Harry Potter: The Rise Of Malfoy

Chapter 42.

The next day, the sun warmed up Soren's backside, and he lazily got up—this was a very rare occurrence for the usually diligent and early-rising Soren. Even Lucius and Narcissa in the living room couldn't help but murmur quietly, speculating about what Soren had experienced the day before.

Soren touched his lips, recalling the passionate kiss before parting last night, and he couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

Counting the days, summer vacation was about to end, and there was less than a week until school started.

When he went downstairs for breakfast, Lucius spoke first: "Soren, we have an important lunch meeting today with the Parkinson and Boke families. Draco and Pansy will also attend. I noticed you seemed a bit tired this morning, so I didn't reserve a seat for you. I think you should just rest at home!"

Soren thought for a moment and replied, "Okay, Father. I might go to Diagon Alley later to buy some school supplies, and I will get Draco's share as well. But... I want to know how these two families currently view the Malfoy family. Do you have confidence in keeping them stable, Father?"

As Soren's strength gradually increased, and hearing that he had quietly started building connections in the Ministry of Magic, Lucius began to be willing to explain some family affairs to the two brothers.

Lucius said, "Well, it should be fine for now. That old fox from Boke has always been a fence-sitter; he runs faster than anyone when the situation goes south. As long as I, Lucius, still have influence in the Ministry of Magic, he might waver a bit, but he would never betray the alliance between the two families. As for Parkinson, that won't happen either. Not to mention that our two families have a closer interest relationship—" At this point, a smile couldn't help but appear on Lucius's cold face.

"I've heard that Pansy really likes our Draco!" Soren quickly nodded in confirmation. Draco, on the other hand, rarely showed a shy expression, and his face turned red.

Soren had always known that Lucius and Professor Snape maintained a very close relationship; both had been Death Eaters, and Lucius clearly understood how important the identity and status of a Potions Master and Hogwarts Headmaster were. Therefore, Soren was not surprised that Lucius knew about the brothers' behavior at school.

"Then I understand, Father. If there's a need for me to help, please don't forget to tell me."

Compared to family affairs, Narcissa was clearly more concerned about another matter. Upon hearing the gossip about Draco and Pansy, she immediately became displeased. Why was she the last to know? She glared fiercely at the three of them, "Let's put the family matters aside for now. Why was I completely unaware of Draco and Pansy's situation?"

Seeing that a battle was about to start, Soren lowered his head, pretending to be busy with his breakfast.

Narcissa, noticing that Lucius and Draco couldn't answer, naturally turned her firepower towards Soren, "So, Soren, what about you? Do you have something to confess to your mother? Have you gotten close to any girls at school?"

Soren first gave Draco a subtle warning glance, then made a "10 Galleons" gesture under the table, and finally pretended to innocently shake his head, "How could that be? Mother, look at my grades; you should know that I've been working hard studying most of the time. Early romance hinders academic progress, which is unacceptable, unacceptable..."

Seeing that keeping quiet was beneficial, Draco naturally stood by Soren's side. Although Draco wasn't short on money, being able to take advantage of his brother still made him quite happy!

Lucius naturally knew about Soren's close relationship with the Greengrass girl and the Shafiq girl at school. He himself had a favorable attitude towards Soren and the two girls—both girls came from the Sacred 28 pure-blood families and were outstanding in appearance, knowledge, and family background, making them worthy of becoming members of the Malfoy family.

Moreover, the Malfoy family had indeed been a bit too thin in terms of offspring over the past few generations. He and his father Abraxas Malfoy had encountered two wizarding wars, which made it impossible to expand the family. Now that it was a time of peace, it was time for the next generation to branch out.

Since Soren was unwilling to flaunt, and his son was such a determined person, Lucius wouldn't be so tactless as to reveal his son's secret, so this matter was left as it was.

After the departure of his parents and Draco, Soren hurried to Diagon Alley—he had arranged with his family that after the dinner, they would also go to Diagon Alley to take the Night Steed carriage to bring Soren home.

Soren, alone, grabbed a handful of Floo Powder, sprinkled it into the fireplace, and shouted "The Leaky Cauldron," arriving at Diagon Alley.

Soren did not rush into Diagon Alley but instead cast a simple transformation spell in a corner where no one was paying attention to increase his height. The merlin's robe transformed into a mysterious-looking black cloak with his intent. After carefully checking to ensure there were no flaws, Soren turned into Knockturn Alley at the intersection in front of Gringotts.

This was Soren's second visit to Knockturn Alley. The last time, he had been with Lucius and Draco and had not had the chance to explore. This time, it was a good opportunity to broaden his horizons. Soren wrapped his cloak tightly around himself, hands in his pockets, and wandered aimlessly through Knockturn Alley. Along the way, many oddly-shaped figures passed by him. Most of them were hidden beneath their cloaks, making their faces hard to see.

Soren glanced at the largest shop in Knockturn Alley—Borgin and Burkes—and after a moment's thought, he walked inside.

As he pushed the door open, a wind chime jingled. A man bent over appeared at the counter, repeatedly smoothing down his greasy hair that hung over his face. He glanced at Soren as he entered and revealed a sinister smile, saying, "Shopping or trading?"

This man was Mr. Borgin, the owner of Borgin and Burkes.

As Soren knew, Borgin and Burkes was established by the Borgin family in the late 18th century. The young head of the family, Caractacus Borgin, was determined to compete with another alchemical family, the Notts, in the field of alchemy. Boldly, he opened this shop in Knockturn Alley to facilitate his collection and contact with alchemical items related to dark magic.

Under his careful management, the shop quickly became the largest in Knockturn Alley. Later, it even absorbed the Borgin family as a vassal family. Mr. Borgin was thus able to buy shares in the shop and became the manager after old Borgin retired. The dinner Lucius mentioned that morning was with old Borgin and Mr. Parkinson.

This shop primarily sold ancient magical items, but in reality, it was mostly dark magical items. It could also serve as a pawn shop, and Mr. Borgin particularly favored those strange, unpredictable dark magical items.

"I'll take a look first," Soren said in a rough voice, having altered his vocal tone with a voice-changing spell.

Upon hearing this, Mr. Borgin immediately lost interest, returned to the counter, and began wiping the surface of a glass case.

Soren glanced around and saw a withered human hand resting on a cushion inside the glass case—the Glorious Hand he had seen here last year when he came with Lucius. This item, when a candle was placed upon it, only illuminated for its holder. Soren shook his head and continued to look around.

On the counter were various human bones, a deck of playing cards stained with blood, and an old glass eyeball that seemed to be watching him. Terrifying masks hung on the walls, and long, sharp, rusty instruments dangled from the ceiling. Soren's magical eye could see that these items were all surrounded by dangerous magical fluctuations.

"That is a Mask of Pain. It has a deterrent and intimidating effect, considered a weak form of soul magic," Mr. Borgin said, glancing at Soren and noticing his apparent interest in the masks hanging on the wall.

"Give me this mask. How much?" Soren asked, his interest piqued by Mr. Borgin's mention of soul magic, pointing at one of the ghostly masks.

"29 Galleons, customer," Mr. Borgin replied, glancing at the wall. Soren did not haggle and promptly counted out 29 Galleons, placing them on the counter.

Seeing the customer so straightforward, a subtle glint of cold light flashed in Mr. Borgin's eyes, but his face remained full of sincere smiles as he said, "Esteemed customer, our shop also has a family heirloom. Would you be interested in seeing it?"

Seeing Soren nod, Mr. Borgin took out a long box and opened it to reveal a beautiful opal necklace.

He did not touch the necklace but simply pointed to it, saying, "This is a magical necklace passed down through the Borgin family. It possesses a wonderful magic that can accelerate the growth of magical power. You know that everyone's magical power can only grow slowly with age. With this necklace, you can speed up that growth..."

This person has a really dirty heart; no wonder he can run a shop here, and it's the best business around. A surge of anger rose in Soren's heart as he said with a half-smile, "Why don't you wear it for me to see first, Mr. Borgin?"

Seeing the cold light in Soren's eyes and the obvious chill in his voice, Mr. Borgin quickly changed his mind and decided not to offend this customer again. He bowed and put away the necklace. "I'm very sorry, esteemed guest; perhaps I made a mistake," he said as he walked into a small room and returned with an ancient-looking cloak.

"To express our shop's apologies, you can take a look at our store's treasure. Although this cloak is not a family heirloom, it is still of great value. It can protect you from a high-intensity curse at a critical moment; only a death curse can break through its defenses."

Mr. Borgin's expression was sincere; this time he genuinely wanted to make a deal. However, Soren already had the high-defense magical Night Star, so the cloak seemed somewhat redundant, and he politely declined.

After seeing the store's treasure, Soren lost interest in continuing to browse and walked out of the shop without looking back.

[Pain Mask Acquired!]

Walking a few more steps into the depths of the Knockturn Alley, a small shop called "Giant Spider" had its door wide open. Inside, there seemed to be many strange creatures locked in cages. Soren thought he might find the Illusion Scent Grass he needed here, so he walked in.

"Welcome, esteemed guest." At the back of the shop, a Hag wearing a wide-brimmed pointed hat said in a hoarse and eerie voice, "Please feel free to browse."

Soren glanced at the Hag and then began to look at the creatures in the cages on either side. True to its name, knockturn Alley, Soren saw many rare and dangerous creatures here, such as the Niven Snake, Long-Horned Water Snake, Fire Ash Snake, Mortar Mouse, and so on. After a moment of reflection, he casually asked, "Do you sell Illusion Scent Grass here?"

The Hag stared intently at Soren, her gaze filled with coldness. "You must be joking, esteemed guest. Illusion Scent Grass is a Class A prohibited trade item; even in knockturn Alley, no one dares to trade it openly. How could I possibly have such a thing here?"

Soren sneered, "I'm not joking; I just believe that in this world, as long as there are enough benefits, there is nothing that can't be traded." With that, he turned to leave.

The Hag said in a barely audible low voice, "If you really want it, you can find someone. He is my supplier; he has many connections and might be able to help you..."

Soren took out two gold Galleons and placed them on the counter, coldly saying, "Give me his name and contact information."

The Hag calmly put the Galleons into a drawer and then slowly took out a piece of paper, writing down the name "Nicholas" along with coordinates for a location in the Black Forest in Germany. "Esteemed guest, he is a professional smuggler, and his name has been shielded by multiple complex and profound spells. Even owls can't find him; you must personally make the trip."

"The Black Forest?" Soren murmured to himself. It seemed this task would require him to personally go there with Dobby using apparition, as he really couldn't trust Dobby's poor intelligence when dealing with these shadowy figures.

After finding the clue he needed for the Illusion Scent Grass, Soren checked the time and was too lazy to continue wandering in Knockturn Alley. He called Dobby back—Dobby had repaired the secret passage on the fifth floor a few days ago, and Soren had just the new task for him: to travel to the Black Forest and find Nicholas's location, and then return to take him there via apparition.

Thinking about how he would have to apparition all the way from England to Germany in the future, that dizzying travel method made Soren feel a bit apprehensive. It seemed it was also time to prioritize developing a bracelet that could overcome various magical disorientation spells.

Soren changed back into his usual attire and returned to Diagon Alley, reflecting on his experiences in Knockturn Alley, as if he had traversed two entirely different worlds.

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