Gwynedd. Wales.
Before today's lesson began my werewolf tutor placed a copy of today's paper on the desk that was otherwise covered in things we used during lessons, such as spare bits of parchment, a few textbooks, bottles of ink, quills and so on.
I picked up the paper and soon found the article that had gotten Lupin's attention. It was hardly front-page news, yet there was a noticeable article written by Rita Skeeter, who else?, that speculated that I was an unknown member of the Black family due to me having so much money and because I'd purchased one of their properties.
Thankfully Grimmauld Place hadn't been named which meant that the contracts were still in effect. Not many people knew about either of my houses and I'd rather keep it that way as I had important things that needed my attention. I didn't wish to be bothered by people from the Ministry wanting 'funding' or by those who wanted to add a rich wizard to their social circles.
"So Macross, are you a Black?" asked Remus Lupin.
Given that this wizard was a member of the Order of Phoenix and a friend of Sirius Black I knew who he'd been reporting to. I knew that Dumbledore had shown an interest in me and while he'd not tried to contact me directly it might only be a matter of time before he tried to set up a meeting.
Even if he accepted that I wasn't a Black I could see why he'd want a wealthy wizard on his side. Voldemort wasn't dead and Dumbledore knew that the civil war would start up again. Wars are expensive things and those fighting the Death Eaters would need support.
"You signed a contract that is supposed to protect my privacy" I reminded Lupin.
I felt fairly certain that he straining the agreement and could up violating the contract if he carried on like this.
"This isn't part of your lessons and I'm not asking as your tutor" stated Lupin "Sirius wants to know. He's my friend and has a right to know if he has more family".
I didn't have to give him an explanation and I was considering firing the man, but he was a decent teacher. Besides, it wasn't as if I was a Black and trying to hide it, these were just rumours that had gotten out of hand.
Given the author of the article, it was possible that the goblins had leaked the idea to her. There seemed to be some political reason as to why they wanted me to take the name Black, but I wasn't going to involve myself in their plans.
"I don't claim to be a Black and I never will," I told Lupin "I just purchased the house in London because I wanted to invest my inheritance in stocks and property".
Lupin didn't seem surprised by what I told him.
"Sirius will be disappointed he doesn't have more family out that there aren't blood purists" mentioned the wizard "He didn't know for sure that you weren't related as the bloodlines of squibs can't be traced like they can with wizarding families and there is a theory that muggle-borns are actually descended from squibs send to live in the muggle world. It makes more sense than them just popping up at random".
I could understand why some of the wand wavers would think that. Magical ability runs in families so it could be genetic and if it is then it makes no sense for any gene or genes responsible for allowing a human to use magic to suddenly appear in the DNA of people who are born to non-magical humans.
It might be the will of fate or maybe some higher power is going around giving muggle children magical power for some reason, or it could be that the muggle-borns were exposed accidentally to something with a lot of magical power when they were young. It was all speculation and nothing that I need to concern myself with.
"Can we get on with the lesson?" I requested.
I hoped that Lupin would pass on the news to interested parties and that would leave me alone in the future. If this didn't blow over then it would be awkward the next time I went to Diagon Alley for supplies.
If didn't already exist I should look into the possibility of a mail order system. If there were a few House Elves out there looking for work they'd be great for delivering parcels as they can just teleport around. I could offer the startup funds for such a business and be a silent partner.
Perhaps I could send my own House Elf out shopping, but I didn't want all my time locked up inside one of my homes. I would just have to put up with any stares I got when visiting the shops.
"Yes, let's get on with it" Lupin agreed.
He told me to turn to a certain page in the defence against the dark arts books he mostly taught from and I read the spell we'd be covering today.
The Full Body-Bind Curse known as Petrificus Totalus, also known as the Body Freezing Spell, was a curse that temporarily paralysed the opponent as the name suggested. It can also be used on inanimate objects but is almost useless unless it is a moving object.
If the spell was used on a car I could see it either causing problems and horrible injuries or possibly being used to prevent an accident if you were fast enough with your wand and the spell worked the right way. I wondered if I could test that safely.
I recalled how Hermione Granger used this spell to completely freeze Neville Longbottom's body. He was stuck and therefore unable to prevent the Golden Trio from leaving the tower. If a small girl could learn to use this spell then I should have no trouble mastering this bit of magic.
"Despite it being labelled as a curse it isn't really dark magic," Remus Lupin told me "In fact, this spell is mostly used by inexperienced witches and wizards for defence. It is considered harmful because once you have someone paralysed it is much easier to harm them, but there are other spells that do the same thing".
The book mentioned a spell caused Immobulus (the Freezing Charm) that wasn't called a curse and it could affect an entire room of people if cast by a powerful enough witch or wizard. Hermione Granger again showed her skill with spells by incapacitating a pack of pixies when they were terrorising a classroom.
"I consider this spell to be useful for defence as while the person paralysed will be back in action soon enough the spell will you give plenty of time to run away or you can use a more advanced spell to then secure your attacker, so as you can imagine Aurors make use of this spell," said Lupin "For now we'll focus on paralysing some living beings".
The tutor reached into his pockets and took out some snuffboxes, that he used magic to turn into a group of white mice, or rather back into mice as he was undoing a transfiguration spell he must have cast on them earlier.
To my surprise, the small mammals didn't seem bothered by their transformation, yet I couldn't help thinking that this was some sort of animal cruelty. More so when Lupin instructed me to use Petrificus Totalus on the small furry creatures.
None of the animals acted distressed when I hit them with the spell and I quickly learned to remove it with Finite Incantatem, it was only a minor spell and therefore easily reversed. Waking someone up from a stunner was a bit harder so I could see why Stupfy was a more popular spell. Anyone getting stunned is going to feel a bit groggy after being woken up.
This spell was easy to get working. I had a lot of raw power and an eagerness to learn so it didn't take me long to get to the point that the spell worked every time I used it and seemed to last for a while. I would need to practice this spell some more for it to work on human-sized creatures as there were much larger.
Then there would be people and creatures who could resist magical attacks, but this spell could serve me well enough when dealing with normal people and animals.
"Are these real mice?" I asked as I stopped each one of the scurrying creatures from moving around, "They don't seem distressed by what I'm doing to them".
While I was no expert on the behaviour of rodents, I felt fairly certain that real mice would be attempting to run and hide at this point.
"I conjured them this morning," Lupin informed me.
Conjuration magic only creates things for a time before they fade away as such these weren't real mice. Some sort of temporary energy to matter conversion I assumed.
You can't really create or destroy matter just change it from one form to another. As such you can't just make things exist with magic, at least not for long. Or at least that was my understanding of how it worked in this world. The rules could be different elsewhere.
"You can transfigure something you've conjured?" I asked.
Lupin confirmed this to be true and I was impressed by his level of skill with magic.
"Mice make for good target practice since they are small and move quite
quickly if you give them a prod but they aren't easy to carry in your pockets," said Lupin "Once you get used to the body-bind I'll get the mice moving more quickly so you can get some target practice".
I got back to work and focused on mastering this spell.
The Ossuary. Wizarding World.
It took me a moment to recall how Horace Slughorn of all people was able to talk me into coming here tonight as this was not going to be pleasant. Then I reminded myself that he'd bribed me with the promise of supplying me with a very special potion. I badly wanted some Felix Felicis and Slughorn was one of the few potion masters around who could supply me with a bottle.
Given how quickly I'd been promised some by my tutor I suspected that the retired teacher had some stashed away. This made sense as it was hard to make, it wasn't something you can just throw together. However, if he took the time to make a few large batches he could end up with dozens of small vials that he could trade or sell whenever he wished.
He was willing to give it away to school children so he must be able to replenish his supply.
In return for my vial of the useful liquid, which I figured could come in handy one day during my travels, I'd agreed to attend a Halloween party at the manor owned by the Bones family. When I'd used the floo network to get here I'd called out The Ossuary, a suitable name for the home of a family of people called Bones.
Despite the name, the manor house was a brightly lit place. I'd have been much more amused if it had been built in the gothic style or at least there were some skulls on display. Alas, it was rather dull, there were portraits around, some works of art that were pleasing to look at, but other than that the house didn't have much going for it.
Perhaps because Amelia Bones, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, was known for putting in many hours at work this place lacked that lived-in feeling that made a house a home. Although she was supposed to have a niece. Did she live elsewhere or did the Bones family just stay in parts of the house? Only making use of more of the house when they had a need to.
That would explain why there didn't seem to be anything to do around here. What did witches and wizards actually do with their spare time? They didn't have video games, television with streaming services, or anything like that. They had books and radio, however, yet they seemed to be lacking in even simple stuff like board games. Although I hadn't seen enough of this culture to be sure of that.
Did they spend all of their free time socialising? It must be a nightmare to be an introvert in the magical parts of this country.
I'd much rather be reading or practising the casting of the few spells I knew in one of my homes, but all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy as they say. If I kept myself contained in one of my houses only talking to tutors and spirits then what was the point of being able to travel the multiverse? I wasn't just here to learn magic. I wanted to experience a little of what these worlds had to offer.
Besides, I might start to go a bit funny in the head if I spent too much of my time either studying or talking to dead people.
"This way, sir" directed a smart-looking house-elf.
I kept following the little being as it led me through the large house. Taking the chance to see as much of a magical home as I could.
"Good, Macross you're here," called out a voice.
I turned to see Slughorn who must have arrived just ahead of me as he'd just hung up his coat. His fancy robes weren't doing him any favours. He reminded me of that time my Mum had during a visit to my home, tried to cover up my comfy recliner with some fancy material because she thought it was ugly.
"A deal is a deal," I stated.
He passed the very small bottle and I inspected it.
"24 hours of liquid luck as promised" he stated "Use it sparingly".
Slughorn had already told me that once consumed the potion would ensure, at least until the effects wear off, that all the drinker's endeavours will tend to succeed, but it only changes the odds so that they greatly favour you, it wouldn't give me the ability do something I wasn't normally capable of doing.
For example, if I fell off a building the potion wouldn't suddenly allow me to understand how to use magic to fly, but I'd have a good chance of landing on something that could cushion my fall.
Once consumed, the potion gives the drinker an exhilarating sense of confidence and Slughorn advised that while under the effects I should do what felt right if I wanted to make the most out of the potion.
There were risks involved, if taken in excess the potion causes giddiness, recklessness, and dangerous overconfidence, and it is highly toxic in large quantities not unlike alcohol. Also, you didn't want to run the risk of the effects wearing off while you were doing something potentially hazardous to your health.
Due to the potential dangers, it was doubted that I would ever drink more of this potion than was in this bottle.
I trusted the man to an extent, but I'd be a fool not to test the potion and then the next few hours should be dull enough for me to observe any effects without much in the ways of distractions.
After drinking what I hoped was enough potion to last a few hours, I followed Slughorn to the ballroom and he began to point people out to me as he spoke. As he did I noted that while the large room was decorated it seemed rather rushed to me.
"Amelia Bones rarely hosts these sort of events," the former teacher told me "We all know that she's trying to rally support for when she makes her move to become Minister for Magic and that will require funding".
Magical Britain was actually a democracy, like any other Minister the Minister of Magic was voted for, and in theory, the Minister of Magic is actually answerable to the Prime Minster. Much like the Minister of Education or the Minister of Transport. In practice, the Ministry of Magic ran its own affairs and no one would publicly admit that Fudge answered to the man at 10 Downing Street.
"Funding is why she is interested in having you here, but she won't actually admit it" Slughorn let me know "You should consider offering support, it could make things easier for you in future".
I knew enough about politics to know that no one here would actually be saying exactly what they wanted. There would be plenty of beating around the bush. Lucky for me Horace was willing to explain things, must be the teacher in him.
"Now I made no promises in getting your support I just told her I'd arrange for you to attend," he said.
Which he'd successfully bribed me to do, and at least he was being honest about it.
"If she's trying to gain support then why is the Minister here?" I questioned, having noticed the man who thought a green bowler hat was fashionable "Isn't that risky?".
Slughorn seemed amused by my questions.
"The Minister invited himself along," said Slughorn "Bones could hardly refuse him without making it clear what she is up to. Fudge isn't as foolish as he might seem and he is here to undermine Amelia. You may find them both trying to win you over".
I found this all to be so silly. These people can alter reality by waving a fancy stick around, yet they waste their time and resources playing a version of Game of Thrones.
Granted this version has a nice buffet and no one is trying to kill each other at the moment, but it was still all about making alliances, securing funding, trying to weaken your enemies, and in the end, it would the common people who got caught in the crossfire.
To be fair there were limits on what these people could do due to the need to stay hidden from muggles. Still, it would be nice if they focused more on actually mastering magic rather than exhausting themselves with politics.
"With Fudge is a woman called Dolores Umbridge," Slughorn was now telling me "I don't know much about her other than to keep my distance. I suggest you do the same".
I knew that Dolores Umbridge was an evil woman, a witch who cared more for her own political power than anything else, and she was not so different in my view that the Nazis who sent people to the camps to die in their thousands. If I'd known how I might have sent a bolt of magical power across the room to strike her down.
I'd never wanted to hurt someone as much as I did at this moment. I wasn't a violent person yet right now I felt fairly certain that I could have cast a successful Killing Curse. Not that I was foolish to do such a thing in such a public setting.
"Let me introduce you to the Minister," said Slughorn "Then we'll meet with Amelia".
While he spoke to Fudge I suddenly found myself talking to the Umbitch woman and she started off sounding sweet until I refused to offer my support to her boss. When she asked to speak with me in private I went with the flow. I even let her cast a few spells that would ensure that we wouldn't be overheard. That had been her fatal mistake.
"Now listen here," she said, "I can make life very difficult for you".
That was as far as she got as I caught her in a full body bind before I teleported us both away, despite their being spells cast on wizarding homes to prevent that, and then a moment later I reappeared all alone. I brushed a few snowflakes off my shoulders.
Without planning to I'd just dumped Umbitch off somewhere unpleasant, much like Ancient One had done when she forced Steven Strange to either figure out how to use a Sling Ring or die on a mountain within a matter of minutes due to the extreme conditions.
Madam Umbridge and no Sling Ring and the local magic users have limits on how far they could teleport. Not that it mattered as I'd left the evil witch frozen in place. She'd be dead before the spell wore off.
The fact that I had just murdered a government official was worrying as there was a small chance that someone could find out, but I was still under the effects of the luck potion, so I should be okay. I felt fairly certain that I wouldn't have carried out the action if it wasn't going to be totally successful.
My thinking was that Slughorn had been right and that the potion could be dangerous as I'd killed without giving any thought to doing something less drastic.
Clearly, my thinking had been affected. Not that I get upset about the death of someone who made some Death Eaters pleasant.
I wasn't a fool so I'd taken Umbitch's wand from her despite my judgement having been influenced by the potion, and I would have to destroy it because it was incriminating evidence even if I wanted to keep it as a memento. I also used my wand to cast a few simple spells so that the body bind wouldn't be the last spell cast using my wand should anyone bother to check.
Perhaps I should have felt guilty about killing the evil witch as she'd been a person if barely, but she had been threatening me and I'd rather not have to start over in an alternate timeline if it could be easily avoided. Purchasing property took time if nothing else.
Besides, that woman had been a monster, willing to torture children and I dreaded to think what happened to the Muggleborns who were dragged off to the Ministry during Voldemort's rule. No, it was for the best that she be removed so that she could never harm anyone ever again.
Despite my valid reasoning I badly wanted a drink to steady my nerves so I headed back to the party. Slughorn was now talking with Bones I just about managed to grab a glass of something hopefully for adults only before being dragged into a conversation.
"Amelia, this is Macross, who I am assured is not a Black" the former teacher.
I'd recently found out from my tutor that there hadn't only been a Marcus Black but also a Marius Black, so I could see why someone might think Macross was also part of the Black family. Perhaps I should have given more thought when coming up with my new name.
As for Bones, at least she was supposed to be interested in my money rather than a name I had no desire or right to use. Gold was easy to obtain if I needed more I could call upon the spirits of the dead who were connected to lost treasures and question them about it until I knew where to go digging.
"No family name?" Madam Bones inquired.
I saw no good reason to be anyone other than Macross.
"Family names are for people who have a family in this world," I said.
My words implied that my relatives were all dead, even if they were in fact in another dimension. Although if there is an afterlife then all dead people, not counting ghosts, are in another dimension.
I could see why Bones would want me as a backer. Fudge had Malfoy (who wasn't here since Bones had lost family to the Death Eaters) backing him so she want someone who could counter Malfoy in terms of wealth.
This was something I could do as long as it didn't involve me having to visit the Ministry as I had better things to do with time. Like with other choices I would weigh my options before deciding on a course of action. I figured that it would be best to do so when I wasn't under the influence of a potion.
The Three Broomsticks. Hogsmede.
This pub was cleaner, better lit and better smelling than the Leaky Cauldron, it had a more lively atmosphere as well. If there had been any children in here I would say that it was family-friendly.
Thankfully this was not one of those weekends when the students left the castle and came to the village, it wasn't even a weekend. The person I'd come here to meet worked long hours and the middle of the week was the only time she could meet.
Upon entering the local watering hole I was soon greeted by Madam Rosmerta herself, who I knew to be the proprietor of the Three Broomsticks. She was at least in her 30s judging by her looks and likely a bit older since she was running the Three Broomsticks back in the 1970s when the Mauraders went to Hogwarts.
I suspected her looks were a combination of the fact that magical humans can live much longer than their muggle counterparts and a few well-used cosmetic spells. She was rather attractive. In the muggle world, she'd be called a MILF for sure.
Madam Rosmerta was well known by witches and wizards from all over the country, including the teachers from Hogwarts, and even the Minister for Magic himself who would greet her by name in the Prisoner of Azkaban book. Not that this was very odd as the magical world was a small and isolated community when compared to the No-Maj one.
"Nice to see you again, Macross" she greeted.
She was friendly with everyone and no doubt profited greatly in terms of tips.
"Good evening, Madam Rosemerta," I said.
Madam was not an official title in the wizarding world like Minister or Professor, it seemed to be granted by the public to witches who were respected by the magical community or at least those who were important.
"Oh just call me Rosemerta" she insisted before changing the subject
I followed the witch as we moved through the busy pub as she spoke.
"Did you hear about the trials they finally had this morning?" asked Rosmerta as she lead me over to an empty table that I had booked a matter of hours ago "I always had trouble believing that Black betrayed the Potters. I mean Sirius Black was never going to have gone over to the dark. He was always such a kind lad and so loyal to James Potter. I'm glad they let him go".
Indeed I had heard about Black getting cleared of all charges. He'd actually been set free some time ago because there are limits to how long you can hold a suspect and Black had been held for years so the DMLE had needed to let him go even if his lack of guilt hadn't fully been decided.
From what I'd read he'd been at St Mungo's under guard and only allowed a few visitors. Which explained how Remus Lupin had been able to speak with him about the idea that I was a member of the Black Family. Lucky for me the trials for Black and Wormtail were all anyone would talk about so I'd been forgotten about. That suited me just fine.
As for the trials it would have been a simple matter once they used some of that truth potion on Sirius Black. Normally that alone wouldn't clear a person as the truth potion only makes you say what you believe is true. An example of this would be if you asked a Christian and an atheist if God is real you'd get two different answers and neither person would be lying.
In this case, the potion worked because they had Wormtail to question as well and that made it easy to compare the two accounts. It would have helped that Wormtail was likely to be carrying the dark mark on one of his arms and that Black wouldn't have it.
According to the article, I'd read just this morning Sirius Black had been more than happy to admit everything he'd done wrong and while not registering as Animagus was illegal the court had declared that Black had already been punished enough for any past wrongdoing.
Wormtail was sentenced to the Dementor's Kiss. I was surprised to hear that Dumbeldore, who led the trial hadn't prevented that, but even he had to bow to public pressure and Pettigrew would soon be soulless. Which made me wonder how Voldemort would return in this timeline.
I felt sure that his return could be prevented as not every prophecy comes to pass and even when they do they might mean what people thought they meant. The one that concerned Voldemort and Potter might not even be referring to them as it never names Voldemort as the Dark Lord. Perhaps there would be a new dark lord, or maybe there was one already active in some far corner of the world?
Heck, the prophecy might have already been fulfilled as you could argue that Voldemort had been vanquished many years ago.
"Bloody Crouch" the owner of the pub was now saying as she took me out of my thoughts "How could he throw poor Sirius into Azkaban without even bothering to question him, and then free his own son from that horrible place?".
Given that Wizarding Britain had been in a state of war at the time it made some sense for Sirius to be contained in Azkaban if they suspected he was a mass-murdering Death Eater, but there was no excuse for not questioning him because if he had been Voldemort's right-hand man as people thought then he would have had a lot of useful information about the Death Eaters. Yet it had all been swept under the rug.
Fudge was smart enough to blame the former Minister of Magic and Barty Crouch Senior who'd already lost his chance for the top job due to his son being exposed as a Death Eater. Senior would be spending the rest of his life in Azkaban for using an Unforgivable on his son as well for freeing him from the wizard prison.
Junior had been sent back to his cell since he'd been taken out of Azkaban against his will according to the article. He'd never stopped being a prisoner really and so he'd not actually committed any new crimes. That must have saved him from the Dementor's Kiss.
The Minister had spun all of it in an interview, stating that he was battling the corruption of the former administration and while I knew that Fudge was just as bad as those who came before, if not worse, I knew that the real issue was those who whispered in his ear. Lucius Malfoy's influence at the Ministry would only grow as long as Fudge was in office.
At least Umbridge was gone. Once the luck potion had worn off I'd gotten a bit shocked about what I'd done. I should have listened more carefully to Slughorn's warnings about the potion, he had warned me that it affected people's behaviour.
So far it all seemed to work out well for me. No one knew that Umbridge was dead, just that she was missing and no one seemed to care. No doubt Fudge would downplay things so as to look as if he was in total control and there was no evidence of anything bad happening to her.
By removing Umbridge I'd taken care of someone who was a threat to me and as a bonus, I have spared many people suffering in the future and I'd weakened Fudge's position. His losing an important member of the Ministry might just be enough to get him out of office.
There was no way that Bones would let the likes of Malfoy have much influence in the Ministry and this alone seemed like a good enough reason to fund her.
Not for a moment did I think that Lucius Malfoy would accept being removed from the Ministry, I hoped that Madam Bones had good security or she might end up dead before she could become the next Minister of Magic.
"I wonder what this will mean for Harry Potter," Rosmerta was now saying to me "Once Black has recovered will he be raising his godson as he should be?".
If that topic wasn't already on people's minds then it soon would be as the owner of this pub was sure to spread the idea around. I hoped that it resulted in Potter's home life improving as he deserved some happiness, but with Dumbledore around I doubted it.
"Perhaps you should write to the Prophet and ask about that" I suggested.
Again I chided myself for getting involved. There was something about this culture that dragged people into its politics. At least I could avoid the worst of it by going home later and getting back to my studies.
"I might just do that," said the owner of this business after she'd taken my drink order "I knew his Dad and I'm sure James Potter wouldn't have minded me asking about his son".
No sooner had one witch left than another female appeared.
"I thought you'd turn up late," I mentioned.
Can women be on time for dates? I didn't think it was possible.
"I'm not off the clock just yet," said Tonks as she took a seat at the table "I'm supposed to talk to you about a missing person's case".
If my face registered surprise it didn't alarm the junior Auror.
"Who's missing?" I asked.
I'd met Tonks at Bone's party towards the end of the evening while she was working as part of the security detail and we'd spoken just long enough for me to get a date with her. It had seemed like the thing to do at the time while under the influence of the luck potion.
"Umbitch, sorry I mean Umbridge," Tonks told me "She's an assistant to Minister Fudge and she hasn't turned up to work".
I did my best to stay calm.
"The Minister doesn't want a fuss made and my boss doesn't care much if Umbridge ever turns up again. A more senior Auror was sent to check out her home and he found out some worrying things about that woman and the scandal alone is going shake things up at work" I was informed.
They might have found evidence of her bigotry or maybe some of her blood Quills.
"Bones has me chasing down people from the Halloween party as that was when she was last seen" Tonks let me know "And you were seen going off with her for a little while".
I wasn't sure that I was able to hide the fact that I had done something. I would have to speak with care.
"What did you talk about?" I was asked.
I decided to tell most of the truth.
"Umbridge more or less demanded that I support the Minister" I admitted, "When I refused to commit she stated that she would make my life difficult. After that, we parted ways and I haven't seen her since. I don't recall seeing her at the party, but I was with Slughorn for the rest of the evening and there were a lot of people he wanted to talk to".
It seemed that Tonks believed me and perhaps saw the discomfort I must be showing as concern for my own wellbeing.
"If what we've found out about is true then you're not the first person she's threatened," said Tonks "Why didn't you tell anyone about her threatening you?".
Because it was a good motivation for a killer and I didn't want to be a suspect in her murder investigation.
"Tell who?" I asked, "She works for the Minister and he controls the government. I assumed that he ordered her to threaten me. That's why I'm thinking of supporting Bones".
Tonks considered my words.
"I think its more likely that Fudge just told her to win you over," said the Auror "Threats aren't his style, but I'll let the boss know off the record. I don't think you're in any danger, just let me know if anything strange happens. Umbridge might be up to something".
While doing my best to stay calm I ordered some food when Rosemerta came back around.
"Now I'm off the clock" declared Tonks "So tell me about yourself".
I couldn't tell her the actual truth, however, I could speak as if I'd grown up in the muggle world in this dimension and only found out about being magical recently, and wasn't totally a lie. It explained my lack of knowledge about certain things and I told her about inheriting a lot of my great-uncle who had clearly been a wizard. I'd not inherited my wealth from him, but I needed people to think that I had.
Thankfully she soon wanted to talk about her life, and her career, which was far less interesting than it might seem since being Auror is a government job and therefore full of paperwork, meetings and bosses who seemed to delight in making you do all the hard work. Didn't seem that different from a career in the muggle world.
The Three Broomsticks. Hogsmede.
Due to her lack of free time I was happy to go on a date with Tonks when and where she wanted to meet. I got the sense that coming to this pub made the young witch nostalgic for her days as a Hogwarts student as she seemed rather happy while there.
"You're late" the metamorphmagus complained when I arrived.
I'd gotten caught up in my studies and as such, I hadn't realised how late it was getting. Normally I would arrive before the time of a meeting so as to look somewhat eager. Although I was only here a little past the agreed-upon time.
"A wizard is never early, nor is he late, rather, he arrives precisely when he means to," I said as I took a seat.
She didn't get that reference despite having a muggleborn father. Perhaps because the movies hadn't come out yet, and the books were a pain to read. I knew because I'd tried more than once to get through them.
"I dare you to try that line with Bones," challenged Tonks.
As if I'd ever be that foolish and it wasn't as if I would end up working for her.
"No thanks," I replied.
Not long after ordering our meals, the chatty witch got talking about her time at Hogwarts, thus proving to me that this place did indeed make her feel rather nostalgic.
As she talked I heard all about how she'd taken Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Herbology, Divination, and Muggle Studies at the NEWT level. That sounded like a lot of work to me.
I knew why she needed to take most of those exams as Aurors required those qualifications, and Muggle Studies could be useful for any kind of magical police work. For example, if a dark wizard or lesser criminal ever made a hideout in the Muggle world, then knowing how to navigate the mundane society would be very useful, but Divination seemed out of place given her career choice.
"Why did you take Divination?" I asked, "I've heard that it's a bit of a joke of a subject".
I'd avoided that subject during my own research as I did with others because I saw it as a total waste of time. While my magical education did slip into other subjects once in a while I was mostly focused on Charms, Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts as I felt those subjects would serve me well during my travels.
"I took the OWL with some of my friends" she answered, "It was an easy class so I figured I'd get the NEWT with them too. If I'd failed that exam it wouldn't have stopped me from becoming an Auror, and we mostly used as a chance to gossip".
If the NEWTs were anything like the A-level exams that muggle students take then she must have buried in work during her last couple of years at the school.
"Old Mad-Eye thought I had real potential right from the start" she claimed.
Tonks went on to tell me about how she'd participated in the Ministry of Magic student programme, a special Ministry-sponsored programme that allowed seventh-year Hogwarts students to experience various careers first-hand while under the guidance of a witch or wizard who was a veteran of their craft.
Basically, it was the Wizarding World's version of work experience. I'd done something similar in my last year of Secondary School and I'd ended up spending a week working in the IT department.
"Me and a mate of mine got assigned to the Auror Office and were mentored by Alastor Moody" Tonks let me know "Blimley he was intense".
Our food arrived and I began to eat even as my date nattered on.
"We helped Moody track down a rogue alchemist who was giving people boils with some fake potion," she said.
"That seems like something beneath an Auror's concern I commented.
The Magical Law Enforcement Patrol was tasked with general law enforcement, they were much like the Muggle police you see on the street. Above them were the trained Hit Wizards who were a part of a squad and were dispatched to deal with high-profile arrests, or to deal with magical creatures that needed excess force to handle. They tended to end up in hospital often enough that they had a bed at St Mungo's kept empty for them.
As for Aurors, they were the elite, the dark wizard catchers. Sending Aurors out to deal with a snake-oil salesman would be like sending Mulder and Scully out to catch a gang of purse-snatchers. Although that might be rather humorous to watch.
"Well they wouldn't send a trainee anywhere really dangerous, and a routine investigation is good for showing someone the ropes," said Tonks "And not everyone who trains to be an Auror makes it that far. Some end up as Hit-Wizards or regular law-enforcement so it's good to show them what police work is really like".
That made sense, a rarity in the magical world. Common sense seemed to be rarer in the magical world than it was the in the muggle one.
"Do you have many people dropping out of the Aurors?" I asked.
It seemed as if they would be given the danger and level of skill required.
"Yeah, and it's a real shame, not many people get the grades for it and I've been told we get fewer every year" Tonks answered, "Shame they closed down the duelling club last year that's going to affect the DADA scores".
I knew that Lockhart restarted the club in the main timeline, but I might have prevented that by grabbing the diary. I imagined that having Snape as the Potion's teacher at Hogwarts also hindered the recruitment of new Aurors.
"What happened to the club?" I asked.
Tonks shrugged her shoulders.
"Dumbledore just declared it closed" she answered "He didn't say why".
Given that he hired Snape who he must know was a poor teacher, I couldn't help wondering if the Headmaster was trying to undermine the DMLE by reducing the number of witches and wizards qualified to become Aurors. Since he knew Voldemort was trying to return this seemed like an odd thing for him to do.
"So how's your family dealing with Sirius Black being found innocent?" I questioned,
We made some further small talk as we finished our meals as the dessert appeared Tonks asked me about what I was getting up to.
"Not much" I admitted "I read and practice a lot, and I have lessons with my tutors".
It was clear that she didn't like hearing that.
"Listen to me, Macross," Tonks said in a tone of voice that was far more serious than what normally came out of her mouth "There's more to being a wizard, and to life, than learning about magic. You need to stop working once in a while and have fun before you go crazy or end up hurting yourself with magic you aren't ready for".
She had a point and perhaps I could spend more time taking in the sights. I didn't wish to leave this world, but it was a big world and I could visit parts of it at will.
"I'll keep that in mind" I promised.
Tonks soon invited herself to my place for a nightcap and I didn't need to be a mind reader to tell what she had in mind.
Gwynedd. Wales.
Since this house was meant to be the home known to the public it was part of the Floo network as such all that was required to visit it was a fireplace and to know the address.
Not that this opened up the house to just anyone. For example, if you wanted to visit the Lovegoods, and were prepared to have your sanity tested, you'd call out 'The Rookery' and appear there. You couldn't shout out 'The Lovegood's Residence' and expect it to work.
You had to know the address and it wasn't hard to disable a floor network or to set it so that people could call without being able to use it to transport themselves.
My Floo address was Macross House since I'd never been very good at naming anything and I did come up with something creative I could always pay to have the address changed later on.
"I heard you had some money, but I didn't know you were this well off" commented Tonks.
I'd seen no reason to brag and she didn't seem like the gold-digging type so my level of wealth had never come up during our dates.
"Until recently it was a Bed and Breakfast," I told the Auror as she looked around "I had it converted".
I'd not considered that I might seem as if I was showing off by bringing her here because I wasn't used to living in such luxury. I still felt like I was on holiday sometimes or a guest in someone's else home. I felt more comfortable in Grimmauld Place.
"Gringotts advised that I invest my inheritance in some property and stocks" I mentioned "I grew up in a normal house so this was a big change for me. When I got the money I decided I wanted somewhere out of the way to live and the goblins suggested this place. I actually got in for the gardens. I wanted to grow most of what I need for potions".
Hopefully, I didn't sound like a Malfoy.
"I'll check out the gardens some other time," said Tonks "We can save the tour for later".
I took Tonks into one of the living spaces so we could have our drink only for her to drag me away.
"Take me to your room" she insisted.
I hadn't thought she'd be this forward.
"Are you sure?" I asked "We've only been on a few dates and I don't know much about courtship works in the magical world"
Love and relationships seem to be different for the wand wavers. I didn't want to get tangled up in whatever kind of magic it was that led people to sacrifice themselves for love. A wife and family would just tie me down and keep me in this world.
"Relax" she advised "I'm not looking for a husband. I don't have time for anything too serious because of my work, but as long as you make some time for me I figure we can make each other happy".
If she didn't want any sort of long-term commitment then I was fine with this. I planned to return to Wizarding World between my visits to other worlds as things were peaceful enough here for me to devote myself to studying magic while living in this dimension. If I was gone too often or for too long then she could move on.
"Ahh now this is better,' exclaimed Tonks as we entered the sleeping space "A nice big bed".
Thanks to my House Elf it was a tidy area and didn't smell bad unluck bedroom belong to many other single men. As for the bed, it was a needlessly big four-poster bed with a sinfully soft mattress you could sink into. I always got a good night's sleep when I stayed here and bothered to leave Grimmauld Place.
"I don't think purple hair suits me, what do you think, Macross," the witch asked as she looked at herself in the large mirror "Is blonde better, or do you prefer brunettes".
Since I had no preference for colours of hair I had nothing meaningful to say about the subject.
"I don't think much about women's hair" I admitted.
Tonks was clearly looking for hints about what appearance she should take when we were alone, but I didn't really mind. I found Tonks to be attractive because she actually had a proper personality and didn't care much about politics or judge people on their blood purity.
I didn't think about such things for long as Tonks got my attention by making her breasts which were still hidden under a t-shirt, expand to the point it looked as if she might ruin her top.
Tonks had gone with something of a punk-rocker for our date and it was far more Muggle than I'd seen any witch where. No doubt her muggleborn father had been an influence on her.
"What do you think?" she asked as she came over to me "Big enough for you".
Despite all my changes since my Elder Blood became active, I was still a heterosexual male so the contexts of my skull seemed to have gone into a low power mode, making it hard to think about anything other than getting to fuck her. Which had been her intent I felt sure.
"You can touch them," said Tonks as she suddenly grabbed my hands and placed them on her now large breasts "I'm not made of glass".
I somehow managed to control myself and not jump like she was a wounded gazelle and I was a hungry lion. In anything, she seemed to be the starving one as she was soon kissing me rather passionately as I began to feel her up.
Tonks quickly began to remove her clothes and I tried to do the same. We both staggered around the room. You'd think with the two of us trying to remove my trousers that it would be an easy job, but we only got in each other's way.
The witch ended up throwing herself onto my bed as she finished undressing and she watched closely as removed my own clothing. I unbuttoned the smart shirt I'd put on for the date as the young witch stared at me.
I could tell that she was thirsty for the D. I imagined that she'd not had much chance to be alone with a male of her species she'd since she started her Auror training. I'd give her what she wanted.
Tonks showed me her body and her boobs seemed too big for her small frame as she wasn't a tall woman, or she chose not to be, I didn't know which given her shape-shifting abilities, yet she didn't look comical.
"Big boobs are fun for sex, but they're murder on my back so enjoy them while they last," said the Auror.
She didn't need to worry about that with me.
"I was always more a butt guy" I admitted.
Tonks then took my cock in both hands and began to rub it rather eagerly, as she'd been given a new toy to play with. I returned the favour and did my best to enjoy the large breasts in front of me. She hadn't been at all subtle about what she wanted me to touch.
"Lie down" she instructed.
I did as the witch asked and she soon positioned herself so that she could put my cock in her mouth. She coated it with her saliva and I felt her tongue moving about as she did her best to orally please me. She was rather skilled with her mouth, but I decided that this wasn't something I should mention in case she took it the wrong way.
While I laid back to relax I didn't fail to notice that she had a hand between her legs and that she was rubbing her pussy even as kept her mouth filled with my dick. She was really getting into this, she was the type to just lie there and let the man get on with things.
"Okay, that's enough foreplay" she declared as she flipped over and presented herself "I want you to fuck me".
Her ass also changed so that it became slightly larger and more heart-shaped. This made for an even more tempting target so without delay, I grabbed her hips and plunged my dick deep into Tonks's pussy which was more than ready for me.
No sooner had I started than Tonks began to thrust back against me so that my cock ended up very deep inside her wet, warm cunt that seemed to what to swallow my dick and never let it out.
I couldn't resist giving her big butt a few slaps and she didn't mind at all judging by the noises now coming out of her mouth. I took note that she liked it a bit rough and her words soon confirmed this.
"Harder, Harder, harder!" commanded Tonks.
It amused me that a naked woman with her bum up in the air could still manage to sound like she should be in charge of the situation. It didn't matter that I gave her backside a few more slaps she still kept making demands.
Her hair was night bright pink and I could have sworn her ass had gotten even bigger. I didn't know if she did that on purpose as I'd never looked into her abilities.
"I won't last long if you don't slow down" I warned.
She clearly didn't care.
"Just fuck me!" she yelled.
Urged on by I began thrusting into her at a furious rate. When I looked down I could see my cock disappear inside Tonk's soaked fuckhole. I somehow managed to hold on with one hand so I could slap her bum some more. Something she seemed happy about.
I didn't last long, or maybe it just seemed that way, not that Tonks minded because once I was done and I let go she collapsed onto the bed. Perhaps she was just easy to please or I'd lasted longer than I'd thought.
"You're going to have to move me," said the witch "I can't feel anything below my hips".
I somehow managed to move her without any complaints and clean up the mess we'd made before getting into bed with her as I could somehow still work my legs.
