Greetings!

Since I've had a motivation spike and that someone put the fic in follow today, I decided to be nice and publish again already.
This chapter is rather short, and after this there'll be a last one before you'll finally be able to see what I did with Hogwarts!

Enjoy and review.

Once I'm on the other side, I lose my balance a bit, disoriented, and see that I'm in a shabby bar with a smiling Arthur directly in front of me.

"We need to move to the side, grandma is arriving!"

I follow him docilely while observing our surroundings. There is two doors, one of each side of the room that is almost deserted. An old man is cleaning glasses behind the counter and two cloak clothed individuals are talking around a table in the opposite corner of the room. No one is paying attention to us. I use that short alone time with Arthur to whisper quickly:

"Well played for earlier. Thank you very much."

"It's normal, don't worry. We're friends, aren't we?"

I prefer to ignore his affirmation, and add:

"How did you manage to make up that story so fast?"

"Actually, I thought about it yesterday evening. I thought it might be necessary."

While he finishes his explanation, his grandmother appears in the room, and dusts herself off with dignity. She then takes Arthur's hand, greeting the barman with a nod, and leads us to the door located at the back of the bar. Contrary to my expectations, the door opens directly on Diagon Alley. The contrast is immediate with the dark and dusty environment we just left. Here there's noise, colours, and plenty of people, wizards and other beings that laugh, talk, or bargain loudly. Magic is everywhere! I can see words made of light floating in the air, when it's not outright objects or people.

We start by visiting the essential places that I must absolutely know according to Arthur's grandmother. The wands shop, Gringotts (I do my best to observe the goblins without being offending), Flourish & Blotts… She shows me a cauldron shop whose service is "of better quality than in the other shops, as well as the products". Arthur and I spend a good ten minutes staring at the flying brooms behind a window, and even if I'm not convinced by the concept, I don't really mind. I would fly on a pink tissue, if it was the price to pay to be able to fly! At least on a broom it's possible to hang some objects and to be more than one. I wonder if I could attach a skate board on mine, and surf on it… Worth pursuing. For now I have neither a broom nor money.

Although this last point changes soon because the grandmother, tired of our childish enthusiasm for the brooms gives us three small coins each that we're allowed to spend the way we want. She retreats into the peaceful darkness of a tea salon where we have to meet her "In half an hour Arthur, not one minute more!" and we're free. My mate shows me small shops that he likes in side streets, and we stop for a few minutes to admire a kind of artist that summons fire and dance with it in an impressive display of skills. He casts his spells with a wand, but without saying a word, and he seems to be shaping the fire, both dangerous and friendly, that is surrounding him.

I like the vaguely medieval architecture of the alleys, and the ancient style of the people. It makes me want to write fantasy stories. But well, I'm already living one. If we can call that a life. Although everything is interesting, I can't seem to manage being "there", in the instant. I still have a kind of block, a barrier preventing me from feeling the things fully. But I'm also unable to worry about it.

Eventually I find a pile of second hand books in a small shop and it brings me to a stop. I always loved reading, and I can maybe find something useful. Each book costs two knuts, and it's a pile of dime romance novels (I have a disgusted frown on my face while pushing "The bestiality of a shape-shiffter" as far away from me as I can) and diverse books "De-gnoming for Dummies", "Twenty Recipes in a Wand Turn" and I unfortunately don't find anything about offensive spells, survival, as well as immortality. Well, there's an obscure book about religion, but it looks so boring that it would probably be impossible for me to read more than a few lines before dying of boredom. In the end, I buy a book called "The Big Book of Spells for Daily Life", which will probably be able to teach me some useful things, even if not answering to why I survived my death. Arthur then brings me to a candy shop, and we spend the rest of our wealth in sweets. It's rather fun, and the chocolate frogs give me ideas of funny things to do, even if feels pretty weird to eat moving candies. I'll get used to it. We then join my "friend's" grandmother, and don't spend more time in the wizarding street.

Before going back to the Clifford's mansion, Arthur's grandmother shows me the muggle access to Diagon Alley, in case it'd be useful to me one day. I worship that woman, honestly. It looks like her ultimate goal is to make my life easy. The bar where the Diagon Alley's entrance can be found is located in Camden Town, at the end of a half-underground alley. I love it. When we go outside and I turn to the entrance, I can't see the bar any more. Arthur's grandmother explains me that one needs to find himself less than ten centimetres away from a wand and have magic to be able to see through the illusion. Although, fumbling across the wall I can still feel the door knob. We go back inside, and the old lady explains us that the street itself is filled with muggle repelling charms, which grants that no one will accidentally find the entrance to the wizarding world. "And even if they did, that person would also have to randomly open the door to Diagon Alley, that would be a lot of coincidences."

After this instructive break, we floo back to the mansion. Arthur's mother is waiting for us there with James. My mate throws himself into his cousin's arms, and they hug briefly. James looks happy to see us, and relieved. I wonder what he knows about what happened. Did someone tell him that I'm a killer? In any case, he tries to hug me as well, but I slip away from his arms, letting him shake my hand instead. He seems a bit disappointed, and I have the feeling that he knows too much for my taste. Apparently, the two cousins and Arthur's mum will drive me back home. They seem to own some form of muggle transportation means.

We leave soon after that, because my parents expect me early and I don't really try to speak with James nor Arthur. I just hope that they'll forget me soon. It was cool to know them, but they're useless distractions. Well, I don't worry too much about James, but I'm afraid that Arthur is already too attached. I pack my suitcase quickly, hiding carefully my new book and the remaining wizard sweets at the bottom, under several layers of dirty clothes. Arthur gives me two knuts to add to my stack "In case you go back to our world.". This kid… I thank him and take the money. Am I that predictable?

The farewells are short, but I take the time to warmly thank Arthur's grandmother for her welcome, and for showing me the wizarding world. We then go inside of a big black sedan and Arthur's mum sits behind the wheel. I tell jokes and pun during the whole trip, displaying a joy that hasn't been mine for longer then I can remember.

My "parents" are happy to see me again. For once they're both at home. I have the feeling that Arthur's mother wants to tell them some things, maybe warn them to pay attention to me, but I make sure not to let her alone with them. In any case their joy when they see that I made friends irks me and I'm glad that the Cliffords don't stay for too long. I thank them politely, dodge a hug from the cousins, and as soon as they're gone I hurry to isolate myself in my room. I instantly hide all the compromising objects in a box that I hide at the back of a drawer with some old books and my climbing stuff, where I know that Mrs Winston won't find them.

I eat my dinner with my parents and calmly answer their enthusiastic questions about the camp and my friends. For once, even my coldness doesn't seem to discourage them. It seems that the fact that I officially have made "friends" convinced them that I'm an actual human being, and greatly reassured them. Sometimes I'm sorry for them to have me. They deserved a real kid, not a monster like myself. Someone who would have been able to love them, that would have been able to share things with them… My vague affection is not enough. In the end, I use tiredness as an excuse to leave the table.

At least, alone in my room, once the door is locked (I retrieved the key when I was five years old, and reluctantly the adults have learnt to respect my privacy), I start going through the spellbook. I'll recover the wand in a few days, when I'll be reasonably sure that the Obliviators won't come back and disturb me. I find some interesting things. The most interesting, I find in the "beauty" section, is a spell called "Glamour" which allows for the castor to conceal the skins' imperfections. It gives it a healthy and clean aspect, even if when touching it one can still feel them. I'll have to try that, it should allow me to hide my scars. It would come in handy, and would relieve the pressures of having to restrain myself.

I eventually try to sleep, stunned all the newness and exhausted. Despite all of this, I still need to cut myself before managing to fall asleep. That fucking paedophile, and the time I spent with Arthur and James like they were my friends brought up a lot of things in me. Memories of pain that will never let go of me. Scarred for life and further. Doesn't matter, whatever I do to myself, Quentin is not there any more to care. At least I now know that magic exists, and that saves me.

« Voler
S'évader dans le vide
Avaler l'univers, avide
Rêver »

"Fly
Escape into the void
Swallow the universe, eagerly
Dream"

-Extract from a notebook belonging to Aurore Berger, one year before her death-

And that's it already. What do you guys think of Arthur?
See you at some point for next chapter, and if it's not before Christmas well I wish you to enjoy it if you celebrate it.