The Last Horcrux/Carkitt Market/Cogg & Bell
As you enter Cogg and Bells, a little bell jingles on the front door. The shop is full to the ceiling of all manner of clocks, watches and other time pieces, magical and mundane. At the sound of the bell, the shopkeeper looks up from his work.
“Good afternoon Miss,” he says politely, “how may I help you.”
“Good afternoon,” you say, politely, before pausing for a moment, wondering how best to approach this. You decide to start with the truth, before moving into suggestion and deception as required.
“I am going to be starting at Hogwarts school in September, and was after your finest pocket watch. I was wondering though if they are all mundane, muggle technology, or if you sell enchanted time pieces?”
From his reaction, you sense that the shopkeeper might have been offended were you an adult, but assumes that a girl such as yourself is merely naive in the ways of magical clocks and watches. He launches into a long lecture on the value of magical pocket watches, that can forecast and predict the weather up to a week in advance, work as a compass, can summon broomsticks and the like, or tell you if family members have safely arrived home. It’s clear that he can tell from your bearing and the quality of your clothes that you are from a wealthy pureblood family, and he spends some considerable effort trying to persuade you to buy a pocket watch that shows you where your family members are at all times.
“This is a favourite for worried parents, not that your parents need worry, as they’ll see if your at Hogwarts, or on the train, or here…”
“My parents are dead,” you interject, emotionlessly, which stops him in his tracks.
“What I was wondering about was, something for the busy young witch. With all the lessons, after school activities and socialising, I’m sure to find myself very short of time. Is there anything you sell that could help me to… make the most of it?”
For a moment, he seems not to follow what your are getting at, but then it dawns on him, and he looks concerned, then stiffens.
“Are you… trying to ask me about a Time Turner Miss?” He asks you.
“A Time Turner?” You ask, feigning surprise, “what is that?”
Perhaps you struggle to lie convincingly in this girl body, or perhaps the man is less of a fool than he appears to be, but he doesn’t fall for your mask of naïveté on this occasion.
“I think you know very well what a Time Turner is Miss, from the questions you are asking,” he says, looking down at you disapprovingly, “Time Turners are prohibited from general sale, and are highly restricted by the Ministry of Magic.”
You smile at him.
“Very well, you’ve figured me out,” you agree, falling back on honest questions, but gripping your wand in the long sleeve of your mother’s shadow cloak, “what I am wondering is, whether those restrictions really apply if a person is responsible, and can pay a premium to assure people of that.”
You place you purse that is full of golden Galleons on his shop counter top. It jingles to make your point. Unfortunately the man’s surprise quickly turns to anger.
“Are you trying to bribe me to sell you an illegal Time Turner?” He asks, his voice rising in tone and volume, “oh this will not do Miss. I’ll have to report this, who are your parents? I’ll…”
He is shocked into silence as you flick your wand from your sleeve into your left hand, and point it casually at his face.
“Obliviate” you say calmly, and a pale blue light engulfs him, completely erasing his memory of the last few minutes of the conversation. It was worth a try to see if he could have repaired your Time Turner, but the damned fool seems to be both an honest man, and a stickler for the rules.
To ensure the spell has worked, you re-enter the shop and order a pocket watch of navigation, which acts as a watch, a compass, and prevents the wearer from getting lost, by always pointing in the desired direction. The man clearly has no memory of you asking about Time Turners whatsoever. The shopkeeper seems to be very happy with your purchase and agrees to send it directly to you at Hogwarts from the manufacturer in Switzerland.
As you leave the shop, you pause in a doorway of another establishment and take your broken Time Turner out of your pocket to look at it for a moment. You were the one that cast the contingency spell on the Time Turner, to automatically trigger and to bring your soul back in time by nearly seven years. The plan was that if anything happened to you, you would automatically be sent back in time, so that you could possess young Emily. Despite your mastery of many areas of magic, fixing a Time Turner such as this is beyond your understanding. Perhaps a specialist in Paris, or Zurich could fix it? It is something you will need to give some more thought to. You look at the beautiful and powerful magic item for a few moments longer, then slip it back into your pocket and continue with your day.
Where do you go next?
- Grincott’s Goblin Bank to see your wealth in your family vault
- Ollivander the Wand Maker to see if you can use your mother’s wand or if a wand of your own would be better
- Stowe and Packer’s on Carkitt Market to buy a magical bag or trunk
- Cogg and Bell’s Clockmakers in Carkitt Market to inquire about your broken Time Turner
- Twilfit & Tattings Clothing to ask about enchanted clothing and footwear
Or are you ready to go home now?
