Fortune telling

Happy New Year to everyone reading! happy reading.

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[Congrats on acquiring a new ability. This should come in handy on some occasions. You should look for the Piertotum Locomotor spell when you are at Ilvermorny. Since you seem to have a fetish for creating an army of statues, you can now do so. After all, you have the ability to create anything out of metal. Naturally, you'll need to increase your proficiency with the ability as well.] he said seriously.

"What do you mean proficiency? I did great." I said indignantly.

[Really? Take a look at the thing you made.] he said with a laugh.

I peered down to look at the stick figure that was all twisted and malformed. It looked like a piece of playdough that had been squeezed in one's hand. I grimaced at the sight. It seems it wasn't as easy as it looked.

"Fair enough. About the spell, one, IT'S NOT A FETISH! And two, I will most definitely do so when I have the chance." I nodded seriously. Voldermort may have an army of inferi in that shitty cave of his, but I have an army of metal at my disposal.

"Congratulations young master," interrupted Alfred.

"Thank you. Now that the key to opening the gate has been replaced, we have to do something about your appearance Alfred." I said while gazing at his silvery self.

"Oh that, haha, that is nothing," he said and stood there silently for a few moments. Before I could ask him what he was planning to do, his outer look began to change. He took on a Caucasian skin tone. His beard turned white, his eyes turned brown, and his suit turned grey with the proper textures. He looked normal except for the beard; it was too long.

"Is that better?" he asked.

"Yes, but trim the beard, it's too long," I advised. He nodded and the beard began to recede before a well-trimmed short, white full beard took its place. His hair also shortened. He looks exactly like a butler now.

"Perfect. Now, I think I've spent enough time in this alleyway. Let's go explore Magical district." I said with a smile. Alfred took the lead and turned the lid on the trashcan clockwise three times and then I performed a spell. The brick wall quickly opened up in the same manner as the one in the leaking caldron. As soon as it did, a similar view to Diagon Alley was presented to me.

The bustling streets filled with people. There was almost no difference between the two countries. Well, the most notable difference would be that there were a lot more people in business suits and conservative clothing. The children were the only exception. They still wore different colourful clothing.

The smell of candy permeated the air as I walked down the cobblestone path. I looked for the source and found it without much effort. I saw Children running around with weird sweets in their hands, mothers reprimanding them to no avail. The stores looked cleaner, straighter and more contemporary as opposed to the 1800s approach Diagon Alley followed. I still preferred Diagon Alley thought.

Something about old buildings cramped together with a lot of people gave it a homely feel. These buildings were evenly spaced out, and colourful in their own way. The pet shop had a big owl on the front, which looked around with its beady eyes. It had a brown roof and through the windows, a massive room filled with animals could be seen. One of those expansion charms again. I looked up at the signboard which read 'Roberts magical familiars'.

Next to the shop was one that had a big red book on it that turned its own pages. The building was completely back and inside, a massive array of shelves stacked with books could be seen. I was tempted to walk inside but refrained from doing so since I wanted to continue looking around. I made a mental note to come back though.

Across the street, there was the shop that sold candy which I had already seen and next to it was a shop that sold pranks and gimmicks of all kinds. It reminded me of the shop Fred and George would later go on to open.

As I continued forward, I reached a big intersection where the road split into an 'X' shape. There were dozens of shops and buildings that did their own thing and sold their own stuff. But one caught my attention. A fortune-telling store. The notice at the front said that they could read your future. I was very sceptical of this but there was definitely something real about it. since divination was taught at Hogwarts, there must be some truth behind it.

I didn't think much more about it and decided to give it a try. When I walked in though, I was assaulted by the weird type of smell that dazed me for a minute. It was a mixture of odd-smelling smoke which I assumed came from the scented candles spread across the room. When I can back to myself, I saw a small interior different from the vast interiors that were squeezed into seemingly tiny exteriors I had seen before. This one was actually small.

I saw a small man sitting at a desk with a globe filled with some Smokey substance in front of him. When he saw me come in, the man smiled slightly and raised his hand.

"Hello young fellow. Here for a Divination?" he asked while pointing at the chair opposite him.

"Yep, although I'm sceptical of this whole thing, I don't mind giving it a try," I answered with a shrug.

"I can understand why. Divination is a tricky subject. Most of the time it is pure nonsense since they are inaccurate, but on the off chance it is accurate, it can prove to be quite useful." He said with a smile. I nodded in acknowledgment. After all, Harry's prophecy proved true.

As I sat down, I was offered some tea but the experience with Dumbledore made me wary of any such drinks.

"So, are you ready?" he asked with an eager expression.

"Sure, what do you want me to do?" I asked.

"Touch the crystal ball until I tell you otherwise." He said before closing his eyes.

I shrugged and placed my hand on the Crystal and waited there patiently. Soon, the smoke inside began to darken, and quickly became completely black.

"That's enough," spoke the man suddenly. I took my hand away from the Crystal and observed the smoke that was floating around. The man opened his eyes and placed his hands over the crystal and began to chant something. I couldn't tell what it was since he was mumbling but soon the images that the crystal ball showed captured my full attention.

I even saw Alfred peering at the globe from the corner of my eye.