Chapter Ninety-Eight: The Troublesome Potion Supplies Shop (First Update)

“Oh, my master, for such a long time, Phil has worried every day... The master must be alright, but Phil was not...”

As Kahn had just arrived at his home in Diagon Alley, the two house-elves, Phil and Isaac, swarmed around him. Tears flowed freely; if Kahn hadn't forbidden them from harming themselves, they might have bang their heads against pillars or walls in their distress.

“This has nothing to do with you two. Phil, Isaac, go make me a cup of coffee, extra milk.” Kahn sighed at the elves’ servile nature—having been trained too thoroughly, when faced with such situations, the only way to distract them was to give them tasks.

“Right away, merciful master.”

With those words, Phil immediately Apparated out of Kahn’s sight. Although the kitchen was just a few steps away, he clearly could not let Kahn wait any longer.

Isaac glanced left and right, and after failing to find Kahn’s luggage, he rubbed his hands nervously and asked, “Master, your clothes...?”

“Hang them up for me.”

“Certainly, Isaac will clean them once more.”

Kahn then went to the study. Almost a year had passed; he needed to catch up on any major events that had occurred in the wizarding world during that time.

However, Kahn had not entirely set aside developments in the non-magical world. He had created three shadow clones to handle affairs there.

Regarding finance and various industries, before leaving he had arranged for a manager, and Phil, who had taken a few compound potions over the year, would occasionally assume Kahn’s form to collect quarterly financial reports.

He hoped that under such circumstances, those managers wouldn’t become too greedy; otherwise, Kahn had many magical experiments he wished to conduct on people.

At this stage, the magical world still offered Kahn greater value. His main purpose for this visit was to bring back more flesh and blood of fire dragons and other magical creatures. If possible, Orochimaru even hoped Kahn could bring back a dragon egg.

The last time, Kahn had only brought back a small portion of magical creatures. Most were one- or two-star rated; only the fire dragon and phoenix were above three stars. Many more dangerous magical creatures—those even Newt Scamander was forbidden to keep—were usually fatal to ordinary wizards who dared to approach them.

Beyond the magical creatures, there was magic itself.

There were some profound spells and dark magic that Kahn could not perform at all; he needed someone to teach him.

“Master, your coffee.”

“Master, here is the Daily Prophet since you left.”

Phil and Isaac each brought something—one the coffee, the other the Daily Prophet—and then stood idly to the side.

Kahn waved them away, dismissing them from the study.

He then began reading the Daily Prophet. There was much trivial content, with very little truly useful information. He had to sift through many issues to find a hint of valuable news. This was partly due to the small size of the British wizarding community, where about forty percent of the paper was devoted to the Ministry of Magic’s self-promotion.

The only item that left a strong impression was the negotiation between the British and European wizarding communities over the potion market. Specific policies might be introduced soon, likely allowing European potions to enter the British market. After the news was a “debate section,” with many wizards supporting the move.

There were still too few potion masters in Britain. The most renowned publicly were Horace and Snape, both masters of brewing all kinds of potions, including Felix Felicis. The rest were mostly pharmacists from the magical hospital specializing in treating injuries, especially known for their expertise in healing dark magic wounds, though weaker in other areas.

Beyond these, few stood out. Most were simply S-level qualified wizards who could be called potion pharmacists but hardly masters.

“You should have Kettell pay more attention to this area. If we can secure exclusive potion import rights from one or two countries, that would be a huge profit...”

Kahn made a note of this. However, flipping to yesterday’s Daily Prophet, he still found no concrete announcements.

After finishing with the newspaper, it was already past lunchtime. He had only eaten a few pieces of chocolate cake in between. Phil was weeping bitterly, having prepared a grand feast, yet his master did not partake.

After reading the Prophet, Kahn asked Phil and Isaac if he could learn house-elf magic. In theory, his magical power also derived from a magical creature and didn’t require a wand.

Yet after Phil taught him six or seven times, Kahn still couldn’t master Apparition. Following Phil’s instructions, he couldn’t even summon a trace of magic. So Kahn gave up on the idea and planned to post a job advertisement in the Daily Prophet to hire a tutor.

Leaving his home, it was less than a hundred meters to his shop, but Kahn was surprised to see that beside the grocery store sign, there was now an additional sign for magical supplies.

Upon entering, he immediately understood the reason.

Inside, piles of magical materials filled the space, with shelves brimming with them. Only half of the counter displayed some potions.

“Looking for something... Boss, you finally returned.”

Kettell breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Kahn. She waved her wand, levitating the magical materials blocking the counter into the air. After stepping out from behind the counter, she set them down—it looked like some kind of tree root.

“What’s going on here, Kettell?” Kahn asked curiously. Nearly a year had passed—how had the shop transformed so much?

“It was all an accident. I never expected the shop to evolve into a magical materials store...” Kettell poured two cups of red tea and cleared out chairs for Kahn.

“Since you needed materials from magical creatures, I initially purchased a lot. But some materials don’t store well, and since you weren’t here, I sold them when their magical properties started fading.

“Afterward, many wizards came here through their friends, often choosing to sell magical materials here...”

Hearing this, Kahn understood the shop’s evolution. Kettell had stumbled into this by chance—the orders he left behind had caused other wizards to treat it as a magical materials outlet.

Originally a grocery, it had become a magical materials acquisition shop. The half-counter of potions was probably Kettell’s last act of stubbornness.

Slughorn’s Apothecary in Diagon Alley did not buy in large quantities, and Hogwarts itself produced a great deal of potion ingredients. Although Kettell often sold some, the stock of magical materials in the shop only grew.

“Boss, it’s my fault—I didn’t expect this...” Kettell expressed guilt. The shop’s turnover in galleons had shifted mostly to these magical materials. If everything sold, they could earn thousands of galleons, but sales were slow.

“That’s not your fault, Kettell. I just think the place feels cramped. If possible, buy the two adjacent street-facing shops.

“By the way, are all European fire dragon materials from Romania?”

Kahn asked, ignoring Kettell’s concerns about lost galleons.

“Yes, sir. Because of the danger fire dragons pose, personal ownership is prohibited. This law was jointly enacted by several European magical ministries. Romania hosts the largest dragon farms in Europe.”

“So, all fire dragon blood and flesh circulating in Europe come from Romania?”

“Yes, boss, including dragon meat, though only a few can stomach it...”

Kahn nodded and said, “I’ll give you another sum of galleons. Buy the two shops next door. Then, package the magical materials inside according to the potion recipes required for finished products. After that, post a job advertisement in the Daily Prophet. We need a wizard to teach magic—someone highly skilled.”

“That’s all, boss?”

“That will do. I don’t know if it will work, but I need to consult experts.”

Having said that, Kahn prepared to leave. The shop no longer required his presence. Before leaving, Kettell gathered some of the more precious potion ingredients and gave them to Kahn to take.

**********

Back home, Kahn retrieved a letter from Newt Scamander, containing Newt’s current address.

Kahn did not know anyone at the Romanian dragon farms; the only person he knew connected to that place was Newt Scamander. Though they had only exchanged one letter, Kahn felt Newt was a very approachable wizard.

Soon, Kahn received a reply. Newt’s residence was not far from London; by owl post, a round trip could be made in half a day.

In the letter, Newt invited Kahn over for afternoon tea, thanked him for his previous donation, and mentioned he had handed all the galleons to some friends—wizards who shared his interests and remained busy.

After receiving Newt’s reply, Kahn felt his plans had gained some momentum. If Newt was willing to help, everything would proceed more smoothly. If all went well, Kahn would become the preeminent magical materials magnate in Europe.

After handling matters with Newt, Kahn found the letter Hermione had sent him. Since she didn’t know where he had gone, she had entrusted it to Phil in Diagon Alley.

Although Kahn had prepared Christmas gifts before leaving, Phil said Hermione had come to Diagon Alley during the Christmas break but left disappointed after failing to find her godfather. After staying a while, she departed.

Kahn then wrote a letter recounting some of his adventures in America and had an owl deliver it to Hogwarts.