Chapter Sixty-Four: Rooted in Diagon Alley

"Invest in me? Karn, am I really that outstanding? I mean, right now I'm just a student who hasn't even started school yet." Hermione tried to appear calm as she asked Karn.

Karn shook his head and replied, "You learned three spells in ten days, Hermione—there's absolutely no need for you to doubt your talent. This is your first contact with the wizarding world. If you keep working hard, you might even become the Merlin of our age."

Being recognized and valued for her abilities before even starting school made Hermione truly delighted. Karn's offer to sponsor all her expenses in the magical world, including costly flying brooms and pets, was tempting.

Hermione Granger wasn't motivated by money; she felt Karn's proposal was actually a recognition of her abilities. If he didn't value her talent, why go to such lengths to win her over?

"I... I'd like to discuss it with my parents first. Personally, I rather agree with your suggestion," Hermione Granger restrained her excitement. She believed such a significant matter should be shared with her parents, so she didn’t agree immediately.

"Of course, it's best to inform Mr. and Mrs. Granger, Hermione. I'm planning to open a shop in the magical world specializing in buying and selling magical items. I'll likely be spending a long time in Diagon Alley," Karn explained.

There were simply too few people in the wizarding world to withstand Karn's schemes, especially considering the British magical community’s few thousand members, divided into numerous factions: the Twenty-Eight Pureblood Families, Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic, and so on.

The phrase "small temple, big mischief" perfectly described the British magical society; dealing with those people was nothing but trouble.

After much consideration, Karn realized the magical world was too shallow—a reference to its population, not its depths. It couldn't withstand his machinations. Wizards also disliked Muggle things, and there were departments that managed Muggle objects, which ruined Karn's hopes of mutual exchange.

His best choice was to earn gold in the ordinary world, exchange it for galleons at Gringotts, and then buy potions and magical creatures in the wizarding world.

...

After Hermione left, Karn took stock of his purchases.

The most valuable was probably the spellbook, though it was quite common—anyone with money could buy it at Flourish and Blotts. He also had some potions, the most notable being those for replenishing blood, detoxifying, and healing injuries. Polyjuice Potion was relatively expensive, but Karn knew shapeshifting magic, so it was useless to him.

Beauty potions and burn salve had some worth; if produced in bulk, they could be lucrative in the Marvel world.

The rarest item was Felix Felicis, though it was sold openly, every batch sparked fierce competition. Brewing it was exceedingly difficult, so it was rarely available on the market.

"As expected, the best place to shop is Knockturn Alley," Karn mused. He decided to send a shadow clone to scout Knockturn Alley—a safe and reliable method. If anyone tried to double-cross him, next time he'd have the clone bring explosives.

Knockturn Alley was merely a street, and Karn’s supply of bombs could level the whole place without anyone suspecting him.

Having made up his mind, Karn set off for Diagon Alley.

He remembered the location of the Leaky Cauldron, and the Muggle-Repelling Charm was useless against him; although Muggles were affected by magical spells, Karn had chakra, which allowed him to ignore the Leaky Cauldron's Muggle-repelling magic.

Upon arriving at the Leaky Cauldron, Karn ordered a few things and gathered useful information from Tom, the innkeeper.

It turned out the two streets behind Gringotts were mostly wizard residences, with both houses for sale and rent. Most wizards preferred renting, since buying a home outright was prohibitively expensive—especially those with the Permanent Untraceable Extension Charm, which were even pricier. Even longtime Ministry employees couldn't afford such houses.

From the outside, a house might appear to be only a few doors wide, and the three floors might total seventy or eighty square meters. But inside, it could be a high-end residence of two or three hundred square meters, costing about ten thousand galleons.

Opening a shop was also troublesome; one had to register with the Ministry and receive permission before setting up in Diagon Alley. The process was tedious and had strict requirements.

Knockturn Alley next door was unregulated; as long as you had a property, you could open a shop at any time.

After leaving the Leaky Cauldron, Karn had acquired a wealth of useful information—perhaps because he plied Tom with several mugs of butterbeer, the old innkeeper let loose and even pointed Karn toward whom to contact for house purchases.

Karn first exchanged enough galleons at Gringotts. Sora was very enthusiastic about Karn’s visit, and after processing such a large transaction, even upgraded Karn’s personal vault security level, though this meant little to Karn.

There were many wizard gathering places: Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, and so on. Some wizards lived among Muggles, or on their own estates, since transportation was convenient—using Floo Powder or Apparition.

Karn had neither, but in the future he could purchase a house in Hogsmeade as well, then apply for a Floo Network connection between his properties in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley.

Buying property in Diagon Alley didn’t require Ministry approval; there was a semi-official, semi-private organization that handled sales and rentals, subject to Ministry inspection but with no management authority, much like an agency.

Following Tom’s directions, Karn found the place. He saw that Hogsmeade properties were also available, but since he had never visited and hadn’t brought enough money today, he decided not to look.

After some consideration, Karn chose a long-vacant house, three stories tall, about three hundred and sixty square meters inside, priced at 9,800 galleons.

The house was both safe and well-located; perhaps the high price was why it hadn’t sold. Upon learning Karn wanted to buy, the agency quickly notified the wizard owner, who arrived within an hour using Floo Powder and Apparition.

Perhaps fearing Karn would change his mind, the owner completed the transaction immediately after confirmation.

Karn paid 9,800 galleons and received a deed and ownership. Now he had a place to live near Diagon Alley.

The property had been unoccupied for some time and needed cleaning; ideally, a professional cleaning wizard should be hired. Karn actually wanted a house-elf, but that required applying at the Ministry’s House-Elf Relocation Office.

After settling the property issue, Karn left the magical world through the Leaky Cauldron.

On the ride home, Karn saw a young girl sitting at his door. When she saw Karn step out of the car, she bounced over to him.

"I thought I’d never catch you today, but luckily I made it," Hermione Granger said brightly.

"Mom and Dad would like to invite you for dinner, and discuss what we talked about earlier. They’d like to chat with you."