Reckless Abandon [Ian]

[mina pandora oliveira]

@apollon

Her shift at Flourish & Blotts was done for the day. Mina liked it when the boss had tons of inventory work to do, because that always meant she got off earlier. Obviously that meant less money at the end of the day, but it also meant she could get home before her sister. From there, she would simply slip off into the muggle streets and find something fun to do. Callisto never really cared, and if she did, she didn’t show too much worry. It seemed like she was fine with it as long as Mina showed up at some point the next day.

Today was a little different from usual though. Mina had gotten distracted by a small kitten running along the alleyways of Diagon Alley. By time the cat bounced away, the girl had no idea where she was. Technically not true, since she could tell from her surroundings that she was in Knockturn Alley, but she wasn’t sure of the exact directions she needed to take to get out of there. Walking the dark streets for a few minutes, she didn’t really get anywhere. She hated wandering into this part of town, because this always ended up happening to her. Most of the stores and buildings were completely boarded up and locked too, and she wasn’t about to outright ask one of the inhabitants how to get out of the alley. She had heard of stories of people getting mugged when they made it obvious that they didn’t know where they were. Disapparating would have been a simple enough task, but she couldn’t do that straight to her apartment, plus it was more of a challenge to get out on her own.

Turning a corner, Mina saw a light in one of the stores on. Bingo! She could simply ask the shopkeeper how to get out and maybe do a little shopping in the process. Most of the stores had some really cool dark looking artifacts and books; things that weren’t going to show up in her normal day to day activities. Glancing up at the sign above the doorway, it read The Coffin House. She was pretty sure she had never been in this one before, mostly because the only other bookstore in the vicinity aside from Flourish & Blotts was Obscurus Books, and that was in Horizon Alley. Mina popped the door open and a small chime from the bell went off. She cringed at the noise. It was the same bloody one that was above her store door. She hated that thing. Surely the workers here did as well.

Glancing around, Mina couldn’t get a good view of the back of the store, so she went down an aisle. Most of the things on the shelves were potions ingredients. Unfortunately, potions wasn’t her strong suite, so she had no idea what any of them were. School hadn’t been kind to her, and those feelings had been reciprocated all seven years at Hogwarts. Eyes wandering across the powders, vials, and other odds and ends, Mina came to the end of the aisle and turned down another. If she could find a book or two, then she wouldn’t look like a window shopper. She didn’t like them when they came into Flourish & Blotts, and she definitely didn’t want to be one of them in a store in Knockturn Alley. The second aisle had pretty much the same things, just slightly different names, and Mina scrunched up her face. She needed to find the employee, who was more than likely going to be at the counter. Which was nowhere to be found so far. “Hello?” She spoke up, waiting for a few seconds to see if there was a response before continuing. “I have some questions…” Mina grabbed a jar of green goo-like stuff off of one of the shelves. “...like about this? What is it?” Gross, that’s what it was. And even worse when she put it up to her face to observe it closer. Probably essence of something she didn’t want to know about, if she had to guess.

[Deleted]

Ian was in the basement, checking out the stores for the day, when he heard that bell chiming out front. He gritted his teeth and growled, hating that cheerful ringing. He walked up the stairs of the basement, opening and closing the door. He turned his attention to the voice calling for help, following to a nearby isle and finding a young girl looking at a jar of green goo. His eye twitched as he watched her take it from the shelf, look it over, then put it back. He silently made his way up behind her, waiting for her to put it back.

"It's troll boogies. Made for coating the inside of cauldrons so the ingredients wouldn't stick." He said, knowing he got her attention, "May I help you?

mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

@apollon

She grimaced as one of the green things in the jar flopped over. The sound of a door opening and footsteps from behind her alerted that someone, most likely the worker, was coming to help out as she had asked. Carefully placing the jar back in its spot on the shelf, making sure it was in the correct spot too, Mina turned around to face the man that had walked up behind her. Scary. That was the first thing that came to her mind as she looked him up and down. She made sure not to let it show on her face though, keeping a smile on instead. This wasn’t her shop, so she had to be nice. That’s what Callisto was always telling her at least. The man answered that the things in the jar were troll boogies, and she grimaced. They had been inches from her face, and despite being in a glass container, that was still gross. Snapping back to her regular self, she made sure to interject. “So you make your own ingredients here?” Mina half hoped that he wouldn’t pick up on the fact that she was calling him a troll. He could probably snap her in half with little effort.

Moving down the aisle a few more feet, she dragged her hand along the edge of the shelf, reading the labels on by one. Her ears perked up as he asked if he could help her. Did she need help? Directions, yes, but now that she was in the store, she had taken quite an interest to it. “Do you only sell potions supplies in here? Some of the other things don’t look like they could be used for…well, anything actually.” Mina had noticed most of the stores in Knockturn were cluttered with old artifacts and objects. Cool stuff, other than the part where it was covered in a meter of dust and was more than likely cursed. “How about books? Any of those? I work at Flourish & Blotts and want to see if you have anything we don’t.” Maybe telling him she worked by would make him less scary or something.

[Deleted]

"No, I don't. They merely get delivered to my shop, and I sell them." he said, watching her walk down the isle.

He walked slowly behind her, making sure she didn't touch or harm anything. He had only just met this person, and she was beginning to give him an irritating feeling. He did his best to hide it, knowing that she was a customer and needed to be treated as such. He heard about Flourish and Blotts, having bought a few books there himself. It seemed that the management in most of the stores seemed to be changing of late. He, himself, being the newest owner of the store they walked through now.

"I only sell ingredients for potions, both large and small. I have no books in here."

mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

@apollon

With her back turned to the storeowner, he told her that he had the troll boogies delivered there. Good. He didn’t catch on to her little quip. Besides, he looked more like a mountain troll over to the typically dumb looking ones everyone always studied. Mina didn’t know if there was a difference in their boogies, or what the magical qualities of them were, but she wasn’t exactly looking to tick this one off. Still, she had to wipe the smirk off of her face before turning back around to face him. That would have been a dead giveaway that she had been up to no good, and looking like she was there to cause trouble would make it seem like she was trying to steal something. To be fair, most of the stuff in the shop looked exactly like the troll boogies, just in various shapes and colours. Unfortunate that there weren’t any books either. “That’s too bad. Figured you would have something weird in here to read…” Mina paused and looked at another jar. This one was labeled “Pixie Powder”. How on earth did someone get that from a pixie? Last time she encountered one, it had been nigh impossible to catch.

She hesitated as she reached her arm out to grab it and look at it up close, but stopped right before her fingertips touched the glass jar. The man hadn’t looked too happy when he saw her holding onto the last one, so teasing him slightly by making it look like she was going to do the same thing again would be funny. Instead, Mina pulled her hand back and continued down the aisle, glancing over at jars here and there. “How about Rougarou hair? I fought one of those in America.” She held up her arm, the long scar from the fight was still as clear as if it had happened yesterday. “As I was saying, the hair has magical properties. If you did, you could probably sell it to one of the wandmakers nearby. Had to get a new one made over there, and they took some of the hair from the creature I killed and used it. Since they aren’t native to Europe, you could probably get quite a bit for it.” There was no way this guy had any, unless he was dealing in some crazy stuff. The Rougarou she had hunted down had taken months of waiting and stalking, most on the creature’s side of course, and even then she had almost missed it. They were elusive little wolf-like beasts.

LINK TO ROUGAROU INFO

[Deleted]

"Sorry to disappoint you." He said, when she commented on the lack of books.

Her curiosity was getting to him. She seemed to want to look and touch everything in the store, which made Ian even more annoyed. Personally, he wanted to either eject her from the store itself, or make her disappear by one form of means or another. She then started talking about a creature called the Rougarou, and how she had a hard time catching it. He couldn't help but smile at the thought of fighting one of those things. He had plenty of hairs in stock, and the wolf was one of them. Though the previous owner had a little trouble catching it, as did the more unfortunate employees.

Ian remembered when it was his turn to catch one. His employer had specifically said that he wanted it in one piece. He didn't tell Ian how to get it, or whether or not he wanted it alive. So when Ian finally met with one, he was fortunate to get a small pack. A killing curse and a few broom rides later, and he had a few sitting in the basement, waiting to be used. He didn't walk away unscathed, however, sporting a few bites and scratches himself, but pain didn't phase him, he had plenty to endure from the punishments he went through when his employer was disappointed in his work.

"I not only carry the hairs, I have a few parts of it in the basement."

mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

@apollon

Disappointment about the lack of books in the shop was the least of her concerns. Curiosity had taken over at this point. Turning down another aisle, the same scene lay before her: more jars and even more potions ingredients. Now she remembered why she barely ever went into stores in Knockturn. They were typically selective stores, only having rare objects or trinkets, usually for a rather hefty price. The question about the Rougarou hair was her test to the shopkeeper, to see exactly what kind of business he was actually in. She was pleased when he answered that he did have some, or pieces of one as well. In her mind, that meant there were definitely things on these shelves (and elsewhere in the store), that she probably didn’t want to find out about. This man could have been the nicest person in the world and she still wouldn’t want to find exactly what kind of business he was in.

“If that’s an invitation to go into your basement with you mister, then I’ll have to politely decline.” She smiled, turning her head to the side slightly. There had been enough of Rougarou parts over the last few months to last her a life time. She even had a little piece of it with her wherever she went too, a few of the hairs belonging in her new wand. The people she had hunted it down for hadn’t been the type to mince words, and were very persuasive that she needed to stay to see the entire process behind their ritual, or whatever it was. Because of that she managed to get the hairs for the new wand and it was slightly better (and cheaper) than her old one had been. The only problem was getting it to trust her. Apparently that was a hard thing to do with her in pretty much anything. “Was just wondering that’s all.” She added. “I’d ask what you would want for a few more hairs, but since you seem to have a whole one downstairs, I doubt you’ll need extra anytime soon.” She had been smart enough to smuggle a few back to London with her. What the voodoo witches didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.

[Deleted]

"Sorry, I don't do well with children." he said, grinning evilly, "The only time I want them in my basement, is when I want to make them disappear."

Though he never was one to harm children, it was a personal promise to himself, he always had a way to scare them. Scaring kids was a hobby of his, outside of the usual chaos that he enjoyed getting involved in. Why a cheerful young girl was doing in knockturn alley was one thing, inside a shop made for dark magic was another. Was she interested in exploring the darker parts of the wizarding world? Her demeanor told him otherwise. When she joked about him not needing anything extra, he chuckled.

"I have many things in the basement too big to bring up here. It's where I make my measurements in case someone needs a certain amount of something."

mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

@apollon

Mina tried to look past the fact that the man might have just called her a child. She knew she looked a lot younger than she actually was. Usually there compliments about that, seeing as she wouldn’t age like crazy later on. And yet, there was always that one person that would mistake her for some little kid or whatever. She was convinced that she could easily make it into one of the other wizarding schools as a fifth year or something if she really wanted to. Hell, she may or may not have been forced into a muggle public school for a little while when in America. Apparently they thought her ID was fake. Technically they weren’t wrong; it was. But only because she wanted to have one where she could legally drink over there. The police didn’t find that funny though and they tried to enroll her in. It was fun for like, a week, but then the urge to leave came calling and off she went. Still, Mina wasn’t sure to be offended or pleased by his comment. There seemed to be some sort of malice in his voice, especially when he mentioned the part about making children ‘disappear’ in the basement. That was a little creepy. “I guess it’s my lucky day then, seeing as I’m not a child.” She taunted back jokingly. If this guy really wanted to make her disappear, it looked like he had the means to do so.

He continued on about having more things in the basement. It was like he was begging her to ask what said large objects down there were. Mina knew that it would be stupid to go down there, and the fact that she was in Knockturn Alley didn’t really help. At the same time though, it would be unlike her to not take a peek. There may not be books, but larger magical objects were still pretty cool. Considering where she was, those had the possibility of being cursed as well, maybe even really dangerous. “On second thought, the basement sounds interesting. Do you do tours of it?” One corner of her mouth curled up in a half-smirk. She’d make sure to keep one hand on her wand done there, just in case.

[Deleted]

He could tell he was putting her on edge, and he enjoyed that little fact. When couldn't help a small, inside laugh when she said she wasn't a child. She was cocky, which is something Ian found intriguing. He smirked when she asked if he did tours on the basement. Though he would love to show her the kind of odds and ends the basement had to offer, he didn't feel safe or comfortable with bringing someone other that a member of the purifiers into his basement. That was for them, or employees, and she was neither. At least he thought.

"No. I only allow employees and business colleagues down there. And you are neither."

mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

@apollon

The smirk said it all before the man actually responded to her question. Mina figured as much. He used it for his private whatevers. Measurements was it? She hadn’t really been listening the whole time, seeing as he was intent on chatting on about making children go poof. The constant reminder that this was Knockturn Alley was enough to make sense of it all. In a way, she liked the constant threat that she wasn’t welcomed there, whether it was by this man or the other people wandering around the alley. Everyone was too happy in the other parts of the shopping district. Too many times her stupid bell above the store welcomed in cheerful customers that felt like telling their life story to her. Apparently that was the in thing right now, telling young working people how to be successful in life. They seemed to forget the part that not everyone could find their place in the ministry, or be a professional Quidditch player. There still had to be people running the stores that weren’t the owners. What was so wrong with having a job like that?

“Awww boo. I was hoping to find something old and creepy for one of my sisters. She likes that stuff. Like knives and things.” Mina omitted Sarah’s name on purpose, just in case there was bad blood between her and the storeowner. Her oldest sister seemed like the kind of person to wander around Knockturn Alley for the hell of it, and probably knew some of the workers one way or another. It didn’t take too much imagination to guess how she knew them. Apparently getting around ran in the family. “So if you end up buying some of those Rougarou hairs from me, does that make me a colleague?” She doubted it would, but it was worth a shot. Staring at glass vials full of creature parts and rotting plants was boring. Old creepy stuff was way better, and it sounded like this man had a few things down in the basement.

[Deleted]

"Then I'm sure you're sister would visit here from time to time."

She was starting to get on his nerves with all the questions she was asking. He was beginning to think she was after something besides jars and potion ingredients. Fortunately, he always had his wand on hand, just in case someone was getting a little too nosey for their own good. When she asked about buying hairs from her, his eye narrowed as he focused on her.

"I have all the hairs and items I need. Why would I buy any from you? What is it that you want, girl?"

mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

@apollon

Of course Sarah would visit this place from time to time. It still came back to the fact about whether or not she was welcomed, which probably meant Mina wasn’t as well if things weren’t that great between her ever so lovey older sister and this brute. She knew her place, and while sometimes that boundary was tread on purposefully, today wasn’t going to be one of those days. Pushing anyone in Knockturn over the edge probably had more consequences then benefits these days. Apparently asking him if he wanted to buy the hairs wasn’t a smart move either, which slightly confused her. Sure, she may have been a little aggressive about that, but why not bring up the sale of them? It was a simple question after all. “It was merely a proposition, sir.” She smiled, walking a little further down the aisle that they were in. All he had to do was say no, or that he wasn’t going to buy anything. The way he put it made it sound like he wasn’t interested because it would be a deal with her.

“What do I want?” She asked. The question was applicable to both of them, actually. Initially, Mina had entered the shop to look around a little before asking for directions on how to get back to Diagon Alley. As aforementioned, she knew her boundaries, and stepping over them even slightly with this man wouldn’t put her in the best of places. Telling him she was lost didn’t seem like a good move on her part. “Window shopping. Remember I asked if you had books? Didn’t think it was just an ingredients shop.” That much was true. It was easy to turn being lost into another casual day of shopping if necessary. “But, you aren’t interested in the hairs, and there aren’t any books, so I guess I’ll be on my way.” She smiled again. Kill them with kindness. If she couldn’t get under their skin, that was always the best alternative. “The front door is which way?” Mina added, raising an eyebrow.

[Deleted]

"Thank you for the proposition, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline."

He tried hard to keep himself composed as she continued to stand there talking to him. He could tell there was something else she needed besides window shopping, not every witch wanders around Knockturn just to see what the stores had. When she asked him where the door was, he raised an eyebrow at her. He wasn't sure if she was just stalling, joking, or actually didn't know where the door was. He prayed it was the latter part. He looked up above her head and pointed to the door that stood behind her at the end of the isle.

"You'll find the door in that direction. I'm sorry that I couldn't be of any further assistance to you, miss." He lied, trying hard to sound kind.

mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

@apollon

And there went her shot at a few quick bucks. She had heard that phrase a lot in America, and always wondered how funny it would sound thinking of it in a situation. It kind of was, to be fair. Regardless, the man wasn’t going to be buying the hairs, and Mina could tell that she was getting to the end of her visit. Having already asked where the door was, she didn’t think it was necessary to also pester him for directions back to Diagon Alley. The amount of blissful joy it would bring her to see him get furious with her over asking more questions, mostly about this or that. Mina liked to think the conversation they had been having was rather typical. Most of the time when she had customers come in, they either outright refused to talk to her, or they wouldn’t shut up. Obviously that got annoying sometimes, but the fact didn’t change that she was there to help them buy what they needed. If she had been in this shop to purchase something, the owner’s attitude was definitely a turn off, and she would have gone elsewhere to find what she needed. He was lucky in that sense, seeing as she was more focused on pushing buttons than anything else.

The man peered over her head, and Mina followed his gaze. Somehow she had walked up and down enough aisles to end back at the door. Perfect time for her escape. The man apologized for not being able to help her more, and Mina put on a bright smile. “No problem. I’m sure you tried your best.” Turning slowly, she backed towards the door, popping it open. “You’ll make a sale someday, maybe if you put some books in here, I’ll stop by again.” Grinning, she waved at the man, sliding the rest of her body through the door as the little bell above it rang wildly. Merlin’s beard she hated that sound. Making sure to close the door behind her, Mina sped walk down the alley that the store was in. That was the last time she chased a cat around the shopping district without checking where she was first. Glancing at the small watch on her wrist, she tapped it a few times. Her sister was going to be home before her. There went all that free time she had been hoping to get today.

[MINA OUT]

[OOC: I was thinking maybe they could have another thread once IC January starts, maybe where Ian walks into Flourish & Blotts looking for something. Reverse their rolls from this one xD Just let me know whenever you want to get that started!]