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Unspeakables Division, Ministry of Magic, London[1998]
––Lucien Corven–
He sighed as soon as they entered their division, as Tobias, his most talented junior, removed his cowl, exhaling as if a great burden was removed from his shoulders. It would seem that getting that Dumbledore worship out of the new recruits' systems was getting harder and harder each passing day.
"Oh man, being on the other side of that old man's wand is scaarry!" Tobias joked as they began walking deeper into their chambers, beyond the doors of Time, Space, and other mysteries that they regularly showed to the Minister to continue the illusion of them working for the Ministry of Magic and not for someone who was far more important for the existence of the world as they knew it.
The Axis Mundi of their world, and its leader, the Ancient One.
He glanced at the manchild beside him, sighing as he once again lamented his fate for being saddled with someone like him, extremely talented, peerless when it came to defensive use of the Mirror Dimension, but with an attitude so unworkable that every one of his peers rejected him, right up until he fell into his lap.
Lucien sighed once more, feeling the stress and his age catching up to him as the end of the Unspeakable division as theft knew it came closer. He was not lying to Dumbledore when he said that the entire world was going to experience an upheaval not seen since the days of the IWC being established, along with the Statute of Secrecy.
"So, where are we headed next?" Tobias asked him, and for a wizard pushing 40, he had boundless enthusiasm, something that he envied and pitied him for, in equal measure. They had been working together for over five years now, and if the instructions he had received were true, Tobias was going to be working on the front lines, so maybe something to keep that boundless enthusiasm in check was in order.
He smiled beneath his cowl, "Come. Let me show you something special."
__xx__
London Sanctum
–Damian Hawthrone–
"Ah," He sighed in contentment as the tea hit just right for him, which was the first thing offered to him by the Sanctum Master Alaric Corven, who was watching him with a curious yet amused gaze, as if unsure as to what to make of this strange wizard kid with numerous enchanted items, who just walked into the London Sanctum.
"To your liking, I assume?" The Master prodded him, and he nodded before setting down the cup, leaning back into the comfortable chair, that was made for people more than twice his size, so he used the chair as a recliner sofa.
"So, what can I do for you, Mr….?"
"Damian. Damian Hawthorne, and yes, you can help me with something. Do you have Galleons? Preferably on a loan I can repay in a few years, when I have some real money of my own?"
"What?" Was the only response he received, which was expected, so he went for the next best thing.
"I thought so. Do you happen to have any books on the Wizarding World? News, recent history. Something like that?" He proposed, looking absolutely relaxed in this chair, with the pleasantly cool atmosphere along with the faint incense smell everywhere.
It was very calming, very relaxing, and also making him feel very sleepy.
"I might have to look for it but why can't you go get it yourself. Perhaps your guardians can procure it for you?"
Ah, there it was. The Expected Question.
__xx__
[Two Hours & some food, later]
Master Alaric Corven found himself escorting a young wizard child, barely ten years old, to the Magical District here. He found himself asking, How did this child convince him to take him to Diagon Alley, and not just that, give him some money as well.
Granted, it was just Galleons and they were barely worth as a paperweight to him but even so, the entire situation was amusing if not entirely suspicious because of the child himself.
Very mature. Very intuitive and the magic he could feel coming off of the boy meant he was certainly of good pedigree.
Look at him, using the word pedigree of all things.
How his brother would laugh at him, if only they hadn't broken all contact when his brother got to go to the super secret magical school and he didn't. In the end, he found his own way to use magic but sometimes, he still wished he had his brother by his side.
Within minutes, they were at the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron, the unofficial entrance to Diagon Alley, with most other wizards taking the Floo to reach the place. He could feel the enchantments on the place, to tell his mind to ignore this place, to move on, but they just bounced off his mental defenses.
He looked down to see the kid looking at the entrance without any issues, which was expected, but the look in his eyes made him pause a bit.
Excitement. Fear. Determination.
All of that was bundled into one as he began walking forward, with him following suit. He had no idea what to make of this strange child, but one thing was for certain, he could not be a normal wizard. The enchantments on his clothing alone would cost a fortune, not to mention the regular upkeep required to keep them functional whilst keeping them in such a compact and portable form.
It was a good thing that he was in the Sanctum when the child knocked, else alarms would have rung across the other Sanctums, informing them of a heavily armed wizard, knocking on their premises.
Once inside, he ignored the other patrons, the barkeeper and headed straight to the entrance, and while he did not have a wand, he had a relic and the wall just needed magic to be imputed at certain points to open it, which was something that he made sure to look into before leaving the Sanctum.
As such, they were out of the Leaky Cauldron and into Diagon Alley within seconds, as the signature shopping Alley of Magical Britain was revealed to him. He still held that naive hope that he would get to see his brother one day, but he was not going to hold his breath over that.
After all, 60 years was a long long time to not reach out to their brother.
Damian tugged at his sleeves as they walked to the book store, with the name Flourish and Blotts, all with floating quills and books at the entrance. Once inside, they were greeted by an attendant, who remained seated, whilst gesturing at the catalogues kept on the counter.
Damian immediately snatched the very heavy looking catalogue and began looking through it. He heard him whisper the words history a lot before he finally settled in on something.
"This! I want this and this, and this as well. Please pack them all up." The attendant, having heard the words pack them up, seemingly woke up from his reading frenzy and got up from his seat, which was just a rackety looking chair.
How could wizards, with their ability to generate matter ex nihilo and shape it however they liked, live in such conditions, was beyond him.
"That will be 59 Galleons, is that alright?"
He blinked as the attendant looked at him when he said the price. He looked down to see Dmian looking up at him with wide innocent eyes, or at least, the best approximation of one he could create.
"Yes, just pack it all up." He said before taking the Galleons out of his pockets. He had thousands of Galleons with him, a stipend of sorts, gathered over years, given to Sanctum Masters because of the vibrant wizarding communities present around all three Sanctums.
"Coming right up," Seeing that the sale was confirmed, the attendant, having received a boost in energy, rushed to the back of the store and came back, carrying three giant books, and set them down on the counter.
Taking a look at the heavy books and at the elderly man, and at the child with him, the attendant, understanding the situation, offered, "I can have them delivered to you anywhere in Magical Britain. Only 5 sickles. 10 if you want a magical sealed delivery package?"
Before he could say anything, Damian reached over and took all three books, without even struggling a bit, "No, thank you. I can carry it."
It was quite a comical sight. The books, when combined, reach Damian's nose, with only his eyes visible, which was good for him because Damian just begun marching out of the store, without even looking back.
Sighing at the brat's attempt at escaping, he handed over the money before walking towards the now slowly accelerating brat. The brat then slowed down as they reached the wall that would take them to the Leaky Cauldron once more.
He just watched as Damian stayed in place, waiting for him to open the wall. "What? Can't walk through walls, can you?"
"Not yet," He shook his head at the quip before walking out of the Leaky Cauldron.
"Now," He began, intending to return the boy to his guardians, but before he could get another word out, he whirled around, as he sensed him use magic, only to find Damian missing.
No, Damian was not gone. He could still sense the magic of those enchanted clothes. He was nearby. It was moving away from him but he could still sense it.
This day just got a whole lot more interesting.
A smile flickered across his face as he began walking towards the magical signature. Let's see where Damian, a baby wizard with way too many unexplainable things, was going.
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