My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 316, Section 313: Overturned Alley

Lynn came out of the fireplace after listening to their conversation and immediately cast a cleansing spell on himself, complaining.

"With such a filthy fireplace, who's going to be in the mood to patronize your business after you come out?"

This is a magic shop in Knockturn Alley. The shopkeeper is a hunched-over man who stands behind the counter, running his greasy hair back with his hands.

"What a chatterbox! Can a fireplace without ashes even be called a fireplace?" Borgin Burke, the owner of the magic shop, scoffed.

However, Lynn ignored him because Snape had already walked out of the shop, and Lynn quickly followed behind him.

"Which professor should we consult?"

"A scoundrel."

Snape led Lynn through the streets of Knockturn Alley, which was much more dilapidated than Diagon Alley. The streets were lined with shady magic shops, but none of them had any information about what they sold.

Occasionally, they could see groups of two or three wizards dressed in robes, their faces hidden in their hoods, standing on the street. Only one or two old witches, leaning on their canes and hunched over, looked at them with cold eyes.

"This isn't a good place. Try not to come here again if you can avoid it in the future," Snape warned Lynn coldly.

"Does the Ministry of Magic know about this place?" Lynn looked at the huge area. Knockturn Alley was no smaller than Diagon Alley, and the money transactions involved there must be even more than those in Diagon Alley.

Snape gave a mocking laugh.

"Of course the Ministry of Magic knows. Many of the shops here are family businesses owned by the bureaucrats of the Ministry of Magic. Every year, these shops are routinely inspected by the Aurors twice a year, but they never find anything. Either the Auror officials don't dare to inspect seriously, or someone tipped them off before the inspection and hid all the contraband."

Lynn looked thoughtfully at the shops around her.

Many of the employees in the British Ministry of Magic who hold important positions are from pure-blood families, and Britain is only so big, there are only so many wizards, and there are only twenty-four pure-blood surnames.

Old John has now acquired sixteen properties under his instructions, including those in Knockdown Lane.

In other words, some of these shops are owned by him?

Thinking of this, Lynn turned her head to look at the surrounding shops again, and suddenly they looked much more pleasing to the eye.

Snape led Lynn deep into Knockturn Alley, a dilapidated shack area that smelled terrible, like the uncleaned bathrooms in Hogwarts Castle.

There were also some dirty-looking, ragged wizards lying in their shacks, their eyes lifeless, just like the ordinary people Lynn had seen in the slums before.

Lynn looked at these people with some surprise, and he quietly asked Snape.

Are there poor people in the magical world?

Snape glanced coldly at the seemingly impoverished wizards and said indifferently.

"Wizards who master magic usually don't have to worry about food and clothing, so this person is not actually poor, but lazy."

"Lazy person?"

"Some of them have very low magical talent, almost like Squibs. They can't do big things, but they're unwilling to do small things either. They also discriminate against Muggles and don't want to live in the Muggle world. So they just stay in this corner of Diagon Alley, thinking about eating, drinking, gambling, and smoking all day long, just getting by day by day. Others have warrants from the Ministry of Magic on their hands and can't live openly outside, so they hide here under assumed names. Anyway, Aurors usually don't come here to search."

After listening to Snape's introduction, Lynn looked at these impoverished wizards again and couldn't help but click his tongue twice.

Sure enough, there's never a shortage of people who are all talk and no action and who lack ambition, no matter where they are.

Snape and Lynn stopped in front of a shack where a wizard lay, his leg broken. The broken leg was simply wrapped with dirty gauze, and foul blood seeped out from under the gauze, making it look disgusting.

His broken leg lay beside him.

"Shabur".

Snape called out the name of the one-legged wizard in his deep voice.

Shabul heard Snape's voice and immediately opened his eyes in surprise, staring intently at Snape.

"Ah! You've come to Severus! That's wonderful! I thought you wouldn't be here for a few more days!"

"Don't call me by my name. We're not that close." Snape looked at him with disdain, as if speaking to him was an insult. "Is your money ready?"

The moment money was mentioned, Shabul's enthusiasm seemed to wane by half, and he looked at Snape warily.

"I need to see something first."

Snape impatiently pulled out the potion recipe he had written in his office earlier from his pocket and waved it in front of Shabul.

"This isn't right!" Shabul exclaimed. "I said in my letter that I wanted to buy the recipe along with the necessary materials, but all you've brought is the recipe!"

"If you want so much stuff, you'd better pay up." Snape looked at him with a mocking gaze. "If you pay enough, I'll personally concoct a potion to set your broken leg."

Shabul continued to yell, "You're asking for way too much! Just setting up a broken leg in St. Mungo's wouldn't even cost 10 Galleons!"

Snape looked extremely impatient; he put the formula back in his pocket and turned to leave.

"Then go find a healer at St. Mungo's to set your leg. Don't waste my time writing to me again!"

However, before he and Lynn had taken two steps, Shabul hurriedly called out to him from behind.

"Alright, Severus, alright, that's settled then. You give me the formula, and I'll give you the money we agreed on. We really can't delay any longer, or I'll really be a cripple for the rest of my life!"

As if he had already anticipated that Snape would give in, he turned around with a cold face and then stretched out a hand towards Shabul.

Shabul gritted his teeth, then pulled a heavy-looking money bag from under his body and threw it to Snape.

Snape didn't open the purse; he just shook it near his ear and heard a sound before tossing the potion recipe to Shabul.

"Happy transaction," he said casually, without any hint of what was so pleasant about it.

"Severus, you miser, you have no mercy whatsoever! We used to be colleagues, no matter what."

Shabul got the potion recipe and kept complaining, but Snape had already gone far away.

Lynn, who had witnessed the transaction firsthand, couldn't help but turn back for one last look.

Beneath the tattered sleeve of the left arm of the wizard named Shabul, a green tattoo of a python emerging from the mouth of a skull was faintly visible.

He squinted, turned around, and quickly followed Snape.

(End of this chapter)