Chapter 489: Chapter 489: First Customer (Edited)
The layout of the adjoining room was exactly the same as Mr. Penney's studio, but there were also some differences. The difference was that the material cabinet was not open access like the one next door but was a closed unit. In the lower-left corner, there was a coin slot, and below the slot was the material dispenser.
On the worktable, there was a small book detailing the codes and prices of each material. The procedure was that Tom selected a material, entered the code, and then placed a coin in the cabinet's slot to finally obtain the material, just like a Muggle vending machine.
And just like a vending machine, the items inside were a bit more expensive than what was sold in the market...
Tom felt like he had fallen into some sort of trap.
He firmly decided in his mind that if Mr. Penney asked for any payment for uniforms, training, or deposit, he would flee. Tom made up his mind about that.
Fortunately, Mr. Penney didn't continue with any dirty tricks. He even gave Tom a set of carving tools as a gift.
"Well, I'm going to the shop upstairs. Familiarize yourself with the surroundings here," Mr. Penney said as he left the studio, leaving Tom alone in the room.
Tom was about to do something when suddenly, the gas in the wall lamp went out with a click. Unlike the adjoining room, the gas meter here didn't have an advance warning.
Tom instinctively reached for the valve and turned the gas lamp switch. It made the same noise as a gas stove, but the gas lamp didn't light up.
Tom slapped his head. How forgetful he was! He fumbled for the gas meter and took a penny from his pocket, then inserted it into the meter.
With a clatter, the coin emitted a crisp sound and came into close contact with the ground. The coin slipped away.
Tom: ...
Was this meter meant for magical world currency? Tom, with a testing attitude, tossed a copper Knut, and this time, the meter made the noise of gears turning.
Darn it! Tom couldn't believe Mr. Penney was waiting for him here. Why did this guy like taking advantage of others so much? An alchemist like him didn't need money that badly, right? Mr. Penney didn't need money, but taking advantage of others was a kind of little indulgence he had. And in the alchemist profession, there were many people with indulgences. In comparison, Mr. Penney was quite normal.
Tom felt uncomfortable as if he had constipation as he lit the gas lamp and saw the room illuminated. But it wasn't a big problem... Penney had his own strategies, and Tom Yodel also had his own methods. Let's see how it turns out.
Tom quickly tidied up the studio and turned off the lights, then left the room.
For the rest of the day, Penney's alchemical workshop received no customers. Tom, who was bored, even had time to carve a fox mask for himself.
Mr. Penney was not in a hurry either. At noon, he and Tom enjoyed a hearty lunch together, and after finishing, he told Tom to check the store and then went to sleep in the basement. At five in the afternoon, he appeared punctually in the store with sleepy eyes, indicating that it was time to close.
Seeing him so carefree, no one would have imagined that the store's sales for the whole day had been zero.
Tom returned to Diagon Alley, and Hermione was already waiting for him at the entrance of the alley.
"Did you find the job you liked?" She looked very pleased.
Tom told her about his experience at Penney's Alchemy Workshop.
"This shop sounds very unreliable... Can you really make money?" Hermione was full of doubts, but compared to money, there was something else bothering her.
"That's Knockturn Alley! Why didn't you tell me earlier?" After inquiring about the exact location of the alchemy workshop, Hermione burst into anger.
"That's Knockturn Alley, where dark wizards gather! Do you dare to work there? Quit immediately! There are so many job opportunities in Diagon Alley!" Hermione had an extremely bad impression of Knockturn Alley.
Tom shrugged to indicate that Knockturn Alley wasn't as bad as Hermione thought. The Department of Magical Security had just cleaned it up, and now it was quite clean.
Hermione couldn't do anything about Tom's attitude. She unconsciously wanted to write to Dumbledore or Professor Flitwick, but thought it was unlikely they would intervene. For a moment, she realized she had no way to control Tom.
"As you wish." In the end, she could only stomp her foot in frustration. This Tom, she couldn't control him anymore!
It turned out that Knockturn Alley wasn't so dangerous. The unstable elements that were there before in the alley were sent to Azkaban by Minister Bones, and they weren't expected to return soon, so Tom's part-time job in Knockturn Alley had been going fairly well so far.
Of course, "fairly well" meant that no one had come to cause him trouble. As for the alchemy workshop, Tom hadn't even had a single customer.
Not many people came to the alchemy workshop, and even if there were customers, they specifically asked for Mr. Penney to do alchemy, and Tom, as a new employee, didn't have much to do with it.
Days passed one after another, and in the blink of an eye, a week had already passed.
Today, perhaps it was Tom's lucky day. Mr. Penney had to leave urgently due to an unforeseen matter, leaving the store in Tom's care. Tom felt that an opportunity was presenting itself.
When Penney is here, ask for Penney. If Penney isn't here, why not try with Tom? If he doesn't open the business soon, Tom will have to consider changing to a full-purchase cooperation. After all, if he spends the whole day there doing nothing, this part-time job is meaningless.
A figure appeared on the main street of Knockturn Alley and walked casually toward Penney's alchemy workshop, stopping in front of the door.
"I didn't expect the one in charge to be Mr. Penney..." he muttered quietly before pushing open the door to the alchemy workshop.
The door creaked open, and the welcome bell hung on the door began to ring, emitting a clear sound.
Tom looked up and recognized the visitor: Lucius Malfoy.
"Welcome to Penney's Alchemy Workshop. How may I assist you?" Tom asked.
Tom's voice caught Lucius's attention, who looked toward him and saw a person with a fox mask behind the counter. This person seemed young from his voice, and his height was not very tall, clearly not Mr. Penney.
Lucius Malfoy frowned. He was looking for the alchemist Penney, as he had heard he was a skilled alchemist who could meet his demands.
"Where is Mr. Penney?"
"Mr. Penney is not available at the moment. How can I assist you? I'm sure I can also meet your needs," Tom responded instantly.
Lucius instinctively considered rejecting this strange individual, but after thinking for a moment, it wouldn't cost him more than a few Knuts, and he was already here, so he didn't want to leave directly, which would be a bit unsatisfying.
"I need an alchemical item that combines attack and defense. Can you make it?"
"Of course I can!" Tom responded immediately.
Chapter 490: Chapter 490: The Great Lucius Deal (Edited)
"I told you - wait, can you really do it?" Lucius was surprised by Tom's words. He didn't want just a simple defensive alchemical artifact but one that combined offense and defense.
It wasn't something any alchemist could create.
"I can do it. I'm willing to stake my honor as an alchemist on it," Tom responded seriously.
This statement might have sounded cheesy, but for a pure-blood aristocrat like Lucius, it was quite enticing. Unconsciously, he was already inclined to believe in the unknown alchemist in front of him.
"I can create a ring for you with the Protego, Stupefy, Petrificus Totalus, and Impedimenta enchantments. Additionally, on the front of the ring, I can engrave your family crest. As a wizard born into an ancient and noble pure-blood family, how could the ring not have your family emblem?"
Lucius had to admit he was tempted. Just like both wizard and Muggle aristocracies, pure-blood wizards liked to have their family crests engraved on rings and then passed down as family heirlooms. If he could choose, an alchemical item in the form of a ring would be most suitable for Lucius's expectations.
And this ring had four attached enchantments, an unparalleled value!
"I find it acceptable," Lucius said haughtily, thinking the design was rather good. Now it was time to discuss the price.
"One thousand Galleons. However, as you're a friend of Mr. Penney's, I can offer you a 20% discount, so it would be eight hundred Galleons," Tom replied straightforwardly, making an exorbitant offer.
Is he trying to rob me?! Lucius felt a surge of hot blood rushing to his head. This price was way too expensive. Eight hundred Galleons were enough for a family of nine to go on vacation to Egypt for two months. Spending so much money on a single ring, even if it came with four enchantments, was simply too costly.
With eight hundred Galleons, you could buy four front-row tickets to the Quidditch World Cup final! Even the Malfoy family didn't spend their money that way!
Wait a moment, when he thought about the match tickets, Lucius had a sudden idea.
"You've given a negotiable price, but since you've offered me a discount, as the head of the ancient Malfoy family, I cannot ignore your kindness... I've also decided to offer my generosity: four front-row tickets to the Quidditch World Cup final. The price for these four tickets is up to 800 Galleons, and they are even priceless in the current market as they can't be obtained through official means...".
Although Lucius was surprised by Tom's offer of eight hundred Galleons, he showed no emotion on his face. On the contrary, he decided to seize the opportunity to get something in return from the alchemist in front of him.
Those four front-row tickets were definitely worth eight hundred Galleons, and they could no longer be bought through official channels. You would probably need a thousand Galleons to purchase them from scalpers... But Lucius was a well-connected person and could get Quidditch tickets at very low prices from the Department of Magical Sports.
This was a privilege for ancient pure-blood families like his.
So, he would simply exchange the tickets for the debt. Whether Seven used them to watch the match or resold them was no longer Lucius's concern.
Tom frowned, not expecting something like this to happen. Someone wanting to trade tickets for money, and someone else working just to buy tickets? The two quickly reached an agreement and signed the contract.
"Come to pick up your order in three days," Tom said, though he could finish it quickly, he planned to make Lucius wait a bit.
"Very well," Lucius nodded satisfactorily. For him, waiting three days was not an issue at all; it even seemed quite satisfying.
"In three days, I'll come with the tickets. These tickets are nameless and specific, the person who buys them just needs to send a letter to the ticket agency to register their personal information on the tickets; it's very convenient." Here, convenience referred to how easily ticket scalpers could handle them.
There were many people in the Ministry of Magic who were hoping to take advantage of this opportunity to make some extra money. VIP seats and nearly half of the front-row seats were not sold at all; they were entirely absorbed internally by the event organization, with the Minister of Magic leading the game. For example, Lucius obtained two honor tickets by donating a sum of money to St. Mungo's Magical Hospital. These two seats were located in a luxury box on the upper floor, being the best seats in the stadium worldwide.
Mr. Weasley wasn't far behind either, as he had previously helped the head of the Department of Magical Sports, Ludo Bagman, solve some complicated problems, so he also got tickets for the luxury box on the upper floor.
This is the wizarding community. Whether good or evil, pure-blood families always have privileges that common wizards don't.
After Lucius left, Tom hurriedly made his way to his workshop. There was no time to waste; he needed to hurry and make the ring that Lucius had ordered.
The workshop was completely dark, and to turn on the light, a magical coin needed to be inserted into the gas meter.
Tom expressionlessly took out a penny and then his wand. He pointed the wand at the coin, and it transformed into the appearance of a Knut.
Hmm, although a Knut wasn't worth much, Tom didn't want to be cheated by Mr. Penney. So, he had his own way of dealing with the situation.
He was a wizard, and wizards could use Transfiguration! Wizarding world coins were minted by the goblins of Gringotts, infused with magic to make it difficult for common wizards to counterfeit. This copper coin transformed by Tom was like that; any wizard who touched it would realize that something wasn't right.
But could a gas meter be that smart?
Tom tossed the transformed copper coin into the gas meter.
Ding!
The coin fell through the exit hole and clinked onto the floor.
Well, this gas meter was indeed intelligent; it managed to detect that Tom was using a counterfeit coin. But Tom had another trick up his sleeve.
He took out a legitimate Knut and tied a string to it, then he threw it directly into the gas meter.
This time, the gas meter worked correctly.
Ah-ha! Tom pushed the Knut and pulled it out of the gas meter, managing to get fifteen minutes of gas for free.
Tom rushed to the desk and took out the Menes Stone slab. It was a treasure he had acquired previously from Pharaoh Menes, an alchemical relic.
He took out a small bottle filled with blood and dropped it onto the stone slab. The blood drops quickly seeped into the stone, and the onyx on top of the slab slowly rotated. Finally, the blood acquired through the growth allowed the three gems to rotate.
This meant that Tom could perform a three-star alchemical creation.
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