The Devil Brews (LLewellyn and open)

[ARTHUR STROUD]

It wasn't extraordinary for Arthur to make a fool of himself in public. In fact, he quite enjoyed it. While most would see the prying and judgmental eyes of others' to be embarassing, Arthur saw it as an opportunity. See, he loved to make quality potions, but he also loved to make cheap, rubbish ones and sell them for five times their worth. If he made a fool of himself, people would take him for an idiot, and no one would ever think they could be fooled by an idiot, so he made himself into a regular jester. As soon as the sun fell behind the horizon and the moon hung far in the sky above Knockturn Alley, the vampire took his potion. He stood inside his bedroom on the top floor of Burgin and Burkes, gazing out the window and into the night. He uncapped the vial, pouring the small amount of crystal-clear liquid down his throat. His onyx eyes slammed shut, and, when he opened them, they were a bright, enchanting blue, and his fangs had shrunk down into a normal person's teeth.


Now that he looked the part, he was off to play as a merchant. He took a small crate full of rubbish potions like cures for boils and truth serum that only worked on owls, and he had labeled them after more desirable things like wolfsbane and polyjuice potion. He set out to the streets of Diagon Alley with this crate, the haunting moon hanging far above him and lingering behind thin, white clouds. Most sensible people were either just finishing up in Diagon Alley or were already done and at home, and Arthur couldn't be happier about that. After all, he didn't want to sell to sensible people-- they were the ones who would figure him out and cause trouble. He loved the cocky idiots with purses full of gold, and that's exactly the kind of person who walked the streets of Diagon Alley after dark.

"A potion for everything you need!" Arthur shouted into the streets. People glanced at him as they walked by but none stopped for him, so he decided to make himself more noticeable. He backed up a bit so he was nearly laying against the wall of a shop, and he set the box on the ground next to him. He stood up on top of it, confident that nothing inside would break so long as he didn't go jumping up and down on it. 

"Polyjuice potion for only three galleons a flask!" he advertised loudly, and now a few more people were paying attention to him. He spread his arms wide to the people that passed, trying to look as foolish and harmless as possible. People were wary of merchants; they were afraid to get scammed. Although, if they thought one was dull enough, they'd sure try to scam them themselves, and that's what Arthur was hoping for. He wished that some cocky moron would come up and try to get a few galleons off their purchase, and Arthur would oblige, because if he could only sell a rubbish potion for triple its worth, then he was still doing more than alright.



He continued to keep his arms wide, gesturing for people to come towards him. "Come, come! A potion for everything! Do you want to be faster? Stronger? See the future? I've got it!"

[Deleted]

Llewellyn was a bit like a deer in the headlights as he made his way down the cramped passage of Knockturn Alley, verdant eyes wide to every discontented ugly face with a sort of disoriented naiveté. Truth be told he thought he had taken a wrong turn somewhere between thinking about the true essences of sandwiches and what universe he would be eating for dinner… or something like that. In addition to that he wasn’t exactly familiar with much of Diagon Alley, let alone the dreary two-by-four back street that consisted of all the most unscrupulous witches and wizards that the wizarding world could procure. He moved at a roaming pace, head lifted high and gaping at each and every strange nefarious store and creature with nothing but an inquisitive candor, lips slightly parted in awe. No, it was rather obvious that he was not familiar with these parts- he did not even particularly look the part of a dark wizard, his robes a lovely shade of malachite trimmed with silver- not expensive by any means, but certainly held their own exotic flair. If anything he looked a bit like a lost tourist, his bewilderment worn on his sleeve.

As the sun set he felt the chill grip him to the bone and gathered his russet cloak in more tightly, drawing up a large hood as to cover the swarthy mess of ornery chestnut curls. The darkness, however, brought no fear to this seemingly jejune lamb amongst wolves. Llewellyn was an able wizard who had many worldly experiences at his waist, but unfortunately did not at all look the part, so he rather easily fell prey to those of malignant intent.

Several feet away a crowd gathered, inopportunely at that, seeing as their impertinent bodies blocked the exit to the narrow passageway. As he neared the cause of furor a sharp voice came to shape the contours of a flamboyantly animated merchant who was waving his arms around enthusiastically, motioning towards a crate filled with potions. Llewellyn knew little of potion making, but the grand gestures caught his awareness so he proceeded forward, peering cautiously at the strangers wares.

Llewellyn lifted a potion the color of sunshine yellow with flecks of blue and brought it to his face curiously. He hadn’t the slightest clue what kind of potion it could have been or done, but the color was quite nice, and he would have likely purchased it for that reason alone, had he any money. He flipped it upside down and watched the sediment float to the bottom when the merchants voice caught his attention once again.

‘Come, come! A potion for everything! Do you want to be faster? Stronger? See the future? I've got it!’

Jade eyes flicked over to the showy retailer and narrowed slightly.

”It doesn’t really work like that,” he mumbled, mostly to himself, a strong inkling of skepticism weaving its way through his harsh highland cadence. He placed the yellow potion back into the crate and picked up another, this time blood red.

Edit: Didn't realize this wasn't in Knockturn Alley. Woops. Small fix. 

[ARTHUR STROUD]

As usual, people were drawn to the vampire's temptations, and they slowly crowded around him, throwing all sorts of questions at him.

Can you make me live longer?

Can you make me sing better?

Can you make me more smarter?

Arthur grinned his sly, devilish grin, his eyes scanning over the crowd warmly as he cooed them gently and with a reassuring gaze. "My people, all is possible! That is the beauty of our world of magic!"

Their stupid faces lit up with smiles as goofy as their requests. One person, however, didn't seemed to be quite fooled. He was hunched over the crate of potions, perusing through vials of water and pumpkin juice labeled all sorts of different things. His robes were green with a silver lining, and his demeanor was doubtful at best. Arthur even heard him say, "It doesn't really work like that."

A skeptic? Arthur thought, annoyed that someone with what seemed to be a glimmer of intelligence had come to crash his party. No matter, he had dealt with things like this before. All it took was a bit of his vampire charm-- that, and his enhanced senses.

"How about a demonstration?" Arthur shouted to the crowd, and they cheered, wanting desperately to see these miracle brews in action. Arthur went to his crate beside the man in green and silver robes. "Excuse me, sir" he said jauntily before reaching retrieving a vial of light yellow liquid. It was lemonade, but it was labeled "Remarkable Hearing."


Arthur pointed to a random bloke in the back of the crowd. His robes were grey with shades of brown on the cuffs of the sleeves and at the bottom. He beard was black and woolly, meeting his wild head of curly dark hair. His smile was unbearably yellow, and his eyes looked as if they were staring directly into the sun. "You, sir," Arthur began, uncapping the potion. "I bet that if I drink they potion, and you whisper into someone's ear, I can hear everything that you say to them. Sounds impossible, doesn't it?"


The man nodded his head in a way a very stupid dog might, agreeing that it did, indeed, sound impossible. "Well, then pick a partner and whisper away!" Arthur beamed charismatically, and he quickly dumped the lemonade down his throat. The man leaned close to the person next to him, put a hand up to block the sound, and began to whisper.

Arthur closed his eyes, focusing his attention on the man, and he heard, in a very low whisper, the word "flobberworm."



Arthur opened his eyes. "Really, flobberworm? You can whisper anything in the world and you go with 'flobberworm'?"

The crowd turned and looked to the man with bated breath, their eyes wide as they waited for his confirmation, and the man lit up with excitement. "That's it! That's what I said! He heard me!" The crowd exploded, reaching into their pockets for their money, and Arthur would soon have all of it.

[Deleted]

As the merchant continued his spectacle Llewellyn took the chance to garner a better look at his features, studying both the man and his theatrics with a tender curiosity. He was pale, but not just pale- as white as the alabaster moon and just as effervescent, like the two forces were tied in this delicate bond of starry dynamics. What was more shocking were his eyes, clearly a result of charm or potion, blue as the brightest of hydrangeas, and just as lovely. These same eyes puzzled the Seer, however, because despite being a handsome specimen of the male binary with his sharply angled features, he was not what Llewellyn would call high maintenance. He wore his rough 5 o’clock shadow, cragged as the celtic shores against smooth sand skin, with what Llewellyn thought to be the pride of a bachelor. His hair- well, its starless independence rivaled Llewellyn’s own untamed locks surely, despite being straighter and easily managed.

So then why the eyes? he wondered curiously, staring back into the crate of colorful potions. Clearly, they were not for cosmetic purposes. No, they served purpose and were not a whim of frivolity on the mans ego. Whatever those blue eyes were hiding, Llewellyn was not certain he wanted to know. It did, however, secure one aspect of this strangers character: this man was a liar. There was no doubt in his mind that there was more to his theatrics than the salesman claimed.

But whose business was it? Certainly not Llewellyn’s. Rarely was he the courageous type to step in. Rather, he preferred to watch nature take its course and to understand the cause and effect. He was just as puzzled as the rest of the throng of passerbys as to how he achieved his super hearing talent but there were many things that the muggle-born was still inexperienced with in regards to the realm of the wizarding world even as he reached middle age. 

But even now with his youth a thing of the past his parched curiosity got the better of him. As the crowd dispersed with their wallets and pockets all the more buoyant he approached the strange salesman with an open nescience splayed out over his features and several vibrant potions in his hands. Timidly, he cleared his throat. 

"You said... you said see the future, aye? I was wonderin' if you could elaborate. See, I never heard of such a thing with a potion in all my life and all the world- and I seen quite a lot of it you know. I just didn't know something like that could exist. How do ya do it? Can you show me, like that fella from before?"