Chaos and Order - A Multiverse Fanfic

One by one, everyone disappeared after the incident, not wanting to associate themselves with the vanished feud.

Darcie approached her parents and observed the cut on her father's lips. There was only a little smudge of red.

"Are you OK, father?" she asked. "What happened?"

Lucius' eyes were fuming with anger. But the moment he heard Darcie's voice, he seemed to calm down.

"Don't worry," he forced out a smile. "I will deal with it. Go have fun with your friends."

Lucius snorted and walked out of the bookshop with Narcissa glued to his heels.

Daphne neared Darcie and stood by her side. "Let's go," she whispered. "We have many shops to cover."

Darcie reluctantly nodded as she saw her father disappearing through the windows. Finding any clue related to the mysterious object was paramount to them.

As the girls were about to leave the bookshop, they found Mrs. Weasley stomping her way in, her face red and blue.

"No shame!" she was hissing. "What was he even thinking?!"

The witch's eyes fell on the two girls, then.

An odd silence persisted between them before Molly Weasley suddenly smiled at Darcie and Daphne.

"Forgot my purse," she pointed to a desk. "We are going back home now. Ginny's screaming bloody murder, asking me to leave her with you two. Haha! She is the only girl among her siblings, and I think she's gotten much attached to you all."

Mrs. Weasley's words truly took aback Darcie.

She had met no one until now who could put aside the differences instantly and talk as if nothing had happened.

"We will visit her on weekends," Darcie promised. "Ginny told us you cook delicious treats, Mrs. Weasley. I hope we will get to taste them, too."

On her side, Daphne smiled and nodded. Only she could understand how big a deal was it for Darcie to promise a visit to another's home, especially where her mere presence could cause controversy among the top figures in the Malfoy family's circle.

Molly Weasley's eyes moistened at hearing that. She picked up her purse and rushed back in Leaky Cauldron's direction.

"Come on," Daphne said, pulling Darcie towards Horizont Alley. "We must know what's so strange about this object today. I am getting a funny feeling whenever I recall your encounter with the seller."

At the Horizont Alley's entrance, Dobby was waiting for them, fidgeting and pulling his large ears.

As it was the last day of the fair, the throng of buyers was at its prime.

When the three grouped in a dark corner, Daphne asked, "Which one first?"

Darcie took out the palm-sized object and took a deep breath. "Let's start with Garluk's Metallurgy."

I must get to the bottom of this object's origin today, she reminded herself, her eyes narrowing.

For the funny feeling that Daphne had mentioned, Darcie had been experiencing the same since the very first day.

*

*

Garluk's Metallurgy was a famous shop in Horizont Alley.

It was marked H4 on the map Darcie had received on her first day of coming to Diagon Alley.

After taking the turn into the Horizont Alley from the Diagon alley, this shop towered tall on the corner of another right turn.

There was a giant signboard over the main entrance, portraying a bone hand carrying many-colored jewels.

Two tall witches, each donning even taller pointy hats that covered half their faces, walked into the shop.

These two naturally were Darcie and Daphne, their appearances tampered with using Magic by Dobby.

If one were to look at their faces, one would have found out that they looked like two little children stretched by odd means.

Any skilled wizard or witch could recognize that these weren't their genuine features.

However, none cared. And why would anyone care anyway, when there were hundreds of others like Darcie and Daphne, hopping and crawling around in the alleys, trying to make the most of the last day of the Grand Fair?

The shop was full of people, and the two new arrivals didn't garner any special attention.

Darcie and Daphne kept their faces low.

Behind them, Dobby followed close, hidden under the Invisibility Cloak.

For all of them to be out in the open sounded stupid to Darcie, so they kept Dobby invisible, providing support from shadows.

Not to mention, if someone were to recognize him as a House-elf, trying to impersonate a wizard or witch, it would raise unwanted commotion; a thing the girls would rather not do before getting significant results.

There were several employees in the shop, but the girls went straight to the main counter.

Behind the table, they could see Mr. Garluk, the owner of the shop, seated in an upright and tense position.

Garluk was a Goblin and had red penetrating eyes.

With a quill in his fat fingers, he was scribbling something on a sheaf of parchment, his pointy nose pressing deep over the table.

Garluk enjoyed quite a backing from the Gringotts, Darcie had learned in the last month.

He ran the business in Horizont Alley, dealing with rare minerals, jewels, and materials that could be used in magical potions, formations, and items.

One could find many cheap and expensive products, demanding high prices and buying at lower costs. And like all Goblins, his greed wasn't a thing unknown to anyone.

"Mr. Garluk?" Darcie inquired, trying hard to put substance behind her childish voice. "I need your assistance in appraising an item."

Not all came to the shop to buy or sell. Many were like Darcie, who had chanced upon some odd object of unknown origins, trying to figure out their worth.

The Goblins of the Gringotts didn't do this appraising for just anyone, either. One needed to produce papers and reveal identities, not something all wanted to give out so easily.

So Garluk's Metallurgy enjoyed a major business in appraising items as well, giving a small portion of the profits to the Gringotts behind the curtains.

This was all Darcie had learned from her father's offhanded discussions.

Garluk's hand paused, and he looked up at the girls with his beady eyes.

His nose crooked upwards as if he had smelled something funny out of thin air, but ultimately said nothing. "10 Galleons."

No matter how powerful or worthless an item would be, a preliminary evaluation cost 10 galleons. It wasn't a wonder that this business was thriving in the wizardkind.

Nonetheless, if one thing Darcie had no worries about, then it was money.

She nodded at Daphne, who took out an already prepared pouch from her waist and handed it over to the Goblin.

Garluk counted each coin and then threw the pouch in a drawer. "Item."

Darcie took a deep breath, pushed her hat a little lower, and brought out the palm-sized object.

The moment this unimpressive object came out in the open, Garluk snatched his hand back.

"Yi?!" a squeak escaped the Goblin's throat, and his beady eyes widened, the red of his pupils becoming redder.

Both girls shook as they saw this, not knowing what was going on.

However, they were astute enough to tell that the old goblin had certainly recognized something at a glance.

"It's…" Garluk muttered under his breath and then spoke even more words in Gobbledegook, Goblins' language.

Yet, it was these words that unnerved Darcie.

By now, Darcie had spent over 2 months learning, researching, and deciphering runes and ancient languages. Even if she couldn't speak one fluently, translating Gobbledegook wasn't an impossible task.

Another one appeared after so many years?! These were the words the old goblin had cursed out, leaving Darcie in a frozen state.

Garluk, not touching the object at all, looked up at the girls once more.

Even an idiot could tell that he was looking at them as if he had seen no foolish witches in his entire life.

"Where did you get this?" he asked, pointing at the object.

When the girls didn't reply, the goblin chuckled, showing his sharp yellow teeth.

If it was any other children in their places, they would have truly been frightened off by this laugh.

The goblin took out a pair of gloves, wore them, and only then did he take the object off Darcie's hand.

He tossed and turned it, sniffed its corners, and looked at it through a lens.

From time to time, he kept spitting out words in Gobbledegook, which Darcie caught immediately.

"Not simple…"

"Huh? It's different…"

"Same, but not the same, either…"

"Open… Open… Open… What the?"

"Truly sinister…"

The last two words sent a shiver running down Darcie's little spine.

***************

AN: Only 1 Chapter today (Power Stones Count yesterday: 45)

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