Harry Potter: Reunion with the Enemy

Two in the morning. The ghetto.

Lancelot looked around warily and walked towards the old place of the Night Watch Market. Today, he had to sell the last batch of gemstone raw materials on the black market. After selling this batch of goods, the things he brought out of the goblin's underwater dungeon would be almost dealt with, and his savings plan would come to an end.

"I was originally thinking about going to see the performance of the stupid couple Harry and Draco at the auction. I'm afraid I won't be able to get up early if I stay up late tonight..." Lancelot muttered to himself as he gathered his bag, put his hands in the pockets of his hooded sweatshirt, and silently quickened his pace. If he hadn't been too speculative chatting with Bill Weasley and delayed the progress of the night's transaction, he could have had a good sleep tonight.

"I hope I can run into my old customers today, or a new buyer who likes to explore new things." Lancelot prayed secretly.

The Night Watch Market is in the corner of the Muggle slums. As the destination approaches, Lancelot can see homeless people sleeping on the street and various simple stalls. At this moment, most city residents are sleeping in the quiet night. It is only a few blocks away from the bridge with golden lights, but the dirty and garbage-filled brick alleys have a completely different appearance from the skyscrapers.

In addition to the dirty plastic bags, portable food packaging, odors and flying insects of unknown origin, there are a number of trading stalls that only appear from 2 to 4 a.m. These trading stalls appear quietly in the middle of the night and disappear before the first ray of sunlight appears in the early morning. When the sunlight shines on the entire city, the place returns to the peaceful but dirty state during the day.

Lancelot carefully stepped over the body of the man sleeping sprawled out in the middle of the alley, glancing at the empty spaces on both sides, trying to quickly occupy his own position.

At first, Brick Lane in the slums was a place where Muggle wanderers exchanged supplies late at night. These temporary stalls made of sacks or torn plastic bags had all kinds of expired food, clothes of unknown origin, and half-rotten fruits, which allowed them to get enough to fill their stomachs and survive at very low prices. Later, as more and more stalls appeared and gathered together, the types of goods in this alley gradually increased. Semi-new high-end digital cameras, small books that looked very old, half-used cosmetics, and expensive store goods with tags all appeared here.

In other words, this is also where most Muggle thieves and robbers digest their stolen goods. As the back of the glamorous big city, this place is full of filth, dampness and mystery.

Although both buyers and sellers know that the goods they are selling are of unknown origin, one can often buy unexpected things at extremely low prices here. Some curious Muggles and speculators who are eager to pan for gold in the garbage dump often visit this place.

As the goods changed hands again and again, their unknown origins were no longer mentioned. In order to avoid conflicts and reduce trouble, the Muggle police pretended not to know about the existence of such a group of people most of the time.

Therefore, buyers and sellers gradually became bolder during these short two hours every day, and various high-value taboo items could be found here. Brick Lane was gradually called the Night Watchman Trading Market, or the Night Watchman Treasure Hunting Market, and became famous among a small number of people in this city.

"Sri Lankan ruby?" Not long after Lancelot sat down in front of his stall, a fat gentleman with a flashlight squatted down to take a closer look. Compared with the loose clothes of most of the homeless people and thieves here, the fat gentleman's vest and bow tie looked ridiculously formal.

Lancelot lowered his hood and nodded. Because his heterochromatic pupils were too distinctive, in order to avoid talking to customers about his eyes and affecting the transaction speed, he always pulled his hood down to the lowest position, leaving only his mouth exposed for conversation.

"The quality is average. Isn't the price you wrote a bit too high?" Although the fat gentleman was in love with the ruby, he obviously wanted to lower the price.

Lancelot waved his hand firmly, because even based on the Muggle price of gems, the current price was about 20% off. Considering the goblins' pickiness about the raw materials of gems, and the loss he would have to incur when exchanging Muggle currency for wizard currency, Lancelot refused to give in.

"Why are there such high-quality gems here? Are they of unknown origin?" Seeing that ordinary communication methods did not work, the fat gentleman wanted to exert moral pressure.

Just as Lancelot was about to take the gem back from the fat gentleman and ask him to leave, another voice came out, "Buying and selling are all about fate. I have bought many interesting and exquisite gadgets from this gentleman before. I think you can trust the price he offers."

Lancelot keenly identified the source of the voice. He raised his head and looked at the person who had just approached: "Professor Eugene?"

The fat gentleman seemed surprised by the interruption. Generally speaking, transactions on the black market are always private and fast, and it is rare to directly interfere with other people's conversations like this. The fat gentleman repeatedly weighed the quality of the ruby ​​in his hand, and after carefully checking it with a flashlight many times, he took out the same pound as the marked price to complete the transaction. Then the fat gentleman hurried away and quickly turned to other stalls.

"Aren't you going to attend the auction tomorrow? Why are you still wandering around the black market?" Lancelot looked up at Eugene who was smiling.

"Yes, I always have trouble sleeping the night before an auction. My favorite collection is about to be acquired, so I want to see if there are any small items to buy. Then I saw you. It feels like you haven't appeared in the Night Watch Market for a long time." Eugene replied slowly, "Didn't you sell more antiques and collectibles before? Why are these all gems and raw materials?"

"You can think of it as a short transformation." Lancelot shrugged. Professor Eugene once bought many small gadgets found in non-magical tombs from him. At the same time, Lancelot also helped Eugene sell some unidentified collections that he came across in his academic projects.

Although Professor Eugene still doesn't know that he is a wizard, nor does he know the existence of the magical world.

"Very beautiful, are these real?" Eugene squatted down and took a look with some interest. These gems were amazingly beautiful. The goblins must have used these materials to make some of the highest-grade jewelry. Even in such a dark environment, the most layman could see the luster of these gems.

"The highest quality, Professor," Lancelot replied in a firm tone.

"Maybe I can buy a little, tens of thousands of pounds? You know, the wives of the high-ranking officials in the Lake Club might like it..." Eugene seemed to be in high spirits. "Oh my God, I can't imagine how much money I'm going to spend in the next two days."

"They will bring you good luck." Lancelot said. "Give me the lowest price, professor."

Around four in the morning, the vendors in Brick Lane gradually disappeared, replaced by more sleeping homeless people. Lancelot packed up all the Muggle currency and the last three gems and was about to leave.

Because it was past the time when people would feel sleepy, and he had already achieved his expected sales today, Lancelot was now full of energy.

Suddenly there was a message vibration prompt.

Lancelot opened the message notification bar.

The one who contacted him late at night was Draco, one of the stupid couple.

"I suddenly remembered that I don't have enough money to bid for the auction to attract Professor Eugene's attention. In addition to bidding for the Eye of Horus pendant, I also want to buy the pair of snake rings. So, I want to ask if you have enough Muggle currency now? I can exchange wizard currency with you - my exchange quota has been used up, and I must buy the rings."

Lancelot strode towards the main city, looking thoughtfully at the Muggle cash he had just obtained from selling the stolen goods from the underwater dungeon.

"I have a lot of fresh Muggle cash here - besides, if you fail to hook up with Professor Eugene tomorrow, you can set up a stall in the Muggle slums every day. This can also be a social outlet. I almost forgot that he likes to come here very much."

"A stall in a Muggle ghetto?" Draco seemed confused. "What is this?"

"A great and shady trading center." Lancelot said nonsense, "If you don't have treasures or rare things to sell, you can also cook some meals to sell - I heard from Harry that you cook delicious food. I suggest you let me taste it first, and I will help you check it."