Chapter 84: Lockhart’s Signing Event

Lockhart really was a generous man—not only did he treat Harold to dinner, he practically handed him 135 Galleons for free. Harold hadn't met someone this gullib—no, this kind in a long time. Well, technically it was 130 Galleons. Harold hadn't lied—those so-called Legendary Golden Wizard Stickers really were made using gold powder... the cost of fifty came out to about five Galleons. But Lockhart was wealthy—surely he wouldn't mind a devoted fan making a little margin. As Harold continued toward the wand shop, he inevitably passed by the entrance to Knockturn Alley once more. Same time, same place. Knockturn Alley was eerily quiet, deep and shadowed, not a single flicker of light. The entire alley resembled a slumbering beast, maw open, waiting for lost prey to wander in. But today, Harold had no intention of poking around again. He passed straight by. He'd been keeping an eye on the place for days—nothing had happened. No chaos, no law enforcement, no Aurors inspecting the area. Old Borgin had kept his word. The six Death Eaters who died that night vanished like stones into the deep sea—no ripples, no trace, just gone. Speaking of them, Harold suddenly remembered the chameleon lizard that had been part of the bait. That thing had lured him into the trap—since he dismantled the whole setup afterward, it'd be a shame not to take the bait with him. Still, he'd only taken the lizard. Though Borgin had said he could take whatever he wanted, Harold had looked around and found most of the other items either worthless or too shady in origin. So, in keeping with his word, he left them all behind. Borgin was quite pleased and handled the cleanup himself. As expected of a Knockturn Alley native—his professionalism was impeccable. ... The next day, Harold arrived at Flourish and Blotts before noon, delivering the stickers he'd worked through the night to finish. In return, he received Lockhart's promised full set of autographed works, including the very first signed copy of Magical Me. The bookstore wasn't releasing the autobiography until two hours later, to coincide with the signing event. But Lockhart didn't seem to care and gifted the book early. Naturally, a "complete" set had to be truly complete. Besides Magical Me, it also included Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests and Year with the Yeti, among others. Lockhart likely knew those titles had nothing to do with Defense Against the Dark Arts, which was probably why he hadn't shamelessly added them to the school's curriculum. Before leaving, Harold even had Lockhart write a custom message inside Magical Me, certifying it as the first signed edition ever sold. Thanks to the good impression he'd made the day before, Lockhart agreed without hesitation. Harold planned to sell it later at a high price. With Lockhart's current popularity, there'd surely be a collector willing to pay for such a unique piece. When Harold returned to the wand shop, the line outside had already started snaking down the street. Garrick gave him a strange look as he stepped behind the counter. "What's wrong?" Harold asked, puzzled. "They're all here for you," Garrick said, voice full of conflicting emotions. After decades of calm, the old wandmaker had never imagined a day where his shop would have a queue out the door two days in a row. Then there was the huge sack of jingling silver Sickles beneath the counter—it didn't even feel real. In fact, he'd made less money selling wands these past two days than Harold had selling... stickers. Were those little things really that popular? It was absurd. Well... It was a little absurd. If Garrick had paid closer attention, he might have noticed that many of the people waiting outside looked familiar. That's because they were. Harold had paid Old Tom at the Leaky Cauldron to hire professional queuers—five Sickles a day. It wasn't much, but Old Tom had no shortage of jobless drunks who would gladly take the gig. Five Sickles bought five large mugs of malt whiskey, and the job was easy—of course they signed up. Tom was happy to help too, since most of the coins those guys earned ended up in his till the next day. The long line also attracted real customers. Everyone benefitted. Well, almost everyone. The downside was that the trick worked best the first day. There were only so many people in Diagon Alley, and even fewer interested in wand decorations. By afternoon, the line was still long—but Harold could tell the real customers were thinning out. Most just came in, browsed briefly, and left. And that was with Lockhart's signing event drawing extra traffic. Without it, the line might've vanished by noon. "Oh, we finally made it in." A familiar voice called out. "Unbelievable—when did the wand shop get so popular?" "Or did we miss something... Wand Stickers?" Fred and George sidled up to the counter, grinning at Harold. "Long time no see, Harold." "We tried visiting once before, but the place was locked." "I was out of town," Harold said. "So, are you two here just to see me?" "Of course... not," Fred said. "We're here to get Ginny her new wand," George said, stepping aside to reveal a red-haired girl. "Ginny Weasley, our youngest sister." "A first-year at Hogwarts this year." "Mum was supposed to bring her." "But we offered to help." "And we also wanted to check out your new... wand stickers," Fred added after a pause. "That's what they're called, right?" "Also the dye spray and maintenance kits," Harold reminded them—for the umpteenth time. People really acted like those two items didn't exist just because they were pricier. Even so, he wasn't planning to lower their prices. If anything, their presence made the stickers seem like a better deal by comparison—encouraging people to spend more willingly. "Come on, Harold, bring out the goods," Fred urged. Under pressure from the Weasley twins, Harold pulled out the full set of Magical Creature stickers and started chatting behind the counter with them. They talked a lot—mostly about how they'd rescued Harry from his aunt and uncle. "You wouldn't believe the stuff Harry went through," George said dramatically. "They didn't even feed him!" "Luckily, we got word in time." "And brought him to the Burrow." "We all came to Diagon Alley together today." "But Harry got the Floo powder wrong and ended up in Knockturn Alley." "How did we not think of that?" George smacked his leg. "If we'd done that, we could've gone to Knockturn Alley too." "Fred!" Ginny, testing wands nearby, turned and frowned. "Mum said we're not allowed to go near there. Don't even think about it." "I'm George, Ginny," George said, deadpan. "And I don't think it's that dangerous anyway. Harry said he didn't see anything weird—just a bunch of creepy merchandise." "Dad says that's because he got lucky and ran into Hagrid," Ginny huffed. "And Harry didn't want to go there in the first place!" "Ah, maybe," Fred said with a shrug, clearly unconvinced. ... (End of Chapter)