How We Died

Crynn POV

"Coincidentally, the next place we're going is just on the other side of the street," I realized the moment we stepped outside Madam Malkin's that opposite to it, is a shop. Precisely, a bag shop 'Genet's Bags For All', there's a lot of bags alright. I entered the shop and whistled silently upon taking a look at the shop!

This is really what they call bigger inside than outside! The interior must be at least 6 times larger than the exterior! It's a big emporium selling only a huge assortment of bags. Handbags, shoulder bags, briefcases, tents?! There's just a whole lot of objects around, there's no less customers around the place too.

"Hmm... Services?" I looked at a large poster hung on one of the pillars. Turn any type of bag to any other type of bag, only 1 galleon! That's cheap and just what I really want! "Excuse me, I would like to get this service," I said to a nearby salesclerk, dressed in blue like the rest of the shop's salesclerks, very uniformed.

"You mean the 'Turn any type of bag to any other type of bag, only 1 galleon' service?" The salesclerk readily repeated the service on the wall as I nodded eagerly. "Come with me," The salesclerk beckoned and we followed him to a cashier counter. "Place the bag here," he said, stretching his hand towards a plushy surface beside the counter to put the bags on a soft surface.

I plopped my briefcase on the plush as the man looked as bored as he could be. "Here are our selections in which you could choose from," the man handed a pamphlet filled with all sorts of models of different bags, backpacks and many other. Hmm... I couldn't really decide what type I want, none seem more suitable with a tux then a briefcase.

"Are you looking to change types because a briefcase is too much of an inconvenience to carry around yet no models seem to pair better with the robes than a briefcase?" What? How did this salesclerk figure out what I'm thinking about, don't say... "Relax, I'm no legilimens. Most of our customers find briefcases an inconvenience."

"It's not that hard to know what you're thinking about. But thankfully because of the sudden influx in wizards needing convenience, we offer a new service around here," the man said in a completely monotone tone as he pulled out another pamphlet and handed me to see. This one's entertaining, a different cover.

On the face of the pamphlet is a picture of a wizard walking down Diagon Alley around the crowd but this illustration doesn't focus on any of them but on a briefcase. A flying briefcase that follows the wizard behind. I turned the face to the back and saw, 'Want to get rid of a carrying burden? Genet's Bags For All now provides enchantments to allow bags to follow their masters! Get one now for only 10 galleons!'.

Now, this is just the item I'm looking for, and it also comes with anti-muggle charms, disallowing them to see the bag! "I'm getting this one," I calmly said to the salesclerk which let out a small smirk that says, 'I knew it'. "Well then, you're going to have to sign this contract," this service needs contracts.

"We are all suspicious with each other and many accuse us of enchanting the bag with spy spells and other codswallops and so, we prove ourselves through this contract. Upon signing, it will magically bound you and every employee in this shop so whoever reneges on the contract will have their magic erased for eternity."

"the agreement states that we, the shop would only put enchantments required in according to the service stated while you have to pay for the service, the contract will destroy itself once the transaction completes. Is that clear," this guy is really blank, I could sleep listening to him but I'll recheck the contract before signing it.

Everything looks legit? It looks incredibly legit to me so why not. I gripped the quill the salesclerk gave me and signed under my name. Apparently, quills in the wizarding world writes better than a pen and it's not a pain to use it at all. Somehow, the thin quill body feels like a larger tube so when you're writing with it, it feels more like a pencil than a thin quill which is awesome.

"Done," I said, the man nodded and carried the briefcase up. "The enchanting takes about 5 minutes so you could wait at the nearby sofa," he pointed at a sofa where Aria was currently sitting on and looking everywhere curiously. I strolled and sat down comfortably, burying my whole body into the very soft surprisingly leather couch. Yeah, I could do this all day.

"So, all set?" Aria asked as she gazed at an owl exiting the shop through an opened window. "Just 5 minutes and we're all set," Aria hummed and crossed her legs, sitting back in the snuggly sofa corner. "Ahh, I need this in my life," she smiled in content as the sofa hugged her. "Can I ask you a sensitive question?"

"Sure," she smiled as she looked to me before closing her eyes to enjoy the sofa. This is a very sensitive question and also a risky one. "How did you end up here?" Yeah, that should minimalize the damage rig- "You mean how did I die?" She frowned and looked at me, oops, this could be bad.

"Hahaha! Just relax Cry, I'm not that serious. So how did I die?" She stared at me, amused by my reaction. Damn! She's good acting or is it real? "I was in an international competition, archery of course. I just won the entire tournament, another gold medal to bring home. The last thing I heard was hysterical screams and warnings."

"But the last thing I saw was when I looked down and found an arrow deeply puncturing my heart. I couldn't even feel pain, I just feel numb and shocked. The last exact sense I made out was that it felt like my soul was slowly drifting out and next thing I knew, I was standing in the middle of darkness with a voice welcoming me. Not a bad end, I did win the international tournament. I guess it's like what they said, live by the arrow, die by the arrow."

That was a bad attempt in humor. "That's horrible, much more than my situation when I suddenly died out of immense choking. Actually, yeah my death was worse, I could feel my pneumonia combined with the new virus which I just tested positive hours before my death, acting up. And suddenly, I had a severe asphyxiation like the air was sucked out of me in a huge vacuum."

"Supposedly, I died seconds after that," I told her and she appreciated that I shared my death to her as well. "Sir, your order is complete," the salesclerk nonchalantly said in front of us with the briefcase in hand. Just on time.