Gateway 14
The return to The Rook was weird.
Instead of the gloomy mood I expected would come with Luna's leaving, Xeno was almost hyperactive when we reached it, running straight to his office to write letters with a frenetic energy that I'd never seen in him before.
I knew he could be overly excitable when it came to his paper, sometimes even obsessive depending on the subject, but this was just too much.
I waited for him to finish his letter before trying to get his attention. 'Trying' being the operative word as he started writing another letter before I could even approach him.
I waited for him to finish the letter before apparating to his side, making sure not to use my authority or hold back on the power so the usual sound was more like a gunshot than a balloon popping.
The noise was enough to get his attention, make him try to jump to his feet, hit the table with his legs, and fall back down on his chair, red-faced and panting.
"Why did you do that!?" He asked while getting his breathing in order.
"You weren't answering me when I called you," I replied with a shrug.
"And why would you need to call me? We just arrived! And I need to catch up with work." He said, turning back to his letter.
"Xeno, you've been working throughout my stay here," I said before he could start writing again.
"Please," He snorted. "I barely work when Luna's home. The only real work I did after she came home from Hogwarts was when you arrived and after the World Cup."
"Xeno, I've seen you work, you spend hours working every day," I said again in exasperation.
"No, you've seen me prepare for the work I'll do once the summer holidays end. If it wasn't for your article still needing to be finished and printed I'd already be on my way to Spain to meet up with one of my readers to investigate a new creature she'd found in the mountains." He said, rolling his eyes at me.
"Suuure," I muttered, already turning away from him when the rest of his sentence hit me. "Wait, what do you mean the article isn't ready yet?"
"What front page article doesn't come with pictures? I already got Severus to agree to help me with it when he comes to deliver the things you asked for in a few hours." He said dismissively.
"Huh, I guess that's fine then." I nodded at him before walking away.
Two hours later, I was engrossed in an ancient runes textbook on the porch when I heard Severus clearing his throat from behind me.
"Did you bring it?" I asked excitedly. This was the last thing I actually needed to get before I returned home, and the prospect of being able to see my friends and family again soon was finally getting to me.
"Obviously," He said, rolling his eyes at me. "You'd know if you had any situational awareness, something else you'll need to train in your world."
"Yeah, yeah," I waved him off. "Now let's see it!"
I quickly entered the kitchen and made a beeline to a trunk with three small terrariums on top of it.
The first terrarium was filled with dirt and looked empty, but upon closer inspection, I noticed what looked like worms of different colors burrowed underneath the soil. The second one had horned slugs. And the third had blue fire, with small, six-legged red lizards inside of it.
"I see the Fire Dwelling Salamanders have captured your attention," Severus said.
"Can you blame me? These are amazing!" I said.
"Yes, they are also the hardest creatures you and your people will have to deal with for now." He said.
"The fire was a pretty good indication of that, yes." I nodded. "Although I thought they'd be more dangerous." I still remembered Xeno's and Luna's prank, but considering how nothing else was on fire I figured it was fine.
"The opposite, actually," Severus said, drawing my attention back to him. "They are peaceful by nature and are dependent on the magical fire that birthed them for survival, the only danger they represent is the fire they produce which, as you can see, is easily managed."
"As for the others, they are Blind-Worms and Horned Slugs, you shouldn't have any problem with them if you read the material." He said, pulling out a small black notebook from an inner pocket on his robes to give it to me.
A cursory glance inside the notebook showed that the first two pages were dedicated to them while around half of it revolved around the Salamanders.
"Dump it on the most competent person for the job, got it," I said with a nod.
Severus sighed in exasperation but let it go once we heard Xeno coming down the stairs.
"Ah, Severus, great timing! The sun is perfect for the pictures!" He smiled and, with a wave of his wand, summoned a big old-looking camera to his hands.
"I still don't understand why you need my help with this." Severus sighed in resignation.
"Well, what better way to convince my readers than a demonstration?" Xeno replied with a smirk.
"You are truly insane, Xeno," Severus said, shaking his head in amusement.
"As for you," Xeno said, turning to look at me. "Last time I had to go to Diagon I got this for you to wear today." And with a wave of his wand, he summoned a black cardboard box with Madam Malkin's and handed it to me.
I curiously opened the box, seeing that inside was a set of high-quality black robes with details in golden embroidery. Pulling it out, the silky feel of the fabric coupled with the golden glint of the embroidery at the edge lines left me momentarily speechless.
Looking up at Xeno and seeing him smirking at me, I could only say one thing.
"Xeno, what the fuck!?" I asked incredulously.
"What? You need to look the part." He said with a shrug. "Although it's a pity that Malkin couldn't get the right shade of purple silk to cover the inside."
"What 'part' do I need to look like, Xeno?" I asked, feeling the annoyance at his secrecy over the article rearing its ugly head again.
"You don't want to know." The answer, surprisingly, came from Severus.
"What do you mean? Of course I want to know!" I exclaimed, waving my free hand for emphasis.
"Do you trust us?" Xeno asked, looking intently at me.
"What kind of question is that? Of course I do!" I said, my annoyance fading into exasperation.
"Then you'll let us do our jobs." Severus said, looking just as done with this shit as I was.
"Fine." I sighed, moving to go change into my new robes.
"Also," Severus said, grabbing my attention before I left the room. "You really don't want to know, at least not until it's too late to change it."
With a nod at him, I kept going.
The area Xeno choose for the pictures was the field we did out training in.
It was completely fixed from the debris I created or the general damage from Luna's training, evidence that either Severus or Xeno came around after to fix it.
I thought that we were just going to take a few pictures of whatever demonstration Xeno wanted and be done with it, but that hope died a quiet death when Severus ordered me to sit on a conjured chair and started styling my hair and adjusting my robes.
And yeah, Severus knew a whole lot about hair care. According to him, if he didn't, he'd have gone bald from all the potion fumes he gets exposed to on a daily basis.
After around 20 minutes of that, it was time for the pictures, the first of which consisted of me slowly walking toward the camera while Severus stood outside of the camera's view casting light gusts of wind at me.
This is also the part where I was reminded that pictures here are basically gifs, which made me focus a lot more on getting this right, as any awkwardness would also be captured.
That still took over almost an hour and several different takes to 'get it right', as Xeno put it, but from his expression it was well worth the effort.
The second was where things got complicated, Xeno wanted a picture of me tanking attack spells from Severus, that in itself wouldn't have been too complicated, but the way he described it sounded more like a cinematic scene than something that'd go on a paper.
That one took a bit of training before we truly began. Me taking off my robes to avoid damaging them and Severus stepping into view to start casting took over 20 tries each before Xeno was confident enough to start taking the pictures, and even then we still needed half an hour to get it 'right'.
The third and last one was the easiest but also the most dangerous: I had to wandlessly cast something sufficiently impressive.
I was mending the shirt I had under my robes while thinking on what spell to cast when I had an idea.
"Hey, Xeno, does this thing have zoom?" I asked, pointing at the camera.
"Zoom? What's that?" He asked.
"Something that lets you take pictures from farther away like it was close by," I said with a sigh.
With Xeno and Severus not being able to be at a safe distance, most of my spells would be too dangerous.
I kept thinking about it while I finished fixing my shirt and put on my robes.
As I moved through my list of spells, I ended up stuck at conjuration, but simply conjuring something very big would not only not be impressive enough on its own, but it would also be easy to call foul play on, as the engorgement charm could also do it.
And then, I remembered one conjuration that'd be hard to make harmful even if cast wandlessly that probably wouldn't just make a bigger object when cast: Sakura petal rain.
From what I learned about magic since I learned that spell, using more power would just increase the number of petals and/or the area of the rain, and not the volume of each individual petal.
So all that I needed was a way to make it flashier.
I started casting an underpowered version of it coupled with other spells with my wand to see if any of my ideas worked until I finally hit the jackpot on a perfect combination.
"Found it!" I said, getting in front of the camera to clearly show myself dropping my wand in front of it before moving to a distance where I could still clearly be seen in the picture while also having enough space to work my magic.
Raising my hands to my sides and focusing on area over volume I cast the sakura petal rain spell. I didn't perfectly manage it as the number of petals was still higher than I wanted, but I moved on to cast the second spell: the slowing charm.
The effect was instant, all of the petals started moving in slow motion in a beautiful dance, pity that wizarding pictures weren't in color or this would have already been enough.
As they weren't, I had to do something more to grab Xeno's readers' attention, so I focused hard on getting the next spell perfect.
I raised my arms a last time and cast the freezing spell on the petals.
If the scene from before was beautiful, the one now was almost otherworldly, the thin layer of ice covering everything in range made the petals and grass glint madly in the light of the setting sun while not taking away from their colors.
I was shaken out of my appreciation of the scene by Xeno and Severus telling me to get a move on.
Once I looked around me it wasn't hard to see why either, the area that my spells affected was monstrous, easily over a kilometer in diameter.
Seeing both men removing the ice that was covering them I quickly approached them, grabbed their arms, and stepped us back to The Rook.
Later that night, I was sharing a drink with Xeno on the porch, Severus had left just after our return to The Rook to make sure everything was ready for the students' arrival, but before that, he told us that he'd come by one last time to give me something else he had prepared.
'And say goodbye' I thought, easily guessing his true intentions.
I was smoking my second cigarette when I heard the sound of the Floo.
"Out here!" I called out, Xeno quickly conjuring a third glass of whiskey.
"Alex, Xeno." Severus approached us with a nod, gratefully accepting the glass and taking a sip.
"Sev." Both of us said at the same time, making him choke on his drink.
He glared murderously at us, our laughter only increasing his apparent anger until it subsided.
"You need to relax, Sev," I said, taking a drag out of my cigarette. "We'll be working together for a long time and I'd rather you stop stressing yourself with that mask you wear."
Severus looked to be getting ready to start an argument over it when Xeno interrupted him.
"He's right, you know?" Xeno said, leaning back on the steps. "At least with us, you shouldn't need to hide."
Severus's face looked like he had bitten a lemon, but after a few moments, he relaxed with a sigh.
"I'll try," He said, pointedly looking at the garden while he took a seat on the stairs with us.
"That's all we ask," Xeno said with a smile. "Oh, Alex, I have to ask you something before you go."
"Yeah?" I said, taking a sip of my drink.
"Please, try and come by during Christmas." He said, turning to look at me to make sure I understood just how much he wanted me to do it.
"Sure I'll try, but why?" I asked, as taking another month here so soon might not be possible.
"He wants you to take Miss Lov-" Severus started to say before Xeno interrupted him.
"Remember, relax, Sev," Xeno said over his drink.
"He wants you to take Luna to the Yule Ball." He said, rolling his eyes.
"It'd be a shame for her to not experience it with someone she actually likes, especially with the dress she got." Xeno nodded.
"I'll try." I agreed with a sigh, knowing that I'd end up doing it if at all possible.
And from Xeno's look of triumph, he knew it too.
"I'll make sure there are no problems from Hogwarts' end, so no need to worry," Severus added, amusement clear on his face.
"Thanks, Sev, I appreciate it," I replied with a snort.
After finishing our drinks we went back inside, where Severus grabbed a wooden box from the table and handed it to me.
"I thought that, to better help motivate your people, you should have some samples for them to see the effectiveness of potions for themselves." He said, motioning me to open it.
Inside the box, there were two green and six red potions.
"Two wiggenweld potions and six pepperups," He said.
"Thanks, Sev," I said, looking up to him. "These will certainly help.
"Yes, well," He said, looking at the clock. "I should be heading out now, try not to ruin the work I put into helping you and until Christmas."
And with that awkward goodbye, he quickly moved to the Floo, and as he was stepping onto it, I called him out.
"Yo Sev!" I exclaimed as he turned to me. "Take care of yourself out there!"
He nodded with a smile before vanishing in green flames.
The next morning, I had everything I'd be bringing back home in a trolley Xeno conjured for me, I had just finished the last check when he approached me.
"So, this is it," I said, looking at the kitchen that didn't feel odd anymore.
"Hopefully just until Christmas." He said with a nod.
"Yeah," I said, turning my focus on him. "Will you be fine? Not just with all that you're planning, but on your own?"
"I'll manage," He said with a small smile. "Worst comes to worst I can still call Severus for help."
"Fair enough." I nodded.
"Will you be alright?" He asked me.
"Please," I rolled my eyes with a smirk. "As if there's much that I can't deal with."
"That's fair," He replied with a laugh.
I pushed my hand forward for a handshake but he grabbed it and pulled me into a hug.
"You take care out there, Alex," He said. "I know you're powerful but the Gods are too. So don't let down your guard and make sure to stay alive."
"Thanks, Xeno, for everything," I said, slightly emotional at his heartfelt words. "And I will. And so will you."
"I will, I will!" He said, releasing me with a laugh.
"Good." I nodded at him and started to move the trolley to the door.
With a quick focus on my room's door, I grab the handle of the door in front of me and chant:
"This is the Doorway that heralds all of the beginnings! Who's opening brings forth the new era! Open! Heavenly Doorway of Transmigration!"
With a quick shove, I open the door and start pushing the trolley through.
"Hey, Alex!" Xeno calls, making me turn back to him while still moving slowly. "Just remember that Luna will be really sad and disappointed if you don't show up on Christmas!"
"Motherfucker!" I exclaim, but he didn't hear me as I was already through the Doorway.
"Alex!" I hear my mother's exclamation and I have just enough time to take a step away from the trolley for her to hit me with a hug.
"Hey Mom, I'm back," I said, hugging her back.
She pulled away from the hug to look at me before her face contorted with rage as she started shaking my head with all of her strength.
"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING!? LEAVING WITHOUT TELLING ANYONE! I ONLY LEARNED ABOUT IT WHEN I GOT A CALL FROM A STRANGER! AND DON'T THINK YOU'RE OFF THE HOOK JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE KING NOW! THAT JUST MEANS YOU GET DOUBLE PUN-"
I tuned out the screaming, relaxing even as she ranted at me.
'I definitely can't deal with mom when she's angry.' I thought, happy to be home while also regretting tempting fate by bragging to Xeno.
A/N: And now we're finally home!
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Next Chapter: Interlude