CHAPTER 4
THE TURN OF THE TIDE
"Would you stop for a moment to answer some questions?" asked one reporter.
"Hello, Julius Raseac Logan", said another. "How can a third year like you destroy three trolls faster than Professor Bloomberg can say 'Ridiculus' to a Boggart?"
"Did you destroy the trolls as an act of vengeance for your parents' death?"
"If you could kill another troll, would you do it again?"
"Hi, my name is Rita Skeeter of the Daily Prophet. I would like to know about your relationship with Cleopatra Ramses Anderton".
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" yelled Julius. Nearly every reporter in the Wizarding world had heard about Julius's defeat of the trolls at Jojo's Circus, and all the newspapers and magazines wanted an interview with him, but Julius hated the paparazzi. He had seen how the paparazzi treated Muggle idols like Harrison Ford and other Hollywood heartthrobs. Julius just wanted to be alone for the moment.
Right after his fight with the trolls, Dumbledore escorted him to Hogwarts. Madame Promfrey dropped a kid with a piece of wood sticking out of his back to treat Julius, who was amazingly void of injury. Dumbledore let Julius go after that, but he felt like he was the prized white tiger in the zoo. No one spoke to him, and whenever he passed by a conversation would erupt, so it was obvious they were talking about him. The teacher even ignored him. When he raised his hand, the teachers always called upon someone else. The next three days were hard for Julius, especially upon learning that Ravenclaw had been defeated by Slytherin in the Quidditch cup tournament, and that Slytherin somehow had so many house points that it would be impossible to win (Julius bet that Hufflepuff would be a close second, for Dumbledore always awarded extra points to brave 'heroes' like Julius).
However, as he was walking to Professor Binn's class, eagerly awaiting to learn about the Gruffin goblin clan over the McKennel goblin clan (he wasn't really) when he heard a loud voice, which belonged to Professor McGonagle.
"Julius Logan", said McGonagle, "please report to Headmaster Dumbledore's office immediately". Suddenly the whole castle stared at Julius, for it was normally bad for someone to have to go to his office. He walked down the halls towards Dumbledore's office, and he saw McGonagle waiting for him.
"You know nothing will happen to you?" said McGonagle.
"Nothing good", he said. McGonagle just ignored the comment and pointed her wand at the staircase.
"Sherbet lemon", she said. The stairs then began to twist upward, and Julius hurriedly got on the steps and let the staircase do the work for him. Once they came to a complete stop, Julius walked off the case and walked towards Dumbledore, who held Fawkes, his pet phoenix, in his arms while talking to another man. The other man was tall, very skinny, and was obviously turned oriental. With one sweeping motion he turned around, which caused Julius to jump. The man began to laugh, but all Dumbledore could manage was a small chuckle.
"Hello, young Julius", said Dumbledore. "May I introduce you to Harry Wong, the man in charge of his private company, Defense Against Dangerous Magical Creatures."
"How are you?" asked Wong while he put his hand out. Julius shook the hand roughly, and Wong managed a smile. "You're battle with the trolls was very impressive. That was one of the best beast fights I've seen in a long time."
"You're calling me a beast?" asked an angry Julius.
"N..no", stuttered Wong. "It's just..."
"It's just that Wong wants to hire you", said Dumbledore.
"Hire me?" said an astounded Julius. "But I'm just a third year!"
"You were home schooled all your life", said Dumbledore. "You're parents taught you a lot. They were better teachers than some of the teachers I have. Pity they had to work with dragons. I fought the Ministry of Magic about making sure you got into fourth year instead of first, but they insisted that you needed a proper Hogwarts education, rather than one by a 'byassst' pyrologist."
"Do you really want to wait four years before you become someone in this world?" asked Wong.
"No", said Julius. "But the one I love lives here. She still has two more years to go. I've never loved anyone that much since my parents died."
"Do you have an owl?" asked Wong.
"Yes", said Julius.
"Problem solved", answered Wong. Wong then turned to the startled Julius and stared him in the eye. "The trolls that killed your parents, the Blackstones, we know all about them. Several of our agents have spent their entire careers trying to get them. They are our most dangerous case. We get happy when we hear a few of the trolls have been nabbed, but we can never nab Angus Blackstone. We need your help with that. You have more motivation to join my club than any of my employees. If you want you can work solely on the Blackstone case, but we encourage a little other jobs now and then for some extra flavor. We can offer you half a million galleons a year for your services." Julius was shocked about that statement. Half a million galleons was what they paid rich people like Luscious Malfoy. If he could get his hands on that money, life would be much better for him.
"But what about the Ministry?" asked Julius. "Would they let me leave at Third Year?"
"They didn't mind", said Dumbledore. "It's almost the end of school, anyways".
"What do you say, then?" asked Wong. Without thinking Julius shook Wong's hand.
"Done", said Julius. Leaving school early, avenging his parents, and getting a decent salary- what more could he want? What about Cleo... "When do I leave here?"
"Once school gets out", said Wong. "Then you will go to our training camps in the summer and start your adventures in September."
"That's only a week away!" exclaimed Julius.
"Well, you best get your girlfriend's address", said Dumbledore. Fawkes then nipped at Dumbledore, who began to laugh. "Now go on. I need to feed Fawkes". Julius slowly walked out of the room and down to the stairs.
"Sherbet lemon", he shouted weakly. He loved the offer, except that he had to leave Cleo. He didn't know what she would do, especially after he made her leave the tent with Yvonne instead of with him. Oh well, he thought. As the stairs spiraled down, a pair of two draconic eyes stared into the window, eagerly awaiting his chance to snag his prey.
THE TURN OF THE TIDE
"Would you stop for a moment to answer some questions?" asked one reporter.
"Hello, Julius Raseac Logan", said another. "How can a third year like you destroy three trolls faster than Professor Bloomberg can say 'Ridiculus' to a Boggart?"
"Did you destroy the trolls as an act of vengeance for your parents' death?"
"If you could kill another troll, would you do it again?"
"Hi, my name is Rita Skeeter of the Daily Prophet. I would like to know about your relationship with Cleopatra Ramses Anderton".
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" yelled Julius. Nearly every reporter in the Wizarding world had heard about Julius's defeat of the trolls at Jojo's Circus, and all the newspapers and magazines wanted an interview with him, but Julius hated the paparazzi. He had seen how the paparazzi treated Muggle idols like Harrison Ford and other Hollywood heartthrobs. Julius just wanted to be alone for the moment.
Right after his fight with the trolls, Dumbledore escorted him to Hogwarts. Madame Promfrey dropped a kid with a piece of wood sticking out of his back to treat Julius, who was amazingly void of injury. Dumbledore let Julius go after that, but he felt like he was the prized white tiger in the zoo. No one spoke to him, and whenever he passed by a conversation would erupt, so it was obvious they were talking about him. The teacher even ignored him. When he raised his hand, the teachers always called upon someone else. The next three days were hard for Julius, especially upon learning that Ravenclaw had been defeated by Slytherin in the Quidditch cup tournament, and that Slytherin somehow had so many house points that it would be impossible to win (Julius bet that Hufflepuff would be a close second, for Dumbledore always awarded extra points to brave 'heroes' like Julius).
However, as he was walking to Professor Binn's class, eagerly awaiting to learn about the Gruffin goblin clan over the McKennel goblin clan (he wasn't really) when he heard a loud voice, which belonged to Professor McGonagle.
"Julius Logan", said McGonagle, "please report to Headmaster Dumbledore's office immediately". Suddenly the whole castle stared at Julius, for it was normally bad for someone to have to go to his office. He walked down the halls towards Dumbledore's office, and he saw McGonagle waiting for him.
"You know nothing will happen to you?" said McGonagle.
"Nothing good", he said. McGonagle just ignored the comment and pointed her wand at the staircase.
"Sherbet lemon", she said. The stairs then began to twist upward, and Julius hurriedly got on the steps and let the staircase do the work for him. Once they came to a complete stop, Julius walked off the case and walked towards Dumbledore, who held Fawkes, his pet phoenix, in his arms while talking to another man. The other man was tall, very skinny, and was obviously turned oriental. With one sweeping motion he turned around, which caused Julius to jump. The man began to laugh, but all Dumbledore could manage was a small chuckle.
"Hello, young Julius", said Dumbledore. "May I introduce you to Harry Wong, the man in charge of his private company, Defense Against Dangerous Magical Creatures."
"How are you?" asked Wong while he put his hand out. Julius shook the hand roughly, and Wong managed a smile. "You're battle with the trolls was very impressive. That was one of the best beast fights I've seen in a long time."
"You're calling me a beast?" asked an angry Julius.
"N..no", stuttered Wong. "It's just..."
"It's just that Wong wants to hire you", said Dumbledore.
"Hire me?" said an astounded Julius. "But I'm just a third year!"
"You were home schooled all your life", said Dumbledore. "You're parents taught you a lot. They were better teachers than some of the teachers I have. Pity they had to work with dragons. I fought the Ministry of Magic about making sure you got into fourth year instead of first, but they insisted that you needed a proper Hogwarts education, rather than one by a 'byassst' pyrologist."
"Do you really want to wait four years before you become someone in this world?" asked Wong.
"No", said Julius. "But the one I love lives here. She still has two more years to go. I've never loved anyone that much since my parents died."
"Do you have an owl?" asked Wong.
"Yes", said Julius.
"Problem solved", answered Wong. Wong then turned to the startled Julius and stared him in the eye. "The trolls that killed your parents, the Blackstones, we know all about them. Several of our agents have spent their entire careers trying to get them. They are our most dangerous case. We get happy when we hear a few of the trolls have been nabbed, but we can never nab Angus Blackstone. We need your help with that. You have more motivation to join my club than any of my employees. If you want you can work solely on the Blackstone case, but we encourage a little other jobs now and then for some extra flavor. We can offer you half a million galleons a year for your services." Julius was shocked about that statement. Half a million galleons was what they paid rich people like Luscious Malfoy. If he could get his hands on that money, life would be much better for him.
"But what about the Ministry?" asked Julius. "Would they let me leave at Third Year?"
"They didn't mind", said Dumbledore. "It's almost the end of school, anyways".
"What do you say, then?" asked Wong. Without thinking Julius shook Wong's hand.
"Done", said Julius. Leaving school early, avenging his parents, and getting a decent salary- what more could he want? What about Cleo... "When do I leave here?"
"Once school gets out", said Wong. "Then you will go to our training camps in the summer and start your adventures in September."
"That's only a week away!" exclaimed Julius.
"Well, you best get your girlfriend's address", said Dumbledore. Fawkes then nipped at Dumbledore, who began to laugh. "Now go on. I need to feed Fawkes". Julius slowly walked out of the room and down to the stairs.
"Sherbet lemon", he shouted weakly. He loved the offer, except that he had to leave Cleo. He didn't know what she would do, especially after he made her leave the tent with Yvonne instead of with him. Oh well, he thought. As the stairs spiraled down, a pair of two draconic eyes stared into the window, eagerly awaiting his chance to snag his prey.