Clues about the Mysterious Object and the ingreditent that shook the girls

AN: To read ahead and support the novel, do consider becoming a Patron. Thank you and enjoy!!!

***********

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, both were still calm and 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. And 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. She even wondered if it would be a good idea to just let her father handle this ominous object.

Alas! As often happens to brilliant, but inexperienced minds, curiosity won over caution.

"I think I know what is it," Garluk hissed to them, leaning over the table. "But…" he rubbed his fat fingers.

Darcie and Daphne were prepared to invest all their pocket money and recently gained reward money to earth out this object's origins today only. So, even before Garluk could turn his greed into words, Daphne took out another heavier pouch and put it on the table.

There were 50 Galleons in it.

The girls noticed Garluk licking his lips as he counted the money, and they decided they didn't like this goblin one bit.

"Follow me," Garluk spat, throwing himself off the chair.

Darcie and Daphne shared a glance, and then looked down at the invisible House-elf, taking courage in his presence. There were security measures placed in the shop against invisible cloaks and disillusionment charm, but they would only trigger if Dobby were to touch or pick an item.

Not something the girls needed to worry about, they knew.

Then they followed the goblin, their steps neither slow nor hurried.

Garluk took the black-cloaked witches to the basement. Both girls kept eying the strange, eye-catching jewels and other items on their way. There truly was a charm about this place, they reasoned.

This basement, however, wasn't their stop.

The shop owner put his small hand over an iron gate, and the settled dust over the heavy metallic door exploded with a puff. Magic pervaded their senses, the door opening with an ear-piercing screech in the next moment.

"Come," the goblin said, without looking back.

Darcie saw a flight of stairs vanishing down into the darkness beyond the threshold. She looked at Daphne and found her friend rather shaken, too.

Should they leave?

The question had just surfaced in their minds when Dobby tugged at their cloaks as an answer.

The girls nodded, held each other's hands, and descended into the unknown.

It was a small room, smaller than her bathroom, Darcie observed. But the goblin was tiny, and the girls were pressed together, so all occupied space within the room without feeling congested.

A lamp was propped up against a wall, lighting the floor underneath. The rest was darker than shadows, and they could see not a hint of anything.

Suddenly, the goblin turned around and looked at them with a snap. "300 Galleons," he hissed. "I won't give a galleon over it."

Darcie was flabbergasted. What was this? Why the sudden offer?

If she hadn't understood Garluk's offhanded words in Gobbledegook, then she wouldn't have asked these questions to herself. Just now the goblin was remarking on the object's sinisterness, and now he was presenting a price. Did he truly want to buy it, or was there more to his actions?

The girls didn't know what to do. So they went along with their original plans.

"This is not for sale," Daphne said, rejecting the proposal.

"You?" the goblin fumed and then sneered. "You scoundrels! You think I won't tell the ministry about what you are up to? Heh!"

Darcie was inexperienced but learned enough to recognize the pretenses when she saw them. "Go ahead!" she retaliated. "Old fool! You think we don't know what you goblins are up to?"

Huh? Do we? Daphne must have been thinking, doubting Darcie's obvious false tone.

Darcie knew nothing. But these were Goblins; a race always up to something, if the books and history amounted to anything.

No wonder Garluk's face paled. "What… What do you know?"

"Humph!" Darcie snorted, as practiced. "Just appraise the item. If you want money, then just say it, but it's not for sale."

Garluk's color went from yellow to red, anger rising at the tip of his sharp teeth. Yet, the goblin held himself back and said nothing. "I've heard of these," he said, lifting the object in his gloved hands up to his face. "It's an ancient way to seal maps."

"Maps?!" Daphne exclaimed.

"Hmgh!" the goblin nodded in agreement, grunting through his nose. "Maps are a diagrammatic representation of an area of land or sea showing physical features…"

"We know what maps are!" Darcie cut in. She truly wanted to flick this goblin's forehead.

"Tch, so noisy!" Garluk complained. "Anyway, in olden times, wizards engraved maps on wood with magic, hiding some secrets within it."

"You mean like a Woodcut?" Daphne prodded.

"Yes," Garluk nodded. "Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood…"

"I know what a Woodcut is!" Daphne almost fumed, losing her composure. "It was I who brought up the word."

The corners of Darcie's mouth twitched ruefully. Neither of the girls had been angered so much by anyone so far if they were to ignore the existence of Dolores Umbridge, who truly was an eyesore.

"Tch-tch!" the goblin tsked. "Truly lacking. Where was I? Yes. The maps were carved into the wood as Woodcuts using a specific magical procedure, and then they sealed the Woodcuts, preventing anyone from accessing its secrets."

"Sealed how?" Darcie inquired.

"They created a potion, infused a code word in it, and then applied it on the Woodcut," the goblin replied, his pointy mouth lifting into a hideous grin. "To access the content of the Woodcut, one must speak the Code Word in its presence, and it must be in a specific language, as per the original creator's intention."

Darcie instantly recalled Garluk's repetitively saying Open three times, and she knew what this dishonest goblin was trying to do then. She couldn't help but frown as she thought of the consequences if the object would have reacted to those words spoken in Gobbledegook.

But there was a major problem with what Garluk had told them.

And sure enough, Daphne was wise enough to catch it. "No potion last for that long," she added. "No matter how efficient a potion's effects are, with time, they vanish."

Garluk suddenly laughed. "Not bad for a witch," he nodded.

'What's that supposed to mean?' The girls thought, their eyes narrowing.

"It is indeed the case," he continued. "That's why a specific ingredient was used for these potions that have the property to lengthen their age. This also lets one distinguish between the real Woodcuts and the counterfeit ones."

"You mean to say that this can be a counterfeit?" Daphne asked.

"Let's find out." Garluk spat the words, and then took a few steps back, vanishing into the darkness.

When he returned, there was an object in his right hand covered under a dark piece of cloth.

Darcie felt Dobby's fingers tighten over her cloak. She knew the house-elf must have sensed something for him to act so. But both the time and place weren't in their favor for them to consult with each other.

Garluk put the Woodcut and the new object on the floor, and the lamp's light fell on them with an inauspicious glint.

"What is it?" Darcie asked.

The goblin answered by taking off the piece of cloth with a jerk.

It was a glass jar with a green-yellowish liquid within it. And in that liquid, two large tennis ball-like eyes were suspended, looking extremely alive.

Suddenly, the eyes blinked, and both girls stepped back. Under their horrified gazes, the eyes looked at the Woodcut on the floor and trembled with unmatched fury. There was such a fit of anger in those pupils that the thick liquid within the jar boiled.

The goblin hurried and covered the glass jar with the cloth again. The trembling stopped gradually, and Garluk rubbed away the sweat over his brows.

Then the goblin smiled. "It's real," he said, picking up the object.

"Were those…" Darcie asked, but she already knew the answer. No wonder Dobby was shaking so much, grabbing her cloak.

"Eyes." Garluk sneered. "Eyes are a pair of globular organs of sight…"

An unprecedented amount of Magic churned around both girls, making the goblin let out a squeak.

"Yi? Uncultured brats!" Garluk cursed. "Yes, those were a house-elf's eyes. Only that ingredient used to brew this sealing potion could bring out such a reaction from those eyes."

"What ingredient?" Daphne asked, her face heavy.

Garluk laughed vilely. "Bone Marrow," he hissed like a beast. "Bone Marrow, extracted from an alive house-elf."

The girls' eyes widened in horror, and that brought an end to their inquiries.

When Darcie and Daphne left the shop, both were quieter than they had been in their little lives so far. Now they knew what this object was, and what they must do to know the mystery within.

But this knowledge of how these objects were created truly left them feeling quite empty.