After breakfast, the Weasley family gathered by the fireplace, ready to use Floo Powder to travel to Diagon Alley.
It was Harry's first time using Floo Powder, and he couldn't help but watch everything with curious fascination.
Ron eagerly volunteered to demonstrate. He stepped into the fireplace, grabbed a handful of glittering green Floo Powder, shouted "Diagon Alley!" and tossed the powder to the floor. In a flash of emerald flames, he vanished from sight.
Harry stared in amazement until Mrs. Weasley's call snapped him out of his daze. He stepped into the fireplace, just as Ron had.
However, things didn't go quite as planned. It was Harry's first time using Floo Powder, and in the moment of speaking, a bit of powder choked him. Instead of clearly saying "Diagon Alley," the word that escaped his lips sounded more like "Knockturn Alley!"
The room he arrived in was dimly lit, filled with skulls and strange objects suspended in murky liquid. Harry instantly knew—this was the wrong place.
Then, a severed hand caught his eye. As he cautiously reached out and touched it, the blackened, burnt-looking hand suddenly grabbed hold of him.
Panicked, Harry struggled to break free, but it wouldn't let go. Just then, a figure outside the shop window caught his attention.
"Draco! Draco Malfoy! I'm in here—help me!"
Draco, strolling down Knockturn Alley, was startled to hear a familiar voice. He peered through the grimy glass and spotted Harry inside.
"Merlin's beard, Harry! What are you doing here alone?!"
Without hesitation, Draco pushed open the door and entered, followed closely by his father, Lucius Malfoy.
Fortunately, at that moment, the withered hand loosened its grip and let Harry go.
Draco let out a gleeful shout:
"Wicked! Harry, how did you do that?!"
He reached out toward the severed hand, only for Lucius to smack his hand away sharply.
Lucius offered Harry a polite smile and greeted him warmly, before telling the boys to wait outside.
Then, Lucius began gathering up several items of Dark magic—most of them connected to Voldemort—clearly intending to sell them.
The urgency with which Lucius sought to offload these items stemmed from a new concern: with his son now part of the Alliance, it no longer seemed wise to keep relics tied to the Dark Lord.
What if Wentworth, on a whim, decided to visit Malfoy Manor and discovered Voldemort's artifacts still being kept there? That could bode ill for Draco's future.
Though Lucius was initially reluctant, he eventually gave in to Narcissa's insistence.
Once the transaction was complete, Lucius took Draco and Harry to Diagon Alley. Along the way, Draco questioned why Harry hadn't replied to his letters. After hearing what Harry had been through, Draco was visibly furious.
Lucius, meanwhile, said thoughtfully:
"Harry, never forget—you are a wizard."
Before Harry could respond, Draco quickly interjected:
"Father, we're not allowed to use magic outside of school—especially in front of Muggles!"
Lucius gave Draco a firm pat on the head and said coolly,
"You don't need to remind me of that."
Then, turning back to Harry, he added with a smile:
"Which is precisely why you need someone at the Ministry to speak on your behalf… or someone the Ministry wouldn't dare speak against."
Harry nodded slowly, deep in thought.
At that moment, a loud commotion up ahead caught their attention.
Draco stood on tiptoe and frowned.
"It's Flourish and Blotts—what's going on over there?"
As Lucius led the boys toward the crowded bookstore, elsewhere in Diagon Alley, Wentworth stepped into Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.
"Wentworth! Over here!"
Cedric's voice rang out the moment Wentworth entered. He spotted Cedric sitting at a table with Kirk and Cassandra, the three of them enjoying ice cream.
Wentworth joined them, and Kirk leaned in curiously, whispering:
"Did you call us here because the Alliance is planning something?"
Wentworth gave a small nod, then turned to Cassandra with a grin:
"How's your holiday been?"
Cassandra, spooning ice cream into her mouth, mumbled,
"Not bad."
Wentworth gave an exaggerated sigh.
"What a disappointing answer. You weren't even a little sad without me around?"
Cassandra rolled her eyes. Meanwhile, Kirk and Cedric lowered their heads, suddenly quite focused on their bowls of ice cream, as if searching for ancient runes inside them.
Then, glancing at the time, Wentworth stood up and said to Cassandra:
"The Grindelwald vault at Gringotts holds all sorts of gems. Would you care to pick out a few?"
Cassandra's brows knit together in disbelief.
"You're serious about this?"
Wentworth nodded without hesitation.
Seeing his resolve, Cassandra didn't press further. The group stood and followed him toward Gringotts.
Back at Flourish and Blotts, Harry and the others finally discovered the cause of the uproar: Gilderoy Lockhart, Hogwarts' new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for the upcoming term, was hosting a book signing.
Lockhart was overjoyed to see Harry, eagerly pulling him in for a photograph together.
Meanwhile, the moment Draco and Ron crossed paths, they immediately fell into their usual exchange of snide remarks.
Harry sighed—he was used to it by now. But others weren't.
The tension between the boys quickly caught the attention of both Lucius and Arthur Weasley.
Soon, the argument escalated from the boys to the fathers. Fortunately for the Weasleys, sheer numbers gave them the advantage.
Lucius, clearly irritated, made a few cutting remarks. Then, while no one was watching, he slipped a black notebook into the pile of books Ginny was carrying.
At that exact moment, Bill Weasley, standing in the shop, suddenly felt the pendant hidden beneath his shirt grow hot against his chest.
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