A broken Hogwarts

Chapter 121 Knockturn Alley
This is a dirty alley, and the messy black buildings around it cast dark shadows here, making it difficult for the sunlight outside to shine in.Pedestrians came and went in a hurry, many of them covered their faces with hoods, and some furtive figures squatted behind dark doorways, staring at passers-by maliciously and whispering.

An old wooden street sign outside a shop selling poisoned candles reads Knockturn Alley in crooked handwriting.The shops on both sides of the alley looked gloomy, with withered human heads, dry hand bones, ferocious snakes and spider specimens placed in the window, enough to give little wizards nightmares.

It is only a wall away from the bustling and lively Diagon Alley, but it is completely two worlds.Most of the shops on both sides of the street are related to black magic, and the crowd is mixed with thieves, robbers, dark wizards and wanted criminals, and even some non-human creatures, such as werewolves, vampires and ghouls.

Knockturn Alley is an area that the Ministry of Magic is unwilling to intervene, or an area that turns a blind eye to it.Because most of the shops here have intricate backgrounds, and there are many difficult black wizard organizations entrenched here. I don’t know which one is the black glove of a certain pure-blood family, which specializes in dealing with some unsightly things for powerful people. light thing.

Every year, there are many passionate Aurors who want to inspect this place, but they are often dismissed or even warned by high-level officials.Everyone knows that evil breeds here, and throwing a stone on the street basically can't hit innocent people, just like what parents tell their children, whoever is serious will come to Knockturn Alley.But this lawless place has been preserved for a long time, and it has become a place where filth is hidden.

Walking along the dirty road to the depths of the alley for a while, the ground suddenly became a little cleaner. On the right side of the street stood a retro two-story building with a wooden sign on it, which was not very beautiful. The words "Mysterious Guide Bookstore" are written in the font.Soft light shines from the clean and tidy window, casting dim yellow spots in the dark alley.

The layout of the bookstore is very simple, with a few retro oil lamps hanging on the walls, illuminating the rows of large bookshelves around.The bookshelves are full of books, many of them are about black magic, with all kinds of uncomfortable patterns drawn on the covers.

"Ding-dong-"

The door of the bookstore opened from the inside, and the bronze bell hanging on the door frame made a low sound.A man wearing a thick black cloak came out of the bookstore, the hood was pulled down low, and a large pale hand full of wrinkles was stuffing a heavy and large book into the cloak.

In the store, a red-haired woman sat on a chair behind the counter. She watched the customers go away through the window, and then stretched a lot.The curly long dark red hair is casually scattered on the shoulders, the deep red eyes are lazy and seductive, and the slightly pale cheeks are beautiful and heroic.

She closed a book in her hand, inserted the latch on the bookstore door from the inside, then walked through the large bookshelves lined with books, and walked up the wooden stairs to the second floor.On either side of the corridor on the second floor were five rooms, a simply furnished living room, a utility room, a study, and two vacant rooms.

She went straight to the study room. The door of the room was not closed, but a gap was left for pets to enter and exit.She pushed the door slightly open with her right hand, and glanced inside through the crack of the door.The small study room was lit with soft warm light, a thick stack of books was placed on a black wooden desk, and a somewhat thin figure was lying quietly on the table, as if falling into a deep sleep.

The woman opened the door lightly, walked in on tiptoe, stepped on the carpet and approached the desk step by step.Maolizi, who was lying on the desk with his eyes closed, raised his small head in an instant, and gracefully moved his hazel body covered with dark spots. His round golden eyes stared straight at the slowly walking man. woman.

"Hush—" the woman pointed a finger to her lips, and then pointed to the boy who was sleeping with his arm resting on his head.The boy's pale side face has delicate and soft contours, his pale lips are lightly pursed, and his shiny black hair casts a deep shadow on his cheeks.

She looked helplessly at a thick book under the boy's palm. The yellowed pages were painted with horrifying human body patterns, and the distorted face seemed to be still howling in pain and despair.She frowned, a hint of worry flashed in her eyes, then carefully reached out and pulled out the book, and then silently closed the pages, the words "Darkest Magic" on the cover looked a little blurry.

The boy seemed to be awakened suddenly, and opened his eyes in an instant.He slowly sat up straight, staring at her with dark eyes clearly.

"What's the matter, Natasha?" There was a languid hoarseness in his clear voice, and he looked at the other party hurriedly hiding the book behind him with a half-smile.

"It's getting dark, Owen, I think it's time for you to go home." Natasha coughed softly, and looked at the small piece of sky outside the window that was gradually darkening.

"That's right." Owen held Melet in his arms and stroked it gently, and stretched out his right hand to Natasha calmly.

Natasha looked at Owen's slender and pale hand solemnly, felt in his pocket, took out a candy and put it on the palm of his hand.

"..." Owen looked at the candy in his hand and said speechlessly, "My book."

"You're still young, it's not good to get in touch with black magic too deeply." Natasha's bright crimson eyes were full of sincerity.She didn't want the child to become paranoid and depraved because of this, becoming as tyrannical and cruel as the father she hated.

"I know what I'm doing." Owen shook his head amusedly, and rested his left hand on the arm of the armchair.Looking at the other party's still disapproving expression, he said slowly: "I have taken the necessary measures, and I won't be affected much... Well, at least it won't get worse."

He stretched out his right hand again, and took the book from the hesitant Natasha.

"Didn't I meet anyone who came to make trouble these days?" Owen asked with a peaceful expression as he gently stroked the bronzing lettering on the dark black cover of the book with his fingertips.

"No, it doesn't matter if you come, I have experience in this kind of thing." Natasha raised her eyebrows, and said confidently and decisively, "As long as you let them suffer and let those guys know that we are not easy to mess with, they will I won’t hold on to an irrelevant bookstore.”

The days of living in this bookstore are something she has never experienced in her life, and it is also the peaceful and peaceful time she dreams of. She must protect it no matter what.If she can't even do this, she deserves to have a bad life.

However, as soon as she finished speaking, there was a "bang bang bang" knocking on the door downstairs.Immediately afterwards, there was a loud "bang", probably the door of the bookstore was kicked open.

Natasha's heroic eyebrows were raised. She cursed an inaudible swear word in a low voice, then showed a standard smile to Owen, and said, "It seems that there are guests downstairs. I'll go down and have a look."

She turned and walked out of the study, closing the door gently, and then the expression on her face changed, she pulled out her wand viciously, and the knuckles of her fingers creaked.

"Boom boom boom" ran down the stairs, she looked coldly at the two figures who were walking around in the bookstore and throwing books on the bookshelves everywhere, and said in a cold tone: "What are you doing?"

"Read a book." A burly wizard threw a book on the ground and said arrogantly, "Don't let me?"

"After flipping through the books, put them back in their original place. Didn't your parents teach you this, bastard?" Natasha mocked with a half-smile.

"Natasha, I didn't expect you to come here." Another tall and thin wizard said in a hoarse voice that seemed to have been burned, "It seems that you have made a fortune? But your backer seems to have given up on you recently ah."

"Riley?" Natasha raised her left eyebrow and looked the wizard up and down, "I didn't expect you to be dead. What, you want to trouble me, an old neighbor?"

"Just following orders," Riley said. "I think you need a new backer, Natasha. Join us so you can gain a foothold here."

"Oh? Then what do I have to pay?" Natasha sneered, "There is a lot of protection money every month, and the books in the bookstore are free for you. Do you still need me to play with your boss?"

"It's good that you know." Riley watched her hesitate to speak, and finally said indifferently, "Your conditions are very good, and they are very optimistic about you."

"Get out!" Natasha pointed at the two wizards with her wand and said with disgust, "Don't make me say it a second time."

"You don't know good from bad..." another burly wizard roared angrily, and tore a book with his hands.

Natasha raised her hand and shot a red spell at him, but it was intercepted by Riley waving his wand in mid-air. Two beams of light, one red and one blue, collided in mid-air, and finally disappeared together.

In an instant, the three of them fought in the small space of the bookstore, casting spells at each other under the cover of the bookshelves.Beams of various colors lit up like fireworks, accompanied by crackling sounds.

Several shops around the bookstore closed their doors and windows skillfully, and the passers-by also turned around and left without anyone looking curiously or eagerly helping.

Natasha watched with distress and annoyance when a book was destroyed. She gritted her teeth and shot a bright white light at Riley. Riley blocked it very quickly, but his body was thrown out violently. Outside the door, he rolled around in the alley twice in embarrassment before getting up a little dizzy.

The burly wizard obviously couldn't manage his emotions well. Thick bloodshot eyes appeared in his protruding eyes, and he roared angrily, "Thunderbolt..."

Before he could finish reciting the spell, a shadow filled with black mist suddenly emerged from the shadows at his feet. The figure made of top hat and black cloak was as elegant and mysterious as a gentleman in the night, with the corners of his white mouth raised playfully, He quickly lifted the corner of the cloak and hooked the wizard's ankle.

"What?" The wizard was interrupted by the sudden coldness and pain.He kicked his right foot suddenly, trying to throw this weird thing out, but his action had no effect, instead he was approached all of a sudden.

Riley, who happened to run in from the outside, witnessed this eerie and terrifying scene.He watched his companions firing spells in vain, but failed to harm the figure at all. He could only yell indiscriminately, and finally was completely wrapped in by the open cloak, as if being swallowed into his stomach, and turned into a A large cocoon exuding an ominous atmosphere.

He raised his wand to rescue him, but he didn't know where to start. He could only watch the evil shadow detach from his companion, and pulled out a milky white phantom.That phantom howled in terror and despair in the black mist of the cloak, just like his companion.

The wand in Riley's hand trembled, and his body suddenly retreated outside the door of the bookstore, looking at Natasha on the other side with his pupils shrunk to the size of pinpoints.The other party's expression looked a little annoyed, but not surprised.

His lips moved a little, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just kept silent.

"I can't let you destroy my bookstore." The black devil guard didn't kill people directly like before, but let out a low male voice, and then all of a sudden approached Riley standing outside the door, scaring him. Had to retreat in a hurry.

Owen looked around the bookstore through the pale and distorted perspective of the black demon guard, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly without emotion.He had recited the Illusion Curse to himself early on, and had been standing on the top of the stairs watching the battle in the store with cold eyes, and he didn't intend to make a move.He could tell that although Natasha was one against two, she was not at a disadvantage. If there were no accidents, she would be the final winner.

However, that lunatic who couldn't control his emotions wanted to recite the blasting spell in the bookstore. If he used this spell, the bookstore would probably be destroyed by half.

Owen glanced at the illusory soul brought out by the black devil guard, curled his lips amidst the creepy howls, lowered his eyes to suppress the churning killing intent in his heart, and only manipulated the black devil guard to abolish the wizard's body. With his right hand, he released the phantom that represented the soul.

The illusory milky white soul returned to the body, and the wizard's motionless body, which had collapsed on the ground, regained its mobility in an instant.He was clutching his right arm, which had been corroded to reveal its blackened bones, and still let out an inhuman howl, like a hysterically screaming beast.

Seeing this, Natasha also heaved a sigh of relief. She was really afraid that Owen would kill someone here, and that would really cause trouble.Gritting her teeth, she kicked up and kicked the head of the screaming wizard on the ground. After kicking him unconscious, she looked at Riley, who was terrified outside the door and dared not approach, with a domineering look. Said in a calm tone: "Now you know if I have a backer..."

She grinned at the black demon guard who was exuding a terrible chill, and watched it melt into the ground silently, then exhaled, and calmly rubbed the goose bumps on her arms.She kicked the wizard on the ground bitterly again, and said to Riley, "Take this trash away, thank you."

Riley walked in cautiously with his head down, dragged the unconscious wizard out, and after giving Natasha a complicated look before going out, he took his companions and disappeared into the dark alley.

The men in black robes hiding in the deep alley saw everything that happened in the bookstore. They whispered to each other and were about to leave temporarily, when they were immediately surrounded by a frightening and desperate cold atmosphere.

The evil shadow in the bookstore poked its head out from the darkness under their feet, facing them with the corner of its mocking mouth, and the joking magnetic male voice echoed in their ears: "If there is another impolite guest visiting , I will visit you too~"

It slowly sank into the ground, and when the black-robed people had just breathed a sigh of relief, they suddenly poked their heads out from the side wall, leaned into the ear of one of them and laughed, "I remember you guys."

After finishing speaking, it retracted into the wall, and the eerie chill around it also slowly dissipated.A few people stood in the alley and looked at each other, all of them were silent.

Owen controlled the Dark Guard to visit a few guys on the other side, then took it back, walked down the stairs slowly, and watched Natasha waving her magic wand to repair things in the shop, cleaning and tidying up the mess. shop.

"Boss, I messed up." Natasha said sternly, "Today's temptation is not right. Generally speaking, they haven't confirmed our details, so they wouldn't have such great malice."

"No matter what their reasons are, I have warned those guys just now, and there should be no more temptations for a long time." Owen said calmly.Melet followed him with a graceful catwalk, tail held high.

"Of course, if they don't give up, it means that there is something they are plotting here." He added lightly.

Natasha nodded, and then looked at the several books that could not be repaired with a distressed expression. She counted one by one: "9 Galleons, 5 Galleons, 12 Galleons, 7 Galleons, these two books are also 5 Galleons...well, 33 Galleons are gone..."

Owen's indifferent expression froze. He looked at Natasha who was counting with his fingers strangely, and suddenly asked, "Natasha, what is 25 plus seventeen?"

Natasha blinked blankly, and then began to snap her fingers: "Well, let me do the math..." After more than 30 seconds, she replied: "42, that's right!"

"How much is seven times eight?" Owen pursed his pale lips.

Natasha snapped her fingers seriously, and looked at him innocently after a while, dizzy circles seemed to appear in her crimson eyes.

Owen slapped himself on the forehead. He remembered that the guy in front of him had never been to school, and being able to read and write was already good enough. He couldn't expect her to memorize the nine-nine multiplication table...

"Well, you go and hire a more reliable clerk. He can count and has good combat power, and he will help you settle accounts and deal with possible dangers." He pondered, "As for the salary, it should be 50 Galleons per month."

"Fifty Galleons? This is too much!" Natasha exclaimed, "We will lose money!" She hurriedly covered the money bag in the shop, as if she was afraid that Owen would snatch it and throw it all over the street.

"For clerks, accountants and bodyguards, fifty Galleons is not enough. If you want to find a reliable person, it's worth the expense." Owen said indifferently, and his purpose of opening this bookstore was not to make a profit.The danger of Knockturn Alley has greatly increased the requirements of this job, but because this is Knockturn Alley, the salary is not much higher.

"Then I have to choose from thousands of choices." In the end, Natasha could only say with a sad face, looking at Owen as if looking at a prodigal.

"Then I'll go home first." Owen glanced at the sky, hugged Melet in his arms, and walked out of the bookstore after reciting a disillusionment spell to himself.

　Thank you book friends hahaha for the 100 starting coins, thank you for your monthly and recommendation tickets, and I love you~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)