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Chapter 28: What a Coincidence
Although William could frankly tell Old Tom about his time in Azkaban, it didn't mean everyone else would be so nonchalant about it.
William was even starting to regret using Azkaban to scare the driver of the Knight Bus—but he had been a bit too excited right after getting out of prison.
So, this magazine editor was someone William truly wanted to avoid.
However, the other party didn't think the same way.
The System sent two notifications in quick succession.
[You have gained the approval of a magical creature. You have received Treasure Chest x1]
[You have gained the deeper approval of a magical creature. You have received Treasure Chest x1]
If William wasn't mistaken, it was highly likely that this man had just given him two goodwill-based Treasure Chests in one go.
Fortunately, while the man's gratitude was very sincere, he was also very understanding when William said he had urgent matters to attend to and bid him farewell.
On his way to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, William opened the chests.
[Decipherer Xenophilius (SR); Ancient secrets are buried in fairy tales, and only the most unconventional can see the truth within the stories.
Skill: Insight. Tear this card. For the next twenty-four hours, you will have a high probability of discovering truths buried by history from the mythology and stories you read. The activation probability is related to your amount of Knowledge.]
[Truthful Reporter Xenophilius (SR); When the world is addicted to lies, someone will always step forward to expose it all. This is a noble act.
Skill: Truth. Tear this card. Instantly destroy all concealment magic and traps in your line of sight. The range of effect is related to your magical power.]
[Betrayer Xenophilius (R): A father who lost his composure after his daughter was in trouble. This is understandable, but still not something that can be easily forgiven.
Skill: Persuasion. Tear this card. For the next hour, your words will have a high probability of failing to persuade, and will instead immediately incite a commotion. The trigger chance is related to your desire to persuade.]
After struggling for a long time, William painfully gave up the first card, which had the highest theoretical payoff, and chose the surefire success of the Truthful Reporter.
Digging for treasure sounded tempting, and its benefits could even be multiplied if he read more books before using it, but his current situation couldn't wait for that Knowledge to pay off.
The second Treasure Chest was a bit more lackluster—the order in which he opened the chests was probably the reverse of the order in which he received them.
He got a duplicate of the Betrayer card, and a Meal Coupon just like the one he'd gotten before.
[Meal Coupon; You can use this to offset the cost of using a card once.]
As for the third card, it was also related to Xenophilius's profession: an Editor-in-Chief card.
[Editor-in-Chief Xenophilius (R): The well-known Editor-in-Chief of The Quibbler, always trying to create a big scoop.
Skill: News Crafting. Tear this card. You will have enough inspiration to perfect the details after fabricating a story. The truer the story seems, the more complete the details will be.]
After decisively choosing the Meal Coupon, William had a rough idea of who this Mr. Xenophilius was.
Although this news reporter would one day step forward to report a major piece of news, that didn't stop him from currently carrying out his job: fabricating fake news for his magazine, The Quibbler.
William was certain that thing was probably no better than the gossip-filled novels and tabloids sold at a street stall—everything besides the names and places was likely made up.
The cards, however, were quite powerful—both the Meal Coupon and the Truthful Reporter card were a significant help to William.
Although he didn't know why the man was suddenly so grateful to him, William couldn't be bothered to think about it too much.
At least it was gratitude. If it were resentment, he would have to be wary of revenge, but what kind of major trouble could gratitude possibly bring him?
But when he arrived at Madam Malkin's shop, he realized he was completely wrong.
As he stepped into the shop, he saw an extremely familiar face inside—it had been less than fifteen minutes since the two had parted ways.
Heh—an unnatural smile appeared on William's face.
He even wanted to turn around and leave immediately.
But the shop owner, dressed in a purple robe, clearly had no intention of letting him go. The moment William entered, the lady revealed a kind and amiable smile.
"Are you here to order robes? We have plenty of finished robes in stock, but of course, if you're willing to wait a bit, ordering a new custom set is perfectly fine."
This single sentence obliterated the excuse William had just thought up in an instant.
He had just prepared the excuse that he had already placed an order and was therefore in a hurry.
If he had said it faster, the owner would have likely helped him cover for it—there wasn't a single unsympathetic shop owner on this street.
But now, it was too late.
The two customers who had been standing inside the shop had already turned around at Madam Malkin's words.
The tall, thin wizard with whitish hair was none other than Mr. Xenophilius, who had just bid William farewell not long ago.
This was incredibly awkward—like saying goodnight to someone online, only to queue into the same game together.
William stared silently at Mr. Xenophilius, hoping this grown man could use his years of work and social experience to handle this problem perfectly.
He, for one, felt the situation was hopeless and was preparing to just let the chips fall where they may.
However, to his surprise, Mr. Xenophilius also revealed a look of utter awkwardness.
This won't do! Show some of that attitude you use to fabricate stories for your magazine!
William signaled with his eyes.
After a long moment, Mr. Xenophilius finally choked out a sentence: "Haha, the weather is really hot today."
"Yes, yes it is!"
William seized the opportunity to de-escalate.
"What a coincidence, running into you at Madam Malkin's shop. I was just saying this morning that I might run into an acquaintance if I came out shopping. And of course I did! How could one not run into an acquaintance in a place as famous as Diagon Alley?"
"Isn't that the truth? What a coincidence that we had the same idea."
William forced the conversation along, then began to size up the other customer—if he wasn't mistaken, she was probably the reason Mr. Xenophilius was acting so strange.
She was a little girl with a head of messy, tangled, waist-length golden-blonde hair, a shade darker than Mr. Xenophilius's. Their faces, however, were very similar—if there was no mistake, she must be Mr. Xenophilius's daughter.
Without a doubt, this father didn't want his daughter to know he had just been involved in a brawl, so he simply chose to ignore his prior encounter with William entirely.
"Mr. Xenophilius, is this your daughter?"
"Yes, she's eleven this year, about to go to Hogwarts. I brought her here today specifically to order her school robes—the standard issue isn't bad, but it's not as well-fitted as a custom-made one. We also need to get a few in larger sizes. You know how fast a child at this age grows."
"Right, right, I remember you mentioned that last time. Look at my memory; the moment I need it, it's gone. What was her name again?"
"Luna. Luna Lovegood."
(end of chapter)
Although William could frankly tell Old Tom about his time in Azkaban, it didn't mean everyone else would be so nonchalant about it.
William was even starting to regret using Azkaban to scare the driver of the Knight Bus—but he had been a bit too excited right after getting out of prison.
So, this magazine editor was someone William truly wanted to avoid.
However, the other party didn't think the same way.
The System sent two notifications in quick succession.
[You have gained the approval of a magical creature. You have received Treasure Chest x1]
[You have gained the deeper approval of a magical creature. You have received Treasure Chest x1]
If William wasn't mistaken, it was highly likely that this man had just given him two goodwill-based Treasure Chests in one go.
Fortunately, while the man's gratitude was very sincere, he was also very understanding when William said he had urgent matters to attend to and bid him farewell.
On his way to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, William opened the chests.
[Decipherer Xenophilius (SR); Ancient secrets are buried in fairy tales, and only the most unconventional can see the truth within the stories.
Skill: Insight. Tear this card. For the next twenty-four hours, you will have a high probability of discovering truths buried by history from the mythology and stories you read. The activation probability is related to your amount of Knowledge.]
[Truthful Reporter Xenophilius (SR); When the world is addicted to lies, someone will always step forward to expose it all. This is a noble act.
Skill: Truth. Tear this card. Instantly destroy all concealment magic and traps in your line of sight. The range of effect is related to your magical power.]
[Betrayer Xenophilius (R): A father who lost his composure after his daughter was in trouble. This is understandable, but still not something that can be easily forgiven.
Skill: Persuasion. Tear this card. For the next hour, your words will have a high probability of failing to persuade, and will instead immediately incite a commotion. The trigger chance is related to your desire to persuade.]
After struggling for a long time, William painfully gave up the first card, which had the highest theoretical payoff, and chose the surefire success of the Truthful Reporter.
Digging for treasure sounded tempting, and its benefits could even be multiplied if he read more books before using it, but his current situation couldn't wait for that Knowledge to pay off.
The second Treasure Chest was a bit more lackluster—the order in which he opened the chests was probably the reverse of the order in which he received them.
He got a duplicate of the Betrayer card, and a Meal Coupon just like the one he'd gotten before.
[Meal Coupon; You can use this to offset the cost of using a card once.]
As for the third card, it was also related to Xenophilius's profession: an Editor-in-Chief card.
[Editor-in-Chief Xenophilius (R): The well-known Editor-in-Chief of The Quibbler, always trying to create a big scoop.
Skill: News Crafting. Tear this card. You will have enough inspiration to perfect the details after fabricating a story. The truer the story seems, the more complete the details will be.]
After decisively choosing the Meal Coupon, William had a rough idea of who this Mr. Xenophilius was.
Although this news reporter would one day step forward to report a major piece of news, that didn't stop him from currently carrying out his job: fabricating fake news for his magazine, The Quibbler.
William was certain that thing was probably no better than the gossip-filled novels and tabloids sold at a street stall—everything besides the names and places was likely made up.
The cards, however, were quite powerful—both the Meal Coupon and the Truthful Reporter card were a significant help to William.
Although he didn't know why the man was suddenly so grateful to him, William couldn't be bothered to think about it too much.
At least it was gratitude. If it were resentment, he would have to be wary of revenge, but what kind of major trouble could gratitude possibly bring him?
But when he arrived at Madam Malkin's shop, he realized he was completely wrong.
As he stepped into the shop, he saw an extremely familiar face inside—it had been less than fifteen minutes since the two had parted ways.
Heh—an unnatural smile appeared on William's face.
He even wanted to turn around and leave immediately.
But the shop owner, dressed in a purple robe, clearly had no intention of letting him go. The moment William entered, the lady revealed a kind and amiable smile.
"Are you here to order robes? We have plenty of finished robes in stock, but of course, if you're willing to wait a bit, ordering a new custom set is perfectly fine."
This single sentence obliterated the excuse William had just thought up in an instant.
He had just prepared the excuse that he had already placed an order and was therefore in a hurry.
If he had said it faster, the owner would have likely helped him cover for it—there wasn't a single unsympathetic shop owner on this street.
But now, it was too late.
The two customers who had been standing inside the shop had already turned around at Madam Malkin's words.
The tall, thin wizard with whitish hair was none other than Mr. Xenophilius, who had just bid William farewell not long ago.
This was incredibly awkward—like saying goodnight to someone online, only to queue into the same game together.
William stared silently at Mr. Xenophilius, hoping this grown man could use his years of work and social experience to handle this problem perfectly.
He, for one, felt the situation was hopeless and was preparing to just let the chips fall where they may.
However, to his surprise, Mr. Xenophilius also revealed a look of utter awkwardness.
This won't do! Show some of that attitude you use to fabricate stories for your magazine!
William signaled with his eyes.
After a long moment, Mr. Xenophilius finally choked out a sentence: "Haha, the weather is really hot today."
"Yes, yes it is!"
William seized the opportunity to de-escalate.
"What a coincidence, running into you at Madam Malkin's shop. I was just saying this morning that I might run into an acquaintance if I came out shopping. And of course I did! How could one not run into an acquaintance in a place as famous as Diagon Alley?"
"Isn't that the truth? What a coincidence that we had the same idea."
William forced the conversation along, then began to size up the other customer—if he wasn't mistaken, she was probably the reason Mr. Xenophilius was acting so strange.
She was a little girl with a head of messy, tangled, waist-length golden-blonde hair, a shade darker than Mr. Xenophilius's. Their faces, however, were very similar—if there was no mistake, she must be Mr. Xenophilius's daughter.
Without a doubt, this father didn't want his daughter to know he had just been involved in a brawl, so he simply chose to ignore his prior encounter with William entirely.
"Mr. Xenophilius, is this your daughter?"
"Yes, she's eleven this year, about to go to Hogwarts. I brought her here today specifically to order her school robes—the standard issue isn't bad, but it's not as well-fitted as a custom-made one. We also need to get a few in larger sizes. You know how fast a child at this age grows."
"Right, right, I remember you mentioned that last time. Look at my memory; the moment I need it, it's gone. What was her name again?"
"Luna. Luna Lovegood."
(end of chapter)
