20demayo Page 36
Page 36
These books, including the Victorian-era trunk, were all carefully selected by Levin from the Room of Requirement using his "Appraisal" skill.
Boxes are naturally for convenient storage of things.
As for why I chose a box of books...
That's because Levin felt that selling books was the safest and most cost-effective way to make money.
Looking around the huge junkyard inside the Requirement room, it was filled with all sorts of waste.
Without wanting to make it public knowledge, Levin's task was to transport the most valuable goods using the least amount of space and weight.
That explains it.
First and foremost, magical items are more valuable than ordinary items.
However, the [Repair Spell] can usually only repair ordinary items. To repair magical items, one must be proficient in magic runes and alchemy.
This is something Levin cannot do at present.
Given this, Levin had no choice but to settle for the more expensive of the ordinary items.
This eliminates items like furniture and bottles/jars, as they are large and difficult to sell.
Besides jewelry and luxury goods, books are the best-selling items.
But jewelry and luxury goods are not something that ordinary people would readily give to someone who always wants them.
Even if you insist on picking some out, they're not easy to sell—they're easily mistaken for stolen goods.
But antique books are different.
Firstly, antique books are relatively common and won't be mistaken for stolen goods, making them easy to sell.
Secondly, the Harry Potter world books are not cheap, but their cost-effectiveness is much higher than that of furniture.
Thirdly, Levin has a massive database and a method of copying, so even if these books have missing pages, they are easy to repair.
At the entrance of the secondhand shop,
Straki read these old books from beginning to end, and then from end to beginning.
Levin looked at it several times until he got a little impatient, then he looked up at the boy with admiration.
"Sigh, I didn't realize you were so good at healing magic."
After a pause, he added, "We're all acquaintances, so I'll be frank. Your books are very well restored, but most of them are old textbooks, so the market is somewhat limited."
"Therefore, I can only offer you 8 Galleons for a book, but I'll give you 50 Galleons for the box. What do you think?"
8 Galleons?
Upon hearing the price, Levin pondered silently.
This price is actually similar to that of a new book; for example, a fifth-grade Potions textbook costs 9 Galleons.
If these books are sold as used books, then this price is quite high.
However, if these books are considered antiques, the price is somewhat lower.
However, considering that these books are shipped in bulk and it's difficult to find buyers, plus the source of the books is somewhat questionable... so lowering the price a little is not unacceptable.
Levin thought for a moment and then countered, "How about this: there are 67 books in total, each worth 10 Galleons, plus the box, you can give me 700 Galleons."
“A book selling for 10 Galleons? Why don’t you just rob someone?” Straki immediately became angry.
"You're robbing me! You're only selling this for 8 Galleons!" Levin retorted sharply, showing no fear whatsoever.
After the two men glared at each other for a while, Levin finally said, "Hey, Mr. Abraham, you can think it over. If this deal goes through, I'll come back to you for any new business opportunities."
"There's new business!?"
Upon hearing this, Straki's eyes lit up, and after silently calculating for a moment, he nodded.
"Okay, deal. You've really gotten a good deal this time."
"Just say so."
Levin took the dragon-skin bag containing 700 Galleons and turned to leave.
Since the deal was already done, he didn't mind letting the other party have some of the verbal advantage.
"See you next time, Straki, and Merry Christmas."
Merry Christmas, Grimm boy!
After walking a full hundred steps away from the secondhand shop, a satisfied smile finally appeared on Levin's face.
This time I'm really rich.
Whether in the Muggle world or the wizarding world
Money is of utmost importance.
He didn't want to experience that frugal life during summer vacation again.
Even if he himself doesn't care about material things, researching magic is inherently the most expensive thing.
Having some money on hand is beneficial for both living and research.
With the money in hand, the first thing Levin did was to change all his clothes.
Wizard robes, cauldrons, experimental equipment... everything was replaced with new ones.
He even made sure to buy Hammer a brand new cage and a bag of delicious (for a Scottish round-faced fat chicken) dried rats.
Next came Christmas, and he had money again.
This means that Himer, who has been idle for half a semester, should finally have a few days of hard work.
He then spent the rest of his time wandering around Diagon Alley, trying to find out information about the key ingredients that were permanently part of the elixir.
The blood of the Reem bull, the powder from the claws of the leopard cat, the tail hairs of the nine-tailed fox, the powder from the beak of the griffin, the paws of the bear, and the head feathers of the owl.
In the end, it was a few familiar faces—Miss Hayden, the female clerk at the Fantastic Beasts Shop, and the two owners of Sluggiggs Pharmacy—who helped him.
As the largest magical creature shop in Diagon Alley, Miss Hayden's shop inevitably has some connections with poachers.
Miss Hayden revealed that there are indeed several poachers in the East attempting to find the mysterious nine-tailed fox, and they claim to have concrete information.
Hayden didn't think the other side could actually catch the Nine-Tailed Fox.
This magical creature possesses the ability to cast mystical spells by consuming its tail.
No matter how dire the situation, as long as she sacrifices one of her tails, the nine-tailed fox can escape.
The tail that was sacrificed can grow back in a few decades.
But if the poachers can force the nine-tailed fox to this point, then getting some tail hairs will be very easy.
So Levin left Miss Hayden 50 Galleons and asked her to keep an eye out for news in this regard.
As for the owners of the Slaggiggs Pharmacy, they brought news of Reem ox blood.
Although the annual production of this blood is very small, they do have suitable channels.
After all, they have connections.
Arseni Giger's "Potions and Elixirs" is the potions textbook at Hogwarts.
Horace Slughorn served as the Potions Professor at Hogwarts for 50 years (his successor was Snape).
So Levin left 100 Galleons as a deposit, and he would receive a sample of Reem cow blood during the summer vacation.
Levin was overjoyed to receive news of obtaining two rare materials at once.
But the remaining four are less likely to be successful.
Leaving aside the owl's head feathers for now, since these creatures have never been native to the Harry Potter world, Levin can't expect owls to suddenly cross over to this world like water ghosts.
Ocelots are famous magical creatures in the Americas.
It can walk upright, run faster than an arrow, and its eyes are said to have the ability to hypnotize and manipulate minds.
One of the schools at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is named after it, and its fur is also the material used for the core of the American wand.
Ocelot claws are not a common potion ingredient.
But if American sorcerers could get their hands on hair, they could certainly get their hands on claws.
I'll consider this when I have time to go to the US.
The bear is a magical creature from the East, also known as the human bear, a terrifying creature that resembles a giant bear.
This thing comes from the far East, so Levin can't get his hands on it for the time being.
The only one that seemed relatively easy to deal with was the griffin.
The griffin, also known as the lion-bodied eagle-headed beast, is a mythical creature native to Greece.
This is an ancient magical creature with the forelimbs, wings, and head of a giant eagle, while its body, hind legs, and tail resemble a lion. They primarily feed on raw meat and are fierce in nature, but skilled wizards can also befriend them.
Griffins were once found throughout Europe and were widely recorded in the accounts of wizards of that time.
But nowadays, very few people have heard of them.
However, their offspring with horses—the eagle-headed horse-bodied winged beast (also called the hawk)—were widely bred by wizards as a substitute.
But magical materials are another matter.
A hawk can replace a griffin as a mount, but it cannot replace a griffin as an ingredient for attribute-enhancing elixirs.
Compared to leopard cats, bears, and owls, griffins, though rare, are at least native animals.
So Levin decided to start his search with the griffins.
Chapter 40 Knowledge of Legends
Levin spent the afternoon wandering around Diagon Alley, but didn't get any more information about the griffin.
This animal has been missing for far too long; the last known contact with humans dates back to Newt Scamander in 1927.
Since I can't find out from others, I'll have to rely on myself.
That evening, Levin returned to the bar's private room early, placed an incense burner on the floor, surrounded by four ivory ornaments, lit incense, and began the magical ritual.
In a way, Levin should thank Muggles for their advanced modern industry.
Ritual materials like incense and ivory artifacts would cost at least three or four hundred gold coins in a real magical world.