Fiction: Little Shop of Witchcraft

It was a sleek-looking store on a sleepy-looking street, tucked behind a convenience store off Dufferin in Little Portugal. The signage in front of the door read “Nox” in white lettering on a matte black background. The windows were crystal clear, but seemed dark because the storefront display also had a dark background. Standing within were a variety of crystals, stones, robes, and books that were cleaned enough that they looked as though they were regularly exchanged. The door opens with a ringing of a little bell, and a young couple stepped inside.

“Hi, welcome to Nox. Have you been here before?” an energetic women wearing a long flowing robe appeared.

“Uh, no, first time. We were just passing by,” responded the young man.
“Ah, okay, let me show you around. To the left over here, we have our astrology books and paraphernalia, and to the right we have our apparel section, more threads than any witch or wizard could desires. At the back, we have a fine selection of spellcasting resources: crystals, candles, and cauldrons. And near the cash, we have all the Harry Potter paraphernalia that one could want.”

“Great, thanks!” The pair headed towards the Harry Potter section, chattering happily.

The store was much larger than one expected by the size of the storefront, and had many more employees than one expected by the number of customers. It was a dark showroom, but somehow all the products and their descriptions could be seen clearly. Everything was spotless, and polished where it could be. The only dress code for the employees seemed to be that they had to wear black, and it was up to them to interpret that. From clothes to makeup to jewellery, nothing caught the light as they bobbed in and out of the shadows. The door opens with a ringing of a little bell, and a woman with a furrow in her brow pushed a stroller inside.

“Hi, welcome to Nox. Have you been here before?” said a man, stepping up to greet her.

He was wearing a nose ring, black obviously. He repeated much of the same pitch as the young couple had received, though this woman made a beeline towards the healing herbs section instead. Before he could fade into the shadows once more, the door swung open for the third time in these short minutes, and a middle-aged man in too-tight trousers walked in.

The man with the nose piercing welcomed in the same way just as all the others were, but stopped when he said that yes, he had been here before.

“Oh, and what are you looking for?”

“Just some resources for potion-making,” he said, “some organics, a few minerals, and I’m having trouble with a recipe I bought last time. It’s tricky.”

“Ah, we’ll get someone to help you with that right away.”

The sales associate scurried off and pressed rang a bell on the counter. It let out a soft ding that was almost inaudible, even in the quiet of the store, but the posture of all the employees in the store seemed to suddenly improve, and the temperature in the store seemed to suddenly drop. The tension in the room continued to grow until some of the customers noticed it too, looking around at the staff, wondering what was going on. Then two floor-to-ceiling doors swung open at the back of the store with a dramatic flourish. Through them walked a lithe woman with blonde dreadlocks, wearing a floral green dress.

“Alec!” she cried in a shrill voice.

“Morgan, good to see you,” he replied with a smile.

“Please, through here,” said Morgan, leading Alec through the doors.
The tension in the room returned to normal shortly after, and the sales staff continued milling around, while the customers continued browsing. The couple picked out a necklace with an hourglass on it and a few holiday greeting cards: tiny pieces of Harry Potter fandom for them to take home. A few more customers entered and exited the store, some making purchases, others just taking a look.

Then the double-doors at the back of the store swung open again, and Alec stormed out in a huff.

“If you don’t like my prices, go collect your own supplies, you miserable miser!” exclaimed the shrill cry which followed him out.

“I will! Or maybe I’ll go to Curiosa instead! They have a better selection and more reasonable rates!” Alec shot back.

“Don’t shop with Morgan,” said Alec to the customers, who were all watching him as he strode towards the door, “It’s all just overpriced junk that hasn’t been properly reviewed for potency.”

“ARGHHHHHH!” came a guttural screech from the back doors.

A giant green fireball flew through them, and Alec turned around just in time to take it straight in the face. The impact caused him in turn, to fly through the doors and land on the sidewalk. Alec scrambled to his feet, and away from the store.

“Insult me or my shop on more time, and I’ll turn you into a toad, you curmudgeonly coward!”

The store went silent as Morgan’s screech rang around the shop. Morgan stepped out of the back doors and looked around. Then she broke into a wide smile and curtsied.

“Welcome to Nox!” said Morgan, “My name is Morgan. To the right over here, we have our astrology books and paraphernalia, and to the left we have our apparel section, more threads than any witch or wizard could desires. At the back, we have a fine selection of spellcasting resources: crystals, candles, and cauldrons. And near the cash, we have all the Harry Potter paraphernalia that one could want. Please don’t hesitate to ask me or any of the other witches or wizards that work here if you have trouble finding what you want.”

The staff broke out into a clap, and the customers eventually joined in. The chatter picked back up, and several people lined up for the cash.

“Was that real?” the young woman holding the necklace asked her boyfriend.

“No babe, it’s probably something they do to generate sales. Shopping and a show, you know?”

“But it looked so real.”

“Copper sulfate turns fire green! Plus, if that was real, that’d be a terrible way to run a business. Who would shop here? Why would we even be allowed here?”

“You’re right honey.”

A few hours later, the store closed for the day. It was autumn in Toronto, and the sun was already setting. The staff were closing up and getting ready to go when the young man with the nose ring bumped into a table, and a piece of crystal over a meter long shattered on the floor with a loud crash. Everyone froze. The double doors at the back of the store swung open once again, and Morgan marched out, her expression one of annoyance.

“Please, no,” began the man.

But it was too late. Morgan pointed her finger at him, and the room was filled with a green light. When everyone could see again, he was gone. In his place was a toad with a tiny metal hoop through one of its nostrils.