The Sallow Saga - Vol. 2 - In the Shadows of Memories [A HL Fanfiction]

Chapter 1. A Small Favour

The bell above the shop door chimed as the last customer of the day walked out of J. Pippin's Potions shop, in Hogsmeade. Gareth Weasley started to wipe down the countertop surfaces, while whistling tunelessly. He could have used his wand, but there was something quite satisfying about tidying up in the laborious muggle way which he particularly enjoyed; it seemed to round off the end of a successful business day quite nicely. That being said, he did find sweeping the floor clean of scattered ingredient crumbs a little too dull, so enchanting the broom and mop to do the job that he loathed, he focused his attention on wiping down the stove's hob. He'd just about finished when the door to the shop received a flurry of knocks.

He turned to the windowed door and made out the silhouette of three hooded figures, huddled around the door handle, trying it desperately. Gareth leant casually against the countertop and watched for a bit, mildly amused. Students these days would try just about anything to swipe a few ingredients for their potion's classes. Just the other month he'd had to hurry a couple of second year boys out of the store before his boss, Parry Pippin, caught them red handed stealing a bunch of ashwinder eggs. As he'd dragged them out of the shop, he'd angrily scolded them, before sneakily handing over a couple of mongrel furs from inside his cloak, before hastily whispering:
"Maybe next time, ask before pinching what you can't afford?"
The boys had breathlessly thanked him, before hurrying away. Naturally Parry Pippin had decided to count the stock that night and Gareth was tasked with replenishing the mongrel furs and ashwinder eggs before the morning as penance for assisting and abetting shoplifting. It was a small price to pay for helping the future dare devils of Hogwarts, he surmised.

He watched as three wands glowed in unison outside the front door to the shop, before the casters each rattled at the handle. Gareth sighed, he'd had to improvise with the locking charm on the door recently, there seemed to be more thieves trying their luck on the store holders in Hogsmeade since the attack on Hogwarts four months ago. Still, the insistence from this group was unsettling. Gareth always said, the more persistent the thief, the likelier they were to give grief.

Straightening his bow tie and smoothing down his smart, tailormade maroon shirt, Gareth grabbed a small handful of a fine silvery sand like dust. Stunning powder, made from crushed unicorn hair and acrumantula web spray. Just a pinch thrown at a desired target could render them dazzled, disorientated, and covered in a sticky and itchy glittery film. It was one of the few of his own concoctions that Parry Pippin had genuinely surmised as being an asset to all store holders in the village.

His hand holding tightly to the dust behind his back, Gareth slowly approached the door.
"The shop's closed for the night folks, in case the locked door didn't give that away...".
The group outside stopped what they were doing and appeared to hold a hastily whispered discussion outside. Gareth hated the frosted windows on the front door to the shop, it meant that he had no chance of getting a clearer image of the hooded group. It was his own fault, he enjoyed people watching, a little too much. In his third week as apprentice for Parry Pippin, after he'd finished his schooling, Gareth had gotten side-tracked by a street performer outside the shop. As a result, he'd allowed an invisibility potion to overflow. After ordering him to scrub the now invisible cauldron, stove and countertop, Parry Pippin had punished him further by frosting the glass windows, in an attempt to avoid any future accidents.

Finally, the tallest of the group spoke up, "open the door Weasley!"
Gareth shook his head, "not a chance stranger, be on your way and have a merry day!" He did a quick bow to mimic his boss's send off and turned his back.
"Weasley, if you don't open this door now, I'll blast it down myself!" The same voice, a little more frustrated than before.
Gareth frowned, "I'm not opening the door to anyone I don't know!"
"Oh for heaven's sake," another voice chimed in, with a posh undertone and exasperated too; "Gareth Weasley, will you please open the door for three of your old classmates?"
Gareth grinned, there was no mistaking that voice. He let the stunning dust slip soundlessly from his hand back into the pot by the door and hastily unlocked the entrance.
"Ominis!" Gareth smiled broadly but was rather taken aback as Ominis and his two companions barged past him into the shop. His smile now fixed, Gareth blinked a few times before gesturing invitingly to the spot on the outside doorstep where they'd just been.
"Do please, come in...".
He pivoted on the spot, swinging the door shut behind him, locking it back up.
"To what do I owe the pleasure?"