Topic Research: Borgin and Burkes

For my storybook topic, I am going to use the antique shop Borgin and Burkes from Harry Potter. This shop has a reputation for selling dark and shady objects, but it also sells old, strange, and powerful magical objects. Those objects would be from Indian Epic stories. They would tell the story of the person who sought after or owned it. The customer (Tom Riddle, the Malfoys, Bellatrix, etc.) would come in either seeking that specific object or they would look around and it would catch their attention. The shop owners--Burke (who hired Tom Riddle) and Borgin (who seemed to solely operate the shop after 1992)--would tell the story of the item through answering the customer's questions. Also, just for fun, I'll keep a list of all the objects I come across while reading Indian epics so that I can include them as background details/description while customers are looking around.

• Story 1: Ashwatthama's jewel - According to that Wikipedia page, "Ashvatthama is born with a gem on his forehead which gives him power over all living beings lower than humans; it protects him from hunger, thirst, and fatigue." I believe we will read about this when we get to the Mahabharata, so I would use that as my story source (here is the public domain version). This jewel would be a perfect item for Tom Riddle to encounter while working in Borgin and Burkes. He could ask Burke questions about it but try not to seem too eager so that Burke wouldn't be suspicious. 

• Story 2: Cintamani Stone - This stone fulfills wishes, and its a great candidate for an object in the shop. I think I would use Lucius Malfoy for this one, and Borgin would explain the stone's history to him. I found this reading guide that mentions the stone, but the actual book is 450 pages... so I'm not sure about that. I was having a really difficult time finding a succinct story about the stone, but I'll keep searching because it's definitely an object worth reading and writing about. 

• Story 3: Brahmastra - Reading K of this version of the Ramayana mentions the brahmastra. This would be an ideal weapon that a Death Eater would seek out for Voldemort. I would definitely have Borgin be overly cautious and weary about selling it, seeing as it is so destructive. 

In my research, I also found the Syamantaka Jewel (reading guide here), which could make for a fun story. Also, for my own reference, I think I'll find this page useful in the future (I'm especially interested in astras).

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Image information: Entrance to Borgin and Burkes antique shop. "Borgin & Burkes" by HarshLight is licensed under CC BY 2.0