"This... can this ring really achieve the kind of effect you said?" Dawlish couldn't believe it.
Adrian didn't speak. He input magic power into the Protective Ring. Almost at the same time, a light magical barrier enveloped him.
The barrier was semi-transparent. If they weren't standing so close and looking carefully, Dawlish couldn't see it at all.
"Expelliarmus!" Dawlish raised his wand, and a red light shot toward Adrian. Just like with the Shield Gloves, the curse was bounced back in an instant.
Because the distance was too close, even the elite Auror Dawlish couldn't dodge the rebounding curse. His wand dropped and flew out.
Adrian reached out to catch the wand that flew toward him and returned it to Dawlish with his other hand. The magical barrier on his body disappeared without a trace after about two seconds. It couldn't be activated continuously for a short time, otherwise it would greatly increase the possibility of damaging the ring.
With Adrian's relaxed and casual appearance, Dawlish looked at him with heated interest. After receiving the wand back, he couldn't help asking, "How much is this Protective Ring?"
"Seventy Galleons!" Seeing the other party had already taken the bait, Adrian couldn't help but smile. The price for Dougt was the internal price, of course it would be more expensive for official sale.
Dawlish hesitated. It wasn't cheap. He'd worked for more than ten years and couldn't save much money.
"There's only this one Protective Ring in the store for now. Once it's sold, I don't know how long it will take before we have another!" Adrian said lightly at that moment.
"I'll buy it!" Hearing Adrian's words, Dawlish made a decision without hesitation.
He gritted his teeth and decided to pay the seventy Galleons!
'But there's only one Protective Ring, and the effect is so good.' Dawlish felt he'd come early, otherwise it would have been bought already if discovered by other colleagues.
Thinking of this, Dawlish eagerly took out all the Galleons he'd brought from his wizard robe pocket. But after counting, he found he was a bit short.
After all, seventy Galleons wasn't a small amount of money. Unless he went out specifically to buy things, he wouldn't normally bring so many.
"How much money do you have? Quickly, give it to me so I can put it together!" Dawlish turned his head and said to the two stunned Aurors.
'Captain... aren't we here to investigate the proliferation of dark magical items?'
Ellison opened his mouth, but seeing Dawlish's eager appearance, he held the words back and took out some Galleons from his pocket.
Dawlish took them, but the count was still not enough, so he turned to look at the female Auror Savage.
"Seventy Galleons, isn't that a bit expensive?" Savage whispered, looking at Dawlish.
'That's enough to buy more than a dozen bottles of charm potion...'
"You think you're buying a ring, but sometimes it's equivalent to buying a second life!" Dawlish shook his head. Noticing the two's puzzled looks, he talked about some of his own experiences.
As a senior Auror of the Ministry, Dawlish had been working for more than ten years and had even participated in the last Wizarding War.
Catching dangerous dark wizards was his daily job. Of course, it was different from these newcomers. He knew Auror was a very risky profession!
"I've seen many colleagues who cast spells too slowly when in danger and died tragically under dark wizards' magic. If all the Aurors at the Ministry were equipped with defensive magical items, they wouldn't die anymore," Dawlish couldn't help sighing.
Adrian nodded with satisfaction. He'd been about to say something similar, but it was naturally better coming from Dawlish's mouth.
Ellison and Savage were stunned hearing this. They hadn't expected the Auror's job to be so dangerous.
Especially Ellison, he was already wondering whether he should also save up for a Protective Ring. Although there was only one of these for now, he could start saving money first, right?
"You're Aurors?" Adrian looked at everyone's reaction, tried to pretend to be surprised, and said.
Dawlish had already said so much just now. Adrian wasn't a fool, he had to react a little at this point.
"Of course! Do you see this uniform?" Savage pointed to the standard robes on her body and said proudly.
"That's so cool! My biggest dream after graduation is to become an Auror!" Adrian said with envious, sparkling eyes.
"Then you have to work hard. The Ministry's review is very strict, only the best of the best can get in!" Savage was very flattered and smiled happily. It had taken her a long time to be admitted as an Auror.
Dawlish also nodded.
After listening to Adrian's introduction of so many products, Dawlish had some doubts about the information the Ministry had given him. This was more like a normal magical items store with its own style.
With so many interesting magical items, there was no need to sell dark magical items.
In addition, after Adrian had taken his wand and returned it immediately, Dawlish dismissed many doubts.
'If they really had any bad intentions, that would have been the best time to act.'
"By the way, why did your mother open the store in Knockturn Alley?" Dawlish still had one last question in his heart. After thinking about it, he squatted down, looked directly at Adrian's eyes, and asked.
"Of course it's because we're... poor!" Adrian shrugged.
'Poor?'
Dawlish was speechless for a while. It did seem reasonable. If it weren't for this reason, who would stay in the ruined place that was Knockturn Alley?
'But...'
Dawlish looked at the Protective Ring in his hand, then at the bag of Galleons he'd just handed to Adrian.
'Is opening a magical goods store really that poor? Why don't I believe it?'
Adrian saw the Auror captain's doubts and explained aloud.
"My mother has seen too many wizards persecuted by dark magic, so these years she's been dedicated to research work on preventing dark magic and has spent enormous energy on this. The research cost of magical items is very high. It takes at least a few years and thousands of Galleons of investment, with countless failures, to get the corresponding runic formulas. We've only recently had some results, so..."
"There's no profit at all!" Adrian said at last.
Dawlish nodded. So it seemed the price of seventy Galleons for such a high-end magical item like the Protective Ring was really cheap.
"I've no idea which dunderhead convinced the Ministry this was a shop for Dark magic! It's clearly a perfectly respectable establishment. Honestly, don't the rumour-mongers feel even a twinge of guilt?"