Snape.
The Potions Master at Hogwarts.
Head of Slytherin House.
An especially complicated man.
He loved someone he could never have, and burdened by guilt for causing her death through his betrayal, he spent his life silently protecting her child—the child of both his beloved and his enemy—while risking everything as a double agent.
In the end, misunderstood by everyone, he died a lonely and tragic death. It had to be said, experiences like that could indeed grant someone an undeniable allure.
Dawn was thinking about Snape as he paid for his purchases, listening half-heartedly to the clerk's endless complaints and gossip, preparing to leave.
Just then—
"Mr. Richter, wait a moment!"
A voice called out from behind him.
Turning back, Dawn saw the shopkeeper, who had been absent from sight until now. "Something wrong, Mr. Giggs?"
"Hey, no frowning, kid! It's good news!"
The overweight, middle-aged man, clad in a bright purple robe, emerged from the back room, his face alight with enthusiasm.
"Mr. Richter, are you in need of any rarer potions?"
"Rare potions?"
"Exactly! Things like Skelegro, or even Draught of Living Death..."
Giggs explained eagerly. "You know, our shop mainly deals in mid- to low-end potions and ingredients. But for regular customers who reach a certain spending level, we offer a special procurement service."
Special procurement service?
Dawn raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"
"Simply put, if there's a rare potion you can't easily find on the market, or you don't want to waste time searching, you can place an order with us. We'll use our connections to find it for you."
Giggs beamed as he spoke, then added frankly, "Of course, the price will be higher than the potion's base cost. Depending on how difficult it is to acquire, we charge an extra ten to thirty percent as a service fee."
Dawn rubbed his chin, genuinely intrigued.
He hadn't realized that this shop, whose most expensive item so far was dragon blood, had this kind of reach.
"Any potion at all?"
"More or less... As long as it's not too obscure, given enough time, we can track it down."
Giggs looked very confident. Worried that he wasn't convincing enough, he leaned in and added, "Even Felix Felicis! You can order that too!"
"Felix Felicis?"
Dawn looked at him in surprise.
He hadn't expected this chubby fellow to be more capable than he appeared—able to get hold of even that.
Felix Felicis... among all potions, it was easily one of the most prestigious.
Just brewing it took six months, and the slightest error in the process would ruin everything, with no way to fix it.
It was considered a luxury, with a tiny vial containing barely ten drops selling for tens of thousands of Galleons.
"Felix Felicis, also known as Liquid Luck, guarantees the drinker success in everything they attempt while the potion's effects last."
Giggs, thinking the boy might not recognize its value, started enthusiastically citing sources.
"Ever read The Tales of Beedle the Bard? The most famous wizarding fairytale collection! The story about the Fountain of Fair Fortune was supposedly inspired by Felix Felicis!"
Giggs spoke the lie without a trace of shame, using it to brag indirectly about his own impressive connections and abilities.
Not that he could be blamed for trying so hard to impress a young client.
From Giggs' point of view, the boy was clearly wealthy and spent freely.
While his frequent visits suggested he might not have powerful backing in the wizarding world, for a shopkeeper like Giggs—eager to shift his business model and in desperate need of new clients—any wealthy customer was worth courting.
Yes, Giggs wanted to transform his business.
Ten years after the fall of the Dark Lord, the wizarding world was enjoying a time of peace. But without the looming threat of war, the demand for potions was plummeting fast.
On top of that, profits from mid- to low-end products were thin to begin with—
After all, in Britain, over seventy percent of wizards had studied Potions at Hogwarts.
While not many could pass the O.W.L. exams and fewer still entered the advanced classes or became true potion masters, there was still no shortage of people capable of brewing basic potions.
Take the revenue from Giggs' shop, for instance...
If they hadn't slashed their prices low enough to attract wizards too lazy to brew for themselves, they would have started losing money long ago.
After some painful reflection,
Giggs realized that change was urgent.
Nowadays, only the high-end potion market offered real opportunities.
However, when he actually tried to break into that world, Giggs discovered once again just how unfriendly the wizarding society could be to someone like him.
The old pureblood families, many of whom had backed the wrong side during the last war but still clung to power, monopolized nearly the entire high-end market, blocking out newcomers completely.
After hitting wall after wall, Giggs was left seething with frustration.
He sometimes daydreamed about Dumbledore bursting out of Hogwarts, wand raised high, purging all those disgusting pureblood snobs from the face of the earth.
But once the fantasy faded, faced with harsh reality, Giggs could only settle for a compromise: offering a preorder service.
On one hand, it let him avoid direct conflict with the purebloods, while buying time to slowly build relationships with potion masters.
On the other hand, it helped him start gathering a customer base for his future high-end shop. Thus, Giggs had every reason to treasure this wealthy young client—and hopefully his even wealthier relatives.
........
Just as Giggs was carefully choosing his words, preparing to unleash his twenty years of salesmanship experience, the boy suddenly said:
"Great. I'll take it."
"What???"
"Felix Felicis. I want a bottle of Felix Felicis."
Giggs froze.
"Felix Felicis? Sorry, kid, but... you're serious? You know how much it costs, right?"
"Of course."
Dawn's red eyes gleamed with interest as he looked back at him. "About fifteen thousand Galleons, right? Don't worry, I'll pay."
Truth be told, he had been curious about this potion for a long time. A potion that claimed to guarantee success in anything... he really wanted to know what it would feel like.
Dawn licked his lips unconsciously.
Besides, he wondered, could Felix Felicis help him unlock the mystery behind the magical markings on his body?
Giggs stared at the boy, who barely reached his waist, with growing suspicion.
As far as he knew, even children from pureblood families didn't have the authority to make purchases worth tens of thousands of Galleons on their own.
After all, with the connections he had only just established, even he had to pay a hefty premium to get Felix Felicis.
If the boy ended up unable to pay, it would be extremely difficult to find another buyer willing to pay the inflated price.
"This... alright. But it might take some time. If I get any news, I'll send a letter by owl."
After weighing the risks, Giggs decided to take the order.
After all, Felix Felicis was different from ordinary potions. Even if the kid was playing games and didn't buy it in the end, it wasn't something that would be hard to sell.
At worst, he could put it on the market at a regular price and only lose a bit of effort.
"As for the deposit—"
"Pay you once you've got it," Dawn interrupted. "I didn't bring that much cash today."
He smiled. "Besides, a bottle of Felix Felicis... you're not really worried about it sitting unsold, are you?"