumed were famous Wizards or witches. The second window showed the current books that were required for the year ahead at Hogwarts, dependent upon which year they were in. One book caught his eye, centred in the window, on a small lectern. The title was The History of the Wizarding World. An idea came to him, so he entered the shop.
He seemed to go back in time, back to what he thought the early eighteenth century would be like. The shop smelled of old books, reminding him of his childhood visits to libraries. Like bookshops, libraries had become extinct over the years because of technology. This bookshop was different in one respect. It looked as if a bomb had gone off, several years ago and nobody had bothered to tidy up and then messed the place up even further. Books filled the shelves right up to the ceiling. Whoever owned the place had run out of room, and had piled more books in great haphazard heaps, looking as if they were about to topple at any moment. Every available surface including most of the floor was also covered.
"Good morning. May I help?"
Adam stared at an old woman dressed like a Victorian, even down to the small hat, sitting at a jaunty angle on her head. She came from behind an old wooden counter, which he had failed to see.
"I assume you are looking for the Hogwarts section. What year are your children entering?" Her voice sounded like it should come from a much younger person.
"No, I'm interested in the large book in the window, the history of..."
"The Wizarding World." She finished for him.
"That's the one."
"That's not a standard school book."
"Really? May I look at it?"
"No, but we have a copy in here." She turned and went towards the back, with Adam in tow. He stepped between the piles of books, aware that a slip would send books cascading across the floor; she navigated through the narrow gaps with ease, her skirts brushing at the piles. He watched several piles topple, then stop and re-sat themselves. It occurred to him that magic was probably the reason everything stayed upright. He was impressed.
The rear room was like a Victorian parlour, opposite to the room they had left. The floor was covered with thick colourful rugs, with polished lecterns set against the walls, each with a single book open at random pages. He stopped at a large colourful book, the open pages, showing a detailed picture of a strange horse-like creature with wings and with what looked like a bird's head.
"Beautiful beast, the Hippogryph," the woman said, as she stood beside him, "amazing to see in the flesh. They have a few living at Hogwarts you know."
Adam almost choked for a moment, when the beast's head turned toward him, the moving pictures still freaking him out. "I would love to see one." He whispered to himself. She smiled as she moved off to the other side of the room and gestured at the book in front of her.
"The price of this book is one hundred and thirty-five galleons. Expensive, yes, but that includes a special decorative and protective dust cover lectern." She gestured to the stand. "Packaging and special delivery anywhere in the world. The book has a search spell on it, which finds any position in the book, via the spoken word." She reached out and touched the edge of the book, which was a lot thinner than he expected, only a few pages. "Wizards in the twenty-first century." The book pages turned to the beginning. The page title said '2000 through the present, written in what looked like a perfect hand-drawn script. "Also, as you can see, this contains the whole of wizarding history, which is updated each year."
Adam thought for a moment. "I only have Muggle money." She raised her hand to stop him from talking. He felt his heart sink as she stormed across the room to a small bookcase set back in an alcove. She waved her hand and a large, thick tomb slid out from the shelf, dropping onto the small table beside it. The pages turned themselves, stopping after a moment, allowing her to slide her finger down the page. She stopped around halfway down and turned towards him.
"Would your name be Adam Croft, by any chance?"
"Yes, how do you know that?" He asked, stunned.
"It seems you already own a copy of this book and have done so for quite some time. It was never delivered. No idea why, though." She smiled at him. "I'll have it sent to your home right away."
Adam's mouth dropped open as he tried to understand what she was saying. "How can I possibly own a copy of a magical book?" He asked, trying to make any sense of what he was hearing.
"I don't know how you came by a copy, but you have one, which was never delivered. Perhaps the Ministry has supplied it for you." She spoke as this sort of thing happened all the time, and perhaps it did in this world, but not in Adams.
Adam leant forward and touched the surface. The index page was annotated chronologically. Now he was close he could see the book was only ten pages from cover to cover. He held the page as the woman had done.
"Twentieth Century Wizards." This page did not move, but the title page changed before him and became Wizards and Witches of the Twentieth Century in the same handwritten script. Below this was a list of names, mostly foreign and unpronounceable. Now he understood why it was so small.
"The book is very literal in its search. The more accurate your question, the more accurate your replies will be." She said, touching the book. "Twentieth-Century English Witches and Wizards." The list changed again and a shorter list, all of which were readable, appeared below.
Adam's brain was in overload; thoughts ran through his mind faster than he could cope.
"Can this be sent to my home?" He asked after a moment.
"Already on its way. Wales isn't difficult to find."
"You know where I live?" He asked, his voice rising.
"No, our delivery service can find anyone's home, even Muggles." She smiled again. This time, the smile had more warmth to it.
"You know I'm a Muggle?" He asked, still amazed.
"Of course, the entire magical community knows about you. A Muggle working for the ministry is a secret, so everyone knows about it."
"And I'll still be allowed to have the book."
"I'll let you into a little secret, Mr Croft. This book is rarely sold to anyone in the Wizarding world. Wizards and witches have to learn it at school."
Adam smiled at this comment. "If I took it home, would it still work?"
"The magic is in the book. It works for whoever possesses it. When you receive it, you follow certain instructions that bind it to yourself and immediate family."
Adam thanked her and turned away as he heard the bell in the other room signal a new arrival, his mind swirling with ideas.
"One thing, Mr Croft." She spoke, stopping him from walking away. "A book like this will take you the rest of your life to read. More importantly, at the beginning of each year, it updates itself, and if I'm not mistaken, you will be mentioned in next year's update."
Adam felt a cold chill slip down his spine. Why he felt like that, he didn't know.
