Chapter 8
Alex sighed.
"Are you sure you don't want any? It's really good," Hugo said.
"Hugo, what is ice cream made of?" Alex asked, slightly annoyed.
"Um, milk?" Hugo asked.
"Now tell me Hugo, I'm sure you haven't forgotten about why I am a vegan. Should I enlighten you once again?" Alex asked.
"Oh...I forgot," Hugo muttered, blushing in embarrassment.
"I'm sure it tastes perfectly good, but not only do I loathe dairy products, I also very much dislike anything sweet," Alex said in an almost harsh tone.
"Lay off him, Alex, he's just a kid," Ron said defensively.
"The world is a harsh place. He cannot stay a child forever," Alex said.
"It's just ice cream; you don't need to get so worked up over it," Ginny said. "This is your day off, right? Relax, Alex!"
"I normally spend my days off at my home. Remind me why I am here watching you all eat ice cream," Alex said, crossing his arms.
"You'd just read books all alone," Eric said.
"I have Shadow," Alex said, scoffing and looking away.
"That reminds me, Alex. Didn't you have an owl named Shadow?" Hermione asked.
"Indeed; she died during the war. I named my cat Shadow after her," Alex said.
"You should get a new owl, Alex. That way, we can keep in touch with each other," Ginny said.
"I was never very fond of owls. The only reason why I had one during school was to communicate with...my father," Alex said, hesitating at the end.
"Well...still think about it," Eric said.
"Hey dad! Look! A broomstick store!" Mark exclaimed excitedly, tugging on his father's sleeve.
Eric glanced at Ginny hopefully. Ginny sighed and gestured them to go.
"We'll join you soon," she said.
"Can we go too?" Hugo asked.
"Sure," Hermione said.
She conjured a handkerchief and cleaned the ice cream from around her son's mouth.
"Go on," she said. "Ron, go with them."
Ron took Hugo and Rose by the hand and led them after Eric and Mark.
"Maybe we should go to the pet store, look at a couple owls," Ginny suggested. "You could change your mind, Alex."
Alex sighed.
"Look, I'm not very fond of animals overall. And my father gave Shadow to me for only communication. Only I was allowed near the owl since it was terrified of my twin." he said.
"But Harry took such good care of Hedwig," Hermione said.
"Harry wasn't allowed to have any kind of pet after I caught him experimenting on stray rats found in the manor. I was surprised that he didn't kill Hedwig for an experiment," Alex said in a hushed voice. "But Hedwig was a special case...any other animal would've died."
"Well...you're definitely more morbid than I remember," Hermione said, not knowing what else to say. "How about we buy some treats for Shadow the cat?"
"That's...better," Alex reluctantly said.
"Shadow's a sweet cat. She deserves some spoiling every once in a while," Ginny said.
"Mr. Sanders! I thought today was your day off," an Auror said in surprise.
"It is, but I decided to come in anyways. I don't have anything better to do," the indicated man said.
"Well...if you say so," the Auror said. "There are a few clients that came in earlier. There is one particular cursed object that seems different from the others. You, being one of the best, may be able to break the curse."
"I shall do my best; may I see it?"
"Yes," the Auror said. "In fact, all the objects that need curse lifting are in the far room."
The Auror accompanied him to the far room.
"As usual, I'll be waiting outside," the Auror said, nodding his head.
The door closed. Harry gave a soft giggle. This was too easy, disguising himself as Alex's disguise and sneaking into the bank. It was sheer luck they didn't ask to see his wand in order to identify him. Of course, he wasn't expecting everything to go smoothly the entire time, but it was finally time to implement his plan.
Harry rested his hand on the first cursed object. The dark magic purred under his touch and didn't resist as Harry absorbed it into his own magic. He did the same to the other ones. He turned to very last object; he had saved this one for last.
Harry picked up the object. It was a pendant, consisting of a black pearl with two small emeralds set on each side. The chain was very thin and made of diamonds. He could sense the dark magic around the pendant, but it was different from the other cursed objects...much different. It felt darker, swirling with purpose. Harry grinned, his pupils slitting briefly.
"Perfect," he muttered. "You are exactly what I've been looking for. Don't worry, I will return you once I am finished...maybe."
Harry tucked the pendant carefully into his pocket.
Alex sighed in boredom.
"Mr. Sanders? Is that you?" a familiar voice asked from behind you.
Alex turned around to see a previous client of his, an old woman.
"Yes. What is it?" he asked.
"I have another object that is possibly cursed and I would like you to take a look at it," the old woman said. "But it doesn't have to be today; I understand it is your day off."
"No, I will look at it," Alex said. "I have nothing better to do right now."
"Still working, Alex?" Hermione asked, frowning in disapproval.
"I don't think you understand the meaning of 'day off'," Ginny said. "And what do you mean, 'nothing better to do right now'? You're hanging out with us!"
"Alex?" the old woman asked, frowning in confusion.
"My middle name," Alex said. "These are my...friends from school. They called me Alex instead of Lucas."
"I see," the old woman said, smiling. "It's nice to meet your friends, young man. I was beginning to think you grew up lonely without friends, a sad thing for anyone."
"The object you want me to see?" Alex asked calmly.
"Ah yes, it is already at the bank," the old woman said. "They said you or another Curse Breaker would look at it tomorrow, but since I saw you, I wanted to ask anyways."
"Very well; let's go," Alex said.
The entire group walked towards the bank.
"What is this object?" Alex asked.
"A pendant, one my late husband gave to me a long time ago," the old woman said. "A few years ago, strange things began happening whenever the pendant was out in the open. You couldn't touch it without dark magic lashing out at you. I put it in an abandoned storage room because of all the injuries and deaths that happened around it, and I never had the courage to bring it out again until now. It is a precious gift from my late husband and he wouldn't want to see it treated like this. The pendant is a black pearl with two small emeralds set at each side. The chain is silver with tiny diamonds set in it. It truly is a beautiful necklace, but being cursed and all..."
"I understand," Alex said.
They reached the bank and walked in. The guards frowned, staring at them.
"Um, why is everyone staring at us?" Eric asked quietly, glancing around warily.
"They're staring at Alex, not us," Hermione said, narrowing her eyes. "Something's wrong."
An Auror came up to them, pulled out his wand, and pointed it at Alex.
"Whoa, what's going on?" Ron exclaimed.
The Auror ignored him, his attention focused on Alex.
"Pull out your wand for identification." he ordered.
"Why? I've never had to do this before," Alex said, raising an eyebrow.
"Please understand, but you came in not too long ago," the Auror said. "You are supposed to be in the far room, looking at a few cursed objects that came in earlier, including her pendant."
He nodded towards the old woman.
"Are you saying I'm an imposter?" Alex asked.
"We spent all day with Alex and we can assure you he's the real Lucas Sanders," Hermione cut in. "Pull out your wand, Alex."
Alex pulled his wand out and the Auror scanned it.
"Then the other Lucas Sanders is an imposter, and we just let him see those cursed objects," the Auror said. "Men! Get to the back room! That man is posing as a Curse Breaker!"
They all rushed to the far room.
"My necklace is in there!" the old woman exclaimed in panic.
"We'll get it back, ma'am," an Auror said.
"It's locked!" another exclaimed. "There are wards all over the room and it'll take at least half an hour to break through them."
"Whoever's in there must be powerful. We might have some trouble if this guy decides to fight us," the first Auror said. "Let's keep him in the room until reinforcements come in."
All the Aurors pointed their wands at the door and created their own wards.
"Now we wait," the first Auror said.
Suddenly, they felt the magic falter around the room.
"Impossible!"
"What's going on?!"
"Whoever's in that room is destroying our wards!"
The door opened a few seconds later and an identical Lucas Sanders came out.
"Well, gentlemen," the imposter said. "What a nice welcoming party~"
The imposter chuckled lightly and briefly locked eyes with Alex. Alex narrowed his eyes and subtly scanned the imposter's magic with his own.
His eyes widened in shock. No...it couldn't be...
The imposter's smile widened slightly, knowing that Alex recognized him. Alex clenched his fists and grinded his teeth, glaring at his younger twin in disguise.
Just what was Harry doing?