Chapter 23: 28th July 1991, Sunday: Part 11

What the hell was this woman playing at? With the massive jam jar glasses and the grey afro full of spider webs, just her appearance alone was frightening enough. Why did she have to jump up like that, to scare away potential customers? No wonder she didn't have any in the first place.

"Just wait one minute... As I live and breathe, is that one Remus Lupin standing before me?", Packers enthusiastically said while adjusting her glasses.

Remus returned Packers smile, "it is indeed. I'm surprised you still remember me?"

Packers waved her finger around back at him, "I'll never forget you, you little rascal."

She looked at Amanda and Dominic before continuing, "this boy right here used to come back to my father's shop every single year, with his tail between his legs and a destroyed suitcase to boot.

For seven years he came back here practically begging for me to fix his case. Oh you wouldn't believe the excuses he would give me, he couldn't lie to save his life."

Then she looked back at Remus, "but he used to give me these puppy dog eyes and I couldn't say no. That's seven case restorations he weaselled out of me for free, it would have cost fourteen galleons and eight sickles by my reckoning."

Remus's face turned red as he fumbled for his wallet, "please Mrs Packer, don't remind me of those days. Begging for your help was never something I was proud of. Allow me to make up for my past mistakes."

Packers reached over and put a hand on Remus's chest, "don't you go pulling your money out, the debt had already been paid many years ago. You don't owe me a thing."

Remus looked up at her, "I don't understand. When did I pay you back?"

Packers chortled while wiping the thick layer of dust off her desk, "well aren't you being modest? What about all those times you visited me after you left Hogwarts, back when you-know-who was around? Don't you think I knew what you were doing? Looking out for little old me."

"Still, I would feel better if I could...", Remus feebly tried to disagree.

Packers put her foot down which caused her to wobble slightly, "enough, I won't hear any more of it. Now, who have you brought into my shop? Customers, I hope."

George had stopped paying attention to the conversation between Remus and the scary lady a while ago, instead, he was distracted by an unusual odour. He had a very good sense of smell and could recognise the aroma coming from just behind the desk. It was that unforgettable salty seaweedy smell of the British coastline. But that didn't make any sense, the nearest coastline was over forty miles away. George doubted that Packers had a bowl of seawater and sand by her feat so there had to be another explanation. Then he saw her wobble very unnaturally like she was balancing on something. Another idea popped into his head as he began to look over the counter.

It turned out that Packers was standing on the very top of a tall ladder that descended into a large navy blue trunk. The ladder led down into a massive room with a log-burning stove and a leather sofa. There were broken fragments of clay statues all over the tiled floor, some of which had been swept into a corner. The sea air smell was filling George's nostrils, but his attention was now stolen by something far more mesmerising. Beautiful waves of intangible light were emanating from the trunk, the countless glowing formations were far more elaborate than the gates at Gringotts. The weaving of different iridescent strands was so expertly designed, it was practically perfect.

Packers lowered her head into George's line of sight, "admiring my father's handy work, are we?"

The hypnotizing waves of magic were blocked and George simultaneously regained his bearings. Wow, that enchanted trunk was so amazing that he had lost himself for a second there. He wondered who could have created something so incredible, they must have been a once-in-a-generation master craftsman. There couldn't be many in the world who could outperform the combined talent of the Gringotts goblins, maybe two or three at the most. Wait a second, didn't Packers just say it was her father's handy work?

George locked eyes with Packers, "did you say that your father made this trunk?"

Packers smiled and stepped off the ladder, "it was his masterpiece. One of, if not, the greatest enchanted trunks ever created. Would you like to know more about it?"

George nodded his head eagerly. The more he could know about this work of art, the better.

Packers knelt down and lovingly caressed the old trunk, "it's had a pretty wild life, this old pile of leather and brass. It was originally made for a very wealthy client but he, very annoyingly, pulled out last minute. So my father was left with a very expensive trunk that no one was willing to buy without him making a loss.

To cut a long story short, my father ended up keeping it and he continued to improve the enchantments until he died seventeen years ago. It was fair to say it had become somewhat of an obsession of his. Regardless of what anyone said, he never felt it was perfect even on his death bed. He loved this thing so much that he insisted he was buried inside of it, so he could keep tinkering in the afterlife.

I wish you could have met him, he was a brilliant man with just the right amount of madness", she finished with a tear forming in the corner of her eye.

She wiped her face before standing back up, "I've prattled on for too long, you didn't come all the way here to listen to me reminisce. With term starting in a month's time, I'm guessing you want to buy a trunk."

"Not at all, Mrs Packers. It was nice to hear about your late father. He sounded like a great man", Amanda said sympathetically while trying to hide her shock at seeing the inside of the trunk.

Ellie had been desperately standing on her tiptoes to have a peep, but she wasn't tall enough to see over the counter. After a failed attempt to climb the desk, she ended up crossing her arms with a huff and decided to make her own fun. She walked over to one of the trunks and started pulling on a string tied into a bow. Typical clueless Ellie kept pulling until the knot was completely undone. That rope must have been holding the whole tower of trunks together because they immediately began to fall forward. George just about managed to turn around in time to see half a dozen cases plummeting from above.

You are reading story Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon at novel35.com

"Arresto Momentum!"

Right in the nick of time, Remus pulled out his wand and stopped the family from being crushed. All the Linwoods looked up to see five cases of varying shapes and sizes floating above them. With another few flicks of the wrist, the trunks started to move back to their original position as if time had been rewound. Ellie watched Remus's magical display with a big grin plastered on her face, she was in complete ignorance of the mess she had almost made. As karma for her naughty actions, one of the hovering trunks tipped upside down and spilt all of its content right over her. A mixture of old clothes and damaged rugs fell out and draped over Ellie's upper body, sending dust everywhere.

As far as George was concerned, it served her right for touching things that weren't hers. She got away with far too much mischievous behaviour at home, it was about time she got her just desserts. With a lot of arm flailing and Amanda's help, Ellie threw all the rags off her head. One of the items that fell to her feet did catch George's eye, it was producing some magical waves. Nowhere near as much as the blue trunk, but a lot more than the bags in the windows. Whilst his step-sister was patting all the dust out of her hair, he leaned over and picked up a small tattered leather sack.

It looked like the worn thread holding the sack together was about to snap, but the hide was clearly of high quality. It was marked with the Packers stamp in the bottom corner with a date going back half a century. At some point in time, this had probably been a premium product. Even after fifty years, the magic radiating from inside was nothing to scoff at. It was a real shame that something of this quality had been left to rot. That being said, the poor condition might put it in George's price range. The blue trunk was always out of the question, but this little sack would make for a good substitute. Maybe Ellie's wondering hands weren't all that bad after all.

"I am so sorry about that. Ever since we relocated, I've been struggling for space", Packers apologised.

Amanda grabbed Ellie's arm again and pulled her away from the teetering trunks, "what have I told you, Ellie? Keep your hands to yourself! Especially today of all days!"

Ellie lowered her head in shame, "sorry, mum."

"It's okay. Just don't make me repeat myself again."

George held up the sack, "is this for sale?"

"Well I'll be, I thought I'd lost that old thing. Come boy, bring it over so I can have a closer look", Packers said while holding out her frail hands.

He then placed the sack gently into Packers' outstretched hands and waited for her to make an evaluation. She went through an unconventional process of putting her ear up to the leather and scratching the inside of the sack with her fingernails. It was almost comical to watch once Packers started licking the disintegrating embroidery and pulling a hair out of her mouth. George had no idea if this act was some form of valuing technique or if she was just making this up as she went along. Her eyes crossing and her tongue sticking out was making him lean towards the latter. With a bit of luck, her madness would undervalue rather than overvalue.

After about a minute of 'appraisal', Packers put the sack on the counter and looked back towards the Linwoods.

"Mountain goats hide and unicorns hair thread, forth hand and heavily worn but good quality nonetheless. The enlargement enchantments have degraded beyond repair, but they'll still be good for another five years or so. Less with regular use, two years minimum. The space inside is currently... six feet cubed, it's definitely my father's work alright."

She then looked at Remus, "I wouldn't normally sell something this old, it's better for salvage and reprocessing. But, since it's you. I could let you have it for ninety-four galleons.

I'll even throw in a brand new leather bag with protective enchantments to keep the sack inside, for safekeeping. That way, if the young boy is anything like you growing up, he won't destroy it instantly", she said while pulling another bag from under the desk.

"Deal!", George agreed without hesitation.

He took out his Gringotts pouch and pulled out fistfuls of galleons until there was a pile of ninety-four gold coins on the table. That evaluation and price were far better than he had predicted. He would have been willing to give the whole two hundred and fifty galleons for that sack, and he was going to get it for less than half. To come away with such a bargain was brilliant, Remus must have meant a lot to this crazy lady.

"Hold on a second George. Don't we need to think this through? What about all those bags in the window?", Dominic interrupted.

"If George wanted that bag then he can have it. It's his choice to spend that money how he likes", Amanda rebutted.

"If I can weigh in on this, I think George has the right idea. Mrs Packers is being more than generous with that price. A bag like that could sell for hundreds of galleons at an auction. She's practically giving it away", Remus added.

"Can I have a magic bag as well, mummy? I promise I won't touch anything else", Ellie wishfully chipped in.

Meanwhile, George completed the exchange with Packers and the sack plus a brand new leather protective case was handed over. With his new priced possession in hand, he knew that he'd made the right call. Even its rugged outer appearance was a good thing. If the sack looked too valuable, then it would only encourage some undesirable company to try and steal it. Also, there was no need to draw unnecessary attention to himself at Hogwarts by flaunting a fancy new bag around the corridors.

"Thank you, young man. I hope you have a good day", Packers said while happily filling the till with gold.

George turned around to see his family looking at him with weird expressions. Perhaps his initiative to buy the sack had come across as a little too motivated. His facade never liked buying anything before now so this behaviour probably seemed out of character. He should say something to explain his sudden consumerism, but his mind drew a blank. It turned out that making stuff up on the spot was hard, he really needed to work on his improvised acting.

He tried to muster a guilty smile whilst pointing at his new bag, "it looks cool, right? Erh... anyway, shouldn't we be going now?"

You can find story with these keywords: Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon, Read Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon, Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon novel, Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon book, Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon story, Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon full, Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon Latest Chapter