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Chapter 1260: Deep in Knockturn Alley
🕑 Added 2024-10-12 14:49:12 +0000 UTCBy the time Evan also got under the Invisibility Cloak, Hermione had transformed back and was questioning Harry and Ron.
"If you were planning to do anything, you should have informed me and Evan first," said Hermione, displeased.
"Sorry, Hermione, but time was tight," said Harry. "There was no time to find you and Evan."
"No time? This isn't the first time you've acted alone," Hermione snorted.
"It was really too late this time. We saw Malfoy sneaking towards Knockturn Alley alone. He shook his mother off and must have been planning to do something, so we hurriedly followed him..."
"Meow!" Evan jumped into her arms and waved to Harry and Ron opposite him.
The space under the Invisibility Cloak was too small and he had no way of transforming back.
"Is that Evan? He looks exactly like a real cat," Ron exclaimed.
"Don't make a fuss, Ron, this isn't the first time you've seen Evan turn into a cat!" said Hermione.
She hugged Evan habitually and rubbed his ears, which made Evan feel itchy.
"Yeah, but no matter how many times I see it, it's still amazing. I wish I could transform into a cat," said Ron enviously. "I mean, becoming an Animagus. It's such a difficult Transfiguration. I probably don't stand a chance..."
"Meow!" Evan shouted again.
"What did he say?"
"Evan’s asking if you two overheard anything? Why is Malfoy here?"
"Hermione, you can understand a cat's meow?" said Ron again in surprise.
"Don't be silly, Evan isn't really a cat, and besides, I’m also an Animagus," said Hermione.
Well, that was a really amazing talent.
If Hermione also turned into a cat, Evan was not sure he would be able to understand her meows.
Maybe he could judge based on the situation. Most of the time, it would probably just be soft purring...
The two of them didn't turn into cats very often, usually just in places like bed at night.
"Nothing useful. It looks like Malfoy wanted Borgin to fix something for him, but he didn't want to bring it in. He just wanted Borgin to tell him how to fix it," said Harry.
"Fix what?"
"Well, Malfoy was so domineering and Borgin seemed afraid of him, which was quite unusual," said Harry, pausing. "He mentioned Fenrir Greyback and said that the werewolf was a friend of the family, but I..."
“Meow, meow!”
"What did he say this time?" Ron asked, looking at Evan.
"What that thing is, of course," said Hermione.
The translation was wrong. Evan actually wanted them to go back quickly and not hide in this corner to discuss such things.
"Not sure, we came too late and didn't hear that part," Harry thought hard. "Now what is certain is that Malfoy has something to fix, and another thing he hopes the store will keep for him..."
"Alright, you two stay here,” whispered Hermione.
"Meow!" Evan was picked up by Hermione. What was she trying to do?
“What are you —?"
Before Harry could finish, Hermione had already ducked out from under the cloak.
Hermione placed Evan on her shoulder, letting him hang there, then checked her hair in the reflection in the glass before confidently walking into the shop.
Evan sighed. Hermione, oh Hermione!
The bell tinkled again and Mr Borgin came out from behind the counter.
He had an indifferent expression and looked at Hermione and Evan on her shoulder with suspicion.
“Hello, horrible morning, isn’t it?” Hermione said brightly to Borgin, who did not answer.
Hermione didn't care. She hummed cheerily and strolled through the jumble of objects on display.
"Is this necklace for sale?" she asked, pausing beside a glass-fronted case.
“If you’ve got one and a half thousand Galleons," said Borgin coldly.
“Oh — er — no, I haven’t got quite that much,” said Hermione, walking on and pointing to another item on the counter. “And ... what about this lovely — um — skull?"
"Sixteen Galleons."
“So it’s for sale, then? It isn’t being ... kept for anyone?"
Borgin squinted at her. Evan thought this was a stupid question. It was not the right question to ask in a Dark Arts shop.
He was sure that Hermione had no idea what the skull was for. It was not just a decoration.
Apparently Hermione felt she had been rumbled too because she suddenly threw caution to the winds.
“The thing is, that — er — boy who was in here just now, Draco Malfoy, well, he’s a friend of mine, and I want to get him a birthday present, but if he’s already reserved anything, I obviously don’t want to get him the same thing, so ... um ..."
It was a pretty lame story, and apparently Borgin thought so too.
“Out,” he said sharply. “Get out!"
Hermione did not wait to be asked twice, but hurried to the door with Evan, with Borgin at her heels.
As the bell tinkled again, Borgin slammed the door behind her and put up the closed sign.
“Ah well,” said Ron, throwing the cloak back over Hermione and Evan. “Worth a try, but you were a bit obvious —"
“Well, next time you can show me how it’s done, Master of Mystery!” she snapped.
"Meow!" Evan called again, signaling them to go back quickly.
If he wasn’t certain that Borgin was watching them through the window, he would have transformed back already.
Hermione's actions just now were too reckless. Borgin was not a fool, or an ordinary wizard with low vigilance.
He wouldn't tell Hermione anything easily, especially since Evan was sure that Malfoy was now a Death Eater.
This made it even less likely that Borgin would reveal anything.
Going in and asking questions like Hermione had could easily alert Malfoy, letting him know his movements were being monitored.
But fortunately, Borgin wasn’t on the side of Voldemort or Malfoy, so he wouldn’t pass along this information.
Evan had a good idea of what Malfoy was trying to do, and there was really no need for them to waste more time investigating here.
"Let's go, hurry back," Hermione finally urged.
They stood up and Harry stopped suddenly.
"Wait, did you notice that the direction Malfoy left in was not Diagon Alley?" he said hesitantly. "It was this way, deep into Knockturn Alley."
Evan looked to the left. The winding alley stretched ahead until it was blocked by buildings at the far end.
Indeed, this direction led deeper into Knockturn Alley and wouldn’t loop back to Diagon Alley.
What was Malfoy doing there? It was so suspicious.
None of them had been there before, but Evan had walked in once in the future.
In those shabby little houses that never saw the sun, there were vampires who had lost their magic...
In addition, there were other unpredictable, evil, and Dark creatures.
