Chapter 437: Lockhart's Colleagues (Edited)

"The new Azkaban? Although the word 'New' has been added to Azkaban, the meaning is completely different. It means that Azkaban, which hasn't expanded for centuries, is expanding, and the Dementors are leaving the place where they have lived for centuries to live and even... reproduce in a new land.

What wizards in the magical world had always feared has finally happened.

The magical world's attitude towards Dementors started with pure fear as there was no magic that could harm them. Until they discovered that the Patronus Charm could drive away Dementors, wizards' attitude changed to using them while also being cautious. They used Dementors to imprison prisoners and, in the process, kept them confined to the small island of Azkaban for hundreds of years. Now, the birth of the new Azkaban, the White Dolphin Prison, will indeed break the magical world's captivity of Dementors.

But what does this have to do with me, Borgin? I only know that I'm safe, that's enough. Borgin isn't interested in the meaning behind the new Azkaban; he just wants to quickly go to his new workplace and start working.

Borgin's reaction didn't surprise Tom. In theory, when wizards hear the news that Dementors want to expand their territory, they should be very afraid and gather all their forces to go to Azkaban and strike the Dementors, making them remember the fear that wizards instilled in them in the past, and then eliminate Tom, the mastermind behind all this.

But that's only what should theoretically happen. In reality, are there so many bored wizards with nothing better to do that they would undertake such a task without payment? Most wizards don't even know about the creation of the White Dolphin Prison, and if they do, they don't understand its significance.

In the current magical world, it is extremely difficult to unite and fight together for a common goal. Perhaps a level of threat like Grindelwald's is needed to bring wizards from different countries together. Dumbledore's International Confederation of Wizards only nominally unites all wizards but has managed to strengthen communication among wizards by issuing tasks. If this association continues to function for several decades, its influence may become evident.

"Let's go," Tom instructed. He gestured for Mr. Borgin to leave Borgin and Burke between the Dementors.

Mr. Borgin left Knockturn Alley carrying a box, surrounded by Dementors. The passive aura emanating from the Dementors made him shiver constantly, and unsettling thoughts and unpleasant memories flooded his mind without cease. But his longing for a new life propelled him forward without even slowing his pace.

Tom, who was by his side, was amazed by Borgin's behavior. After all, he was now surrounded by five Dementors. Even if the Dementors didn't have active intentions to feed on emotions, their mere presence was enough to make an ordinary person faint. How could Borgin walk briskly without slowing down? Was his previous life so unfortunate, or is he simply a person with tremendous willpower?

Thanks to Madam Bones's masterful move, Knockturn Alley was thrown into chaos, and no one noticed Borgin's departure. In addition to Tom, more than ten Dementors also left with him.

They soon arrived at the White Dolphin Prison.

"This will be your new workplace. I'll control the range of Dementors' activity, as long as you stay away from where they are, you won't be affected," Tom instructed Borgin and then assigned him a room and an office at the White Dolphin.

"By the way, what identity would you like to have here? There's already someone in charge of the company on the surface," Tom asked.

Although the White Dolphin Prison is a prison, it's also a processing factory where the "workers" are somewhat special. The White Dolphin Prison has two lines of business: rudimentary clothing processing and cotton swab manufacturing. In addition to that, it also has a chapel, a infirmary, a cafeteria, a library, a shop, and various other establishments.

"The shop owner?" Borgin hesitated for a moment and finally chose between the identities of librarian and shop owner. Because he could store his transferred items from Borgin and Burke in the shop's storeroom.

"No problem, your regular job isn't complicated. Find an obedient prisoner to watch over the shop for you, and keep an eye on the prison to prevent trouble. If there are Muggle journalists or officials coming to investigate here, you must find a way to deceive them, and if it doesn't work, go and get the priest. He's someone skilled in the Memory Charm, and I'll leave a wand here for him; he just has to request it when he needs to use the spell," Tom instructed, then nodded at Mr. Borgin this time. The job turned out to be easier than Borgin had imagined, though a bit solitary. Because he would be completely isolated from the magical world, aside from the Dementors and the priest who was skilled in the Memory Charm, there would be no trace of the magical world.

"By the way, those things you brought from Borgin and Burke, would you like to tell me what they do?" Tom remembered that he had brought many things, so he could ask the original owners to tell him about them and see if there was anything worth studying for himself.

"Of course, let me organize things first," Borgin bowed to Tom.

They both headed to an empty storage room. The room was spacious, about a hundred square meters, more like a warehouse than a storage room.

Tom placed all the things that Borgin and Burke had brought him in the storage room, including that huge vanishing cabinet.

Tom knocked on the door of the vanishing cabinet, making a dull sound. "Where did you get this vanishing cabinet?"

Perhaps behind every antique, there's a story. The vanishing cabinet was no exception, and Mr. Borgin looked at the large cabinet, lost in memories.

"That was a long time ago when Professor Dippet was the headmaster of Hogwarts, and Borgin and Burke had just been established. Both Burke and I were young and had just started our businesses, so our daily task was to wander around the secondhand area in Diagon Alley. Back then, Diagon Alley was different, you could really find good things there. This cabinet was something I found there; it was cheap and came with many antique furnishings..."

Just as Mr. Borgin was getting lost in the memories of his lucky collecting experience in Diagon Alley, the storage room door opened, and a bald man hurried in.

"Oh, Father, you've come! This is the new owner of the prison shop," Tom wasn't bothered by the interruption in the conversation and was pleased to introduce Lockhart, the intruder, to Mr. Borgin.