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Retirement Plan (Harry Potter SI)

By: Gothicjedi666

[NSFW] - Retirement Plan by Gothicjedi666

Status: ongoing

Published: 2023-05-05

Updated: 2023-10-30

Words: 134638

Chapters: 32

Original source: https/forum./threads/22278

Exported with the assistance of

Retirement Plan (Harry Potter SI)

Introduction

Set up and Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12

Part 13

Part 14

Part 15

Part 16

Part 17

Part 18

Part 19

Part 20

Part 21

Part 22

Part 23

Part 24

Part 25

Part 26

Part 27

Part 28

Part 29

Part 30 (Narnia)

Part 31

Part 32

Set up and Part 1

---

The original

https//s/13715201/1/Gforce1000-s-Rule34-Economy-CYOA-V1-World-1-Harry-Potter

The rewrite was made using Gforce1000's Low-Anime Rule 34 Economy CYOA V2.5

Here is a fanfiction version for those of you who prefer to use that site.

Retirement Plan Chapter 1, a X-overs Harry Potter Crossover fanfic FanFiction

I have a complete copy of the story /post/Just-keeping-a-backup-F1F7LSUBE

Setup

Spoiler

World:

The Wizarding World [Harry Potter]

Pick The Wizarding World

75 $

Companions

Comic Book Companions 2

Raven

- 20 $

Raven Roth is a young magic user with enormous potential.

She has already developed great skill at manipulating darkness with her magic and shows a real aptitude for learning new spells.

We will solve her control issues, allowing her to experience emotions safely.

Her father will not be a problem.

DLC Companions 3

Dawn Summers

- 5 $

A brave and reasonably talented fighter with a knack for languages, Dawn bears some of the residual energies from being an interdimensional nexus but she lacks the knowledge and skill with magic to truly tap into such powers by herself.

Propagation Options:

Propagation Options

Binding Contracts

1

- 5 $

If you take this option, we will imprint the ability to create magically-binding contracts into your very soul. Each purchase will grant one distinct format of contract. The terms describe the standard benefits of becoming a companion and any influence option the signee would be subject to, and cannot be changed. Creating a contract is as simple as placing your hand on a sufficiently-large piece of paper, parchment, or even flat leaf and willing it to appear. Signing can be done with any writing implement or, in a pinch, a smear of blood. The signature only counts as making the signee a companion if they knowingly consent to the terms of the contract before signing. Anyone with sight and a concept of language can understand the contract by reading it, but if they are blind you must explain it to them fully and honestly.

Influence Options:

Influence Options

Perk Sharing

2

- 5 $

With this option, affected companions will be able to experience the benefits of a select number of your purchased personal perks. One purchase of this option allows you to share perks that are equal to or less than $5 in value.

Buying this option a second time allows you to share $10 perks, while a third allows you to share $15 perks and a fourth $20 perks.

Sharing the benefits of the ascension engine requires five purchases of this option. You can grant or rescind access to any combination of perks that you have at will, on an individual level.

Simple Perks:

Simple Perks

Glamorize

- 1 $

The vast majority of these worlds are filthy, disease-ridden hellholes where mutilation and permanent disfigurement are a fact of life. This perk will help with that by markedly reducing the filthiness and illnesses of your new world. This will be a gradual transition that begins just before your arrival to go unnoticed and not create too many deviations, but it will have notable consequences in the future.

This perk will also make everyone in this world more attractive by two to three points on a ten-point scale. This change is retroactive and comes with a corresponding rise in local standards to ensure that very little changes because of this.

Simple Perks

Time Shift

1

- 1 $

This perk allows you to uniformly alter the ages of all characters in your world. Things like age requirements for memberships in certain organizations and enrollment ages for special institutions are also affected by this as far as that makes sense, but the age of adulthood is not. You can raise or lower all ages by up to ten years per purchase of this perk. Lowering ages to the point that an individual who would be alive at the time you enter the world would not have been born yet is not allowed. Life expectancies, including those dictated by curses and similar effects, will be raised alongside this shift such that no one will die as a result of it. Due to some shenanigans on our part, this does not greatly change the history or probable future of this world.

Simple Perks

Local Power

1

- 10 $

With this perk, you gain the ability to wield one of the local magical styles or equivalent, such as biotics or mutant powers. Your innate power and talent in this magic will be above average, but you will need to learn how to use it rather than being immediately skilled. This can be side-stepped by buying the memories of a local life where you trained this power, but you will still need to polish your skills to reach your full potential.

You can grant these powers to your companions as well, but only the ones you have purchased here and only now, when purchasing this. Further purchases can grant either another magic style, more potential for you, or the ability to spread this to new companions. You cannot augment your companions' powers with this, whether they are innate or granted by this perk.

Simple Perks

Seed Money

1

- 10 $

The standard insertion gives you a legal identity but no funds. This perk compensates for that by giving you piles of money. One purchase will give you access to enough funds to put you in the top thousand of wealthy people in your new world, a second purchase puts you in the top one hundred, and a third puts you in the top ten.

This wealth is initially stored in an extradimensional vault that only you and your companions can access. Wealth can be withdrawn from this vault at will, but you cannot put things into it. There will be legal records of you having this wealth in worlds where that is tracked.

Expanded Simple Perks

United Convergence

- 1 $

Even though it's supposed to be a Drawback, it turns out a lot of our customers have gotten great use out of the Convergence option. I guess many people either like travelling across dimensions or just can't pick which world they'd rather live in. Regardless, this will improve the quality of the worlds converging with your starter, as now any Situational Perk you've purchased you'll be able to apply to those invading worlds. Feel free to only apply some of those perks to the other worlds or give each world a different combination if you want. Just make sure you buy the perk you want to apply first, though as long as bought it once you'll be able to apply it to any of the worlds you pick for Convergence.

Thank you u/Youandidontknowme for this perk!

Expanded Simple Perks 2

Normalcy

- 10 $

Generally people - much like in your old world - would be a bit confused by a single person, having a very 'consenting' group of Companions.

With this, everyone will just assume that the things you and your Companions do are normal if you don't stretch it too much.

Advanced Perks:

Island in the Sea of Time

Buy The House on The Hill

- 10 $

An alternative to the island in the sea of time, this perk grants you the legal ownership of an estate physically located in your world. The size and luxury of the estate roughly equate to a wealthy but not earth-shaking family at the base. You and your group can briefly turn any doorway into a portal to a hidden foyer inside this estate much as you would the island, and can open a portal from the foyer to the last place you portalled in from.

The house can benefit from any upgrades that the island can but note that this home does occupy real space and so some stranger phenomena may draw attention. Maidroids will be legally registered as perfectly normal live-in staff unless their oddities are revealed.

ISOT/House Modifiers

Storage

- 1 $

Your steed, ride, or island gains an interdimensional storage space attached to it accessible by both you and your companions. The internal volume is roughly equal to the volume of the item itself. Living macro-organisms cannot be stored inside this space unless they are in a form of stasis, such as petrification or being frozen in carbonite. The space can cleanly and neatly sort liquids and solids in separate partitions as needed, keeping your drinking water well away from your 60 gallons of lube without issue. It cannot store objects over one hundred and twenty degrees centigrade. Anything stored in the space can be recalled at will, even putting substances into containers if both are present.

ISOT/House Modifiers

Holding Cells

- 1 $

You cannot buy multiple versions of this, as it would lead to bugs. Either keep track of it yourself or ignore it.

Your sick ride or not gains a set of six spacious, fully-equipped holding cells somewhere in their depths. If they are not large enough to contain this set of rooms, they will be stored in an extradimensional space attached to a reinforced but otherwise normal door. These cells can provide food, water, and hygiene for a single prisoner each indefinitely without your needing to risk opening them. The cells are sturdy and secure enough to contain a raging Krogan or superb escape artist at the base, and can be upgraded with relative ease from the outside. Every additional purchase grants six more cells. If you purchase five of these, the cells are upgraded to be able to hold anyone on the companion's list.

ISOT/House Modifiers

Defense Systems

- 5 $

Normally your options have only mundane defences against incursion or theft-barring the island, which can only be reached through portals you make. With this, your property gains significant natural and supernatural defences that make theft nearly impossible and incursion nigh-on suicidal. People who try to grab a horse's reins might be shocked, a car might mysteriously appear outside of the cage constructed around it, and a ship might drastically and aggressively alter its artificial gravity or life support systems to subdue boarders. You get a large amount of control over how viciously these defences go about their business, even being able to specify different levels of nastiness for different individuals.

ISOT/House Modifiers

Workshop

- 5 $

A set of workshops equipped with all manner of equipment and resources for your more inventive companions. You and each companion you've purchased get a workshop themed for their speciality and world. A witch might get a room full of cauldrons and newts' eyes, an engineer might find one full of computers, and an assassin might get a selection of positions and disguises. New companions will find their workshops appearing within three days. Each workshop contains a ready supply of mundane and common resources from the themed world, which refills every night at midnight. Rarer resources can be used, but the less common they are the longer it takes to fill their stock. Resources from other workshops can be pulled immediately if needed.

Expanded ISOT Modifiers

Pool

- 1 $

Your Advanced Perk will now have an Olympic-sized, self-maintaining swimming pool within its walls that are shaped however you want. Great for exercise, training for water-based missions, or just relaxing. Comes complete with nearby benches and tables, shower/changing rooms, and plenty of towels.

Expanded ISOT Modifiers

Luxury - All 6

- 10 $

While all the other Advanced Situational Perk Modifiers are designed to help you on your journey in some way, these six options are purely for your enjoyment. You can pick all of them for $10, half of them for $5, or $2 individually. Buy THIS option for all, or choose below either Half or Individual.

- A large, tranquil garden full of beautiful plants both from your original world and your starting world.

- A spa equipped with everything you need to relax and unwind. If you also have the Maidroid Crew, they'll now be incredibly skilled at massages.

- A hot tub big enough to fit ten people comfortably. Comes with a bar on the side so you can eat and drink while you get steamy.

- A large room dedicated to gaming, though what exactly that means is up to you. For example, it could have a pool table, arcade machines, a TV with various consoles, tabletop games and a place to play them, etc.

- A theatre room with a huge screen, enough seats for at least you and all of your companions, and great image and sound quality.

- A sex dungeon, complete with all the toys, equipment, and outfits from your original world you'll ever want.

Personal Perks:

Personal Perks

Lover Boy

- 1 $

I believe that the appropriate phrase is Bow Chika Wow Wow, though I'm not sure what that means. Regardless, this upgrade will make you an extremely skilled and talented lover. You will be able to rapidly figure out how to most efficiently bring pleasure to any given partner, whether that be through sexual contact, platonic massage, or even just what type of dirty talk they enjoy.

Includes a free superhuman upgrade to your genitalia, the ability to dial your fertility between no chance of pregnancy and absolute certainty of it, and optional porn physics.

Personal Perks

Optimization

- 1 $

Become the best you that you can be! This upgrade will go the extra mile and allow you to shape your body to your exact specifications within local human limits. Or, if applicable, the limits of a local intelligent species of similar capability. This can only be applied to companions once with perk sharing. Age and sex are included in these changes you want to be a…? Oh, hermaphroditism. Sure, that's close enough to human limits.

This will also make sure you stay in great shape until the end of your days, which is another 100 years further away now.

Personal Perks

Chef

- 1 $

There's nothing like a nice home-cooked meal, and none nicer than yours via the latest in magically-augmented cooking skills! You'll find yourself whipping up a souffle in your sleep! No, we don't know why that happens. With the addition of magic to your abilities, meals made with this skill can become supernaturally - even dangerously - delicious. Perhaps addictively so.

Cook with caution.

Personal Perks

Purity of Body

- 5 $

You become able to block and negate unwanted transformative effects, be they magical, technological or something stranger. Examples of effects covered include but are not limited to lycanthropic curses, nanomachine injections, and divine transformation.

No, this doesn't block ageing, illness, or getting shot to death. Why? You don't want to sit through the lectures you'd need to find out, trust me.

Personal Perks

Purity of Mind

- 5 $

Your mind and soul become a fortress, augmented by our patented anti-control technology you cannot be mind controlled, corrupted, mentally influenced, forced to hallucinate, or forced to forget information by outside sources unless you explicitly allow the event to occur.

Similarly, it is extremely difficult for outside forces to read your mind, access your thoughts, observe your memories, or feel your emotions without your consent. They may still detect your presence, but nothing deeper can be gained.

Personal Perks

Fate Breaker

- 5 $

Prophecies got you down? Precogs hunting you across time and space? With this your free will becomes guaranteed by our proprietary determination engines, making it impossible for enemies to predict through supernatural means. As a result, you become able to shatter prophecies with your actions. Of course, those prophecies are usually predicting that the good guys will win, so you might need to step in and help that happen now.

Personal Perks

Healing Hands

- 10 $

Gain the ever-important ability to heal the injured! With a thought, you can cause golden light to start radiating from your hands. If you touch an injured, sick, or poisoned person while using this power, their ailments will begin to heal before your very eyes. Anything short of death itself can be healed with enough time, but replacing missing limbs or organs will take at least a week of application.

This doesn't need to happen all at once, so you can split it into several shifts of healing if you want. Certain precious gems, such as diamonds, rubies, and sapphires can store healing power for later. While touching an injured person, the crystal will discharge healing energy for as long as you charged it. Your

Companions heal twice as fast as others. You can heal yourself.

DLC Personal Perks

Mr World-Wide

- 1 $

You gain a preternatural knack for navigating and learning foreign cultures. You won't know everything about how to live as a local at a glance, but you'll be able to muddle through easily enough and probably pass yourself off as one in a pinch.

Comes with an extreme talent for learning new non-magical languages, written, spoken, or otherwise. This is not a perception filter. It does not stop weird things you do from being seen as weird, only helps you to understand what would be considered weird. It is also not a form of a boost to your charisma, being more a way of removing penalties caused by cultural barriers. Understanding a culture does not equate to understanding a person within it.

Greater Dragon

- 20 $

You transform into a dragon, awesome and terrible in equal measure. You can fly at half the speed of sound, simply ignore almost all anti-infantry weaponry, shatter stone with your claws, and take on the form of any intelligent species you have met. Choose an element from fire, lightning, cold, acid, poison, water, and thunder. You are virtually impervious to damage from your element and can unleash a terrible breath weapon incorporating it. You can adjust your size from roughly equal in mass to an average human to almost the size of a castle. You can choose pretty much any layout for your new form that you want, as it won't affect your abilities.

Expanded Personal Perks

Time-Savers

- 5 $

You, humans, have to do so much useless stuff that just wastes the day away to simply function. No more! Your body is now self-cleaning, meaning you'll almost always stay sparkly, well-groomed, and smelling great. All of your hair and nails will eternally be at your desired length. You'll be able to fall asleep within a few minutes of trying to, and you'll only need six hours to feel completely rested and rejuvenated. Finally, you'll never have to excrete any sort of waste ever again. It says here that all of these can be turned down or off whenever you like, but come on? What possible reason would someone want to be able to, let's say, go to the bathroom if you never need to again?

… It's a fetish thing, isn't it?

Expanded Personal Perks 3

Sound Mind

- 1 $

This upgrade gives you a mind that will always be hale and healthy, maintaining peak human mental and emotional ability for eternity. None of that 'immortal depression' thing that seems so common in your fiction. No matter how long you wind up living, your enthusiasm for life and your interests will never fade, you'll never have difficulty focusing, remembering, or adapting, and you won't have any trouble relating to the people around you. You become immune to any kind of mental illness, such as depression or dementia, and your willpower becomes ironclad.

Though this doesn't directly increase your intelligence much, your ability to maintain drive and focus will make learning anything you set your mind to easy.

Engine of Ascension

Arsenal

Zer0 Sword

1

- 2 $

A metal handle containing advanced technology that allows it to project incredibly sharp and bladed. An energy field coats the blade's edge, allowing it to cut even heavy, advanced armour. The exact aesthetics of this item can be altered on the fly.

Arsenal

Magical Staff

1

- 3 $

A large staff made of magical materials greatly increases the power and efficiency of all spells you cast with it. It's also sturdy enough to hit people over the head with if you're savage. This staff can also store a single spell for later, which can be released using a command word.

Arsenal

The Divine Mirror

1

- 5 $

A magical mirror that can show you anything you want to see… on this plane of existence it is on. You can use the mirror to display any location you know of or make it show you, anyone, you've seen before with verbal commands. The mirror sees through all illusions, but can only show the present.

Arsenal

Invisibility Cloak

1

- 5 $

A full-sized travel cloak that renders anyone wearing it invisible. Lowering the hood or wearing it inside-out turns the invisibility off, and it is fully water and stain-proof on both sides. Has none of the potential esoteric features of a certain Hallow.

Expanded Arsenal

Band of Sindri

1

- 1 $

A simple strip of leather that, when tied to an object, allows that object to fly back to its owner's hand on command a la Mjolnir. You may choose whether or not it crashes through or avoids objects on the way back or not.

Challenges:

Challenges

Contentment 2

15 $

Take no Situational Perks worth more than $15. For Advanced Perks, add the price of any upgrades you bought to the base price when calculating this. For perks, you can buy more than once, count all purchases as one perk. (w21 Note: this part you'll have to keep track of yourself, or simply ignore.)

Challenges

Expanded Challenges

Familiar Planes

10 $

The only worlds you'll be able to travel to and from are your starting world, the worlds your Companions are from, the worlds connected to your started by the Convergence Drawback, and your original world, if you chose "No Place Like Home". It will be impossible to go anywhere else.

Expanded Challenges 2

Nice Guy

10 $

You cannot take any Influence Options, that affect the minds of your Companions, and only Propagation Options that require consent.

Quests:

Quests

Propagation 1*

1

1 $

Make at least one of the people in your new World a Companion, via any means.

Quests

Save The Day

20 $

You must ensure that the forces of evil fail in this world and those of good success. Your contribution must be large, though not necessarily violent. If there is more than one evil faction, you can pick one to focus on for this quest.

Quests

Of House MacGuffin

25 $

Acquire - and keep - the most or one of the most powerful artefacts of your new World. This could be a ring, a dragon egg, a beacon, or any number of other extremely rare and potentially powerful items. You will be told what to get on your arrival.

DLC Quests

Of Great Renown

10 $

Become notably famous - or infamous - in your new World through your deeds. You don't necessarily need global recognition, but you do need more than 15 minutes of fame.

Age of Exploration

10 $

Become an explorer on your New World - or off it, through space - and discover places not yet known to your world. Could be west of Westeros, the Space or something.

Complications:

Complications

Disperse 1

1 $

Normally your Companions arrive with you in your new World. With this, they will arrive up to three hours before or after you, and up to 100 yards away. Notably, only your drop location is guaranteed safe. Cannot be taken with higher levels of "Disperse".

Retirement Plan

Part 1

Wool's Orphanage. London.

I'd not taken it all seriously when I'd started filling out a few CYOAs online because I had nothing better to do at two in the morning when I couldn't get to sleep. Not until I discovered that one of the CYOAs was somehow quite real and that huge flaming eye had been quite convincing.

It had started talking about stabbing people while naked and had told me that I had become a grand prize winner even if I hadn't entered any contests. Once I'd heard that I'd begun to pay attention, or at least I had once I'd stopped yelling out in sheer terror because I thought the Dark Lord Sauron was after me.

Lucky for me I'd seen plenty of these sorts of CYOAs in my time and so very quickly I'd been able to come up with some sort of plan to get myself a decent holiday/retirement package, or whatever this new stage of my life was supposed to be.

I could have done worse than chose the world of Harry Potter. If I'd only cared about points I would have gone right to Warhammer 40k, but since I wasn't a total loon I wisely decided not to go anywhere near that messed-up place. Even Mass Effect was too dangerous as I had no means or desire to deal with the Reapers.

Smartly, at least in my own view, I'd come to the world of Harry Potter, a decent enough place since I'd be able to pick up cool magic skills and items while living in this world. I would have the chance to interact with some interesting fictional characters as well.

In order to live out a long and peaceful life in my new home I'd have to deal with Voldemort and his minions even if I hadn't picked it as a challenge. The loss of points was just extra motivation.

While at first, this might seem like quite a daunting task, it wasn't as bad as it might appear since I already knew where to find all of the Horcruxes, as such I could make things easier for Harry Potter to finish the deed without too much risk.

Given that I had the Fate Breaker Perk I might even be able to deal with Voldemort myself, despite the prophecy, as long as I had the aid of my companions as without them I'd be foolish to go up against dark wizards with much more knowledge of magic then myself.

Thankfully, I would have years to prepare and ways to weaken the bad guys before the Dark Lord returned to bring about another reign of terror. I might be able to prevent the second war completely.

Also, my knowledge of future events gave me an advantage even without the aid of the two people who I'd chosen to be my companions.

"Not the nicest of places to end up," said a soft voice.

Willingly bonded to me in a magical contract, which she would have agreed to sign for reasons of her own, was Raven of the Teen Titans, or at least some version of her that might have been part of that team.

Spoiler

[img: https/i./736x/77/d6/27/77d627273240460c15fc5f67eaffb858.jpg]

I had selected Dawn Summers as well, but I'd not seen her here yet, she should appear close by within the next few hours assuming that she wasn't already here and looking for us.

While Raven had been an expensive choice it had made sense to me to have someone so powerful at my side as the Wizarding World was not the safest of places to live even during peacetime.

Besides, Voldemort would be a little more than a villain of the week in a comic book world, as such with her power and my knowledge of the setting we should be able to deal with the dark wizards.

Not that I told her any of this just yet because for a while I simply stared at her as not only was she real, and to me she was attractive, she was going to be an important part of my life from this day forward.

She didn't look that much like the cartoon character version I was most familiar with, she had black hair and sure she was pale but not any more than other goth chicks. She must have made use of our shared perks to make it so she would blend in.

Raven was dressed in what I assumed to be the kind of cheap clothing that seventeen-year-old girls in an orphanage would have access to. The jeans looked good on her and the top she wore let me know she had breasts that might be worth seeing.

Sure the purple hair could be explained away by claiming that she used some dye, but I could understand why she would have removed her demon half or at least the outward appearance that her demon half gave her.

I didn't yet know if she'd make herself fully human in the biological sense or if it was just a matter of appearance. It was something I'd ask about once we'd gotten to know each other better.

"You seem a little out of it," Raven commented.

Indeed, I was a little bit out of it. I'd been talked to by a flaming eye that looked as if it could belong to Sauron and now I was in what I'd thought to be a fictional world with an actual superhero. This was going to take some getting used to.

It didn't help that I had changed so much. I was about eighteen in terms of looks, young and strong with black hair and blue eyes. I had a bit of facial hair and a body that looked as if it had been taken to the gym often enough to keep in tip-top condition.

"Sorry, I'm still adjusting," I told the young woman "I wasn't expecting some internet document to go and radically alter my entire life".

She accepted my explanation for acting so strangely.

"I know what you mean" she confided "I didn't have a lot of time to think over the offer they gave me, but I decided it was worth it".

This seemed like a good time to find out why she'd agreed to be magically bonded to me and she barely hesitated before telling me.

"Thanks to the contract I've been able to cut off any connection I had with my father," she told me "And let's just say that he's never been much of Dad".

Having seen Trigon in action I could understand why she'd chosen to leave her world behind and change herself. It made sense for her to give up her freedom to save that world and all her friends who must mean more to her than her own life if her cartoon counterpart was anything like the person in front of me.

Sure in the comics and cartoon Trigon gets defeated, but it didn't make sense to risk a whole world when you had a chance to remove the danger, and it wasn't as if victory against him was assured.

"Thanks to the contract and your perk sharing I am now a witch of this world, fully human and with the ability to learn their magic without losing my powers," she was now saying "I figured a fresh start wouldn't be such a bad thing and maybe one day I'll find the means of seeing my friends again".

Given that my other companion was Dawn Summers, The Key, it was possible for us to figure out how to leave this world, it just wasn't important to me. I hadn't even given much thought to my old life when setting this up.

"I just wanted a fresh start too" I shared.

This orphanage seemed a little old-fashioned and as I looked around I realised that this was the same orphanage that Voldemort had grown up in.

Lucky for the both of us I'd made arrangements so that we wouldn't be living here for much longer. I was actually a little confused as to why we hadn't appeared in my new home. Did we need to be here for some reason?

"We won't have to stay for too long," I told the female spellcaster "I carefully chose my perks so as to make things comfortable for us".

In this world, I was James 'Jimmy' Twycross, the half-blood son of a pureblood wizard and a muggle-born witch who'd been targeted by Voldemort shortly before he met his first end thanks to Lily and Harry Potter. Knowing that I was in danger they'd left me at an orphanage and then went into hiding without me rather than have the whole family flee to New Zealand because magical people are morons.

I am the lost heir of the Twycross family and now that I was an adult I'd be free to claim the family home which was the house I'd gotten with the CYOA and my family's fortune which I'd gotten via the Seed Money Perk.

An orphan discovering that he's not only wealthy but also an important person within the community is not that odd in the magical world.

All of this I explained to Raven, or Racheal Roth, who had her own backstory involving being a muggle-born who just happened to grow up within the same orphanage as me, statistically very unlikely, but stranger things happen in this world all the time.

The fact there were three magic users in the same place was downright bizarre, but the wand wavers were not known for logical thinking so I doubted they'd look into the matter even if the CYOA didn't affect them.

"There you are," said Dawn Summers as she joined us "I just appeared outside. I didn't know where you were".

Spoiler

[img: https/images2./images/photos/8200000/DAWN-SUMMERS-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-8219143-500-538.jpg]

Dawn looked good. I'd say she was about 17 in terms of looks as were the rest of us, although the makeup made her age harder to pin down.

I'd used a perk in the CYOA to change the ages that people went to Hogwarts, because who the hell wants to be an 11-year-old and have to deal with all that drama? I'd aged up the student population so I could avoid a lot of the angst.

"I've been here for a few hours" reported Raven.

We'd arrived at different times and apart because of a very minor drawback that I'd selected. I wanted some extra points so I'd set some challenges for myself as well. Including one that required me to steal the Philosopher's Stone.

"So what made you choose to join us?" Raven asked.

Dawn fidgeted for a moment.

"My sister killed magic" she answered "I mean she took out the source of magic in my world and I'm not exactly normal so I started to get sick".

I knew what she meant.

"You don't need to hide anything" I assured her "I've seen the TV show".

Raven confirmed that she had as well.

"I'm a TV show character?" asked Dawn "Why doesn't that surprise me".

No doubt stranger things had happened to her.

"Oh no, was Buffy the main character?" she asked.

I just nodded.

"That's so typical of her, she always has to be the centre of attention" Dawn complained before she stopped herself from going on a rant and got back to the matter at hand "Anyway, like I was sayings I got sick because of there being no magic so I decided to sign up for this.. whatever this is".

Before we could discuss that further someone called for us.

"Jimmy. Rachel, Dawn, you have letters" said one of the staff from the reception area of the orphanage "They look important".

Indeed they were. These were the most important letters that any of us would receive.

HOGWARTS COLLEGE of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chef Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards)

Dear Mr James Twycross, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all the necessary books and equipment.

The term begins on 1 September. We await your reply by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

I looked at the second page.

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2. One plain pointed hat (black) for daywear

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set of glass or crystal phials

1 set of brass scales

1 telescope

Students may also bring if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad.

FIRST YEARS STUDENTS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK

Yours sincerely,

Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus

Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions.

I felt giddy in a way that wouldn't impress my new companions so I calmed myself down as best I could. I also figured that it was a good thing that we'd moved away from the front desk so that no one could see what we were reading.

"How did they know about us?" questioned Dawn "We just got here".

This was information I could provide.

"At the school, there is a very special quill which writes down the name of every magical child in Britain at the time of their birth. Our names must have been somehow added when we got inserted into this world" I told Dawn.

This book allows Hogwarts letters to be sent to all magical people offered a place at the school at the appropriate time, even those who are Muggle-born, but those who should have no knowledge of magic get the letters posted to them muggle style with the correct use of stamps as it turned out.

Harry Potter must have gotten his letters via owls because his aunt and uncle knew about magic. I assumed that the process was automated and that's why no one at the school got worried about the letters being addressed to the Cupboard Under The Stairs, either that or no one cared about his suffering.

"How come we're not 11-year-olds?" Raven asked.

Since I had some information on this version of Harry Potter's world I knew that here upon your seventeenth birthday, which is like turning eighteen or maybe sixteen in Muggle Britain, you get certain rights you didn't have before in the magical world.

Including the right to own a wand, so if you're lucky you'll be invited to attend Hogwarts for the school year starting after you turn 17. Every magical child is invited to attend the school.

"Because I didn't want to go through puberty again I used the CYOA to change things so that you go to Hogwarts at 17" I explained "Having Hogwarts as a college will grant us more freedom and it makes more sense. I mean really, who gives an 11-year-old the ability to alter reality with a stick?".

It's bloody stupid if you actually think about it. Sure for a children's book simply meant to entertain it's not so silly, and doubtless, somewhere out there in the multi-verse, there are versions of this world where people are idiotic enough to do that. Just not in this dimension.

Thinking about it, it's actually rather amazing that more people don't die while at school. Monsters and Dark Lords aside there's so much potential for magical mishaps. Even their sport is really too dangerous for children. I would never let any child of mine play Quidditch. Who the hell would let bludgers go anywhere near their kids? Not that I had any children or wished to have any.

Then there's also the fact that wizarding children must need a basic education just like Muggle children. It's no use having the power to brew a magic potion if you don't fully understand how to follow the recipe. You need to know litres, grams, and so on. Also, it helps if you can read at an adult level.

"The CYOA doesn't specify which version of this universe we end up in" I answered, "If you pick the right perks you can change the world you end up. I made it so Hogwarts is a college. Despite that, the major events should play out the same".

"That was smart of you" commented the Teen Titan, "I think we'll both be in Ravenclaw".

It seemed clear to me that we'd all read the Harry Potter books, so I wouldn't have to explain everything.

"I was studying to be a Watcher before I came here, so I might end up in Ravenclaw too," Dawn Summers said "Assuming we all want to go Hogwarts. I sure do".

No one gave the idea of not going much thought or at least they didn't verbally express such thoughts. The possibility of learning the magic of this world was just too tempting and it wasn't as if we had anything better to do.

Since the CYOA was supposed to give me a hundred more years to live I could afford to spend a handful of them going to school.

"Given the 'logic' of the Wizarding World, it would make sense" I agreed "We all like reading and it will be easier to get by if we can be background characters. The books don't pay much attention to the Ravenclaws".

We might end up in Gryffindor as Raven had been an actual superhero, Dawn had helped save her world, and I had chosen to radically change my life for an adventure. Hopefully, the Sorting Hat will take our desire to be in Ravenclaw into account when sorting us.

"Jimmy, you have another letter!" I was told by the woman who sat behind the desk near the entrance.

This one turned out to be from Gringotts and as expected they wished for me to come in and discuss my inheritance. They didn't ask me to book an appointment so I simply assumed that they'd find someone to deal with my situation whenever it was I arrived.

The Wizarding World looked to be rather sedate when compared to the muggle so maybe the goblins weren't that busy.

"So what do we do now?" Raven wondered.

A good question.

"I guess we wait for Hagrid, or whoever else they send, or we could try to find the Leaky Cauldron on our own," I said, "It should be visible to us and sure London is a big city, but it's not like we have anything better to do".

Raven was clearly thinking hard at this point.

"If we had a wand we could summon the Knight Bus" she suggested, "Only we don't have wands or any of their money".

They might take regular money, as Gringotts did exchange pounds for Wizard money. Alas, the orphanage didn't give us much in the way of an allowance.

I would need to get to Gringotts soon as not only did they have my Seed Money it was likely that the special items the CYOA had given me were stored there as well.

"Rather than wander around aimlessly. I think we'd be better off spending our time productively" Raven offered "There are meditation methods somewhat like Occlumency that will help protect your minds".

That seemed like a good use of our time.

"We're not staying here all summer are we?" asked Dawn.

Given that I had a house we could all access that wasn't going to happen.

"We should be able to access my house and legally move into it when I've sorted things out at the bank," I said "But we have to stay here until some teacher comes to meet us or we won't be able to send our replies since there is no postal address in this letter".

Dawn's posture relaxed.

"Good," she said, "Because there's no way I'm sleeping with you if I have to stay here. Not that I want to rush into anything".

I'd actually forgotten about the sex stuff. Dawn and Raven weren't compelled to obey me, but they were still bound to me and would expect me to become involved with them sexually.

"There's no rush," I said "I can't make either of you do anything".

I felt the need to say more.

"It's not like I've had a harem before," I said, "We have time to figure it out as we go along and it's best that we behave ourselves while here as I really don't want to be lectured on the evils of pre-marital sex or get thrown out".

Right now I was more focused on Raven's offered Occumlancy lessons as I didn't want Snape or Dumbledore reading my mind as that could lead to some big trouble for the three of us. Sure I had a perk that should protect my mind, but it wouldn't hurt to reinforce that defence and she would have some knowledge of magic to share with us.

"For now we should learn Occumlancy and share what we know about this world" I decided.

Both Dawn and Raven agreed with this plan.

---

Part 2

---

Retirement Plan

Part 2

Wool's Orphanage. London.

Raven seemed pleased enough with mine and Dawn's progress in her version of Occlumency. Which had nothing to do with mental barriers or anything like that, rather it was about controlling your emotions and being able to clear your mind so that telepaths couldn't get what they needed.

A mind that isn't thinking about much, or at least not thinking about anything important, won't give a magical telepath anything that can be used against you.

The more advanced method involves producing a 'faux' layer of mentality that can totally throw off the perspective of someone who is using Legilimency on you.

They will see the false layer as the legitimate one whilst its bona fide counterpart lies deeper within; hence, it is not obvious that Occlumency is being used.

It requires a great deal of willpower and this is how Snape could lie directly to Voldemort and how Barty Crouch Jr was able to fool Dumbledore when pretending to be Mad-Eye Moody.

If they had mental shields then that would just tell the people using Legilimency that they had something to hide. Voldemort would not have allowed one of his followers to shield their minds from him.

This form of mental defence wouldn't stop a proper telepath such as Professor X of the X-Men, and it would be wise of me to avoid eye contact with both Dumbledore and Snape even with this training and my perks.

Raven assured Dawn and me that we should both be fine when it came to causal scans of my mind and if I felt an intrusion I knew to do stuff like recite the lyrics of a song.

The former part demon could perform a mild form of telepathy and she'd found that I was good at hiding thoughts by thinking about stuff like food and sex, things that a seventeen-year-old boy should be thinking about.

This was my faux mind that people would see if they used Legilimency on me and over time I should be able to perfect it and anyone seeing it would just assume that I was a typical teenager.

Raven blushed when trying to read my mind because I'd thinking about her and rather than be repulsed by such thoughts she was pleased by attempts to throw her off when probing my mind.

It didn't hurt that she wanted me to find her attractive. I didn't need to probe her mind to know that she wanted to be accepted by me as a companion.

Raven ended this day's lesson early because we'd been informed by a letter that someone from the college would be coming to see us with the intent of discussing our education.

I figured that there must be some system in place to convince students that the letters aren't a joke and to ensure that they know how to find the Hogwarts Express.

"We should go wait in the front room," I said.

As soon as we arrived our attention was called for.

"Rachel, Dawn, Jimmy you have a visitor" we were told as we made it to the front desk "She's a professor from a college. Apparently, they're offering you all a full scholarship".

Was it my imagination or was the woman at the desk somehow drunk, or stoned? Had McGonagall placed a spell on her so as to smooth things over?

"You three are Mr Twycross, Miss Summers and Miss Roth?" questioned the teacher who soon gave us her name "I am Professor McGonagall".

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We confirmed that we were those people.

"I am here to answer any questions you might have about Hogwarts, and to help you to prepare," said the Deputy Headmistress "I've already cleared everything with your carers so we can leave if you are ready to fetch your school supplies, however before any of that, I should explain a few things to you".

The teacher then smiled at me in a warm way.

"I'm pleased to see that you're doing well James," she told me "I knew both of your parents when they were at school. We all assumed that you'd disappeared with them. I'm sorry to tell you this, but since they left you in the care of others and didn't return then they must have passed on".

My back story was that they'd vanished during Voldemort's reign of terror so they could be living under new names somewhere far away. As long as they didn't come back and interfere with my life then I didn't much care if they even existed or not.

"It's no bother Professor," I said as we moved into the front room "I figured that if I had any family out there they'd have found me years ago".

She changed the subject, not wanting to dwell on the negative.

"Before we leave I should tell you that magic is very real" the teacher informed as she turned a table into a pig and then back again "You didn't seem as shocked as most people are when I do that".

To be fair it was an effective demonstration of the existence of magic, only Dawn and Raven had magical powers of their own and had performed more impressive feats. Dawn managed to bring her mother back from the dead, at least in some form.

"So I assume that all three of you have had strange experiences," the teacher was now saying "Have you seen things moving on their own or has something broken when you were angry, or maybe you have moved something without touching it?".

I could answer for sure that this was the case. My life had indeed recently become a very strange thing to experience.

"Yes, Professor" answered Raven with a slight frown on her face "I've broken things when I've been upset, without touching them I mean".

This seemed to please the woman even if the former Teen Titan looked as if it annoyed her. Perhaps if you broke things with magic you couldn't simply repair them with magic?

Raven's powers were tied to her feelings so I could easily imagine her breaking something she cared about while feeling upset.

"I've seen things that people say aren't real" informed Dawn.

McGonagall went on to explain that the college was on the surface not that different from a Muggle university and very different in other ways.

If you wanted to become a fully qualified witch or a wizard you needed at least three years of education in order to get your OWLS before you could get a job and if you wanted a good job you should stick around for a couple of more years and take the NEWTS.

The school also worked mostly like in the books. They had three terms a year, September to Christmas, the next early January until Easter, and then the last ended in the early parts of the summer.

Hogwarts closed during the summer but there were people who would take in those with nowhere else to go during that part of the year if some friend didn't offer.

"For the ease of those with muggle families and for those who have a foot in both worlds Hogwarts follows the muggle school year" we were told, "We do have week-long half-terms, but those are spent at the college and while you should relax during those weeks many students use the time off to catch up on coursework".

Having attended college before I had some idea of what to expect. Hogwarts seemed more rigid but that made sense as magic was dangerous.

"So we don't have to come back here once we leave?" I asked.

The teacher confirmed that we would have to stay here until the school year started, and when that happened we could stay at the college over the Christmas and Easter holidays without anyone's permission even if we hadn't turned 18 yet.

We would have years to decide what we wanted to do after school and there were career advisory sessions in the later years so things could be arranged for us.

I'd got the impression that, unlike the Muggle world, the magical one didn't have issues with unemployment or the homeless. Although this might have more to do with their small population than anything else.

Orphans had access to a special fund, it wouldn't pay for much, but it would get you through school as long as you didn't mind second-hand everything and it did cover all five years.

Not that I intended for us to stay that long as it would get boring, and it wasn't as if I planned to get a job at the Ministry. I had plans to increase my wealth and I'd rather travel, to explore this world.

I should be able to pay for everything with my seed money once I got access to it.

It was explained to us that we weren't allowed to leave the college during the week unless it was for important business like say needing to go to the hospital St Mungos, the existence of which was also explained to us, a family crisis, or for a trip to the Ministry of Magic to deal with some issue.

I noticed a hint of distaste when the teacher spoke about the Ministry. She must not be a fan of their government, however, as I was rather curious about the organisation I enquired about the Ministry, the working of which she promised would be covered in detail during our history of magic lessons.

She did tell us enough for me to discover that the Ministry of Magic was in some sense a division of the Muggle Government like the Ministry of Transport or the Ministry of Agriculture and in theory, the Minister of Magic, who was elected by The Wizengamot (which was wizarding Britain's high court of law and parliament) answered to the Prime Minister, but in reality, the Minister for Magic only had to keep the PM informed about important matters.

I let the matter go before long because I had no intention of getting involved with local politics unless I really had to and I could learn about it in detail later.

I'd just always wondered how the wizards supported their civilization here in Britain with such a small population. It looked as if the Muggles were paying for it all the same way their taxes paid for schools and roads in the mundane world.

To me, this felt a little wrong until you realised that it was worth the price to keep the two worlds separate so as to avoid stuff like witch hunts, and those could happen again very easily given how many religious fanatics there were in the world.

In my view, it seemed very likely that the Muggle government was helping to keep the two worlds separate as the wizards in the book didn't seem to understand those who didn't use magic so there must be some cooperation between the magical and Muggle governments to keep the peace.

"At the weekends you may visit Hogsmeade, as the town provides services to the students" we were told "But there is an 11 pm curfew due for reasons of safety. Werewolves and vampires are known to haunt the Forbidden Forest near the school, and they become more active after midnight. If you take Care of Magical creatures I'm sure your Professor will explain further. Curfew on the nights, before you have classes, is 10 pm, although you are only confirmed to your dorms, not your rooms".

That seemed simple enough to remember.

"The letter mentions Witchcraft and Wizardry" Dawn was now saying, "What is the difference?".

This was a good question. I couldn't recall any reason for the school for having both Witchcraft and Wizardry in its name because the genders don't learn different magic as far as I knew, and they seem to all have access to the same classes.

Dawn was training to be a Watcher so she no doubt knew that were differences, at least in her world.

"Witchcraft is performed by witches and Wizardry is performed by Wizards" we were told, "That is the difference".

Dawn wasn't satisfied by this.

"But is Witchcraft any different to Wizardy?" she wondered "Are there different lessons for witches and wizards".

The educator seemed a little shocked by the idea.

"No," she replied, "Why would there be?".

I figured that it was time to get things back on track and I did this by showing the teacher my letter from the bank.

"Your parents must have set you up with a trust fund to see you through Hogwarts," she said, "I wonder why they didn't make arrangements to have someone take care of you until then?".

I could have answered that question only I chose not to since it would blow my cover. Instead, I mentioned that I would be paying for everyone's school supplies.

"That would be helpful and it is your money," said the educator "Just remember to come to me if you need a little more gold, the fund exists for a good reason".

The teacher told us more about the school, only since we all already knew nearly all of it her talk wasn't very interesting. We did our best to hurry things along so that we could get to Diagon Alley.

"We'll take the Knight Bus" the teacher let us know as we headed out onto the street "It is good for students to know about how to summon in case you somehow miss the train or end up stranded somewhere before you learn to apparate".

I so wanted to learn how to teleport magically. It must be a wonderful ability to possess as it would grant great freedom.

"Stay behind me" we were instructed.

Once we got outside and to the main road the Professor held out her wand and then there was a bang just before a double-decker bus simply appeared before us despite all the traffic.

"I hope you don't get motion sickness," said the teacher.

That might have been an issue in my old body, but I'd made sure to remove that fault when I brought the perk which allowed me to have the best body a human could have in this world. Still, I just knew that I wouldn't enjoy this ride.

Diagon Alley. Wizarding Britain.

After we all got off the Knight Bus, our next stop was Gringotts and the walk there did me good as I felt a little traumatised by my ride on that bloody bus.

How the Deputy Headmistress had been able to sit there looking so relaxed I'd no idea. Raven had just seemed annoyed or maybe disappointed by the ride as if it wasn't all she'd been looking forward to, Dawn had actually enjoyed it, odd girl.

Once inside the bank, I found myself thinking about the goblins. Would they be the wizard-hating warmongers some imagined them to be, or were they the super helpful buddy beings who really just wanted to be friends, that some fanfiction authors made them out to be?

Before long I began to suspect that the goblins were not so much evil as they were simply greedy little fuckers who had a certain dislike for humans. They were certainly well dressed and seemed devoted to their work.

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Not that I would trust them as they were still bankers and I'd known plenty of humans who didn't seem to be evil on the surface who turned out to be complete and utter gits when you got to know them.

"Next!" a goblin called out.

Very quickly I handed over the letter I'd gotten from this bank to the creature at the counter, and before long I was dragged off on my own into a rather nice-looking office so that I could speak with the account manager.

If he/she only managed my account I didn't know and I didn't bother to find out.

"Mr Twycross," said the account manager "We knew that you weren't dead, but until your Hogwarts letter got sent off we aren't allowed to make contact with you due to a rule of the Ministry".

From my knowledge of this world and what McGonagall had told me I got the impression that the Ministry wasn't well-liked despite the fact that it employed so many people.

How that worked in economic terms could only be explained if my idea about Muggle taxes supporting the running of the magical world was correct.

As far as I could tell the Ministry existed to give the useless nobs people somewhere to work and to needlessly interfere with people's lives. So it wasn't that different from its Muggle counterpart in some ways.

"I am the Account Manager for your family," the goblin said "My name is Slashvine".

Before I could greet him or her the goblin spoke some more.

"Your family used to own all of Twycross, which is a small village and civil parish in Leicestershire" I was informed, "But due to the cutting off of ties between magical humans and what you call muggles, the village is no longer part of your family's holdings. Nor is the local manor, which is now a school of some kind for non-magical humans".

The goblin looked through some papers.

"Twycross House is still part of your family's holdings," Slashvine told me.

I was shown a picture of the house.

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[img: https/s3.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/lbimg/101/075/132/101075132-106998-o.jpg]

The house looked big enough even if it didn't seem very impressive. However, that could be part of its defences, and I suspected that it would be better on the inside.

"Before your parents left this country they sold off their business interests and that money has remained untouched since then, they set it up to act as a trust fund meant to see you through Hogwarts and help you set up a life" I was informed.

This was how my Seed Money Perk worked in this world. No one would question my parents making sure I was provided for.

"I'll have your vault key and the key to the house brought to you, but it will be a few weeks before you will be able to move in," warned the goblin "As the Ministry is slow to deal with its paperwork and they hold the deed for the property"

I was left to look over some important looking documents as the Account Manager did his job filling out forms, and while I had little understanding of what I was looking at it seemed clear that my family, which was just me, had made a reasonable profit due to its stakes in other people's businesses.

My understanding was that spending five years in Hogwarts, assuming that I stuck around there for that long, wouldn't make much of a dent in my family vault. My wealth didn't match the likes of the Malfoys and Lestranges, but I'd be able to live a very comfortable upper-middle-class lifestyle.

I didn't know how the Household expenses were handled, so I could only assume that such things were handled by House Elves who worked invisibly behind the scenes.

Despite this, I figured that it would be best to go and find out as I didn't want to be surprised by a pile of unpaid bills. I also didn't know if property tax was a thing here in the Wizarding World. I should check that out when I got around to visiting the Ministry.

My account manager didn't say much, but he wasn't rude either, so I got the impression that goblins were indifferent to humans rather than hostile if this was typical interaction.

Once we were done I took my keys and my documents out of the Account Manager's office. Then I went to a desk back in the lobby so that I could access my trust fund via the mine carts they made people use.

Again it was a good thing that I'd gone to the trouble of removing any chance of me suffering from motion sickness.

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"Key, please," said the goblin.

After it was used to open the vault I took back the key as it was way too important not to keep on me at all times. My trust fund vault was not that impressive and it was just one of many vaults in an area more well-lit than I'd been expecting.

There was nothing more than a stone plinth with a large pile of coins on it, no artefacts, or any weapons. The items I'd purchased from the CYOA must be in my home.

"That felt odd" I mentioned as I stepped into the vault.

"Your vault is in a pocket dimension," said the goblin who was in the corridor "Only you and those you allow access may enter".

I filled my money bag, which the bank provided for a small charge, with as many coins as I could and then I filled two more as my companions would need their own funds. I would open vaults for both of them once I started making some money.

With that done I left the bank as quickly as I could since there was no reason for me to stay, and while the goblins might not be evil per se I still didn't like them.

Besides I had some cool magic stuff to buy.

---

Part 3

---

Retirement Plan

Part 3

Diagon Alley. Wizarding Britain.

Stepping out of Gringotts I grinned. I knew where I wanted to go first, but the Deputy Headmistress spoke before I could mention my desires.

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"You should acquire trunks first," the stern woman advised.

That made sense since I'd been intending to buy a load of books right away and that would easier if I had something to carry them in.

I was fairly sure that some of them were much bigger on the inside than the out, the one that the real Moody had been stored in had lots of

compartments, and having something like that would make it much easier to lug around everything I needed for school.

"Good idea. I'm going to need a lot of storage space" I mentioned.

After all what kind of Ravenclaw wouldn't want to carry around his own library? And I really wanted to be in Ravenclaw House.

"Can I help you?" someone asked as we entered the right store.

I turned and looked at the speaker, he was a typical wizard, dressed smartly enough, but well behind the times at least in Muggle terms. Given their separate culture, it made sense that wizards and witches would set their own trends and retro styles did sometimes become mainstream.

Still, the Victorian-style clothing did lead me to wonder how old-fashioned people around here were. If the girls at school held to certain values it would be hard to get into their knickers.

Thankfully Dawn and Raven both seemed interested in having sex with me they just weren't rushing into it.

I kept my focus on the here and now, listening to the man running the store as he spoke about all the different features the trunks had. Such as the multiple compartments and the all-important bigger on-the-inside enhancements.

"My friends and are looking for a few decent trunks," I told the man who I assumed to be the store owner "Something with a lot of internal space so it can hold all of our school supplies".

And a small library, however, there was no need to mention that.

"Any preference?" I was asked, "Do you want something plain and practical, or a bit fancier".

I was wealthy so I wanted something good but not too fancy since I wasn't a millionaire, function was more important than form.

The first trunk I was shown in detail because it caught my eye, looked like an old-fashioned chest but not a cheap one. It was made of wood and banded with metal that had to be gold. The silver-coloured lock had four different keyholes.

"This trunk has four compartments, all of which are different," I was informed "The first one you can use for storing your school supplies, paper, parchment, quills, and other odds and ends, such as ink bottles, which are guaranteed to never spill. The second one is made to hold clothes and the third is specially made to store all of your books. The last one will hold the big stuff you use while at Hogwarts like your telescope and broom".

When the first compartment opened up I saw the set of drawers. There were a total of eight drawers each with small silver handles. Above each of the handles was an empty placeholder which looked like it was meant to hold a label.

"Just place the tip of your wand on the label and say what you want it to say," the salesman told me "As I told you already these drawers are good for holding your school supplies. Ink bottles, quills, parchment and so on. There's even a draw for your money purse, which only you can open. The big drawers are for potion stuff. You even have a little draw for treats for your pets, and it keeps them fresh for you".

I could have gone for a bigger trunk with more decorations, but I liked this one, at least for school stuff. I had an entire house and a special storage space to keep things hidden in.

"Can I see the compartment?" I requested.

Best to check them out before spending more money.

"Might want to take a step back lad," the man advised before flicking his wand at the trunk.

Quickly I did as he had instructed, and watched as the trunk opened itself after the wizard tapped the trunk with his wand and a metal clothes rack lifted itself out of the trunk.

The rack itself had plenty of wooden hangers dangling from it that I could use for my coaks, shirts and coats. Beneath it was a flat rack for shoes, slippers and boots.

Beneath it was several long drawers I assumed it would be filled with my socks and underwear. Behind the rack was a wooden back with a long mirror that I would be able to see all of myself when changing.

"The clothes rack will keep your clothes all nice and clean," the salesman told me "The shoe rack can even polish your shoes for you, just tap it with your wand and make sure it has plenty of polish. The drawers are for your socks and undergarments".

Since the House Elves at the school would clean and iron my clothes I would not need the rack to do anything more than safely store my outfits, but I didn't mind the extra features.

"The third compartment is called a library compartment, not very creatively named but it is what it is," said the salesman.

With the third key, he opened the trunk and stepped to the side to allow me to see what popped up this time. It appeared that the only thing inside of it was shelving, a lot more than should be allowed given the trunk's external dimensions.

"The books are sorted by subject and by the title" I was informed, "So you can just chuck them in and let the shelves sort out the books, it even has a fiction section that gets sorted by genre and author instead of subject and author".

He had a bit more to say.

"As for the fourth and final compartment, it's just a large empty space" he let me know "Which is meant for the storage of stuff like telescopes and brooms. Nothing special just a few charms to stop anything from breaking or getting dirty".

It sounded as if it was worth the expense.

"How much?" I asked.

It would so be worth the price, but costly as I was going to need three.

"We don't have three of this exact model, but we have some that are close" the wizard let me know.

Magical humans don't mass-produce things so the trucks that Raven and Dawn got were similar, but not exactly like mine, and once purchased we moved on.

Diagon Alley. Wizarding Britain.

While shopping we passed by so many stores, such as the 2nd Hand Brooms, which I ignored as I had a fear of heights and no desire to fly, neither did Dawn, as for Raven she could fly on her own making brooms rather pointless for all of us even if we were allowed them.

Since flying lessons were a thing at Hogwarts I might have to deal with that fear sometime soon, but I'd try to get out of them if possible.

The teacher with us explained that flying brooms were somewhat like muggles driving their cars. When at home it was up to the parents if children could fly around on brooms at home.

However, once you got to Hogwarts you needed a license and to get that you had to pass the flying class. If you didn't you couldn't fly a broom anywhere other than on private property.

I asked about apparating, which the professor had mentioned, and as it turned out they didn't have lessons for that at the college, it was handled by people who were appointed by the Ministry.

You either went there for tests and lessons or you booked lessons at home and only went to the Ministry to get your licence. No doubt there was a lot of paperwork involved.

Given that I had the money I figured that it made sense to hire a tutor for Dawn, Raven and myself rather than wait until next summer for the group lessons at the Ministry.

After passing by some shops we entered others, such as Amanuensis Quills, which I got my stationery supplies from. I was not looking forward to using quills and parchment. I was not some sort of 12th Century scholar.

Also, we all popped into a store that was located on the north side of Diagon Alley which supplied people with ingredients for potion-making and the equipment required. My money pouch began to lighten very quickly.

The apothecary was a breeze compared to some places. I got the standard first-year potion kit and a book which explained in detail what all the different ingredients did when they reacted together.

Right now everything was just random bits of some dead animals, bugs, plant parts and goo to me, so there was no point in getting extra anything until I actually knew what it all did.

I went with crystal vials as I could afford the best and they were practically unbreakable according to the wizard who'd sold them to me. I also got a nice set of brass scales that would make measuring out stuff for my potions easy enough.

Raven and Dawn got more basic supplies, both insisting that I'd spoiled them enough with the trunk and that they should save some of the money in case we needed things while at school. Something that earned her the approval of the Deputy Headmistress.

After that, we went to yet another store and I bought the standard astronomy supplies as well. Honestly, if I was going to buy anything extra for this subject it would be some muggle books, not the wizard ones as they didn't have any proper telescopes.

They did have models of the solar system despite their lack of space exploration. Muggles just seem so much more advanced when it came to this subject, or at least that was the impression I got.

Still, I was sure that there was some magic lore which I need to know about in order to pass my exams, and that it would involve the phases of the moon or some crap about my horoscope.

I didn't bother with getting a pet, aside from the fact that I had no one to write to, which made owning an owl totally pointless, I didn't want to take responsibility for an animal.

"Can I have a cat?" asked Raven "When we move into your family home, I mean".

This was unexpected.

"I thought you were more of a bird person," I remarked.

The witch granted me a small smile.

"I've always wanted a cat, but I had…. allergies," she said.

My thinking was that her being a part demon was the actual reason she'd never gotten a cat. Perhaps it was like being a Witcher.

"You can get a cat," I told her.

I resisted the urge to make a joke about my wanting to stroke her pussy.

Next up was Madam Malkin's, or whatever it was called, for my school clothes, which were soon stored in my new trunk that was easy to carry around as it seemed to weigh nothing.

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I was assured that the school clothes were self-repairing and would grow with me in case I had a growth spurt. Which was possible for a lad of seventeen even if it wasn't likely as I recalled that I'd stopped growing taller at this age the first time, and they would stay crease-free.

While there I had been drawn to other items in that store. So I'd ended up exiting the shop with some enchanted wool gloves, that would always keep my hands warm, useful since I was going to school in Scotland, as well as a nice scarf.

Everything else that I brought was made of dragonhide. Where Muggles would wear leather, wizards would wear dragonhide. The hide of a dragon was very tough, impervious to a multitude of spells, and provided a decent amount of protection from the elements.

It had a similar texture and appearance to snakeskin. Not that I'd ever worn snakeskin.

In this world, dragonhide was used to make gloves, boots, jackets, belts, and even cloaks. It was in high demand and most dragonhide was used to make gloves, for the handling of hazardous materials so we needed some for potion classes.

Given that dragonhide resisted magic I could imagine that it was a nightmare to enchant. Something reflected in the price, which thankfully would be handled by charges being made directly to my vault which I assured the teacher would last.

She clearly disapproved of my excessive spending, I could see it in the looks she gave me, but she didn't say anything on the matter. Perhaps she figured that as an orphan I'd had so little that I was going overboard now. Plus I was an adult in this world.

In the end, I did limit myself to a jacket and belt as well as the gloves needed for lessons. I figured that the jacket was a justified expense since it could resist minor spells such as the hexes that were bound to be flung around by students in a school for magic. As for the belt, it hadn't cost much and I thought it looked good on me.

Before long we all ended up at Flourish and Blotts.

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I half expected to run into Hermione Granger while here, but there was no sign of her. I wondered if she looked like Emma Watson in this universe.

As for the store, the place was a maze of books. There were books about every magical category imaginable. Charms, potions, history, obscure languages, wizard culture, wizard music, and wizard hobbies.

You could learn to spell your own cheeses or discover how to knit a jumper that gave you hugs. That sounded like something that could go horribly wrong and result in jumpers trying to strangle people.

"Hogwarts has six core subjects for those who wish to become qualified wizards or witches," the professor reminded us "Those courses are mandatory for three years and you have the choice of two electives. You should consider what electives you wish to take before deciding what books to buy".

The teacher took the time to explain to us a little about the different subjects and how long we'd be studying them. The core classes that were required for us to take were DADA, Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Herbology or History of Magic.

"The elective courses will be discussed by your head of house after you are sorted" we were informed "You will take your OWL exams at the end of the third year, and then you will decide which NEWTs you wish to take".

Since the students would be older it shouldn't be surprising that they didn't spend seven years at the school. Older students would be able to handle a bigger workload.

It was a very good thing that they had hand baskets with charms placed on them to make the carrying weight less than it should be, or I would have been doubled over with my purchases pretty quickly.

Raven proved that she was physically stronger than she looked by carrying even more books than I did. Something that grated at my male pride for only a short time as I realised she could be using her powers in some subtle way.

First I bought all of the books from the school list, paid for them, and then quickly stuffed them in my trunk. I then went back and bought the whole seven years' worth of books in the Standard Book of Spells series as that way I could go through them at my own pace.

The school wouldn't start classes for a whole month so I had time to read ahead and I planned to study on my own time so that I would be prepared for the lessons well in advance.

Once the school books were handled I let my eyes wander over the shelves and found a few more interesting books that I soon threw in my cart; Hogwarts a History, Arithmancy for Beginners, and some stuff I didn't even understand the titles of, but I would find out about them later if I took those classes.

A few Defence Against the Dark Arts book were also brought by me. Given the state of the teachers in that subject, I'd be better off teaching myself from books or making use of a tutor.

A quick look at a book on runes let me know that they had nothing to do with enchanting as I'd read in many fanfictions, instead of in this version of Potter's words, the study of Ancient Runes was like studying Latin.

Runes saw some use in legal documents, and some enchanters were known to mark their creations with a personalised rune, but as far as I could tell the symbols had no practical use outside of legal documents and decorations, as such they held no interest for me.

Enchanting was performed by placing a series of complex charms on an object. To enchant something you had to be very good at charms and to apply the spell a number of times, or a series of them in the right order, which could be very time-consuming and mentally tiring work I imagined.

I was sure that I would learn more about it later. I did already know that an enchanted object was referred to as being: bewitched rather than enchanted, but I wouldn't use the word bewitched as that just reminded me of the old TV show.

"Even future Ravenclaws only need so many books," the Professor said when it became clear that I was at risk of clearing the shelves "and I promise you that Hogwarts has an extensive library".

She might be right, and I still hadn't brought my wand. I should go do that now as should my companions.

Diagon Alley. Wizarding Britain.

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"When a witch or wizard acquires their first wand it is supposed to be a private moment," said the animagus as she led us to the store "So you will go in one at a time to obtain your wands. Mr Twycross please go first".

This was going to be a very important purchase and a memorable moment in my life, so I took a moment to savour it.

"We shall be waiting here when you are done" the professor assured me.

Before long I headed into the dusty wand shop, and I was soon set upon by the wandmaker who got to work right away by shoving different wands into my hand one after the other. Nothing happened, I didn't blow anything up or make any messes.

He seemed rather frantic in his efforts to get matched up with the right wand as quickly as possible. Perhaps he needed to use the toilet.

"No, not unicorn tail" he muttered, "And most certainly not dragon heartstring, that just leaves…".

A wand that looked more like the horn of some exotic creature than a bit of wood was forced into my hand.

"Aspen, 12 inches, somewhat flexible, with a feather from a wild phoenix" I was told, "How does it feel?".

Words almost failed me.

"I feel like I've been reunited with a friend I'd forgotten I had," I said.

That was the only way I could articulate the feeling.

"I know exactly what you mean," said the store owner as he smiled at me

"It's not the same for everyone, but the sentiment is often similar".

It was soon explained to me that a phoenix's feather was the rarest core type and these feathers are capable of the greatest range of magic, though they may take longer than either unicorn or dragon cores to reveal this.

"Phoenix tail feather wands show the most initiative, I've even heard of them acting on their own accord, a quality that many witches and wizards dislike" the old man let me know "Phoenix feather wands are always the pickiest when it comes to potential owners, for the creature from which they are taken is one of the most independent you'll ever find. These wands are the hardest to tame and to personalise, and while their allegiance is usually hard-won, I promise it will be well worth it".

I was something of an outsider even before I'd changed worlds.

"Now as you can see wand-quality aspen wood is white and fine-grained, as such it is highly prized by all wand-makers for its stylish resemblance to ivory" Ollivander informed me.

Well, that explained why I thought it looked more like a horn with a fancy handle than a stick.

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"Aspen wood is also known for outstanding charmwork" I soon learned "The proper owner of such a wand can become an accomplished duellist. Perhaps you will become one too".

I was planning to focus on defence against the dark arts because I knew what dangers were ahead, and this sounded like a good wand for such an endeavour.

"The wand for this wood came from a fine specimen of Populus Tremula which grows fight here in the British Isle" the wandmaker mentioned "I put a lot of work into this wand so please look after it".

I fully intended to and once the wand was boxed up I asked about holsters and polish. I intended to take good care of my wand. After that, I headed outside to find the teacher waiting for me as promised.

"Miss Roth why don't you go next" she suggested.

The wait felt long even if it wasn't and soon all three of us hand wands.

"I will leave you to make your own way home," said the Deputy

Headmistress "I have another appointment this afternoon".

Since I had no intention of ever returning to the orphanage we headed for the Leaky Cauldron so I could book us some rooms.

---

Part 4

---

Retirement Plan.

Part 4.

The Leaky Cauldron. Diagon Alley.

We'd rented a couple of rooms, one for me and one for the girls, with us paying in advance to keep them ours until the school year started. Although I hoped we wouldn't need them for that long.

Then I wrote a letter to the orphanage explaining that I'd come into some money and this meant would be taking care of myself as well as my companions from now on.

Even if they tried to find us, and given their limited resources this was unlikely, they'd never find us here in the ally. If they got involved with the police then they wouldn't have any better luck and with no signs of foul play, law enforcement wouldn't be motivated to do much.

This evening I'd sat down with Dawn and Raven for a nice meal provided by the innkeeper Tom along with some wine because the drinking age in the Wizarding World was 17, not 18.

I'd figured that candles, some nice food, a bit of wine and conversation would make for a pleasant evening that might just end with me getting my wick wet.

So far neither of the girls had come to see me, but it wasn't that late and they might both have decided to wait a little longer before sharing a bed with me. If so I was fine with waiting as I didn't want to pressure either of them and spoil our growing relationships.

They couldn't just leave if things didn't work out as they were bound to me so we all had to make an effort to get along and respect each other. Once we were in my home I might be the one to make a move on them rather than give the girls space and let them come to me when they felt ready.

I decided to spend my night lying in bed studying the wizarding world and learning about casting some basic spells. I'd been practising the most simple of spells for over an hour at this point when not taking notes.

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" Lumos," I said.

The spell lit up the tip of my wand with a light much brighter than any that I had managed to produce before now and for a time I simply waited for something to happen.

Only like before, there was no owl from the Ministry to tell me off for performing magic outside of school nor had there been since I'd started practising.

I looked at the notes I'd made while practising writing with a quill on parchment.

"The Trace detects magical activity around witches and wizards, so the Ministry of Magic knows when magic is performed"

I'd just copied that part from my Magical Theory textbook, a subject which not only explained ideas on how magic could be used but also it speculated where magic might come from, they were just theories, no one knew for certain where magic came from or why it worked.

The book also gave examples of how magic was used in this society as well as some of the rules. Including the Trace, a tracker of some kind that was placed on witches and wizards who had not yet been qualified witches and wizards, which you become by taking the OWL exams.

For now, I was trying to figure out if the Trace would ever even apply to me or the girls since we weren't from this world and the Perks I'd purchased for us might have prevented the Trace from ever registering us.

I didn't know because there was no explanation on how the Trace was placed on someone or how it was able to detect someone who was performing magic.

Nor did I know how it was removed. In this world, perhaps the Ministry removed it when your OWL exams were marked.

According to this book (which I guess Harry Potter never bothered to read since he didn't know about The Trace) when any magical activity was performed in the vicinity of an unqualified individual, the Improper Use of Magic Office within the Ministry of Magic was alerted to the spell that was used, and to the location of the caster as well as the time it was cast.

The Trace couldn't continue to function on a person once removed. So it must be applied in a way that can't be repeated and it doesn't seem to come into effect until a student actually arrives at Hogwarts. Perhaps it was applied when you get Sorted, if so then the Sorting suddenly made a lot more sense.

If it could be cast on adults then tracking suspected Death Eaters would have been really easy since all anyone would have to do to prove that they were bad guys was place the Trace on them and then record what magic they used, and they could compare the location recorded to the sight of recent Death Eater attacks.

Although you could still claim to be under the Imperius Curse at that point so it wouldn't have been a perfect method of sorting out who were the real Death Eaters.

Perhaps the Ministry did not monitor pre-Hogwarts students, because their magic was normally uncontrollable, and therefore they weren't considered legally responsible for their magic.

This did leave me to wonder what Muggleborns do if they accidentally inflate their aunts as Potter did in his third year. If they are not monitored the Ministry won't know and the Muggle-borns can't just floo call the magical government, or maybe they were monitored and someone just came to cover things up.

Either way, it seemed as if this state of affairs could lead to many breaches of the International Statute of Secrecy that the magical folk depend on to keep themselves hidden from the non-magical people.

It also seemed that the Ministry must ignore when magic was used by underage wizards and witches of wizarding families because they can only detect magic done around underage wizards and witches, not who does the magic.

Perhaps they expect the parents of magical households to discipline their children and clean up any messes, and to be fair the risk of exposure is minimal inside a wizarding home.

As a result of this, children born into wizarding households could practice magic under their parent's supervision before going to Hogwarts giving them an unfair advantage over Muggle-borns.

Yet despite this Muggleborn and those raised in the Muggle world seem to be able to keep up with their peers I wondered if that was because children just couldn't learn magic very well or because the law was enforced more strictly than it might seem.

What mattered to me is that since I was in a place lived in by magic users then they shouldn't be able to detect the magic I was using.

My thinking was that I should test this again when I got to my new home and see if I get a warning. If The Trace did work on me I would have to find a way to remove it and to prevent my companions from getting into trouble.

There had to be a way around it because Tom Riddle murdered his muggle family before he'd finished school and he framed his Uncle all without The Trace alerting anyone to the truth. If a young Voldemort could figure it out then so could I.

"Lumos," I said.

Casting spells wasn't hard work, at least not spells like this, you just have to keep in mind four factors, these are wand movement, incantation, concentration and intention.

The first two seemed like aids for the others, they put you in the right frame of mind, and without focus, you'd get nothing done right.

According to Magical Theory, a spell was a controlled manifestation of magic that supernaturally affected the world, such as levitating objects, conjuring fire, producing water, or stunning an individual.

Most spells are cast by a witch or a wizard, and spells were often produced with an incantation and can appear as jets of light which strike their target. Because of this spells could often miss, be dodged, or blocked, either by an object or another spell.

Magical creatures don't use spells like witches and wizards do, or at least not in the same way, their power is more internal, although vampires can cast some spells, and the older they get the more cool stuff can do, like turning into bats, or fog, or control minds.

Thankfully there were few vampires in Britain; they tended to live in old castles in mainland Europe for reasons of melodrama I assumed.

Werewolves were far more of a concern in this country, but they are only a danger during the full moon, although Fenrir Greyback might be an exception to this rule. If I ever saw that guy I would hopefully be able to put him down like the rabid dog he'd become.

I had an interest in wandless magic, which as the name suggests was the performance of magic without the use of a wand. Such magic was often difficult to perform and could have unexpected or volatile results if not done properly.

Usually, witches and wizards accustomed to using wands could only reliably perform wandless magic if they possessed great skill and Wandless magic was not taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. At least not to young students since there was no mention of it in my books.

I felt certain Raven could teach me all sorts of tricks.

" Lumos," I said.

Every time I created light it became easier to do and so I would keep practising this spell and other simple ones until I mastered every spell in my books.

My door creaked open and then closed again as Raven came in. She was dressed for sleeping in some old nightshirt.

"Close the curtains" she instructed.

I did that and cancelled the charm that had filled y room with false daylight, a feature I'd been using to make it easier to read.

As I did that former Teen Titan got into my bed and when I joined her she didn't waste any time. She pressed right into me as we began kissing. Despite this distraction, I did wonder why it hadn't been Dawn who got into bed with me first as she seemed more outgoing.

She must have been able to feel something hard and big poke her through my boxers. She had to be given how close together we were lying together on the four-poster bed in my room.

It was as if she had read my mind, which wasn't impossible for her even with my perks, she took off her nightgown just when I'd started thinking about trying to get it off her.

I also began to undress. She pulled away from the kissing so she could get a good view of me and she liked what she saw. I'd done some good work with that optimization perk to ensure that I had a very nice body.

Now that she had access to my body, the former half-demon ran her hands all over me as she explored the bludges my muscles made. I didn't look like some sort of bodybuilder I'd kept myself lean as well as strong as agility would matter more than might when it came to dodging spells.

Raven could see my erection once I removed my boxers and it seemed to impress her as for a while she couldn't do more than stare at it. She might never have seen an erect penis in the flesh before now and I was pleased by how transfixed she was by the sight.

She didn't keep undressing once she got down her bra and knickers, but that was more than enough for my eyes. At least for now.

"Looks like it might be hurting, it's so stiff," she said, "Can I help you feel better?".

Raven gave me a small smile and without my permission, not that I minded, she started jerking the cock in her hand, at first she moved very slowly, then faster and faster.

Since her grip needed work, I guided her on how to do it right, and she followed my instructions very well.

"James, do you like this?" she asked.

I told her that I did since this was the truth, and she smiled at me before Raven put the head of my cock into her mouth. Before long she was sucking and licking it all over. She had little idea of what she was doing and she picked up on that.

"I'll do better next time" she promised.

Her need for my approval pleased me, and it was something I could enjoy later, for now, I wanted to enjoy her body, and I wasn't going to cum from her clumsy efforts any time soon so it would be best for me to handle matters myself.

Raven needed to be trained to better please me, and she'd seemed eager to be instructed, so I ordered her to show me her breasts, and she did as she was told.

The dark-haired girl undid her bra and I took in the sight of her breasts. I had to wonder if she'd used a certain perk on them or if they were perky because she was a comic book character.

I didn't comment on this because I could tell how shy she was feeling right now. Besides actions could speak louder than words. So rather than talk I reached out and started playing with them, squeezing them softly, then I used my thumbs to play with her now erect nipples.

Once she seemed more relaxed I more or less attacked her right breast and put some of it into my mouth as my right arm held onto her hips. Raven put her arms around me and seemed to be trying to push my head into her chest.

Meanwhile, my left hand began to continue playing with the breast that I was not keeping my mouth busy with. Then I switched and gave her left breast the same treatment.

"I guess you like them," said Raven with a smile I heard rather than saw.

At this point, I felt it was time to try something else so I ordered her to lie down. Once she had I pulled down Raven's purple underwear so that I could inspect her pussy.

She kept the hair down there neat, but since I like it bare there I told her to shave it all off when she got the chance.

"There might be a spell for that" was all she had to say on the matter.

She didn't have a chance to say anything else as I decided to reward her good behaviour by licking her wet little fuckhole. She'd clearly never experienced this before because she could barely keep still as I probed her pussy with my tongue.

I'd done this a few times before so I knew how to get a response from a woman this way. Still, this was only a delay and I wanted to get to the main event so to speak.

"You will be my first," she said when my intentions became clear on what I was about to do "Kind of a big deal".

"I indent to be your first and only," I told her.

Slowly I pressed the tip of my dick into her entrance. Although I wanted to hurry, I wasn't about to risk hurting Raven any more than necessary and this was important to her.

We locked eyes, her eyes were blue like mine rather than the purple I assumed they had once been, as I slipped further into her. I watched for any possible discomfort or pain, but so far so good.

Then as I got further into her, she flinched so I tried to pull back, but she prevented me from doing so by holding on to me. She shook her head and told me that it was all right, that she wanted me to take her cherry.

"Are you sure?" I asked her.

"Yes… but please just break it quickly" she replied.

I pulled out a little, then slowly pushed back in breaking her maidenhead. She whimpered, but as time passed I could tell that she was feeling pleasure and not just pain.

Seeing this as a good sign, I sped up my pace. I didn't rush, I carefully began fucking her a little faster over time. I was living her the chance to get used to having me inside her.

Since she didn't say anything to indicate that she was pleased or happy with what I was doing I only had her facial expression to go by. At least she started to relax and enjoy herself.

"James, go faster… harder…" Raven begged into my ear.

Soon I gave in to her plea. I pounded into her over and over again, until the inevitable happened, all too soon for my liking one of us reached our climax, she went first and she wasn't subtle about it.

I really hoped for her sake that these rooms were soundproof or everyone in the building would have just found out that she'd gotten a good fucking. I doubted that anyone would mention anything as magical people seemed more prudish than the muggles of this country.

As for me, I wasn't far behind. Cumming inside her without a care for if she could get pregnant or not. Once I was done I reminded myself that she was a smart young woman, she would have prepared for this so I didn't need to worry.

Diagon Ally. Wizarding World.

Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour was a shop that sold ice cream as the name strongly suggested, but not all it sold was aimed at children or adults with a sweet tooth.

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The store was located on the north side of Diagon Alley, next to the Second-Hand Bookshop that Raven, Dawn and I had just been into while looking for some rare books.

We'd found nothing of any real interest in the book store and since it was such a nice day I'd figured that we should have a treat before we got back to exploring this magical world.

I wasn't worried about the Deputy Headmistress seeing us as if she and asked why we were here I'd just say that we'd come here to check out the ally without having to rush about buying our school stuff.

It wasn't even a lie as we were looking around at a more sedate pace than we had before. Something my bank balance would later reflect assuming that the goblins could track that when I could just pull money out of the vault at will.

The Parlour was a small shop with places to sit down while inside and a small area outside with a bunch of tables and chairs to make use of when the weather was pleasant. British Summer is something of an oxymoron, but the day was warm enough.

Inside, there could be found lots of colourful ice cream on display, and while many flavours and combinations were unknown to me and didn't sound at all tasty, there were some basics like vanilla as well as iced coffees, one of which I was currently enjoying.

While enjoying my treat I was also reading the paper, looking for a report of that break-in at the bank. So far there seemed to be no sign of that, but if my memories served me well then Harry Potter wouldn't even be aware of the Wizarding World at this point in the timeline.

I felt sure that the break-in took place after this visit to the ally. Unless something major changed the course of events it looked as if things were happening as in they did in the books.

The paper did contain some interesting information, such as a very small article about me. It was far from headline news, but it was now known to people of the magical world that the long-lost scion of the Twycross family had been located and would be attending Hogwarts in September.

I now knew a lot more about my family in this world than I had before thanks to the article. For example, I had a distant cousin called Wilkie Twycross who was an Apparition Instructor over at the Ministry of Magic.

Since I wanted to learn to apparate as quickly as possible it seemed smart to write to him and ask him for private lessons. He might give extra attention to his family if I played the orphan card and maybe even offer a discount.

"What was that letter you got this morning?" Raven asked me.

She acted far less intrigued than I knew she really must be. Not knowing what was in the letter must be making her very curious as this wasn't the first time she'd inquired about it. Dawn was far more interested in having a large amount of ice cream for lunch.

"We can move to Twycross Manor today" I let her know "We just need to pick up the deed from the right department at the Ministry".

This was unexpected as I'd thought it would take a long time for the Ministry of Magic to sort out the paperwork. I assumed that the CYOA was doing something to spread things up while painting my backstory.

"Come on let's go check it out" Dawn decided as she finished her ice cream very rapidly "The Ministry might be worth a look. I wonder if it's just like the movies".

I finished my coffee and then once we all headed out of the Leaky Cauldron so that one of us could summon the Knight Bus. I didn't want to ride that infernal machine again so either I needed to learn to teleport or purchase a magical car.

As for getting into the Ministry, there was supposed to be a telephone booth that we had to use in order to get in. I felt certain that between us we'd figure it out.

---

Part 5

---

Retirement Plan.

Part 5.

Twycross House. Wizarding World.

Once the paperwork had all been sorted out, and there was always paperwork when you deal with a government, Raven, Dawn and I found ourselves standing outside of the stone-built house the address of which we got from the Ministry.

Not that we'd needed to know the address as we could access the house magically, but I'd wanted to see the place from the outside when I came to claim my new home.

I'd seen no reason to come here sooner as I wouldn't have started at the orphanage if it wasn't important to setting up my backstory. Plus with my Seed Money, I'd been able to afford to rent rooms and I'd figured that we'd all enjoy spending time at Diagon Alley.

The big house came with 3 floors, not counting the cellar and the attic, with enough grounds for a very impressive set of gardens that made me glad I'd been careful to optimise myself so as not to have hay fever.

I'd not suffered much from it during my last life, only suffering when the pollen levels were very high, but it was good it couldn't happen again.

Over time the gardens had become wild and overgrown as if they had been unattended for years, as would be expected, I hoped that the house was in a better state. It should be since it was part of the CYOA, and perhaps the overgrown gardens were part of how my new home blended in.

"There's a greenhouse," remarked Raven as we walked around the ground "And a lot of room for some nice gardens. I wonder if we can grow our own magical plants".

Dawn saw the potential of this place as well.

"Oh maybe we have room for a horse," she said "I've always been a city girl, but if we're going to live in the countryside I want to do it right. We should have some animals and a nice garden. My Mom always wanted to try growing her own vegetables".

If Raven was getting a cat I saw no reason why Dawn couldn't have a pet as well. Although looking after one could be a hassle if we spent so much time at school. Perhaps I could hire someone to maintain the grounds I would just need to keep them out of the house.

As we explored some more we found that the garden around the back of the house, out of sight was well maintained. It was filled with beautiful plants both mundane and magical. It was meant to be a space for relaxation.

"I'm going to enjoy mediating out here," remarked Raven.

We soon moved into the house to find that it was old-fashioned in some ways and very modern in others. The kitchen looked as if belonged to a magical family as did all of the bedrooms, and what I took to be a living room would seem normal to wizards.

However, parts of it were clearly not to be seen by the locals. Such as a fancy spa that was equipped with everything you need to relax and unwind.

Near to that was a hot tub which is big enough to fit ten people comfortably. It came with a bar on the side so that we could access food and drink without having to leave the tub.

"If you ever can't find me it's because I'm in this room" stated Dawn Summers "You might have to drag me out while I'm kicking and screaming".

Another room was dedicated to entertainment and it look like a dream I would have at the age of seventeen as it contained a pool table, arcade machines, and a massive TV with various consoles, some of which wouldn't be available to the public for a couple of decades.

I even had room for tabletop games and it came with unpainted Warhammer 40k figures. That flaming-eye guy had done well in setting all of this up.

"Oh yeah, I'm so going to paint these and find a way to magically animate them" I declared.

Before I could start on that the girls insisted on exploring more of the house.

We found a theatre room with a huge screen and enough seats for all of us and our guests should we ever trust anyone enough to show them this room. I suspected that it had a great image and sound quality.

"So which night is movie night?" questioned Dawn.

We were all a little surprised by the sex dungeon in the basement, even if I must have selected it, the room came complete with all the toys, special equipment, and outfits.

"I'm not saying I won't come down here, but it will take me a while to work up the nerve," said Raven.

To be fair she'd been a virgin yesterday.

"So you have a sex dungeon and holding cells" stated Dawn "Is there something you need to tell us?".

I could see why it would look worrying.

"The cells only cost one point and I figured we might need to lock someone up since we can't trust the Ministry to do the right thing" I explained "I didn't actually know about the sex dungeon I just selected the option for luxuries in the home to make living here more pleasant for you".

Dawn didn't seem concerned.

"You don't need to worry about me. I'm a good girl" she teased.

No one wanted to spend time in the basement so we checked out the rest o the house.

"And we have a massive indoor swimming pool," said Dawn "Of course, we do. Why wouldn't we have a massive pool?".

It was too large to fit inside the house, not that this mattered with magic.

"And we get workshops too" reminded Raven "I remember that much about your setup".

I had indeed paid for that feature. It would be useful for us all to have our own workspaces.

"There might be a House Elf somewhere around here," I said to Dawn when she'd commented on how clean this place was "But since I don't know his or her name I can't summon them".

A small popping sound was soon heard.

"Rooby is here young Master," said a House Elf.

I knew that these magical beings were loyal to the witch or wizard who owns them. I also knew that House-Elves who serve wizards and witches and are usually found under the employment of old wizarding families taking residence in their homes, and that must do everything that their masters command unless they are freed.

Since I was supposed to have come from an old wizarding family it made sense that I'd own a House Elf, or would be due to inherit one. It would be part of my backstory as it would be expected for me to have one. I had mixed feelings about this and I wondered if I should free this Rooby.

A house elf can only be freed when their master presents them with clothes, so I could free this creature if I so desired, but I didn't know if Rooby would like that.

House Elves have their own brand of wandless magic which, despite their small physical size, is very powerful, anyone who'd seen Dobby blast Lucius Malfoy in the second movie knew all bout that. House elves also presumably produce elf-made wine, given its name. I'd tried some at the Leaky Caudron, it was quite nice.

Just by looking at the little creature, I could tell that the Twycross family treated their servants better than the likes of the Malfoys and this was good. His uniform he wore some kind of little butler's uniform, was clean and I saw no signs of injury. Hopefully, these weren't the kind of elves who punished themselves.

"It is good that you have come back, young Master" the Elf was now saying "The house has been too easy to clean since you left, and you have brought young Mistresses with you. Is one of them to be next Mrs Twycross? Will there be babies to care for?".

Raven, Dawn and I all looked at each other, I felt a little awkward for a few moments.

"These ladies are Miss Rachel Roth and Miss Dawn Summers" I let the creature know as I gestured to both of the young women "They will be staying here with me when we're not attending Hogwarts. I'm not getting married any time soon".

This creature seemed sane, unlike Kreacher, and he didn't seem as excitable as Dobby, assuming he was male.

"Have you been well, Rooby?" I asked.

The elf seemed surprised by the question.

"Rooby is fine, young Master" he told me "Rooby has been working part-time at the Ministry to keep busy and to spend time with other elves".

Well, at least he'd had some company all those years he'd been alone.

Upon seeing him I'd become concerned that he might be like Kreacher.

"Can you sort out the gardens?" I requested.

Rooby looked ashamed of himself.

"Master will need a garden elf I am just a house elf," he said "Rooby can find a garden elf who needs more work if Master wishes".

The grounds would need to be maintained.

"Please take care of that" I requested.

The little elf bowed.

"Will everything be okay with us moving in?" I wondered "Need any help stocking the larder or anything like that?".

Again the House Elf seemed shocked that I asked.

"I will take care of everything young Master," said the House Elf "As I always have".

In the future, I might look more into how House Elves worked and lived, for now, I had other things to focus on.

"We need to pick out bedrooms," said Dawn "For once I am getting a big bedroom".

Since I wasn't concerned with my sleeping area I decided to go check out my workshop instead and to find my magical items.

Twycross Manor. Wizarding World.

Having a magic mirror was all sorts of fun. I'd been experimenting with it ever since I'd stopped exploring the house and I had entered my workshop.

This workshop, a feature I'd selected using the CYOA, was a mix of a study area and a potion lab, a fully stocked and equipped lab that would replenish its supplies, meaning that I hadn't needed to spend a knut on school supplies for the subject of potions.

While that was a little annoying I had only myself to blame for not taking that into account, and at least I would save money in the future.

Also in this room, I had a writing area, a space for even more books, a telescope with some charts next to the window and by the other much larger window was a small area to keep a few magical plants.

Most of my focus was on the magical mirror as I'd been testing its limits, trying to figure out what it could do. So far I'd discovered that it could show me any place or object I could name.

Not even Grimmuald Place despite me not being in on the Secret that kept it hidden. I knew it was magically hidden because I couldn't write down the name of the place or speak it out loud.

The only reason I knew that much was because I'd seen the place while looking for Harry Potter.

I also knew that the mirror can show me, anyone, that I have seen before as long as I knew their name even if I have only seen them in the movies.

When I sought out Voldemort it didn't work until I asked for Tom Riddle it showed me Professor Quirrell, or to be more precise the back of his head. I couldn't see through his turban, but I knew that the Dark Lord was there.

Thanks to the mirror I was able to confirm that Barty Crouch Junior was alive, out of Azkaban and hidden in his father's home. I wondered if I should top off the Aurors about the Death Eater.

When I asked the mirror to show me Winky the House Elf, who doesn't appear in the movies, the mirror didn't work, and I was able to test this with some minor characters who don't appear in the movies.

After changing the view back to that of seventeen-year-old Harry Potter I wondered why he was at Grimmauld Place rather than his Aunt's house. Then I remembered that he'd be seventeen by now and if the protections worked like the books they would be gone by now, so it made sense that Dumbledore would move him.

I didn't get sound, just an image, so I didn't know what the Boy-Who-Lived was saying to his godfather. I wondered if Siruis Black was free in this timeline or hiding in a home he hated just so he could look after his godson. I could find out later.

Again I changed the view so that I could see the Philosopher's Stone. Obtaining it was one of the challenges I'd selected to have more points to spend and to give myself a reason to ever leave my new house.

It was sitting in a vault in Gringotts many miles away and behind many defences, but it looked close enough for me to reach out and simply take it.

"James!" a voice called out.

I really should think of a better name for myself. James Twycross is fine to be known as publicly, but it wasn't a suitable name for a badass wizard. If I ever travelled this world while having adventure I would need a much cooler name to be known by.

"In here!" I yelled back.

Dawn and Raven soon entered my workshop.

"Can I help you, ladies?" I asked.

Dawn smiled at me.

"We came to convince you to take us out for a couple of drinks at the Leaky Cauldron," said the Key "Or maybe that Three Broomsticks pub".

Raven didn't like the sound of that.

"I don't want to see Hogwarts until we take the train, if we do it will spoil the experience, and we have a bar here" she pointed out.

Dawn partly agreed with that.

"Good point, I don't want to see the castle until then, but I do want a drink and maybe we can check out what Diagon Alley is like in the evening. Do wizards have restaurants and nightclubs?".

I had no idea, and I wouldn't mind finding out, but before I could agree to go out Raven began checking out the notes I'd been taking.

"You need to get that stone to keep your points?" she asked.

None of us seemed to remember every detail about the setup. I should have taken more time with it.

"Yes it's one of my challenges" I explained "There's no rush to complete the others I have years, but the biggest challenge is getting my hands on the stone and keeping it. I have to obtain the stone before it gets destroyed".

Not that I knew for sure it would be as I wouldn't trust Dumbledore's words to Harry about it being destroyed. I wouldn't;t trust Dumbledore if I was dying in a desert and he offered me a drink.

"What happens if you fail?" wondered Dawn.

That was a concern.

"Since I spent the points in advance I will lose whatever it was I spent them on," I told her.

That could be a problem.

"I won't be able to take it out of the magic mirror the Headmaster uses once it's at the school because I want to use it," I said to Dawn "I don't know if I would ever use the Elixer of Life because I don't know what sort of side effects it can have or even its made, but being able to produce gold sounds good as long as we do it carefully".

Perhaps I could take it from Hagrid when he takes the stone to Hogwarts? I just didn't know when that was going to be since Harry Potter might not need the Gamekeeper to help him get his stuff for school.

Plus even with my magical staff to amplify my spells I didn't have my magic that could disable or stun a half-giant.

"Give me a moment," said Raven.

She made a portal of dark energy appear and then she stepped into it. I saw her appear in the mirror as she used her powers to pick up the stone and destroy its packaging. Then she reentered my workshop before closing the portal.

"I don't want you to lose any points," she told me as she handed over the stone.

Dawn leaned in for a look.

"Oh it's pretty" she commented.

Spoiler

[img: https/vignette.wikia./warner-bros-entertainment/images/8/8a/Philosophers_Stone.jpg]

Before saying anything I placed the stone in my extra-dimensional storage. I hoped that once in there that no one could track it.

"Don't worry. I removed the tracking spell on the package," Raven told me.

Since she was empathic she must have picked up on my concern and decided what had been worrying me.

There was something else on my mind and I wished to discuss it.

"Can you just go wherever you want?" I asked.

I doubted it was as simple as she made it look.

"Not exactly" she answered, "Or I would have taken us to Diagon Ally right away. I have to know where it is I am going, and the further I travel the more it strains my powers. That's why I can't just go back to my dimension it's too far from his one, even just going to the bank took effort, and it adds to the strain to take people with me, but I can grab stuff for you if you show me the location in your mirror".

This would make a lot of things easier.

"Well that's a load off my mind," I said "Thank you, Raven. If there's anything I can do to repay you, let me know".

She didn't long to think about it.

"I want a date" she informed me "On our first weekend at the school you're taking me to the Three Broomsticks for a Butterbeer. If we're going to Hogwarts we're going to it right".

That was fine with me, and I could tell that it mattered to her.

"I still can't believe that we will get to go to Hogwarts," said Dawn "Willow will be so jealous, if I ever get to tell her".

"Envyous" corrected Raven "And I will help you to master your Key powers so you can visit your family".

If anyone could figure out how Dawn could access her powers as the Key it would be Raven and the CYOA made it clear that Dawn could learn to use her powers if she trained.

"Drink first" insisted Dawn.

"Someone's eager" I teased.

She smirked at me.

"I'm not an alcoholic or anything like that it's just nice to be able to go out without worrying about my control freak of a sister spoiling everything or being kidnapped by demons" she said.

Well, that made sense.

"Let me grab my coat," I said.

Since I'd put it into my special storage space I just had to reach out and grab it.

"I want to wear your invisibility cloak" requested Raven "I miss wearing a cloak".

Without saying a word I summoned the cloak, which didn't make you invisible unless you pulled up the hood, and Raven gifted me with one of her rare smiles before she put it on. As soon as did she began to seem more herself.

"Let's go see if the wizarding world has a nightlife," I said "If they don't we can try the normal world".

Since my expectations weren't high I didn't think I'd be disappointed. As for the normal world, some of the places I'd enjoyed visiting the first time I was seventeen should exist here.

"James, won't you having the stone change the plot of the first book?" asked Dawn as we headed out "I mean if Dumbledore doesn't have the stone at the school will Voldemort go there".

I gave it a little thought.

"Dumbledore can use a fake stone to lure Voldemort to the school," I said "I'm surprised he didn't use a fake one since it would be less risky".

My magic mirror wouldn't have been fooled that was, but Tom Riddle wouldn't have the means of testing the stone until he actually stole it so a false stone would have worked to draw him out of hiding.

"Wizards in this world are fools" commented Raven "I took the stone, Voldemort will never know we have it, and it is safer with us".

"Yeah you stole it," said Dawn with a look of mild surprise on her pretty face "Hold on, aren't you a superhero?".

We made our way to the road so we could summon the kight bus, no need to tax Raven's powers when there was public transport.

"I'm retired" stated the former Teen Titan "And it is safer with us than anywhere else in this world. Only we can access the stone and no one has any reason to suspect we have it".

She didn't mention it, but I felt sure she'd want to study the stone, but that wasn't something we could discuss tomorrow, for tonight we should go out and enjoy ourselves as we discovered more about this world.

---

Part 6

---

Retirement Plan.

Part 6.

Twycross House. Wizarding World.

After taking both of my girls out for a couple of drinks, and after discovering that there is no such thing as a nightclub in the Wizarding World, much to Dawn's dismay, we returned home.

As it turned out they were both total lightweights when it came to drinking and needed to go lie down. Despite the rather late hour, I wasn't at all tired. So I returned to my workshop to look through my growing pile of notes.

One of the things I meant to do was test the personal perk I'd purchased that allowed me to me heal with my hands. With a thought I could make them glow gold.

In theory, I should be able to fix any medical problem short of death, however, I didn't have much of an idea what that meant in practice this meant I would need to test this power.

Already I'd considered sneaking off to a hospital and fixing a few people while remaining invisible. However, there were issues with that.

The Ministry had ways of tracking when magic was done in a muggle area, at least with wizards who had The Trace on them and I didn't know if I had the trace on me or if it would detect me using my CYOA-given abilities as unlikely as that seemed.

As such it looked like I'd have to bring some people here and I had the cells for them. Only that could lead to other problems as I don't think my girls would agree with me taking people as test subjects and people going missing from hospitals would also cause issues.

After some thought, I recalled that two magical people were suffering from an illness of the mind that no magic could cure. Frank and Alice Longbottom. It didn't take long for me to use my magic mirror to confirm that they were still in the magical hospital.

With that in mind, I headed off to the hospital. The Knight Bus was a 24/7 service and I knew the address of the hospital which was also open 24/7 since idiots injure themselves at all hours.

I'd been to enough hospitals in my lifetime to know that being reckless with your health isn't something limited to magical humans.

Since I wasn't a fool I made sure not to go directly to the hospital on the bus and when I went inside I was invisible thanks to my cool cloak. I'd summoned it and I made sure to remind myself to return it to Raven once I was done as she rather liked wearing it.

To enter those premises, one simply had to step through the window of what appears to be a condemned department store called Purge and Dowse, Ltd.

The window acted as a magical gateway to the main building, much like the barrier at King's Cross Station which led to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

I assumed that there was a powerful muggle-repelling ward on the window to stop some random person on the street from simply leaning on the window and falling into the magical hospital.

When the Deputy Headmistress had given us a basic review of the magical world she'd told us that the hospital ended up located where it is because no one could find a better place to house it. Everywhere in Diagon Alley was too small, and space-expanding charms have their limits.

Eventually, a normal Muggle building was purchased in London so that patients could come and go while fitting in with the crowds. Not that they always did if the scenes in the books were anything to go by.

Lucky for the magical peoples, the mundanes of this world seemed to be making an effort not to notice the magic. Sunnydale Syndrome seemed to infect humans across the multiverse.

Although the hospital was meant for the magical community only, Muggles are admitted when they fall prey to magical problems, at least according to what I'd been told. I assumed that the non-magical humans had their memories removed before being sent home.

Also according to the teacher, there were strict guidelines concerning what gifts are allowed into the hospital, for the safety of the patients, so at least someone was acting a bit sensible. This did not concern me however as I was going to bypass any searches for contraband.

Even at night long after visiting hours had come to an end St Mungos was a busy place. There were many occupied beds and people sitting in the waiting area.

I wondered if this was typical and if the wand wavers were just fools who were always getting themselves injured. The magical world didn't even have much in the way of denizens if the student body at Hogwarts is anything to go buy so this seemed like a lot of injured people relative to the whole population.

Spoiler

[img: https/1.bp./-7F08SLGVu8s/WHv-44URrOI/AAAAAAAAQSk/MppjRFUXi3chc7oEDqeD1dUoK_EKvMYlQCLcB/s1600/wizards-injuries.jpg]

Another thing I pondered was how overworked and dedicated the staff would be if they can help all of these people. It was a shame that I couldn't them more without risking myself.

My destination was The Janus Thickey Ward which was located on the fourth floor here at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. The ward was named for Janus Thickey, a wizard who faked his own death so he could go and live with the landlady of a nearby pub.

Why anyone would name anything after someone like that I had no idea. Magical humans seemed to be insane a lot of the time. Common sense was even rarer here than in the mundane world.

I wondered if this was a byproduct of using too much magic or if this was the result of being raised in the magical world. If this was the latter then I felt glad that I'd grown up as a more normal human.

The door to the ward was locked, to prevent the patients from wandering about in the dark I assumed, but the door to the ward was opened easily enough by a simple unlocking spell that I got after a few tries.

" Alohomora" I whispered and my wand cooperated.

Security was a bit of a joke here in the magical world, something I'd made a mental note about. I didn't even have Raven to help me get into this place, and it had been easy, the vulnerable people here really should be better protected.

Thinking on perhaps once I had made some money, and I had a fair few ideas on how to manage that, I should make a big donation to his hospital and get them to improve upon their security. It would help with my renown and it wasn't as if I was planning on spending my own money.

This ward housed residents whose minds had been permanently affected by spells in ways that left them unable to live a normal life and they would be considered mentally ill in the Muggle world.

Which meant it was very important that I not wake anyone up. If they did awaken they would freak out and alert the staff when they became distressed.

I might be invisible, but that wouldn't help me much if the ward was flooded with people or someone started firing off spells. I could well imagine some moron doing that even if endangered innocent people.

In caught in the main part of the hospital, I could have just made the excuse that I was embarrassed to be seen, and that was why I was using the cloak. Here in this ward that excuse wouldn't make any sense.

Before long, I found Mr and Mrs Longbottom in a pair of beds that were next to each other. I didn't need to wake them all I needed to do was trigger my power with a thought and touch their heads for a while.

It would have been simple enough to check if I'd been successful if they were awake as I'd have been able to see any improvement. As it was I might have to come back.

I was sure that if they recovered that the magical newspaper would let me know as this would be big news. This made me think that maybe just healing them had been a bad idea as it would look a bit odd if they recovered rather suddenly.

Why I'd not considered this before I didn't know. Perhaps I was more tired than I'd realised and maybe the drink had affected my judgment a little. Next time I would run my ideas past one of my girls before leaving as it's always a good idea to get a second opinion on these things.

Since one of my challenges was to become somewhat famous it might seem smart to heal the Longbottoms publicly, but if I did that then everyone who wanted healing would never give me a moment's peace and the Ministry would try to control me.

No, there were other ways to become renowned and I had years to carry out those plans, for now, it would be best to stay under the radar and avoid the attention of certain wizards.

With that in mind, I waited a bit and did some more healing on other people. No one woke up and that made me wonder if they were being heavily medicated so that they slept so peacefully.

Once I was convinced that I'd done some good I made my way out of the room and I used a feature of the CYOA to return directly to my house rather than risk bumping into someone on the way out.

If I recalled the set-up correctly I should now be able to quickly return to this place until I opened up a way into the house from somewhere else.

Twycross House. Wizarding World.

"You've been gone for hours" complained Dawn as entered my bedroom to find her waiting for me.

Spoiler

[img: https/i./originals/ea/c8/2a/eac82a063834afff035970e61f8154c6.jpg]

I wasn't a big fan of my new bedroom it was needlessly opulent and the chandelier was implied too much, I felt like the main character in an Anne Rice novel.

By the looks of things, she'd been sitting in my bed while reading a book and when I entered the room Dawn bounced off the mattress, came over to me, grabbed my face and kissed me right on the lips.

"So where did you go at this time of night?" she questioned "You can't have a secret lover already".

Before answering I began running my hands over her fit body.

"I sneaked out to see if I could heal Neville Longbottom's parents," I said.

Since she'd read the books she knew who I meant.

"Did it work?" she asked.

Before I could answer the Key in human form began to undress me. Given that all she was wearing was a nightshirt it wasn't hard to guess what she'd come here for.

"I won't know for a while," I told her "They were asleep and I don't know how quickly mental problems can be healed".

Rather than discuss it further I grabbed onto her ass and squeezed it, making her moan and my actions encouraged her. She quickly got to work on getting my trousers off.

"I was going to make you wait a few more days so I didn't come off as a slut" said the former Sunnydale residence "But I figured that if we were going to be together for the rest of our lives we might as well get started".

Dawn stopped talking so that she could look at my bulge. Even with my underwear in the way, it was clear to see that I was very aroused.

"Raven wasn't kidding" she said "It is big".

I got erect very easily. So she didn't need to do anything.

"Have you been talking about my dick?" I questioned.

Dawn gave me a look that let me know that this had been a silly question.

"I think she might have named it already," she told me "And yeah we had a little girl talk this afternoon".

Once she had cock out of confinement she held it in her hand, as if she wasn't sure what to do with it. Then she lept into action, she got down into her knees at the foot of my four-poster bed, and she licked my man meat from the head down to the shaft a few times.

Dawn worked her way to taking my cock deep into her mouth. She went too far and ended up gagging.

"Take your time" I encouraged her "You'll figure it out".

Dawn began to relax and enjoy what she was doing. She looked up at me with her very beautiful eyes as she did her best to please me. Despite what she was doing she managed to look very innocent, so much so that when she stopped I wasn't at all annoyed with her.

"James, please fuck me" she begged.

Still, she managed to look rather sweet as she lay on the sheets, and for a few moments, I just gazed at her.

The lights were off in here, with only candles to see by, she must have turned off the lamp when she realised I was coming into the room, yet the light here was more than enough for me to admire her.

Dawn lifted her sleepwear to show her bare pussy.

"She told me you prefer it this way," she said.

The two of them were coordinating things behind the scenes. Not that I cared as I was too busy getting a good look at her pink little cunt to find out what they been saying. She had a very pretty little pussy and I decided to give it a taste.

"No don't do that. Not this time. I want you inside me" insisted Dawn "I want to please you".

That worked for me.

"Okay, there's no way that monster is going to fit in me," she said as I lined up my cock with her fuckhole.

I teased her a for a bit not entering her. Her fear wared with her lust and before long fear was defeated. Despite her misgivings about this situation, she seemed driven for us to have sex.

"You don't need to rush this" I assured her.

Some part of me was annoyed that I'd spoken those words.

"Oh come on. Please fuck me, James," she pleaded "I need to do this. I'm just a bit nervous".

Of course, I accepted her invitation without delay since I'd gotten her flustered, and I did want to have sex with her. When I entered her I was pleasantly surprised to find that she was also a virgin.

"No boyfriend in college?" I asked.

I felt sure that her losing her virginity was a big deal in the comic books. Perhaps Buffy Summers had screwed up magic before she could get that far. I wouldn't be at all surprised.

Dawn blushed, and given that I was partly inside her she had some trouble

focusing on my words, yet she managed to put together a response.

"Having a boyfriend when your sister is a control freak, overprotective, and in charge of her own small army of Slayer isn't easy," she told me "But to be fair I did get kidnapped a lot when I was in middle school and high school, so I don't blame her too much for having me followed".

Dawn shook her head as if she trying to drive away some thoughts.

"Let's not talk about my sister" she requested "You get to have sex with the Summers woman who isn't into humping corpses".

We exchanged looks.

"I hope that wasn't a total mood killer," she said.

Lucky for her my body is that of a seventeen-year-old male so it would take more than an awkward remark to stop me.

I went ahead and began to press into her, breaking her maidenhead and messing up another set of sheets. At least Rooby would have something to clean.

"It hurts" she complained "You're too big".

I pulled back only for her to dig her nails into my shoulder. Why did it so often feel as if women grew claws when you had sex with them?

"No stay in me" she begged "I'll take it".

For a time I kept my body still, my cock aching to ravage her tight teen pussy, yet I had to stop and wait until she was ready for me to start moving again.

"I'm ready for this" whispered the Key in human form.

If she was talking to herself or me I didn't know, and I couldn't bring myself to care enough to find out because all I wanted to do was fuck her, to fully claim her as my girl.

Over time I got to do that, picking up the pace as she got used to these new feelings. It was easy to tell that she wasn't regretting pushing herself to go through with this.

She made all sorts of interesting noises as I fucked her. Much like Raven had done at first, only Dawn proved to be even more vocal as she was as stoic as my other companion.

Given that my ears were close to her mouth I couldn't miss any sound that she emitted.

"Oh yes!" she screamed "Stay inside me".

It amazed me how she went from sounding as if she'd been wounded by some brute to acting as if this was the best thing that ever happened to her.

"Fuck me!" she yelled.

I didn't know if that was a demand or just a statement of shock about how good this felt, and knowing wouldn't have changed anything.

Soon I was giving her a good pounding. Dawn used her claws on me again and then mostly went limp before I felt her back arch, and then she grabbed onto me very tightly.

She expressed her orgasm very loudly, and I would need to make sure this room was soundproofed for the sake of others.

I kept up the pace of shagging which kept the Key in human form from being able to do anything other than be shagged. I was getting close when she finally spoke.

"Oh wow you're still going," said Dawn "Are you going to cum inside me?".

That was the plan.

"I want you to come inside me," she was now saying "I want to know how it feels, and you can come inside me because I took a potion I got from the apothecary, and I'm going to shut up before I start rambling on like an idiot".

She didn't need to worry about being offputting just because she was feeling nervous, I was soon cumming inside her warm, wet young cunt, an action that got her moaning some more.

When I was done Dawn took some time to recover before she requested to be allowed to spend the night with me.

---

Part 7

---

Retirement Plan.

Part 7.

Twycross House. The Wizarding World.

Rooby provided us all with a full English breakfast without me ever seeing him enter the dining room.

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Not that I'd been paying much attention to anyone other than Dawn as she kept giving me these little looks that let me know she was very happy and she was attempting to play footise with me. Somewhat tricky given the size of the table.

"We have mail" informed Raven as she entered the room.

Like Dawn, she hadn't bothered to wear more than a nightshirt and underwear. Something I knew for certain as the nightshirt rode up enough for me to see her knickers when she came into the room.

"We all have letters?" Dawn asked, "Did they get delivered by owls?".

These two were really enjoying getting to live in the wizarding world. It made sense that they would because they had chosen to accept becoming bound to me in exchange for living in this world and getting to share my perks. They wouldn't have done that if they didn't like this world.

"Yes" confirmed the former Teen Titan "From the college and James has a few extra".

The letter from the school turned out to contain our tickets and instructions on how to get onto the platform as well as confirmation of our place in the school.

"So the train leaves King's Crossing on Monday, September the 1st," said Dawn "I forgot that it's 1997 here".

Spoiler

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I had to since my home was magical and the bits that did contain technology were ahead of what the locals possessed. At least this meant I got to enjoy my favourite one-player games on my Xbox.

"What are your other letters about?" enquired Rachel Roth.

She always seemed interested in any correspondence that I received.

"One is from the Ministry they are just confirming my change of address and letting me know that they have altered my records" I mentioned, "The school register must have changed already since the Hogwarts letters reached you here".

Dawn looked a little confused by this.

"Hold on, I thought this house was supposed to be hidden or protected," she said "How are we even getting mail, and how can they know where we are".

I knew what she meant.

"The defences are meant to keep out people who want to steal from us or do us harm" I explained "I paid for the upgrades so we are safer here than anywhere else, but the defences won't stop people who mean us no harm from finding us".

Dawn looked to be deep in thought for a moment.

"Does this mean we can have people over?" she asked.

I considered this.

"Yes, as long as they don't see any of the special rooms," I said "The spa and the pool should be okay for visitors to access if you trust them, just don't let anyone see the other special rooms or enter our bedrooms".

Raven expressed concern.

"What if someone sends a spy?" she asked "If they don't mean to harm us or steal the defences might not deal with them. They might even know they are spies since someone could be looking into their minds later".

That was a good question.

"I have a lot of control over the defences," I told Raven "I can set them to deal harshly with anyone who has an unfriendly motive for coming here, but any defence has limits. We just have to try to be careful".

Dawn turned to look at my other companion.

"I won't be inviting any junior Death Eaters over" she assured the more powerful witch.

That wasn't my only concern.

"Or any minions of the other Dark Lord," I said.

Dawn shifted her attention back to me.

"Do people still work for Grindlewald?" she asked "He's been locked up for decades".

That wasn't who I meant.

"I was referring to Dumbledore" I explained "Although he's more of a Bright Lord in my opinion".

That made no sense to either of the girls. So I told them how I compared the Headmaster to Celebrimbor from the Shadow of Mordor games. This was something that took a whole.

On the surface Dumbledore seemed to be a nice guy who would offer support and wisdom to those in need when in reality he was no better than the Dark Lord, they both wanted to rule, to control people and destroy their enemies.

Dumbledore was just more subtle about it and had already obtained a great amount of power.

"Celebrimbor talked about bringing light to Mordor and that sounds all good, but really he just wanted power, even if he justified taking that power as being for the greater good" I said "If Dumbledore was a light lord he'd be more like Obi-Wan in Star Wars, he'd protect and guide Harry Potter, but really Dumbledore is just using Harry like a pawn on a game board".

I could have ranted for hours about how Albus Dumbledore was really a villain. However, I spared my companion from getting a lecture. Besides, it wasn't as if Light Lords were much better. There was a reason I considered myself to be grey.

"Evil or not we need to avoid the notice of the Headmaster" stated Raven "I did just steal the stone".

Dawn signalled her agreement.

"Okay fine, I won't hang out with anyone close to Dumbledore" she agreed with a frown "I don't need to be friends with Harry Potter".

There were other people at the school. Plenty of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws who had little or nothing to do with either of the dark lords.

"What about your other letter?" questioned the former part-demon as she sipped her cooling tea "Who is it from?".

I opened it to find out.

"This is from Horace Slughorn," I told her "He's inviting me over for afternoon tea tomorrow".

While he was moving quickly I wasn't that surprised by the offer as I was a young and wealthy wizard, he no doubt wanted to get the measure of me and to see if I was worth adding to his collection.

"Slughorn is offering to help me settle into the Wizarding World" I mentioned.

Dawn finished her toast before speaking.

"He's that professor with the club," she said "I thought he only cared about famous wizards and witches".

Not exactly. Slughorn was smarter and more complex than that.

"He's a man with a network," I told Dawn "He adds people to his web of influence, those with potential and those with links to powerful people, so he can benefit from those connections, but that network also benefits the people in it as you can make your own connections with the people Slughorn knows. If he collects me then I'll get to meet some important witches and wizards".

To me, Slughorn was a true Slytherin. He was cunning and ambitious, without becoming evil, sure he used people, but it wasn't like he wanted to cause suffering and he didn't purposely endanger children, unlike other members of the Hogwarts staff.

Although I could recall that he had a vampire at one of his parties so he could be reckless with the safety of his students even if he didn't mean to be. I would not be relaxed around him.

"Plus I wanted to hire him to tutor us in potions" I mentioned.

That got Raven's interest.

"I read in Hogwarts: A History that we can hire tutors instead of taking

classes," she said.

Homeschooling was also an option, but there was no way these two would allow that. I also did want to go and explore the castle because if nothing else the Room of Requirement was filled with stuff that could be valuable.

"Tutors are expensive" I stated "But worth it given the low quality of teaching in some subjects. I want to hire tutors for Defence, Potions and History of Magic. I'm not spending years of my life getting bored to death by Binns, verbally abused by Snape or nearly killed by a Defence Teacher".

Someone might think this was excessive, but I didn't since I knew that freaking Lord Voldemort is going to be in every Defence Against the Dark Arts class during my first year.

"Anything is better than Snape" declared Dawn Summers.

Raven had a concern.

"You aren't a millionaire" she pointed out "We need to be careful with your money. We need books, supplies, and they'll be other expenses".

I had an idea about that.

"How do you feel about emptying another Gringotts Vault?" I questioned.

It didn't take her long to catch on.

"The Lestrange vault" she realised "You don't just want the Horcrux".

Dawn wasn't far behind.

"We can steal from all the Death Eaters," she said.

Alas, it wasn't that simple.

"Aside from potentially damaging the magical world's economy it would be too dangerous to do that," I told her.

Raven explained further.

"I can't just keep teleporting, I'd have to rest for a time, and the goblins might not be as stupid as the wizards," she told Dawn "They'd notice the pattern and set a trap".

Those weren't the only reasons.

"Besides, if the vaults are discovered to be empty and we start spending a lot someone will connect the dots," I said "From the books, we know that the Lestrange vault is only checked once a decade or something like that, so unless that time is very soon it could've years before anyone notices the vault is empty and since the Lestranges are locked up in Azkaban the goblins have no reason to admit that a vault has been emptied".

Dawn saw the wisdom in this.

"And you can keep all the gold in the storage space that only we can access" she realised "The goblins or the Aurors can search this whole house and never find it".

Robbing the Malfoys might seem like a good idea, but Lucius Malfoy has the ear of the Minister of Magic and influence with the other Death Eaters, so I didn't want to go against him yet.

Plus he runs businesses and bankrupting him could put people out of work, people who are just trying to support their families.

"The Lestrange gold is cursed" reminded Raven "So I'll need a special chest to hold it. That means going to Diagon Alley. I'll see if they have any bigger-in-the-inside chests at a second-hand store. I can pretend to be a student who's trying to save some money".

I felt sure that in time she'd be able to remove the curses on the Lestrange fortune so that we could spend some of it. There just wasn't any rush.

Twycross House. The Wizarding World.

Within Raven's workshop, held in place by dark energy was one of Voldemort's Horcruxes. It was secured like this because Horcruxes are very dangerous even if they haven't had a chance to influence somebody.

Raven had a plan to save the cup and this was going to take a lot of her focus. As such she'd insisted that Dawn and I stay behind a screen she'd put up. It looked rather flimsy, but if she felt it was secure enough then I trusted her.

It was risky to try to save the cup rather than destroy it, but the relic had a lot of value as it was the creation of Helga Hufflepuff, the celebrated Founder of Hufflepuff House.

In Hogwarts: A History it was described as a shining golden cup with two finely wrought handles on either side and a badger engraved on its surface. The reality matched up.

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The cup was said to possess many magical powers, though the exact nature of those powers is not known. Perhaps we would discover them once the cup was cleansed of the dark magic currently infesting it.

Hogwarts: A History suggested that since Hufflepuff was brilliant with food-related charms and with house elves, this meant that the cup may have been the very first dining utensil at Hogwarts to assist in the magical transportation of food from the House-Elf Kitchens.

If so then it would be useless outside of the school as anything other than an interesting decorative piece, or as something to sell for a lot of money, yet I still desired to possess it.

The cup remained with Helga Hufflepuff until the time of her death, then it was passed down through the Hufflepuff family, and through the centuries until it made its way to Hepzibah Smith, a descendant who kept the cup as a priceless heirloom.

Back in 1946, Smith showed the cup to Tom Marvolo Riddle, who was at that time employed at Borgin and Burkes. She attempted to impress Riddle with the cup as she knew that he had an interest in relics, and not because she wanted to sell it.

Along with the cup, Smith possessed Salazar Slytherin's locket. That was another Horcrux that I intended to claim at some point. For now, it was secure at Grimmauld Place.

She could try to take it, but Raven wasn't sure what would happen if she teleported herself into the house without first being told the secret. I'd rather not risk her safety when there are other ways to get what I wanted.

Voldemort came into possession of both the cup and the locket by murdering Miss Smith. Her elderly house elf, Hokey, mistakenly remembered putting poison in Smith's cocoa and the poor creature took the blame due to the young Dark Lord altering the elf's mind.

Smith's family realised the cup and the locket was missing shortly after her death, but by that time Riddle had resigned from his post at Borgin and Burkes before vanishing. He would not return to Britain for many years and when he didn't he would no longer be Tom Riddle.

Riddle transformed the cup into his fourth Horcrux, using Smith's murder to fuel the magic. Many years later he left it in the care of his trusted Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange.

Although she did not know that the cup was a Horcrux, Lestrange treated the object with great care, storing it in her family vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank, a place considered to be impossible to plunder, although the reality was different.

In addition to the bank's extensive security measures, it was protected there by a spell which would cause any object to multiply exponentially if touched by anyone other than the vault's owners. Another curse would make the objects become hot enough to burn the flesh of anyone trying to remove them.

All of this I explained to Dawn as Raven prepared to do some impressive magic.

"That doesn't make any sense," said the Key in human form "If you can just make copies of things like the cup, then isn't everything in the vault basically worthless".

It would seem that way.

"Duplicated items are temporary" explained Raven from where she stood making notes "True creation is very rare in magic, so the duplicated items will cease to exist after a time. You can stretch out what you have, and transform something, but actually making something from nothing is beyond most magic users, and most transformations can revert over time or be reversed".

This made sense to me.

"That's why the stone Raven stole for me is so valuable," I told Dawn "It truly transforms less valuable metals into gold. The gold it can make is real gold".

Raven had easily cleaned out the Lestranges' vault by filling a chest that was big enough on the inside to hold everything.

I'd peeked inside before it all went into storage and saw that I now had a vast fortune in gold coins, silver armour, the skins of great creatures, the bones of dragons, potions lept within jewelled flasks, goblets, plates, bracelets, amulets, necklaces and rings.

As well as a skull with a crown that I suspected had an interesting story behind it.

"I'm ready!" called out the former Teen Titan.

Watching, I saw a bird made out of shadow come out of my companion before it flew into the Horcrux. Then it flew out of the cup while holding what I could only describe as a dark ghost snake, which the bird then ripped apart with its claws.

"Stay behind the screen" insisted Raven "I need to purify this room of lingering dark magic".

Dawn and I did as we were told.

"What the hell just happened?" the Key wondered.

I had a fair idea.

"Raven just sent her soul-self into the Horcrux to attack the bit of Voldmort's soul that is in the cup" I explained "She attack the cup spiritually rather than physically, so it wouldn't be damaged".

I looked over at the powerful witch.

"Did you destroy that bit of soul?" I questioned.

She shook her head.

"Destroyed isn't the right word," she told me "Fracturing your soul makes it vulnerable, but you can't just destroy a soul I took it apart so that it can't affect anything".

Dawn was still confused.

"Soul-self?" she asked.

Since I couldn't answer that question as I didn't fully grasp the soul-self thing myself she would have to talk to Raven about it.

As for the more powerful spellcaster, she performed some sort of ritual that cleansed the area of bad vibes or whatever it was she was worried about.

"James, that's another romantic date you owe me" Raven insisted as she handed over the cup "I expect a candle-lit dinner for two this evening followed by a movie of my choice in the theatre room, then we'll go to my bedroom. Until then I need to get some rest".

Dawn looked annoyed.

"You can't hog him" she insisted "When he is going to spoil me?".

Raven shrugged and made her way out of the workshop as I placed the cup in the storage space.

"Are you going to let her make demands of you like that?" the former Sunnydale resident questioned.

I didn't see it that way.

"Raven is doing a lot for me and not all of it is safe or legal" I pointed out "It's not unfair of her to want something in return, and I don't think she has much experience with romance so she's just making sure that she gets what she wants".

That seemed to satisfy the Key in human form.

"What are going to do with the shiny thing?" asked Dawn.

I had a few ideas.

"Only Voldemort and the Lestranges know where this cup has been," I said "I have to keep it hidden while Voldemort is at the school, but once he's dealt with I think I'll claim to have rediscovered the cup and use it to boost my renown, or if it has any special powers I'll keep it for myself".

Dumbledore would not doubt try to claim the cup since he might suspect that it is Horcrux, but since Raven had cleared of the taint of Voldemort I wasn't worried about that or where it ended up on display if I should hand it over.

As for the cup's powers. Perhaps some research was in order. I should drop by the alley and see if they have books on Helga Hufflepuff.

"I'm going to the ally, can I treat you to lunch while we are out?" I asked, "I'll throw in some ice cream".

Dawn eagerly accepted my offer and we soon headed off to the ally. I had a feeling that over the next few years, she would try every strange flavour combination that the parlour offered.

---

Part 8

---

Author Note

I am not happy with this bit of the story as it's short and was a struggle to write, but it is needed as it attempts to explain why Dawn and Raven agreed to be bound to the MC and why they are embracing their new lives.

Retirement Plan.

Part 8.

Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. Diagon Alley.

Dawn smiled as she sat down and admired the treat in front of her. She

could imagine the disapproving look she might have from her older sister had she ordered something like this when back in her old world.

One of the great things about this new life was the younger Miss Summers didn't have to worry about what Buffy thought about anything. She was very far away.

"So what flavour are you trying this time?" asked James.

Dawn grinned at him before saying anything.

"Strawberry, peanut-butter ice cream with hot fudge, whipped cream and shortbread crumbles" she answered "I don't even know what shortbread is, I just know it looks yummy".

She really liked living in the magical world. She knew that it would have people who would look down on her for not having a wizarding family, however, she was going to make an effort not to let that bother her as she wasn't just some witch.

Dawn Summers was the Key, her blood could break down the barriers that separated this world from those around it. She'd fought demons and vampires, she cast magical spells far more impressive than anything a Hogwarts student would ever manage without any schooling.

How many of them would have been brave enough to move from one dimension to another and start a whole new life? None of them would have dared.

"I think I'll stick with more traditional flavours," said James.

She'd have accused him of being unadventurous, only he certainly wasn't since like her he'd chosen to start a whole new life in this world.

Okay, so she hadn't had a lot of choice in the matter. She'd been dying in some sense due to the spell that had created her falling apart. Still, it had been tough to leave her friends behind despite them starting to forget that she'd ever existed just as she lost her own memories.

Thinking on it, perhaps that had been another reason to leave. They'd been Buffy's friends, not hers, she'd been dragged around and put into danger because she was the Slayer's sister.

This fresh start meant that she finally be her own person and aside from the people in her new group, no one here even knew Buffy Summers existed. Not unless that TV show also existed here, and if it did would anyone in the magical world ever watch it?

"Sounds boring" commented Dawn when she decided she wanted to talk rather than think "Don't you like any food that's not boring".

James gave the matter some thought.

"I'm one of those twisted people who likes pineapple on his pizza" he admitted.

Dawn made a sour expression.

"I know I shouldn't judge, but really fruit on pizza," she said "That is wrong".

"Everyone eats fruit with their pizza" James pointed out "The tomato is a fruit and they use them in the sauce when making the pizza".

She'd never thought of it like that.

"I actually like anchovies on pizza so I'm a freak too" she confessed.

James took out some paper and a pen and began to write as Dawn enjoyed the remaining surgery goodness in front of her.

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"What are you writing?" she wondered.

He didn't look up at her he just kept penning.

"An ad for tutors," the wizard told her "I figure that the Daily Prophet must have a job section or something like that".

Dawn recalled James mentioning the hiring of tutors before.

"We've still got all of August to prepare for Hogwarts and we'll be behind the other students" he said "They'll know more spells than us and might be able to brew some potions".

Dawn dug further into the ice cream as James talked.

"Have you gotten any spells working yet?" he asked.

Of course, she'd tried out a few to test out her wand.

"I can make my wand light up and I've gotten things floating" she answered "I've been reading our school books".

Dawn pondered something for a moment. She was glad that there was a lot of background noise as that made it unlikely that anyone would overhear them. Once they got to the school they would have to be more careful about what they spoke about in public.

"If this going to be like the books then won't everyone be useless at magic to start with?" she asked.

James finished the ad before speaking.

"Maybe," he said "But the students will be young adults, not little brats. We don't know what they learn in the magical version of High School. They might get lessons using their parent's wands before they get their own, and the children of certain families will already know a few curses I'm sure".

The children of the Death Eaters might be dangerous even in their first year of school.

"That's why I'm planning on hiring a duelling instructor, in case we ever up in a magical fight" he mentioned.

Some training was always a good idea.

"So James, I know you are busy tonight, but what are doing after this?" Dawn wondered.

Perhaps they could spend some more time together, and they could even have more sex as that had proven to be rather enjoyable for both of them. Although she'd not planned that so far so quickly. Was she just competing with Raven?

She'd gotten rather attached to James very quickly. It was nice to have someone in her life who saw her as more than just Buffy's kid sister. James didn't even seem to care that Buffy existed.

That the Slayer was her sister had always been a factor for everyone else in Dawn's life which greatly affected how they treated her even as she became an adult.

"I was just going to do some research" he answered.

Dawn had by now almost finished her ice cream and as she enjoyed the last spoonful she wondered if she should invite the young wizard to study with her or if she should give him some space so as not to seem clingy.

She decided not to risk coming off as overly demanding and to spend her afternoon doing some research of her own, or maybe she'd try out the hot tub, if she could figure out how to waterproof her books with a spell then there was no reason why she couldn't do both.

"Let's go find the Daily Prophet's office so I can post this ad," said James as he stood up "And then I want to check out that second-hand book store".

At least they could spend a little together before they went off to do their own things.

Twycross House. The Wizarding World.

As she and James watched the movie, one she'd picked out at random and had turned out to be something based on a major historical event, she found herself leaning into him and enjoying the feeling.

Odd since one of the many words that could be used to describe her would be reclusive as she had always been cut off from people. She'd never been the type to get attached.

Things had changed when she'd accepted the offer to start over in a new life, one free of her creator where she would be free to feel without any concern for harming others.

She felt a little bad about abandoning her teammates, yet she needed to leave them behind for their sake as well as hers. It would have been very selfish to stay and put them in such peril.

Trigon could not have been stopped by them and even by some miracle he was driven away he would never be defeated. He would always be a threat, a menace waiting to strike.

Now she was free of him, she would not be his portal and she would not doom a planet of innocent people. Just knowing that was like a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

Here in the new world, she was free to live her life, to feel, to come out of her shell, at least as much as she was comfortable with, and as it turned out she was happy to connect with someone.

She'd chosen to embrace this new existence, to enjoy it and to open herself up, and so far she'd not regretted doing so.

Ironically by binding herself to another she had in fact liberated herself from the confines of her old existence. Raven was not connected to Trigon, and she was no longer part demon, and with no loss in her level of power.

This emancipation from her old status had led her to want to embrace her new existence and that had led to her being a little forward sexually, however, she didn't think it too reckless looking back, it would have happened sooner or later and James didn't think less of her for it.

Unless her empathic powers were failing her she knew that the wizard found her attractive and liked her. He was clearly impressed with her powers and seemed intelligent. She could certainly do worse and frankly, she had done.

Given that James could turn into a dragon and had magical powers it was hard not to compare him to Malachior, but he was different, Malachior had been a dragon pretending to be a wizard, not a wizard who could choose to turn into a dragon.

Raven could not close herself off completely from others and had no reason to anymore, and she would not let Malchior stop her from trusting someone else. That would only be allowing the dragon a victory over her.

Moving her thoughts back into the present the former Teen Titan pondered about how she'd gotten quite a lot out of this bargain even before finding herself in this fancy house.

While Raven had never been materialistic the monks who had raised her had seen to that, it was nice that James would be able to provide for her without concern for money.

Books of ancient lore and magical secrets were rarely on sale. It was also nice to have a very comfortable home and not to worry about getting a job.

She'd not really planned to become a superhero, she more or less stumbled into the role, but this civilization didn't make use of such people. She didn't think that anyone around here had a place in their organisation for a crime-fighting mistress of magic.

Well maybe the DMLE would hire her if she wanted to go back into crime-fighting one day, as unlikely as that was, but she'd need to pass her exams before she even began to think about a career, and from what she knew of the Ministry of Magic she doubted that she'd ever work for them.

She'd not ever given much thought to any sort of career or schooling because until now she'd never had a future to look forward to.

That was another thing which had changed. Barring sudden death due to accident or injury she could expect a century of life ahead of her, maybe more if they figured out how to use that stone she'd stolen for James.

Perhaps she'd devote herself to uncovering the mysteries of magic in this reality and even others if they managed to figure out how to get Dawn's powers as the Key to work dependably.

She'd already stolen enough money to live off, and her lover, if that was a suitable term, was unlikely to want to break the contract that bound them so she was free to explore and learn.

How much could she discover about the magic of this dimension and maybe others in a century?

The idea appealed to her as did spending her life with new people. So far Dawn was proving to be agreeable company as they had some interests in common.

They both had nearly destroyed their own worlds because of the desires of a creature of great evil. They both had magical gifts and a love of learning. Those were things you could base a friendship upon.

Oddly she didn't mind sharing even though every she knew about relationships suggested that she should. Although her experience was limited to books and what she'd seen of others.

Not that this was a typical romantic relationship by any means and there was a good possibility that James would add to this group. Maybe Raven didn't mind so much as she liked being part of a team.

James was also pleasant to have around as was to be accepted given how this had all been set up. Already things had been arranged so that she aided him in his goals in exchange for him doing things that pleased her.

Perhaps it wasn't romantic, but it certainly seemed to be working for them so far. He would provide for her and she would assist him.

The movie came to an end and she felt James shift.

"Do you want to go upstairs?" he asked.

That was part of the plan. She hadn't experienced enough sex to form much of an opinion on the matter, but she'd participated in the act enough to know she'd like to find out more.

"I'd like to spend the night with you," she said.

With that, they headed up to his bedroom to spend more time together doing something they would both enjoy.

---

Part 9

---

Retirement Plan.

Part 9.

The Gaunt Shack. Little Hangleton.

I'd come to this charming little bit of the British countryside because it was the ancestral home of the Gaunt wizarding family, a run-down place located in a clearing in the woods near a road that was just outside the village of Little Hangleton. The area was pleasant and would be more so once we got rid of this horrible building.

I would make my way into the village sooner or later as I had business within a certain graveyard. I didn't want Voldemort returning to power in case he attacked my home, killed any friends I made in this world, or disrupted my ability to shop in Diagon Alley for needed supplies. Beyond that I didn't much care about the conflict.

The former Gaunt residence was a shabby little shack that had once housed Marvolo Gaunt, his wife, their son Morfin, and daughter Merope. While time might be to blame for its current poor state I remembered from the books that it had never been the kind of place that anyone other than the poorest of the poor would want to live within.

This was odd since they should have been able to improve the shack with magic. I could only assume that centuries of inbreeding had taken away the intelligence required to plan out such improvements and the magical skills needed to carry out such designs. Nor did they have the wealth required to pay others to do the work as I would have.

Even taking into account that the Gaunts hadn't lived here since the 1940s and things were more primitive back then this place still seemed shabby. Perhaps the presence of a Horcrux here had ana effect on the place making it seem even uglier than it really was.

Spoiler

[img: https/cdn.yopacrm.yopa.co.uk/blog/uploads/2016/08/17140120/Gauntshack-667x500.jpg]

What really mattered about this location was that after the last of the Gaunts had died or been locked up in Azkaban, the residence was then used as a hiding place for one of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes, the ring that he stole from Marvolo Gaunt after framing the man for the murder of the Riddle family.

I wanted to destroy the ring and then claim the Deathly Hallow known as the Resurrection Stone so as to help weaken Voldemort and to increase my own power. With that stone, I could question some of the greatest magic users of all time (at least in this world) on a variety of magical topics and this would make learning magic much easier.

That was the least the stone could do if used correctly. I could help to solve murders by questioning the victims, I could speak to historical figures to learn more about the past, and find the location of lost treasures by seeking information from those that hide their fortunes. Assuming that I could find some way of compelling them to talk to me.

Of course, I would use the stone carefully as it was possible that the magical artefact was actually meant to drive people to kill themselves. If there were any hints of that then I was going to throw the stone in the ocean after putting it into a very heavy and secure box.

Although there was little evidence of this aside from the tale of the Three Brothers the only two people to die while possessing the stone didn't really die because they used it.

Dumbledore was cursed by the ring the stone was attached to because his desire to speak with the dead and seek forgiveness from them overrode his common sense. As for Harry Potter, he'd decided to die before he used the stone. Were as Tom Riddle openly wore the ring and he never tried to kill himself.

"Don't worry, James. This won't take long" assured Raven.

Best for her to take her time as we wouldn't be heading the graveyard until it began to get dark. While Raven had staked a claim to my invisibility cloak and therefore could go unseen, I felt it best that Dawn and I avoid getting seen by anyone while messing with a grave.

"There's no rush," I said.

"What's the matter with you?" Dawn Summers asked "Did something happen with Slughorn?".

She must have picked up on the fact that I was annoyed by the fact the fact I couldn't think of a better name for myself as wizard. Even Dawn was a good name for a witch, and Raven was a brilliant name for a witch. James the Wizard just sounded so stupid.

"No the meeting meant well" I told my companion "He's agreed to tutor us a couple of times a week".

I hadn't been much of a meeting truth be told. Slughorn had served afternoon tea, with little sandwiches and cakes, before he spent time talking about him, he'd mentioned all his contacts. Clearly, he'd been recruiting me for his little club and it wasn't until we discussed the price for his tutoring sessions that I began to think he might just be interested in my family money.

"Potions will so much more fun with Snape" said Dawn.

How that man was even allowed near students was a mystery to me. Even if he had turned spy and helped saved the country that didn't mean the magical people of this nation should let him near their children. I really tempted to do something about Snape, something lethal, but he hadn't done anything to me yet and I didn't intend to interact with the man unless I had to.

"So what is bothering you?" enquired Dawn.

She wasn't going to let this drop.

"It's hard to take myself seriously as a wizard when people call me James" I told the Key in human form "I need a proper wizard name like Magnus or Mathonwy.

Raven turned to look at me.

"As in the Celtic Sorcerer who had to rest his feet in the lap of a virgin when not at war?" she asked.

Okay so maybe a different name.

"No virgins here" said Dawn with a snigger "You made sure of that".

Yeah I needed to go back to the drawing board and look my options.

"And I'm ready!" called out Raven.

Once the crude dwelling was covered in dark energy she made the entire shack fall apart like it was being built only in reverse, and by the time she was down there were neatly stacked piles of wood next to what rusted remains there were anything metal.

"Neat spell" commented Dawn.

"Thank you" said the dark haired witch before she walked into the spot where the shack had been "James, do you know what the ring actually looks like?".

As a matter of fact I did.

"It's just an old ring," I said "A gold ring with a black stone. I'm sure that I don't need to remind you that is is cursed".

I knew that Raven could handle Voldemort's magic, she had done before.

"There's dark magic here, has been for a long time," she said "I'll need to come back and cleanse this entire area".

That would be wise

"Okay this is it" declared Raven a moment later.

With her powers was carrying a heavy-looking box that must contain the ring. The box while old looked to have to been valuable once.

"It's got a compulsion charm on it and some nasty curse I can rid off" she promised.

The thing about compulsion charms, a type of spell which can compel a person to perform a certain action, is that they aren't that hard to resist as long you are aware of them.

Ginny Weasley being a little girl, feeling homesick and lonely was compelled to write in the diary due to such a spell and that worked, but even then with the diary having taken hold of her she still managed to resist long enough to try getting rid of the Horcrux for a time.

Voldemort must know that a magical compulsion that he'd put on the ring wouldn't work on someone with the skills required to get past the defences he put up. Perhaps he was so arrogant that he just assumed that his compulsion would be more effective because he'd placed the spell on the ring himself.

Even teenagers who aren't evil can be very sure of themselves and do underestimate those they see as inferior despite them often being the superior ones.

I opened the box just to make I had the ring.

Spoiler

[img: https/vignette.wikia./harrypotter/images/5/5d/Marvolo_Gaunt_Ring.png]

"It is a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing" I quoted.

Raven raised an eyebrow as she started at me.

"Did you just quote Boromir?" she asked.

Indeed I had.

"It seemed fitting" I said.

I got the feeling that Raven's approval of me had increased.

"Good work" I praised as I placed the ring in extra-dimensional storage space.

Removing all of the defensive spells hadn't been much work for Raven, but she'd told me that cleansing a Horcrux took it out of her so it could wait until tomorrow.

"Let's head into the village" I said "We can handle all of our business here in one day".

Graveyard. Little Hangleton.

Like the now dismantled Gaunt Shack, this graveyard was located just outside the village of Little Hangleton. Both the graveyard and the Riddle House were clearly visible from the hillside above the valley as I'd seen for myself when walking towards the village from what remained of the Gaunt family's property.

By the time I'd gotten here, it become dark enough for us to do our work with little fear of anyone seeing me and if they did there were spells to handle that problem by messing with people's minds. I felt certain that Raven could handle that business.

From up on the hill I'd been able to see that there was another graveyard behind the local church. I figured that the one I was in now must be for the Riddle family rather than the whole community. This was easy enough to confirm since nearly everyone here had the name Riddle on their gravestone.

As for Mister Frank Bryce, the Riddle's groundskeeper who was thought by the local muggles to be the one who killed Voldemort's family, he lived in a cottage on the grounds that was located right next to the graveyard and was separated from it by the stone wall that wouldn't have kept hidden me from view if he looked out in the graveyard while I was working.

Due to one set of the cottage's kitchen windows facing the graveyard, I'd know that I would need to deal with Mr Bryce before coming here. I didn't want him knowing about the coming switch and somehow ending up letting Voldemort know about it. That could very easily happen as the Dark Lord was known to enter people's minds.

Stunning an elderly gentleman was risky, but I'd needed him out of the way for a time. Stunning him was safer than using other spells and less cruel than assaulting him the old fashioned way before tying him up. Besides, it was one of the few spells that I could actually cast and was rather easy to use. I'd gotten the hang of this morning.

Even though I was here to take an action that could save hundreds, maybe even thousands of lives, I still felt bad about attacking an old man, so to make myself feel better if nothing else, I'd left Frank with some muggle money. Enough that he could go on holiday at least.

I knew that I would need to toughen myself up. I might have to do some nasty things in order to carry out plans, but I wasn't a monster. I didn't wish to make people suffer even if it benefit me.

For now, my focus was on the newest graves here, those of the three Riddles who'd died decades ago and who had been the last of the Riddles to be buried here as no more came after them. The Dark Lord's paternal grandparents and father were the last and had all laid to rest in this graveyard shortly after being murdered by the self-styled Lord Voldemort.

It was also the site where Lord Voldemort would return to power or would have been able to if not for me taking steps to prevent this from ever happening.

Spoiler

[img: https/vignette.wikia./harrypotter/images/c/c7/Tom_Riddle_Sr._grave.jpg]

"The sad thing is that this isn't the first time I've helped move a corpse" informed Dawn "I was kinda hoping those days were over".

It wasn't as if it was much work involved. Raven shifted the dirt and showed us the bones of Tom Riddle Senior.

Tom Riddle was a man I felt bad for even if he had abandoned an unborn son since he'd been magically drugged and repeatedly raped by Voldemort's mother until she got pregnant.

Given that their relationship didn't last very long, he might have not believed that Merope Gaunt was pregnant he could have thought it to be a lie by his abuser to keep him around. It wasn't as if she'd be the first woman to do something underhanded to keep a rich husband.

Even if he had believed her I still couldn't blame Tom Riddle for not sticking around and looking after his rapist. Perhaps he should have kept track of Merope in case she was pregnant, but this had been a long time ago when you couldn't just track someone's progress online.

Thinking on I decided that this was all the fault of Voldemort's mother really. I had no sympathy for that woman at all. If she'd not roofied a man she had a crush on a lot of death and suffering would have been avoided. In fact Merope Gaunt is to blame a lot of things, if she had made an effort to live and raise her son he might have turned out to be abetter person.

While originally I'd intended to rebury the muggle Tom Riddle I realised that it would be safer to destroy his bones just in case Voldemort had some way of tracking his father's remains. I wouldn't put it past the Dark Lord to know a spell for such a thing.

I wondered if his mother's bones would work just as well. She had died a long time ago, but she must have buried somewhere. Unless her remains were cremated then there would be nothing left and I certainly no desire to track down her grave.

Raven was easily able to get rid of the mortal remains with her magic and then she replaced them with another old skeleton that had been kept in the special storage place until now.

"So where did you get the fake bones" questioned Dawn.

"There not fake I brought them for a store in Knockturn Alley" she answered "I was told that they are the bones of muggle man who died from a sexually transmitted disease in the 1940s. I thought using that skeleton would be extra insulting".

Knockturn Alley had some real nasty crap in it.

"I was happier not knowing that" commented Dawn.

My plan depended on Wormtail, or anyone else trying to carry out the ritual. not bothering to check if anything was wrong with the bones, although how he would do that I had no clue, did they have magical DNA testing? That was another thing I should look up.

As for buying bones that Raven purchased. I didn't want to use any of the other Riddle's remains in case somehow the bones of Voldemort's Great Uncle Jeromy Riddle would somehow work for the ritual. I didn't know enough about magic to know what would happen if he used a different relative's remains. Given that it had been Raven's idea to buy some bones she clearly already thought of this.

Once the bones were in place Raven covered them up with a simple use of her powers and I used a potion meant to speedily grow plants and a packet of grass seeds to make it seem as if the grave was overgrown by plant life.

It needed to look as if no one had ever messed with it, and it should look okay by the time Voldemort took up residence in the manor. Assuming he ever got that far.

This plan to prevent the return of Voldemort to power was far from flawless, but it was just one plan of many and might never matter since I was working to prevent his return.

Taking out the Horcruxes was just part of the overall scheme to defeat the Dark Lord and to make sure that the world I would be spending a lot of time in didn't burn in a civil war.

One of my plans involved using my Deathly Hallow to summon and trap Voldmort's spirit. If I, or rather Raven, could contain the spirit within some sort of object that I could seal away then that could solve a lot of later problems

If I dealt with the Horcruxes then Voldmort's spirit might just fade away even if he wasn't killed in some way while he had a physical existence. Harry Potter wasn't a proper Horcrux and might be enough on his own to tie Voldemort's spirit to this plane of existence, and if he was well we had time to deal with that.

Darkness surrounded the thee of us as Raven used her powers to transport us back to the house. We appeared in the hall and soon we were hanging up our coats.

"That's done" I said "I guess we have the rest of the night free".

Dawn had a grin on her face.

"What are we going to do tonight, Brain?" she asked.

Judging by the confused look on her face it was clear that Raven was not an Animanics fan.

"The same thing we do every night, Pinky" I replied "Try to take over the world!".

Raven was not amused even if Dawn had an attack of giggles.

"You two can go be crazy if you want" she said "I'm for a good book and some hot chocolate. I've earn a rest".

I couldn't argue with that.

"So just you and me then" stated Dawn "Want to watch a movie?".

Might as well. I had paid for that home theatre.

"Sure" I agreed "I'll go grab some snacks".

---

Part 10

---

Retirement Plan.

Part 10.

Twycross House. The Wizarding World.

I sat in the living room reading today's issue of the Daily Prophet as I waited for my guest to arrive. Despite it only having been a few days since I'd placed an ad in the paper with the offer to hire a tutor I'd already gotten a reply from Remus Lupin of all people whose letter made him seem rather eager.

At first, I'd been concerned that he might be a spy for Dumbledore who could be showing some interest in my little group for some reason, but I doubted that the Headmaster knew I even existed. At least not yet.

Even if Remus Lupin was a spy sent by the Headmaster the defences I'd purchased for my home would deal with him. He wouldn't be able to simply walk into my house if he had any hostile intent.

With that in mind, I'd decided to interview the man here at my home along with my companion and see what happened. Hence why I was sitting here and waiting for him to arrive.

I knew that Rooby my House Elf would declare Lupin's presence when the werewolf arrived so I was free to read the magical paper and ponder my next move.

By now news of the recovery of Frank and Alice Longbottom, as well as other long-term patients, had been made public. I'd snuck back into the hospital to finish fixing up people on that ward and I was pleased to see that my perk allowed me to heal people as I'd hoped.

The hospital staff had been given the credit for the recovery of so many, despite them claiming to have done no more than they had before. To be fair it wasn't as if they had any other explanation.

I wondered how this event would affect the life of Neville Longbottom. He should be happier and more confident, he would also use his own wand, and that should help him at school. It would be interesting to compare this Neville Longbottom to the version I'd seen and read about in the books/movies.

Putting the paper down I looked at the typed note I'd prepared to send off to the DMLE to inform the head of that department of the presence of Barty Crouch Junior in this father's home.

Despite my arrival having changed this world in some ways by altering people's ages, an example of this was Harry Potter living with Sirius Black, that Death Eater's recent history hadn't been altered. Perhaps fate did indeed have some sort of plan in place.

My thinking was to tip off the DMLE in a letter typed up in the muggle world and then sent to them via an owl send from the Owl Post office in Diagon Ally so that it couldn't be traced back to me.

This plan was not without its risks, however having Barty Crouch Junior in his father's custody makes him a bit of a time bomb. He needed to be dealt with and this way seemed less risky for my group.

If Junior were to become free and somehow link up with Voldemort the two of them could place a lot of people in danger. However if Crouch Senior were to learn that someone had tipped off the DMLE he might try moving his son and that would increase the risk of him getting free.

Should that happen I might need to deal with Junior myself or rather have Raven do it. She wasn't the type to kill people, however, she had mentioned something about finding a way to deal with the dark wizards without killing anyone. For now, I was happy to leave her to it and focus on my own plans.

"Sir," said Rooby as he entered the living room "Mr Lupin is here to see you".

I wondered why my House Elf talked so normally while others didn't. I really should learn more about this magical species.

"Take him into the drawing room and serve tea" I ordered.

The drawing room was just the space I'd chosen to receive guests in. It was comfortable enough for the role and it kept this living room free for members of my household. Having more rooms than I needed was a novel experience.

"Yes, sir," said Rooby before he scampered off.

House Elves were a subservient race to the wand wavers, yet they could be very firm about some things, such as terms of address. I should be referred to as Master, and it had taken some effort from me to get Rooby to agree to simply call me Sir.

I didn't rush to the drawing room as that would make me seem too eager. Instead, I wandered in after making my guest wait for a short time.

"Mr Twycross," said the wizard as he stood up.

Spoiler

[img: https/media./professor-remus-lupin.jpg]

I wondered what Remus Lupin, the man I had hired as a tutor, would think of the owner of this fancy home when he saw me in my comfortable muggle clothing. His clothes were old, yet not shabby, I assumed he used magic to fix them.

"It's just James," I told my guest as I gestured for him to sit.

I turned to my House Elf.

"Please tell Dawn and Rachel that Remus Lupin is here" I requested.

Despite that not being an order Rooby popped right off to do that and quickly returned. Rooby served the tea before vanishing off to wherever it was he spent most of his time.

There were sets that would pour for you, however, I felt it unwise to have pots and cups full of hot liquid floating about. Call me crazy.

"It's Remus then" he replied "I read your ad and I think I can teach you all both

Defence and History of Magic. Have you had any tutoring in either subject?".

If my backstory had involved me growing up in this home it would seem odd that I had no knowledge of Magical History.

"I didn't have the means to obtain an education in magic until now" I explained "When I got my Hogwarts letter my situation drastically. I ended up inheriting this house and the family fortune. I now have a chance to learn magic and I intended to take it".

Which was all true, it just wasn't all of the truth.

"The same is true for my companions" I mentioned.

Due to the Normalcy Perk, there was no chance that Lupin would find it odd that I lived with two young women neither of whom was related to me or my wife.

"These are my companions, Dawn and Rachel" I introduced as the girls came into the room and took seats "I want us tutored as a group".

Dawn was smiling, no doubt pleased by getting to meet one of the more well-liked Harry Potter characters.

"Are you all new to the magical world?" he asked.

He would have trouble teaching us as a small group if we had different levels of experience with the Wizarding World.

"We all received our Hogwarts letter recently" stated Raven "None of us had any contact with the Wizarding World before then".

Again we'd told the truth just not all of it.

"Mr Lupin, do you have any teaching experience?" Dawn asked.

Lupin sipped his cooling tea before speaking.

"You can call me Remus, and to answer your question, I have tutored students before both in Defence and History of Magic" the werewolf "As well as in the subject of Charms".

Perhaps he would teach at Hogwarts. I hoped so since he was supposed to be a good teacher.

Even if I did end the curse of the job of Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts by having Raven cleanse the Horcrux stashed in Hogwarts (the two things did seem to have a connection given that the Horcrux was hidden in the castle the same day that Voldemort was refused a job at Hogwarts) I didn't think Lockhart would last due to him being a total fool and Voldemort's host would have to be dealt with.

As such Lupin might still end up teaching at Hogwarts. However, if Sirius Black had gotten out of Azkaban legally, something else I would need to look into, then Lupin might never be hired by Dumbledore, but that wasn't my problem.

All I could do about it was pay the man well during the time he spent tutoring me. He certainly looked as if he could use the money.

"I want our sessions to focus on Magical History and Defence Against the Dark Arts because of the poor quality of the teachers in those subjects at Hogwarts," I told the werewolf "But feel free to add things to your lesson plans if you think they'll be of use to us".

Lupin seemed pleased by this.

"On the subject of Defence, while I can teach you some basic duelling and offensive spellcasting, my speciality is handling dark creatures," he told us.

I could hire a separate instructor for duelling later. If Slughorn and Lupin's payment for their services was anything to go by I was wealthy than I'd originally thought.

We began to discuss pay and time off. He made the excuse of having an illness to explain why he needed regular time off. Even if I hadn't known about his 'furry problem' I might have figured it out just from the dates he wanted off.

"I can cover the cost of the wolfsbanes potion," I offered "As long as you secure yourself during the full moon and take the wolfsbane potion I have no problem with having a werewolf in my house".

In my view, he was no different than someone who'd been infected with HIV through no fault of their own. As long as Lupin took the right precautions I had no issue with him being in my home and should he agree to spy on me for Dumbledore then the defences would take care of him.

Thanks to my Purity of Body Perk I couldn't be turned into a werewolf, but I could still be killed by one so it was best to take precautions.

It took Lupin a few moments to get over the fact that we all knew that he was a werewolf already and that none of us seemed to care in the slightest. Dawn must have hung around with Oz, or at least remembered doing so and Raven used to be part demon. I just didn't care if he transformed one night of the month.

"Please don't let it get around that I'm a monster," he requested.

He didn't need to worry about that.

"I don't gossip" I assured the man "And we'll be using confident contracts so anything we talk about here won't be shared with others",

Dawn and Raven also gave their assurances that they too would use contracts that assured confidently. Soon after that, we got around to sorting out a timetable that would see us taking lessons a few times a week that would be focused on the History of Magic and Defence against the Dark Arts.

Twycross House. The Wizarding World.

Overall I liked Horace Slughorn who was the tutor I'd hired to teach Raven, Dawn and me about potions. He clearly had a passion for the subject and took the time to explain why certain ingredients were needed as well as why potions sometimes had to be stirred anti-clockwise rather than clockwise.

How you stir a potion can change how the ingredients will react to each other. This can be why potions sometimes explode or end up reacting in ways they really

shouldn't.

I learned that only people with magical abilities can bring out the magical properties of certain substances. If a muggle tried to brew a potion they'd just end up with a cauldron of gloop because the magical properties of the ingredients wouldn't react together properly.

They could end up making something toxic due to chemical reactions that don't take place when you are making magical potions since the ingredients react differently when handled by a magical person.

Knowing this I was quite surprised by the lack of health and safety involved in these lessons, but the wand wavers were a durable lot and unless an injury was caused by dark magic they didn't have much trouble healing most wounds due to their medical magic. This made them less cautious than they should be.

There were also factors to consider when making a potion, such as the freshness of the ingredients, even something like the phase of the moon when a certain plant is picked can alter the potency of a potion. That was something I needed to know since I was having my own greenhouses set up.

Even the amount of time a potion was allowed to simmer mattered. Certain numbers meant more in terms of magic than others. Three and seven were the most important by far. As such, brewing certain potions for the wrong amount of time can render the potion useless or at least dilute its effects.

The power of the witch or wizard brewing the potion also mattered. Someone with a lot of magical power, such as Raven, could produce a superior potion as we brought out more of the magic in the ingredients, or at least that was what Slughorn told me.

Overall when it came to potions there was more involved than just a lot of facts that needed to be memorized. You had to try to understand why it all worked the way did if you ever wanted to make a new potion or alter an existing one.

I'd actually been a little surprised that Slughorn had so quickly agreed to be our tutor. Lupin taking the job without much discussion made sense as for him work would be hard to find and I was offering him a lot of money for him to do something he enjoyed doing

Slughorn was different. The overweight man had his contacts and his comforts, I doubted he needed the money. Even if he did I was sure that his services were in high demand. Perhaps he simply wanted to get back into teaching.

For now, I intended to keep my head down as much as possible, but I knew that soon I'd start attracting more and more attention to myself so having this man as our tutor made sense as he'd give us insight into the magical world.

"I see Amelia Bones is still looking to advance her career" mentioned Slughorn.

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He was looking over the newspaper as we younger people worked on a simple boil-removing potion.

"Whose Amelia Bones?" asked Dawn.

"She's the chief of police in the magical parts of this country" explained Raven.

I kept my attention on Slughorn.

"How is Bones doing that?" I asked.

Despite my lack of interest in politics, this could impact me and my group.

"Bones has advanced up the ranks of the Ministry rather well since You-Know-Who disappeared despite her department being subject to so many cuts in funding," said the retired teacher "She using this Barty Couch Junior scandal to make herself look good".

As planned I had tipped off the DMLE and let them know about Junior. By the sounds of it, Madam Bones was using the tip to advance her career. Given that she was the chief of police in the magical world she wouldn't have had much trouble in getting a warrant to search the Crouch home. Assuming she even needed one.

"Plus that whole business with Sirius Black didn't help" mentioned the wizard.

We were all working in the kitchen for this lesson. No doubt Rooby would delight in getting to clean up after us.

"What happened with Sirius Black?" I asked.

Slughorn quickly let us know what had happened. Black escaped Azkaban a few years ago and managed to track down Wormtail. He killed the sneaky bastard and there were no dementors around so he got away.

"Once they found the body of Peter Pettigrew then everyone knew that Black was technically innocent" explained Slughorn "Despite him killing Pettigrew later all the charges were dropped. Pettigrew was proven to be a Death Eater and legally he was dead so Black couldn't be charged with his murder. Not when Pettigrew had You-Know-Who's wand on his person. There's a was a huge public outcry".

I could well imagine.

"Fudge was one the Ministry employees who arrested Black and Barty Crouch was the one who threw the poor man into Azkaban" Slughorn was now saying "Black being proven innocent damaged the reputation of both men. A good part of why Fudge got the top job was because he brought Black in. Fudge managed to hold on to his job, and Crouch lost his job at Ministry".

This explains why in the book series Fudge wanted Black dealt with so extremely by the Dementors when the man escaped from Azkaban. Fudge knew there had been no trial and wouldn't want one because he'd be partly to blame for getting an innocent man locked up.

"As for Barty Crouch, the only reason he isn't Minister today is because of his son" I was informed, "If he did in fact break his son out as Prophet says then he'll be lucky to avoid the Dementor's Kiss. He could be charged with treason".

It was amazing what the right word in the right ear can do.

"Fudge will be looking for a scapegoat" Slughorn said "He'll pin all the blame on Crouch Senior like he did with that ghastly Umbridge woman".

Can't say I felt bad for the man. Sure it was his wife's dying wish to see her son free, but he was a terrorist and murderer. Besides, if he spent all his time under magical mind control and hidden away then Junior had never actually been free.

As for Umbridge if she was out of the Ministry due to some scandal then she should be vulnerable when we started going after dark wizards and witches.

"But it's still an embarrassment for the Minister and Bones wants the top job" the old wizard stated, "If anything else like this happens she'll be the new Minister I'm sure of it. Fudge might even retire to avoid getting caught up in the scandal".

I wondered if Arthur Weasley might be the only person at the Ministry who is actually interested in doing his job.

"That should be enough time for your potions to simmer," said my tutor "Let's finish up and see how you're progressing. We can go over the steps and see if any mistakes were made along the way".

As amusing as it might be to further upset the status quo at the Ministry I'd come to this world to learn magic. As such I refocused my attention on the lesson I had a lot of work to do if I was going to become a proper wizard.

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Part 11

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Author Note

I decided on a bit of time skip here. I'm already over thirty thousand words into this story and they haven't even made it too Hogwarts yet.

Retirement Plan.

Part 11.

King's Cross Station. Muggle Britain.

Raven, Dawn, and I made it to King's Cross station with plenty of time. When we did get here I dragged my trunk off the Knight Bus, that seemed intent on giving me a case of internal bleeding every time I rode in it.

I didn't bother to look back at the demonic transport as it jolted away as soon as my trunk and I cleared the door. None of the muggles who were milling about seemed to have noticed the bus shaped blur.

As for Raven and Dawn they were already making their way into the train station. Spending the last few weeks in study had not dampened their eagerness to attend the magical school even if Raven was more stoic about it.

While we hadn't gone after any more Horcruxes since the Gaunt Ring I wasn't disappointed as we'd made wonderful progress so far and I knew how to obtain the other Horcruxes even if a couple of them might prove tricky to actually get our hands on.

Besides, it had been a good idea to take a step back and for me to learn some magic before acting again as I couldn't keep having Raven do everything for me as it simply wasn't fair to have her doing all the work. Not when she had her own studies to be getting on with.

It wasn't as if were in any rush. I had years to complete my goals and only so much of that time would be spent away from the school so it had made sense to spend the rest of the summer doing nothing of major importance.

I'd been to train stations a number of times during my first life, including Paddington station. Which sadly had been lack in talking bears from Peru when I'd visited the place. This version of King's Cross looked nicer than I remembered. Less litter and there were no homeless people about.

We were much too early to catch any glimpses of Harry Potter or the Weasleys, which was a good thing in my view as I wanted to avoid getting caught up in their shared story.

I figured that despite my warnings, Dawn was going to make an effort to make friends with the Chosen One.

"You know we could have stayed in bed and then taken the bus directly to Hogsmede and then checked out the village rather than spend hours on a train," I said to Dawn "It's not as if we actually have to take the Hogwarts Express".

The Key in human form didn't agree.

"Taking the train is part of the Wizarding World experience" she argued.

Raven seemed unbothered by the prospect of spending hours on a train.

"We can always do it your way next time" the former Teen Titan pointed out.

I counted out the platforms until I found the 9th and 10th. Dawn raced on ahead only to find that the gateway to the platform wouldn't open.

"It's only 10am" Raven reminded Dawn "The platform won't be open yet".

We stood around waiting and Miss Summers got bored very quickly.

"Can I have some regular money for a drink?" she requested.

I handed over some coins and she went over to a vending machine. She then spend a needless amount of time bending over. Oddly it all seemed familiar to me.

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"You did that on purpose" I accused.

She gave me an innocent look.

"Did what on purpose?" she asked.

Even after spending weeks living together she still went out of her way to tease me. She knew that I admired her cute little backside and she wore tight jeans on purpose when out of the house, and often far less when indoors.

"I was just thirsty" she stated.

Now she'd said that so was I. As such I took us to a small café within the station for something to snack on. By the time we got back the passageway was open. We knew this as we saw someone pass through a barrier so we figured it must be open

Dawn was the first to through with Raven following, I shuffled closer and tried to nonchalantly look around. When I felt fairly certain that no one was looking this way I poked a finger into the barrier.

It went through what looked to be a solid brick wall, and I didn't feel anything. Perhaps it was a magical version of a hologram and really there was no wall. Another thing to look into.

I stepped forward and as I did this I closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes, I was on another platform or somehow between them. I wondered how it worked.

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Would any wizard understand me if I asked about trans-dimensional engineering? Or was that just something that only existed in Doctor Who?

I didn't think about that for long as I saw the Hogwarts Express. Gleaming in the late morning sun.

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Very quickly the platform became crowded. Parents were saying farewell to their older offspring, and children of all ages were running about like the sugared upped runts that they really were.

No doubt they were very jealous of their more mature siblings yet happy they were going as it meant more attention for them from the parents, many of which looked as if they thought they'd never seen their older kids ever again.

I could see a line forming for getting our luggage secured. The House Elves might unload the stuff when we arrived, but they didn't put the stuff on the train for us.

The trunks had to be loaded rather than carried as I'd been told that you couldn't shrink a trunk if it was bigger on the inside for some reason. Apparently, it would explode and scatter my possessions about, which I didn't want.

This limit made some sense as this civilization was made of wizards, not Time

Lords.

As I loaded my school stuff onto the train I looked around for any famous faces. I should be on the look out for companions to recruit and one of my favourite characters, Hermione Granger, should be on the train.

Would she make a good third companion? Only time would tell.

After getting onto the train I picked an empty compartment for the three of, and upon sitting down I found that the sets were a rich brown leather which made them very comfy. This was a good thing as we'd be sitting on them for some time to come.

Rather suddenly the compartment opened, a group of older students looked at us, then closed it again. Then a group of even older students looked at the two of us and then closed the door to the compartment.

"That's going to get annoying" commented Raven "I'm going to seal the door until after we leave the station".

Some dark energy appeared over the door and then seemed to vanish as there never had been a door at all.

"We should go back to studying" Raven suggested, "We'll fall behind the other students if we're not careful".

I could well imagine the Purebloods have private tutors and because I refused to be beaten by moronic inbred bluebloods so I got down to some studying. Sure I could think of more fun things for us to do in a train compartment.

As it turned out Dawn was going to do something more interesting. She began rubbing my cock through my trousers, having no trouble getting me hard, and then without saying a word she decided to expose my cock.

She began to stroke it as she would when we were at home together. Her small and soft hands were already skilled at getting me erect very quickly.

"Dawn, what are you doing?" I asked in a whisper, "You can't do this here. What if people see us?"

She clearly didn't care and rather than stop her I summoned my invisibly cloak so that I could throw it over the former Sunnydale resident and she pulled up the hood so that she vanished completely.

The door might be hidden by an illusion, but the window was open and anyone could look to see what we were doing. Given that where children about I was a little uncomfortable about this until Dawn and junk vanished from sight.

"Don't get cum on my cloak" warned Raven.

Well it was my cloak, but I was going to argue about that, and I was little surprised that my more controlled companion acted as she did not care at all that I was getting a blowjob in public. These two were certainly getting along well. Some influence of the CYOA perhaps.

Rather than worry about her threat I leaned back and let Dawn do her thing. She'd gotten very good at pleasuring me with her mouth, insisting that she practice, but she'd never been this kinky before.

She'd been a virgin a month ago with hardly any experience, now she was a skilled lover and eager to please. Not that this was all about making me happy, she was excited about going to the school, and she wanted to express this in a way only Dawn Summers could.

"Rachel, do you want a turn?" Dawn suddenly asked "Or are you going to wait until later?".

She even didn't look up from her book.

"Doing it publicly isn't my thing" she said "Just leave some cum in his balls for later. I'm planning on sneaking into James's room and celebrating our arrival".

Despite not being able to see her face I figured that Dawn was smiling.

"No promises" she told my other companion "I'm really horny today".

I really didn't mind hearing that.

Train Station. Hogsmede.

By the time we had reached our destination, night was starting to take over from the day, and I knew that by the time we first years actually made it to the school it would be dark.

It had been a pleasant trip even if Dawn hadn't actually managed to make my balls empty as Raven made the door appear again so we'd know when the trolly lady was coming.

The small station we'd arrived at had been largely deserted by the locals assuming that this station was ever busy. Was there even more than one train in the Magical parts of this country?

There was a village here if the many lights and the occasional smoking chimney were anything to go by. I remembered that it was called Hogsmede and that students in 3rd year and above could visit the place on certain weekends.

Well, that was in the book/movies, in this version all the students could visit the village every weekend. This made sense as the students going to the village to spend money would be the villages primary source of income.

Many of the first-years soon had a rather dumbfounded look on their faces, and at least partly that was because of the half-giant, who I knew to be called Hagrid, who was soon leading us towards a small fleet of boats that were over by the lake.

He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and wider, he wore a large leather and fur coat, which only made him seem bigger, and he had dark hair that could be best be described as a rat's nest. Which was an odd phrase as did rats even have nests?

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"Who the hell is that guy?" asked of my fellow students.

The young man could be Muggle-Born if so he never would have seen someone like Hagrid before now.

"That's Hagrid. He's the Keeper of Keys and Grounds for Hogwarts," I told the lad "He looks after the animals here at the school and escorts the first years to he castle".

And possibly did other things that I didn't know about. I knew that he did the odd chore for Dumbledore, whom Hagrid idolised as the Headmaster had set Hagrid up with the groundskeeper job after Hagrid had been unfairly expelled.

Although I wondered how much Dumbledore really cared about Hagrid as he'd done nothing to stop poor Hagrid from getting carted off to prison just so the Ministry could be seen to be doing something about the attacks on Muggleborns in Harry Potter's second year.

My words to my fellow student should have raised even more questions, however, we were soon getting into the little boats, and this required our attention. Since we were weren't 11 year olds Hagrid limited us to three to a boat so Dawn, Raven and I got to sail across the lake together.

The waters of the lake were black and ominous as well as full of life. I knew that not only did this lake contain a Giant Squid, as well as a race of mere-people who called this body of water their home.

As for the small, oar-less boats, they didn't seem safe enough to me, but I figured that when you could alter reality by waving a fancy stick around and saying funny words, that safety equipment, like say those jackets that make you float in water, wouldn't be as much of a concern as they would be for Muggles.

After Hagrid tapped his own boat once with an umbrella, which I knew contained the remains of his snapped wand, the small fleet started moving towards the castle.

No words, no lights, no fuss we just had smooth sailing. At least until the giant squid made an appearance. Hagrid yelled something and the creature back off. Likely this was just the creature's way of saying hello.

About a minute later Hogwarts appeared through the mists ahead, although in truth we'd moved closer to it. Each and every first-year stared at it. I was only a little less impressed than the others despite having seen it in the movies.

The castle was all lit up and rather attractive to look at.

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As the small fleet of boats approached the foothills of the massive rocks that the castle was built upon, there was no sign of a boathouse, instead, we entered a wide-open cave, and this seemed wrong to me.

Hadn't Voldemort killed Snape in a boathouse by the lake? Was that somewhere else on the grounds and just where the boats were stored? I'd have to explore and find out.

Soon enough, we reached an underground boat bay which was illuminated by torches that had burst into flame on their own as we approach. From here I could see some stairs, they must lead up into the castle.

We all followed the half-giant to the entrance of the Great Hall, and here were met by a woman I knew to be the deputy headmistress as we'd met before.

"Tha firs' year students, Professor McGonagal" declared Hagrid.

She inspected us for a moment. We all normal clothing under black cloaks that were welcome as it was getting rather nippy and we looked neat enough considering the long train ride.

McGongal spent a moment telling us that we soon be sorted and that we would join our houses once we were sorted.

"Follow me, everyone" she then ordered.

This was also different than expected because I could remember that the students should have been alone at this point and Malfoy was supposed to try to befriend Potter only he never got a chance.

The Great Hall more than justified its name; it was the size of a cathedral, and just as elaborate when it came to the décor

There were five big tables within the massive room, four for the students who were divided into their houses, and one at the far end for the staff.

Candles hung on their own accord in mid-air, there had to be hundreds of them, and filled the vast space with soft light, without dripping a single drop of wax on anyone or anything.

It was charming in a rather primitive sort of way.

I noticed the dining plates, the silverware and glasses that waited to be filled. They had to be worth a fortune even if they hadn't been enchanted. I wondered if any muggle-born had ever thought about stealing them and selling them at an antique shop.

Heck, I might have considered doing so if not for my trust fund and the other ideas I had for making some extra money.

The most impressive and magical sight of them all was the night sky that seemed to have been brought inside and hung up overhead.

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"The ceiling is bewitched to look like the sky outside. I've read about it in…."

"Hogwarts A History" I finished for her.

Hermione Granger looked at me with a expression of surprise.

"It's a great book isn't it?" she asked.

I just nodded and then looked around some more. Many faces stared at us first-years as we were marched between the tables and towards the Sorting Hat, the shabby looking thing was now right in front of me.

I had to wonder how it would react to Raven, Dawn and I once it got into our heads. Very soon we'd find out, and I had to wonder if it would somehow go horribly wrong.

"Don't worry" assured Raven, who must have sensed my concern "Your mind is protected. Just ask to go into the same house as me".

She would go first since she was Rachel Roth, Dawn Summers would naturally go before James Twycross, assuming they sorted students by the surnames. I felt certain that it did.

Once the hat had stopped signing, the Sorting went as I expected. Older looking versions of the first year student went and put the hat on, it was only when Hermione Granger, who had gone for a bit an emo/goth look in this world, sat down, did something unexpected happen.

"Ravenclaw!" he hat shouted.

How odd. Didn't she want to go the same house as Dumbledore because she admired him? Was she more jaded in this timeline or more introverted. Perhaps going through high school in the Muggle world had changed her.

Harry Potter was sorted into Gryffindor without much delay, his godfather's influence I assumed, and I was left wondering how he would fair in this school if he didn't make friends with Granger. Who would tell him how to act, think and feel? Perhaps someone else would fill that role.

Raven went up to the stool. I held my breathe until the hat shouted Ravenclaw! and again I felt my breathing stop when Dawn was called up. She was smiling like the cat who had gotten the crème, an expression I'd seen on her face only during her happiest moments.

"Ravenclaw!" the hat yelled.

There was some polite clapping and I was called for.

"James Twycross" said the Deputy Headmistress.

I sat on the stool and wondered why we couldn't get a proper chair.

"Oh another one" whispered the hat "I have never had to sort three people from other universes before, not in one sorting".

There were other people from different worlds here? As in my year, or in the school right now? Or did the hat mean in the past?

"I can't read your mind to sort you so should I just put you with your lady friends?" the hat asked.

"Yes please" I answered.

I felt the hat nod even if it didn't actually move.

"Don't worry, James, I was enchanted by the founders to keep my reasons for sorting secret from even them" said the hat before it yelled "Ravenclaw!".

I headed over to where Raven and Dawn were waiting for me. I was very pleased by how smoothly our sorting had gone as it could have been a disaster if the hat had informed the teachers that we didn't belong here.

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Part 12

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Retirement Plan.

Part 12.

Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Wizarding World.

Despite my concerns, the Sorting went as expected with Raven, or Rachel as I had to remind myself to call her when at Hogwarts, Dawn and I were all getting sorted into the Ravenclaw House by the Sorting Hat.

The special hat knew we weren't exactly who we were supposed to be but the enchanted item had told me that it couldn't tell anyone what it saw in our minds. I believed the hat as it did sound like something the Founders would do to the hat to protect the students, or at least that was the opinion I had on the matter.

If Headmaster Dumbledore was going to concern himself about the contents of anyone's head it would be Harry Potter's, not mine or my companions. We weren't one of his Gryffindors after all.

Since Raven and Dawn weren't concerned, and they both had a lot more experience with strange magical stuff than myself, I decided not to worry about it either. If things did go wrong we could all make our way back to my home and maybe even leave the country.

This trial of thought lead to me wondering again if Raven Dawn, and I weren't the only students here at the college who weren't what we appeared to be. Could there be a SI (self-insert) character here like in some fanfiction I'd read or someone who had otherwise moved from one universe to another?

The Sorting Hat had more or less stated that to be the case even if it hadn't let me know that person or even person was still in the school or not. Heck for all I knew that person had come and gone decades ago.

I was curious, yet I felt that it might not be a good idea to try to find out more in case I ended up upsetting someone a lot more powerful than myself. Best to follow the school's motto and not to tickle the sleeping dragon.

If there was an SI around then he or she didn't seem to be doing anything about Voldemort, at least not yet. I knew this to be the case as I knew the current status of all the Horcruxes and where Voldemort was.

At least everything else was as it should be even with the changes to the timeline.

Dumbledore had warned us about the corridor on the third floor, and since there had never been any mention in the papers about a break-in at Gringotts, and because Voldemort was possessing one of the teachers, I assumed that Professor Dumbledore was using a fake stone as bait.

He must still intend to guide Harry Potter into a confrontation with the Dark Lord without carrying that he was putting the students of the school at risk.

Putting all of that aside for now I focused on the here and now. I was here to become a wizard and enjoy myself not to drive myself crazy thinking about matters that didn't need to concern me at this time.

The Ravenclaw common room was located in one of the castle's towers, it was a wide and circular space, almost like an oversized birdcage, only with proper walls rather than bars, or at least that was the impression that I got. It did work with the theme of the house.

Aside from the spiral stairs, this tower had graceful arched windows, and on the walls were banners made from blue and bronze silks, the colours of the house.

Ravenclaw was meant to be connected to the classic element of air, hence blue serving as the main colour for the house and the bird as the house symbol.

While there was no point system, we were expected not to embarrass the House or try to sleep in the wrong part of the castle. Other than that your House here at the school didn't matter much aside from the Quidditch pitch.

At least not for the Ravenclaws whose members would be more introverted than those in the other Houses. That was the impression I had already gotten while listening to my new peers talk during dinner.

The domed ceiling above us was decorated with stars.

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There were also tables, chairs, and heck a lot of bookcases could be found in the main room of the tower, as well a big white-marble statue of Rowena Ravenclaw which sat next to the door that leads to the dormitories above.

"Boys go to the right for their rooms and girls on the left," said an older student.

It was soon explained to us that we have private rooms as there weren't that many students and while the girls could go up to the boy's rooms the other way around wasn't allowed.

I assumed that this was to ensure that if students did bunk together then it was the girl who decided this would happen by going to the boy's room, making it clear that the guy hadn't tried to force the issue.

A rare sensible thing is seen here in this magical world.

Unlike the other common rooms in the school, there was no password, instead, a riddle given by a bronze eagle-shaped knocker must be answered to enter as any fool can figure out a Riddle.

This could prove troublesome as anyone with enough intellect could intrude into our dormitory. There had to be some couples from different Houses who wanted to visit each other's rooms.

"Professor Flitwick will speak to the first years in the morning after breakfast" we were informed "Classes won't begin until the day after tomorrow, so you'll have time to settle in and to get to know the castle".

Once I'd looked around I saw that Rachel had already made her way over to a shelf and was looking at the titles. Meanwhile, Dawn was admiring the view.

"An impressive collection," I commented.

An older student, who I suspected was Cho Chang, the age difference made it uncertain with less well-known characters, told us that the books were left behind by former students to help future students with their studies.

Generous and a good way of ensuring that Ravenclaw students had access to plenty of reading materials.

"We should head to bed," I said to my companions when Dawn came over to us

I wouldn't be sleeping alone I figured as the girls had both gotten used to sharing a bed with me, often taking turns, even if they had their own room at the house.

This was good because otherwise my fancy bedroom would be filled with their stuff by now.

My room was small and it was mine alone since there weren't that many students in the tower so there was plenty of room.

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It wasn't long after I settled in that Raven knocked on my door and I let her in.

"I wanted to talk to you about sleeping with other girls" mentioned Rachel as soon the door closed and she did something to seal the room with magic "Dawn and I talked about it, and we know you need to recruit someone, but we aren't comfortable with you sleeping around".

You didn't need to be an expert on women to see how they could find the prospect of me fucking other girls to be upsetting.

"So we want you to clear it with us before trying to bring a new girl into the group since we'll have to get along with them and share you with someone else" she then added.

That seemed reasonable to me as bringing in someone new would change things for the whole group and while I did seem to be the one making most of the choices I wasn't really a leader.

Dawn and Raven were my companions, not my minions and they had chosen to be here. Although when they did obey it was enjoyable.

"And we need to carry on with your training in the mind arts," said the former Teen Titan.

I could think of better things we could be doing.

"Are you sure I can't tempt you to do something else?" I questioned.

She was tempted I was able to tell despite her controlled expression.

"It's not that late" she pointed out "We have time for both".

We'd been sent to the tower before curfew, which only limited us to the tower because we should be spending some of this evening getting to know our new housemates.

"Let's do some studying first and then you get sex" she stated.

She made it sound as if I'd be getting a gift meant for my enjoyment only. As if she didn't enjoy the things I did to her when her clothes came off.

"Fine," I said.

She was right. I did wish to master the magical arts of the mind so that I could alter people's memories and view their thoughts. It would be a very useful tool in the future.

"You need to learn to ignore distractions" insisted the witch.

I had the Sound Mind perk to help with that so I could focus if I wanted to, but I often allowed myself to be distracted. I had two very healthy and attractive young women in my life as such who could blame me?

"So ignore the fact that I want you to tie me to the bed and have your way with me," Raven said.

Her voice was steady, she displayed no emotion when speaking. Yet I knew she was trying to distract me with the promise of sexy fun times.

"You're just as bad as Dawn" I complained.

I saw the smug smirk on her face as she took a book out of the storage space.

"You have some reading to finish" she reminded.

Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Wizarding World.

"Miss Granger, Miss Summer, Miss Roth and Mr Twycross please come in," invited the head of our school house and deputy headmaster "I need to talk to you about your classes".

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Flitwick's office was larger and yet he'd managed to make it seem cosy by supplying visitors with comfy chairs and by having his desk at a height that allowed him to sit with students at eye level rather than try to sit above anyone or have them look down upon him.

A subtle thing, Flitwick clearly understood the importance of maintaining eye and I figured that he only stood on stacked books in class so that he could see all of his students during practical lessons. That made it much easier for him to make sure that students were practising magic safely.

Like Slughorn, the Charms Master had photos of some of his favourite students in his office, if you could find them between all the books. While he didn't collect people like the Potion's Master did, I figured that to him these pictures were about remembering those pupils who he had helped as a teacher and hopefully inspired.

Judging by her place in the display Lily Potter, who would have been Lily Evans at the time, must have been one of Flitwick's most favoured students.

"Please sit down," the professor invited.

We did so, and it was a good thing that the desk was so large as we soon had our uncompleted timetables in front of us to look at as well as all of the teacher's paperwork covering the surface.

"Most of the students at this school come from magical homes or homes with at least one magical parent, who attended Hogwarts, so they tend to know what to expect," the professor said to us "They will know what electives they wish to take before ever stepping foot in the castle".

I imagined that these parents at least had some say in what optional subjects the student took if they didn't outright decide for them.

"Those who have been raised in the Muggle world need a bit more help so I called you all in together" he then said.

Well, that explained why it was just us four.

"You have the standard classes to start with," said Flitwick "Are any of you making use of any tutors?".

Everyone other than Granger was being tutored as I had arranged it to be so.

"Yes, I hired a tutor for History of Magic, and Defence," I told the Head of Ravenclaw "And another for Potions. Dawn and Raven are tutored with me".

Flitwick didn't comment when he what subjects I'd hired tutors for. I doubted that he'd have anything good to say about the teachers of those subjects in this school. He didn't seem at all surprised when I told him that I'd sought alternative instruction for those three subjects.

"You have the option to opt out of any subject you have hired a tutor for," said the small magic user "You can leave the school for tutoring sessions. You'll have to make them work around your timetables".

Flitwick waved his wand and three of the four timetables changed. Mine now times for Charms, Herbology, and Transfiguration.

"Now we can discuss electives" he said "You may take up two of the following subjects. Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Muggle Studies and Astronomy".

I was confused.

"If Astronomy is optional then why is a telescope part of our required equipment?" I asked.

Flitwick seemed pleased by the question rather than annoyed.

"Since the phases of the moon can affect the ingredients used in potions you will study the subject a little in both Potions and in Herbology" he explained "Divination also involves Astronomy in the creation of Horoscopes and the movements of the planets are supposed to have some importance in the subject".

He had more to say on this matter.

"I confess I'm unaware of what is involved in the class" Flitwick admitted "The last reason is that Astronomy used to be a core class and owning a telescope is something of a tradition here in the magical world".

That satisfied my curiosity.

"Now since you have all been raised in the muggle world I'm going to assume that none of you want to take muggle studies since it would be a waste of time" said our teacher.

No one replied to that.

"Miss Granger, would you like to pick your electives? We can discuss them first if you need more information" the teacher offered.

She must have decided already as she made her choices right away.

"Arithmancy and Ancient Runes," she said.

Flitwick moved on to Raven.

"Arithmancy and Astronomy" she requested.

I had no idea she had any interest in stargazing.

"Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures" informed Dawn when it was her turn.

Given that she'd been training as a Watcher her choices made sense. She had a skill with languages and would want to know about the supernatural threats of this world which would include certain magical animals.

"Mr Twycross," said Flitwick "What are your choices?"

I gave it a little more thought.

"Do I need to take two electives?" I asked, "Aren't they optional?".

Flitwick did look a little shocked this time.

"They are" he told me "However not taking at least one will greatly limit your career options. As your Head of House I strongly advise that you take at least one elective".

A career wasn't really a concern given my wealth.

"Take Magical Creatures with me" requested Dawn "I'd like to share a class with you when it is just us".

I gave in quickly as she was giving me that look again.

"Okay, I'll take the creature's course," I said.

Raven didn't make a similar request.

"Now that you have your timetable sorted I'll tell you about the optional extras and clubs" stated the teacher.

Well, he didn't need to tell us much as he had pamphlets.

"These are the clubs that still have places open" he said "You can pop along to a meeting and see if the clubs suit you before applying for a place".

Art Club

Astronomy Club

The Celestina Warbeck Fan Club

Charms Club

Chudley Cannons Fan Club

Dragon Club

Gobstones Club

The Harry Potter Fan Club

Ancient Runes Club

Knitting Club

"This year the school has a volunteer duelling instructor" Flitwick told us "His lessons will be during the evenings and weekends. It's not considered a club, but it doesn't offer any formal qualifications".

I wanted to learn more about duelling so I would be attending those extra lessons.

"Our other extra class is an introduction to Alchemy on Sunday afternoons that will be taught by Nicolas Flamel himself" Flitwick let us know.

Now that was different that what I'd been expecting and my reaction to hearing that name must have shown.

"Oh so you've heard of him," said the teacher.

While I'd tried to learn more about the man there wasn't much about him in the books I'd read so far.

"I haven't" Granger let us know.

Raven decided to provide some information.

"Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone, an object capable of transmuting metals into gold and it can be used to create the Elixir of Life" Rachel explained

That stone was sealed away in my storage space. The fact that Flamel was here could provide me with the knowledge required to unlock the stone's powers.

"The Elixer makes the drinker functionally immortal as long as it was regularly ingested," I told Granger.

Something she might find herself caring more about later in the school year. It would depend on how things worked out.

"Flamel is over six hundred years old. He's forgotten more about magic than we'll ever know" said Raven before she turned to me "We have to take this class".

That was fine with me.

"I want to learn to duel" I declared.

Flitwick made some notes.

"I'll sign you up for the Alchemy Class then Miss Roth and Mr Twycross" he stated "The duelling class is less formal so you just need to turn up".

With our choices made the meeting came to a natural end and we soon headed out of the office, but not before the teacher advised us to explore the castle and the grounds, not bothering to remind us that the 3rd-floor corridor was out of bounds. I assumed he thought we had a little sense in our heads.

"Want to check out the library?" I asked my companions.

I would have invited Granger, but by the looks of things she was already on her way.

"No let's go find the Come and Go Room" said Dawn.

Oh yes, that was a good idea.

---

Part 13

---

Retirement Plan.

Part 13.

Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Wizarding World.

The Room of Requirement is a magical room here in Hogwarts castle that really did deserve to be called magical in my opinion, as not only can it be discovered by someone who is in real need, the room will change to suit the needs of the person seeking to enter it.

Meaning that in theory it can be anything you require it to be. I knew it couldn't provide food, but other that I didn't know yet if it was limited to providing you with stuff that had been dumped in here over the last thousand years

The room might have some means of changing itself using other parts of the school, such as redirecting clean water pipes to make a swimming pool, and I figured that some experimentation was in order so that I could find out.

Already, I knew that it was called the Come and Go Room by the house-elves of Hogwarts who use it as storage space, and that the Room of Requirement is located on the seventh floor, opposite a tapestry showing Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls to dance the ballet.

Why anyone would do such a thing I couldn't imagine it didn't look at all safe or rewarding. I was so glad that I'd chosen a perk to help me stay sane or the madness of wizards could infect me.

To make the Room appear, a person had to walk past the section of blank wall three times concentrating hard on what is needed. Three is a magical number so that part at least made some sense.

As to what I wanted, that was the place where things were hidden. I had a feeling that while this room had mostly been used to store broken junk, lost personal effects, and forbidden items for the last thousand years. There would also be some real treasures mixed in with all the rubbish.

Not that I really needed the money as I had two fortunes already, even one of them was cursed, but it was a shame to leave it all just forgotten inside the wonderful room.

Besides it would be good to have access to some magical items and wealth that could be traded in other realties. Goblin made coins would have no value in the dimensions of my companions and we would visit them one day.

With Raven and Dawn with me, I began to look around, making sure not to touch anything in case hostile spells had been placed upon the item. Hogwarts had played host to plenty of pranksters during its time.

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What I mostly identified was broken and damaged furniture. Desks and chairs that must have been damaged in ways that magic couldn't easily repair or one of the teachers would have just waved their wand and mended the broken object rather than have a house elf throw it away.

While looking around I found plenty of bottles because one of the teachers, a woman called Sybill Trelawney, used the Room of Requirement to hide her empty sherry bottles and I didn't think she was the only teacher to hide some booze here.

Some students likely had as well I guessed as I found many piles of empty bottles that smelled bad along with piles of harmless butterbeer, some of which had never been drank, but I figured that it wouldn't be drinkable by now.

I was most happy to find what must be hundreds of books.

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Most of them would be too damaged or mostly useless to me since I had no interest in stuff Charming My Own Cheese and Early History of Many Noble Wizarding Families, but there were more than a few boons that looked to be readable in subjects I did care about. Such as Defence Against the Dark Arts.

"Some of these are library books" commented Dawn who was looking at on open book on a desk "Maybe we can sneak some of them back".

As I wandered around the piles I imagined that some students who'd gotten their hands on dark art books must have stashed them away in this room, but I would resist reading them.

The House Elves had dumped a lot of stuff here I was sure, and I found items that Flinch the caretaker would have confiscated had the objects not ended up here. Proof of this was when I found some winged catapults and Fanged Frisbees as well as many prank items I cared nothing about.

"Some of these things are cursed," warned Raven.

Perhaps I could hire curse breakers to check out some of the stuff here. If items were clean and repairable I might be able to sell them in second hand stores if I didn't want them for myself or send them to people as gifts if they were rare objects.

I ignored the chipped bottles of congealed potions since they would not be safe to drink or handle and while some of the clothes look nice enough I wouldn't wear any of them because they were so not my style. As such I ignored the hats, the cloaks and such.

What I did care about were the bits of jewellery no doubt left by female students over hundreds of years, none of the earrings were in pairs as far as I could tell and I was careful not to touch any of the rings in case they were cursed.

I'd not put it past someone attending this school to have attempted to recreate Sauron's work. Tom Riddle might not be the only student to ever make a Horcrux while attending the school.

"Are we going to start sorting this junk out?" wondered Dawn.

That was the plan.

"Just don't touch anything" I warned her "We can try to separate anything valuable and we should catalogue the books as well. I'm going to hire some curse breakers to go over anything we want to salvage".

As we began work I placed anything that looked like it had value inside the one pouches I'd found here in the Room of Requirement. Pouches that I only touched while wearing dragonskin gloves and I carefully levitated objects into the different pouches for the curse breakers to look over.

I figured that Gringotts, a bank known for hiring curse breakers, could put a price tag on what I found here. Perhaps they'd even purchase the gold, silver and bronze items so that they could melt it down into coins.

One of the expensive looking things I found were eggshells made from silver which I knew to be the eggs of a magical creature called Occamy, they had egg shells made of pure silver, and this accounted for why they were so sought after.

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Occamy egg shells were also an essential ingredient for the brewing of Felix Felicis, something I knew from my lessons with Horace Slughorn. I should talk to that man about brewing me some of that luck potion.

In the first Fantastic Beasts movie, a film I'd greatly enjoyed watching despite the opinions of critics online, a muggle called Jacob Kowalski found an Occamy egg on the bench next to him, inadvertently dropped there by Newt Scamander.

While trying to return it to him, the egg began to hatch. Later in the movie, Newt showed Jacob a nest of Occamies newly hatched from their eggs, including the one hatched from the egg he found, which Jacob was allowed to hold.

Newt would later anonymously give Jacob a case of Occamy egg shells to use as collateral with a bank so that he could open his bakery. That gave me some idea of the value of these egg shells.

There were weapons here too, so far I'd located several rusting swords, some equally rusty daggers and a heavy, bloodstained axe that somehow just seemed evil so I made sure to keep my distance from it.

As for the daggers and swords I would have to learn some cleaning charms and dark arts detection before I dealt with them, or pay the curse breakers to do as I was rich and could afford to outsource the dangerous work.

When I had the time should also try to find out if there was any market for old weapons. If they weren't magical or could have any spells on them removed, perhaps one of the Muggle world's antique stores would take them.

I'd just pulled myself away from admiring an enormous stuffed troll when I spotted something that made my mouth suddenly go dry.

It was the bust of an ugly old warlock that sat on top of the cupboard, and upon that bust perched a dusty old wig and a tiara. This was the main reason as to why we were here.

This tiara was the Diadem of Ravenclaw, hidden there by Tom Riddle decades ago. Ravenclaw's Diadem, also known as the Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw, was the only known relic that once belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw. Etched upon its surface was Ravenclaw's famous quote: 'Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure'.

It was said to enhance the wisdom of its wearer, which is Ravenclaw House's most treasured attribute. It had a big blue sapphire shaped like an oval in the centre and I wondered if the gem itself was the important part and the tiara was just a way of placing the gem on the head of the person who wore it.

Like how the Gaunt Ring was a Horcrux but the stone was a separate object even though it was attached to the metal of the ring.

According to Hogwarts: A History, The diadem was later stolen by her daughter, Helena, a fact Rowena kept a secret from the other founders until her death bed which wasn't long as Rowena died shortly after her daughter stole the diadem.

This made me wonder if Helena did something to her mother when she stole the item or if Rowena had somehow become dependent on it.

"Rachel, Dawn!" I called out.

The girls came running over to me, abandoning their own work.

"Oh its pretty" commented Dawn "I want it".

She stopped herself from grabbing the shiny object.

"Stupid compulsion charms" she complained "But I really do want it".

Even if I thought it was pretty.

"Let me cleanse it" said Raven as she put the item in a box "Then you can wear it".

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The former Teen Titan turned to look at me.

"It's not my style and I'm assuming you don't want it" she said.

I shrugged.

"It wouldn't go with any of my outfits" I joked.

Only Dawn found that amusing.

"You can have it" I told the Key in human form before I addressed Raven "Are you going to keep a Founder's Relic for yourself?".

She'd certainly earned one.

"No" she said "I prefer to make my own magical items. I was hoping to use of the Lestrange fortune for that".

She didn't need my blessing to use her share of the treasure.

"It's nearly lunchtime" pointed out Dawn as Raven made ready to leave "We'll meet you later and look around some more".

The contents of this room weren't going anywhere so there was no need to rush and sort it all out now.

Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Wizarding World.

"Remember, just as I told you," Filius Flitwick said as he looked over his newest class "Swish and flick! Just swish and….".

He stopped as he noticed a lone feather not only flying through the air but also doing loops and other tricks. Someone was showing off a little, but even those who must have been able to study over the summer shouldn't be doing this well.

It normally took a little time for even the gifted students to start doing any real magic in class as it was harder to cast with your peers around you as students could become embarrassed when around their peers.

Yet this one student was not only casting confidently, she made it look easy, as if she'd been levitating objects regularly for years.

"Very good, Miss Roth!" praised the teacher.

Clearly, the Muggle-born witch was a natural, already doing better than the purebloods who would have the theory taught them years ago even if they hadn't gotten their own wands until recently.

You never got the best results with someone else's wand and most parents were hesitant to loan their wands to a child in case they needed them. Some people inherited wands, but it was rare for a student to be much good with any wand before they got to the college.

"Come now, everyone," he turned about, looking at the rest of his students, "Please, everyone, please, let us practice and learn together! Swish… and flick!"

This was when the old teacher realised something, every student in the room was performing the wand movement, and saying the words, every student other than Rachel Roth, who wasn't even swishing the wand she was just using it to point were the feather should go, she also wasn't saying anything out loud.

Students at this level did sometimes know that the movements and words weren't as important as they might think as they were tools to help a witch or wizard to focus their intent.

Performing spells non-verbally was very difficult for first years and required a good deal of practice, as well as concentration and mental discipline. He hadn't seen a first year witch perform magic so easily since Lily Evans and even she hadn't been this good.

Different wand-woods also could also affect the performance of casting non-verbal magic. Many wands made from Dogwood are for example rather noisy and can refuse to perform non-verbal magic, whereas wands of Pine are some of the most sensitive to non-verbal magic.

Flitwick didn't know what kind of wand Miss Roth was using and he didn't think it mattered that much. She was simply more talented at magic then all of the other students in the class.

Yes, he would most certainly have to watch this one. Clearly, she had a natural talent for magic, a lot like Miss Granger, and Miss Summers. The young man Mr Twycross wasn't so bad either. He wasn't as either of the girls he liked to hang around with, but he was clearly above average and eager to learn.

Yes he had fine group of first year Ravenclaws. A shame the same couldn't be said for some of the students in the other houses.

So far Harry Potter wasn't impressing as he was rather timid and Neville Longbottom was having some trouble. Although he would cut those boys some slack given their personal turmoil.

Frank and Alice Longbottom suddenly recovering would have been a big shock to young Neville and it was doubt he'd prepared much for attending Hogwarts.

As for Harry Potter, that poor lad had been though a lot, and had only re-joined the magical world once Sirius Black had been cleared of charges.

Both of those boys might need some tuition by himself or a more skilled student. Flitwick decided to talk to his more skilled Ravenclaws about that once they'd gotten a chance to settle in.

Flitwick didn't think that would work with Ronald Weasley. That boy wasn't at all motivated to learn. Perhaps it was too early to tell, but the lad seemed to be trying to get away with doing the least amount of work.

At least he wasn't as bad as Vincent Crabbe or Gregory Goyle. Flitwick wasn't sure that they understood English, and some of the other Slytherins were worse as they were making snide comments about the other students and their teacher.

Flitwick at least had gifted first years in house and plenty to brag about when he was next in the staff room.

Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Wizarding World.

"Dormammu. I've come to bargain," I called out.

The two redheaded twins stopped halfway up some stairs upon hearing those words and turned to face me, before making some remark about my sanity. I ignored this as I had important business to discuss with these two 'gentlemen'.

It was actually pretty hard to track down people down here at the college if they were a school house that wasn't your own, I mostly shared classes with Hufflepuffs.

Outside of meal times I rarely saw those students who I didn't share a common room or a classroom with because the school was just so large and the class sizes weren't that big.

I wondered if that something to do with people not wanting to have children while a scary dark lord was running around killing people or if magical people just didn't have lots of kids.

"Fred, George, I want to buy the map from you," I told the young wizards.

They exchanged looks and talked to it each other in the way that only twins could even while not actually speaking.

"What map?" one of them asked.

Since I didn't think they'd have much to do with me, not unless they wanted an investor in their joke shop, I wasn't going to even bother trying to tell them apart.

"The Marauder's Map," I said, "Don't bother denying it I know all about it. I even know the real names of those who made it".

They exchanged looks again. Wait, was twin telepathy a real thing in this world? Again this was something to look into at a later date.

"Why do you want it?" one of them asked.

That was not their concern, although the answer should be self-evident as it showed the secret passages and the locations of people within the castle. This would make it much easier for my girls to sneak around, and find people within the castle that we wanted to find.

"How much do you want for it?" I asked, "I have plenty of money".

Since I knew they wanted to start their own business, and because they were older in this timeline they might be already looking for an investor. Someone with enough wealth to give them the starting capital they needed for the creation of their joke products.

"I don't know," one twin said, "It won't be cheap".

Money didn't concern me, but I resisted the urge to offer a lot of it right away as they might demand more, or come to me with more things to sell that I wouldn't need, leading to them bothering me. Best to get this deal over and done with as quickly as possible.

"One hundred Galleons" I was told.

Given the exchange rate, which I had checked, a Galleon was worth between five and six muggle British pounds, depending on the exchange rate, and in 1997 five hundred pounds went a lot further than it would in years to come.

Galleons were not actually pure gold, or to be more precise they were but the goblins did something to increase the volume of the gold so as to make them look bigger and more impressive than they really were.

This was why no clever person had ever melted them down to sell the gold to the Muggle for British pounds they could use to buy more galleons.

"That's a lot of money," I commented.

They exchanged looks yet again.

"We need an investor for some projects were working on" I was told.

The shop joke shop in Diagon Ally that sounded like something fun to help bring about. My guess was that they would use the gold I gave them to create prototypes for their products so as to create interest in their joke stuff and to start making enough money to rent out space for a shop once they'd left this college.

"One hundred galleons it is" I said "And if you ever need a serious investor we talk".

They'd need a business plan and some sort of contract, but I'd be willing to fund them so I knew they could be successful. They managed to set up a new business with a thousand galleons and I'd spent more than that shopping in Diagon Alley before school started.

"Okay give me the map," I said once payments were agreed upon.

Clearly, they weren't willing to part with it right now.

"Only if you tell us the real names of the people who made the map" one twin insisted.

That was not information I wished to share because it would only led to Sirius Black trying to get the map for Harry Potter

"That will cost you to find out" I said "I can tell you that one of them is teaching at this school. Do you want the money or not?".

They agreed to my terms with the understanding that I never mention that they had ever been in possession of the map. I suspected that Black would find out at some point, but by the then Raven should have figured out the map for me and made a copy.

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"Do you know how to activate it?" I was asked.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" I said

Before they could question me further I headed off to my next lesson.

---

Part 14

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Retirement Plan.

Part 14.

Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Wizarding World.

As I'd hoped it would the Room of Requirement had provided us with a training area much like the space that had been used by Dumbledore's Army in the Order of the Phoenix movie/book.

There was a moving dummy here, a piece of crude magical machinery designed for the purpose of helping a professor to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts.

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It had a likeness of a follower of the Dark Lord Voldemort and it was bewitched to roll around on its own accord, as such it was an excellent target for those who sought to improve their basic combat spellcasting, and discovering that room could provide them for my training had been a pleasant surprise.

Judging by the information that was painted on the back of the dummy this device had been produced for Hogwarts by some company that I had never heard of back in the 1970s. Which was when Tom Riddle had been at the height of his power.

As such it made sense that the students would have trained to protect themselves against Death Eaters using these dummies at that time, and judging by the state of the dummies they'd seen some action.

I wondered how many students had batted this training device around while it was used in many a Defence Against The Dark Arts class. Had many of them gone on to be Aurors and others who fought the evil mages?

It seemed likely that sometime after the dark lord's downfall, the dummies had been put into storage. The duelling club had been closed until this year for reasons unknown to me.

While I was only making use of one of them for now I wondered if they would all see any use in the future should Voldemort return to power and once again plague this country. Only time would tell.

Mostly, I'd been practising the stunning spell, also known as the Stupefying Charm, or simply as a Stunner for short, it was a charm that stunned the target, rendering them unconscious as the name suggested.

This charm was exceptionally useful in duelling, as it could quickly end a duel without causing lasting damage hence it was favoured by Aurors and other members of the DMLE who wished to make arrests rather than create corpses. It was also used by members of the Order of Phoenix.

The counter-charm to the Stunning Spell was known as the Reviving Spell something Raven and I would need to learn once we started casting the stunning spell at each other during practice sessions.

You could recover from the spell naturally, but that could take a while, hence why I'd used on Frank Bryce back when we'd gone to swap the bones in Tom Riddle's Senior's grave.

An important thing to remember about this spell was that the use of multiple Stunning Spells cast simultaneously will amplify the effect. This was particularly useful towards creatures with Spell resistance, such as dragons, trolls, giants and half-giants, but might result in injury for ordinary individuals.

Aside from that, it was rather easy to reverse the effects of the spell so I would need something more dangerous when it came to proper fights and I might end up facing more than one foe in a battle. At my current level of education it made sense to master this spell as I was unlikely to need to kill anyone.

Another spell I was intent on learning was the Disarming Charm ( Expelliarmus) this was a charm that forced whatever an opponent was holding to fly out of their hand. It was common to see this spell used in duels to make an opponent lose their wand.

Since most wizards and witches couldn't do much in the way of wandless magic, assuming they could do anything at all, disarming them meant they were next to helpless and from there it was pretty easy to finish them off with something more lethal, fire off a stunner, or confine them in some way.

Those weren't the only spells I was focusing on. I also wanted to master the Shield Charm ( Protego) this was a charm that protected the caster with an invisible shield that reflected spells and blocked physical attacks as well.

A decent defence however, this shield isn't completely impenetrable, as it cannot block the Unforgivable Curses and my dragonhide jacket wouldn't help against them either. But for a first student it was a hard spell to learn.

"James, we need to talk about our plans," Raven said.

Since I only knew a few spells I didn't have much to throw at the dummy, as such I gave my lover my full attention when she spoke.

"Yes, we do" I agreed.

I began to spread some maps out on a table provided by the room. One was a map of London and I'd highlighted Grimmauld Place, which was a street in the London Borough of Islington mostly inhabited by Muggles.

The Black family residence was located at number twelve and in the books/movies it served as the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Within number 13 was one of the Horcruxes that we needed to get our hands on.

"Are you still thinking over our plans to destroy Malfoy Manor?" Raven asked.

Indeed I had been giving this matter some thought. We needed to destroy the diary Horcrux as couldn't depend on Lucius Malfoy smuggling into the school next year given how much had changed.

Raven could simply steal that diary, or rather she could, but Lucius Malfoy would notice it was gone and that could cause unexpected problems as Malfoy was a powerful wizard with great wealth as well important connections.

I'd considered using my Greater Dragon form to destroy the manor to cover up the theft and to strike a blow against the Death Eaters as destroying the manor would deny the Death Eaters a base to operate out of if nothing else.

No one would think a wizard was behind the attacks as while dragons could be contained they could not be controlled. Aside from Merlin there is no record of any witch or wizard taking the form of a dragon.

That made me wonder if the person from another world that the Sorting Hat had mentioned was Merlin. It would explain how he had powers beyond those of other wizards and he had been a student here according to the history books.

"I'm not bothered if I orphan Draco Malfoy in the attack, but I'd rather not kill their house elves or his mother if I can help it since I don't think she was ever loyal to Voldemort" I told Rachel.

My concern was mostly for Dobby and any other elves stuck there. Dobby deserved better than to be burned by dragon's fire. Some might think that Draco's mother had switched sides when she lied to Voldemort about Harry being dead, but she was only concerned for her own son's wellbeing.

"We can wait until the house is empty" said Raven "If we capture Dobby and learn the names of the other elves we can call for them, and contain them for a short time. I even have a way to deal with Lucius Malfoy if you don't mind waiting for a couple of weeks and increasing my allowance".

I'd ended up giving Dawn and Raven an allowance since I felt they were entitled to share of my fortune. If they wanted to save some of their money in a Gringotts vault that was there business.

"What is your plan?" I asked.

Raven took a book out of the storage space, one that she'd been writing in.

"You remember when I told you about that dragon" she asked.

She was referring to Malchior.

"Your ex who tricked you into freeing him from a magical book" I said.

If Raven still found that painful she hid it well.

"My ex, as you put it, was bound by the wizard Rorek who used his spellbook as a prison" Raven told me "One of my plans for Trigon was to trap him in my spellbook, but I abandoned that plan because he's just too powerful".

While I would beg to differ as I knew she could beat her father that was a debate for another time.

"But I can trap Death Eaters in a book" she was now saying "I'll need a separate spell book for each of the dark mages, and that's not going to be cheap because it needs to be blank magical book mass produced stuff just won't work. I'll need to enchant each one, but I think this is the best way to deal with the Death Eaters, short of killing them, and handing them over to the Ministry is pointless since they won't even bother to lock them up".

I liked this plan and the expense was no concern.

"You want to test this on Lucius Malfoy" I stated.

Raven nodded.

"I'll need to perform the spell, but it won't take long" she assured me "I'll trap the mages in a story world, time won't pass for them like it does for us and they will be safe, just not able to hurt anyone. The curse can be broken by someone strong enough, but if we store the books in the storage space no one other than use can get to them".

This solution sounded even better.

"Whatever you need" I said.

Raven began to write out what I assumed to be a shopping list as I opened up the other map she'd wanted to look at.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," I said.

At once, thin ink lines began to spread like a spider's web from the point that my wand had touched. They joined each other, they crisscrossed, they fanned into every corner of the parchment; then words began to blossom across the top, great, curly, green words, that proclaimed:

Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs

Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers

are proud to present

The Marauder's Map.

"Since we can't get into Grimmauld Place any time soon I think we should focus on important events that will happen soon and our plans to change things" Raven was now saying as she looked at the special map "I'm worried about the Quidditch Match and the Troll incident at Halloween".

To my complete lack of surprise she already had ideas on how to handle both. In case Potter fell off his broom we both needed to learn the Slowing Charm ( Arresto Momentum) which was a charm that could be used to slow the velocity of an object.

Raven had looked it up and found that it was taught in second-year Charms class, but it wasn't complex so we should learn to cast it now, and given my fear of falling to my death it would be good to learn before our first flying lesson.

"As for the Troll," she said next "That will be tricky".

A Troll was a magical beast of prodigious strength and rather infamous stupidity. In fact, they are so synonymous with stupidity, that they actually have a wizarding exam failing grade named after them.

Add tot that they are dangerously violent and incredibly aggressive, and they engage in unpredictable behaviour, as such, they are often compared to the savage giants.

They were intelligent when compared to other creatures as they have clubs and wear animals hide. This indicates that trolls are equal to Stone Age humans even if my ancestors at that point probably had more in the way of language skills.

"We need to make sure that Hermione Granger doesn't die on that night" Raven insisted "Or rather you do".

I wasn't concerned.

"The Hermione Granger of this world isn't going to be crying in the toilets," I pointed out "She's a grown woman, not a little girl".

"You don't know much about women" she stated, "Is the Ron Weasley of this world any less of a little twerp than in the books?".

Given that I'd paid the ginger prat no attention at all I couldn't say that I knew anything about him. So I'd just have to assume that he was capable of making even older girls go off and cry.

This version of Granger was rather emo so perhaps she would be reduced to tears if Weasley's insults got to her when she was already felling down due to other things.

"Certain moments in history can be a part of fate's plan that would explain why I had a vision of her death" Raven went on to say "She might come late to the Halloween Feast because she was studying in the library or working on a costume. Which are not mandatory so I will not be wearing one, the point is I have seen her dying".

Studying late in the library so that she missed the feast did sound like something Hermione Granger would do, and I also had no intention of dressing up even if that was a school tradition in this universe.

Halloween was a much more serious holiday in the magical world than in its muggle counterpart, at least here in Great Britain.

"You have visions of the future?" I asked.

I'd not known about this.

"They are rare, but I've gotten them before" she told me "I've seen Hermione Granger getting killed by a troll".

Why do people never have visions of nice things?

"This is your chance to get in good with her" Raven suggested "With the Marauders Map, you can track the Troll and get to her first".

Once I'd saved her life I could easily see us becoming close. Once we'd gotten close I could tell her the truth and hopefully get her to sign a contract. If she proves super annoying I might find out what happens if a contract is terminated.

"The only problem with this idea is that trolls are hard to harm with magic" I mused.

Given that adult wizards can have trouble dealing with trolls there was no way someone with mere weeks of magical education would be able to defeat one.

"If I remember correctly trolls are particularly attracted to unpleasant smells, such as Dungbombs" I mentioned, "Perhaps I can lure it away from Granger if she gets into trouble".

Should nothing else come out of this saving the young witch would earn me some renown and that was something else I needed in order to keep what I'd spent with my points when setting all of this up.

"You need to duel Ron Weasley," said Dawn when she entered the room.

Had someone stuck two pages together in a book as this seemed very sudden.

"Why?" was my understandably reply.

I wanted to go the library and find out if trolls had any weaknesses like an allergies or if they were scared of more manageable magical creatures.

"He came onto me when I was in the library" Dawn answered "He told me I should 'get with a real wizard' and then grabbed my arm. I told him I have a boyfriend, but he wouldn't take no for an answer. I got kicked out of the library for defending myself".

Knowing Dawn as I did her defence would have likely put the ginger tosser in the hospital wing or at least extreme pain.

"If you dealt with him yourself then why do I need to duel him?" I enquired.

"This sounds more like something we should take to a teacher".

Raven made a laugh that sounded like a bark, something that her pet kneazle, whom she'd called Garfield, didn't like hearing.

"Dumbledore won't do anything because the Weasley family are his biggest supporters" stated Dawn "Anyway, he's a pureblood and I'm a muggleborn, its not the Ministry would side with me. They are all bigots".

Okay she had a point there, and I had wondered if the Normalcy Perk would prevent stuff like this from happening, turns out it doesn't stop jealous pricks from making fools of themselves.

"And he's not going to back off just because told him to get lost," Dawn was now saying "He'll try again, I know his type, they have them at every school".

I could see Ron not maturing if he'd been at home until he was seventeen. He'd still be selfish and unwilling to see others as people with their own feelings.

"You need to defend my honour" insisted Dawn.

That seemed archaic to me.

"I'm not a knight and this isn't the 12th century" I pointed out "You're a modern woman, you can defend your own honour".

Dawn gave me an annoyed looked, but it was Raven who spoke.

"Normally, I would approve of you seeing Dawn as a grown woman who doesn't need to be rescued by some white knight" said the former Teen Titan "But this is 1997 and we're in the Wizarding World so yes she does need to be rescued, at least socially. If you don't stand up for your woman you won't be seen as a man and Weasley will bad mouth Dawn all over the school".

She had good points there. It wasn't as if I needed to worry about hordes of SJWs bitching at me about being a sexist.

"I don't want to be called a slag, whatever that means," complained the Key in the human form "Get out there and defend your woman. Call him out!".

That could be done during this evening's duelling lesson.

"I know like three duelling spells" I pointed out.

Remus Lupin had taught me some basics even before we'd come to Hogwarts, but as he'd pointed out his expertise was dealing with dark creatures. Thinking on it I should ask him to cover trolls in our next lesson and just mention I'd heard there were some in the woods near the school.

"I doubt he knows any" stated Raven "He's only slightly ahead of Crabbe and Goyle, and neither of them seem to know how to read. Oh and he's using an old wand he's not suited for, so he's more likely to knock himself out then you".

Dawn gave me her best seductive look.

"If you win I'll give you something special" she offered "Something I know you want real badly".

Okay now I was interested, and I could use the practice. Besides this clearly mattered to her.

"Fine" I said, giving in as I often did with Dawn "I'll defend your honour at the duelling club tonight, my lady".

There was no way that the redhead would refuse if I challenged him in front of his housemates and our instructor would allow it.

"I'm going to practice the shield charm some more," I then said.

Weasley might not be very talented at any other than chess and Quidditch, but he had grown up in the wizarding world, and so he might know some prank spells at least.

"What were you doing in the library?" asked Raven.

I'd thought she'd been off socialising.

"Harry Potter is looking for some people to study with" the former Sunnydale residence answered "He's not that good at magic. He's not got much confidence the poor kid".

That measured up with what I'd seen. The Dursley's must have crushed his spirit. I hoped that Sirius Black was undoing some of the damage.

"I'll duel with you" decided Dawn "I can't have you embarrassing me in public".

Duelling against a real person would be more productive I decided.

---

Part 15

---

Retirement Plan.

Part 15.

Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Wizarding World.

I was about to head down for this evening's duelling class when Raven entered my room without bothering to knock or to make any sort of greeting.

"You need to learn to read the fine print," she stated.

That was not what I'd been expecting her to say.

"What?" I asked.

She showed me a scroll.

"I found my binding contract in the storage space," she told me.

That was something I knew about. The extra-dimensional storage space was something you could physically enter if you wished to, but since the space organised everything for you and you could just summon its contents to you there was no need to.

"The contract fully explains all the perks" Raven was now saying "And let's just say that we didn't need the stone. At least not to extend our lives".

She highlighted the part I needed to look at.

"Oh so we get a lot more than a century of life together," I said, "That's nice".

I hadn't gotten to read the fine print due to having a massive flaming eye screaming at me about naked people doing some stabbing. Now that I had the time to take it all in I saw what had gotten Raven's attention.

"A bit more than that" she remarked "We companions get our life spans expanded to match yours and you added two thousand years to yours when you chose the Greater Dragon perk".

I'd just wanted something that would prevent me from feeling inadequate when compared to my companions.

"Your dragon perk extends your lifespan and ours as well" explained Raven "Because you get the lifespan of a greater dragon".

This was good news, wasn't it?

"You're welcome," I said.

Raven seemed concerned about something.

"You were just a regular guy before right?" she questioned "Because you're starting to seem more dragonish".

I got the sense that there was more to my dragon form than I'd thought.

"Well I do feel the desire to amass lots of treasure despite already being wealthy," I said "I wonder if I'm dragonish in other ways".

The former Teen Titan gave me a worried look.

"Any desire to eat virgins?" she asked.

I considered her question

"Well I do like the idea of deflowering a woman to be more appealing" I admitted.

Raven took out her wand, lit the end of it and poked my arm.

"What do you feel?" she asked.

Next to nothing.

"It tingles a bit" I answered.

Raven frowned upon hearing that.

"That should have burned you" she said "It was a spell for light candles".

I didn't mind her testing such a spell on me since I could heal such injuries with ease.

"So I'm a Targaryen" I reasoned "I can live with that as long as I don't have to have sex with my sister".

Raven looked at me with surprise.

"You're a Martin fan?" she asked.

Indeed I was.

"Yeah, I read some of his short stories," I told, "And some of his Game of Thrones books too. My favourite is the Dunc and Eggs series".

Raven stopped the conversation for a moment and then got back on track.

"I'm not sure if you are a dragon pretending to be a man or the other way around" she said "So I'm going to keep an eye on you".

She wasn't in a good mood this evening.

"Let me know if you feel any desire to burn a city," she said.

Was that something I should be expecting to feel?

"Don't worry I won't burn Laketown without running it by you first" I promised.

She understood that reference right away and it amused her if only a little.

"I'm still the same person as I was yesterday" I pointed out.

She considered that.

"You are a bit of a lousy dragon" she stated "You didn't even want to duel Harry Potter's sidekick".

Well, I didn't want Dumbledore's attention. But perhaps I was being somewhat overly cautious.

"You know that you bring this all up I wonder if I'll still be scared of heights when we start our flying lessons or if I'll be really good in the air" I wondered.

I couldn't wait to find out.

"How can you not know if you are scared of heights anymore?" asked Raven.

By now we were heading out of my room and down the room where the duelling class would take place so we had to be careful about what words we used.

"Because I've been avoiding heights" I replied "But given how much has changed I might be a good flyer".

That was something to discover later for now I had a duel to win and an annoying character to put in his place. As soon as we got to the duelling club I decided to get on with things.

Spoiler

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My timing was good as Sirius Black, the duelling instructor, who I felt sure that take the job so he keep an eye on his godson, was up on stage asking if anyone wanted to demonstrate their skills. He'd done this before to get an idea of our levels of skills.

"I challenge Ron Weasley to a Wizard's Duel!" I called out.

In wizarding culture proper duelling when was two wand waves engaged in combat under the condition that only magical means could be used. No weapons other than wands were allowed.

The combatants faced each other and bowed, as a sign of respect, before they placed themselves in an accepted combative position and, at the count of three, attempted to disarm, stun, injure, defeat, or even kill each other to win.

Unlike a proper fight, these duels were always one on one and were also as much about showing off your magical skills as they were about winning. Duelling was treated more as a sport than a fight.

"I accept!" yelled the hot-headed student.

There had been no chance of him refusing. Not in front of his classmates.

"Go kick his ass" encouraged Dawn.

Now that I was doing this, it felt right despite my knowing that Dawn was more than capable of defending herself. She had actual combat experience, she'd fought vampires and demons, helping to defeat the army of the First Evil and save her world. If anything she should be protecting me.

"What are your terms?" asked Sirius Black.

He looked younger than he did in the movies. Azkaban must not have aged him as much in this timeline.

"If I win Ron Weasley has to publicly apologise to Dawn Summers for daring to lay his hands on her" I answered, "And disrespecting her".

That got a lot of people whispering.

"If I win she has to go to Hogsmeade with me" stated the ginger part.

Perhaps he really did find her attractive. Too bad for him that Dawn had better taste in men than Hermione Granger or Lavender Brown.

"I can't agree to those terms" I stated.

"Because you're a coward," said Weasley.

If I were scared I wouldn't have called him out in the first place. Him harming me hadn't been a concern.

"Dawn is not an object I can lend out," I said "If that's how you view women, no wonder you have to force yourself on them".

That made the young wizard turn ever redder and without turning my head I could tell that my words had gotten a reaction out of the female parts of the audience. I didn't think that Ron would be getting a date any time soon.

"No one gets away with talking to me like that" the Weasley boy declared "I'll show you what a real wizard looks like".

His attitude didn't surprise me I could remember the first time I'd been this age and how many guys I'd known who acted as if they were the centre of the universe.

"Take your positions" ordered Instructor Black.

Another teacher might have stopped this duel since it clearly wasn't going to just be a demonstration of our duelling skills, but the ex-convict seemed amused my all of this.

"Spells only" stated the Animagus "No physical contact and don't use any spells meant to do permeant harm".

There was a standard rule in duels that only magical means could be used to fight an opponent, and that there was to be no physical contact (which wizardkind refers to as Muggle duelling) between the duellists. I thought that wizard duelling, at least when performed as sport, was more like fencing than regular fighting as people rarely care about rules when hitting each other.

Nor was acceptable to use dark magic in a duel such as this? Magical humans in this world were more durable than muggles and the school's nurse could fix a lot of injuries that muggle healers would struggle to mend. The wand wavers were primitive in many ways, but their medicine was very impressive.

As such it was doubtful that either of us could do any lasting harm to each other only using the spells we'd learned so far.

Black provided a count down and Weasley fired off first, had I the time to speak further I could have made some sort of joke about him going off prematurely.

"Rictusempra!"

The tickling charm, while considered to be a childish spell is not terrible to use in a duel because it is very distracting and can embarrass the person you are going up against, but his magic was so weak that I could have protected myself with the aid of dragonhide jacket which was somewhat resistant to magic and my own strength of will. Despite this I still shielded myself.

The Shield Charm is one of the most basic duelling spells even if it is rather advanced for a first year and I did it none verbally. I had more than enough power and focus for such a feat, and it was impressive. I could tell by the murmurings of the audience.

"Is the best you can do?" I asked.

"Shut up, swot!" shouted the Gryffindor student.

I had to smile.

"Wow, what an insult," I said sardonically.

"Tarantallegra!"

I easily blocked the next spell, a charm used to force another person's legs to begin dancing uncontrollably. I had some skill at shield charms because Dawn had made sure I did. We'd practised that spell until I got it right.

Given how easy I'd found it to learn that spell I wondered if Raven was right about me being a dragon in the form of a man because I was only supposed to have above-average talent in this sort of magic according to the perk I'd purchased. Something to look more into later.

"If I wanted to insult you I'd have so much to choose from" I was now saying "You have no table manners, you're rude, you smell bad…".

He didn't give me the chance to finish.

"Expelliarmus!"

The Harry Potter special hit my shield and still managed to knock my wand out of hand. Lucky for me I'd figured that this would happen and I wrapped the handle of my wand in the Band of Sindri.

The strip of leather could fit the handle of any weapon, which a wand counted as, and let you bring it back to your hand like Mjolnir.

Since only myself and my companions knew about the band it looked to everyone else that I'd performed the summoning charm non-verbally without a wand. Something that got me a little awe from the audience.

I knew that I would treasure the expression on Ron Weasley's face for a long time to come. A shame I had to act before the shock wore off.

"Stupefy"

The redhead collapsed and people broke out into applause.

"Twycross is the winner" stated Sirius Black "And I think that demonstration is enough for today".

Slowly people began to leave the room.

"Sir what do we do with Weasley," asked another member of that boy's house.

Black waved the concern away.

"Just leave him where he is, he's only stunned," said the instructor.

I shouldn't have been amused by that, yet I was, as was Dawn judging by the smile on her face. Rachel also seemed to be pleased.

"Twycross, come with me to Professor Flitwick's office" ordered Black.

Damn it, had he realised that I'd sort of cheated? Use of the band hadn't been against the terms of our duel, but he might not see it that way.

"I am in some sort of trouble?" I asked as I followed the instructor.

Black smiled at me.

"Quite the opposite," he assured me.

It wasn't until we got to Flitwick's office that I discovered what Black meant.

"Mr Black, Mr Twycross," said my Head of House "What can I do for you".

Flitwick had office hours when students were free to come to speak with him about their Charms work or if they were in Ravenclaw and had an issue he could help with, so he was able to meet with us.

Whatever paperwork he'd been doing wouldn't be more important than helping one of his students.

"I've just watched Twycross demolish another first-year wizard in a duel using the shield charm, non-verbal spells and a wandless summoning charm" reported the duelling instructor.

At this rate, I was going to have to learn how to summon things to me without my wand because sooner or later someone would figure out that the leather strap wrapped around the handle of my wand was the secret behind the trick.

"Oh good, I knew had more talent than your classmates" said Flitwick.

In any other school, I'd be in trouble for knocking out a student. Here you get praised for it. Not that I was going to complain as I'd likely have been suspended from another college if not outright expelled.

"Since you sit with Miss Roth and Miss Summers during your classes it might not have been noticed by some of the staff, but I just knew that you had great potential" Flitwick added.

Further proof that I might be more powerful than I'd thought. To be fair it hadn't been possible for me to get a good measure of my magical skills with Raven and Dawn around, Raven was in a league of her own and Dawn could one day be on that level if she learned how to tap into her powers as the key.

"Professor I was thinking about offering Twycross some extra lessons to prepare him for the duelling circuits," said Black.

That did surprise me as it did my head of house.

"He's that good?" questioned Flitwick before he turned to face me "No offence meant Mr Twycross, even the junior duelling leagues can be dangerous. First years with a muggle upbringing just don't normally have the experience or skill".

I didn't offence since it sounded as if was a concern for my safety.

"None of the duelling contests in this country start until the summer" stated Black "If we can work around Twycross's timetable I think he can be ready by then".

I had considered becoming a duellist for the renown, I just hadn't thought I'd have to start preparing this soon.

"He does have a more flexible timetable than most since he makes use of tutors" said Flitwick "If his tutors can be convinced to rearrange their schedules then you can make room for duelling practice".

Black waved away that concern as he had down with Weasley being left alone in the duelling room.

"Remus will come to the school if I ask him" stated the duelling instructor.

The contract Lupin had signed wouldn't have prevented him from mentioning who he was tutoring and the subjects involved, or even our progress, it would only prevent him from sharing personal information such as our address or what he saw when inside the house.

"Do you want to become a duellist?" Flitwick questioned, "It's not an easy thing to become, but there are benefits such as trophies, prize money, and fame".

I did want those things. The money shouldn't matter. I had plenty of it, yet I wanted more of it and trophies too. Fame only mattered as I needed renown as it was one of my challenges.

"You've got the power and reflexes, and the girls love a duellist," Black told me.

I wondered if that last part was true. I should ask my ladies.

"You got Ron Weasley so riled up that he couldn't think straight. That's very important when it comes to duelling" Black told me "Know your enemy, as the muggles say".

I gave the idea a little thought. Becoming a duellist would help to develop my skills, and gain me some renown, and if I took on this challenge it could help in the future should I have to take on other magic users.

"While I can't commit to any regular lessons because of my commitments, I will take some time to measure your skills" promised Flitwick.

If it was too much work I could always quit.

"I'd like to learn more about duelling," I said.

Black seemed very pleased.

"I'll talk to Remus about tutoring you and your friends here at the school if we need to work around our timetables," said the former convict "That way if you need to skip any classes he can make sure you won't fall behind, but I don't think that I'll be a problem this year since I'm only planning to have you placed in the junior leagues here in Britain, and they take place in the summer".

That wasn't all he had to say.

"Maybe Headmaster Dumbledore will approve my idea for an internal contest" Black mused "He's not been eager about it, but if some students show promise in duelling and want to compete he might allow it".

Flitwick seemed to like the idea.

"I wouldn't mind an internal duelling contest," he said "They wouldn't be that much work to set up, it's just that until now we haven't had a member of staff who can devote their time to it. We have Madam Hooch to take care of the Quidditch issues that pop up".

Since it sounded as if these two wanted to discuss the possibility of a duelling contest within the school, so I decided to excuse myself. I headed to my room, intending to lie down and do some reading, only to find Dawn waiting on my bed.

"I promised a reward for defending my honour," she reminded me.

As it turned out it wasn't anything sexual. Instead, Dawn pulled a book out of the extra-dimensional storage space we shared.

"This is the half-blood prince book," she told me "I borrowed the cloak and snuck into the the potion's lab to get it for you. I think Snape must have wanted someone to find it".

Spoiler

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She was right I did desire that book.

"You don't want it for yourself?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"I'm not that into potions," she told me "And I wanted to get you something cool since Raven does so much for you. I don't like feeling that I'm not contributing. I was going to trade you something for it, but it makes a good reward for you crushing that berk, if that word means what I think it means".

And here I'd been thinking she'd do something kinky for me.

"I told Rachel that I'm sleeping with you tonight and you looked hot when you were duelling so I'm going to ride you tonight," she promised.

Sounded like fun to me.

"I thought this might end up with you rewarding me with sex," I remarked.

Dawn sat back down on the bed.

"I'm not rewarding you" she insisted "That was what the book is for. I'm going to have sex with you because you got me horny when you were duelling. Besides, someone needed to teach that prat a lesson".

I began to undress as Dawn asked what our instructor had wanted with me.

"Black took me to Flitwick's office because he wants me to take part in some duelling contests and train me for them," I mentioned.

Dawn's eyes lit up as she got up and began to undress me because I must not be going fast enough

"Oh, you are so going to win" she insisted.

She didn't say anything else for a while as before long she was on her knees and her mouth was busy. She sure did act as if she liked giving blowjobs. Maybe Black was on to something about this duelling stuff.

---

Part 16

---

Retirement Plan

Part 16

Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Wizarding World.

I'd not forgotten about the flying lessons, even if I hadn't thought about them much, at least not until a notice went up in the common room of Ravenclaw tower letting us first years know that our flying lessons would soon start.

Rumour had it that the reason for this delay was that during Gryffindor and Slytherin flying classes that were taught at the very start of the year, someone had damaged the brooms, and only now had they gotten repaired enough for us to use.

The poor quality of the brooms in that class was also mentioned by older students, but I wanted to see them for myself before passing judgement. That did sound like a fanon thing, although given what happened to Neville Longbottom it wouldn't be shocking if true.

When we got down to the field and got a chance to inspect the broom, I was unimpressed, to say the least. The wood was chipped, there were too few bristles, and they just looked worn down.

"They can't really expect us to fly on these things," I said to myself.

Someone was going to end up in the infirmary before long.

"I know what you mean," said Terry Boot one of the other male students in both my year and house, "What are they spending our tuition money on?".

In this universe, you do pay to go to Hogwarts, but it doesn't cost much as the Ministry supplies most of the budget for the college despite it not being a state school like those I attended in my last life.

This explains not only how the Weasleys can afford to send all of their children here, it also made more sense that Fudge could interfere so much with the school. At the very least he could harm the school's budget by diverting funds elsewhere.

What little I would have paid to attend for my first year got covered by the scholarship fund for orphans, a fund that had been around for a good long while as that was also how Tom Riddle was able to afford to come to this school.

Thinking on it, perhaps I should talk to the Deputy Headmistress about paying my way. I would be paying next year and I should cover the costs for my companions as well. It wasn't far for us to divert funds from a charity when we could afford to pay our way.

"I bet the Ministry slashed the budget for flying lessons," said Anthony Goldstein, another Ravenclaw "My Mum complains about them doing stuff like that all the time".

Goldstein had a Jewish father and a mother who was a witch. I couldn't help thinking that he childhood much have been very interesting.

The poor state of the brooms might even be a way of holding Muggleborn students back since those raised in the Wizarding World would already have experience with brooms so the Muggleborn would be more affected by the lack of good brooms during these lessons.

Then again it might just be the Ministry and school governors being stupid rather than it being something done out of malice, or more likely someone was embezzling part of the school's budget.

"Cleansweeps are solid brooms, but these ones just aren't any good" one of the Hufflepuff boys in my year mentioned "I don't know what Professor Dumbledore is thinking letting us use them".

Even if Dumbledore is not an evil man he does have three full-time jobs and he's a big-picture thinker. If he did care about the students as people then he should he wouldn't have put the Philosopher's Stone in the school to act as bait for Voldemort and to test Harry Potter.

"Good morning class," said Madam Hooch as she strode on the large patch of grass that we were using for this lesson "Well what are you waiting for. Stand by your brooms".

Spoiler

[img: https//wp-content/uploads/images/MadamHoochHParticlemainpicture.jpg]

When the time came to command our brooms to raise up into our hands, rather than try to order the broom verbally I just sort of willed it into my hand. Raven had taught me a little about focusing my will on something so as to make it respond to me.

Few people bothered much with wandless magic as wands were more than a tool to perform magic with they were a symbol of status within the Wizarding World. Something you took out and used to show off your magical abilities with.

If you didn't use your wand when given a chance to demonstrate your talent then you weren't a real witch or wizard. Aside from that wandless magic was much harder to perform and took a lot more skill as well as practice to perfect. Wizards and witches were rather lazy.

In my not so humble opinion, wands were a subtle sort of trap. By depending on them it made wizards and witches easier for the government to control since their law enforcement officers simply had to use a successful disarming charm and then whomever they were after was more or less helpless.

I would never let that happen to me. I would learn wandless magic and in desperate times I had other options such as summoning my staff or turning into a massive dragon.

"Now mount your brooms," ordered our teacher.

Flying on a broom like this could not be comfortable even with cushioning charms.

"Wait for it," Raven whispered to me "Get ready to cast Arresto Momentum".

To my complete lack of surprise one of the Hufflepuffs, this one a slightly chubby girl, took off and then lost any control she'd had before she started coming down.

Despite my desire not to depend too much upon my wand, it was a powerful tool and well suited to me, as such I was able to cast a spell to help out the poor Hufflepuff girl avoid disaster.

"Arresto Momentum"

The Slowing Charm was a spell that could be used to slow the velocity of an object. It was taught in second years charms, but I'd practised the Charm because Rachel had advised me to in order to help Harry Potter should his broom get cursed

Raven must have foreseen this danger, and thanks to her advice I'd prevented a student from being injured. I doubted she would have died from the fall, but it had been a possibility.

"That was some quick thinking, Mr Twycross" said Madam Hooch as she raced over to the thankfully okay Hufflepuff "I'll take her to the infirmary, the rest of you can put the brooms away and then you're dismissed. Flying lessons will have to wait".

This news was not welcomed by the student body even if many of them were distracted by my display of magic. I was surprised that Hooch hadn't performed the spell given that she must have known there was a good chance a student would fall. Was she a Squib or had she not been able to get to her wand in time?

"That was a very advanced spell" commented Lisa Turpin as we Ravenclaws huddled together "Where did you find it?".

I saw no harm in sharing this information.

"The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2" I answered "We're supposed to learn it next year. I was reading ahead and when I realised that poor girl could fall I just used the spell".

I wondered why Raven hadn't done that herself. Perhaps she was aiding me in my challenge to obtain renown, or she was worried that she was already getting too much attention from the staff.

"We'll never pass flying at this rate" complained Terry Boot.

Something had to be done if only to minimize the risks to myself and my companions. Aside from that, I had to pass my flying class as it was part of the curriculum for us first years.

"Come with me," I said to Dawn and Raven "I have an idea.

Diagon Alley. The Wizarding World.

Since I had the excuse to leave the school for my tutoring sessions I was free to go off to the magical shopping centre with my companions. I'd already decided not to wait for the end of term as this situation with the brooms was simply unacceptable.

Despite it being a Saturday morning the alley was more peaceful than expected. Wizards and witches were a sedate lot so it made sense that shopping would be more of a Saturday afternoon activity.

Even with the alley being more empty of people than expected I got on with my business quickly as I wanted to get back before lunch started as I was planning on visiting Hogsmede this afternoon.

The lack of children around here suited me just fine for another reason, as it meant that the Quidditch supply store was almost free of customers and as such the wizard running the store was able to speak with me without delay.

Spoiler

[img: https/i./originals/6d/39/07/6d390791690e3296c837456f7e2c1187.jpg]

"What can I do for you, sir?" I was asked.

I'd come here with a very specific need.

"I need twenty reliable brooms that are suitable for novice flyers to use during lessons," I said.

The store owner took a moment to process my words.

"Twenty brooms" he muttered.

My guess would be that most of his business involved selling stuff like broom polish, repair kits and so on with only a few new brooms actually being purchased outside of the summer holidays. Professional teams would go to the broom manufacturer directly. I didn't have time for that, or rather I did I just didn't want to wait that long.

"Can you meet my needs?" I asked, "If not can you point me to a supplier who will be able to fill the order?".

Broom manufacturing is a big business here in Britain and not just for domestic sales the brooms are exported as well. That is the real reason why flying carpets were banned some time ago, so as to protect broom sales, or at least that was what I'd heard when the flying lessons were discussed in the common room.

"We can, sir," said the salesman "Please follow me".

Dawn and Rachel were ignored by the clerk, and they didn't bother to follow me as neither had much interest in brooms.

I soon found myself in a vast warehouse, one far too large to fit into the alley, and while that was impressive, I was soon distracted by the presence of so many brooms as I until I'd not really understood just how big this business could be.

"Now if you want a nice dependable broom for the novices you don't want anything like Nimbus range" the salesmen were saying "sure the Cleansweaps are slower, cheaper and all that, but they aren't the safest when it comes to handling. If you want a solid and reliable broom I suggested you get some from the Oakshaft line".

I was soon told that the Oakshaft line started with witches making brooms in cottages and now they were an international bestseller for those who valued the slow and steady approach to flying.

"They aren't that popular anymore" the salesman was now saying "Everyone wants the latest racing broom, and that's great if your a racer or playing Chaser in a Quidditch match, but I was a Beater and let me tell you being faster isn't always better. You want a broom that will you keep you in your seat, that flies straight and true".

It wasn't hard to see the logic in that. Harry Potter could handle a Nimbus 2000 or a Firebolt because he's a natural flier and a Seeker needs speed.

However, the average witch or wizard just wouldn't be able to handle a racing broom any more than the average muggle driver can handle a Formula 1 racing car.

"Everyone broom has been tested" I was assured "And we don't let any of them out of the warehouse without checking the charms ourselves. All these have been checked by us and have a warranty to back them up".

Yes, these would do nicely. Now all we had to do was agree on a price. Prices could vary a bit. A custom made broom could cost thousands of galleons.

"What do you need so many brooms for?" I was asked.

There were regulations about using and owning brooms so the clerk did have a right to ask.

"I'm replacing the brooms at Hogwarts" I answered "A student nearly got hurt and I can afford it, so I figured I should make a donation".

We ended up haggling a bit because there was no discount for buying in bulk. I paid about 300 pounds in regular money for each broom, which was about the cost of decent mountain bike

"I'll throw some polish and repair kits" promised the wizard.

He must the manager if he could do that or at least more than a mere clerk.

"Box them up for me and I'll fill out a cheque," I said.

A Gringotts Cheque was a document issued by Gringotts Wizarding Bank to allow the transaction of a sum of money from one Gringotts vault to another without the owner of the vault having to go and move his gold himself.

"You want to take them now?" asked the wizard.

I wasn't going to make some poor owls fly them to Scotland when I just carry them myself in some bigger on the inside box.

"Yes", I answered "They are needed right away".

The wizard seemed taken aback by this as if the idea of someone just taking their merchise was alien activity.

Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Wizarding World.

"Mr Twycross," said a female voice as I stood in front of her at the staff "I hope this is important".

It was lunchtime on Saturday so there weren't that many people around. Most students would have gone down to the village. One of the few members of staff sitting here was Madam Hooch.

Spoiler

[img: https/vignette.wikia./harrypotter/images/3/3e/Great_hall.jpg]

"Yes, I need to talk to you about the poor quality brooms that are used during your flying lessons," I replied.

The instructor did her best to hide her annoyance, but figured that I was far from the first student to talk to her about this problem and that she wouldn't be able to do anything about the situation.

"If you want to register a complaint you need to do so with the headmaster or the board of governors" she replied.

I got the sense that doing either of those things would be totally pointless.

Trying to get extra funding out of what I was sure was a group of self serving pureblood would be like trying to get blood out of a stone. In fact, the latter would be easier as there is probably a spell for that.

Come to think about it, Lucius Malfoy is on the board of governors and he'd paid for his son's place on Slytherin Quiddict team with brooms far more expensive than what I'd gotten.

While I don't know much about that sport I understand that they giving beaters and keepers super fast brooms isn't a great idea.

More proof that Draco only joined the team to compete with Harry Potter as a real Quidditch player would purchased different models of brooms for the different players.

The older Malfoy could have easily purchased brooms for the whole school to use during lessons. The fact that he hadn't was evidence that he didn't actually care about Hogwarts, not that any was needed.

"There's no need," I said as I presented her with the box that I'd been carrying "I decided to actually do something about the problem".

I'd imagined that she would invite me to her office. Rather than do that she bade me follow her so I could put the box down on one of the house tables. This naturally drew the attention of several students who started to pay attention.

"Normally first-year students aren't allowed their own brooms" Hooch insisted when she saw the broom in the box "Perhaps we need to get rid of that rule so students can use there own".

Since she couldn't know how many brooms were in the box, since it only looked big enough to contain one since it was broom of a violin case, it was understandable that she assumed that I'd only brought the one.

"They aren't for me, or rather not just for me" I explained out of the box "This is a donation to the school, to be specific your flying class. I don't want to see a student get injured".

I opened up the box and started unpacking the twenty brooms that were somewhat old sure, but new compared the school's brooms. More importantly they'd never been flown and so weren't worn down.

"My goodness I haven't seen this many Oakshafts since my days on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team," remarked Madame Hooch "These are good, solid brooms, nice handling, just what my flying class needs".

I trusted the opinion of the experts on this matter, and while they might not be Nimbus 2000 or Firebolts that didn't stop quite a few male students, and even a few young ladies, from trying to get a closer look at the brooms.

"Yes I thought they'd met with your approval, and they've been certified as fit for use," I said.

Hooch was very pleased.

"I'm sure the Headmaster will want to thank you personally" mentioned the instructor "I only just finishing telling him about you helping out another student".

The last thing I wanted to do was met with Dumbledore. I didn't wish to talk to him at all if it could be arranged. The Headmaster had a way of using people.

"I have other plans for the day" I said "If you'll excuse me I'm suppose to meet my friends in the village".

I'd promised Raven that I would spend time with her, just the two of us, as a date and I'd rather do that and listen to Dumbledore make a speech.

---

Part 17

---

Retirement Plan.

Part 17.

Hogsmede. Wizarding World.

Any student could come to this small settlement at the weekend so as to enjoy the village and what it had to offer. This meant that the businesses here mostly catered to the students, at least a couple of days out of the week when it wasn't the summer holidays.

Spoiler

[img: https/static.wikia./harrypotter/images/7/71/Hogsmeade_sign_HL.png]

Overall this arrangement ensured that the stores and other businesses got enough business to stay open, but not so as much that drove the quiet life-seeking inhabitants away.

During the week things stayed peaceful, and not many students would be around during the summer holidays unless they came for a visit or lived here.

It was also a nice break from the school as while Hogwarts was an amazing place even it could get boring if you never went anywhere else. Also, I imagined that the students who'd been going to the magical college for years were glad of a break from their studies.

Even we first years had quite a lot of studying to do even if there wasn't much spellcasting going on outside the more practical lessons such as charms and duelling.

I wasn't doing as well in class as I would have liked. I was turning out to be an above-average student with some talent for duelling, but it was still early days.

Had I been surrounded by 11-year-olds, and not sharing lessons with Raven and Dawn, I felt sure I'd be top of the class, or at least I'd getting up there.

Perhaps that was for the best as it did mean that the professors weren't going to try to force more work on me in order to challenge me, and that gave me more time for my own projects.

According to Hogwarts: A History, which went into some detail about the village. Hogsmeade was founded in the 10th or 11th century, around the same time as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, by medieval wizard Hengist of Woodcroft as he was fleeing persecution by Muggles.

Something I'd heard from Remus Lupin who unlike Binns managed to avoid putting every student within hearing range to sleep when talking about magical history.

I'd also learned that in 1612 a goblin rebellion took place in the vicinity of the village. Hogsmeade served as the wizards' headquarters during the rebellion.

At the weekends the students frequented the High Street in the village, which contained the named speciality shops and pubs you read about in the books, such as Zonko's Joke Shop and Honeydukes.

Otherwise, they wandered on to observe the infamous Shrieking Shack, something Raven and I had gotten around to doing this weekend.

"And that's the Shrieking Shack," I said repeating some information I'd heard from another student "It's supposed to be the most haunted place in Britain".

Which was completely untrue. The crappy old shack wasn't even haunted. It had actually been used to contain the werewolf Remus Lupin during the full moon while he was attending Hogwarts.

I wondered if he was still using it or just locking himself up somewhere while under the effects of the Wolfsbane potion that I was supplying him with as part of his pay.

There were supposed to be werewolves in the Forbidden Forest, I wondered if that was true or just one of those rumours you hear. I didn't know why they would need to live in a forest when they were humans most of the time. Couldn't they just rent a flat somewhere?

"Actually Hogwarts is the most haunted place in Britain," Rachel told me "You forget that I've read the books".

I knew that but I didn't comment on the fact, instead, I planned to change the subject as the shack was rather dull. Raven got there first.

"James, you know that the Weasly boy is going to try to get revenge on you," said Rachel "You need to be careful".

I hadn't thought much about that.

"He won't come up with anything too elaborate" I was now saying "He doesn't have the intelligence or the patience even if he is supposed to be good at chess".

Odd that the game of chess was one of the few things that the character was known for enjoying since he was highly emotional and prone to reckless action. Chess required you to take your time, to think through your actions.

Perhaps I was underestimating the youngest Mr Weasly. He might come up with some more complex than attacking me in a corridor. Yet I doubted it.

"I haven't foreseen any danger to you" said Raven "But that doesn't mean much since my visions aren't regular even if they are more dependable than they used to be".

Even with my limited experience with magic, I knew that any method of seeing the future couldn't be relied upon. At best you'd get hints.

"If you can learn to see the future why didn't you select Divination as an elective?" I asked.

"Arithmancy involves Numerology, which can be used to predict future events" Raven answered "I've studied other forms of predicting the future before so the Divination classes wouldn't interest me, but I've never had the chance to study Numerology under someone who is in an expert in their field".

Since I'd never had any love for maths I'd decided to avoid Arithmancy and I did like animals so Care of Magical Creatures was simply a better choice for me. Technically I counted as a magical creature.

"Astronomy covers the movement of plants and stars, and that can be used with Numerology to navigate the future a lot better than reading tea leaves and staring into crystal balls," said Raven.

I'd not known that she was so interested in uncovering future events.

"Why are you so focused on foreseeing events?" I asked.

Raven looked around before answering as she was worried that someone might be listening.

"We've already changed the timeline in major ways," she said "I just want to make sure that we aren't taken by surprise by any unexpected plot twists".

All I knew of the subject was that for some reason wizards thought it important to know the names of all of Saturn's and Jupiter's many moons.

"Can I tempt you to some lunch?" I asked.

It was about the right time and my temptation proved to be successful so we headed for The Three Broomsticks which was a popular inn and pub here in the Wizarding World.

Much like in the books/movies, it is often frequented by students from Hogwarts. It was rather packed in fact since many first-year students had decided to come here for a visit and see the village.

"Shame it isn't snowing" commented my companion.

Yes, it did seem to be one of those places that should have snow, but while it was a chilly day there were no chances of the white stuff falling on us today as the sky was very clear and it wasn't even winter yet.

"We might get to see this place at Xmas," I said.

Dawn was lobbying to spend the Yule time at Hogwarts because it was part of the experience that she wanted. I hadn't celebrated the holidays for years outside short visits to some members of my family and learning this had dismayed Dawn.

Raven wasn't bothered either way. I imagine that when you are partly demonic you tend to avoid religious celebrations. Now that she was fully human she was happy to celebrate or not depending on what the rest of us wanted.

"We should stay this Christmas," said Rachel "Let her have it her way this year and then you don't have to suffer through it again".

On the way to the pub, we passed by a number of shops such as Ceridwen's Cauldrons, Dogweed and Deathcap, Gladrags Wizardwear, Hogsmeade Post Office and some others that I knew nothing about but would take the chance to explore later on.

Spoiler

[img: https/static.wikia./harrypotter/images/d/dc/Honeydukespottermore.png]

I wondered if Dawn was already in the sweet shop as she'd mentioned that she was going to visit the place and stock up on candy. Looking in through the window I could see that the place was popular with children.

When we got inside the pub I felt how much warmer the inn is when compared to the outside world. It was rather crowded within, and a bit smoky, but otherwise clean and welcoming.

It was also much better lit than the Leaky Cauldron, and bigger on the inside with multiple levels.

Spoiler

[img: https//files/images/Three%2520Broomsticks.jpg]

A mirror behind the bar reflects the cosy atmosphere, and I could see drinks such as Butterbeer and Firewhisky being served as well as shots of gilly water, tankards of Mulled Mead, glasses of red currant rum, and even more drinks, many of which I'd sampled while staying at the Leaky Cauldron and found not to be to my taste.

The Three Broomsticks is owned and operated by Madam Rosmerta who was far too busy to see to us personally, but the pub had waitresses who got around to serving Raven and me before too long.

Which was fine as we were in no rush. We had to find seats first and while the pub was crowded it seemed to be as big as it needed to be some sort of magic at play I figured.

"Sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm really here," said my companion "I'm glad you picked this place to move to".

While the Wizarding World had its issues and dangers, as everywhere else did, choosing to come here made a lot of sense.

Aside from its magic being super useful and relatively easy to learn, at least according to Rachel, this setting had many pleasant sights and some of the people weren't too annoying to be around.

"I'll have the Shepherd's Pie with a Garden Salad" I ordered when a waitress found her way to us.

Since I now had such a decent body it seemed wise to try to keep in good shape by eating my greens and getting some exercise. I couldn't recall for sure if the CYOA would maintain my physical form or not.

I should really go into the storage space and see if there is a copy of my contract.

Once Miss Roth had made her order, we got to talking about stuff that didn't matter and for a while, I forgot about schoolwork and the CYOA. It was a pleasant afternoon.

I did my best to pay attention to Raven while pondering what it meant to be a dragon who was taking the form of a wizard. I really should spend some time exploring what that meant.

Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Wizarding World.

I groaned as Raven sucked my cock with the kind of enthusiasm normally only displayed by Dawn. I couldn't help wondering if that was why she'd decided that we should have an early night. She was clearly in a good mood after our date.

"Someone's eager" I teased as Raven stopped for a moment.

She was getting carried away, but that was entirely intentional I felt sure.

"You have a very handsome penis." said the empath "Now relax and let me show you how grateful I am to have you in my life".

I decided to let Raven do whatever she wanted with my cock. There was no point in fighting it, and every reason to just give in and accept the pleasure she was so insistent on giving me.

While I didn't know exactly what she was feeling grateful for, she was happy with her new life, and there was no need for me to question her on this matter.

She might just be competing with Dawn, attempting to make sure that my other companion wasn't doing a better job of pleasing me in bed than her. If so then I was happy to lie back on my big bed and enjoy Rachel's efforts.

"So good," I praised.

A naked and eager Raven was making herself choke on my cock. She was testing her own boundaries as she pleased me, trying to find out how far she could things.

"Slow down" I urged.

I didn't want her to end up hurting herself. Thankfully Raven did slow down and found a pace she was comfortable with. I moved a hand down so that I could stroke her soft hair.

She was always rather eager for my affection even if most of the time she hid it well.

While I couldn't see it I just knew that she had one of her hands between her legs even as the other held my cock.

I would be willing to bet that she was soaked down there and was thinking about how my cock would feel inside her needy little cunt.

"Can I be on top this time?" Raven requested.

Because she'd spent so much of her life needing to be in control she enjoyed surrendering that control to me when in bed. I liked having some power over her.

"You may" I answered.

Rachel gifted me with one of her rare smiles before she moved so that she could lower herself onto my very erect dick.

I opened my eyes again and watched as my beautiful and powerful companion sank slowly down onto my hard shaft.

Soon Raven began to rise and fall on my member, but not before guiding my hands to her gently bouncing tits as she stroked her clit with her free hand.

When she leaned slightly back I could see every part of my cock disappearing into her slick young pussy, it felt as if was trying to hold onto my cock with cunt.

Raven quickened her pace until I was sure I was about to cum before she stopped and bent over towards me.

"Let me give you a nice view," she said.

Raven got off, turned her body around and then impaled herself again so that her butt was facing me.

"The reverse cowgirl, a good choice" I praised.

Raven began to grind her ass into my pelvis, then slowly she moved up and down, whimpering as my cock moved inside her.

I couldn't resist slapping her fine ass and while it sounded very loud it didn't seem to cause my lover any pain as she just kept going even as I slapped her backside some more.

If anything she found it encouraging as she began to pick up the pace, and the sounds coming out of her mouth sounded more animal than human.

She didn't slow down even as her butt began to go a bit red and when I came inside she called me Daddy, or at least I hoped that she was referring to me.

I rolled Raven off me after she collapsed. She'd stopped being able to move and so she didn't speak for a while. When she did find her voice she had a question for me.

"Was that good?" she wondered.

It had been more than good.

"That was absolutely fantastic," I said.

She turned her face towards mine AND Raven smirked as I got the impression that she was congratulating herself on a job well done. When she could move she reached out for her wand and with a small wave she cleaned up the little mess we'd made.

"Now that you are nice and relaxed, would you like to do something for me?" she wondered.

The cold sinking feeling thankfully didn't last for long. As it turned out I wasn't going to need to get up and leave my warm bed. That would have been a truly horrific thing to have to endure.

"Would you read to me?" she requested.

That wasn't something I'd been expecting.

"Sure" I replied.

From the storage dimension, she pulled out a book.

"The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald" I read out.

Raven's naked form was soon lying on top of mine with my left arm no longer free to move. I could still feel some dampness between her legs as she snuggled against me. Her spell had not removed all traces of our recent fucking.

"Can you do voices for the different characters?" she asked.

I was amused by this and I couldn't help squeezing the arm I had around her as she spoke.

"Aren't you a little old for bedtime stories?" I asked.

She didn't at all sound embarrassed.

"Aren't I too old to have my butt spanked?" she asked back "You seemed to enjoy that".

That was a good point.

"Any way you can't judge me, you spent part of the summer painting tiny soldiers so you can fight in pretend battles" she added.

Another good point.

"Don't you dare mock my Thousand Sons warband," I warned her.

She wisely did not.

"Will you read to me?" she requested.

I might as well make her happy.

"Well I am your Daddy," I joked.

This time she did hide her face.

"Don't read too much into that" she pleaded.

It was hard not to.

"I never had anyone to do this for me," she said "The monks were never cruel to me, but they weren't the most affectionate of people".

After reading the summary on the back I recalled that I knew this story.

"I saw the movie," I told Raven "I still know the words to the song".

Raven turn her head to look at me.

"Go on sing it" she pleaded.

How had she gone from seventeen to seven?

"I agreed to read not sing" I pointed out.

She couldn't pull off the whole puppy dog eyes trick as well as Dawn as Raven was more of a cat person, but she did a good job, and I decided to indulge her. I must have fallen in love with her at some point or she could never have gotten me to do this.

"There's a spark inside us. That we can all ignite. And all that's dark inside us. Will flicker into light. There's a power in every breath. There's a power in every note. A power that starts within the heart. A power that rises through the throat. And when it sails up through the air".

That was all I could remember.

"Read the story" insisted Raven.

I did as she bid as I figured that if I gave in she'd repay the favour later on and do something nice for me.

---

Part 18

---

Retirement Plan

Part 18

Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Wizarding World.

Flying lessons were not just about getting on a broom and trying to show off to your mates. Nor were they simply a chance to impress the girls, many of whom were impressed by wizards flying about for some reason, and Dawn seemed to have become one of them.

The flying coach also taught us all about broom safety, the rules you had to follow when playing Quidditch, the laws that governed flying, which were enforced by the Ministry of Magic's Broom Regulatory Control, and proper broom maintenance. The last was something that Madam Hooch considered to be very important.

That was what we were going over during this lesson. We had to check the broom we'd be flying about on earlier for splinters, loose bristles, and anything else that might show that the broom needed some minor repair. The flying objects also had to be polished regularly to ensure top performance.

"In my experience, there's nothing that feels better in your hands than a good Oakshaft" commented Madam Hooch as she showed us how to polish our brooms "Make sure you keep a firm grip on the shaft as you polish your broom. Be firm, but don't grip the shaft too hard".

She had to know what she was saying. Yet I seemed to be the only male student who found her words amusing. The other guys were either hiding it well or didn't get that why they should be finding this funny.

Not that anyone noticed my perverse delight since I was practising Occlumency which allowed me to maintain focus on what I was doing. Dawn, who like myself, had grown up outside of the Magical World seemed to find this all to be highly amusing.

"That's it girls pick up the pace and polish those brooms" I heard Hooch say "You're almost finished. Try to ignore any cramp in your wrists".

Okay, she had to be saying it that way to try to see if any of us reacted. Well, it wouldn't be me I would keep a straight face even if Dawn was turning into a

giggling machine as we worked on a broom together.

The only reason no one had called her out on it was that she kept hiding her face while pretending to be looking close at the broom as if she needed to ensure that every bristle was in its correct place.

I figured that I would have made it to the end of the lesson if one of the girls hadn't somehow managed to get some of the polish all over her face.

"Oh it's all sticky" she complained.

At this point, even my mental discipline couldn't stop me from laughing it was just dumb luck that no one heard me over the girl's whining and the teacher's attempts to explain what she'd done wrong.

By now even Rachel was smirking and she was very good at controlling her emotions.

I failed to keep the stupid grin off my face once it appeared, and the coach did not fail to notice my expression once she got a clean cloth for the poor girl. She didn't approve of my mirth.

"What's got you looking so happy, Mr Twycross?" she asked.

I couldn't resist saying something despite the stern look on the instructor's face.

"Oh I'm just enjoying polishing my broom," I said.

She nodded in approval.

"Young wizards enjoy giving their broom a good, long polishing," she told me "And it's a lot more fun if you have a friend to help".

Okay, she had to be doing this on purpose. She just had to.

"I like polishing his broom," teased Dawn.

At this point, I needed to excuse myself so I could get a drink of water, and take the chance to burst into laughter as soon as I was alone.

Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Wizarding World.

According to a few of the older students, who often offered advice to us first years like they were some sort of wise mentors, the Snakes versus the Lions, or the Slytherin vs Gryffindor Quidditch match, was the most entertaining one of the season.

Mostly because the two houses were rivals with each other, and had been for centuries, and sometimes they didn't mind expressing this mutual loathing with levels of violence here on the pitch.

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For those of us in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff what House you were in didn't matter much, but when it came to this sport many of the students suddenly became fanatically loyal to their houses.

In my thinking, it would be better if these two teams met in the skies at the end of the year to build up the dramatic tension.

Of course, everyone was looking forward to seeing what Harry Potter could do as his father had been a famous flyer back in his day. People had to be wondering if the apple had fallen far from the tree when it came to the son's skill on a boom. I knew that they wouldn't be disappointed.

I didn't even know how he'd gotten onto the team because the flying lessons had been different in this timeline, so Neville Longbottom wouldn't have dropped his ball. Perhaps it was just one of those things that was fated to happen. If so I didn't care much as it wouldn't affect me.

There were even some bets going on. I'd put money on Harry Potter getting the snitch and then winning the match.

Given how many points the golden ball was worth and Potter's skill, the odds were good so I'd not get much when I won. It wasn't a matter of if, no it was a matter of when, and I wondered if he'd swallow it in this version of events.

Funnily enough, there were also other bets centred around Harry Potter. Like who will snag the young man's heart? I.E. be his first girlfriend.

I'd put down money on Cho Chang of course, which did get me good odds as the two of them didn't even interact at this point, but I had a feeling that those two would hook up, even if it was doomed to fail and it could happen soon given their ages. I might be wrong, but it wasn't as I'd gambled a lot on the matchup.

As for the sport that I'd bet upon the outcome of, I was already starting to enjoy this game. Something was thrilling about watching people speeding around in the air narrowly avoiding gruesome deaths as magical cannonballs flew around trying the knock the players off their brooms and the fact that it wasn't children up there made me feel better about all of this.

The chasers were insanely fast, they were blurs of motion as they tried to score while never holding on to the ball for long, they kept passing it between them. Either to confuse any opposing players, who were trying to prevent them from scoring or because there was some rule about that.

Watching this sport on a TV screen or even at the cinema just wasn't the same thing as seeing it happen in real life. There was a sense of danger and excitement when it was a live performance that you just didn't get when you knew that it was going to end in a family-friendly way. Reality could be so much more gruesome.

Some savage part of me wanted to see someone get hurt and I think everyone around me did as well. They, well we, were a bloodthirsty lot if we wanted to see a student get maimed or killed during a sporting event.

Sure very few people had actually gotten too badly hurt while playing this game over the centuries at least according to the little I'd read, but many folks did get hurt or even went missing for a few months, so you'd think that the Ministry would ban the sport on the grounds of public safety.

Then again the wizards of this world might just bounce when they hit the ground and they seemed to be more durable than normal humans so perhaps the MInistry wasn't that foolish and maybe it wasn't as bloodthirsty as it might seem.

I knew from the books and movies that Harry would fall off his broom a few times and never do more than break his wrist.

If the sequence of events for next year stayed on track we'd get our wish to see someone be hurt as Potter should break something due to the rogue bludger that Dobby the House Elf messes with.

Broom flying magic-users whisked past my head and I flinched for a second before standing up to get a better view. I wanted to keep an eye on Potter in case he got injured before he won the match. The young hero had to get the snitch or I was going to lose some money.

Not I worried much as Dumbledore was here so I doubted that the Dark Lord would try anything so I could just stand here and enjoy the game.

"James, are you going to try joining the Ravenclaw team next year?" asked Dawn.

Raven showed no interest in this game and did little during the flying lessons. Not unexpected since she could fly under her own power. Although she hadn't explained what, if anything, she had against this sport and why she'd not come to watch the match.

Her not being here was odd given how much both she and Dawn seemed to be trying to make the most of our time in this world. I wondered if she was off somewhere making plans or doing some important research.

"I'm not that good of a flyer," I said.

My fear of heights had vanished and I was much better on a broom than I'd imagined. I assumed that this had something to do with me having become a dragon who was pretending to be a man. As time passed I was starting to change more.

Aside from heights no longer concerning me and my pleasantly surprising skill on a broom, I did keep feeling the desire to acquire treasures. I found myself with the odd desire to go and be with my riches as if I were Smaug and it would be nice to sleep on my wealth.

"You're better than you think you are" insisted Dawn "Just get some practice and join the team next year. Then I can cheer for you".

Shame they didn't have cheerleaders in the magical world and if I remembered my BTVS, Dawn attempted cheering one time and it did not go well.

"I didn't think you were the type to want a jock boyfriend" I commented "You seem to prefer geeky types".

Dawn nudged me.

"You can't be both?" she asked "Smart and good at a sport".

I guess I could give it a try.

Hogwarts. The Wizarding World.

Hermione Granger wasn't a happy witch, she'd imagined that coming to a fancy college, one that taught magic would be different than attending a normal school. Bullying was less of an issue here than it had been in High School, but only because outside of the classrooms she might as well not exist.

It was at least partly her own fault as she'd never been good at talking to people, and it didn't help that she spent so much time in the library. She should make some attempts to connect with her peers, even if that had never worked out in High School. Perhaps she should have attended the Halloween Feast in the Great Hall.

If it weren't for the fact that she was learning real magic she would have dropped out of this school and tried her luck with some muggle college. Only the exploration of her magical talents had started to lose its appeal the more time she spent in the magical world.

She'd started to wonder if it was at all worthwhile learning such arts if she was going to have to live in a society that would treat her as a second-class citizen just because she didn't have ten generations of ancestors who could perform magic.

You'd think that a society that was made up of magic users would have more thrilling prospects for a career than a low-level government desk job or retail. She might get a teaching job, or maybe something to do with research, but she could have those sorts of careers in the muggle world. Perhaps she should just hire a tutor for the magic and devote her time to a more normal career.

She wanted something a bit more meaningful than being a dentist, her parents chosen profession had always seemed dull to her, but perhaps she could try medical school.

Becoming Doctor Granger was an idea that held some appeal. Yet she couldn't help thinking that she was meant for something else. There had to be more to being a witch than going to school, getting a boring job, finding a husband and having some children.

As it turned out she did have an option for something more for her future than she'd imagined and it was something she'd find out about later, for now, she had to worry about actually having a future as a massive creature she recognised as a troll had just turned the corner she'd been heading towards.

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Had she not been so deep in thought she would have noticed the smell or the sound the creature made as it walked around this part of the castle.

She screamed and as she did something exploded, a dung bomb she would later realise, and it distracted the troll long enough for a strong arm to grab her and start pulling her away from the scary creature.

Trolls were attracted to bad smells because a large part of their diet was made up of things that had rotted, both plants and animals. That was something she'd read in a book and someone else had as well.

"Come with me if you want to live," said one of her classmates.

Hermione Granger had read more than dry old textbooks during her life, a few adventure books had made it onto her shelves and as she got older a romance novel or two found may have found themselves hidden around her room, not that she'd ever admitted this to anyone.

She wasn't unfamiliar with the idea of some hero coming along to save the maiden from danger, but unlike in those stories, it would be some time before the young woman realised just how romantic the situation could be considered.

To be fair there was a big scary troll with a massive club very close by who wanted to smash someone.

As it turned out the troll wasn't as distracted by the dung bomb as the thrower of them had hoped. Perhaps the lack of any rotting organic matter for it to chow down on had gotten the creature upset. That sure would explain its attitude.

The presence of Ron Weasley sure didn't help, not that it ever did.

"I've got you now, swot!" the rude boy yelled.

His shout drew the attention of the troll and Weasley simply stood there and might have gotten killed if the not-rude boy hadn't grabbed them both, somehow getting them moving.

"Run!" the male voice ordered.

As they legged it down the long corridor the young Ravenclaw wizard, whose name Hermione would remember later, fired off some spells.

Not directly at the troll, as there was no way a single first-year student could overpower a troll with magic, rather he blasted the floor with something that caused it to get all slippy.

Some part of Hermione's mind thought this was a great time to inform the rest of her that this had to be The Freezing Spell ( Glacius) which was a charm that froze a target with icy-cold air created from the tip of the wand.

This spell could freeze water, extinguish fires, and cool off Fire Dwelling Salamanders.

Someone new to magic wouldn't be able to freeze someone or cool off a creature connected to the element of fire, but making the cold stone floors of a castle somewhere in Scotland during October become very slippery with ice didn't take much effort.

As for the effect on the troll, that was almost comical and would have been for a passive observer. The troll would fall, only to try getting up again and then slip on the next patch of ice.

The only reason that they didn't leave the creature far behind was that it ended up sliding down the corridor with enough force to knock some stones loose.

Just when the three students made it around a corner the troll hit the wall so hard caused a big statue causing to it almost topple over, and this seemed to give the wizard an idea as he fired off a spell that made the statue topple over.

It ended up pinning the troll in place long enough for some of the staff to turn up and they were able to disable the creature.

"My goodness!" yelled Professor McGonagall "What happened here?".

"I knocked the troll out, Professor" claim the rude redheaded boy.

Hermione could not believe that Ron Weasley had lied like that.

"That's not true" she stated.

"Yes it is" he insisted.

Hermione had already figured out how to catch the boy in a lie.

"Then what spell did you use to make the ice patches?" she questioned.

Before Weasly could open his mouth and spew out more lies, James Twycross, she'd just remembered the name of the young wizard, explained that he'd been taking a walk when he found the troll and Hermoine.

He then reported that he'd tried to distract the troll before they'd begun running away, and how he'd frozen the floor leading to the troll crashing into the wall. He even explained the spell he'd used.

"The beast has just been knocked out," said Professor Dumbledore "We'll return it to the Forbidden Forest where it belongs. You three will report to Madam Prompherey for a quick check-up before turning in for the night".

There was no debate on the matter and soon the students headed for the hospital wing.

Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Wizarding World.

"I made the papers again," I said to Rachel and Dawn as we ate breakfast.

My thinking had been that Fudge would do everything he could to sweep this all under the rug and to deny any news of the students here at the school ever being in any danger. I'd not cared much because I knew that students were spreading the story and my renown would grow that way.

Only someone must have spilt the beans with Rita Skeeter, as she'd made a very public announcement in the paper, praising me and taking a chance to put all the blame on Dumbledore, and to be fair he had brought the fake stone here so he was at least partly responsible.

In response to this Fudge had vowed swift action, without actually stating what he was going to do other than give me an award.

I was mentioned by name and my previous appearance in the Daily Prophet was repeated, which I felt sure would cause my cousin at the Ministry, Wilkie Twycross, to finally get around to replying to my letter that I'd sent him over the summer.

The paper also let everyone know that I would be getting an Order of Merlin. Much better than the Special Services to the School Award which I'd been granted by Dumbledore that I just found out about from the Head of Ravenclaw. That was going to be a little thing in the trophy room that hardly anyone would ever see.

Many years ago an organisation called the Order of Merlin was founded by Merlin in the Middle Ages. Merlin believed that wizards and witches should help Muggles, and, thus, the Order of Merlin established rules against the use of magic on Muggles.

The award known as the Order of Merlin was created in commemoration of Merlin and was first given out by the Wizengamot back in the 15th century, but it had nothing to do with helping Muggles.

Instead, the Order of Merlin was now an award bestowed upon wizards and witches who have achieved great things for the wizarding world, or rather what the Ministry deemed to be great things.

It had three different award levels: First Class, Second Class, and Third Class. The First Class was awarded for 'acts of outstanding bravery or distinction' in magic. The colour of the ribbon for this class was green, which was believed to represent Merlin's Hogwarts house, Slytherin.

The Second Class was Awarded for 'achievement or endeavour beyond the ordinary' I was getting a second class, and given the way the Wizarding World worked I might have gotten a first class award had I actually killed the troll.

When Harry and Ron did that they only got House Points, the poor sods. Although they had been defying a teacher at the time. I'd left the Great Hall before the students were sent to their dorms.

Finally, the Third Class was awarded to individuals who 'have made a contribution to our store of knowledge or entertainment' The colour of the ribbon for this class was white.

Lockheart had one which should clue people into realising that he was an entertainer, and the Ministry was at least smart enough to think that Lockhart's books were fictional, even if in reality they were based on real heroics done by others.

As far as I could tell this award was the wizarding world's equivalent to the Order of the British Empire with the first class being the equivalent to the most senior order: a knighthood.

I didn't get a First Class so I couldn't go around calling myself Sir James Twycross, but I figured it would be fun to get people to try.

As often happens with such highly coveted awards, Ministry of Magic favourites seems to receive the Order of Merlin, especially the higher classes meaning the purebloods, more often than one might expect.

Notable unworthy recipients include Minister for Cornelius Fudge, who gave it to himself despite his less-than-distinguishable career, the fraudulent Gilderoy Lockhart, the treacherous Peter Pettigrew who at least had his retracted, and Arcturus Black, who was widely believed to have bought it by loaning the Ministry a large amount of gold.

I'd considered refusing the award because accepting it would mean going near Minister Fudge who I found repulsive due to his actions, but there was a cash reward with the award and more gold was always nice.

Besides, given the Ministry's incompetence and corruption, it was unlikely that they'd reward me for anything else good that I did.

"Not impressed," said Rachel as she took the paper from me "Get back to me when you've defeated a few more superpowered bad guys".

Perhaps I would.

"Isn't the Order of Merlin a big deal?" asked Dawn "I mean that's like getting a medal from the President, and I didn't think this Fudge guy cares about Muggle-borns, and the Weasley family isn't very important".

She had a point.

"I doubt Fudge even knows about the troll, it will be Amelia Bones who wants you to have the Order of Merlin, dealing with the troll would have just pushed it forward," said Rachel.

My lack of understanding must have shown on my face.

"The Hufflepuff girl you saved is Susan Bones" Dawn told me "She's like the daughter of the chief of police".

"Her niece," corrected Raven "But since she raised Susan I suppose there isn't much difference, and don't forget about the donation of the brooms after one of them broke, I guess that Madam Bones thinks well of you for that".

Well, that explained the award, and why the curvy redhead kept smiling at me. I didn't normally pay attention to the background characters. I'd barely noticed emo Hermione Granger giving me looks and I actually cared about her even if it was just a little.

"So where were you two last night when I was saving a damsel in distress?" I wondered "And unfortunately also Ron Weasly".

I'd cast the Muffliato spell, which filled the ears of anyone nearby with an unidentifiable buzzing noise so that our conversations could be held without us being overheard.

As for Weasly that had been a spur-of-the-moment thing, and if he was a dick he didn't desverse to be killed by a troll.

"We were banishing Voldemort to the afterlife" stated Raven from behind the newspaper.

Dawn laughed lightly and then leaned in close so that she push my jaw up. My sheer shock upon hearing that declaration left me gobsmacked.

"Say what?" I asked.

Before explaining more the three of us disappeared off into an abandoned classroom as even with privacy charms there were some things you just didn't discuss in public.

"After the whole, troll in the dungeon bit, I became invisible and grabbed Harry Potter" Raven let me know "I teleport him home, stunned him, drove the shard of Tom Riddle's soul out of him, and the locket at the same time using the sympathetic link between them that I discovered when studying the diadem".

I had no idea what to say about that.

"Then I altered his memory and brought him back to the castle," Raven told me "Once that was done, I went to the third-floor corridor while Dawn distracted Snape, by telling him she'd seen the troll on the first floor".

So that's why they'd needed the Marauder's Map.

"I used a little of Dawn's blood to open up a way to the afterlife, that worked because on Samhein the barrier between life and death is weak, and Dawn's blood can be used to break down those barriers for a short time" Raven let me know "I got the drop on Voldemort, and I sent him to the afterlife. Basically, I cast him into a temporary Veil of Death".

Dawn had to close my jaw again. At this rate, I was going to make it sore.

"So, you defeated Voldemort without even telling me about your plan," I said.

Raven acted as if it wasn't a big deal.

"Halloween was the only day of the year that plan would have worked." she said, "I did tell you what we would be doing because you needed to be focused on saving Hermione Granger".

No wonder she'd gone to bed early. She must have been worn out from performing all that magic.

"Well that's going to make the next seven years much more peaceful," I remarked.

With no leader to rally to we could take out the Death Eaters one by one.

"What happened to Professor Quirrell?" I questioned.

I just couldn't see Raven killing him.

"He's at St Mungo's in a catatonic state," said Raven "I checked the mirror, and he's being looked after".

Well, that wrapped everything up rather nicely.

"That was good work" I praised.

I didn't know what else to say.

"Yes, it was, and now I get to enjoy my retirement," stated Rachel "Excuse me, I'm going to go finish my breakfast".

Dawn was amused by the fact that I was having so much trouble processing all of what I'd just been told.

"Shame we didn't have her back in Sunnydale," remarked the Key in human form "Everything would have been so much easier".

Dawn took my hand.

"Let's go finish breakfast," she said.

Might as well. It wasn't as if we had anything else to do.

---

Part 19

---

Retirement Plan.

Part 19.

Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Wizarding World.

Headmaster Albus Dumbledore looked out of his window as the students below prepared to head to the village of Hogsmeade to enjoy their free time this weekend. If only he had the luxury of getting to go off and simply wander around the village, and perhaps be able to enjoy a drink or two with pleasant company at the Three Broomsticks as some of his staff would be doing.

Even if he could afford to leave the school right now he knew that he'd find no welcome in the village's other pub. As much as that pained him at times he couldn't afford to spend this day lamenting about the past, not when he was waiting for an important visitor who had vital news.

The Headmaster's time was better spent concerning himself with Lord Voldemort and the current state of the Ministry of Magic. Amelia Bones was going after the job of Minister of Magic and recent events at Hogwarts had given her something to cause a fuss over.

That award which Bones had managed to arrange for one of his students to be presented with over the holidays was unfortunate, as it would only keep drawing attention to certain incidents here at the castle that didn't really matter when compared to what Dumbledore was trying to achieve. It wasn't as if anyone had gotten badly hurt.

It just had to be Susan Bones who fell because of a single faulty broom, it couldn't have been someone with a less important guardian or someone who was part of a family he had influence over. If that hadn't been bad enough news of the troll nearly killing a student had reached the public.

The only reason that the school hadn't been investigated by the DMLE was that the endangered student didn't have any magical family to cause a fuss and the girl the troll targeted had only a muggleborn. No one at the Ministry cared enough about a muggleborn to cause problems for Dumbledore, some would have been disappointed that the girl wasn't killed.

Thankfully it would soon blow over as before long something else would come along to distract the Ministery and Madman Bones, and then the public's interest would soon fade away. He'd weathered many such minor storms before and no doubt he would do so again.

The witches and wizards of Britain could be a fickle lot and this was far from the first time that someone with a little skill in politics had tried upset things at the Ministry. He could handle Amelia Bones. Not that the Head of the DMLE was his biggest concern. No, he had someone much more dangerous to worry about.

Alastor Moody, often known as Mad-Eye, wasn't a proper Auror anymore, he should have been enjoying his retirement. Yet no one ever really stopped with that job. These days the wizard spent most of his time screening potential Aurors and training a few of the promising ones in the hopes that they would survive as he had.

"Do you have information for me, Alastor?" the Headmaster asked.

The semi-retired Dark Wizard hunter had barely stepped into the office via the floor before he was questioned. Not that Moody minded as he'd never been one for needless small talk.

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"All the Death Eaters in Azkaban have lost their marks" he reported with a huff "Bellatrix Lestrange somehow managed to kill herself when hers faded away. Apparently, she was very upset that her master is gone. None of the others reacted so extremely and a few still think he'll be back, but most of them have given up. I suspect that Bellatrix is just the first of them who will die in that hellhole".

Dumbledore had known about the mark's absence since Halloween. Severus Snape had lost his mark and was convinced that the Dark Lord was finally gone. Given what had happened to Harry Potter at Halloween it was possible, but Dumbledore wasn't convinced that Tom had been fully vanquished.

Sadly it hadn't been possible to convince Severus to stay on as Potion's Master or as the Head of Slytherin, and perhaps he wouldn't need to continue to act as a spy for Dumbledore. Snape had handed his notice and intended to be gone by Christmas.

Dumbledore hoped that by then he'd be able to convince Horace Slughorn to come out of retirement to teach potions and to head the house of Slytherin, by using Harry Potter as a lure, but that would have to wait until the holidays as the Headmaster had too much to do.

The loss of Quirrell, who must have been in cahoots with Tom Riddle, was also a blow for Hogwarts as the college had no one at all teaching Defence. Quirrel was at the hospital in some sort of coma and Harry Potter had been found in a different part of the castle in better shape than the defence teacher.

So the stone was missing, Quirrel might as well be dead, the dark mark was gone, and the boy's scar was healing. What the hell had happened on Halloween?

"Albus, I just found out from a contact in Gringotts that someone emptied the Lestrange Vault a while back," Mad-Eye told the Chief Warlock, "No one I spoke to knows when it happened or if it has anything to do with the dark mark fading away. The goblins might have known for a while and just not told anyone. It's not like any of the Lestranges can go to the bank and complain".

These were strange times. Barty Crouch Junior had been found hidden in his father's home not so long ago. Was that connected to all of this?

"Do you think You-Know-Who went after Potter again and got finished off for good this time?" wondered Mad-Eye.

That was possible. The Prophecy come have come into play and Tom was somehow now gone. There was no trace of Voldemort and the dark magic in Potter's scar had faded away.

"In truth, I simply don't know" replied Dumbledore.

He'd wanted to bring the real stone here to lure Tom out of hiding and he'd set things up so that Potter would confront Voldemort. Could it have all worked out better than Dumbledore could have hoped? If so what was to come of Harry Potter? If he no longer needed to die to stop Tom then the boy might become a power in his own right. He might even become a new figure for Voldemort's old followers to rally behind.

"We need to remain vigilant" stated the elderly Professor "I sense another's hand in recent events, my friend, and they might not have our best interests at heart".

A rival dark lord would seek to be rid of Tom and might have some evil means of doing it. Although if that were the case it was odd that this potential rival hadn't slain Harry Potter when he or she had the chance. Did this unknown witch or wizard have their own plans for the Boy-Wh0-Lived?

"I'm always vigilant," said Mad-Eye.

He was well known for it.

"Have you decided on if you want the teaching position to not?" enquired Dumbledore.

Moody frowned. He was well aware of the curse on the job. He'd tried to find the source and remove it, as had Dumbledore.

"I'll take the job until Christmas" he decided "That should give you enough time to find some other poor fool".

Not ideal, but at least the problem would be sorted out in the short term. He had tried to give the job to Sirius Black since there wasn't a need for a duelling class these days, but the former prisoner of Azkaban had gotten invested in his current role and he was here to watch over his godson something that would be harder to do if he had to teach such an important subject.

It wasn't as if Dumbledore was paying him, as such he couldn't complain too much, and if the worse did happen then having the students trained in combat wouldn't be the worst thing.

Perhaps he should contact Remus Lupin? With Serverus gone the rest of the staff wouldn't have much trouble with a werewolf on the staff, and Sirius Black would support the appointment resulting in them working together to prepare the students if a new dark lord was going to rise.

Hogsmeade Village. Scotland. The Wizarding World.

October became November as weeks passed by and I spent it relaxing, studying, and training with Siruis Black who had since the troll incident at Halloween been pushing us harder in class and taking things more seriously when tutoring me. Which was very much unlike him.

One of the other things that had changed was Mad-Eye Moody becoming the DADA teacher at least until Xmas, which didn't affect me since I made use of a tutor for that subject, and I'd used the special map to ensure that he wasn't a Death Eater using the polyjuice potion.

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As for why I was here in Hogsmede with Hermione Granger, that was because ever since I'd saved her from the troll she'd been trying to insert herself into my life, which was what I wanted, and I'd begun to slowly let her in as it wouldn't do to rush things and scare her off.

I hadn't yet tried to get her to sign the binding contract, nor had I told her too much about the real me, and that was okay as neither of us was in any sort of rush, and due to the Normacly Perk, no one paid attention the fact that I was adding another girl to my harem.

Now we were on a proper date, and assuming that things went well I figured that by the end of Xmas, she'd be a full member of my group and the challenge to add someone to my group who was native to this world would have been completed.

She'd get a lot of signing the contract, and even without sharing in some of my perks, I figured she might sign the contract simply because she was lonely and wanted some friends.

"Hogsmeade is the only entirely Wizarding village in Britain," Hermione was needlessly explaining as we walked into the village "According to Hogwarts: A History it was founded over a thousand years ago, around the same time as Hogwarts, by a Wizard called Hengist of Woodcroft who was fleeing persecution by the Muggles".

I was discovering that when Hermione didn't know how to act she went back to her default setting of know-it-all bookworm whose mouth spewed nothing but facts and expressed no opinions of its own. It was rather amusing even if I'd rather she have views of her own and feel free to express them.

This was important because my companions not only needed to be able to advise me, but I would also need them to act on their own sometimes as I couldn't be in two places at once. Well, that wasn't totally true, but I wasn't willing to make use of a time-turner.

Raven had proven that they could do some impressive stuff more without me looking over their shoulders and Dawn seemed content to make use of her time at this school well enough without me having to get involved in her activities.

"Hermione, I do know all of this," I reminded the girl "I to have read Hogwarts: A History".

She blushed and apologised.

"Sorry, I babble when I'm nervous and it drives everyone mad…".

I had already discovered that kissing is a good way to shut Hermione up, so I kissed her quickly in order to make her stop babbling. I'd thought that it would make her even more nervous what with it being in public, but for some reason she actually found it extremely relaxing, perhaps because it seemed to make her mind power down somewhat.

The poor girl really was starved for physical affection. I had to wonder if her parents had been emotionally distant while she'd been growing up or if this was simply due to a lack of friends, or perhaps it was a mixture of the two.

Walking gloved hand in gloved hand, as it was a bit nippy today and it snowed earlier, the two of us passed by a news-stand that sold Wizarding magazines along with a few Muggle papers, but only when the students were here I suspected as I didn't think any Muggleborns actually lived in Hogsmeade, or if they did they were very good at blending in.

Given the styles of dress around here, I figured that only some of the students seemed to have any open connection to the Muggle world. Perhaps Hogsmeade was just where the purebloods who didn't have the money for big fancy homes came to live.

Not for the first time this left me wondering where the muggle-borns and half-bloods who kept up a connection to the Muggle World went to live. Did they live in the Muggle world, careful to hide their magic from the neighbours? Did they have much contact with the Wizarding World at all if they didn't marry into a magical family? One day I should look into that and try to understand this society better.

"They're still on about that break-in at Gringotts" Hermoine mentioned while looking at the wizarding papers "You'd think they'd have let it go by now".

I suspected that Rita Skeeter kept going back to this unsolved mystery because she liked to show how useless the Ministry could be, while also mocking the bank, and the actual break-in had happened some time ago, it had only just become public knowledge rather recently.

In fact, it became public not that long after Raven dealt with Voldemort, and I wondered if that meant Dumbledore was aware that Voldemort was gone, so he wasn't bothering to cover things up any more, or if someone at the bank had simply let something slip.

"There's no need to worry" I assured the clever young woman "No one will ever get their hands on what was in that vault".

While I felt sure that by now Harry Potter and his Weasely sidekick must know that something important had been brought to the college and that the Three-Headed Dog must be guarding it, however, they wouldn't have figured out more than that without the aid of Hermione who didn't interact with them much in this timeline.

It might seem wrong to deprive them of the smart girl for their group as that could get them killed, but it may cause them to actually start doing their own thinking, and given Weasly's dislike of anyone who wasn't in his house and attitude towards women, I doubted that Hermione could have gotten close to Potter anyway.

If I could bring myself to care enough to act, I'd separate the Chosen One from his Weasely sidekick in the hopes of him making a friend who'd encourage him to learn on his own, rather than just do the bare minimum amount of work while finding ways to do nothing important between classes.

"You seem very sure of that" my date commented.

Since I knew the Dark Lord was gone I also knew there was nothing to worry about.

"I know things, more than just what that Cerberus is guarding," I said trying to explain without giving too much away.

Since Hermione had yet to sign a binding contract I couldn't risk telling her too much.

"You can trust me" assured the young woman at my side.

I wasn't sure of that. Despite this version of her not being a teacher's pet I was concerned that she might still end up a Dumbledore supporter if she was looking for someone to admire. The Headmaster wasn't above using children in his games and he would violate her mind.

"It isn't just about trust." I replied, "I can't tell you everything because it's not safe. Until you learn to defend your mind anyone can simply look inside your head and learn things I don't want them to do now".

Hermione seemed to grab onto my arm as if she was suddenly afraid I'd leave. The poor girl must be so lonely, and here I was thinking about how to use that to bring her within my influence. Was I really any better than Dumbledore or Voldemort?

I felt a bit bad about that but I comforted myself with the knowledge that at least when she was bound to me she would be safer, and finally, she would have someone in her life who would encourage her to use her talents and explore her full potential rather than try to keep her down like the Weasel boy.

How she could ever fall in love with that person was something I'd never understand. Even the cannon version of Ron Weasley spent a lot of his own screen time questioning her mental health.

Wrapped up as were, as we happened to be in Scotland during winter, we couldn't share our body heat but judging by hard Hermione was holding onto me she seemed to want to try. She wouldn't be the first overly clingy girlfriend I'd had to deal with. Assuming that term even applied here.

"I know it's silly but can we go to Madam Puddifoot's later?" she requested.

Madam Puddifoot's was a small, tea shop with the kind of decor that made most men worry about losing their manhood when simply passing the place by. I would happily watch the place burn down, but Hermione seemed somewhat of a romantic once you got past her emotional defences, not that getting passed them had been much work.

Only a boy totally in love, or one hoping to get laid, would ever go there. The idea of going there with Hermione made me want to apparate as far away as possible, not that I knew how to. However as much as the idea of going there repulsed me it would help me win over the young Miss Granger over, and I do so want her in my group.

"Maybe later, it's not even lunchtime yet," I said by way of an answer "Tea and cakes sound like something we should do last of all".

Since this seemed like an odd thing for Miss Granger to request we do, I had to ask about it.

"I never thought you'd want to a place like Madam Puddifoot?" I commented, "It's so… pink".

Which was the nicest thing I could say about the palace which to be fair I'd never actually seen but I'd heard the stories from other students which had alone had enough to put me off the place even if I hadn't passed it by and smelled it.

"Come on, Rachel and Dawn must have wanted to drag you there" replied the teenage girl "Where are your girlfriends anyway?".

I didn't know for sure.

"They are around here somewhere" I answered "Dawn has a few friends and she might have dragged Rachel off somewhere".

Since I trusted my companions, I didn't feel the need to keep track of them.

"I've never been on a date before now" Hermione admitted to me while looking a little embarrassed "I always felt that the boys I knew were too immature".

Her being socially awkward didn't help either.

"I guess I am mature for my age," I said.

Mostly because I was older than my physical body. That was something else I would need to explain to her.

"More than that you are handsome, brave, rich, powerful and lots of girls want you," said Hermione "And me well I'm just a bookworm".

I was handsome because I'd made myself handsome using the CYOA. I wasn't brave because I knew how hard it would be to kill or seriously injure, and I had a powerful witch to do the heavy lifting for me. I wasn't even that powerful in terms of magic, only above average, and the only reason girls outside of my group might want me was due to my wealth and my growing fame.

Since the last thing I needed was a companion with self-esteem problems I decided it would be wise to stroke her ego for a change.

"Your not just a bookworm. I'm a Ravenclaw I know my bookworms," I told my date "You're intelligent, and attractive as well. Oh and your ass looks great in those jeans you sometimes wear".

She blushed yet again and she also couldn't help but smile.

"Besides you know lots of ways to tell me that I'm awesome" I went on to say "Guys want a girl to stroke their egos".

To be fair it might just be me. My ego had never been well nurtured until I started the CYOA, thus I did desire some recognition. I was self-aware enough to know that part of the reason why I wanted to become a duellist was that it would earn me many head pats and shiny things.

"Oh I can do that," she teased "You are most certainly the most powerful Wizard ever. Not even You-Know-Who himself could possibly stand up to you".

She might have carried on joking like that only she suddenly changed the subject

"I need to do some clothes shopping" she mentioned.

This was not something I wished to endure.

"Fine" I replied, "but you better do something nice for me if I have to spend an hour or so sitting about while you finally find the right outfit".

She blushed again, it was cute.

"I'm not that sort of girl, James" protested Hermione "I only kiss on the first date".

We'd already snogged so I wasn't having that, but my date kept talking.

"Oh we need to stop by the book store" mentioned Hermione "I need a new copy of Spellman's Syllabary it contains…"

I had no idea what she said next I began to zone out, remembering to make agreeable noises every so often as that nearly always works. I'd try to take things beyond kissing later on, and it if didn't work there was always after Xmas. I didn't think Hermione was going to drop out of Hogwarts even if she had mentioned thinking about it.

At least when we went clothes shopping I found this awesome-looking greatcoat that was made from thestral hide that looked as if it had been in this shop for a long time, likely due to the magical people of this world seeing thestrals as omens of death.

I was so going to wear it when duelling, or maybe I would only wear it when I wanted to be known by my wizard name of Magnus.

Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Wizarding World.

As I sat on my bed I simply looked at Dawn Summers for a few moments as she walked into my room while wearing only one of my t-shirts. I knew that she wasn't wearing any underwear as she didn't wear any to bed whenever we slept together, and tonight she would be sharing my bed.

I could tell by her smirk that she wanted sex. She didn't need to more than smile at me to signal this and most of the time she didn't have to do much more than that to make me want her. This made sense since my retirement had been set up so that my companions would be compatible with me.

This time things were a little different. The Key in human form made her intentions very clear by bending over my bed, using a couple of pillows to keep her lower half somewhat elevated before telling me her butt was on offer as a birthday present. Normally I didn't pay any attention to my birthday, something that Raven understood and yet it annoyed Dawn for some reason. Not that I cared right now as she was offering up her last virgin hole.

"I whipped up this salve to act as lube and it numbed my butt, so feel free to just enjoy yourself" she invited "No need to worry about pain or ickiness, just enjoy your birthday surprise".

As I moved to get behind her, Dawn Summers looked back at me over her shoulder, with the hint of an excited grin on her face. I slapped her ass a few times, causing more sound than I did any pain. This made her yelp and then giggle in that adorable way she could laugh.

I'd gotten into the habit of spanking both of my companions as a form of foreplay. She'd been a bit surprised the first few times, but these days it made her smile. She'd long ago figured out how much of an ass guy I was and Dawn knew how to use that fact to tease me.

More than once she'd rubbed her backside up against me while we were in bed together and then started acting surprised when I wanted to fuck her. She was no empath and she didn't need to be, she knew exactly what got me going.

"You're such a bad girl," I stated.

She never protested me calling that.

"I used to steal stuff all the time" Dawn reminded me "And I ran away from home without telling anyone. I should so be punished for that".

A good reason to spank a few more times, not that I really needed a reason, and I knew that my companion wanted to return to her home dimension so she could say sorry for running off. Not that she regretted doing so.

"I made the lube myself," she told me "I found the recipe in a book from the Room of Requirement".

Rather than reply I pressed the tip of my cock gently against her anus.

"Oh, that feels different," Dawn remarked.

My dick was soon snug inside her backdoor, and it was even tighter than her cunt. The lube that she'd made allowed me easy access and it smelled very fruity.

"Does that feel good, baby girl?" I asked

I hadn't yet started fucking her. Yet she was making all sorts of noises.

"Yes," she whispered.

I didn't think she was lying.

"Do you want me to fuck your ass?" I asked, "Beg like a good girl".

She did as I wished.

"I want you to fuck my ass, Daddy" she pleaded in a way that made her sound innocent and eager to please "Please, fuck my ass"

Upon hearing that I grabbed hold of her hips more firmly and pushed forward so that all my cock was now deep inside her. I would ask about her calling me Daddy another time as it was normally Raven who called me that.

"UUUUUUUUHHHHHHHH!" Dawn called out.

Her lube must be effective as she took the pain like a champ, going as far as to encourage me to fuck her harder.

"Oh yes fuck my ass!" the witch yelled as I began to enjoy my present.

I tightened my grip on her slim hips to the point that I might leave bruises, not this would matter as I had healing powers, and I started pounding her ass mercilessly. Dawn should have started screaming and begging me to stop, and without her preparation, I'm sure she would have as I pounded her butt without mercy.

It felt so dam good that I very quickly reached a point where I had to worry about cumming too soon. I actually stopped because I didn't want this to be over too soon. Her sexy little butt was just too enjoyable, and I'd let myself start way too fast.

"You okay?" my companion asked, "Why did you stop".

I admitted to her that I might finish too soon.

"Don't worry about it," she said, "It's your birthday, I want you to just use my butt".

After raising my hand I brought it down with a resounding CRACK smacking her ass almost too hard as I began fucking her again, this was meant to be fun, not something sadistic, so I didn't keep spanking her, and I slowed down so that I could enjoy plundering her now no longer virgin booty.

"Oh, Daddy!" she called out.

Dawn's ass squeezed tighter pushing me passed the point of no return as I started to fill her butt with the sticky stuff. I hoped that she let me do this again over the holidays and it would last longer next time. I normally had a lot more sexual stamina than that.

"Okay that wasn't so bad," the former Scooby Gang member commented.

I slapped her ass again and she moaned. Not for the first time I figured that compared to getting into fights with demons which could result in death, me spanking her must barely register. If anything she seemed to be enjoying more as time went by.

"Let me clean you up" I offered.

One wave of my wand later and she was ready for some cuddle time.

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Part 20

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This should bring me up to seventy thousand words for this story and people complain that I stop after forty thousand. Shows what you know.

Retirement Plan

Part 20

Twycross House. The Wizarding World.

While originally the plan for this time of the year had been for us all to spend the Xmas holidays at Hogwarts because Dawn wanted to experience a Christmas at the castle, both Raven and I had been against the idea since neither of us wanted to celebrate the season.

Plus, there were things I wanted to do during the next couple of weeks that would be a lot easier to deal with and keep people ignorant about if we didn't have to sneak out of the castle or let people know when we would be leaving.

So I'd made a deal with Dawn, she got to have a small Christmas party here, she could invite some friends over, and I would take her to Slughorn's Xmas party as my date. She'd get to wear a fancy dress and do some dancing. For some reason, she happily accepted this compromise.

Apparently, this small party was taking a lot of arranging and since neither Rachel nor I were allowed to be involved in the planning we were both hanging out in the study, smartly staying out of the way as Dawn made her plans.

The study was a small room at the back of the house that I'd not been in for a while and might have stayed out for longer if Rooby the House Elf had not mentioned to me that the bank had some paperwork I needed to review.

Rapidly the study had become my favourite room as not only was it warm, due to the large and ornate fireplace, it had another collection of books in it, as well as some interesting knickknacks, records of the family's expenses going back centuries, and one of those half couch things that seemed to exist only for women to lounge around on. Raven was making good use of it as she read a book.

I sat behind my desk, going over some records that contained information about the family fortune, some odds and ends, as well as a human skull, the existence of which should freak me out, but oddly I found that it suited the room.

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"You know what, finances are weird," I said.

Raven looked over at me as she closed the book she'd been reading.

"I've never had much interest in finances," she told me "Robin always handled the budget, all I ever knew was that The Titans were sponsored by a few companies, including Queens Consolidated and Wayne Enterprises, I just can't tell you why".

That didn't matter since I already knew. Raven seemed to forget sometimes how much I understood about her world.

"Well, I'm no accountant or an expert on magical law," I was now saying "But if I'm right then once I've done my O.W.L. exams I should be able to open up a second-hand store and start selling off all the junk in the Room of Requirement".

That room could provide me with decades worth of inventory.

"I'll need to find someone to actually run it for me since I'll want to focus on other things and I'll have to keep quiet about where the store gets its inventory," I said.

That could be a problem if I opened a junk shop and start selling too cheaply because I didn't pay for the stuff I want to sell. Someone, say a jealous competitor, might investigate and try to find out where my stock was coming from.

There was still loads of stuff in the Room of Requirement even if Raven, Dawn and I had taken the stuff that looked to be worth something to the goblins for them to check out. Gringotts Curse Breakers were the best and anything of value could be stored in the vault my whole group had access to. One separate from the vault containing the Seed Money granted to me by the CYOA.

Some of the stuff in the room, such as the empty sherry bottles and broken school desks were worthless. However, there was still plenty in there that could be sold, including old copies of school textbooks that I already owned and equipment that students must have used in classes over the last thousand or so years. Poorer families might like to be able to buy that stuff cheaply.

"Of course, there isn't much demand for junk, and we risk flooding the market" I went on to say "Maybe some of the stuff can be sold in the Muggle world".

Those were concerns for the future.

"You need to focus more on learning spells and magical theory" Raven advised, "You have to pass your O.W.L.s and go on to master a few types of magic, you do that and obtaining money will never be an issue".

They would be more interesting ways to add to my riches. I had the Resurrection Stone as such I could summon up the spirits of those who should know the locations of buried treasures. It could be fun to travel around the world after attending Hogwarts and recovering lost wealth.

I might never need the money, yet I still felt the desire to obtain more. If nothing else the need would keep me motivated.

"What are you reading?" I asked.

I'd noticed her making notes while reading a very big book.

"The project I'm working on is about ghosts" she informed "I've been hoping to find some way of banishing Professor Binns so that we can get a proper lecturer for History of Magic. I know we can study the subject ourselves with a tutor, it's just that I think the students would do better off with a proper teacher since they can't all afford to hire someone".

Banishing a ghost seemed simple enough for someone like Raven, and as for why this mattered, Remus Lupin had taken a teaching job at Hogwarts so either I had to find us another tutor in that subject or we'd need to actually attend that class. I had no intention of boring myself to tears as Binns droned about goblin rebellions.

"So what's the problem?" I asked.

She sighed, possibly in annoyance at me for interrupting her research or the problem she was having.

"In this world, a ghost is the imprint of the soul of a once-living wizard or witch, not a disembodied soul like Voldemort was so it's not just a matter of sending them to the afterlife since the soul has already left this world," Raven said "People who become ghosts are either afraid of death or have some extraordinarily strong connection to the locations they haunt that stopped them from moving on. If Binns is tied to the school, which is possible because teaching seemed to be his whole life then I'd have to destroy the school to get rid of him. Unless I find another solution".

Well if anyone could it would be her.

"He might just fade away if he lost his teaching position," Raven told me "But since they don't have to pay him there's no way the people running Hogwarts would allow that. I thought about tricking him into thinking he's been sacked, but I don't want to risk getting caught. I like going to Hogwarts, so I'm trying to find some spell that I can cast to get rid of him without damaging the school or drawing a lot of attention to myself. I'm not having much luck so I might need to create one".

Given my lack of experience with such things, I didn't think that I could help her with that. At least not a first. After giving the matter some thought, I took out the magical map of the school and located Cuthbert Binns who was hanging around in his office.

"Let me try something," I said.

To summon a spirit you had to turn the stone three times clockwise so I tried it the other way while saying the name of the ghost teacher who then vanished from the map.

"And he's gone," I told Rachel.

Raven stared at the map for a while as if the ghost would somehow reappear.

"That challenges all accepted wisdom on ghosts" she stated "And made all my research pointless".

I could tell that I'd frustrated her by dealing with the issue so easily. I was just pleased that the stone had proven useful. The slightly smug look on my face only made her frown.

"At least with all the staff changes we won't have to put up with Snape," I said, trying to cheer her up.

He'd quit his job and so Slughorn had decided to return to his old position. No one minded, not even me as I could attend his classes rather than employ him as a tutor. The same with Remus Lupin.

"I wonder what will happen to him now that he doesn't have to protect Potter?" I mused.

In the books/movies, he dies before the Dark Lord is defeated so we never find out what he would have done afterwards.

"He might become the next Dark Lord" stated Rachel.

I knew Snape was a jerk, but that seemed unlikely to me, yet I knew better than to dismiss anything the former Teen Titan had to say.

"What makes you think that?" I inquired.

Raven returned to her couch before answering.

"Snape only worked with Dumbledore to protect Lily Potter and then her son" explained the witch "He didn't set out with any plan to redeem himself and now that he's free of his obligations he might go back to trying to obtain power for himself via the dark arts".

I'd thought he would slink off and maybe work on his potions, but if Raven was right then Snape could become a threat to us.

"Maybe we should do something about him" I mused.

I had no sympathy for Snape, all he did was make other people miserable, he was a terrorist, murderer and child abuser, he is the reason that Voldemort went after the Potters and why the Longbottoms were targetted as well.

"Snape's House, it's in a place called Spinners Lane if my memory of the books is correct," I was now saying, "If we can corner him at home maybe we can try out those books you've been making to hold Death Eaters".

Raven soon agreed to this.

"It would be more humane than finding some way to have him sent to Azkaban and letting him suffer there, and unlike Malfoy, he's not high profile so few people will care if he vanishes," she said.

Dumbledore would care so I would need to do something to confuse the Headmaster to make sure he didn't suspect students to be behind what we planned.

"I think we've worked enough for one evening. How about an early night?" Raven asked.

That wasn't an offer I would refuse, but before I could go to bed I had another letter to go over. When I'd finished reading I found myself both insulted and amused.

Gilderoy Lockhart had invited himself over for afternoon tea tomorrow, and while this was very rude of him it was also something that made me happy because I'd been meaning to do something about him, and now he was going to deliver himself to me.

According to his letter, he was just stopping by to trade stories of our adventures, he seemed to be under the impression that I'd done things worthy of an Order of Merlin other than what the Ministry was rewarding me for.

I saw through him. Lockhart wanted to find out if I'd done anything worthy of turning into his one of stories and if I gave him anything he'd try to wipe it from my mind. Not that I would allow this to happen.

In my view, Lockhart's actions were no different than assaulting someone physically and perhaps it was worse because while many injuries heal, a person is the sum of their experiences to take that away from them is to kill a tiny piece of that person.

Profiting from the suffering of others is wrong, not that I was really fit to judge as I would profit from others and mess with their minds if needs be, but at least I didn't go around acting like a total git, and trying to get everyone to worship me.

Killing Lockhart would be a little extreme. He was not nearly as bad as say Umbridge, but he couldn't be allowed to go around messing with people's minds, nor could I allow him to try wiping my memories.

I deemed him worthy of my wrath because he was willing to destroy the minds of children to cover up the fact that he was a fraud.

"Raven, do you have more than one book ready?" I asked.

She quickly agreed to help me deal with Lockhart. Apparently, she wasn't a fan of his either.

"He might have told someone he's going to meet with you" warned Raven "But if he's planning to memory wipe you then he wouldn't want anyone knowing he was here. I'll have to examine his mind before sealing him in a spellbook".

With that decided we headed for bed.

Cokesworth. Muggle Britain.

"Here we are, Spinner's End," I said to Raven and Dawn, "The childhood home of one Severus Snape".

The Spinner part of the street name made me wonder if in times past the people living had been heavily involved in cotton or wool spinning in the past. The houses here looked as if they could have been built as homes for workers who spent their time labouring away in a textile factory back when this country was a centre of industry.

It was raining heavily and it was still very dark due to being four in the morning. We'd all gone to bed early so that we get up and complete this little raid. I was looking forward to going back to bed once our business here was done so I could get some more sleep before Lockhart came over.

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"I wonder if we are near the childhood home of the Evans family, where Petunia Dursley and Lily Potter grew up" I further mused, talking due to my nerves "Lily Potter must have been like a flower growing out of a pot of weeds if she grew up around here".

As Raven got to work on the defensive enchantments, I wondered if Snape bothered with muggle-repelling wards since he wasn't likely to welcome visitors and his house looked very normal from the outside so there was no need to hide it from the non-magical folk.

"You two need to stay focused" warned Rachel "Snape is not to be underestimated".

This should be simple. Dawn and I just had to disable the wizard long enough for Raven to trap him in the book. Then before anyone noticed he was gone we'd ransack the place.

"I can do this," I told myself.

While even a powerful wizard could be taken out of action for a while by a single stunner, I had no idea if Dumbledore had set up any kind of alarms to alert him if Snape suddenly vanished or if the dark wizard had anyone else he trusted to come to check on him, so I knew that we have to move quickly.

"He'll come running when we get inside" warned an invisible Raven "There's an alarm charm on inside of the house".

Dawn and I took out our wands, and as predicted when Rachel brought down the defensive enchantments and let us inside, she triggered some alarm that I couldn't hear, but it did bring Snape dashing into his living room. Since we were prepared he was hit by two red stunners before he could cast a curse at either of the two people he could see.

Raven used Rorek's curse to entrap Snape in the spellbook she'd prepared. The prototype book had performed without any issues.

"Works as promised" declared the former Teen Titan as she became visible.

I was pleased.

"Well done" I praised "Now we can deal with the Death Eaters without having to kill anyone".

I was more concerned about the corrupt Ministry labelling us all as murderers and sending dementors after us than I was about the morality of killing Death Eaters.

When we began to look around, I found myself in a tiny sitting room, which felt smaller than it actually was, and there was a sense of darkness here, well more of a gloominess really. The walls were completely covered in books, most of them bound in black or brown leather. Other than that there was a threadbare sofa, an old armchair and a rickety table.

Snape clearly hadn't seen this place as a good home. He'd not cared about this place if I was any judge, nor spent much time here.

"Hard to imagine a kid growing up in this house," I heard Dawn say.

Snape was from this town and given his lack of care for the property it seemed fair to assume that he'd inherited this place from his bastard of a father rather than him having purchased it.

"We're going to loot this place as planned," I said.

Since I had a bottomless bag I took advantage of that and as I moved around the small house I began to use magic to take everything that look worthwhile without actually touching anything. I wasn't just planning on killing the Death Eaters I was going to rob them as well if possible.

The bag I was using would be stashed in our extra-dimensional storage space, which didn't seem to mind us filling it with containers that were bigger on the inside and we could sort through our loot when we found the time.

As for not touching anything, I wouldn't put it past Snape to place nasty curses on his property to punish any thieves.

Before long I found a partly hidden door that lead to a storeroom where a lot of elf-made wine was kept. I took all of that rather than let it go to waste. It was an odd thing to find since Snape didn't seem like the type to have guests over.

After some more looking around Raven found a safe which contained some wizarding coins and stacks of muggle bank notes. I wondered if Snape had been doing some potion brewing on the side that made him some profit or if he'd robbed people during his Death Eater days. Not that it mattered as it was all ours now.

I ignored the bedroom and bathrooms since Snape's clothes and personal effects were of no interest to me. Instead, with some help, I cleared out the potion's lab before I began spreading some flammable liquids around the building. I wanted the fire that burned this house down to be started by mundane means so as to throw off any magical investigation.

"
Morsmordre!
"

Spoiler [img: https/steamusercontent-a./ugc/939434973164017444/DE0FB20CBD9DE0E7816D6EAF804FD87402FC603E]

To further confuse matters and to befuddle Dumbledore, who by now might have discovered that Voldemort was truly gone, I fired off a spell and created the dark mark in the sky using Snape's wand that I stored away.

My hope was that either Dumbledore would think that Riddle wasn't really gone, meaning he'd divert time and effort into looking for Voldemort, or he'd think that Snape had gotten himself killed by another Death Eater who had decided to strike once Snape was no longer under his protection.

"Raven get us out of there" I ordered.

Darkness swallowed us up and soon we vanished.

Twycross Manor. Wizarding World.

A few days into the holiday Wilkie Twycross my cousin, or at least the man who thought he was my cousin, finally made an appearance, having come over to give myself, Raven and Dawn a few private lessons in the art of apparition. I had hoped to include Hermione as well, but she was on holiday with her parents.

Normally we'd have to wait at least until after the Easter holidays to start learning this while at school, but I wanted to start now just in case I had any trouble mastering this advanced magical art and needed some extra lessons.

I didn't want to depend on Rachel to serve as a taxi service for me and methods of travel such as the Knight Bus weren't secure.

As for Hermione, I didn't know if she was going to agree to sign the binding contract that would allow me to share some of my perks with her. She'd needed some time to think about it and she would have that while on holiday.

Putting those thoughts aside, for now, I followed my fake cousin as he led the three of us out into the gardens and into the fields at the edge of the property as the house and the grounds around it all had anti-Apparition wards on them.

"When you turn eighteen you become eligible for a twelve-week course of Apparition Lessons from a Ministry of Magic Apparition instructor" Wilkie Twycross began by saying.

Legal rights in the wizarding world were complex. You were an adult at seventeen but you couldn't do much in the way of adult things unless you'd passed your O.W.L exams. The apparition test was different, you need to be eighteen to get a license to have some magical education. This made sense since you would have to be somewhat familiar with using magic to have any hope of learning to teleport.

"I will be teaching you every Saturday afternoon for the next 12 weeks," said my not-cousin "I've already written to inform Hogwarts. As such you will be able to leave the college for these lessons".

At least that was one thing I didn't need to handle myself.

"Normally The Ministry will charge a small sum for this course" we were told, "And I charge for private lessons, but we'll waive that fee".

No doubt Wilkie felt a bit guilty for leaving an unknown cousin in a muggle orphanage when he should have raised that child, and while it wasn't his fault since I hadn't actually existed for him to adopt if I could make use of his guilt for free lessons then that was fine with me.

"Apparition is a magical form of transportation" Mr Tywcross explained "By which the user travels instantly from one location to another, without traversing the space in between. This is accomplished by having the user focus on the desired location in their mind and then purposely disappearing from where they were, to reappear at the desired location".

So far this sounded simple enough.

"Apparition is by far the fastest way to get to the desired destination, assuming it was a reasonable distance away" Wilkie went on to say "However it can be tricky to pull off correctly and disastrous if botched".

The ability to Apparate was a relatively advanced skill for wizards, yet other magical creatures were capable of disappearing and reappearing with ease. House-elves for example.

I knew that Apparition had a range limit and that it can become increasingly difficult to perform when a great distance needs to be travelled. Trying to teleport too far could result in splinching yourself, meaning that you leave part of yourself behind when you teleport.

This can result in severe injury and death. Also, Apparition required great knowledge of the place the wizard wanted to visit, as they needed to be able to visualise it clearly.

"When in use Apparition can cause quite a bit of noise" we were told "Ranging from a small faint pop to a loud crack that may sound to Muggles like a car backfiring. Those wizards who have mastered this skill can perform Apparition without making any kind of noise".

Twycross began teaching by telling us about the "Three D's of Apparition": Destination, Determination, and Deliberation which wasn't much in the way of theory, but Apparating is more an art than anything else, some people were just very good at it while others struggled and no amount of theory would help.

As for the practical side of these lessons, we needed to apparate into a hoop that our teacher conjured up by focusing our mind on the inside of the hoop and then spinning around with the intention of appearing within the hoop.

Raven, who could already magically teleport herself using her powers, took to Apparation like a fish to water, were as Dawn and I got no results during the first lesson. Not that this surprised Wilkie Twycross one bit because Apparation was an art, not a science and someone people never learned to do it and a few people got it right away.

Before leaving he gave us all a pamphlet on the subject and told Raven how to go get her license at the Ministry. She'd have to Apparate again during the actual exam, but he didn't think she'd have any problems with that.

I hoped that my late afternoon tea with Lockhart enjoyed more success.

---

Part 21

---

Part 21

Cokesworth. Muggle Britain.

Professor Albus Dumbledore looked at the charred remains of Severus Snape's family home and sighed. He'd been worried about something like this happening and he'd tried to keep the Potion's Master at Hogwarts in order to keep him safe. Among other reasons.

While there had been the dark mark cast into the sky the muggles, who now didn't remember the mark thanks to the hard work of certain members of the Ministry, thought there had been some sort of accident, but the Headmaster knew otherwise.

This was the work of witches and wizards, perhaps even one of the Death Eaters who had escaped justice when Tom Riddle was vanquished, although the Headmaster doubted that Death Eaters were behind this attack.

Still, it was known to many followers of the Dark Lord that Snape had turned his cloak and become a spy towards the end of the war, so they would be blamed by others.

Snape had been well protected at Hogwarts and had spent as little time out of the castle as possible. It helped that with their master gone none of the Death Eaters who had escaped Azkaban would dare to move against Snape while he was at the castle for fear of drawing Dumbledore's ire against them.

That all changed when Snape quit his job and left the Headmaster's service. As soon as he'd left Serverus had made himself vulnerable and now he'd paid the price for his foolishness.

Dumbledore had a very long list of suspects who would be willing to go after the Potion's Master and he was already taking mentally taking quite a few people off that list due to muggle methods being involved.

As clever as it was to make it harder to track any magic used by setting the place on fire with muggle-made chemicals, this was something Voldemort or his followers would not lower themselves to do. It was doubtful that any of them would know which chemicals to even use.

Add to this the lack of any traces of dark magic and it seemed unlikely that Snape had been targeted by Lord Voldemort or any of his followers. They would have thrown curses around.

If anything this was likely the work of a muggle-born witch or wizards, and while they weren't normally the kind of people who committed crimes of this kind, they were far more likely to use muggle methods to try to clear their tracks.

Aside from that, muggle-borns and half-bloods with close ties to the muggle world have a much easier time acquiring the needed materials and would better understand how to use them. They would also know about the Muggle firefighters who had stopped the fire from spreading

Acknowledging the idea that either a muggleborn or a half-blood with experience with the muggle world was behind this didn't exactly narrow down the list of suspects. What the Headmaster wondered was if many of them could know to conjure the dark mark since the spell wasn't common knowledge.

Dumbledore started up a whole new list, which included a lot of former Hogwarts students who had graduated from the school in the last decade as well as victims of the Death Eater's raids who could have learned about the mark. Given that this happened during the holidays it could even be a current student.

The Headmaster ruled out the first-year students. None of them had been in the presence of the Potion's Master enough to become this disgruntled and many were hiring tutors these days. Snape rarely interacted with non-Slytherin students outside of the classroom and Slytherins didn't use muggle methods.

Snape had never been a well-liked man. His abrasive attitude hadn't made him any friends and he was a poor teacher even Albus would admit that. If not for the need to keep Snape close by the Headmaster never would have employed the man.

Alas, he'd needed a strong ally to be in charge of Slytherin house in order to keep some sort of control over the students, and Snape had been a useful follower. If a few students failed or never took N.E.W.T. level potions class then that was the price the wizarding world had to pay.

While outside of the house the Headmaster had questioned a few of the more active members of the community about what they thought had happened and had even skimmed the surface of a few people's minds.

They were under the impression that Severus Snape worked as a chemistry teacher at a remote boarding school in Scotland. Which wasn't that far from the truth.

Because of the use of chemicals to start the fire as well as a lack of anything odd found inside the remains of the house, the police had a theory that Serverus Snape had cleared out and then burned his own home down for insurance money, using chemicals taken from his place of work.

Severus had loathed his father and this was his father's house, a home he barely spent any time in, and the local people knew that, so it wasn't a big surprise that the police had come to this conclusion.

The fact that the house had been cleared out of anything connected to the magical world, at least as far as Albus could see, convinced Dumbledore more than anything else that no dark Pureblood was behind this.

They weren't above looting and there had been things worth taking, but none of the Death Eaters would bother to go to such effort to hide the existence of magic as they were foolish enough not to care if the statute was put in peril.

Most of the muggle-borns and half-bloods knew better as they didn't underestimate the danger that non-magical people could pose to witches or wizards.

Snape really hadn't done himself any favours by being so abrasive to everyone. There were years worth of students and parents who wouldn't mind getting back at the teacher not to mention the victims of Death Eater raids who might have been biding their time before striking at a vulnerable target.

If only he'd been agreeable to staying at the castle then the poor boy would still be safe as Severus spent his holidays at Hogwarts.

He was going to have to request that Mad-Eye come and look into this. The lack of magic involved would make finding a trace of Snape almost impossible, but if anyone could find the Potion's Master then it would be Moody.

Dumbledore could normally call upon other allies, it was just that no one else would really care enough to put any real effort into searching for Snape, and besides he didn't want to ring any alarms.

The DMLE suspected that the former professor had been targetted by some disgruntled students, but none of them really wanted to look into the disappearance of a Death Eater who had escaped Azkaban only because Dumbledore had vouched for the man.

He'd heard one Auror say that he believed that Snape had cast the dark mark himself and faked his own death to avoid long overdue justice.

Severus Snape might not be dead. He might have escaped during the attack and gone into hiding. Electing not to return to Hogwarts despite the danger.

That was the only hope Dumbledore had for his friend's safety and he knew that it was a small one. Most likely the poor man was being held captive somewhere before he was killed, and this meant that Albus might have lost one of his strongest allies.

The Headmaster moved away from the house and while he had been invisible he made sure that he was some distance from anyone else before he turned on the spot and vanished.

Cave. Coastline.

Before coming here I'd put on what I now thought of as my Magnus outfit. I'd chosen the name Magnus because I felt it was a good name for a wizard and I had an awesome magical staff like that Staff of Magnus in the Skyrim game.

/spoiler]

[img: proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.%2Foriginals%2F89%2F44%2F67%2F894467be4ba7a3591396497bbaac76a6.jpg =eaedb089a36fda482d67a4ed4ad9f111]

/spoiler]

As part of my outfit, I wore dragon-hide boots, a belt with a silver skull buckle, black trousers and a plain black top under my thestral hide coat as well as gloves. I also had on a rather cool-looking mask, but there was no sense in wearing that since there was no one around to see me other than Raven.

On my person, I carried not just my wand, which was secure in a holster that only I could take my wand from, well worth paying extra for, I also carried a dagger since it's always a good idea to carry a backup weapon and my wandless magic was still rather basic.

Rachel had also dressed up for this outing. She wore the invisibility cloak over her new outfit which made her seem more mature.

Spoiler

[img: https/i./originals/41/3c/52/413c5210cd45094549d7b2e07b80c574.jpg]

As we appeared on the rock that was outside of the cave, the dark energy that Raven had surrounded us with for the trip vanished and I was exposed to the elements around me.

While the sea was calm the water looked very cold so I was glad that I wouldn't be doing any swimming.

"Hard to imagine anyone bringing kids here" commented Raven.

Decades ago the children of Wool's Orphanage had been packed up into some sort of transport and brought out here to enjoy the seaside. The trip hadn't been enjoyable for a couple of the orphans thanks to a young Tom Riddle.

"There must be a village or something nearby" I mused.

That wasn't important to us as we weren't here to enjoy the sea air we were here for the not-Horcrux locket hidden in the cave.

It might seem pointless for me to acquire the locket since I knew it to be fake, but I couldn't be certain it was fake in this world even if the timeline seemed to have been the same as the books/movies until we arrived. Aside from a few small changes caused by students going to Hogwarts when they were 17 rather than 11.

Besides, it would be much easier to get the real one if I could use the fake to prove to Kreacher that I intended to finish what his beloved master started. I would trade the fake for the real deal if the true locket wasn't still in the cave and let Kreacher think the locket would be destroyed when it didn't need to be.

Raven needed to fully purify the Horcrux as it could still harm people, and I wanted to collect all the Founder's Relics in case they had any special powers. Even if they didn't grant useful abilities they were still very valuable and should be part of my treasure horde.

If Kreacher didn't make the trade for some reason then the fake might at least be worth some money since it was a real locket as far as I knew and most likely an heirloom of the Black Family since Regulus Black would have access to such things.

In addition to the natural barriers such as choppy waters and jagged rocks, Voldemort hid the locket in this cave with several magical enchantments to guard it. Luckily for us, we already knew how to get past them and between us we should be able to handle any defences not shown in the book. If needs be I would summon up the spirit of Regulus Black.

I knew that the cave could not be Apparated into or Disapparated from, and Raven hadn't teleported us directly into the cave using her magic due to us not being sure if the defences were the same as in the book/movies.

"You need to turn into a dragon and fly us across" instructed Raven "If Voldemort put up any spells to prevent people from flying into the cave on a broom they don't seem to affect natural flight".

That was proven by the fact that were a few seagulls around and they had no trouble flying about. Although they did seem to be avoiding the entrance to the cave.

Rather suddenly Raven jumped onto my back.

"Giddy up horsie" she encouraged.

It always amused me when she went from serious to childish like this.

"What was the point of making yourself a new outfit that makes you look all grown up if you're going to act like such a big kid?" I question.

She slapped me on the shoulder.

"Horses don't talk" she insisted.

The normally controlled witch squealed as I turned into a dragon large enough to carry here, but not so large that I couldn't launch myself off this rock.

Moments later we landed in the mouth of the cave and I transformed back into my human form. Raven got off me a moment later and grinned at me.

"You're changing my opinions on dragons" she commented before getting serious "Summon Regulas Black I need to consult him".

I took the stone out of the storage space, turned it three times and called for him. Only I couldn't summon him. He didn't appear before me in spirit and I wondered if he was somehow still alive or if a spirit could resist being called upon.

Not that it really mattered right now as it just made going after the locket a bit more dangerous and if Mr Black was still alive it might mean he never found out about the Horcrux.

"We'll just have to do our best," said Raven "I didn't teleport us directly into the cave in case of any surprises, but I'm sure we can handle what's inside".

Getting into the main part of the cave was simple enough. Buying the blood of a human wasn't that hard in Knockturn Alley, vampires need it after all, and the spells cast on the bottle meant that the blood was still fresh.

One of us could have bled a little to get into this cave, but I didn't see the point of us risking our health in some way if we could just buy a solution to this problem.

"Magnus we need some light" requested my companion.

Since we were out on a mission it was wise to use our cape names as Raven called them.

I took my Staff of Magnus out of the storage space and with hardly an effort the tip of the magical tool lit up enough to give us some idea of what was around us.

Spoiler

[img: /wp-content/uploads/2014/10/The-Horcrux-Cave.jpg]

Thanks to our memories of reading The Half-Blood Prince more than once we knew how to find the otherwise invisible rowboat that would transport only one wizard at a time safely across the lake.

"You take the boat and I'll fly across in my animal form," said the former Teen Titan.

She turned into an actual raven and flew over to the pedestal that was on the little island. I considered doing the same in my dragon form and dismissed it since there must be a good reason why she wanted to use the boat.

As I crossed the lake I noticed the bodies in the water. I wondered which of them was Regulus Black. I tried not to dwell on that.

"You're an animagus?" I asked when I got to the other side, "How come you didn't tell me?"

Raven shrugged.

"I don't use the form very often, there was no need when Beast Boy could become any animal we needed, and we never discussed becoming animagus" she answered "Dawn is the only one of us who can. You're a dragon and I already have an animal form".

My human form was my animagus form in a sense.

"That doesn't look like proper water to me," Raven commented as we examined the area "Seems polluted somehow".

Well, it was full of corpses and yet there was something about the water, for some reason, the blackness of it seemed familiar to me.

"Regulus Black's body is somewhere in there," I said "Poor bastard".

I tried not to think about the lake of zombies and focused on the potion. I was now looking at a stone basin that was partly filled with a green potion that could not be parted, vanished, transfigured, or otherwise made to change its properties at least according to Dumbledore.

Thinking about it, I wondered if it was possible to get rid of it without magic using a muggle method that a wizard wouldn't think of employing.

Taking out a fancy goblet from the storage space, that I'd originally gotten from the Room of Requirement I filled the container and then tipped it onto the ground and watched as the basin didn't refill.

I'd considered just putting my hand in and taking the locket but seemed risky as the potion could boil or the basin might somehow trap my arm.

"Wizards really do make things too hard on themselves" Raven commented "The magic is on the basin itself. It can only detect that you've removed the potion without using magic it doesn't know if you drank it or not".

In the movie, there's a fancy goblet along with the basin which must have been enchanted in some way so that only drinking from the goblet would remove the potion. But Voldemort seemed to have forgotten that in this universe.

That I could just pour the potion out really shouldn't really come as a surprise. As Hermione Granger mentions in the first book most Wizards haven't an ounce of logic. Although to be fair, logic doesn't always mean much when you're dealing with magic.

This doesn't make magic users stupid and plenty of No-Maj have the same problem it just means that they tend to overlook simple solutions to their problems. Like Starfleet officers in Star Trek who come up with silly technobabble answers when they'd be better off just shooting something.

Maybe Tom Riddle had just just insane and this meant trying to see the sense in his actions was pointless. Besides, his needlessly complex plans have been foiled by a schoolboy many times, so it seems silly to worry so much about his ability to think clearly.

Getting back to the potion I pondered about how Dumbledore had thought that the only way to remove the potion from the basin, thereby exposing the locket at the bottom, was to drink it. Then I pondered about how trying to do so would make the drinker act as if they were being affected by a dementor thus greatly weakening them.

If the drinker had any strength left, then in their desperate thirst they would be forced to drink water from the lake, as any water magicked on the island would disappear, (I'd brought some water bottles with me in my pouch of holding just in case) and how this was done intentionally by Lord Voldemort.

The drinker would therefore be unable to imbibe anything other than the lake's water, which would awaken the army of Inferi. Awakening the Inferi would most likely lead to the death of the drinker.

Albus Dumbledore noted that the potion's effect might not be fatal, as Voldemort would not want to immediately kill anyone who discovered the cave and the Horcrux within it. Not until he had the time and opportunity to learn how they had discovered its existence in the first place.

If that was true then why have the Inferi kill anyone? Wouldn't it make more sense for them to disable the weakened intruder until Voldemort arrived? I was the only person who could question the dead. At least as far as I knew.

"Regulus Black is alive" I realised.

The cave wasn't meant to kill it was all one big trap meant to hold someone. The entrance was hard to get into unless you risked drowning in very cold water and if you didn't drown you ran the risk of getting hypothermia. It was meant to weaken you.

Then there was the door that demanded blood in payment. That would also weaken a person and the potion wasn't fatal either, so maybe the zombies were meant to disable you when they dragged you into the lake. So going into the lake might not be fatal.

"I was wondering when you'd figure that out," said Raven as she examined the fake locket "I did mention that the lake is polluted".

There was more thinking involved.

"It's one big draught of living death" I realised while looking at the lake "Well it's lake water mixed with the potion. That's why it looks so wrong".

You can dilute magical poisons with water it just makes them less effective. That was why Ron didn't die right away when he drank that poisoned mead in the Half-Blood Prince book, its effects had been lessened.

Also in that book, Harry creates the potion during class and the two other potions seen in that class are both important to the plot. Harry winning the luck potion allows him to get the memory he needs from Slughorn, and Ron falls victim to an attempt by Romilida Vane to slip Harry a love potion which is basically a magical date-rape drug.

All those potions in that class are a foreshadowing of a kind so why not have the Draught of Death play a role?

"If it was diluted enough then you'd need to practically swim in it for it to work" Raven let me know.

If I recalled my readings the draught puts you into a death-like state and there's no limit to how long you can stay in stasis as far as I knew. So Voldemort could deal with the intruder at his leisure.

"Or be drowned in it," I said, "That's what the zombies are for".

I refused to keep calling them Inferni since they were just zombies animated by magic rather than some disease.

"Why didn't he use the Draught of Living Death in the basin?" asked Raven "It was strong enough then the drinker would be trapped in magical stasis like Sleeping Beauty".

The answer came easily to me and I got the impression that Rachel was testing me rather than actually seeking an answer.

"Voldemort is a sadist," I said "He'd enjoy the idea of someone being dragged to their doom after getting tortured".

If Tom Riddle had been born a squib he'd have spent his life in a padded cell after becoming a famous serial killer, or he'd have gone into politics with him being able to act sane due to not having made any Horcruxes. I couldn't imagine even him being worse than Boris Jonson.

"So Regulus Black is alive in that lake" stated my companion.

I couldn't summon him with the stone because he was still alive even if his body was close to death. His soul had not moved on.

"He could be useful in obtaining the real locket" I mused.

I thought about how to get him out and how to deal with the zombies. The plan I came up with was relatively simple.

"Let's just grab him and you can teleport out" I decided "I'll stay here and incinerate the zombies in my dragon form. Met me at the entrance in like a quarter of an hour".

She agreed to this and I was pleased by the idea of burning the zombies as they were dangerous and no one should have their mortal remains used for such evil. Plus I was a dragon so it was about time I got to use my fire.

After securing the locket in our shared storage space, Raven summoned Black to her and vanished before the zombies could start to appear, and when they did I transformed before I unleashed dragon's fire.

Spoiler

[img: /wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Burning-Hell.jpg]

---

Part 22

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Retirement Plan.

Part 22.

The Leaky Cauldron. London.

At first, I thought this an odd place for Horace Slughorn to hold his Yuletide Gala, he didn't use the word Christmas on his invites, but as it turned out the backroom of the pub was done up quite stylishly and the room was far too large to actually fit inside the pub, so some space expanding charms were clearly in effect.

A Wizarding World Christmas party was somewhat similar to a non-magical one in the sense that there were plenty of decorations about, lots of food on offer, far too much drink and the whole scene was rather colourful without becoming an eye sore.

The differences between a magical and muggle Xmas were that there were no images of Santa about, nor were there any religious symbols on display. Which was to be expected since Christians were in the habit of burning witches. The Wizarding World celebrated the more pagan aspects of this time of year.

As I entered the well-decorated room, having shown my invite to some poor sod who looked as if he should be welcoming people to the Queen's Xmas party rather than Slughorn's gathering, I began to look around.

Before long, I spotted the current Minister of Magic who was talking to a group of people who he would deem to be important citizens. I noticed that Frank and Alice Longbottom were here with their son.

The older woman with them who had an entire stuffed vulture on her hat must be Madam Longbottom, a fearsome witch from what I'd heard despite her rather poor taste in fashion.

"No Death Eaters that I can see," remarked Dawn "Isn't Lucius Malfoy always at these big parties?".

Given that I never read the society pages of the Daily Prophet I had no idea. Neither Raven nor I were much into socialising, at least not when compared to Dawn.

"I have no idea," I said.

Lockhart was in attendance. For a while, he'd been publishing his popular fictional series that was based on real events that he stole from other people's lives, and I might have been one of his targets if he hadn't cancelled our appointment. Not that he would have taken me by surprise.

I really should do something about him too if only to ensure I had a better DADA teacher in what would be my second year at Hogwarts. Although given that the curse of that post could be tied to Ravenclaw's diadem it might be possible that Remus Lupin would teach for more than one year in a row.

Unlike the Dark Witch Umbridge and the Death Eaters, who deserved to be murdered, I had no desire to kill Lockhart as he didn't exactly enjoy hurting people, he was simply extremely self-absorbed rather truly evil.

It would be more fun to find a way to discredit him. It wouldn't even be much work since I could just slip him some truth potion if he was ever at Hogwarts and then ask him the right questions.

I placed those plans on the back burner for a time as Lockhart wasn't very important compared to the other things I had going on, and I needed to make sure that there was no one here who would cause me problems. Besides, I didn't have any truth potion on me.

There was no sign of Dumbledore, who was very hard to miss given his dress sense, although I did almost stare at someone who I thought for a moment was Bellatrix Lestrange.

Thankfully my first impression was wrong given the bored-looking younger woman standing beside the Bellatrix lookalike. The girl was changing her hair colour rather rapidly.

Also, there was a man in a smart muggle suit next to them, so they must be the Tonks family. Nymphadora Tonks a former Hufflepuff at Hogwarts, was impossible to miss. I figured that she must be undergoing her training as an Auror these days.

"Slughorn might be well known for favouritism as a teacher and as a man who likes to make important connections, but he's no fan of dark wizards," I said to Dawn "I think Tom Riddle saw to that".

It was as if he'd been able to hear me because he came over to us as soon as I spoke his name.

"Ah, James, Dawn" the potion's master greeted as he moved through the crowd of witches and wizards "I'm glad that you both made it my little gathering".

Dawn hadn't been invited she was my plus one. Slughorn seemed to have lost some interest in the young Miss Summers since she wasn't putting as much effort into proving her skill in magic these days.

Not that I blamed her as her role here was to be my companion and to enjoy her new life. Besides, she was still above average in our classes, and she could perform what she thought of as proper witchcraft.

"Your parties have a good reputation so I made time to attend," I said.

Even going so far as to get some fancy dress robes for the event. Mine at least didn't look as if they belong in a woman's wardrobe back in the 1890s.

"I have a little something for you," I said.

Carefully I reached inside my cloak and produced a box that I brought out of the storage dimension. I didn't know where exactly Raven had gotten the contents, but I assumed she'd been into the Forbidden Forest more than once.

The price was 100 gallons for a pint of the venom, and that wasn't as high as it could be given the rarity and the danger faced when acquiring the substance so it seemed safe to assume that the demand wasn't as high as it could be. I only knew of one potion that required the venom.

"You have a supplier?" Slughorn asked.

While the venom was dangerous and there were laws that restricted trade in such substances Acromantula venom wasn't on the list of restricted substances due to its rarity and limited uses.

"I know someone who can acquire a bit more," I said.

The potion's master was very pleased to hear that.

"I can use this for academic purposes and I do know a few fellow brewers who might be interested in obtaining some venom for their own research," said Slughorn "But this isn't the place to talk about such matters. We can talk about it when classes start next term".

There was no chance of him kicking me out of his club now and while it might seem odd that someone with little interest in social activities wanted to stay in the club the chance to make contact with important people was too good to pass up.

"I promised the Minister that I'd bring you to him as soon as you got here" mentioned Slughorn "He wants to give you your Order of Merlin tonight".

Hearing this surprised me.

"I thought I had to go to the Ministry for that," I said.

That had been the plan.

"Fudge is going to be rather busy over the holidays and since he saw that you were on the guestlist he decided to hand over your award now" Slughorn let me know.

I assumed that there was some political reason for this, something to do with why Madam Bones wasn't here, and the award was soon presented to me, the whole thing felt rather rushed.

Minister Fudge didn't even mention why I was getting the medal. Just that I'd gone above and beyond what was expected of a member of the magical community. Which was more or less what was written on the medal.

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"I thought it would be prettier" commented Dawn when I showed her the award "I don't think I'll bother getting one of my own".

The whole thing was rather underwhelming and before long Slughorn decided to introduce me to some of his other guests.

"James, Dawn I want you to meet Wednesday Addams," said the once and future head of Slytherin house "She's coming to Hogwarts from America".

Both Dawn and I knew that name. Poor Dawn choked on her drink and I went rigid due to my surprise.

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[img: https/media.citizen.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Wednesday-Addams.jpg]

"I didn't know that you could transfer to Hogwarts" I found myself able to say as the shock began to wear off "How did that happen?".

What kind of strange crossover universe was I in? Ah well, at least it seemed unlikely that I'd get bored while here.

"I was attending Nevermore Academy," said Miss Addams in a voice so free of any feeling that it made Raven's most dull explanations sound passionate in comparison "There was an incident".

Slughorn took over the conversation at this point.

"The Addams family is based in the colonies, but before then they were one of Europe's oldest and wealthiest magical families, sadly the gift of magic seemed to have mostly left that line," he told us.

To be expected given all the inbreeding.

"I'm something of a late bloomer" Wednesday informed us "Grandmother was very pleased when she discovered I shared her magical talent and I decided to attend a magical school".

Having seen the Netflix series I had an idea of what could have awoken the magical power in his bloodline.

"Why aren't you going to Ilvermorny" questioned Dawn.

The creepy goth girl made eye contact with the Key in human form and she twitched. I wondered if she'd picked up on the fact that my companion wasn't originally human.

"They have magical enchantments that keep out members of my family" she answered.

That sounded like an interesting story that I might one day here.

"So Hogwarts it is" stated Slughorn.

I wondered if she'd go into Slytherin and how many casualties there would be in the next term.

"Now excuse us we do have other people to meet" insisted the teacher.

I was suddenly dragged over to Lockhart for what would no doubt be an even more horrific experience. After that, I felt as if I needed to go home and have a very hot shower so as to cleanse myself.

Twycross House. The Wizarding World.

Regulus Black woke up and screamed. Not an unexpected thing to happen given that the last thing he remembered was being pulled into a lake full of corpses by the dead. Yet he was safe and dry, he'd even been put into clean clothing by someone.

This wasn't St Mungos, this was someone's home, a wizard's home, he could tell that right away, and for a moment the young Black couldn't help panicking as he imagined that the Dark Lord would be here soon to question him.

Thankfully it wasn't Voldemort who came to check up on him it was Kreacher who was very happy to see his favourite wizard and the feeling was mutual since the House Elf was the only member of Regulus's family that the young wizard cared much for.

"Kreacher where are we?" he wished to know.

The House Elf attempted to get his beloved master to lie back down.

"We are in the home of a wizard called James Twycross" explained the small magical creature "Mr Twycross and his lady friend have saved master from the Dark Lord's cave".

Regulus couldn't remember that happening. He just remembered the cold water and the corpses dragging him down in the dark. It seemed almost like a dream now that he was warm and with his loyal House Elf.

"Twycross," said Mr Black "I remember meeting a Wiklie Twycross".

Kreacher had gone out to collect some newspapers for his master to read so as to help him accept how much time had passed and to get him somewhat up to date with the world.

The House Elf could read well enough and they were overlooked so they could overhear many conversations. James Twycross was being spoken about due to his brave actions. He'd done a lot for such a young man.

"Worry not Master" assured Kreacher "The Twycross wizard and his lady friend are carrying on your important work".

Regulus was confused by this.

"My work?" he asked.

This was when someone entered the room. Black saw that she was a witch and as he got used to the darkness he saw that he was in what he guessed to be a guest bedroom. There was a lit fire that was filling the room with warmth, only he still felt cold.

"Defeating the dark lord," said the witch "My name is Rachel. My boyfriend and I recovered you from the lake this afternoon. He's out right now, or he'd been here to explain what happened. We didn't think you'd wake up this quickly".

While grateful for the save that didn't mean that Regulus was foolish enough to simply trust this strange woman who had never seen before.

This could all be a trick by Lord Voldemort to find out what Regulus knew about the Horcruxes, although that wizard had no real reason to be this crafty given that he'd have been able to torture the information out of him.

Black figured that Rachel or this Twycross wizard must have called upon Kreacher and that was not something that a wizard would do if they wanted to keep Regulus a captive. Few would even think to summon a House Elf at all. Had he called out for Kreacher as he slept?

"Thank you," said the young wizard.

Somehow Regulus didn't think that these people had saved him purely out of the goodness of their hearts and soon he was proven correct.

"We found you in the cave by accident," said Rachel "We've finished disposing of Voldemort's Horcruxes and we wanted to make sure that we'd finished the job by checking that the locket had been purged".

Regulus flinched upon hearing the name yet he still picked up on what mattered.

"He made more than one?" the Black wizard "I didn't know".

The witch sat down on a nearby chair before talking further.

"I've removed the dark magic from the objects so the locket you took from the cave should be free of the fragment of his soul" she explained "But I need the locket to be sure. It seems like a fair trade for your life, and we can help you leave the country, to start over somewhere else if that is what you want".

Regulus had been shocked enough to find out that the Dark Lord had even made one of those horrid things, but that wasn't what he focused on.

"What do you mean?" he asked "Why do I have to leave?".

Rachel explained what had happened since he'd been drowned in that lake. She told him about Voldemort's downfall at the hands of a child, which was almost too silly to believe, and how many Death Eaters were imprisoned while some escaped justice.

He wouldn't have believed it if not for papers that didn't mention any Death Eaters attacks over the holidays. The country seemed to be at peace and Kreacher only confirmed what he read.

"It's known that you were a Death Eater and you're thought to have been killed by Voldemort" explained the witch"If you appear in public the Ministry will just throw you into Azkaban as they did with your brother and a lot of the Death Eaters after Voldemort fell".

There was more to say on that topic.

"That's why I need you to get me the locket that you had your elf hide" Rachel was now saying "I need to make sure it's no longer a Horcrux and it needs to be purged of any lingering dark magic to make totally sure that Voldemort can never return".

Regulus didn't see that he had a choice in this. He didn't know where he was and if he was spotted then someone would come after him. Maybe the Death Eaters, maybe the Ministry, or even Dumbledore's minions.

"Kreacher bring me the locket" he ordered.

The elf popped away and would soon return.

"You mentioned that Siruis was locked up," said Regulus "What happened to him? He was never a Death Eater".

Anyone who really knew Siruis would find the idea to be laughable.

"The Ministry is hopelessly corrupt. It took them more than a decade to bother giving him a trial and that's only because he managed to escape before finding the wizard who betrayed him" explained Rachel "They actually thought your brother betrayed the Potter family to the Dark Lord".

That was ridiculous.

"Siruis and James Potter were as thick as thieves" stated the former Death Eater "Siruis would never have betrayed them".

"It was Pettigrew who actually sold them out" stated Rachel.

Well, that made much more sense. That poor excuse for a wizard would have sold out anyone to save his own hide. Regulus had never understood why his brother or Potter even bothered to hang out with Pettigrew.

Regulus was having trouble processing all of this so he was grateful that he had a chance to think. The witch who saved him from the lake gave him time to gather his thoughts before they talked more.

"I don't know what to do" he admitted "I didn't think I'd survive this long".

Could he clear his name? Would the Ministry accept that he'd turned away from Voldemort? Or would they just lock him up and throw away the key?

"If you want to flee the country we'll help you" promised the young witch "You're dead officially so no one is looking for you, but you might be recognised if you stay in the country so it seems smart to leave".

That wasn't his only option.

"Or perhaps you can hide out at your family home and try to convince your brother that you switched sides, but he's one of Dumbledore's followers" warned Rachel "So don't mention the Horcruxes as Dumbledore doesn't want anyone else to know about them".

If Voldemort was gone then Regulus was free to start over.

"I need some time to think about all of this," he told his saviour.

There was one more matter to discuss because Regulus could get some more rest. The House Elf returned with the locket that his master had trusted him to destroy.

"Kreacher, why didn't you get rid of this thing?" he asked his House Elf.

The magical creature broke down and it took some time for him to be convinced that Regulus wasn't angry that the House Elf had failed to carry out his master's order.

Black decided that since he didn't really have anyone else he was going to have to trust his hosts. At least until he could get out of the country.

"Just do what you need to do," he said while handing over the locket.

He needed to rest and think about what to do next.

Twycross House. The Wizarding World.

While Hermione had informed me that she was going away with her parents over the holidays she had promised to come to visit me at home before we headed back to school as such finding Miss Granger stepping out of my fireplace wasn't such a surprise.

Once fully inside the house, Miss Hermoine Granger passed me the gift she was carrying, and I opened it with care.

"Quidditch Through the Ages" I read out loud "Thank you, Hermione".

Not my first choice of reading material and she picked up on that.

"Well, you are a boy," Granger said.

I was glad she'd noticed that.

"That would explain my penis" I joked.

She had to laugh upon hearing that despite it not really being funny.

"I've been getting a lot of reading done myself," the young witch told me as I took her coat "I've been trying to find out about a man called Nicolas Flamel, but he's not in any of my books".

Oh, so she was on the right track. Maybe she was working alone or Potter and his sidekick had reached out to her as a source of information rather than have to do their own reading.

I'd not seen them hanging out in the library, but that might just mean they getting information from her without forming any sort of real friendship.

"Nicolas Flamel the alchemist?" I asked, "Flitwick mentioned me when we were discussing our options in classes".

The way she stood up even straight and stared right at me was a little scary and I'd met Wednesday Addams recently so I knew a little about intense staring done by goth girls.

That she'd forgotten about Flamel teaching the alchemy class wasn't surprising. He never appeared at mealtimes and I'd never seen him around the castle. Not many people took his class either.

"You know about him," she said, "James, you must tell me everything!".

Well, I wouldn't tell her everything I knew, but I could give her some basic information.

"He's a French wizard, a well-known alchemist and the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone, which is a legendary object with incredible powers, such as the ability to create gold, and that is something you normally can't do with magic".

And Raven was still trying to figure out how to do that despite having had access to the stone for months. She'd complained to me about it a few times, and it had something to do with certain rules that seemed to limit what magic could do.

"He worked with Albus Dumbledore to find the 12 uses of dragon's blood if I remember correctly," I told the witch "He's pretty much immortal due to the so-called the Elixir of Life. He and his wife Perenelle created this Elixir using the Stone, it prevents them from dying of old age".

We weren't bothering to make the elixer since we had thousands of years of life ahead of us.

Flamel was briefly mentioned on Albus Dumbledore's Chocolate Frog Card, but since I didn't collect those I didn't mention that as I didn't want her running off to go chase down a frog card when I was trying to get her to bind herself to me.

"There's a book on alchemy in the library that mentions him," I told my guest "But it may take some time to find as there are a lot of books in the library".

Which was an understatement really.

"Oh, you mentioned the library," Miss Granger said, "Can I see it?".

I didn't wish to show her too much yet.

"We need to discuss the contract" I reminded.

Hermione was already walking off.

"Library first!" she called out.

Well if that was what it took then I would show her my library.

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This was a strange house because it changed to suit the needs of the group while maintaining its rather classic theme. The sheer amount of books we'd moved here from the Room of Requirement had caused the library to grow in size.

"If you join the group then you'll have full access to the library and this isn't even all of the books" I mentioned "And you can have a bedroom here even if you don't want to leave your parents' place".

She gave me a scary look.

"Give me the contract" insisted Hermione.

So this is what it took to convince her to become one of my companions.

"Here you go," I said as I pulled out a binding contract from the storage space "It's all rather straightforward….".

I never got the chance to explain fully.

"And you just signed it without reading it" I commented.

That was very silly of her.

"Yes, now I have some research to do" she insisted.

Somehow I got thrown out of my own library, much to the amusement of Dawn.

"What is it with you and scary goth girls?" she wondered "First it's Raven, then emo-Hermione catches your eye, and I know that Addams girl was giving you an interested look".

I'd not seen any hint of that in Wednesday Addam's gaze, and I suspected Dawn had simply misunderstood the situation.

"Something to do with them having Daddy issues," I said "I seem drawn to that type".

Dawn waved that off.

"I don't even remember Hank Summers" she stated "I don't have issues with him because he might as well never have existed".

Since I needed to go and talk to Regulus Black I ended the conversation rather than accuse Dawn of swimming in a river in Egypt, and headed to the guest bedroom. I didn't know what we were going to do with the former Death Eater. I hoped he'd leave the country and never again be my problem to deal with.

Alas, things were rarely that simple in the magical world. Yet I remained hopeful that I could smuggle Black out of the country without the Ministry becoming involved.

"So what are we going to do with you," I asked Black after I'd entered the guest room.

The young wizard, who didn't look as if he'd aged at all while in the lake, had handed over Slytherin Locket which had been added to my collection of magical treasures.

He'd also recovered very quickly thanks to the healing power that all members of my group had, and that I would have to teach Hermione about if we ever managed to drag her out of the library.

"I don't know, to be honest," said Regulus "I can't go home. I don't even know who the Secret Keeper is and I can't be seen in public".

Ironically he'd been safe in the lake, surrounded by those corpses.

"I'd suggest changing your name and moving to another country" I offered "I'm willing to give you the funds to get started".

Black looked surprised to hear that.

"Kreacher can get me money from my Gringotts vault, I still have my key," said the wizard "But I wouldn't know where to go".

He couldn't live in the muggle world or even take a plane somewhere because he didn't exist in the normal world. Perhaps Raven could teleport him to some magical community on the other side of the planet.

"Get your stuff together," I said "Kreacher should be able to do that for you. I'll find a way to get you out of the country".

I needed to talk to Raven and see how far she could teleport someone.

---

Part 23

---

Retirement Plan.

Part 23.

Twycross House. The Wizarding World.

The plan wasn't a terrible one, even if it might be a bit risky, the basic idea was to use the Fidelius Charm to hide the fact that Regulus Black was alive as a magical kept secret within his older brother's soul.

If successfully cast the spell meant that Regulus could walk down Diagon Alley in the middle of the day and not a single person would be able to figure out his real identity.

So he could pretend to be someone else, without running into trouble with the Ministry, assuming that a secure fake identity could be set up. That was a problem for later and might be something that could be solved with more magic.

He wouldn't even be able to tell someone or purpose or by accident, since he wouldn't be the Secret Keeper, and since the Potters had felt comfortable trusting Sirius to keep their secret then it made sense the Regulus would feel the same even if the two brothers had never been that close.

A person's animagus form isn't random it is in some ways of reflection of who they are. Siruis Black was a dog because he was loyal to his pack and affectionate. For some reason, the Maurders seemed to have misunderstood that or they would have never trusted Pettigrew when they saw he was a rat.

I couldn't have used that spell to hide the fact that I was alive because everyone already knew I was alive. It wasn't a secret to be hidden. Regulus was believed to be dead by nearly everyone who'd ever known him, and the people of the wizarding world would be quite happy to go on believing it.

Aside from having great power, Raven was very skilled at magic involving the soul so she'd been able to figure out the spell quickly enough. So now, we just needed someone to serve as the secret keeper who would rather die than serve up Regulus to the Ministry of Magic.

While it might seem as if the charm was only good for hiding a location that wasn't the limit of the spell only its most common use. As such I figured that we might get more use out of the charm.

I could have become the keeper of the secret despite having become a dragon because I still have a human soul or close enough, according to Raven. Which was something I'd been rather pleased to hear even if it meant I couldn't call myself a dovahkinn.

Also, I would have to worry about Dementors, but since I could turn into a dragon in body and then fly away it wasn't big of a deal. I wondered if my fire would destroy Dementors since I'm a Greater Dragon rather than merely a fire-breathing magical animal.

I figured that my soul remaining a human one might be partly why my wand had a phoenix feather core rather than one made from a dragon's heartstring. Phoexins are also creatures of fire, that might have played a part.

The Fidelius Charm wasn't foolproof even when your Secret Keeper could be depended upon and once Siruis Black learned about his brother's return he could still mention Horcruxes to someone, so we were taking a risk even if I didn't think it much of one.

Regulus Black was more confident than I that he could get his brother to agree to be the Secret Keeper and to keep his mouth shut about why he'd been in that cave.

I wasn't too worried about that information getting out because I was in a much stronger position now than I had been when I arrived in this world. I had some political pull myself thanks to my Order of Merlin, a much better understanding of wealth, and most importantly I had an idea of my full magical power.

"Mr Twycross" greeted Sirus Black as he came out of the fireplace, using the floo to quickly travel from his home to mine, "You mentioned that you had something very important to tell me".

There was no need to beat around the bush and so I quickly led the former convict in the drawing room. Regulus was waiting for him there, but Siruis didn't recognise the man due to the young wizard having covered his face with a hood.

As for how I got the older of the two Blacks to get here, that was simple enough, I just promised to share something within that would change his life.

Siruis was reckless enough to come alone, and to be fair he was a powerful wizard while I'd attended Hogwarts for a single term. As such it was not so crazy that the older wizard thought he could handle me and it wasn't as if I had any connection to dark wizards.

"Your brother is alive," I said.

As the younger Black lowered his hood, Siruis recognised his own brother.

"Reggie, is that you?" he asked.

I stepped out of the room, and let them get on with their reunion. It was best to let the siblings sort things out between them. I would only be a distraction.

"They might be a while" I reasoned.

The house contained more people within its walls than normal and soon there would be many of them as Dawn was preparing for her party this evening and Hermione was again in my library.

When it became time for to get changed for the party later I had a feeling that it would be hard to get her out of that room. I amused myself with an image of her hanging onto a table full of books as I tried to drag her out.

Raven appeared, having been invisible as planned, there had been a small chance that Siruis Black would have reacted badly to the situation.

Since the house's defences had been lowered somewhat for the party (because I didn't want someone getting killed by the defences just because they got a bit rowdy) it was important to keep a close eye on our guests. At least until people started heading home.

"I'd imagine so," remarked Raven "It's not every day your little brother comes back from the dead".

Even for the Wizarding World, it was a strange event. Harry Potter aside people killed by Lord Voldemort stayed dead.

"Since we have a bit of time I want to show you something I've been working on" said Rachel.

She spent a lot of time working on one of her projects, so I wasn't surprised that she had something she wanted me to check out. I was surprised when we went up into the attic and she opened up a wardrobe that hadn't been there before.

Spoiler

[img: https/vignette.wikia./narnia/images/6/6e/Wardrobe.jpg]

"Go on through," she instructed.

I did as she wished and for a moment I thought it to be a Vanishing Cabinet, only it turned out to be more like a trip to Narina. Well, it was a cave I ended up in, and it was a familiar one.

"Wait, is this the cave we took the locket from?" I question.

Raven soon followed me into the cave.

"It is and it isn't," she told me.

Well, that didn't explain anything at all.

"I sealed the cave away by folding space" Raven let me know "I know you wanted a dragon's lair so I removed the cave from normal space/time and made you a pocket dimension that you can use as a dragon's lair".

Understandably it took me a few moments to process what she had just told me. It wasn't exactly a simple bit of information to absorb.

"You made me a pocket dimension," I said with a smile on my face.

To her, it wasn't even a big deal, which was a testament to how much power she had, but even if it hadn't been that hard for her it

must have taken a lot of effort, and that meant something to me.

"I love you so much" I admitted.

Seeing Raven so taken aback by my admission was also a treat.

"I love you too," she said "I mean you I knew you…".

Rather than let her babble on for who knew how long I kissed her. It's a very effective way of shutting up babbling girlfriends.

"Dawn helped" Rachel let me know after some kissing "She donated a bit of her blood as it's a good catalyst for dimensional magic".

No wonder she'd been able to defeat Voldemort so easily if she could make this a project around her schoolwork and the time she spent with me.

"What happens if Dumbledore comes looking for the cave?" I wondered.

Raven wasn't at all concerned by that.

"He'll find nothing" she assured me "This cave is its own separate universe. The place where it was is just a solid cliff now".

It was hard to wrap my head around that.

"This is amazing" I commented as I began to look around "You evened out the floor and got rid of the lake".

Raven shrugged.

"To be fair you cleaned out the cave with dragon's fire," she told me "Obsidion is brittle so I just smoothed out the ground and made it more level. It's big enough for you to relax in your dragon form and you sleep on piles of gold if that is what makes you happy. I'll stick with my feather-stuffed mattress".

I had daydreamed more than once about being able to do that. It would take time to move the treasure in here and it would barely begin to fill this place.

"We should steal from more Death Eaters," I said.

I looked over at the shelves that Raven had created out of the black stone that made up this place. She had magical candles lit, yet they didn't cast much light so I had to get close to see the shelves. The candles made me wonder about something.

"Is oxygen going to be an issue?" I asked.

Of course, she'd already thought of that.

"There are charms to take care of that" the former Teen Titan let me know.

I walked around some more as I did that I envisioned having trophies up on the walls and maybe a throne for when I relaxed in here when in my human form.

"We should get back to the house" Rachel advised.

By the time we got back down the drawing room, Sirius Black was shouting.

"I'll do it!" he yelled.

Raven and I entered the room.

"I trusted the wrong person last time I won't make that mistake again I will be the keeper" he insisted.

Well, that made things simpler.

"So Sirius you will keep the secret that Regulus is alive," I said "Then we just need to come up with some new identity for you".

The older of the two brothers waved that concern away.

"A few well-placed bribes will take care of that" he insisted "Reggie become the son or grandson of someone who got kicked out of the family. What's another cousin?".

That worked fine for me

"And the other matter?" asked Raven.

The existence of the Horcruxes was a matter of concern.

"I'll keep my mouth shut" promised Sirius Black "Reggie says you dealt with the Horcruxes and I believe him".

Fingers crossed that this matter would be dealt with soon.

"Then let's get on with the spell," said Raven.

Siruis looked surprised.

"I'm guessing you're not the first years you appear to be," he said "Something else to keep secret, but I'll do it for Reggie".

This wasn't without risk, we were depending on family loyalty here, I hoped it didn't come back to bite us later, or I would wish we'd left Regulus in the damn lake.

Twycross House. The Wizarding World.

Hermione and I had sneaked away from Dawn's party, but not until Raven did so as not to be rude. I doubted that the hostess even noticed as she was having the time of her life.

Despite my distaste for such social events, I was glad that I'd funded her gathering as it was making the Key very happy.

Not that t I was thinking about Dawn much right now as I was sitting on the couch in my bedroom and I had Hermione Granger with me, and she wanted to take our relationship to the next level. I was more than happy to help her advance that far.

Even though she was sitting still and not doing much, Hermione was panting heavily as I ran pinched her nipples through her top, causing them to stiffen. I had my other arm around as we kissed and I played with her breasts.

"Oh… mmmmm… James… that feels so good" she struggled to say.

I was having similar thoughts about how this felt. Here I was touching the tits of a girl who had the looks of Emma Watson.

She had many other qualities I could admire such as her magical power, her intelligence and her loyalty to her friends, but right now I was more interested in her physical attributes.

Deciding to get on with things, I kissed Hermione some more and then I took her hand. I guided her down to my crotch to make it clear what I wanted from her.

Hermione started trying to free my cock, but since we were still kissing she wasn't having much luck as she couldn't divert her attention to the task at hand.

Since I wanted more I did the work for her, and soon my hard cock found its way into Hermione's hand. I leaned my head back and groaned as I felt Hermione's soft fingers wrap around my hard shaft as she began to stroke me.

I relaxed for a while and when I bothered to open my eyes I noticed that Hermione was keeping her full attention on the hard cock she was manipulating with her small hands. She was very focused on her attempt to please me.

"It's firm and very warm" she commented.

Without warning Hermione closed her eyes, bent forward and then she made my dick vanish into her warm and wet mouth. It felt very good to feel her mouth envelop my hard dick.

Since the lovely Miss Granger was now lying on the couch I was able to move my hand down to her ass, it made for a tempting target. I ended up feeling her bum for a while, something Hermione didn't react to since she seemed very focused on orally pleasing me.

As she did her best to please me I lifted the hem of her skirt and slowly pulled it up to reveal her white cotton panties. I expected her to be embarrassed by me seeing her knickers, yet she just kept going, leaving me free to feel her bum some more.

Once I got a hand between her legs and inside her knickers, I felt her dampness. I moved my fingers up and down her slippery slit over and over again, and this time I did get a reaction from the officious young witch.

When I found her clit, not easy as she'd begun trying to squeeze her thighs together, I focused my attention on this spot and kept at it since it made her feel good.

Hermione, meanwhile, was having trouble concentrating on her task, and she was making some squealing noises, she got very vocal despite her mouth being filled when I shot my load directly into her mouth.

She hadn't been at all prepared for this and the poor girl choked.

Thankfully we'd brought our drinks with us so she recovered fast.

"I didn't think it would come out so fast" she told me "I wasn't expecting you to cum so much. My books don't go into enough detail".

Some things you just have to learn for yourself.

"Would you like me to return the favour?" I asked.

Hermione blushed and nodded. I felt how wet she'd become, she was very horny even if she wouldn't admit it.

"Go lie down on the bed" I ordered.

She did as she was told without delay. This version of Hermione wasn't totally free of the need to obey an authority figure as I'd discovered. I would become that authority.

None of the witches in my life were the kind to resist my commands despite the binding contracts not compelling them to obey as none of them were leaders or the dominating type.

Dawn could be sexually aggressive to some extent, but even she liked it when I took charge in the bedroom. She was more playful than anything else.

"We need to get rid of that," I said.

Before the young Miss Granger could figure out what I meant I'd gotten her knickers down and I had removed her public hair with a flick of my wand that soon vanished back into the storage space.

I'd hear a rather minor curse, more of a jinx really, that removed hair and prevent it from growing until the spell was lifted.

"Why did you.." Hermione started to say.

Any protest she would have made vanished as she felt my lips meet her slippery slit before I began to probe her opening with my tongue.

"That feels… mmmm… good!" Hermione informed me.

Well, that was the point.

"Be a good girl and I'll make you feel even better," I promised.

I softly ran a finger up and down her bare slit, rubbed her clit, and then I applied a little pressure. Hermione gasped and moaned as she felt my fingers penetrate her.

I was not surprised by how tight she was and it was tough to get a finger inside her despite how wet she'd become. She was most certainly a virgin.

Not that I'd needed to probe her so as to find that. My dragon senses drew me to treasure and virgins. That certainly hadn't been mentioned in any of the contracts. Not that I minded.

Hermione didn't protest my exploration, she simply laid there and made the odd noise. I was left with the impression that I'd been petting a very affectionate cat.

However, rather than comment on her acting all adorable I began lapping at Hermione's pussy. She was proving very easy to please.

She was soon getting close, so very close to her climax, alas for her, I had no intention of letting her orgasm this soon. She was now mine to do with as I pleased, she'd given herself to me willingly and I intended to take advantage of this.

So I took a deep breath and watched Hermione's face as I moved so that I could put my cock inside her. I saw her eyes snap shut and heard her moan as I made my cock slowly move inside her.

When I looked down I was rewarded with the sight of my cock slowly disappearing into her tight teen pussy. It was the best magic trick of them all.

"Ugh… mmmm… oh" was all Hermione could say.

Then when I broke her maidenhead I got much more of a reaction.

"Ahhhhh!" Hermione screamed.

There was nothing quite like getting to deflower a young witch and I'd done it three times now, four if you counted Dawn letting me take her black cherry.

A pity I might never get to this again. I really should get one of those magical items that let you go into your memories.

"Oh… James," Hermione whispered.

I didn't rush at this point despite my urge to simply fuck her into a coma as she would not thank me for that. Instead, I made soothing noises and gave her some time to relax. Once she was ready I began to slowly fuck her and she liked it.

She lay there on the bed, with her legs open as I began to pick up the pace. I was standing by the bed and I was starting to wish I moved her so I could lie on top of her as my legs were feeling a bit weak.

Who could blame me given that I had such a tight and wet pussy to enjoy? No matter I would keep going, focusing on only increasing my pace once Hermione was ready for me to fuck her harder.

That didn't take long as she was fully into it now, and I was able to pick up the pace. I could focus on my own pleasure and time become meaning less as I fucked the Hogwarts student.

Once I was done I filled up her well-used cunt and moved so that I could lie down next to her. I would have cleaned up the mess, but my legs had stopped working.

"That was loads better than the girls in the dorm said it would be" Hermione let me know once she could speak again.

It was always nice to get a positive review.

The Great Hall. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Upon returning to the college I discovered that the start-of-term meal we got when we arrived back at the school wasn't anywhere near as lavish as the feast we enjoyed at the start of the year, but it was still a very fine dinner in my opinion.

I'd enjoyed generous servings of well-cooked pork, chicken, beef, Yorkshire pudding, and roast potatoes with some vegetables, before moving on to the pudding.

I would never understand the appeal of gravy it always struck me as odd that some of my fellow first-year Ravenclaws felt the need to drown their food in the stuff.

"I miss pizza" commented Dawn "And burgers, and hot dogs. We should eat out more when we're not at school, and why do they never serve proper deserts".

Rooby, the House Elf who kept us fed at home, was a traditional House Elf who served typical British cuisine when we were at home, not that I minded because if I really wanted something different there was nothing stopping me from venturing out into the Muggle world.

All I had to do was Floo to the Leaky Cauldron and then I was in London with takeaways all over the place. I would order them from home but the house was in a remote location and was surrounded by muggle-repelling charms.

All I could do at school is to pack things in my pouch of holding, and this allowed me to enjoy a nice cup of tea. Hermione shared my love for British tea while Dawn drank coffee and Rachel partook in some of the herbal stuff.

Apparently, no one at the Ravenclaw table had thought to bring their own refreshment to the Great Hall and yet they were supposed to be the smart kids.

"I'll take you for a nice lunch in the Three Broomsticks this weekend" I promised Dawn.

The pub had a menu that contain food she enjoyed more so hearing that made her smile. She liked it when I spoiled her. If I had actually been her biological Daddy she'd have grown up to be a total brat.

As the dinner finally came to an end the Headmaster decided to speak. I wondered if he was still looking into Snape's disappearance and if he was suspicious of the fact that Sirius Black was spending time with a cousin no one had known about.

I would have to make some more efforts to keep the old man off balance if only to amuse myself.

"Due to Professor Binns having moved on to the next great adventure over the holidays History of Magic classes have been cancelled. Please use the free time to study for your exams".

The ghostly teacher had only ever quoted the course book verbatim, making the class entirely redundant in my view. No one seemed to care enough to react beyond a few small cheers and some whispering as more talkative students speculated about what could have happened to the ghost of the history professor.

"Proffesor Horace Slughorn has chosen to return to his old post of head of Slytherin and Potion's Master, and we also have a new Defence Professor, Mr R.J Lupin".

Slughorn must be known to some of the students as he got some applause.

"We also have a new student joining us" Dumbledore let everyone know.

This announcement got more of a reaction from the student body as it was so unexpected.

"Miss Addams, a transfer student from Nevermore Academy in America, has decided to come to Hogwarts. She has just arrived and will now be Sorted" declared the Headmaster.

Odd to have a Sorting after dinner. I wondered why Wednesday Addams had gotten here so late. Had she been on the train? I'd not thought to go and check. Mostly because I had three girlfriends who all wanted to spend time with me.

The scary goth girl went and sat on the stool as a thousand students had before, and then something unexpected happened, the Sorting Hat whimpered.

I was fairly certain that was the noise it made and I got the impression that the hat was crying, only there were no tears because it didn't have fluids to leak out.

"Ravenclaw!" the hat screamed.

At first, no one clapped other than Dawn, who seemed amused by all of this, and a few of us joined in before the hall was filled with a strange silence.

"Well that should be everything," said Dumbledore, as if nothing odd had happened "Good night everyone".

No one knew what to say about the sight they'd just seen, and since we were leaving no one edged away from Miss Addams.

"I knew it wouldn't get boring here" stated Dawn "I think this term is going to be interesting".

Many people forget that the phrase 'may you live in interesting times, is actually a curse.

---

Part 24

---

Retirement Plan.

Part 24.

Potion's Classroom. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Since I was taking as few classes as I could get away with this meant that I didn't have to get out of bed most mornings, or at least not very early.

My afternoons were a different story and today I had double potions. That would keep me busy from the end of lunch until almost dinner.

"Ah James, good you're here," greeted Professor Slughorn as we walked into the classroom "I was starting to worry that you and your friends had gotten lost".

Given that I'd never been to the potion's lab before that was a concern and I wondered why he singled me out when three of us had just walked into the room.

Hermione was already here, having attended potions lessons here before while I and my companions had hired Slughorn as a tutor before he'd returned to full-time teaching.

"Hope we are not too late," I said.

I looked around the room and saw a small class made up of students from every house. There weren't many students in the first year. Still, it was a smaller group than expected, containing students from all four houses, I wondered how many people were still making use of a tutor due to Snape's many years of poor teaching.

"Not at all," said Slughorn "Please join us".

He'd properly cover for me if I turned drunk and had a hooker on my arm. Not that I intended to test that.

"Now who can tell me what potions I have on display?" the teacher asked as we gathered around the biggest table "I don't expect you to know them all since some of them are NEWT-level potions made by students in my more advanced classes".

The one that smelled of familiar perfume and old books had to be a love potion of some kind. Actually, that wasn't one perfume that was a few mixed in.

"That one is Amortentia," Raven told the other students "It's supposed to smell different to each person. Its smell will depend on what you are attracted to".

Slughorn was pleased by her explanation.

"Indeed, Amortentia is the most powerful love potion in the world. It is recognizable by its distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen and by the fact that steam from it rises in spirals during the brewing process" he informed the class. The potion does indeed smell differently to different people according to what attracts them".

I wondered if I was actually attracted to books or if I smelt that because the women in my life spent a lot of time in libraries so I associated the smell with them.

"What do you smell, Mr Twycross?" he asked.

I didn't want to answer this question, but everyone was expecting me to say something.

"There's that smell you sometimes get in some libraries," I said and "And perfume".

Slughorn was satisfied with that and invited others to get a whiff. Another student reported that smelt broom polish and that made sense as he was a Quidditch fanatic. I didn't even know the guy's name, but he was talking about the sport whenever I heard him speak. He was basically a background character.

Before long the other brews on display were named. They were the Polyjuice Potion, Veritaserum, Boil Remover, and some others I'd never even heard of before. The smallest bottle contained the luck potion. Dawn identified it in short order and seemed very pleased to see it.

"Felix Felius, know as liquid luck," Slughorn told the class.

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"A powerful potion, toxic in large amounts, and if you get it wrong it becomes a deadly poison" we were warned "This small vial contains enough for a whole day of good luck".

Had he brewed up a big batch so that he would have a vial for every year or was he showing this small sample of it to this class alone because it has Harry Potter in it? It could be former as even a small cauldron could have filled enough vials so that someone from each class could win some a bit.

"Use of this potion during any sporting event, be that a Quidditch match or a duel is illegal, the same goes for any Ministry-run exams," he warned "Other than that, it can help with many endeavours, as the winner of our little contest will discover".

He had everyone's total attention. Not that people had been ignoring him before.

"At this time of year many students suffer from colds, the price of living in a draft castle in Scotland," said our teacher "So you will be brewing the Pepperup Potion, which is commonly used to counter the effects of the common cold. The potion I judge to be of the highest quality will win my little prize".

I knew that it had the side-effect of causing steam to emit from the drinker's ears for hours on end afterwards depending on how much you drank.

"Now students, I want you to pair up and brew the potion as instructed in your books," said Slughorn "This potion is normally taught to more experienced brewers so you will work in pairs and take things slowly. Call for me if you run into any trouble".

We began to pair up. Dawn wanted to work with me as she was under the impression that the notes I'd taken from the Half-Blood Prince book would help us.

She was partly correct as while the notes in that book were about more advanced potions some of its tips could apply to less advanced concoctions if used correctly.

I had taken plenty of notes in a scrapbook of my own and this would be good as it wasn't just a matter of using the ingredients more effectively as sometimes you didn't want them to be too potent as they could be bad for you in larger amounts.

"Rachel is better with potions than any of us" I reminded Dawn.

Raven forstalled any further debate in this matter.

"A twenty-four potion split between four people in six hours of good luck each" she pointed out "If pair of us wins I can measure out the dosage and six hours each will be more than enough".

The four of us quickly agreed to that and paired up with Dawn still clinging as she was in the mood to get some attention from me. Given how much the lack of proper attention had harmed her when she was younger I was inclined to indulge her need.

"We need Bicorn horn, Mandrake root and Jewelweed," I said to the Key in human form.

The afternoon passed by quickly even if the work progressed slowly. Some students stopped and started again, others got things wrong and tried to salvage their potions with guidance from Slughorn as he explained how to counter mistakes and let students know when they just had to give up before starting again.

I made sure to use the Half-Blood Prince's alternate instructions if they made sense.

By the end of the class, Raven won, no surprise there as a potion like this was simple to her.

"Well done Miss Roth" he praised "It's safe to say that Madam Promphey would not hesitate to add this potion to her stock".

Since I'd never interacted with the school nurse I didn't know how careful she was with her supplies, and while Slughorn was rather lavish with his praise I could tell that Raven was still pleased to have won.

"Professor, what is the shelf life for this potion?" I asked.

The teacher seemed pleased by the question. Perhaps because it suggested that we weren't just going to try out on a lark.

"Due to the fact that the potion is lucky itself, the chances of the vial breaking are extremely low, the same goes for it spoiling due to some accident so if correctly stored I suspect that it could last up to a decade before it becomes too toxic to drink," he answered, "However to be safe I wouldn't leave it for more than five years as certain potions can become more potent with age and the luck potion already has side effects that can be dangerous".

I'd asked because while I would never use it during a contest as I would want to win due to my own planning, skills and power, if they had the Triwizard Tournament in this timeline I wouldn't mind being able to increase my chances of being able to enter.

"Given to mudbloods. What a waste of a good potion" I heard Draco Malfoy as we left the classroom.

The snake had avoided my attention so far. Now he had just made a great mistake and I was tempted to punch him in his stupid face. I might have because he was bound to keep running his mouth off.

Only Wednesday Addams suddenly put herself between me and the inbred little fuck. I couldn't see what she was doing, but I saw the effects.

Soon Draco Malfoy, along with the two human-looking trolls that followed him around, began to back away, they then turned and walked off in a bit of a rush. They didn't run, but they were certainly in a hurry to leave.

"What did you do to them?" Hermione asked.

The Addams girl turned and looked at us.

"I smiled at him," she said.

A cold shiver went down my spine. Even junior Death Eaters shouldn't be subjected to such horrors. Not that this was going to stop me from teaching that family their proper place.

Charms Classroom. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

As planned I was meeting with Professor Flitwick so that he could tutor me in duelling, or at the very least offer me some tips while measuring my progress, as he had promised he would.

Siruis Black was even more eager than before to prepare me for the contests ahead. Returning his brother to him had led to Black wanting to lavish more attention on me during training and I wasn't going to complain.

I knocked on the door of the classroom, and I got no reply, it wasn't until I opened the door that I heard the music and realised that Flictwick must have soundproofed the room with a charm.

When I entered the music soon came to an end, but I heard enough to guess what song she'd been playing and it was not something you'd expect to hear here at Hogwarts.

Wednesday Addams was here playing the cello and if she didn't wish anyone to hear her that would explain the charm placed on the door to keep the noise inside the room.

"Very good Miss Addams" praised our head of House "The choir will benefit greatly from your inclusion".

I had not known we even had a school choir. Although I did now recall that one appears near the start of one of the movies. Since I wasn't at all musical and neither were any of my companions it hadn't mattered to any of us.

"What song was that?" asked the teacher as his student began to pack up "I'm familiar with the classics in both the magical and muggle worlds, yet I didn't recognise the composer".

"It was written by Mick Jagger" stated Wednesday.

Flitwick clearly had no idea who that was.

"I believe that was Paint It Black, by The Rolling Stones," I said "Mick Jagger is the lead singer and songwriter for the band".

As soon as I spoke those words I got the undivided attention of the other two people in the room. Addams was now intently staring at me, more so than she normally did.

"So that was a rock and roll song" realised Flitwick "I never would have guessed".

While Wednesday packed up as the teacher turned his attention to me.

"I didn't hear you come in," he remarked.

He had been engrossed.

"I knocked, but no one answered," I said, "I thought the room might be empty so I decided to come in and wait".

Since Flitwick had insisted that I be here at this time I'd not left when I got no answer to my knock.

"I got rather caught up in Miss Addams's performance," he told me.

Since I'd heard her play in the TV series I didn't blame him.

"I requested that you come to see me as I have a little time for some duelling practice" Flitwick let me know "Mr Black somehow managed to convince Professor Dumbledore to have an internal duelling contest here at the college despite the Headmaster having refused in the past".

The disappearance of Snape must have spooked the old man.

"He's commissioning five trophies, one for each year" Flitwick let me know "And at the end of this term one student from each house will face off against a student from another house, and if they win that round they will face whoever wins the duel between the other two houses, so you'll only have to win two matches to be the winner for your year".

Since I was the only first-year Ravenclaw getting any tutoring in duelling it made sense that Flitwick had selected me to duel for the house.

"Because the contest will take place at the end of this term before everyone starts cramming for the exams we don't have much time to prepare" warned the Charms Master.

Given the standards of the students in the duelling lessons, I wasn't worried.

"That is assuming you want to enter, Mr Twycross," the teacher was now saying "You are the best candidate and you have expressed interest in taking part in a duelling tournament over the summer".

I did seem to have a little talent in duelling and it was something I wanted to explore.

"Yes, Professor. It would be good to see how well I do outside of the tutoring sessions," I said.

Flitwick moved onto the floor of the classroom and waved his wand to create a shield around us after moving some stuff around to give us more space.

"I assume you wish to stay and watch, Miss Addams," said the professor.

She just nodded, and I kept my back to the young woman as I began to block a few spells sent at me by my Charms teacher so that I would not get distracted by her staring or be tempted to show off

Flitwick didn't even have to say anything or move his wand much in order to knock me to the ground despite my attempts to block his spells. As I got up I saw that Addams was amused by the display.

"You can shield yourself very well" praised the demi-human "And I know that you cast some powerful spells beyond what should be your level of skill, however, Mr Black tells me, you are lacking when it comes to movement".

Flitwick pointed his wand at the floor with his wand and I saw footprints appear. I thought it was something meant to help people learn the moves of a type of dance, but my first impression was wrong, as most are.

"Once we've covered the basics I'll explain in greater detail how to bring down someone who can cast such strong shields," the teacher said "For now, you just need to know that some duellists are very good at unleashing several spells that are cast very quickly with the intention overwhelming a duellist, and then incapacitating them".

Flitwick had defeated me with such ease that I knew that I was years away from defeating a professional duellist.

"However, hostile spells are only useful if they actually strike something or someone so dodging is a basic skill that all duellists need to master" I was told.

This made sense since anyone who'd seen me duel, which included most of the student body at Hogwarts by now, would know I could cast strong shields and would plan to counter that, or at least that was what I would do.

Sirus Black had mentioned to me that I needed to be more aggressive when duelling. I'd not taken his advice to heart as I knew that he was reckless. Yet I acknowledge that perhaps I was too defensive when in a duel.

"Couldn't they just damage the stage so as to limit my movement?" I asked, "Or make it slippery enough that I won't want to move?".

Dungeons and Dragons had a spell called Grease meant for just that sort of thing.

"They can, and I know that you are capable of that tactic since it is what you used to defeat the troll last term" said Flitwick "I've seen duellists who specialise in transfiguration litter a stage with conjured junk that they then use to control the movements of the other duellists".

That sounded like something I needed to look out for.

"The weakness of that tactic is that it takes time and you leave yourself vulnerable to more direct attacks while trying to alter your environment with advanced transfiguration" Flitwick let me know "Any wizard or witch worth their wand could have easily countered your plan to make the floor of that corridor slippery with ice. It only worked so well because a troll's magic is focused on their bodies so they can't spells and their inherit toughness means that they tend to ignore dangers".

I'd known that casting spells directly at the troll would have been pointless.

"As I know I am a Charms Master, so I duel using Charms. From what I've seen of you in class and from what Mr Black tells me, you clearly favour charms over other kinds of magic, at least when duelling" said my teacher.

Raven had advised me that since I was a dragon pretending to be a wizard I'd be well-suited to magic involving air and fire for offensive magic. There were many charm spells that call upon those elements, not that this was my only reason for focusing on them.

"Charm spells just appeal to me more than the magic used in other subjects," I said "Along with potions they seem like proper magic to me. Transfiguration, Ancient Runes, and Arithmancy are all rather dry subjects in my mind. And Divination isn't very reliable. Charms are fun, it's a creative subject where your imagination matters a lot".

Flitwick smiled upon hearing that. I could tell that he understood what I was trying to say even if my attempt to explain hadn't been very good.

"I've heard people say that they view Charms as the most fantastical of all the magical subjects. That Charms bring them the most happiness when practising magic," my teacher was soon telling me "I have devoted myself to Charms and I can teach you to use them in many ways both in class and in duelling, but we do need to cover the basics first".

Seemed sensible to me.

"Now dodging is important because even the most powerful of spells can't harm you if the person trying to curse you can't actually strike you with the spell," Flitwick said to me "There are two main ways to prevent a hostile spell from striking you. A barrier, be that a shield or something conjured, or to simply dodge. Taking cover is also an option, just not in normal duelling since you are on a stage".

"Given your youth, I want you to go with dodging as you have more energy than older duellists and these sessions will help you to build up your stamina," he said, "Despite this, you shouldn't depend on dodging as that will make you predictable".

"If you show promise I will devote some of my limited time to teaching you to make good use of both methods of defence while Mr Black focuses more on offensive spell casting" he promised.

I studied the floor and saw that the footprints if followed in the right pattern would allow me to move out of the way of hostile spells without leaving the stage or ending up with me facing the wrong way. There were only so many ways to move so it made sense to mix styles of defence as Flitwick had already mentioned. Dodge some and shield others.

"Of course, the other duellists will know these moves so it's best not to become predictable nor should you allow the witch or wizard you are facing to control the battle by staying on the defensive" advised the teacher "In time you'll learn to make use of parts of the common series moves and mix them together to suit your own needs".

Flitwick moved further away from me before raising his wand.

"We'll start by testing your reflexes," he said as he took out his wand "Keep your wand holstered. We'll be focusing on basic movements for a few lessons. By the time I'm done with you will be able to dodge spells without needing to think about it".

I got the feeling that this was going to involve me getting hit by mild Stinging Hexes until I learned to dodge and it turned out that I was totally right about that.

This might seem a bit wrong since it was much like letting a teacher hit me, but the pain would motivate me to learn more quickly and I would need to practice until dodging hostile spells became second nature to me.

I knew that would need to learn everything Flitwick could teach me if I was ever going to duel experienced wizards.

Quidditch Pitch. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"I'm having trouble processing this" I admitted "Hermione Granger is falling a class".

Since she lacked anything meaningful to say the young witch hit my arm. I barely noticed as in terms of physical might she was a weak girly girl.

"It's not funny," she said "I can't fail this class".

I didn't think it was very amusing. If anything it was a little worrying.

"It's more perplexing than funny," I told her "Or maybe concerning is a better word. I didn't even know you could fail the flying class. I was informed that nearly everyone passes before the first year is over".

Madam Hooch the flying coach was not amused either.

"This is indeed a very serious situation, Mr Twycross," she stated "No one has ever failed my class. Not even Murphy McNully and he was in a wheelchair"

How did he mount a broom then? Seemed offensive to enquire so I didn't.

"Miss Granger will not be the first. If she has to go flying every morning until the end of the year of exams then that is what will we do" we were told.

At this point, I wondered what this had to do with me so I asked about that. All I'd known was that I needed to go down to the pitch.

"The reason I brought you out here is that it will be easier to do what I have planned if Miss Granger can fly with someone she trusts," said Madam Hooch. "Professor Flitwick seems to think that Mr Twycross can get you into the air, Miss Granger".

The Head of Ravenclaw House had raised his opinion on me greatly since he'd begun taking a little interest in my duelling.

"You will pass this class Miss Granger and no note from your parents will excuse you this time" insisted the coach.

So Hermione was one of those kids when it came to PE. Not that I judged as during my first life I'd also been one of those students.

"Why did it have to be James," moaned Hermione.

If not for the fact that I knew she liked me I might be offended. I assumed that she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of the closest thing she had to a boyfriend.

"Brooms aren't meant to handle two people," said the coach "However, Mr Twycross smartly supplied us with Oakshafts which are very dependable brooms, and so if you take things slowly you won't get into any trouble".

I couldn't argue with that logic and she was right about brooms normally only having one person fly on them. They responded to the will of the rider and so having two riders could be a problem. As such, I would have to control the broom until Hermione got used to being up in the air.

"We'll start slow with you holding on to my back," I said as Hermione joined me on my broom "Try to think of it as getting on a motorbike. You just need to hold on".

The day wasn't a nice one, but the sky was mostly empty with only a few fliers up in the air over the other side of the pitch.

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Once we took off didn't go more than a few feet in the air and we moved about a few feet per second yet the young witch held on to me so tightly you'd think we were strapped to the back of a rocket. I couldn't help finding this a little silly and I wanted to tease her.

"I can show you the world!" I sang.

Hermione did not approve of my song choice so she hit me again.

"Shining, shimmering, splendid" I went on to sing "Tell me, Hermione. Now when did you last let your heart decide?"

"This is not romantic" she complained.

Her words were ignored by me and I sang louder as we went up higher. By now we were far enough away from Hooch that she wouldn't be able to hear what it was I was singing.

"I CAN OPEN YOUR EYES. TAKE YOU WONDER BY WONDER OVER, SIDEWAYS, AND UNDER ON A MAGIC BROOMSTICK RIDE!".

She was not amused, and I was glad that the wizarding world didn't have lawyers as it meant no one could sue me for singing that song. Although I might need to deal with noise complaints if I kept going.

"This is the man I gave up my virginity to" she moaned.

And now she all was mine.

"Let's go a bit faster," I said.

She was not happy about this.

"James Twycross you will take me down right now" she ordered.

I had to make it clear she had no ability to command me.

"Sorry Hermione Jean Granger, I've been told to get you flying so we're not going down until you get used to being in the air," I said, "I used to be scared of heights, it's just something you need to deal with if you are ever going to be a proper witch".

She clearly hadn't expected me to disobey her.

"So we are going to stay up here until you can command the broom to go down" I insisted.

Which wasn't as easy as it sounded as I'd have to give up control of the broom. Like wands, they only responded to one magical person at a time so I would have to surrender control and when that happened the ride might get a little rough.

"How do I make it go down?" she wished to know.

She should already know this.

"Imagine that the broom is like your wand" I answered "It will obey you as long you keep focused on what you want. Picture the broom slowly going down. Stay calm, and try to will the broom to act how you wish".

I could feel the broom moving down so I relaxed and let Hermione take us down a few feet as we came into land.

"See you can do it," I said.

Madam Hooch seemed pleased by the limited progress we'd made today.

"Not a bad start," she said "Come back tomorrow and we'll do this again".

At least these extra lessons weren't too time-consuming, and I should still be able to get away this weekend for something that I wanted to finally get done.

---

Part 25

---

Retirement Plan

Part 25

Umbridge Cottage. Location Unknown.

The home of Delores Umbridge was a small cottage with a well-kept garden that the former head of the Improper Use of Magic Office had a lot of time to tend to now that she was out of work.

Spoiler

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Before being sacked, Senior Undersecretary Umbridge had risen high in the ranks of the Ministry. She was only in her 30s and given how long wand wavers can live for she was still very young.

Yet from what I'd seen of her in the Divine Mirror she didn't appear at all young, her natural bad looks must be making her seem much older, or perhaps her inner self was somehow leaking out to taint her physical appearance and she couldn't cover that up despite how much pink she wore.

No doubt her advancement had come at the cost of others and in the past she had helped to create laws that would have driven creatures and people she saw as 'half-breeds' into the arms of Voldemort or anyone else who offered them more than scorn.

Perhaps I would one day become that leader as the Wizarding World could do with a good kick in the backside in the form of a rebellion, and it wasn't going to get one due to a conflict with Voldemort.

The idea of leading muggle-borns and half-breeds to victory over the inbred fucks who ran this country appealed to me. I even had the wealth required to fund such a movement and I'd have the support required if I could get the right people onboard.

Because I knew what she had done so far and what she would do if given the chance I'd decided to remove Umbridge. I wouldn't murder her, as there were other ways for me to deal with people who could become problems. More humane ways that my companions would support.

The reason that we were doing this now was that we'd discovered that Lucius Malfoy, who I'd been intending to go after for a while, was meeting with Umbridge in secret. Thankfully not for any personal reasons, they were meeting to go over some papers.

I didn't know exactly what they were working on, but given who they were I knew that it couldn't possibly be anything good, and I felt that it needed to be stopped.

Perhaps Malfoy wanted to get Umbridge back into the Ministry so that she would carry out his agenda or maybe they were working on ways to keep the corrupt Fudge in power by blackmailing people within the Ministry of Magic.

Regardless of what they were up to, Umbitch needed to be dealt with and to be punished for her crimes. That Malfoy could be dealt with at the same time was a welcome bonus because assaulting his manor would be tricky. Unless I attacked it as a dragon, and that would draw a lot of attention.

I highly doubted that Malfoy was telling people he was coming here so should we capture him successfully then he should disappear without a trace. If someone did look into his vanishing it wasn't as if they had any reason to think that three first-year students were involved.

My desire to deal with Malfoy had led to us waiting at the perimeter of the property outside of the magical defences that he would have to travel to to teleport away. As soon as he closed the front gate that led to the garden I waved my wand as the invisibility cloak dropped to the ground.

"Petrificus Totalus"

The Full Body-Bind Curse, also known as the Body Freezing Spell, was a curse that temporarily paralysed the opponent. I'd learned from Siruis Black who focused on more offensive tactics when teaching me about duelling. It worked like a charm.

"We should just kill him" stated Dawn as my companions came out of their hiding places.

The coldness in her voice surprised me. It didn't seem coming from Dawn.

"That's not the plan" insisted Raven.

Not only was her idea to trap people in special books more humane than sending anyone to Azkaban, as anything was better than that, but it was also safer for us since the books were unlike any magic in this world and because I had a very secure place to store those books, no one could track the people we captured to us.

"We know he's a murder" insited Dawn "He planted that diary on Ginny Weasley or would have, he'd kill children if it suited his plans".

I couldn't disagree with her reasoning. The bastard must have known that the diary would put the students in enough danger to justify sacking Dumbledore and he hadn't cared. Even with his son in the school. There was no way he can have been one hundred percent sure that only Muggleborn students died.

"This isn't about revenge or even justice," argued Rachel "We are doing this to make the magical world a safer place for us and the people we care about".

She had a point.

"Key, we can't alter the plan now," I said to Dawn, "Too many things could go wrong".

None of us was going to use our publicly known names when committing our crimes. I would be Magnus, she would be Key and Rachel would use Raven as she really liked that name. None of us were very good at picking names.

Dawn didn't have a cool outfit for this kind of work either. That was something we would have to fix.

The spell to trap Malfoy in a book wasn't a subtle one and once it was done we all waited for a while, but nothing happened. Umbridge didn't come to investigate and there was no sign of life within the cottage.

"I'm not sensing any strong emotions from inside the house" informed Raven.

That might seem odd, but if Umbridge had her study cut off from outside distractions with certain charms she could have missed what just happened. We would soon find out.

Before we got that far Raven needed to deal with the enchantments that defended this home and I was no expert in this field so I just watched.

I knew enough to know that Umbridge hadn't been willing to pay for proper defences and she lacked the skill to put them up herself as Raven was quickly able to deal with the enchantments.

Interestingly the word 'ward' is never actually used in canon they are referred to as protective enchantments in the textbooks as well. The use of the word wards was a fanon thing.

"There's a spell I don't know on the lock" Raven informed us "It requires an actual key or an alarm will go off that might inform the Ministry if I use any magic on it. Give me a little time to take it apart".

Dawn stepped forward and took out some small bits of metal from a pocket. With them, she began to fiddle with the lock.

"More magic isn't always the answer," she said.

She had the door unlocked in no time. This was a skill she'd picked up from her kleptomaniac phase I assumed or maybe from Spike. I had planned to try getting in through a window as they might not be alarmed.

"They don't call me The Key for nothing" she joked.

Once inside, we all used the Freezing Charm ( Immobulus) to make sure that none of the many moving kitten pictures made any noise or distracted us in any way as we moved from room to room.

"Please don't loot this place" requested Dawn "It should all burn in fire".

I'd considered trying to get some loot to add further to my fortune, but there was nothing here worth taking as far as I could see, and I wasn't desperate enough for cash to bother rooting around for Umbridge's coin purse.

Besides, I didn't have the contacts required to fence stolen goods and even if I did, who'd want stuff this pink? I felt fairly certain that anyone who did was not someone I wished to meet.

Well, there was always Mundungus Fletcher if I needed a fence, but he was a minion of Dumbledore even if he was not a dependable one and so I would not do business with him.

After making sure that we wouldn't be bothered by Umbridge's poor taste in decorations we headed to the study. Only to find it empty and it was easy enough to acquire the papers we need by simply taking all of them.

If there was some blackmail material here then we could go through it some other time as it wasn't high on our list of things we wanted to get done.

Then we went to the bedroom and found the horrible witch already tucked up in bed. I felt the desire to wake her up and gloat, or threaten her in some way, but I was no Voldemort or other stereotypical villain so instead of talking I let Dawn stun her, as she needed the practice, and then Raven get on with her work.

Soon another evil magic user was now trapped and Rachel looked a little winded afterwards. That spell was taxing.

"I'll be fine" she assured "Let's just burn this place to ashes and go".

While attacking Malfoy Manor was problematic, it turned out that the manor had grounds that were tended to by servants and it was often visited by important guests, this cottage was in the middle of nowhere and thus a safer target to strike at.

"Oh, I get to ride you this time" Dawn insisted.

I couldn't help smiling upon hearing that.

"Phrasing," I said.

She didn't get the reference and since we needed to get moving I didn't bother to explain. We headed out of the cottage and stopped some distance away.

"Just remember to yell Dracarys when you want me to burn the cottage," I told Dawn "It's very important".

She gave me a confused look as she climbed onto my back. A few moments later I was in my dragon form with the Key holding onto me as I prepared to breathe fire. Spending time in my dragon form, which was arguably my true form, could be fun.

"Dracarys!" she yelled.

Burning the small building with dragon's fire rather than using chemicals was meant to confuse any investigators. It was also why we didn't leave the dark mark in the sky this time.

Dawn very much enjoyed the experience and while it might have been pleasant to watch the dark witch's lair finish becoming ash we couldn't risk getting caught at the scene of the crime so we soon made our exit.

Quidditch Pitch. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

My second term at this magical college passed quickly as I prepared for the school's internal duelling contest and devoted myself to the study of wand magic when I wasn't spending time with one of my three girlfriends who I got to fuck regularly.

I even found the time to help Hermione pass her flying class even if she only just managed to do that and refused to go flying with me ever again.

The burning down of Umbridge's cottage and her disappearance never even made the papers and while Lucius Malfoy vanishing did rate the front page, people stopped speculating about it after a while.

I guessed that since no one knew where he'd gone that night no one connected the two events or if they did the investigators never let it slip to the public.

Smartly my group never discussed the matter outside the Room of Requirement and that only happened once because Hermione wanted all of the details. She also wanted to be included the next time we went after a bad guy. Given what the canon version of her did to Rita Skeeter I wasn't surprised by this.

No one from the Ministry came to Hogwarts to ask questions as far as I knew and I figured that it was a very good thing that in this timeline Hagrid never got a dragon's egg or he would have been blamed by someone even if was very silly.

At least Draco Malfoy was keeping his mouth shut and not just because Wednesday Addams scared him as well as his goons.

He couldn't threaten people with his father any more and while he was mostly an adult by the standards of wizards he didn't have his father's political skill, nor he could he spend time a lot of time at the Ministry to keep Fudge in line, so his family's influence was waning.

In contrast, Ron Weasley was annoying me more than ever, he seemed to be under the impression that we were rivals despite me not having given much thought at all since Halloween.

The young Miss Addams had been more on my mind as late as she kept coming to watch me practice my duelling under the guise of learning about the sport and Dawn was encouraging me to bring her into the group for her own amusement if nothing else.

"I invited her to come over during the Easter holidays" The Key let me know as the audience settled in to watch the duelling contest that would soon begin "She isn't going back home for Easter, she's staying here at the school, but she can leave to come visit".

Wednesday Addams wasn't very close with her family at this time of her life if the Netflick series was anything to go by.

"Are we having another party?" I asked.

Dawn smiled at me.

"It will be a small one this time" she promised "I figured we could have a casual dinner party, maybe a buffet, some soft music, and then the hot tub for an orgy once everyone starts to unwind".

Hermione gasped upon hearing that as Raven made a face that let me know she didn't find the joke to be at all funny. Everyone else was outside of the muffling spell so they hadn't heard that.

"I'm kidding" Dawn assured us "I promised to keep that sort of thing in the group, but the hot tub is an option for relaxation".

That was fine with me.

"You should totally take the chance to talk to Wednesday," insisted Dawn "She's interested in you".

That much was obvious.

"I'll talk to her" I promised.

For now, I needed to focus on the duelling. The first-years were going first since these duels would be the most simple and least entertaining for the large audience.

Since I was the only first-year Ravenclaw with any desire to duel I had to go and do my best for my house. I'd even gone to the trouble of putting together a cool-looking outfit to wear when duelling.

Spoiler

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"We'll begin with Ravenclaws vs Gryffindor," Black told me as he came over and I dropped the privacy spell "You'll be going up against Ron Weasly".

That was not pleasant news.

"Why the hell am I going up against Ron Weasly" I complained.

I'd been expecting to face Harry Potter. He was a good person to face because if I lost then I'd lose to the Chosen One, there is no shame in that, and if I won, then I would have beaten the Chosen One. Which would be awesome.

"My godson doesn't like the attention," said our duelling instructor.

Yeah, the Dursleys would have made sure of that. Perhaps one day I should go and visit them. I loathed those who harmed children and they should be punished.

"Harry has reasons to learn about duelling other than winning contests," said Black.

Even without Voldemort, it was likely that Potter would face challenges in the future that his godfather was trying to prepare him for.

"Now go on up and make Ravenclaw proud" insisted the teacher.

Weasly was soon sent up on stage by Black who had a few words for the redhead and the ginger had an angry look on his face. I didn't need to be an empath to tell that he resented his older brothers and unlike the book version this Weasly hadn't even been Potter's sidekick while growing up.

Due to his low self-esteem, he took every chance to build himself up by trying to bring others down rather than by actually working at anything. Perhaps if I humbled him publicly he would actually make some effort to improve, yet I doubted it.

"You're going down, bookworm" promised the student.

I sighed.

"Ah yes, the trash-talk part of the duel," I said "Let's see. You're ugly, you have poor personal hygiene, you lack table manners…".

Flitwick, who overseeing this event, began counting down to signal the start of the duel despite me not having finished my insult.

"Three, Two, One!".

"Locomotor Wibbly!"

I shielded that spell and then dodged another spell that had the incantation Mucus Ad Nauseam which sounded very unpleasant to me.

Flitwick had pushed me hard during our training sessions which had become more frequent than originally intended because the teacher found that he was rather enjoying taking me under his wing.

These days I focused so much on duelling that I paid little attention to my other lessons and the only reason Flitwick let me get away with that was that I'd promised to divert my focus to my other classes for the majority of the final term to prepare for the exams.

I could have kept up with the shielding and dodging, but while duelling was about showmanship as much as actually winning even Weasley could get lucky so it was best to wrap this up in case he managed to get past my defences.

"Flipendo!"

I made use of the Knockback Jinx to send the redhead off the stage, much to the amusement of the crowd, and then I took a short break.

When I got back to the stage I had to face off against Malfoy who had at least been able to defeat some girl from Hufflepuff. To be fair he wasn't that bad with curses, and rather than bother with any trash talk he just glared at me. Trying to be unsettling I guessed.

It failed. I'm a dragon, no low-level wizard is going to be able to defeat me.

"Three, Two!".

If Flitwick called out One then it was drowned out by Malfoy shouting.

"Serpensortia!"

Before I could do anything about the snake it vanished as Flitwick moved closer to the stage.

"You go on three not on two!" he yelled "You are disqualified, Mr Malfoy".

The crowd did not like hearing that. I didn't know if they hated the cheater, or if they were disappointed that they wouldn't see a show, and it didn't matter as I'd won. I got to go collect my trophy, which I would later give to Flitwick to put in his office.

I should be ready for the contest over the summer, but until then I had other things to focus on.

Twycross House. Wizarding World.

It was the day after term ended when Siruis Black once again came to visit and he was escorted into the library by my House Elf.

Raven and I had been reading here in the library while Dawn went off to prepare for her next party. Hermione had gone home to visit her parents since she still lived with them when not at school.

At first, I thought he might be here to talk about the duelling contest

he wanted me to enter over the summer, but that turned out not to be the case.

"I have something for you, James," he said "A little something to say well done".

He handed over a book.

"The Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts" I read out loud

It was a new edition and signed by Arsenius Jigger who had published several editions since the 1920s. The actions of Grindelwald and then Voldemort over the last hundred years meant the Defence Against the Dark Arts had become a more important subject in the last century than it had been before.

"Thank you, I'll make sure to read ahead" I promised.

Rooby served tea without anyone having to ask.

"So you'll be teaching us Defence starting September," Raven said.

I hadn't considered that. This was the kind of book that a Professor would teach from and Siruis was more than wealthy enough to get the author to send a few signed copies to him.

"Didn't you turn down the job?" I asked, "Or was that just a rumour".

Black picked up his teacup and took a sip before speaking.

"I did pass it up before because I wanted to focus on duelling," he said "However the Headmaster thinks Remus will need to be replaced so I need to be prepared. We might end up sharing the position with me staying focused on duelling or with Remus, I mean Professor Lupin, taking my place as the school's duelling instructor".

Dumbledore must think that the curse might still be active and wanted a replacement on hand. I'd have shifted him over to History of Magic to keep him around and then let Black take the DADA position.

"The school governors weren't happy," Sirus told us "But Dumbledore reminded them that I am innocent and that if they hold my time in Azkaban against me then they'd be no better than the people who'd locked me up without a trial. Besides I am more than qualified for the job and I think they just like having something to complain about".

Black then went on to explain that during the war with Voldemort, whose name he spoke without fear I noted, he was a Hit Wizard. A Hit Wizard or Hit Witch was a member of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad that was trained to deal with highly dangerous combat situations, such as arresting criminals, containing dark creatures, and preventing the trade of dark artefacts.

They were Wizarding Britain's equivalent of specialist firearms officers, but they were below the Aurors, who were the elite dark wizard catchers. Very few people ever become Aurors because their standards for recruitment were very high.

"How did you become a Hit Wizard, Mr Black?" Raven asked.

I could tell that he was thinking back to that time.

"Funny you should mention that. Just a few years before Harry was born, James, Harry's father I mean, he and I were involved in a motorbike chase with two policemen" he let us know "The chase started just a bit of fun, we never meant for anyone to get hurt, but it became much more serious when we were attacked by three men on broomsticks".

Death Eaters I assumed.

"Very foolishly we used our magic to raise the police car that had been chasing us" Black let us know "The Ministry had much bigger things to worry about at the time and they were desperate enough to conscript the two of us rather than lock us up despite us nearly killing the policemen in that car".

It wasn't unheard of for judges to draft young men into the military to avoid having to send them off to prison and I could see it happening back then with Voldemort looking as if he could soon take over.

"Both James and I were good fighters" Sirus was now saying "And with the Death Eaters knocking off our superiors there was plenty of room for advancement even with our shady start. James proved to Lily that he could be mature and so they soon got married. Harry came along not long after, and I'm sure you know the rest".

Our instructor suddenly stood up.

"James, would you and your lady friend please follow me outside" Sirus requested "I've been trying to think of a way to really thank you two for returning my brother to me, and I finally thought of something that I want you to have".

Rather than protest and say that he didn't owe me anything, as finding his brother had been a fluke, I decided just to go along with whatever he wanted. It meant a lot to him and I assumed the book was a prize for winning the duelling contest. Which had also meant a lot to him.

He could mention Regulus to us because Raven both knew the secret that Regulus Black was alive. The spell had worked well and Regulus was now living under a different first name and pretending to be the grandson of some Black who was kicked out of the family for not having magic.

Once we were outside I saw why Sirus had come in via the front door when he was welcome to use the floo network. He had brought a motorbike with him. A machine I knew to be very motorcycle that Hagrid had used to bring Harry Potter to the home of his aunt and uncle.

"This beauty started life a Triumph Bonneville T120" I was told, "By the time I was done with it I gave it an engine capacity equal to some trucks. There are charms on the fuel tank that should keep it full for many years to come since it mostly runs on magic".

Wand magic could not simply conjure stuff, at least not for long, but you could use magic to increase the volume of what you had, such as a tank of petrol, this didn't work forever because the volume you added to began to degrade after a time.

As such you couldn't pull a Jesus and feed the five thousand with a few fishes and some bread, but feeding a large family on a Ministry worker's salary was possible if you knew the right charms.

The bike must be much larger than the original model would have been or Hagrid would have broken just by sitting on it, but it didn't seem large enough for the half-giant.

What charm made this possible I couldn't even guess as it had some advanced charm work placed upon it. Perhaps it was re-sized for the rider.

"And of course, the cushion is enchanted to be extra comfortable" Black let us know.

"I had some good times while riding this bike," I was informed, "But as I've been reminded more than once over the last few years, I have to be more responsible".

Not for his own sake. He was changing for his godson and must have recovered quite a bit from Azkaban if he was thinking along those lines.

"Wouldn't you rather give this to Harry, Mr Black?" Raven asked.

That was a good question.

"You can call me Siruis when we are not at the castle" he insisted.

I gave the bike a closer inspection.

"You can remove the sidecar if you'd rather have someone special hold on to you when your riding", said Sirus with a smirk on his face.

Spoiler

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"Besides, Harry's more of a broom flyer and I'll track down his Dad's old bike sooner or later," he said.

Potter did like flying so I could see him wanting a bike like this.

"I don't actually know how to drive one of these," I admitted, "I guess I could take a class".

This turned out not to be a concern.

"The bike does most of the work for you," said Sirus "You just need to focus on where you want to go and the bike does the rest, a lot like a broom. It gets more tricky if you don't have a destination in mind so don't go for a joyride until you get more used to it. Oh, and keep it on the road during the day".

Quickly I realised that there was someone I should see about this bike just to make sure it was legal. I didn't want it to get confiscated. Which I would do as soon as Siruis's visit came to an end.

---

Part 26

---

Retirement Plan.

Part 26.

Ottery St Catchpole. Devon.

"The bike must have some powerful Notice-Me-Not Charms on it" I was told by Raven as the magically enchanted machine came to a stop just outside of the Burrow, the home of the Weasly family "Otherwise we'd have broken the Statute of Secrecy so badly that the entire Ministry would be coming after us".

As the name suggests Notice-Me-Not Charm keeps people who aren't looking for you from noticing you, but it isn't quite as powerful as it appears in some fan-made stories I'd read as it takes advantage of the fact that most people are minding their own business. It is somewhat similar to the Somebody Else's Problem field as seen in Douglas Adam's works.

It has limits, for example, if you are trying to sneak past someone who guards a bank or is a bouncer at a nightclub then you would be better off using a Disillusionment Charm or a Invisibility Cloak because they are actively looking for intruders. It also won't work if someone is looking for you personally as then you are part of their business.

This spell along with others worked to prevent the Muggles from seeing the bike much like with the Knight Bus. It doesn't work if you flip off the police and then let them chase you, but I wasn't going to do anything like that as Sirus Black had let us know that this didn't end well.

Also, like the Knight Bus, the bike took far less time to reach somewhere than should be possible even at really high speeds. I'd not flown the bike as it was daytime and muggles do notice fly vehicles despite the charms. That would have gotten me into a lot of trouble.

It should have taken us a few hours at least to get here, many more, depending on traffic, but we'd gotten here in slightly less than half an hour according to my watch even if it didn't feel like so long.

That simply wasn't possible and yet I didn't think the bike had been teleporting us around. Something that I mentioned to Raven as we dismounted.

"I think it works as some theoretical FTL drives I've read about are supposed to work," I said, "There's an idea called Space Folding which is this fictional method of instant space travel whereby an FTL engine causes space to fold so that the start and endpoints of the trip are suddenly right next to each other or even somehow in the same place. It lets you get around the limit of lightspeed".

Raven gave it some thought before speaking.

"I was holding on to you for most of the trip so I didn't see much, but we did travel down some roads even if they seemed to be wrong," she told me "It might work that way somewhat, by folding and twisting space, or bending it in some way. A lot like the Knight Bus".

If a wizard could make a motorcycle bend space and maybe time as well, as this one did, then what could wand magic do to a space shuttle? Something I also ran by Raven.

One of my challenges was to go beyond the known frontier of the locals. My intention was for us to use Dawn's blood to reach other realities, but space travel was also an option. No human in this world had gone further than the moon so a trip to Mars should satisfy the terms of the challenge.

"The books do say that Muggle technology and magic don't mix, but the Knight Bus, the Hogwarts Express and your new bike suggest otherwise," she said to me as we headed closer towards the Burrow "Something to look into if I ever find the time".

Since I was much newer to magic than her I was keeping my attention on simpler uses for it, and for now, I needed to focus on the den of weasels that I was about to enter.

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"Roth, Twycross, what are you doing here?" Ron Weasley demanded to know.

He sounded as if he very much didn't approve of our presence here. Not that this surprised me as the redhead took my mere existence as some sort of offence.

This made sense as I was everything he wasn't and I had what he lacked. I had wealth, power, attractive women at my side, the best money could buy and I actually had table manners.

He resented not coming from a wealthy family, he didn't like having to share with siblings, and he wanted recognition for his deeds despite not having accomplished anything.

"I have some business with your father," I said.

Of course, he demanded to know what kind of business. As if I needed his approval before speaking to one of his parents.

"It's to do with your father's work," I told him.

Percy Weasley, who I'd had no reason to interact with, shooed his brother away. Pointing out that this was Ministry business.

Thankfully a more friendly member of the household appeared and soon Arthur Weasly was looking over the bike which he had been drawn to as if it emitted someone of sort of signal that only he could hear.

"Why didn't you bring this into the Ministry?" he asked.

This would be what I was supposed to be doing according to the law as while it was legal to enchant muggle objects they were laws that limited what magical properties you could imbue upon a muggle-made item. I needed to make sure my bike was not breaking those laws.

"I heard that it's your department that handles this sort of thing," I said, "And I didn't think that I'd be able to get the bike into the visitors' entrance, so I decided to bring it directly to you".

Mr Weasly began to look the bike over as he did I noticed that the only girl child of the Weasley Clan was watching Harry Potter from a window while he was flying around on a broom with some of her older siblings. She must have a big crush on him in this timeline as well despite her being older.

As for Potter, I wasn't shocked to see him here. The Weaslys were loyal Dumbledore supporters who the Headmaster would allow Harry Potter to spend time with when not at school.

"Something this big wouldn't even fit in my office," said the Ministry worker.

He knew what he was doing because he worked at The Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. His entire job was about regulating the use of magic on Muggle objects and trying to keep items that had been bewitched away from Muggles.

To this end, members of his Office along with people from other parts of the DMLE were known to participate in raids and to do other things to keep magic items out of the hands of people who might misuse them. Mostly this involved containing and destroying bewitched items meant to harm or even kill Muggles.

Despite the laws meant to protect Muggles from getting their hands on magical items that could harm them. Arthur Weasley was able to bewitch a Ford Anglia to fly legally because he did not intend to fly the car, as such having a flying bewitchment on the bike wasn't illegal as long as I didn't fly on it.

A bit of a loophole even if it was sort of illegal. Mr Weasly did his best to explain this.

"So I can ride it, just not fly it," I said.

Since I was a dragon I needed no help in flying.

"Not unless your life is at risk" the Ministry employee explained, "But that's an absolute last resort as you'd have to explain your reasoning at a Ministry Hearing if anyone was to see you".

And given the corruption within the Wizarding Government, they might not accept my reasoning unless I bribed the right people.

"Leave it with me for a week for a proper inspection and I'll make sure all the paperwork is filled as long as the charms check out," Mr Weasely said "All magical forms of transport needed to be approved by the Department of Magical Transportation so I'll talk to Madam Edgecombe".

The Department of Magical Transportation normally only handled the Floo Network, Portkeys and Apparition, but I could see how the bike would need their approval. Since I didn't want legal trouble I decided to come back in a week.

I figured that the redheaded man would be checking the charms against his own bewitched car, but since this was his field of expertise I trusted him not to do anything that would harm my new toy. At least not on purpose and I felt sure that if anything was damaged that I could ask Sirus Black to fix it for me.

"Then I'll see you in a week," I told the Ministry man before Raven and I walked out of his front yard.

From the road, we would summon the Knight Bus to take us home.

"I hope Ron Weasly doesn't damage your new toy," said Rachel.

Despite the redhead acting as if we were rivals I didn't think about him very often or consider him to be a real threat.

"If he does then he'll regret it as then I will start to take him seriously," I told my lover.

And he would not like that at all.

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 a pleasant evening. Then I reminded myself that he'd bribed me with the promise of supplying me with a very special potion.

I badly wanted some more Felix Felicis and Slughorn was one of the few potion masters around who could supply me with even a small bottle of the most precious substance.

Given how easily he offered me a small amount I must be correct about him having brewed a cauldron full for when he came back to teaching. This made sense as it was hard to make, it wasn't

something you can just throw together.

In return for a small vial of the extremely useful liquid, which I figured could come in handy one day and increase the amount my group could use. I'd agreed to attend a fundraiser 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.

Wizarding names were odd like that. The Burrow wasn't underground and you'd think a place named for a special building meant to house human skeletons would contain at least some decorative skulls.

Alas, it was rather dull, there were portraits around, and 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 feel like a home.

Did she live elsewhere with her niece or did the Bones family just stay in one part of the house? Only making use of more of the place when they needed to.

That would explain why there didn't seem to be anything to do around here. What did witches and wizards who weren't in school do with their spare time? They didn't have video games, television with streaming services, or anything like that.

Sure they had books and radio, however, they seemed to be lacking in even simple stuff like board games, they didn't even have many card games and stuff like gob stones was only played by children.

Although I hadn't seen enough of this culture to be sure of that and I was rather spoiled by my home.

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 magic I needed to learn for school, or learning more about the magical mind arts from Rachel, but all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy as they say.

"This way, sir" directed a smart-looking house-elf.

I kept following the little creature as it led me through the large house. Taking the chance to see as much of a magical home as I could as I was led to a cloakroom.

"Good, James you're here!" called out a voice.

I turned to see Slughorn who must have arrived just ahead of me as he'd already 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. The result had been a total eyesore.

"A deal is a deal," I stated.

He passed the very small bottle and I inspected it for a moment before it vanished into my pocket. Only it really went into my storage dimension.

"24 hours of liquid luck as promised" he stated "Use it sparingly, my boy".

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 or it would make it far more likely that I would be able to slow my fall with a spell even if I hadn't practised the spell beforehand.

"Amelia Bones rarely hosts these sort of events," the teacher told me "We all know that she's trying to rally support for when she finally makes her move to become Minister for Magic and that will require funding".

Magical Britain was actually a democracy, so much like the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Magic was voted into office by the public, 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 was supposed to answer to the man in charge at Number 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 her 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 since without Lucius Malfoy to advise him Fudge is looking for someone else to fund him".

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, parties and so on.

Then again perhaps it was for the best that they didn't as this way there were fewer people around who could challenge me with magical might.

"Miss Addams over here!" called out Slughorn.

To my surprise, Wednesday Addams had been invited. She'd turned up in some black dress that look more suited to a wake than a fundraiser.

"Miss Addams needed an escort for the evening," said the potion's master "And I promised to provide one if she attended this event".

Well, that explained why he'd told to me come alone. Although why she wanted me as her date for this event I didn't know. I doubted her motivations were simple if she was involving herself in British magical politics.

"So when do I discuss funding with Madam Bones?" I asked.

I was new to all of this and I needed some guidance. Slughorn was happy to provide it.

"Oh not here" said Horace "This party is more about feeling people out. Madam Bones will talk to you in private about that if things go well at this party".

I assumed this meant that she'd send me an invite for tea or ask to be able to visit me at home.

"Now let's go meet Amelia," he insisted.

Slughorn was soon talking with Madam Bones. As we moved I just about managed to grab a glass of something hopefully for adults only before being dragged into a conversation. Miss Addams had decided to take my arm and position me between herself and Slughorn as if I was some sort of human shield.

"Amelia, this is James Twycross, I'm not sure if you've had the chance to meet him," Slughorn said.

Bones was supposed to be interested in my money rather than my name, even if it might have some weight on its own. As for the money, 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.

"I never go the chance to thank you in person for helping Susan" she said.

I'd mostly forgotten about how I'd come to this woman's attention in the first place. I'd prevented her niece from getting injured during her first flying lesson at the school. Susan Bones hadn't attempted to make friends with me after the event.

Perhaps she'd been under the impression that I would approach her. Not that we would have gotten close as there was no way I'd let the police chief's niece get close to me and risk her aunt finding out what I got up to.

After some small talk with Madam Bones, I ended up wandering around the ballroom with my date for the evening. It wasn't odd that Bones hadn't paid me much attention as I was only a first-year student and she wouldn't have much of an idea of how much I could fund her.

She might also be making an effort to prevent Fudge from trying to gain my support by acting as she if didn't really care that I was attending her fundraising.

Dawn had encouraged me to get closer to Wednesday since she might make a good member of my group, and this was a good chance to start with that.

"So how did you end up here?" I asked Miss Addams.

She looked annoyed at having to be here, but it was hard to tell since Wednesday made Raven seem as expressive as her friend Starfire.

"My parents decided to surprise me by purchasing a holiday home in this country so that I could spend time with them when school isn't in session," I was told "That brought them to the attention of the Ministry since buying a home here involves a lot of money".

Someone else would have said something along the lines of 'That was nice of them', however, I knew better.

"My condolences," I remarked.

She just nodded.

"Father has always been generous with the family fortune" Wednesday was now saying "And as I understand things the Minister of Magic and Madam Bones both desire funding".

Bones would want the DMLE better funded and Fudge no longer had Malfoy to keep his pockets full of gold.

"So your whole family was invited" I gathered "And for that, you needed a date?".

Wednesday grabbed a drink from a floating tray and drank it all in one go. Given that she'd just downed a double firewhisky it was impressive that she didn't even flinch.

"Mother is insisting that I spread my wings and try to date," I was told "I informed her that I was attending your party next week, and now she wants to meet you, she may be the under the impression that I am interested in you".

Even without the Normacly Perk, I doubted that the Addams family would have batted an eyelid at the idea of me having a harem, if was the right word for it.

"So you got Slughorn to get me to come here alone so I can be your date for the evening" I summarised "And so you can show me off to your parents because you want them to think you are trying to find a boyfriend".

That made some sense to me.

"More or less," said Wednesday "Now prepare yourself for the torment ahead".

She'd make a great dominatrix with that attitude, but she was referring to meeting her parents rather than for activities that my sex dungeon would be suited for.

"Mother, father, this is James Twycross, a classmate of mine" she introduced.

Gomez Addams had a strong handshake and since I was somewhat familiar with the social protocol in these events I knew to kiss the back of the hand Morticia Addams.

"James, these are my parents, Gomez and Morticia Addams," Wednesday said, "I apologise in advance".

They seemed pleased to meet me.

"Wednesday has spoken of you in her infrequent letters," Mrs Addams let me know.

I heard the tone of disappointment at the end of that sentence. Mother and daughter were not getting along well and Wednesday wasn't writing home enough.

"What did she write about?" I said, with amusement in my voice.

Despite my levity, I did have valid reasons to be concerned as if anyone could see through my group it would be an Addams. Thankfully, I didn't think people would take them seriously even if they did figure out the truth and start telling people.

"That you are well on the path to becoming a famous duellist," said Gomez "Wednesday is something of a fencer and I think she might be planning to expand her interest in sports to duelling".

If she did then Flitwick might need to rethink his choice of house champion for the second-year students when the contest took place next year.

"Then it's a good thing we're in the same house at school," I remarked.

Going up against her would be terrifying.

"Oh yes you're a Ravenclaw" remarked Mrs Addams "I was surprised that Wednesday wasn't sorted into Slytherin, the last Addams who went to Hogwarts when into that House, and Wednesday has always been cunning".

It was odd. I assumed it had something to do with why the Sorting Hat had a mental breakdown.

"The hat thought the casualties would be lessened if I went into Ravenclaw," the youngest Addams informed us.

That was a conclusion I'd come to when pondering the matter.

"Please excuse us, mother, father," said Wednesday as some music started up "James and I should dance".

I had no intention of dancing, but her grip on my arm gave me little choice in the matter.

"Be warned I'm not much of a dancer" I told the goth girl.

She didn't seem concerned.

"Don't worry" she said, "I'll do all the work".

I got the feeling I was going to be danced at rather than danced with.

---

Part 27

---

One hundred thousand words later and I still have a lot more story to write. Can you believe some people complain about me having no staying power when it comes to writing stories?

Retirement Plan.

Part 27.

Treasure Cave. Outside of Time and Space.

"You know, I imagined that you'd sleep on your piles of gold while in your dragon form," remarked Hermione Granger as she entered my cave "Isn't that rather uncomfortable?".

The young witch was carrying a pile of books in her arms, hardly an odd sight, I just didn't know why she was in here with them. I didn't exactly get many visitors to my treasure cave since only three people other than myself even knew that it existed.

Hermione had recently gotten back into the country, from wherever her parents had dragged her off for a quick holiday, and she had returned just in time for Dawn's party which was tonight.

Since I would have to suffer through that I'd decided to spend the afternoon relaxing in my cave the contents of which kept growing.

Spoiler

[img: https/thumbs./b/pirate-treasures-dark-cave-old-coins-diamonds-gold-lot-jewelry-made-statuettes-precious-stones-bracelets-chests-184122952.jpg]

"I'm using the Cushioning Charm," I told her.

As the name suggested it was a charm that created a cushioning effect on the target of the spell.

It was primarily used in broomstick manufacturing to make the brooms more comfortable for riders, but you could cast it on anything and while it didn't create a physical cushion the spell made lying on a pile of coins a comfortable thing to do.

"I'm glad you're practising your charms," she said with a nod of approval.

She moved over to the shelves that Raven had made in the walls of the cave.

"Rachel told me that a dragon's hoard is supposed to be made up of things that people value, not simply some piles of gold" Hermione told me "So I brought you some first editions we have spares of thanks to the Room of Requirement".

After she'd put the books on the shelf the young witch began to look around the collection of valuable objects I had amassed in this place.

Most of what could be found here had been taken from the Lestrange Vault or my own vault. A lot had come from the Room of Requirement via Gringotts, as I'd made sure to have Curse Breakers go over everything before I took the items out of the bank and brought them here.

Because of this, my treasure hoard was much more than mere piles of coins. I had bars of gold lying around, bits of armour, and even a few weapons on display.

Parts of the walls of the cave that Raven had done her best to smooth out were covered with the hides of magical creatures that the Lestrange family had acquired. They made for fine decorations.

One shelf had the founder's relics on display along with other valuable objects, most of which I didn't know the purpose for, assuming that they even had any, I just knew that they were rare and others would desire them greatly if they ever knew what I kept in here.

About the only treasure I didn't keep here, aside from the money in our vaults, was my Order of Merlin as that was on display in my study so that visitors could admire it.

"You look more happy than normal," commented Hermione "Any reason why?"

As a matter of fact, I did have a reason to be cheerful, aside from having an awesome treasure cave.

"I successfully apparated today," I told her "From now on, I should be able to do it whenever I wish".

The rest of the group had already gotten their licenses. I wondered if I'd been slower because they were just more talented than me when it came to magic or if it was because I'm not human.

If so then I might be able to apparate while at Hogwarts like a House Elf can if the enchantments don't register me as human when I try. Assuming that was how they worked. I'd talk to Raven about it, she would have some information on the subject.

"Why is there a pair of knickers on this pile?" questioned Hermione "Is this a fetish thing?".

She didn't sound as if she was judging me for it. I anything she sounded as if was simply curious about all this. She was a true Ravenclaw and wished to learn more.

"Those belong to Dawn" I answered, "I think they are her subtle way of reminding me that I should value her over mere material goods, or something along those lines".

Hermione didn't pick up the underwear, but she did give them a closer look.

"How do you know they are hers?" the witch wondered.

It was obvious to me.

"Dawn tends to wear more girly styles than Rachel who prefers darker-coloured ones" I answered, "You value comfort and tend to wear plainer sets of knickers".

Hermione seemed amused by my words.

"That explains the dark blue thong," she said.

I took my wand out of the storage space and used it to cast some more Cushioning Charms on the pile I was lying on before returning it to whence it came. Then I gestured for Hermione to come over and join me. Since she was a good girl she did as I wished without delay.

Hermione was soon moaning as my gifted hands, guided by the Lover Boy Perk, began roaming freely over her young body, and soon she was panting while finding it impossible to stay still.

As usual, they made frequent visits to her sensitive breasts, massaging them through the fabric of her top. Because I knew exactly how to play with her body I made sure to pay plenty of attention to her firm behind.

I greatly enjoyed having the attractive young witch squirming in my arms as she tried to grind herself into me, but I did want to do more than fool around. With that in mind, I began trying to unhook her bra without much success as Hermione wouldn't keep still.

"Need some help" she teased.

She took off her top and bra for me. This left her breasts exposed to my mouth which soon reintroduced itself to her nipples. While that was going on I grabbed her skirt and lifted it up, before I began pawing at her knickers.

"Going to add them to the pile?" she asked.

I didn't answer verbally. Instead, I worked to get her underwear off so that I could add them to my stash treasure. Something that made Hermione giggle as she decided that it was time for me to start undressing.

She removed my belt and pulled down my trousers enough to get access to my already erect cock. She began playing with that part of me and sure that felt good, but I decided that I wanted something more from her.

"Get on your hands and knees" I ordered.

It was rare for me to issue commands to any member of my group, and yet Hermione did as she was told without delay. Once she was in position I again reached into the storage space and took out some of that special lube Dawn had given me quite a while back.

"James, that's the wrong hole" she pointed out as I applied the substance.

I smiled upon hearing that.

"No, it's the right hole," I told her "I want to claim your other virginity".

She looked nervous, but she didn't make an effort to stop me.

"What is it with you and our behinds" she commented.

She'd noticed how much time I spent checking out the rear ends of her and the other females who I spent time with.

"You have a very cute little butt" I told her "And I want you to give me all of your firsts".

She turned her head towards me and bit her lip in that cute way she does sometimes.

"If you really don't want to, then we won't," I told her.

She didn't think it over for long.

"I do want to be intimate with you in every way," she said to me "Just be warned I'm going to need a lot of cuddle time after this".

None of my girls could resist getting their cuddle time. Perhaps it was wrong of me to take advantage of the fact they had been starved of physical affection, yet I couldn't help enjoying how attentive they could be to my sexual desires if it got them what they so badly desired, and it wasn't if they weren't enjoying our sex lives.

With Hermione's permission granted, I grasped my hard cock and lined it up with the brunette witch's asshole. I placed the tip at the entrance of her back door, and soon it was easily sliding into her thanks to the lubrication.

"Oh, it doesn't hurt that much," she commented.

As I slowly slid more of my inside her hole, I again felt amazed by how the magical substance didn't numb me even though it worked on one of the most sensitive parts of a woman's body.

"This is… different," she said, "I'm not quite sure if I like it or not".

She didn't seem to be in any real pain. Perhaps this was just a bit uncomfortable.

"Do you want to stop," I asked.

I really wanted to fuck her ass, but I wouldn't force the issue.

"No, I'm fine. You can keep going. It doesn't hurt, it's just unusual," she answered.

Taking her at her word, I continued to move my hips, as I began inserting more of my cock into my lover's asshole. I filled her up nicely and began moving as I slowly fucked her. Having her on her hands and knees on my pile of treasure was an exotic experience.

"Faster…" Hermione whispered.

Although I heard her perfectly, I couldn't help teasing her.

"What was that?" I asked.

"You can fuck me a bit faster," she said, "If you want to, Daddy".

She knew that I liked to be called that and didn't use that word nearly enough for my liking. Not odd since Hermione had a father figure in her life. I didn't think he'd been very attentive to her when she was growing up, but at least he'd been around.

"Are you sure? I thought you weren't sure whether you liked it or not" I commented.

If I could see her face I figured that she'd be blushing.

"It's starting to feel good," the witch admitted "But only because I enjoy making you happy".

She did her best to talk dirty.

"Daddy, I'm a good girl," she said,

With no need for any further encouragement, I picked up my pace, tightening my grip on her hips as I began to really fuck her. The lube meant that it was not that different from fucking her pussy, it was a hot hole for my cock to fill and there was enough friction to make it feel good.

"Do you like my ass, Daddy?" she asked.

At first, I merely grunted, as I pounded the young woman's asshole, and it took me a moment to find my voice.

"Fuck Hermione… you're so tight… so fucking tight" I managed to say.

She liked hearing that and by now the witch was trying to push back into me.

"Daddy!" she called "I'm a good girl".

I gently slapped her bum.

"And whose good girl are you?"

She was eager to answer.

"I'm your good girl!" she called out.

There was no need to say more and I couldn't have anyway as I was too focused on getting to my climax. When I did cum it felt as if my baby batter couldn't wait to be fired into Hermione's butt. She didn't seem to mind the sensation.

"That wasn't so bad," she told me after the mess had been cleaned up and she was getting her desired cuddles "But I think I'll keep it for special occasions. It feels much nicer when you are inside my pussy".

We could cuddle for a while, just not for too long as soon we would need to go and get ready for Dawn's party. Miss Summers would never forgive us if we weren't around when the first guests began to arrive.

Slughorn's Room. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The potion's master smiled as he looked over at the photos of his most favoured students. His collection, as some would call it, of important wizards and witches had been diminished over recent decades as people were either killed by Tom Riddle or smartly fled the violence.

Sadly only a few of them chose to return even during the long period of peace that followed Voldemort's downfall. This was yet another loss for Magical Britan.

During those dark times, it become too dangerous to enjoy what his life had to offer so he'd gone into retirement and kept out of sight as best he could.

Now he was back at Hogwarts in a bigger office, once again the Head of Slytherin and the potion teacher of this school. Everything had worked out well for Horace Slughorn and he got to enjoy the benefits of his position.

Despite You-Know-Who having vanished many years ago he'd only recently come out of retirement, and he'd chosen to do that mostly because he'd wanted to add Harry Potter to his network.

He might have retired sooner if Dumbledore had thought that Severus Snape would make a good teacher for some bizarre reason and kept him at that post despite the many protests.

Such a pity that Harry Potter had no noticeable ambitions and very poor social skills. Slughorn knew that the boy's life had been filled with tragedy from a young age, but he'd expected more from the young lad.

It was as if something had crushed his spirit. Horace had never much cared for Sirus Black, but he couldn't imagine the former Azkaban prisoner ever being abusive towards the young hero. Sirus Black and James Potter had been as close as brothers.

As Horace poured himself a large glass of oak-matured mead, he reminded himself that needed to put more effort into bringing the Boy-Who-Lived out of his shell.

The lad had too much potential for it to be wasted out of the spotlight. The lad was supposed to be one of Godric's brave lot, not some shy Hufflepuffle or introverted Ravenclaw who kept his nose firmly in a book.

As he sat down and looked over at the photos once again he could understand why some would think it a spider's web, but really, it was a network, sure some might see it more as a web, but Slughorn was not as much of a parasite or a predator as some might think.

He didn't just take from those he collected, it was all offered to him freely and in return, he helped them.

Aside from ensuring they got the help he needed in his chosen academic field, Horace ensured that people with the right talents were introduced to each other. An example was when he had recently introduced Wednesday Addams to James Twycross. He had a feeling that those two families could be good for each other.

While they didn't have the political influence and magical power they'd once wielded the Addams family was still a large one, with branches found all over the world, and young Wednesday coming to Hogwarts was an indication that the family could return to the arena that was wizarding politics.

A shame that the British branch of the Addams family died out or become squibs. They'd always been a rather fearsome lot and could have been of aid to the country when You-Know-Who began waging his war.

Despite their oddities, the Addams family had never been supporters of dark lords, they were too stubborn to become followers. They wouldn't have followed Dumbledore or the Ministry and would have dealt with the Death Eaters rather harshly.

The Twycross family had never been one of the more important British families, and if so many other families hadn't been wiped out or fled the country they would have remained a respectable but still unimportant lot within the magical community.

James Twycross coming to Hogwarts changed that. The main branch of that family was supposed to have been wiped out, and then an heir simply appeared. An heir who had inherited generations' worth of wealth if the rumours were true.

Add to that two muggleborn witches had been found with him despite the odds of that having been extremely low, and it was clear that James was no normal wizard. Wednesday was no normal witch either and just needed someone to help bring out her talents.

It was not mere chance that three young magical humans had been found at the same orphanage that Tom Riddle had once been forced to live in. No fate or magic itself had to have become involved.

That had been alarming at first, but Slughorn didn't think that James Twycross and Tom Riddle were much alike. That was something he felt very grateful for.

Those who could look past foolishly blood purity would be able to see that James Twycross and his friends were meant for something truly special.

Rachel Roth was the type of witch that came along maybe once or twice in a century and Dawn Summers was proving to be more than he'd originally imagined given that she was clearly building up her own social network.

No doubt others were waiting to see what this young wizard would do before they made their attentions clear. This made Horace glad that he'd been able to get his feet under the door so quickly when young James hired him as a tutor.

Taking that job had been a very smart move of his. It had reminded Horace that he rather enjoyed teaching and it gave him an excuse to spend more time out of the house.

He was glad that he'd returned to Hogwarts as these were strange times and the castle still had a reputation for keeping its occupants safe.

The recent disappearances worried Horace a little, but he didn't think You-Know-Who was behind them. He'd heard that the Dark Mark had vanished completely and those who had been targetted were those that Riddle would want on his side.

Horace suspected that someone was going after blood purists and supporters of Voldemort, neither of which he'd ever been so he found that he was able to relax and enjoy the comforts of his quarters.

He was living in a world without Tom Riddle and he had promising young students he could help to mentor. For him, life was good.

Twycross House. The Wizarding World.

"Amazing, I don't how she does it," I remarked.

I really didn't. I'd given Dawn what amounted to pocket change given my vast fortune and now she was hosting a fancy dress party that should have cost me a lot more to set up.

Because I'd added Hermione to my group the house had grown in size, both internally and externally, and so we had a large room that could be used for a number of things. I felt sure that this was why Dawn had decided to make the even bigger than she'd originally planned.

"You wouldn't think that she's a bookworm at heart" commented Rachel.

Dawn was a nerd even if she didn't look it.

"She's very good at Ancient Runes" stated Hermione as she came over.

The young witch looked me up and down.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Miss Granger asked.

I didn't really know.

"Someone called Jake Long" I answered "Dawn made the costume for me. Apparently, he is a boy who turns into a dragon, some sort of superhero".

I'd let the young Miss Summers dress me. She'd told me that she'd started watching the show back when she'd been sick due to the death of magic in her world.

"Wednesday looks good in her outfit" commented Hermione.

Miss Addams had decided to wear a cat costume. I knew where she'd gotten that from and it drew attention to her body rather nicely.

"She wants you to notice her" commented Raven as she leaned in close "No girl dresses like that unless she wants a certain someone to admire her".

Despite the fact that Wednesday was keeping her distance I had noted that she was making an effort to keep her back to me. She must have realised that I liked checking out backsides and her outfit did show hers very nicely.

"It's why Hermione chose to wear her old school uniform," said Raven.

The other witch didn't even attempt a denial.

"Dawn told me to wear something sexy and James likes this sort of thing," she said.

She wasn't the only one wearing an old uniform. Raven had decided to recreate the outfit she'd worn as a Teen Titan and if not for the cloak she wore she would be giving the other guys here a good look at the shape of her body.

"I wonder if Neville will start dating both Hannah and Susan?" pondered Hermione.

Until now I'd not considered that my choosing a perk that made people think that having a harem was normal could affect the people I associated with.

"Hannah and Susan are joined at the hip," said Raven.

If she'd noticed that then it must be obvious to most people.

"If any two girls could share Neville it would be them," remarked Hermione "He's very good at Herbology and some girls like a man who is skilled with his hands".

I wished him luck. Having more than one romantic interest in life can be a lot of work and a drain on your resources, but it does have its upsides.

"James, the twins have something they want to talk to you about" Dawn said as she came over "Can you help them?".

Since she'd decided to dress as an Easter bunny or rather a Playboy bunny, I spent a moment stroking her ears before speaking.

"We'll go to my study," I said.

The red-headed pranksters followed me and thanks to my house elf an extra chair appeared before the twins even entered the room. Rooby did such fine work.

"Don't bother with the twin speech" I insisted before they could start talking "Other people might find it charming or amusing, but to me it is annoying, and none of that Gred and Forge stuff either, if you want to talk to me about something serious than act like adults".

Since they simply agreed to my terms I knew that what they wanted must be important.

"We got talking to Dawn when you came to pick up your bike the other day," said one of the twins.

I didn't care which of them spoke as long as they did so one at a time.

"And she mentioned to us that she'd heard that we were thinking of going into business," said one of the redheaded terrors.

Since she'd also read the books she knew all about the joke shop that Fred and George wished to open once they were finished with their schooling.

"Dawn invited us to this party so we could talk to you about funding our operation" I was told.

The young Miss Summers seemed to have become my group's ambassador, for lack of a better word. She was the only one of us with any interest in social networking, even the parties she held weren't about having fun, or at least not just about that, she was using them to make contact with people and learn more about them.

"So you're looking for a loan," I said.

Since I knew that their future business would be successful I was willing to invest.

"We can't go to Gringotts because we have nothing of value," Fred or George said.

I doubted the goblins would offer an unsecured personal loan to mere students even if they did offer such loans at all.

"Are you looking for a business partner or just an investor?" I asked.

They clearly didn't know. I could tell that in the way they slumped in their chairs. Knowing that they needed more information I decided to do my best to explain.

"You have two options here," I said "Well actually three options as you can just leave, and try to find someone else to aid you, but if you are serious then you have two options as I see it".

I needed to keep things simple. They were only Gryffindors.

"One is that I loan you money and use it to get a business going, the problem there is that loans need to be paid back with interest. If your business fails I lose all that money and you have nothing of value to pay me back with even if I could force you to pay".

They looked rather disappointed upon hearing that. Soon they would perk up.

"The other option is that I invest in your business," I said "I would become part owner, and if the venture fails then you wouldn't end up with a big debt hanging over you because I invested in a business rather than loaned the two of you money".

Harry just gave the twins the money they needed so getting a loan or finding investors hadn't been an issue in the canon timeline.

"However, I can't become an investor in a magical business until after I take my OWLS due to the way the laws work" I mentioned "That's two years and some change away".

That didn't bother them.

"Mom would crucify us if we didn't leave the collage with at least a few NEWTs," one of the twins let me know.

If they were willing to wait a couple of years then things could work out.

"Then I suggest that we go into business together," I said "I'd be a silent partner, I'll be too busy to interfere or to run things, and I don't want to own a majority of the business so I suggest a three-way split. You each get 35% and I get 30% of the profits. Once you start making a profit we can take about you two buying me of my share of the business".

It would be more complex than that, but a formal contract could be handled by Gringotts when there was a business to concern ourselves with.

"What does 'buy you out' mean?" one twin asked.

Hogwarts needed a business studies course.

"If it was just you two owning and running the business you'd be equal partners each with control of 50% of the company and you would divide the profits between you equally," I told them "However since I would be funding everything until the business starts to make money, I would own part of the business and get part of the profits".

Thankfully magical businesses were run more simply than muggle ones.

"You could over time use your share of the profits to buy the part of the company I own" I went on to say "As you purchase more of my share of the business you would keep more of the profits until one day I would no longer be your business partner and you would keep all of the profits".

That part they understood easily enough.

"We have a couple of years to work out the details, but you will need a business plan and some funding for research materials. Bring me a list of what you need and I'll give you the funding for your research".

Given the exchange rate, I knew that in the canon timeline, the twins were able to start their business with a five to six thousand pound investment after losing all their own savings to Ludo Bagman. That wasn't much money to me.

They must have built up quite a lot of stock and gotten their mail-ordering service going quite well to be able to afford to pay rent on a store in Diagon Alley. Made more impressive by the fact that they were still in school when they got the money together.

"What's a business plan?" I was asked.

I was going to have to help with that.

"We'll go over that another time," I said "We have two years before you finish your schooling. For now, just get me a list of materials you need to build up some stock. I can pay for a shed if need somewhere at home for your work and to store things".

The twins exchanged looks.

"Our Mum isn't exactly enthusiastic about our plans for the future," one of them told me.

That wouldn't be a problem.

"Get your father to write to me," I said, "I'm sure we can come to some arrangement if I can lease some of the land that your family lives on".

With that, the twins left, no doubt to discuss their plans for the future, as for me I wanted a drink.

---

Part 28

---

Retirement Plan.

Part 28.

The Black Emporium. The Wizarding World.

Even in the Wizarding World, you couldn't escape junk mail, or so I thought when the strange letter was dropped off at my home, and it was a good thing that I had changed my mind about the letter or I would have missed out.

I didn't see the bird that delivered it so I had no idea if it had been anything other than a normal owl, but the contents of the letter turned out to be different than expected once I accepted that it wasn't mere junk mail.

Raven, Dawn and I had each gotten a letter offering to let us visit a special store known as the Black Emporium, and that name had rung a bell in my mind long before the three of us had decided to check out the address.

The letter had burst into flames once I'd finished reading it, as had those my girls had read, and Rachel sensed that the same charm we'd used to hide the fact that Regulus Black was alive, had been employed to hide the location of the shop.

Given that the Ministry of Magic had the habit of trying to control every aspect of life here in the Wizarding World to the extent that they sucked all the fun out of having magical powers, I didn't blame the owner of this place for hiding it with such a powerful charm.

Admittedly it was a bit suspicious, but since the charm is used to protect people and locations it is considered light magic. To me, this meant that the Emporium didn't deal in only dark magic and was worth checking out.

If it was some sort of trick then I'd transform into my true self and go unleash the wrath of a greater dragon on those who dared to try to harm me and mine.

When we actually got to The Black Emporium I began to remember the place. It was a special store that players of Dragon Age 2 could access if they downloaded a small DLC.

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I had no idea how some version of this place had ended up in the Wizarding World, but it was not so shocking to think that it could have given its strange nature.

After all, my girls and I weren't the only people from other dimensions to have attended the version of Hogwarts we were learning magic at, and with magic almost anything was possible, or perhaps everything was possible if you just figure it out.

"Few people are worthy of an invitation, you know," the creature who ran this business told us as we began to look around "You are among a select lot".

This was true, I'd already checked and Hermione Granger hadn't gotten an invite, and since no one in my group was a Secret Keeper we couldn't tell her where were going.

Amusingly, Dawn decided to be childish and touch the statue of the naked lady in a naughty way.

"Please, don't fondle Andraste" requested the store owner.

I wouldn't be too surprised if that statue was actually the real Andraste who had been turned to stone, but even if she was I would decline to help her given that the faith she'd founded back on her homeworld worked to oppress my fellow mages.

The shop was owned by Xenon the Antiquarian, an eccentric and immortal character who introduced himself in a rather grand manner.

"How did you end up like this?" Dawn asked.

As it turned out Xenon once made a deal with a witch for eternal life but forgot to ask for eternal youth. This caused his body to decay. He has been alive for at least 300 years and has acquired many artefacts during his long life.

"I think we can do business," said Raven "What would you give for a sample of the Elixer of Life? It should allow you some mobility".

The Elixir of Life was not infallible. If a person used the Elixir to age beyond their natural lifespan, they would become completely dependent on it, and ceasing its consumption will lead to death

Furthermore, while the Elixir extended one's lifespan, it did not cease one's body from ageing, and if using it to reach an exceptionally advanced age, it would leave one with a decrepit body.

I knew this because Nicolas Flamel, who created the Philosopher's Stone we'd stolen, had lived for over six hundred years and he looked it.

"Please do not rub Thaddeus Gigantus Crumbum the Fourth!" Xenon called out.

I turned to look to address Dawn.

"Don't touch anything" I ordered.

While she wasn't compelled to obey my commands she'd accepted me as her Daddy so she did as she was told because she knew to do otherwise would result in a painful spanking rather than the more playful kind she got when we were having sex.

"Since when do we have any Elixer of Life," I whispered to Raven.

She took me aside and use a spell to hide our words.

"I recently finished figuring out the stone," she told me "I'm planning on becoming a well know alchemist, that's why it is important for me to take the Alchemy class now, and in the future, I plan to let it slip that I have created my own Philosopher's Stone so that people won't suspect us when we don't age as quickly as normal people. I can explain the lack of normal ageing in terms of appearance by claiming to have enhanced the Elixir of Life. By the time we actually start needing an excuse Flamel will long dead and there won't be anyone who can prove it to be a lie".

Not a bad idea, but I could see its flaws.

"Won't the Ministry try to come after us, to claim the stone?" I asked.

Governments tend to do stuff like that.

"They won't come after us for the same reason they don't go after Flamel" she answered "Anyone trying runs the risk of having the owner of the stone use it to make so much gold that they could collapse the economy. Even if the Ministry was stupid enough to do that the ICW and the goblins would step in to protect the economy. I can't protect the stone from anything less than an entire government".

I accepted her reasoning and I let her get on with it.

"Xenon, here is the bargain" stated Raven as she went back over to the owner "I will give you a sample of the Elixir of Life for free. If it works then we can talk about supplying you with the means to make your own Philosopher's Stone".

I didn't speak despite the urge to point out that we shouldn't be sharing such power.

"You have the means to create a Philosopher's Stone?" questioned Xenon "I will pay any price for the means to create one of my own".

The guy must be desperate to get up and about if he wasn't even bothering to barter.

"I'll give you a free sample first" insisted Raven, who had clearly come up with a plan, "Then if you want the means to create your own stone you must make the unbreakable vow and promise never to share the means of its creation with another".

The Unbreakable Vow would ensure that the knowledge didn't spread, and only someone like Xenon with centuries of experience with magic and access to special resources would be able to make a stone.

I was surprised that Raven had figured it out this quickly, but she had been studying magic for many years already and I suspected she'd used a bit of liquid luck to help things along.

As I began to look around the fancy shop if only to stop Dawn from poking things needlessly, Raven got on with her business and by the time I'd done she had a collection of magical items.

While looking around, I saw that a lot of what Xenon sold and brought were potion ingredients, most of which were supplied to me by the workshops in my house, and some components used in the crafting of magical items.

The components were interesting, but I didn't know enough about the making of magical items to bother with them. Such things I could look into once I had my basic magical education covered.

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"Okay, so we got a magical dagger called the Song of Sorrows, an Ancient Leather Cuirass, which I guess James can wear when he goes travelling, the Gloves of the Unknowable, and the Ring of Unheeded Wisdom. They all improve some aspect of your person".

Raven put the ring on her finger and gave me the gloves.

"You can wear them when you are duelling" she explained as she gave Dawn the dagger "And I figured you should get something".

Free magical items. Neat.

"I would have thought you'd get more" I commented.

This didn't seem much for the means to make your own Philosopher's Stone. I wouldn't have traded the knowledge at all, but I trusted the Raven had her reasons.

"These were just in exchange for the sample and the information" she explained "He's promised me more if he gets his mobility back".

If he had items that enhanced a person then I would need to come back with a lot of gold and some of the duplicate rare books so that I could barter for some decent equipment. Then I remembered that I had access to my storage dimension so I didn't need to wait at all.

I brought a dull-looking amulet that slightly boosted all of a person's attributes and made them more able to bear wounds. My new boots allowed a person to more easily avoid traps while also enhancing them. Meant for a rogue, not a mage, but you had to multiclass a bit when your entire group were magic users.

The ring called The Fallen Star did much the same as the amulet only it offered a little protection against harm as well. Another object called the Belt of Promise suited a duellist as it had enchanted dexterity and offered limited protection against magical attacks.

"That ring not only enhances the wearer it will boost the effect of any healing done upon the wearer be it magical or otherwise" we were told as I looked through the items on offer.

I brought that ring for Hermione since I should get her something nice while we were here.

"Isn't gold kind of meaningless if you're getting your own Philosopher's Stone?" wondered Dawn

I wished she'd asked about that after we were done shopping.

"For a merchant such as myself it is not all about profit, my dear" answered Xenon "The bartering, the acquisition of new and interesting items, is what interests me, and knowledge is the most valuable thing you can possess".

A true Ravenclaw, he'd been smart enough to obtain immortal life but he had lacked the Slytherin cunning to realise that he should have checked the terms and conditions of the immortality before accepting it.

"Oh, they have magical staffs," mentioned the young Miss Summers "I should get one".

Good thing I was so wealthy.

"James, are you going to wear all those items when duelling?" wondered Raven as Dawn went over to check the staves or whatever they were called "They could give you an edge".

I detected no tone of judgment in her voice. She was just curious if I would cheat and it would technically be cheating since you aren't supposed to use performance enhancers when duelling. Although normally that applies to potions.

"Not for sporting events," I told her "I want to win those on my own merit. I'll save them for when I need to act as Magnus rather than James Twycross".

Raven just nodded upon hearing that.

"I want this one" called out Dawn.

Of course, she'd gone for the staff that looked the most expensive.

"Ah The Final Thought," said the owner "A most powerful magical foci. It increases the magical power of the wielder and allows them to channel more power than they normally would".

For the price of this staff, I could have brought more than twenty wands from Ollivander.

"Fine you can get it," I told Dawn.

It might save her life one day so it would be worth the price, and she'd only use the puppy dog eyes attack on me if I refused.

"Now let's leave before you bankrupt me," I said.

That had been a joke as even Dawn couldn't manage that. I might even be able to make a profit from this place by supplying rare potion ingredients.

Not that I needed to earn gold if Raven had figured out the Philosopher's Stone, but I'd be happier with my dragon's horde if I could earn some of it rather than just be given a lot of gold.

Plus I should come back and ask Xenon about he got to this world. That could be something that was useful to know.

The Addams Residence. London.

As I parked my wonderfully enchanted motorcycle in the street called Grimmauld Place, it seemed odd to me that Sirius Black would move out from this house given that it was supposed to be so secure.

Perhaps he felt it was safe to leave the old house since the members of the Order of the Phoneix had to know that the Dark Mark had vanished and what this likely meant.

Having read the books, I knew that Siruis hated his family home and would have been glad to get rid of it, but why would Dumbledore allow Harry Potter to live somewhere that was less secure was he normally so dedicated to keeping the lad safe even at the cost of Potter's wellbeing?

Was he using Potter as bait, letting him out into the open to see if anyone came after him? I wouldn't put it past the Headmaster to do that.

Wednesday Addams met me on the street, she must have been waiting for me. Not that she would have needed to wait for long since this bike never took a lot of time to get me anywhere I wanted to go.

"How did your family end up living here?" I asked as I stashed my helmet in the storage space, "This house belonged to the Black

family".

Wednesday Addams didn't question how I knew that. Nor did she inquire about the motorcycle.

"My parents wanted a house for the family to stay in when I'm not in school so that we can all spend together," she told me "We can afford International Portkeys so moving between London and New York isn't different, but they don't trust me to take a Portkey to them".

While she acted as if she didn't care if her family were around I figured that she might actually be pleased that her folks went to so much trouble to be able to spend time with her.

"They found this place and decided to buy it" said Wednesday "It does have a certain appeal".

I could see why the Addams family might like it, I just didn't understand how they'd even found out about this place. Perhaps it was best not to inquire given the oddness of her family.

"You have to meet them" insisted Wednesday "My parents want to meet with you I mean".

I had already been introduced to them at a party not so long ago, but apparently, that didn't count. Not according to the letter she'd sent me. Since school would be starting up again soon I'd needed to come now or wait until the summer and I'd decided it was best to offend this family.

"Meeting the parents is an important part of courtship" insited Wednesday.

Her choice of words seemed odd to me.

"We've been courting?" I asked, "Most of the time you just watch me. That's stalking not courting".

As we moved closer to the front door Wednesday addressed my query.

"It's important to study your prey," she told me "Besides, I was curious as to what you had to offer so many young women, and Dawn told me that you are recruiting for your harem".

Later I would need to sit down with Dawn and discuss her making arrangements for me behind my back. Funding the twins was one thing, but she couldn't try to get people added to my harem without at least talking to the group about it, even if I clearly was interested in the young Miss Addams.

Despite the fact that this property was owned by her family she knocked on the door.

"Do try to make a good impression" she instructed.

What would make the Addams family like me? They were inherently unpredictable.

"Hello, Lurch," said Wednesday as we entered the property "Please inform my parents that we are here".

The tall man simply nodded and walked away.

"Madam Bones should be here," Wednesday told me "Bringing you here to talk about funding at the time she would be meeting with my parents seemed like a good excuse to invite you over".

I had been meaning to deal with that bit of business.

"James, before we go to tea there's something in the basement I want to show you," Wednesday said.

Despite the cold shiver that went down my spine I found myself following her and down in the basement there was a closet that contained Glidory Lockhart.

"If I were a lesser kind of man there would be so many gay jokes I could make about this" I remarked.

I wouldn't make them as I am better than that.

"This fraud came here with the intent of scamming my family," said the young Miss Addams "I think he's learned his lessons, but I thought you might want to keep him in your cells in case you need a test subject".

Well, Raven did want me to learn the mind arts, and so I could do with a test subject.

"Our dungeon just isn't equipped for this kind of guest" commented Wednesday "I don't think yours is suitable for Lockhart either unless your tastes are different from what I've imagined".

I was alarmed.

"How do you know I have cells and a dungeon?" I asked.

She was an Addams so that was something of a silly question and she didn't even bother to answer.

"Perhaps you and I can play in your dungeon sometime" she offered.

She wasn't joking.

"Only if I get to be the dom" I insisted.

I wasn't brave enough to submit to her.

"My pain threshold is very high," she said before changing the subject "Now will you take Mr Lockhart? It might be a bad idea to keep him here when the head of the DMLE is having tea".

Yeah, I could see that going wrong, and I could open a door to my home easily enough. I wondered how Raven and Dawn would react to the idea of us using Lockhart as a means for me to learn the mind arts.

Twycross House. The Wizarding World.

To say that Gilderoy Lockhart was having a bad day would be a rather large understatement since he'd been having more than a bad day. He'd simply not been prepared for someone to turn the tables on him like that and lock him up for what might have been weeks.

There must have been something in that fancy tea, he'd not thought to test the drink before helping himself to what the Addams family had offered. If he ever got out of this situation he would be a lot more careful.

He'd gone to the home of the Addams family, who were supposed to be well-connected over in America, to get their aid in having his book sold to the magical people in the colonies.

The market here in Britain was simply too limited for him to make a decent amount of money from the book's sales, and he wouldn't have to pay for his books to be translated if he sold them in the States since the Americans at least had the sense to speak a proper language.

Gilderoy Lockhart had been born to a witch mother and a Muggle father, with two older sisters who were not only plain in looks they were totally lacking in any talent be that magical or otherwise. Lockhart blamed his rather boring father for that.

Sometimes he wondered if his mother ever had an affair and that his real father had been a powerful wizard rather than some working-class dullard. He certainly didn't share his father's appearance or outlook on life.

Gilderoy Lockhart was the only one of his mother's three children to show magical ability. Add to that he was when clever, at least when compared to his sisters, and he'd always been a good-looking boy. This made him special from the start. At least in his own mind.

He'd always been his mother's favourite, and his mother had begun lavishing even more attention upon him when he'd started showing signs of being a wizard rather than another useless muggle like the rest of his family. This only supported Lockhart's opinion that he was special.

Going to Hogwarts had been a rather big shock to the young wizard. He'd discovered that not only were there others who shared the gift of magic he also found out that many of them were more skilled than himself, smarter, or better looking, and often they had access to a lot more money.

This was not to say that Lockhart had no talent. Indeed, his teachers at Hogwarts felt that he was of above-average intelligence and ability, and that, with plenty of hard work, he might make something of himself within the magical world, even if he fell short of the ambitions he shared freely with classmates.

The Sorting Hat avoided placing in Hufflepuff for good reasons. Lockhart didn't want to work hard, nor was he loyal to anyone, and he wasn't a brave man. The Hat had given serious thought to Slytherin House, but Lockhart narrowly escaped Slytherin for reasons the Hat never shared.

Lockhart achieved some good marks in his schoolwork, but he was increasingly unsatisfied. If he was not going to be the best at something he found that he would rather not participate at all

This was because unlike members of Ravenclaw House, many of which valued learning for its own sake, he only cared for the attention it brought him. He craved prizes and awards. He even lobbied more than once with the Headmaster to start a school newsletter. Dumbledore wisely refused since he knew that Lockhart would just use the newspaper to endlessly talk about himself.

Rather than seethe in jealousy or lash out at the unfairness of it all Lockhart doubled down and spent his time reaffirming how special he was to everyone. It had always been frustrating how others could not see his brilliance no matter how hard he tried to show them.

He'd been punished for showing off more than once, but he'd never given up on his dream to show the world just how amazing he was, and he'd do nearly anything to achieve his goal.

Lockhart had never been a bad wizard exactly, not in terms of power, it was more that he was simply a lazy one who expected to have things simply handed to him because he wanted them (a product of his mother spoiling him too much) and after leaving Hogwarts he managed to hone his talents until he'd mastered one very tricky kind of magic. He became an expert at Memory Charms.

By perfecting this tricky spell, he'd been able to travel and find those who had done great deeds. Then he would get the details he needed, wipe the memories, and turn the recollections into a series of adventure novels.

He'd even changed his surname to Lockhart as that sounded better and he'd broken all contact with his family, even his doting mother so that they wouldn't drag him down into the muck he might have been forced to live in.

In truth, Lockhart was a coward and would run from a dangerous situation if he ever managed to stumble into one. When he'd opened his eyes and began looking around he soon realised that he'd been captured by the Addams family. Predictably this led to him panicking, even screaming for help, not that anyone heard him.

He simply refused to think about what happened when those freaks had kept him captive and it looked as if he'd transferred to some cell, and since he wasn't tied up he saw this situation as an improvement over the old one.

He even began to hope that he might be free soon when he saw James Twycross in the hallway out of his cell. This was a wizard that Lockhart had targeted as the possible source of his next book since the lad seemed to get into adventurous situations.

"Oh good you're awake," said Twycross who was standing with a witch outside of his cell "Well, good for me anyway".

Lockhart really didn't like the sound of that.

"You're going to tell me all about how to find the people who really did the deeds in your book" explained the wizard "And you're going to tell exactly how you managed to cover your tracks. Then we'll talk about how you wrote your bestsellers".

Well, that didn't sound too bad.

"After that, if there's anything left of your mind I'll make sure you're taken care of" the woman let him know.

Lockhart really didn't like the sound of those words and when he found that he could speak he tried to charm his way out of this predicament.

"I didn't really do any harm" he insisted "Those people didn't want any praise or reward for their achievements, so it didn't matter if I took the credit".

Neither of his captors was buying it, or perhaps they simply didn't care.

"It's not like I hurt anyone or abducted them" he argued.

Again his words fell on deaf ears.

"A person is the sum of their experiences," said the witch who was for some reason wearing a cape "You violated their sense of self and I think it's time you felt what that was like".

Lockhart began to cry. He really wasn't able to cope with this sort of thing.

"Let's start with the memory charm," said the dangerous wizard "And you better teach me to do the spells right because I'll be practising them on you".

Fearing torture Lockhart began spilling his guts figuratively so that he wouldn't end up doing it literally. Not that it was his guts that he needed to worry about. Twycross only cared for the contents of his mind and the captive couldn't help wondering how much of himself would be left afterwards.

---

Part 29

---

Retirement Plan.

Part 29.

The Addams Family Residence. Grimmauld Place.

After leaving Mr Lockhart in the care of Raven, who to my surprise had accepted the idea of using Glidory as a sort of test subject as I began to learn the magical mind arts, I returned to Grimmauld Place because I had been invited for dinner and I wasn't brave enough to refuse them.

I'd been a little shocked by how at ease Rachel had been with my plan to use Lockhart to practice mind magics upon, given that she'd spent a good part of her life playing the role of superhero, but she had told me about how she'd fallen into that life without ever having really chose it.

Aside from the fact that she was retired from the superhero life, it seemed as if Lockhart offended Raven so much that she didn't care if I ended up destroying his mind. Perhaps she intended to be there with me to make sure I didn't go too far and it might simply be his fate to lose most of his mind as penance for his crimes.

I was far more concerned about Dawn doing something stupid such as freeing the man, but that wasn't a large worry since she hadn't been infected by too much of her sister's nobility, which could more accurately be thought of as a type of well-meaning stupidity.

As for Hermione, she didn't even know that Lockhart was locked up in the cells, and I figured that it would be a good idea to sit down with her, and then explain the situation fully as sometimes when Hermione gets it into her head to go and do the right thing, such as freeing Lockhart, it can be almost impossible to get her to stop.

Lockhart's fate was something to discuss with my companions at another time. For now, I needed to stay focused on my dinner with the Addams family. It was clear that Wednesday intended to join my group and unlike the Grangers, Wednesday's family had an interest in both their daughter and me.

I thought it sad how little Hermione's parents were involved in her life given that she clearly craved approval from them. I also didn't mind that this had left a hole in Hermione's heart that she was filling with a need for my approval and affection. At least I would repay her devotion with the positive attention she so desired.

Upon my return to London, I'd also needed to offer Madam Bones some finical support, and thankfully that hadn't taken long. I'd gotten the impression that the Addams family had already made a deal to supply Amelia Bones with all the money she needed. That would explain her lack of interest in my funds.

Since that didn't take long I'd gotten dragged along with the Addams family into the kitchen/dining area of Number 12.

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"James, I'd like you to meet Grandma Frump," said Wednesday as we entered the kitchen "Grandma this is James, my satisfactory love interest who I go to school with".

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From what I understood she is the mother of Morticia Addams and Ophelia Frump, mother-in-law to Gomez Addams, and maternal grandmother of Pugsley and Wednesday, and Pubert Addams too had he existed in this timeline, or maybe he did and they'd just forgotten about him, or ended up selling him to a circus. None of that would have surprised me given this family.

"Until Wednesday's powers were awakened, Granny was the only member of the family who could claim the title of witch," said Morticia Addams.

Grandma Frump was a lot like the stereotypical idea of a witch held by many non-magical people. She was an old woman with frizzy hair, who wore a black dress and she wore a number of amulets.

"Bah!" called out the elderly woman "Don't compare me to one of those silly wand wavers. I follow the old ways".

I had no idea if Miss Frump was cooking our dinner or making a potion. I figured that I'd find out soon enough.

"Can you even do a little magic without your silly stick?" the woman questioned.

Since I'd spent most of the points I'd been given by the flaming eye on setting myself up with a comfortable life and purchasing perks that would protect me I couldn't show off much unless someone need healing or by taking on my true form. However, I did a few tricks up my sleeve, one of which was the ability to reach into my storage space and take things out making it seem as if I could make items appear from nowhere.

"I do use a wand," I said as I reached out and brought something out of the storage space, "But in my view, you can't be a proper wizard without a staff".

Grandma Frump seemed pleased by my trick.

"Oh it's been a while since I've seen a wizard with a proper staff," she told me with a mostly toothless smile "While I prefer to work with my hands, it can be good to have something hard and heavy to hit people with".

I should learn a bit about fighting with the staff when I found the time. You never knew when someone's skull needed a good cracking.

"Now sit down, dinner is almost ready" the witch instructed.

I did as I was told and soon the food was served up. I wondered what we would be eating, and I found myself pondering if the meat was human and if I ate it would that make me a cannibal? No, because I'm a dragon whose acts as a wizard so unless we're eating dragon meat, I wouldn't become a cannibal.

"Tell me, young man. Are you enjoying your time at Hogwarts?" Gomez Addams.

So far I was. Despite the school's many faults.

"It's an interesting school," I said.

Hogwarts is great if you are willing to tolerate the incompetent staff, the outdated equipment, the bullying, the bigotry and the pumpkin juice. I really hated pumpkin juice.

As for the bigotry and bullying, nothing would be done about them, it was part of the society and would remain so unless magical society was remade. If Dumbledore actually went and expelled someone then perhaps others might think twice about their behaviour, but he never would take a stand like that.

The only things that made it bearable, aside from the chance to recruit some sexy witches, were that some of the teachers were actually good at their jobs, the secrets within the school that could be explored, such as the Room of Requirement, and the fact that the school had such a vast library.

"I don't think I'll stay there once I've taken my OWLs," I admitted.

Partly this was because the NEWT exams are really only needed if you want to get a decent job at the Ministry and I'm so rich that I'm never going to need a source of steady income.

"What will you do once you have finished your exams?" enquired Morticia Addams.

That was something that I had already decided.

"I plan to travel" I answered "I think I'll learn more about using magic that way than I will do by writing essays at school for two more years".

Assuming that my experience was anything to go by, then magic schools suck all the actual fun out of learning to cast spells.

"From what I hear attending Hogwarts is a wonderful educational opportunity," said Gomez Addams as I poked something that might still be alive on my plate "Man-eating spiders in the forest, random attacks by students directed at the weak, and teachers that can turn into monsters on the full moon".

I could see the appeal from their perspective as they were a bunch of total nutters.

"The castle does have its charms" I stated "And I am learning a lot about duelling".

I was about to say more about that when Wednesday suddenly stabbed my plate with her knife. Whatever it was that had been moving around in the stew soon stopped doing so.

"Grandmother likes to use the freshest ingredients" the goth teen stated.

If I were still a normal human, or human at all, I might be freaking out at this point in time. Still, I was going to eat around that part. Unlike her brother who hadn't spoken yet and was on his second helping of whatever the hell it was that we were all eating.

"I offered to teach Wednesday proper magic," said Granny Frump "But Gomez and Morticia kept going on about having their daughter attend a proper school"

Already I knew that this was an old debate.

"Wednesday needs to get out into the world and explore her options" insisted Morticia Addams "This isn't just about her education. She needs to make friends and have romances".

I felt very awkward all of a sudden. More so than before.

"These are things I am working on," stated Wednesday.

Gomez decided to divert the conversation.

"Speaking of romance, James, I hear that you have an entire harem," he said.

It wasn't a secret or something I felt any shame about.

"Yes," I confirmed, "They are a nice group of girls".

To say the least.

"And our little Wednesday wants to join them" he commented "What drew you to this joining this arrangement my little stinging scorpion".

I had wondered that myself, and I had enquired but sometimes getting a straight answer out of the goth teen was hard work if not outright impossible.

"It seems like an efficient way to gain both friends and a lover," explained Wednesday "Then you can stop pestering me about having a social life. Besides, James has a few secrets that I wish to uncover".

Some girls do like a man with some mystery.

"So James, will you be staying the night?" asked Morticia Addams.

No force on Earth could compel me to spend the night in this house with these people. There were far too many rusty implements hanging up on the walls for my liking.

"No, thank you," I said "I need to pack my bags for school and take care of a few

matters at home".

I'd sleep much better if I was protected by my house's defences.

"You must stay a little longer," insisted Morticia Addams "I brought some of our photo albums with us and you must see what Wednesday was like as a child. Forewarned is forearmed".

I'd always suspected that the showing of embarrassing childhood photos to people you are dating was a sadistic form of torture that only a true monster would inflict upon their child. Now I had confirmation.

"Mother, when it is time to place you and Father, if he lives that long, in a retirement home. I will remember this" Wednesday warned.

That didn't deter her parents at all and soon I was looking at the baby pictures.

"Your baby pics look very classy with the black and white camera your parents must have used" I commented.

That had been the nicest thing I could say. To be truthful seeing her with so many headless dolls was more than a bit worrying.

"No, we used a state-of-the-art camera, Wednesday just somehow ends up driving away all of the colours," Gomez told me.

I took through the albums. While unwisely ignoring the death glares I was getting from the young Miss Addams. Although to be fair that expression wasn't so different from how she normally looked.

"You've really committed to the braids I see," I said.

I'd never seen a baby with hair that could be styled like that. I couldn't help wondering what a child of mine and Wednesdays would be like. Could this world handle such horror?

Twycross House. The Wizarding World.

For this evening I wanted to relax and have some fun with Dawn who already looked ready for bed even if we planned to watch a movie before heading to my bedroom for some sexy fun time.

She was wearing one of my T-shirts and nothing else I soon discovered as she sat on the sofa and the T-shirt rode up, she was no doubt waiting for me to join her as she did love her snuggle time.

I took a seat across from her on a comfy couch, and I smiled at my sexy companion, Dawn was pleased to have me here with her and I knew that as normal she'd be eager to do whatever it was I fancied doing when we fooled around. Something I intended to take advantage of very soon.

"Play with yourself for me," I ordered the little sister of the Slayer.

With any delay, Dawn closed her eyes and leaned back against the seat cushion. Her fingers were already gently pinching her nipples through the fabric of the t-shirt. Her other small hand was soon between her slim legs, her fingers rubbing the bare skin of her taut fuckhole. She was keeping her knees as far apart as possible so as to give me the best view.

I watched as she slide a single finger into her tight little pussy, and so did Hermione who had just walked into the room. She was also wearing very little and had been intending to watch the movie with us.

We would all be heading to Hogwarts tomorrow so Hermione had decided to spend the night here and to go with the group rather than have her parents see her off.

I didn't know if Raven would be joining us this evening as she had some project she wanted to work on.

"Hermione, come sit on the sofa next to Dawn," I ordered.

My companion did as she was told who looked curious about what was going on. Miss Summers smirked, already having an idea of where this was going, and she kept getting my attention with her lewd display.

"I want you two to put on a bit of show for me," I told them.

Hermione didn't do anything, perhaps she wasn't sure what she should do as this was all new to her, Dawn had something of a clue, and she made the first move. She leaned in close and kissed the other witch on the lips.

Before long, Hermione kissed Dawn back and put her arms around her fellow companion, as they began making out like a couple of horny teenagers, which was what they were. Both of the young women didn't need to coordinate their efforts, they both somehow knew what to do.

"I've never kissed a girl before," said Hermione during a pause in the action "It's not that bad".

Despite her words, my feeling on the matter was that both of these girls were actually as straight as an arrow and any enjoyment they got from this had to do with pleasing me. It was good that they were both always eager to follow my commands and hungry for my attention.

Dawn directed the attention as she began to French kiss and caress Hermione, letting her hands run all over the other witch's body.

"Want to take this to your room?" I was asked.

We could always come back down and watch the movie. It wasn't that late.

"Yes," I said.

Dawn led the way, taking Hermione's arm, and leading the other young female up into my bedroom. The two smiling girls quickly went over to my bed. I just stood there and watched them.

"I want you two to keep going" I commanded.

Despite the fact that they were both a little nervous they didn't refuse me.

"I guess we'll just keep going until our man decides he wants to join in," said the American girl.

Without saying a word both girls took off their tops. Which meant Dawn was now naked and Hermione was down to her knickers. Dawn smiled at me before she began to suck on Hermione's s nipples and Slayer's sister moved a hand between Hermione's legs so that she could finger her friend's pussy. Which was also bare of hair and a very snug fit for my cock.

"Let me try something." said Dawn as she got her fellow witch to lie down and remove her underwear "This will drive James crazy".

I wondered how far they would go to make me happy. Dawn was starting to perform oral sex on another woman just to entertain me, and she looked really into it. If this was all for my benefit, then I doubted there was much she wouldn't do for me.

Hermione grabbed Dawn's head and she began to make some interestingly lewd noises. As for me I couldn't just stand here and watch any longer. After quickly undressing, I made my move, and without warning I grabbed Dawn's hips and then I pushed my rock-hard cock inside a very eager cunt.

"Don't stop licking her" I ordered.

She only stopped to reply after I gave her an encouraging slap on the rump.

"Yes, Daddy," she said.

Dawn did her very best to focus on her task and Hermione used one hand to keep her friend's head in place as she used her free hand to play with her own breasts. All the while maintaining eye contact with me. By now the native women had become much more relaxed about this situation.

"I think she'd done this before" commented the dentist's daughter.

Perhaps later I would enquire about Dawn's previous experience with girl-on-girl action, right now my attention was on something else. I was using Dawn's pussy as a cock sleeve as the small woman moaned loudly into Hermione's thighs.

Despite Dawn having wanted me to lose control, I knew that I had to restrain myself somewhat as I was worried that I might hurt her, not that she ever seemed to mind when I was rough with her and it wasn't as if I had super strength even if my idealised human form.

She had at least succeded in making me want to cum as fast as possible. I had to stop myself from ramming into her little pussy as fast as I could. I shot my load of baby batter into her thirsty cunt as quickly as I could.

"So are we still going to watch a movie tonight?" Dawn asked once her mouth wasn't busy and she could lay down on her back, "Maybe after that, Hermione and I can trade places for you".

Neither I nor Hermione had any objections to that idea. Not that the young Miss Granger was speaking at all. She was far too relaxed to bother.

The Library. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Upon my return to the school, I had as I'd promised the Head of Ravenclaw House, thrown myself into preparing for the end-of-the-year exams. There was still much I needed to learn about the school subjects and if I didn't do well in the exams I wouldn't get any tutoring from Flitwick during the next school year.

While researching in the library, I found the Boy-Who-Lived hiding behind a stack of books while sitting at a table. He was alone and what little of him I could see did not look at all happy.

I didn't recall him being much of a reader in the books/show, but in this timeline things were different and he didn't have to put up with the bossy 11-year-old Hermione Granger when in the library so perhaps this version of him liked the library more than the cannon Chosen One.

"Doing okay, Larry Trotter?" I asked.

Harry Potter looked up at me and understandably he was confused. We'd met before even if we hadn't talked much aside from a few words exchanged in class, so he knew that I knew his name, and even if we'd never exchanged a single word that wouldn't have made a difference as everyone knew his name as well as what he was famous for.

"My name's not Larry Trotter," he said.

I knew that. I was attempting to be funny, and failing.

"Of course, I know your name," I told him "I just figured that you're sick of people whispering stuff like "That's Harry Potter' and pointing at you, so I thought I'd give you a break and not use your real name for a while".

He didn't get why this would be amusing and it wasn't the best effort I'd made to funny I had to admit. Perhaps if people had still been pestering him as much as they used to at the start of the school year, he would have found my desire to mess up his name to be a little entertaining.

"Anyway Gary, you didn't answer my question" I reminded him "How are you doing? I know the library can be overwhelming, but I don't think I've seen anyone use the books to hide as well as you have".

He sighed from behind his fortifications.

"People are still following me around and talking about me behind my back" he complained "I haven't made many friends. It's not fair that everyone expects me to be this great wizard when I don't know anything. I'm struggling just as much as anyone in class, but it's hard to study, Ron keeps wanting me to do whatever he wants and Neville is spending his time with some girls".

Poor lad. Perhaps needed a tutor? I was surprised that Remus Lupin wasn't taking more of a hand in his education. Granted he was busy around the full moon and he did have a full-time teaching job, but you'd think he would make the time. I wondered if Dumbledore had him doing some work for the Order of the Phoenix.

"If you need help with your school work I do know a place that we can use to study without any interruptions," I told him "I'm supposed to be meeting with Dawn there soon we could have a study group".

Raven would be a better choice to lead a study group, but since we'd gotten back to the school she'd gone off somewhere to do her own thing. All I knew about it was that her project involved using some of Dawn's blood. She had attempted an explanation and I'd not understood a word she was saying I just knew that it had something to do with travelling to other dimensions.

"Studying with other people is easier," he said.

Dawn would be happy. She'd been wanting to hang out with the main cast even if I had discouraged it at first and she kept inviting Potter to her parties even if he never came.

"I'm surprised Hermione didn't offer her help," I remarked.

Potter gestured to the books he was surrounded by.

"Where do you think all these came from?" he said "She went after some more and never came back. She's been gone for an hour. Should I be worried".

Assuming that she'd not gotten attacked by the books she must have gotten distracted by her own work and forgotten that Harry was even here. Not odd to hear as Hermione was like Rachel when it came to working on some projects. Hermione's work was just a lot less advanced since she'd not been practising magic for very long.

"Unless she's learned to access L-Space she should be back soon" I joked.

To my pleasant surprise, Harry was enough of a Terry Pratchett fan to have understood that reference, and we began discussing the author's work as we left the tables.

Neville Longbotted entered the library before Potter and I made it out. Having somehow gotten away from Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot. Those two young Hufflepuffs had certainly staked a claim on the young wizard.

"My parents aren't going to be happy that I'm falling behind," he said as he joined us on our way to form a study group.

While I'd restored Neville's parents to him he'd still been raised by his overbearing grandmother for nearly all of his life, and this had affected him.

Harry's time with his relatives hadn't encouraged him to achieve much academically either and his time with Siruis Black wouldn't have undone that damage. I couldn't imagine Black spending much time in the library either.

"Soon you'll see the best place to study in the entire school" I promised.

The two boys looked at the wall of the seventh-floor corridor. I'd decided to bring them to the Room of Requirement since it would be free from any distractions.

It was clear to me that Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom and Ron Weasley had become this universe's version of the Golden Trio due to Hermione Granger being in Ravenclaw.

While Ron wasn't someone I could help due to my own distaste for the lad if nothing else, these two boys had the potential to be great wizards. They might never need to face the Dark Lord Voldemort, but there were other dangers out there.

"There's nothing here" pointed out Neville as we arrived on the seventh-floor corridor.

He was wrong about that, and when Dawn caught up with us, she smirked that smile you only see on a person when they know you don't and they get to surprise you with it.

"Au contraire mon ami," I said

Harry, he'd been brought up to accept how he was treated without question and as such didn't like to rock the boat by asking too many questions, SO he didn't enquire about why we were standing in an empty corridor while looking at a blank bit of wall.

"There's a hidden room that only appears when someone requires it" I explained, "You have to need something for it to appear while moving up and down this corridor. So if you were trapped up here with the Flinch after you the room would appear as a broom cupboard that you could hide in".

That was the most simple use of the room.

"The room can take many forms and make use of anything that has been stored in it over the last thousand years" I was now telling my friends, if that was what they were, "So it also contains all of the school's lost property and junk which has been stored away by the House Elves".

I didn't intend to show them to the Come and Go room just yet as I still hadn't finished totally clearing it all out of anything valuable or dangerous. I was sure that someone was adding to the piles.

"As such if you wanted somewhere for quiet study then the room will appear and take a suitable form," I said "If you wanted somewhere for swimming lessons it could even become a pool".

I assumed that the Room of Requirement simply diverted some pipes in order to supply the water. Quite possible since parts of the castle did move about without breaking the plumping.

I focused on my need for somewhere for us to study for the end-of-year exams without being bothered and a door soon appeared. When we went inside we found a room filled with comfy chairs, a table stacked with books, and even a music player, which drew Dawn's attention.

"Here's where we'll study in peace," I said "And we can teach each other stuff in the subjects we're strongest in. I can handle charms and duelling".

That concerned Neville.

"Aren't those spells dangerous?" he asked.

He was right be worried. Such magic could do harm.

"These will be spells that Professor Flitwick thinks are suitable to teach me and that I would use in a contest" I assured him "Or we can just practice the spells that Black taught us".

I could tell that they all felt better about the idea now that he knew I was just going to be teaching them things I'd learned from teachers.

"You can go through the Herbology stuff, Harry can take us through DADA," I said "And don't deny it's your best subject".

I turned to Dawn, who spoke before I could.

"That leaves transfiguration for me," she said "Not my favourite class, but I'm getting good at transformations".

Potions required to stuff the room either couldn't supply or hadn't because I hadn't been specific enough in my request. We could at least go over the theory and be prepared for our exams.

They were something we needed to get through so that we could finish the school year and once they were done we could get to the fun stuff over the summer.

---

Part 30 (Narnia)

---

Retirement Plan.

Part 30.

Malfoy Manor. The Wizarding World.

Given that I'd planned an assault on this residence more than once, and called them off due to the manor's magical defences and because of its large staff, it was rather amusing to have been invited into the property by Narcissa Malfoy

Under other circumstances, the witch once known as Narcissa Black, wouldn't have allowed me or any of my girls into her home due to our social position. I was only here now because talk of my great wealth had reached many ears.

It was my fault that the lady of this huge house had been forced to let people, who she would normally never lower herself to even talk to, into her fancy home, and that made me smile.

Watching her be nice to the Addams Family had been very amusing as they were mostly squibs and hardly the kind of people you wanted in your home even at the best of times. But they were insanely wealthy from what I understood.

As for why so many people were here on this fine Saturday afternoon, that was because Lucius Malfoy was missing rather than dead, and since he had not been declared dead his son couldn't inherit the family fortune.

Why Narcissa Malfoy couldn't just access the family Gringott's accounts I had no idea. Although I could speculate that it had something to do with her husband keeping a tight hold on the family's purse strings and that he hadn't told anyone where he kept the vault key or keys.

He might have even had them on me when Raven trapped him in the special book. Which was not something I'd given any thought to at the time.

Draco Malfoy, who smartly avoided the first-year Ravenclaws because Wednesday Addams scared him, was still attending Hogwarts.

As such, I assumed that he had access to a trust fund to pay for things, but I doubted he'd be bribing his way on the Quidditch team in the new school year with top-of-the-line brooms.

I also wondered why Narcissa Malfoy simply didn't get a divorce since Lucius Malfoy wasn't around to perform any husbandly duties and then get all of his stuff.

Not that I cared enough to obtain more information about the decline of the Malfoy family, Instead I just let myself be amused by it as I inspected the antiques that were going to be sold.

Due to her money troubles, Narcissa Malfoy had been forced to sell some of the family's prized possessions, however, rather than just sell stuff in some sort of wizarding garage sale like a normal person. she was holding an auction.

This meant we had to wander around the drawing room to see what was on offer before the bidding could begin while Mrs Malfoy did some social networking.

Hermione wanted to study for her exams and Dawn had declined to come here as she'd rather go to Hogsmeade. Yet while Rachel was my plus one I'd somehow ended up spending most of my time here with Wednesday Addams.

She was currently dragging me off to some part of the house that didn't contain moving paintings or anything else that might be able to spy on us.

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"I wanted to apologise for not spending much time with you this term," said my fellow Ravenclaw "I have a lot to learn about becoming a witch".

This I understood. She'd joined the Wizarding World as a first-year after an entire term had passed by so she had been far behind everyone else.

"I'll be returning to America over the summer" Wednesday let me know "But before I leave the country I will sign the contract and become part of your harem. I plan to spend a few days at your home before I take an international portkey back to the US. My family will be waiting for me there and we have vacation plans so I won't see you again until the start of the new school year".

That was all fine with me and I wondered why her family was still in this country given that Wednesday was in school, but I decided not to pry since I probably wouldn't like the answer.

"You should know what I've kept my Nevermore school uniform," mentioned the goth girl "Dawn has hinted that you'd enjoy me wearing the outfit for you when we have sex".

I wasn't going to deny that.

"Communication is important in any relationship," Wednesday said.

She just wasn't communicating with the right person.

"You're supposed to talk to me about things" I pointed out.

The goth girl's expression didn't change and again I reminded myself never to play poker against her.

"Dawn is more talkative and doesn't easily get embarrassed" said Miss Addams "She talks about you a lot and exposes your weaknesses".

This was when Wednesday began to unbutton my trousers.

"I'm going to call you Daddy when we do sexual things" stated the witch "That is one of your weaknesses".

She knew that doing so would help her to get me erect and what she was doing with her hand helped.

"Do you like that Daddy?" said Wednesday, who was making an effort to sound adorable and so far was being somewhat successful, "Do you like it when your good girl plays with you like this?".

Rather than say more she began to give me an enthusiastic blowjob.

"Yes," I answered.

Given how well she was doing she had to have talked to Dawn about exactly how to orally please me. I wondered if there had been diagrams involved. The scary goth girl might even have taken notes.

"Oh, look at how hard you are, Daddy," she remarked while giving me a handjob during a pause in using her mouth "Did I make it all stiff?".

Rather than wait for a reply she got back to sucking my cock with gusto. I wasn't going to be able to resist cumming in her mouth with all the talking dirty and with her using Dawn's methods of pleasing me.

"I'm not going to last for long if you keep doing that," I warned.

Wednesday pushed her free hand under her skirt while speaking.

"What makes you think I want you to last at all," she said.

Since she was so intent on making me cum I did my best to relax despite being in Death Eater territory and I was soon cumming.

"While I don't have an emotionally distant father," said Wednesday as she licked her fingers clean of the cum that somehow missed her mouth. "Rather he has an emotional distance daughter. I will call you Daddy because you like it".

She then took off her underwear and placed them into my pocket.

"Dawn told me you'd want them" Wednesday offered an explanation.

I could add them to my treasure pile in my dragon cave.

When we got back to the auction the wizard who was running the action was takings bids on a very old copy of the Tales Of Beedle the Bard.

"Why did you abandon me for so long?" asked Raven "You left me alone with all these purebloods. I came close to cursing them all".

Rather than answer I made a bid and Rachel suddenly changed topics.

"Don't bother with the book, I want the wardrobe. It came from the Department of Mysteries, and it has a strange magical aura about it. Buy it for me".

I did like to spoil my girls so I would get it for her and I waited for the wardrobe to be introduced by the auctioneer.

"This item is believed to have been enchanted by a wizard known as Andrew Ketterley," said the bald man on the podium "A wizard known as the inventor of the Vanishing Cabinet".

A pair of Vanishing Cabinets would act as a passage between two places. If an object had been placed in one, it would appear in the other.

The cabinets were able to defeat all known defensive spells, as they were successfully used to transport several Death Eaters from Borgin and Burkes into Hogwarts School

Vanishing Cabinets were highly popular during the First Wizarding War; in the event of a Death Eater attack, one could simply disappear to the other cabinet until the danger had passed.

I was unsure what had happened to the pair of Vanishing Cabinets that allowed the Death Eaters to enter Hogwarts. I should check and if I hadn't already I should make sure they were secure.

"If it is an early version of a Vanishing Cabinets I want to study it" said Racheal.

Since no one else seemed interested in a battered old wardrobe I easily won the bidding.

Lampost. Narnia.

"Are you saying we have a wardrobe that leads to Narnia?" Dawn asked Raven.

Given that we standing next to a lampost in the woods that were filled with snow after going through a wardrobe I couldn't see how we could be anywhere else.

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We'd even taken the time to don cold-weather clothes because we'd know we were coming here.

"Yes," said Raven

"You have a wardrobe to Narnia," Hermione said in disbelief.

"Yes," repeated Raven.

It didn't seem that odd to me.

"Remember Hermione that Dawn, Rachel and I are all from completely different dimensions than yours" I pointed out "So if someone can enter your universe then someone else should have been able to make some way of leaving. The Black Emporium was from another universe".

Hermione had not seen that place for herself due to never having gotten an invite, but she did know about it as she had been told all about it and she had seen some of the products we'd purchased from that very strange store.

"It's winter, so the evil queen is still alive?" Dawn asked.

I was also wondering if the events of the books had occurred yet or if it just happened to be winter in Narnia right now.

"Lot of strange crossovers in this world" I mused as we looked around "What's next, we go off to tour the States and run into Pennywise the Dancing Clown".

Dawn hit me hard in the back.

"Don't even joke about that" she demanded "I hate clowns".

Best to stay focused on Narnia.

"What I don't understand," I told everyone "Is how we can be here at all. There's a limit on what worlds we can visit placed on us by the ROB".

Narnia wasn't part of the homeworld of myself or any of my harem.

"A good question, Magnus" Rachel commented.

Since there was no chance of anyone from the Wizarding World overhearing us we were free to use what I thought of as our true names. Well, not Hermione as she'd not decided on a cool name.

"Many versions of Earth have a Narnia connected to it via a multi-world nexus" Raven explained to me "So while we aren't in the same plane of existence any more we are still within the same universe, just in a different layer of reality".

No one knew quite what that meant so the powerful witch tried to explain things a different way.

"If we had a spaceship and took off from Earth we wouldn't be able to fly to the world that has Narnia as one of its lands," Raven told us "This world was created in an alternate layer of reality. Like the Hell-Dimensions that are all around Dawn's version of Earth or the Fey realms that we aren't stupid enough to mess with".

I tried to wrap my head around this.

"So if I went to that evil mirror universe that the dominatrix vampire Willow came from and then when to a hell dimension it would be different than the hell dimension I could reach from my world?" asked Dawn.

Raven confirmed this to be true.

"The cosmology of your universe is very different to the cosmology of this universe," she said, "But as complex as the cosmology of my native reality".

Rachel decided not to expand on that any further.

"What bothers me is that this place still exists" said Raven "It was supposed to have been destroyed in 1949".

I did recall that Aslan destroys Narnia at the end of The Last Battle because the land's time has come, but it had been such a long time since I'd read the series that I couldn't recall the details.

"Maybe he rebuilt it?" wondered Hermione.

"Or maybe it hasn't happened yet," I remarked "Time is different here".

I remembered from the book that no matter how much time an inhabitant of Earth spent in Narnia, no time passed back in England. For instance, during the Golden Age of Narnia, the Pevensies (Susan, Edmund, Peter, and Lucy) reigned in Narnia for at least a decade.

However, when they came back to England, their whole adventure seemed to have taken no time at all, and they were back at their previous ages.

"Time is linear here" said Raven "A year on Earth is equal to 52.14 years here in Narnia".

That didn't make sense to me or any of the others. It didn't match what we knew from the books.

"But I thought no time passed at all when we get back to Earth," Dawn said.

If so that had possibilities.

"Don't worry Key, the wardrobe will take us back to Earth when we left so we could stay here for decades and then go back as if no time has passed at all" Raven let us know "But if we were to spend years here and go back through say a portal to the house then some time will have passed on Earth".

We had the wardrobe secured so that wasn't an issue.

"If that is true then imagine what we could get done. We could study magic for years and go back to find that we aren't even late for our

next class" I realised.

Not that I had any reason to rush my magical education, it would just be nice to have some extra time to study

"Magnus, I'm not sure if it will work that way" Raven warned me "Lucy Pevensie learned to swim during her reign in Narnia, but she could hardly swim at all after she went back to England, but you are an adult so you might recall everything you learn while here".

I looked at Rachel.

"How do you remember stuff like that?" I wondered.

She smirked at me.

"I'm very smart," she said "I might not be a super-genius like Cyborg, but I have an IQ well above average".

She could have a few moments to be smug.

"So if the White Queen is ruling Narnia should we go and do something about it?" asked Dawn "Assuming that this isn't a natural winter I mean".

We all turned to Rachel who normally had some idea of what was going on.

"This isn't a natural winter," she said.

I took a moment to think.

"So either Jadis is ruling Narnia or the White Walkers are invading" I stated.

Given past experiences it could be both or either. I wouldn't be too shocked.

"We have exams next week" reminded Hermione.

Only she could use that as an excuse not to go off and defeat an evil witch.

"It doesn't matter" pointed out Dawn "When we get back no time will have passed and we can pull our books out of the storage space if we want to study while we are here".

There was a slight flaw there.

"People might notice if we advanced too quickly" Hermione noted "But I guess we could come here to study so that we at least stay at the top of the class".

The rest of us had bigger concerns.

"We might need to swap one of us for another boy" said Raven "And I'm not sure Magnus counts as a Son of Adam since he's a dragon".

People kept forgetting about that.

"And I wasn't born human" mentioned Dawn.

"Oh right, you're mystical energy with the power to unlock the gates between dimensions" recalled Hermione.

Although like me she did have a human soul, Raven had checked.

"You should still count," said Rachel "You were made from your sister who is human despite her powers and I changed myself into a human witch so I might qualify as a Daughter of Eve".

We all gave the matter some thought.

"Maybe we should go grab Neville and Harry" Hermione suggested.

I knew that according to the prophecy, Aslan's reappearance in Narnia would mark the return of spring, and the death of the Age of Winter, after which, the formerly oppressed Narnians' spirits would be revived. The dark age would end with the coronation of four humans as Narnia's new kings and queens.

Another thing I knew was that the Pevensie children were indeed those prophesied four, who had the power to defeat the White Witch Jadis, the evil queen of Narnia and their actions brought about a short-lived Golden Age.

"Oh wow, I just realized," said Dawn "Santa is real here!".

I recalled that as well, and the scene when he gives weapons to the four siblings. I always found it odd that St Nick gave children means of killing people. It doesn't really fit with his image.

"Wouldn't he count as a Son of Adam?" I wondered.

As it turned out that wasn't the case.

"Santa is an elf," Raven said "Only humans have a right to rule Narnia. The White Witch is a descendant of giants and Adam's first wife Lilith, who either was or became a demon after leaving Adam. That's why she can never be Narnia's true queen".

Since I became a dragon I also can't be king of Narnia.

"Santa is not real" insisted Hermione.

She held on to that despite us currently hanging around in Narnia.

"Of course he's real, and he lives in this world," said Rachel "How do you think he makes so many presents and get them all sorted out. In this world he has decades to plan each Christmas".

That made a lot of sense.

"If it was actually winter for years most of the forest would have been cut down for firewood and the talking animals would have had to eat each other to survive," I mused.

This led me to wonder about many things. Like did the White Witch collect any taxes from her subjects? If it was always winter here then how did anyone grow any food?

"The disruption of the seasons should have had a lot more negative effects, but it was a kid's book so I ignored it," Dawn told me "I remember that the White Witch uses wolves to enforce her rule, but I have no idea how the rest of it works. How did Mr Tumnus pay for his food?".

Hermione gave us an odd look.

"We're in a magical fantasy land and you're talking about economics," she said with exasperation.

I saw no problem with this.

"No one ever questions Aragon's tax policy," I said "Does Jadis have a tax policy?".

Our conversation came to an end when one of the locals spotted us.

"Oh my, there are three of you," a beaver stated.

We all stopped to stare at the four-foot-tall anthropomorphic beaver.

"It's dangerous out here!" the beaver exclaimed "Come with me Son of Adam and Daughters of Eve. The Dark Lord will destroy you if his spies find you here"

That last bit caught us all by surprise.

"Did you say 'Dark Lord', and as in not the White Witch?" said Dawn.

The beaver did a good job of expressing surprise despite not having a human face.

"No the White Queen was defeated long ago," he said "Then after the

kings and queens left a new darkness entered the land. Waldin McNair, the Dark Lord of Narnia".

That was a cool title.

"I've never heard of him," said Dawn.

I leaned a little closer to her.

"Waldin McNairi is a Death Eater who ended up working for the Ministry of Magic as an executioner of magical creatures".

Which meant we weren't the first people from the Wizarding World to enter this land.

"Which way is the Dark Lord's Fortress of Doom?" I asked.

The talking beaver pointed over to some hills in the distance.

"How do you know he has a fortress?" Hermione questioned.

I moved away from the group.

"Every evil overlord has a fortress of doom," I told her

I then turned to address the beaver.

"We'll deal with McNair".

I changed into my dragon form and flew off to the ice fortress. I changed form and landed in the courtyard that was full of statues that I knew to be people.

"He must have access to the White Queen's magic" I mused.

Perhaps she left behind her personal spellbook. If so I should claim it because if it contained a spell that could make a magical winter across an entire kingdom then it must have some other powerful spells recorded on its pages.

"Magnus don't just fly off" chided Dawn.

As Raven transported my witches into the courtyard and the wolves began to appear.

"I didn't take Care of Magical Creatures!" called out Hermione "How do you deal with wolves?".

Rather than point out that wolves aren't covered in the class as they normally aren't magical, I transformed back into my dragon form without reaching my full size.

I could do that because I am awesome and the wolves weren't stupid enough to stick around if it meant facing a dragon. I felt fairly certain that my roar would have them running for miles before they dared to stop and see that I wasn't chasing them.

"You scare them away with a dragon," said Dawn.

I returned to my human form and then gestured for everyone to follow me.

"McNair will be the throne room," I told everyone "He'll be waiting for us with some minions and he'll have a speech prepared"

This was indeed the case. The Death Eater was waiting for us. He was not an attractive man.

Spoiler

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"I'll save you some time," I told the evil wizard "When your dark mark faded you realised that Voldemort wasn't ever coming back, so you decided to go it alone, and after you got here you used the magical secrets left behind by the White Queen to seize control of Narnia".

That wasn't all I had to say on the subject.

"You got this wardrobe from Rookwood I'm guessing, since he was a spy in the Department of Mysteries during the Blood War" I was now saying "During the years you've been here you have been gathering an army of darkness that you intend to return home with and you'll use it to purify the wizarding world of all those you deem inferior".

No one spoke for a short time.

"How did you work out my plan?" said McNair.

Because the dark wizards of this world are painfully predictable.

"Mostly guesswork" I admitted "You had the wardrobe for years, but never used it despite knowing what it was. Rookwood died in Azkaban recently so I figured he left it to you in his will and you made sure it went to Malfoy Manor".

McNair just stared at me.

"Well yeah, that's about it" he confirmed "I was going to invade the muggle world as well".

Again no one moved or spoke for a few moments. It was as if I'd gone so far off the script that reality needed some time to adjust itself.

"Kill them!" the Dark Lord of Narnia yelled.

Since McNair went for his axe rather than his wand he could do nothing as I brought my staff out of the storage space. I used it to send a powerful banishing charm at the Dark Lord and his minions who were all thrown to the ground, or at least pushed back. Compared to the spells cast by Hermione and Dawn were hardly noticeable.

Before anyone evil got up off the ground Raven had trapped McNair in one of the special books. With no master to drive them the dark creatures were unsure of what they should be doing.

"The Dark Lord has been vanquished" Rachel declared "Leave now if you don't want to be next".

The trolls, ogres, goblins and other creatures began to slink away as I went up to the throne that was mostly made of bones. I then moved McNair's axe into the storage space, as it would be a nice souvenir of this trip.

"You know if this had happened in the Harry Potter books this would have taken most of the school year to sort out" commented Dawn "We handled it in less than an hour".

Rather than add to that I went and sat on the throne.

"Magnus no!" called out Raven.

"Magnus yes!" was my reply.

Hermione and Dawn looked a little confused. Having not figured out what I was thinking about doing.

"You can't declare yourself Lord of Narnia" stated Rachel.

I felt fairly certain that I could.

"You don't count as a human anymore" the former Teen Titan reminded.

That hadn't stopped Jadis.

"Aslan won't like it" argued Dawn "Remember what happened to the White Queen".

I wasn't going to get into a fight with the talking cat who can come back from the dead and reverse magic powerful enough to turn people into stone with just his breath.

"At least let me loot the treasury," I said "or ransack the library if they have one here".

Hermione didn't like the sound of that.

"You can't steal from the people here" she insisted.

Raven had already claimed the White Queen's spell book. Which was the only bit of loot worth having, but to be fair she had actually defeated the Death Eater.

"I should be able to reverse the flesh-t0-stone spell for the people in the courtyard," she said.

Then we'd go home I figured. Maybe explore Narnia when the weather improved.

---

Part 31

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Sorry that it's been so long since I updated this story I've been focused on commission work and on my BTVS story, but since I have some free time I will try to write some more for my other stories.

Retirement Plan (Harry Potter SI)

Part 31

Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Magical World.

Albus Dumbledore had no idea what he was supposed to do. Well, that wasn't entirely true, he knew what to do for his job, and he had tasks at the Ministry that he needed to handle, it was more that he didn't know what to do in terms of the battle against the dark forces of this world.

As he sat at his desk and filled out some paperwork that was so routine he could have completed it in his sleep, he pondered what to do about the struggle against the darkness, or rather the lack of any darkness to struggle against.

Since there was no sign of Voldemort and there hadn't been since Halloween it looked as if the Dark Lord was really gone, and with him gone many of the Death Eaters in Azkaban had just given up, allowing themselves to succumb to that horrible place and die.

The disappearance of Death Eaters outside of Azkaban had caused others to go deep into hiding or flee the country. Even the vampire covens and werewolf clans were attempting to stay out of trouble.

Dumbledore still had no idea what had happened that night but since Halloween, the prophecy made so many years ago seemed to have been completed in some sense.

He was certain that the connection between Harry Potter and Tom Riddle had been broken because the scar on Harry's forehead was a physical mark of their connection and it was fading away.

Add to that the disappearance of the Dark Mark, which was also tied to Tom, and it looked as if there would be no Dark Lord to return to plague this country.

This should be good news, but Dumbledore still had no idea who was behind the defeat of Voldemort, and that worried him as much as the idea of Tom returning to power. Actually, it might be worse since he could predict Voldemort's actions and Dumbledore knew who the Dark Lord's followers were.

As for the Ministry, it looked as if Amelia Bones would replace Fudge and she was not a big fan of the Headmaster. This was fair due to him having failed to protect Edgar Bones and his family.

Edgar had been part of the Order and he'd been targeted because of it along with his whole family. Amelia believed that her brother should have stayed out of the fighting since he had family to care for.

Perhaps if Lucius Malfoy were still around then the Headmaster would have more to do at the Ministry, but he'd vanished along with that horrible Umbridge woman, no loss there.

Without Malfoy's coin, Fudge had been unable to hold onto his position and he'd not been listening to Dumbledore as much as he used to so the Headmaster had begun to distance himself from Fudge.

These disappearances were concerning as while none of those lost were good wizards or witches the rise of Lord Voldemort to the title of Dark Lord had begun with the disappearances of those whom Tom Riddle thought would get in his way.

For a time he had wondered if the missing magical people were murder victims, that these were some sort of revenge killings, performed by someone who had suffered, perhaps as a child during the war, and was now getting revenge for their lost family.

Umbridge's disappearance didn't fit that pattern. Plus there were still a few former Death Eaters going about their lives openly who were publicly known to have escaped Azkaban through bribery or political connections. Why had none of them been targeted?

If Voldemort wasn't behind the missing people and the disappearances weren't acts of revenge, then Dumbledore feared that a new Dark Lord might soon appear, but since he had no idea who that would be he had no idea how to handle this situation.

As far as he was aware there were no witches and wizards around who had the kind of power or knowledge required to defeat Tom even in his weakened state. Not unless they somehow found out about the connection between Harry Potter and Voldemort and had found some way to exploit it.

Yet clearly someone out there had known and they were able to make people vanish without a trace. Since Dumbledore had no idea who they were all he could was wait until they revealed themselves or at least left some sort of clue as to their identity when they next went after a target.

The problem with this was that Dumbledore felt his age. He'd lived for over a century and while there were many of his kind who'd lived much longer than that the Headmaster was starting to slow down. He couldn't do as much as he used to.

He considered doing this before, but now he had little choice in the matter. It was time to start grooming his successor. He would have to start spending more time with the Boy-Who-Lived so as to prepare him to stand against the darkness in the future.

Harry should have been allowed to finish his schooling, make friends and grow in confidence, but the Headmaster felt he had little choice. The lad was an adult now and it was time for him to take his place in the community.

He would visit the boy over the summer and begin to teach him about how to be a leader for those who chose to face the darkness. Harry Potter would carry on his work and be properly guided.

That would be the best way to spend his remaining years and he would keep a watchful eye open just in case a new dark lord would rise up or Tom somehow returned.

Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Magical World.

"You know, I thought that end-of-the-year exams would be awful. However, I found them rather enjoyable" Hermione mentioned as we hiked across the courtyard on our way back to Ravenclaw Tower "What about you lot?".

While I wouldn't use the word enjoyable when it came to an exam as I am not a masochist, the exams hadn't been as bad as I'd imagined during the little amount of time I had spent worrying about them.

I hadn't concerned myself much as they weren't a big problem. Unless I failed them utterly I was unlikely to be held back and it was the Ministry exams, the OWLs and the NEWTs that really mattered.

Since I'd ended up tutoring two of my fellow first-years and because the exams hadn't changed much over decades I'd had no reason to worry.

All you had to do to find out about the school-run exams was enquire with an older student. Once you knew what the exams would involve it was easy to prepare for them and to help others to do the same.

The Charms exam consisted of attributing animation to an otherwise inanimate object. It wasn't always the same object and this year the students had to make a pineapple dance across Filius Flitwick's desk.

"I used a little wandless magic on the pineapple" I shared with everyone "Flitwick was pleased".

While that might be considered showing off and it could have been dangerous to so openly display my advanced magical skills I wasn't apprehensive about it

Being able to move some fruit around without a wand hardly made me seem like a risk to people, and I had shown the school that I had a minor talent for wandless magic before now.

"I assumed that all of us would," said Racheal "Telekinesis is rather basic magic".

As far as I could see, laziness was the only reason why more mages in this world didn't learn to do things wandlessly, it really wasn't that hard. Although they didn't have Raven to teach them.

"I heard that Neville Longbottom blew up his pineapple when Flitwick asked him if he would like to show off any charms he'd learned" shared Dawn "He was trying to shrink a pineapple he'd enlarged".

Perhaps it was possible that he'd used the Reducto spell rather than Reducio. The Shrinking Charm was as the name suggested a charm that caused an object to decrease in size.

It was the counter-charm to the Engorgement Charm. So I figured that Longbottom had used the spell to make the pineapple bigger before trying to return it to its proper size.

I'd helped to teach him how to do such things, and he'd have learned Reducto during our duelling classes.

But despite them having very similar names the two spells weren't much alike so I had to wonder how anyone could get them mixed up.

The Transfiguration exam always consisted of transfiguring a living into an object. We first-year students had to turn a mouse into a snuff box. Extra points were given for how pretty the snuffbox was, points were taken off if it still had whiskers.

Despite my distaste for transfiguring animals as it seemed cruel, I'd done a passable job according to the Deputy Headmistress.

As for the Potions exam that consisted of brewing a potion from memory. Thankfully Slughorn let us pick the potion and I'd gone with a very simple Cure for Boils potion that only required dried nettles, 6 snake fangs, 4 horned slugs and 2 porcupine quills. As such it hadn't been too much work.

"I think that you must be the only person in this entire school who would say that, Hermione," I responded. "I personally think that there was too much writing involved. I would have preferred some more practical work".

While the charms and transfiguration exam had required wand waving, and the potions exam had also involved actual magic, there had been too much writing.

Even in the Defence Against the Dark Arts exam, which really should have been more practical even if knowing the theory was important.

It wasn't as if the forces of darkness would ever attack us with paperwork. Well, the Ministry might, but that was a different kind of evil.

"Oh, the written exams weren't that bad," Hermione said. "Much easier than the exams we'll have to take when we are third years, and then as fifth years. From what I hear from the older students those are just awful".

Well, I'd been to college once already so I should be able to cope with education at that level and it wasn't as if I planned to stay past my OWLs.

"The exams were a fine example of socially approved sadism" stated Wednesday.

No one replied to that.

"Let's worry about them later" suggested Dawn "I want to relax and get a drink".

No doubt there would be an end-of-year party.

"I could do with a drink" I commented.

The party wouldn't start until after dinner so we all had time to get some rest before any more activity.

Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Magical World.

Hermione Granger would swear that she'd been a good girl before she met James Twycross. She'd never intended to become his consort or to join a harem, but being part of his life offered her a lot.

She hadn't regretted it so far, it was just that she didn't want to get into trouble and sneaking into the library in the middle of the night for sex seemed like just the sort of thing that could get her expelled, or at least result in public humiliation.

The general rule at the college about these activities was not to get caught, and they might get caught.

Sure James had that map of his, which let him move around the castle without being seen by anyone, but it wasn't as if he'd been keeping his eye on the map while they were doing sexy stuff. Then again what was life without a little risk?

Besides Hermione didn't want to risk boring James, not if it meant the other witches in his life getting all the attention and support from him. They all had to share and make an effort.

After a few more steps they were out of sight of the door thanks to a large stack of books and before long James's right hand was pressing her against some shelves while his left hand was stroking high up her inner thigh. She was still dressed, but that could change soon enough.

"Sit on the table" he ordered.

After she did as she was told as Magnus would wish, the wizard then knelt between Hermione's legs and scrunched up her skirt. He'd told her to wear one and this was odd because he preferred the witch in tight-fitting jeans or anything else that did a job of showing off her backside.

Now she understood why he'd told her to dress like this as with a skirt she didn't need to take much off for him to get at what he wanted.

This was proven when James pulled down her knickers and then kissed up her inner thigh, following the same path his hand had been going mere moments ago.

She made no effort to stop him because she belonged to him, not that he would ever force himself on her if she really didn't want to do something and she did want to. She really wanted to.

"Daddy,' Hermione said with a soft sigh, knowing that he liked to be called that "You're going to get me into so much trouble".

He seemed intent to prove this to be true, and while the witch was worried about getting caught she felt thrilled to be doing something like this in the library.

Spoiler

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Normally things were so orderly and peaceful here, but tonight it would be something else. Hermione didn't doubt that others like her had come down here in the middle of the night to do things that you shouldn't do in a library, yet she didn't care as right now this was all for her.

"Oh… Oh… Oh! Yes Daddy, right there!' she said as she dug her hands in his hair "That feels so good".

It was a rare thing for James to do this to her, in fact, it more often happened when he instructed a couple of his girls to please each other.

Hermione didn't feel bad about doing that sort of thing because it was for the man she'd come to love and men enjoyed watching that sort of thing, therefore she wasn't a lesbian, not that she felt that there was anything wrong with that. She just liked making her wizard happy.

Hermione didn't think about that, or anything else for a while, as her Daddy, something she'd grown to not mind calling him, rather expertly got her to cum just using his tongue and fingers.

She lost the ability to do anything other than try not to scream so loud that the whole castle would be woken up.

Once he'd done playing with her he pulled out his fingers, then offered them to Hermione's mouth, and she licked him clean just as he wanted him to.

It made him happy when she did naughty things for him, and she'd gotten good at knowing what he might order her to do without needing any sort of verbal command.

"Let's get you sorted," the witch said once she was done cleaning his wet fingers.

Then she began pulling at his jeans as she spoke

"I don't know what came over you James, but this was a really fun idea" she was now saying "Now Daddy, please get that cock of yours inside me so I can make you feel good".

He intended to do just that.

"Turn around and stick your bum up". James ordered

her.

Hermione unsteadily stood up, her knees were a little wobbly and then did as he had commanded. Once she was in place her lover positioned himself behind her and soon slid his cock into her willing entrance.

Soon he began fucking his lover nice and hard, slamming into her so much that the only reason she was still standing was that she had the table to hold on to.

Hermione moaned and held on as Magnus, as he was also known, used her as he pleased. James had spent more time than she'd realised making her feel good in her favourite part of the castle.

So they needed to finish up and return to their separate dorms before someone found them. Not that Hermione minded that the sex lasted longer than she'd been expecting.

James grunted sounding more like a beast than a man and released his cum inside her. As he was half collapsing over her she happened to see the map, which had managed to stay on the table and saw that a teacher was patrolling the corridors near their location.

There was no official curfew, this wasn't a school for children, but you just weren't meant to wander the castle at night. She'd rather not be dragged to Flitwick's office for a talking-to if she could avoid it.

"Someone's coming" she warned.

Lucky for the both of them Hermione had already learned a spell that would make them next to invisible in the darkness and thanks to the magical map they should be able to sneak out of there without getting into any trouble

Twycross House. The Wizarding World.

Rather than spend hours on the train, which is totally optional even if few people ever seem to realise that, my girls and I had all come straight to my house.

We were now having an early lunch provided to us by my hard-working House Elf, and this afternoon we would all spend time exploring our own interests rather than be stuck on a train.

I had a duelling contest to prepare for that would take place over the summer, and I was planning to take us all to Egypt for at least a week as apparently, the tombs were rather interesting to look at. I figured that my girls would like a holiday, but I wasn't going to tell them about it just yet.

While it was tempting to go to Narnia via the wardrobe, an experience I was still a bit giddy about, to practice my duelling without much time passing in this world.

However, it would be a bit suspicious if I suddenly became much more skilled at duelling because I'd been able to spend weeks practising in a universe where time flowed differently.

The ignorant sheep of the magical world would accuse me of using the dark arts or some sort of performance-enhancing potion, I'd rather avoid that sort of scandal and it wasn't as if I was in any kind of rush. However, I still planned to hire a private tutor so as to improve upon my existing skills.

"Why are you dressed as a kitty?" Dawn questioned as Wednesday joined us at the table "A sexy kitty".

Spoiler: Wednesday 'Kitty' Addams

[img: https/i./0OriNUH.jpg]

Now that the school year was over Wednesday had fully joined my group as planned. She was bound to me via my magic as were the other women sitting here at the table.

"I've decided to become Magnus's sexy pet cat" the goth girl declared.

No one had been expecting this.

"Can you explain that" I requested.

I didn't mind if she wanted to dress up I just wanted to know what it involved as it might require me to do something special for her.

"Cats are pets, but they are emotionally distant most of the time and only seek affection on their terms," she said "I'm not emotionally available enough to fulfil the more traditional submissive role that some girlfriends chose to fill. Besides I already had the outfit".

That part made sense to me at least. However, I wasn't sure if this was a good thing as it might mean my mental state was becoming more Addams-like.

"What about the pet part?" asked Hermione "You aren't his property".

Wednesday seemed content to answer these questions.

"Magnus's a Greater Dragon" she replied "Greater Dragons are superior beings to mere humans and he should see me more as a pet than an equal. I'm simply embracing this rather than deluding myself into thinking I can be his partner".

Hermione looked a little offended.

"I'm not deluded" she protested "James isn't inherently superior to me. I just feel comfortable in a submissive role and he enjoys it. I like making him happy".

Our fun in the college's library the other night made that clear. It had been overly too quickly yet it had been thrilling.

"Hermione, you are deluding yourself" insisted Wednesday Addams "In terms of power, wealth and social position, Magnus's is far above you".

I noticed that Raven seemed amused by this conversation while Dawn looked thoughtful.

"She's got a point," said Dawn "I do the whole baby girl thing because James looks after me. He's the Daddy and he's in charge".

She wasn't wrong.

"And because he spoils you rotten" added Racheal.

"And because of that" agreed Dawn.

Hermione had no idea what to say to this. She'd know that I was the leader of the group that the girls were subordinate to me, and that there was a power difference. Dawn and Raven were above Wednesday and Hermione.

What shocked the witch was that Wednesday was so open about it. Hermione was just used to being relaxed about our hierarchy.

"Have you told everyone that you're coming to America with me"? wondered the cat girl.

I hadn't as a matter of fact.

"Didn't you say you weren't going because you don't want to stay at the Adamms home?" questioned Dawn.

Since she'd seen the old TV show and movies she didn't think me a coward for not going.

"After some thought, I've decided that I'm going to use our special keys to return here at night," I told my girls "So I'll only be gone during the day".

We had a way of being able to travel to this house and to return to the place we'd left. I'd just not planned to do that in case one of my girls had someone over and they started to enquire about why I was in the country when I was supposed to be overseas.

I'd have to take an international portkey to get to the U.S. and then take another one to officially return. It was a lot of fuss, but at least I didn't have to deal with the airports.

"I'll only be away for a few days, and there's a time difference so I don't want anyone in the house who isn't part of the group until I'm known to be back in the country" I told my girls "Is that understood?".

They all confirmed that they understood.

"While we are staying with my family I hope we can transfer a few things of mine to the storage dimension to place here" Wednesday was now saying "Your sex dungeon is lacking a few of my favourite toys".

For a virgin, she sure had a lot of kink.

"That's fine," I said.

I was sure that I could learn how to pleasure her with them a good daddy looked after his girl's needs.

"I'll be going to France with my parents over the summer," Hermione reminded us, wanting to change the subject I guessed, "But I'll be staying here for the rest of the summer".

She had a room here so that was fine.

"I'm looking forward to showing you off to my friend Enid" mentioned Wednesday "Her boyfriend Ajax is Gorgon. Mine is a wizard".

Since I didn't think she was a bigot I wondered why it mattered that I waved a wand around.

"I won't tell her you are a dragon. It wouldn't be safe" the goth girl then said.

"Why?" wondered Dawn "Isn't she your BFF?".

That had been my impression. I didn't know Enid well, but she seemed the loyal type on the show.

"Enid is a good person, but she talks a lot, more so when she's nervous" the goth girl explained "I don't want her to slip up and expose James as a dragon. That kind of news gets around".

I didn't want the Ministry trying to drag me off the Department of Mysteries or anything like that. Which they would try to do if they found out the truth about me. It would be a pain if I had to destroy the Ministry and doing that would only get the ICW involved.

"Enid has been having trouble maintaining her long-distance relationship with Ajax" Wednesday said to me "They might have broken up by now".

There was some silence before the next person spoke.

"I have some news" mentioned Raven.

We all gave her our attention.

"I've almost figured out how Dawn and I can return to our original dimensions" she reported "It's something I've been working on for a while, and with the wardrobe to Narina I've figured out how to make a safe and dependable way back to those universes".

Now this was interesting news. Listening to my harem talk about our relationships could get boring.

"You've been working on this for a while" I commented.

That hadn't been any sort of criticism.

"Opening a gateway to other universes isn't that hard for me," she explained "It's doing so safely and being able to navigate that's the issue. With Dawn's blood and my research combined, I'm almost ready to create a permanent portal between this world and the worlds Dawn and I come from".

This didn't surprise me as I knew that while Raven had been working on many projects over the last year she'd devoted quite a bit of time and energy to finding a way for us to visit their home universes.

"So we'll be able to meet your friends," said Hermione.

Unlike me, she'd never seen the Buffy the Vampire Slayer show or had any interest in comic books, so she knew little about the old lives of Dawn and Raven.

"It should be an interesting experience," said the new member of my harem before she brought my attention back to her "Magnus will you claim my virginity tonight?"

That was the plan.

"Yes," I confirmed.

I had no reason to be shy about this.

"Then if you don't mind I'll change into my old school uniform," she said "I know you'll enjoy me wearing it".

She already knew me rather well.

"I want to have a small group lesson in mind magic this afternoon" stated Raven "I'll finish the work on the gateway while you are visiting Wednesday's family".

We still had Lockhart in one of the cells so we might as well make use of him.

"After the lesson, I'm going to go out and pick up a few things for our big summer party" mentioned Dawn "Hermione will you come with me".

She agreed to this and went to grab her bag.

"Don't forget to hire a Quidditch Coach over the summer" reminded Dawn.

This I would do as I planned to join the Ravenclaw team in the next school year as it was part of the Wizarding World experience and it would make Dawn happy. Besides, I'm a dragon I shouldn't allow the mortals to go around out flying me.

"Will do" I promised.

She wasn't the only one with something planned.

"I want to spend some time writing," said Wednesday.

Before long we were all leaving the room.

"Sounds as if everyone will have a productive afternoon," I said as I got up from the table to those who could still hear me, "I'll see you all at dinner".

I was looking forward to deflowering another witch tonight.

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Part 32

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Retirement Plan.

Part 31.

Twycross House. The Wizarding World.

The short and slim teenage goth girl who entered my room was not Raven for a change. This young lady had black hair that was tied in two long braids, dark brown eyes with black eye shadow, and painted black nails. She was Wednesday Addams and she'd come here to have sex with me.

This was not something I'd have ever expected to happen even after finding out that a version of her existed in this world and would be attending the same school as me. Yet here she was, not only willing to go to bed with me, but it was going to an event that would be repeated many times in the future.

I might have been anticipating this event even more if she were not part of my harem. I had not felt any need to rush this occasion because I was already having regular sex with three other youthful witches who were all quite happy to do what pleased me and might be willing to do things I'd never gotten around to enquire about.

Not that pressuring any young woman into having sex with me was at all my style, and I knew that Wednesday would have tolerated me doing such a thing even if it had been. She had far too much respect for herself and I for her.

Tonight she wore her Nevermore Academy school uniform, but her uniform was monochrome instead of the standard colours. I remembered that much from the TV series and it had something to do with her distaste for colours.

While my room had some colour it was subdued enough that she might be able to relax while in my private part of the house even with her room looking as if it would make Count Dracula feel right at home.

I was more interested in looking at my newest consort. Many would see her as beautiful in a somewhat creepy way, and she added to this by not saying as she took off her shoes before moving over to lie on the fancy floor poster bed that had a sinfully soft mattress and sheets made from some material I enjoyed yet knew nothing about.

Even though Wednesday Addams now looked about as lively as a corpse I found myself feeling aroused as she was here for me to claim her fully. To take her virginity and make her mine in a way beyond even that of the contract that bound her to me.

She slowly became much more lively when I began to kiss her. It was pleasantly surprising how she quickly became animated, but given that her parents were a passionate couple perhaps it shouldn't have been so shocking to me that she'd enjoy the intimacy.

Never of us spoke as we worked together to remove her black and grey striped blazer jacket, which found its way to the floor and that item of clothing was soon followed by her grey sleeveless v-neck sweater, leaving her upper body dressed only in a white collar shirt with a black tie, as well as whatever she had on under that.

While she'd taken off the cat ears, because she wanted me to fuck her as a school girl rather than as my pet kitty, this didn't stop her from acting somewhat aloof as I undressed her further. Another girl might be acting nervous at this point, but she remained passive and let me get on with things.

Slowly, I undid the tie and removed it. Then I unbuttoned and opened her shirt, revealing a fancy black lace bra that she'd picked to wear.

"Someone got dressed up for me," I commented.

This time she did speak.

"I considered wearing white for the purity you are about to claim from me, but this bra makes me feel sexier even if it is uncomfortable," she told me "Not that I expect to be wearing it for long".

It unclipped at the front and soon I had her small, firm breasts exposed to my eyes. In my experience, size mattered less than sensitivity when it came to boobs and even with Wednesday's self-control, she couldn't help responding as I put one of her nipples in my mouth.

She once more became animated. She held on to my head as if she wanted to press it more into her chest than was possible. It was almost as if someone had flipped a switch inside her or turned a tap from cold to hot running water.

If I hadn't been so busy exploring her small body for my enjoyment, I might have spent some time seeing what made her react by kissing and touching different parts of her form.

"More," was all she said.

Once she was topless the only thing that remained covering her up was her long black and grey striped skirt, and that was soon gone as well, revealing a pair of black lace panties, that contrasted with her white over-the-knee socks.

I carefully took a grip on each side of her lace panties and slowly pulled them down, revealing her exposed pussy to my eyes and the warm air of my bedroom. It was clear to me that was already wet and and ready to go.

Rather than get to the main even just yet I took a moment to kiss her on the lips. Of course, she didn't kiss me back at first because whatever switch was inside Wednesday's head was currently set to dispassion mode.

When I put my tongue in her mouth the switch got flicked and she had her arms around me as we made out as if were horny teenagers. Although in her case she was a horny teenager.

Her grip on me was a little painful at times as she'd become frantic to be as close to me as possible by pressing our bodies together. Thankfully, she did calm down after a while and I was able to let go of her.

"Are you going to fuck your virgin schoolgirl?" she asked.

She might as well have enquired if I was having sugar in my tea. Yet despite this, I decided that I couldn't wait any longer. I wanted to have her. I needed to have her and I wasn't wearing much so before long I was naked too.

Next, I lined up my hard cock against her wet pussy, her body was eager for this even if she was acting aloof once again. Slowly, I pushed myself into her. She was incredibly tight, and if she hadn't been soaked it would have hurt my cock to put it inside her pussy.

I lowered his head down and kissed her shoulder. Then her neck. Then her lips again. I wondered what would make her respond to me, but she remained placid as a lake until I began to fuck, and then she became more like a feline, in the sense that her claws came out and she stabbed me with them.

At least she was showing some passion now. The whole hot and cold thing would have killed the mood had she remained still at this point, so I was grateful to feel her moving around, and it was easy to fuck her despite her small size as she didn't seem to care what sort of pace I set.

I drove my dick deeper into her warm, wet little fuckhole, and her normal attitude just vanished. She clawed at my back and she made noises rather well suited for someone who liked to wear cat ears.

As time went by I picked up the pace and used her young body for my pleasure as I did with all of my women and they all enjoyed it as Wednesday was doing right now. I could hear her calling out 'Fuck Me!' as I did just that.

I felt fairly certain that when she reached orgasm she cut into my back with her nails and that I would soon be bleeding, but I didn't care about that as she'd become little more than a tight hole to enjoy feeling around my cock.

Once I was done with her I rolled off the petite goth and I noticed that she had a smirk on her face.

"That was a delightful mix of pleasure and pain," she told me "I look forward to having you fuck me like that often".

I didn't care if my sheets would be a bit messy or if she felt the need to talk. I was just going to lie here and relax. If I fell asleep and that annoyed her I'd just deal with it later.

Assuming that she didn't express her displeasure with violence, something that was quite possible with her.

Twycross House. The Wizarding World.

I'd slept in rather late due to Wednesday and myself having stayed up last night. As such it was lunchtime when I became hungry enough to get out of bed and seek out some sort of nourishment.

Wednesday, or Kitty as I might refer to her, and I should be the only person who could get away with such things, followed me and while it was tempting to see if she would eat off a plate I put on the floor I decided not to tempt fate.

If there was one thing I knew for sure was that any Addams could be very creative when it came to revenge, and if she did take things that far then things could get out of hand if my other girls tried to compete.

I much preferred a more relaxed household full of content consorts than competitive girlfriends. I simply didn't have the will or the energy to handle them if they stopped keeping things casual.

Rooby the House Elf was as efficient as ever as he worked behind the scenes. Soon after I sat down to enjoy my soup and sandwich, I found that I had letters to go through despite not having seen them at the table when I sat down.

Since they had been brought to my attention they must be somewhat important, however, as the letters had not been brought to my attention directly nor sent to my study I doubted they were important enough that I would need to act on them right away.

I ignored the chatter of the women in my life. Dawn was no doubt probing her fellow harem member for information about last night, but given how stoic Kitty could be I didn't think she'd be able to pry much out of the goth girl. Although, if anyone here could it would be Dawn.

"Anything interesting?" questioned Raven.

For the most part, there wasn't. I'd been invited to a few social gatherings that would take place over the summer. I would have to decline them as I had many plans for my time away from Hogwarts.

Aside from that Dawn was planning her big party and wouldn't want to attend other people's events. Not that this was an issue, as I'd rather have my teeth pulled out than sit through such tedious affairs.

"Daphne Greengrass wrote to me," I told everyone at the table.

That got Dawn's attention. She liked to keep tabs on my social life, she was mostly the reason I even had one.

"She's a girl in my Ancient Runes class," she mentioned.

I knew about the young woman. She was a pure-blood witch and a member of the Greengrass family, an old wizarding family and one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Meaning that she was above me in social standing yet not a member of the Slug Club, nor was she noticeable in academics.

Quite the contrast from her fanon character. She didn't stand out at all, I didn't even recall what she looked like even though I must share a few classes with her.

I also knew that Daphne's younger sister Astoria eventually married Draco Malfoy, so at least one member of the family didn't mind shacking up with a Death Eater.

"That might be because of me," admitted Hermione.

This seemed unlikely as the Greengrasses would be blood supremacists even if they weren't obvious about like most of the Slytherins.

"What did you do?" I asked.

Hermione looked a little guilty.

"Greengrass is in my Arithmancy class, and near the end of the school year I bragged about the library you have here" she confessed "Not directly to Greengrass, I was talking to some of the other students who have family libraries".

That didn't seem like a big deal. My library was impressive. I'd taken quite a lot of the books out of the Room of Lost Things and added them to the library and due to the strange nature of this large property, the room had expanded as needed so that there was always room for more books.

"What does that have to do with this pureblood girl?" I wondered.

It was Raven who spoke next.

"My guess would be that's she looking for something that will undo the curse on her family" said the goth girl.

I vaguely recalled that the younger Greengrass sister would die within the next few decades. I might feel bad about that if she didn't end up marrying Draco Malfoy. Anyone who did that willingly deserved such a rotten end. The whole Malfoy family got off far too easily considering their crimes.

"And she thinks that she might find some sort of answer in my library," I reasoned.

That would explain why a pureblood family would lower themselves to inviting me to afternoon tea today. They would want me to floo call them to either refuse or accept.

"I don't much about Pureblood culture but I'm guessing that they don't just let anyone poke about in their library" said Dawn.

Of course, Hermione knew a bit about lending books.

"They don't," she told us "There are plenty of books that are out of print these days that can't be printed any more due to some government legislation but they aren't illegal to own, so rich families can have old copies of books you won't find at Hogwarts".

Not shocking news.

"Oh wow, a loophole in the law that benefits the rich," said Wednesday in that deadpan voice of hers "Who would have imagined?".

Since I was rich this law benefitted me so I couldn't complain.

"It's almost as if leaders make laws that benifit themselves and their supporters at the cost of the people they are meant to represent" add Raven.

The amusement didn't last for long.

"I don't want some pureblood bitch messing with my books" I declared.

This got me some upset looks from most of the girls at the table. Wednesday didn't seem to care.

"What?" I asked.

"But what if you have a book that can help?" enquired Dawn.

I shrugged.

"Even if I knew for certain I wouldn't lend it to her" I stated "I don't care about some purebloods who wouldn't spit on us if we were on fire. Heck there's quite a few of them out there who would torture and murder us just for fun".

That didn't seem to get my point across.

"I don't think that there are any Death Eaters in the Greengrass family" pointed out Raven.

That didn't mean anything.

"I doubt Umbridge ever wore the Dark Mark" I argued "That didn't stop her from acting like a Nazi. If we hadn't prevented the second war led by Voldemort then there would be Death Camps for muggle-borns run by people like Daphne Greengrass".

Dawn didn't agree.

"It's not her sister's fault she suffers from a blood malediction" she pointed out.

A blood malediction, also known as a blood curse, was a curse that could resurface in a victim's descendants, it was tied to their bloodline much like how Voldemort was able to curse the Defence against the Dark Arts position.

"I bet they were cursed for some dark deed that has haunted her family for generations," said Wednesday.

It sounded as if she had some experience with that.

"You don't know what" debated Dawn "They might be a nice family".

Somehow I doubted it.

"Even if they are so what?" I asked, "We have healing powers, we could be out there right now helping people if you all care so much".

Of course, if it got out that we could heal people with the powers I'd chosen for us to have we'd either be locked up to be studied or we'd never get any peace because all we'd experience in our lives would be people trying to get us to heal them or their loved ones.

"You might consider letting her use the library as a favour that can be returned later," advised Wednesday "You don't need money, but if this Greengrass family is socially important they might be able to help you in some other way".

At least she knew how to talk to me.

"Okay fine," I said, "I'll send them an owl when I get back from America".

If Greengrass wanted my help she could wait until a time for a meeting that suited me.

Twycross House. The Wizarding World.

For understandable reasons, most of my girls didn't enjoy horror movies. Dawn had spent much of her younger life getting attacked, kidnapped and having monsters randomly enter her home, so movie monsters simply didn't scare her.

Raven had a bad experience after watching a horror movie and she didn't wish to talk about it so I never brought up the subject of horror movies when we did sit down together in the room with the entertainment system.

Hermione didn't care for them. She had no reason to dislike them as far as I knew, the genre simply wasn't her cup of tea.

Wednesday, my new kitten, seemed to think that they were mildly entertaining, and she sat with me on the sofa, in nothing more than one of my t-shirts, her underwear, a pair of socks and her cat ears.

I had invited Wednesday to join me for some cuddles and to watch a movie, or at least as close to cuddling as she was comfortable with. It took her a while to get comfortable and start cuddling with me.

Of course, she insisted it was because she was cold, and she didn't bother to put more clothes on. Instead, she began insisting she was just a bit chilly and that my body provided the warmth she needed.

Not that I minded and I rather enjoyed the movie. The classic film is known as The Bride of Chucky. One of the better horror movies in my opinion.

"So, did you like it?" I asked.

Wednesday nodded.

"It was not as bad as I thought it would be" she said "I just wish there had been more blood."

I'd suspect that it would be rather sedate when compared to the kind of horror movies she would want to watch, and I again made a mental note not to watch anything she picked out as I liked what little sanity I had left.

"Is that all we're doing tonight?" my kitten asked "I was wondering if we would have sex".

Before I could reply to that Wednesday slipped out of my arms and climbed into my lap while facing me. I began to get an erection, and that was why she had taken that position.

"Dawn has shared with me a few of the activities you have gotten up to" my kitty mentioned.

Not shocking since I'd asked Dawn to help my new girl settle into the group by explaining how things were between myself and my girls.

"Do any of them interest you?" I asked.

Dawn was quite eager to do sexy things for me. Sometimes with other people watching or even joining in.

"Yes. I liked a few" Wednesday admitted.

"What exactly interested you the most?" I wished to know.

She just came out and told me.

"I want to try anal" she said "By that, I mean you fucking my ass. Dawn was certain that it wouldn't be happening the other way around".

As Wednesday spoke she squeezed her thighs together and pressed herself into me even more.

"She told me you have special lube for anal sex that it will make the experience more bearable" my kitten mentioned.

Wednesday quickly moved and once she was standing up in front of me she moved her panties down her legs before letting them fly off somewhere. She then got back on the sofa she got onto her hands and knees.

I took the lube out of the storage space pocket dimension. Which was always a good place to put things that you wanted to be kept preserved and might need in a hurry.

"Nyaa," she said as I applied the lube.

I had to stop and ask.

"What was that?".

She turned her head to look at me.

"Catgirls say Nyaa" she said.

As if that explained anything.

"Fuck my ass, Daddy" she invited.

That was much more effective and soon I had my boxers going down my legs, and my erect dick pointing at the girl I wanted to fuck.

"Are you sure you want this Kitten?" I questioned.

She only just lost her regular virginity. Now I was going to take her other cherry.

"Yes. Daddy please" she pleaded, doing her best to seem submissive.

She then turned her head and smirked at me.

"Don't go soft on me now" she joked.

She did have a sense of humour and I couldn't help laughing at the double meaning of her words. Despite that, I didn't give her the chance to make any more clever remarks as I began to penetrate her rear end.

Her whimpering moans, which were quite expressive by her standards, let me know that she was going to need time to used to the strange feeling. A soft yelp left her throat as I began to fill more of her little ass.

"Fuck me Daddy!" she pleaded.

She wanted it rough so that was how I'd give it to her. I pushed myself into her virgin ass and if not for the magical lube even she would be screaming by this point as I didn't take my time as I would normally.

"Harder!" she called out.

Damn, this girl was freaky, and I found myself doing as she wished even though I was the dominant in this relationship.

"Be a good kitty," I said.

In an attempt to remind her about that, I stopped fucking her just long enough to slap her ass. Only she enjoyed it so much it didn't end up sending much of a message. It most likely encouraged her, but that was no reason not to slap her bottom.

"Oh, Daddy!" she shouted.

She didn't have Daddy issues, unlike my other girls, so I could only conclude that Wednesday had listened to Dawn carefully when they'd discussed what my girls got up during sex. Hardly shocking given that she was a curious Ravenclaw and wanted to be good at the things she set out to do.

Anyone who had heard her play her cello knew that she was an emotional person beneath her cold dead exterior, and if the Sorting Hat was anything to go buy there was something very upsetting deep down that she kept hidden. I hoped that I never found out what that was.

Instead of wondering what could be going on in the dark recesses of her mind, I focused on using Wednesday's body to get myself off. I grabbed hold of her slim hips and used them so that I could get a rhythm going.

The little witch whose ass I was fucking might have been trying to make more cat noises, or she might have lost all sense and just been making animal noises for no reason. I didn't know and it was clear she had no intention of stopping me from making her as vocal as possible.

There was just the fucking as Wednesday held onto the arm of the couch as I made use of her last virgin hole for my pleasure. I was done far too soon, at least in my opinion, and before I collapsed back on the sofa I took my wand out of the storage space so I could clean up the mess I made with just a flick.

"That was an interesting sensation at the end" commented Wednesday as she sat down and didn't even wince "I enjoy you climaxing inside me and cleaning your mess was very gentlemanly of you".

It was about the only thing that had been gentle.

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