I visually examined the wound on Maria’s shoulder, ignoring the gray-haired man who had rushed into the compartment where the kidnappers had escaped through a Portkey.
I raised my hand and used Accio for my trunk.
In the distance, there was a crash and a rumble.
Probably that sleeping guy was upset about his broken door.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
With a distinct thud, my trunk landed beside me, summoned by the spell, while I brought my magic and body back to normal.
The self-created fifth-category charms put too much strain on this body.
Another few minutes, and I’d have to deal with my burst veins.
I concentrated on my Occlumency shields, completely suppressing the emotions from seeing my love, and simultaneously sank deeper into the “Lockhart” mental mask.
The smile on my face became more natural, and my magical power was no longer as agitated from the recent battle.
Though, it hadn’t been a battle.
It had been an execution.
I focused on the desire to help and understand.
Healing diagnostic spells slipped from my lips as my wand traced a circle around the wound.
“There…
they kidnapped the girl and her daughter…
we need…”
I silenced the struggling Maria by uncorking a vial of pain-relief potion and pressing it to her lips.
I smiled apologetically at her bulging, outraged eyes as she was forced to swallow the foul-tasting liquid, mentally cursing me.
While she swallowed, medical forceps appeared in my hand instead of my wand.
One quick motion, honed by years of practice when panicked Muggles opened fire on anything “abnormal,” and the enchanted bullet fell to the floor.
“Mmmm.”
The “cork” prevented the girl from expressing her outrage more articulately.
My wand began tracing new patterns.
Restore and Heal.
“Vulnera Sanentur.”
Streams of blood rose from the floor, returning to the girl’s body through the wound.
At the same time, I stopped holding the vial with my left hand and aimed cleansing charms at the blood.
We didn’t need an infection.
A few seconds later, when there was no more blood on the floor, I traced a new wand motion.
“Episkey.”
The wound began to close before my eyes.
The damaged shoulder bones, shattered by the bullet, reset and began to fuse.
I carefully monitored the correct bone alignment through my connection to the Episkey spell.
Satisfied that nothing more than dizziness and general weakness threatened the girl, I stood up, helping her lean against the train wall.
I reflexively straightened my clothes with magic.
My disheveled hair fell into a fashionable style, and a brilliant smile appeared on my face.
“You’ve just been healed by the incomparable wizard Gilderoy Lockhart.
If you ever need help or a reliable male shoulder to lean on, feel free to contact me.
As a true gentleman and exemplary wizard, I’m always ready to help ladies in distress.
Especially for a small token of gratitude.”
I winked at her, following the behavioral pattern of my worn mental mask.
The girl’s eye twitched.
She sighed.
“Thank you for saving me and healing me.
But you didn’t have to be so rough.”
Maria muttered, her eyes showing annoyance, gratitude, and hidden wariness.
At that moment, the train stopped.
I turned away from the girl and used Reparo to fix some of the windows.
It wasn’t particularly useful, as a significant portion of the train’s materials had been irreparably destroyed by my spell, making a full repair impossible in the near future.
But standing there and looking into Maria’s eyes, eyes that had never met Gilderoy Geysek, let alone Gilderoy Lockhart…
I didn’t want to.
While I was trying to occupy myself, the girl headed toward the compartment everyone was interested in.
I snorted, scooped up the enchanted bullet from the floor while no one was looking, and pocketed it.
I’d need to study it later.
Maybe I’d recognize the handwriting of the colleague responsible for its creation.
At that moment, the gray-haired man in the butler’s uniform returned from the locomotive.
He quickly walked past the stinking, burned chunks of the attackers’ bodies, ignoring his own wounds, and bowed to me.
“Please, save my mistress and her daughter, who were kidnapped by these people.”
Looking at this Squib, whose body had clearly been altered by magical rituals, I asked my questions.
“And what are the names of the missing ladies?
And who were the attackers?”
Without straightening, the man answered.
“The attackers are unknown to me.
My mistress’s name is Irisfil von Winter, and her daughter is Illiasfil von Winter.”
“By any chance, is the current head of the German Ministry of Magic’s Department of Magical Law Enforcement Lord Winter, of the ancient and noble House of Winter?”
“He is the husband of Lady Irisfil.”
Hell.
Not even six months in, and I was already tangled up in politics.
I raised my wand and cast a healing spell on the man before me.
I began sifting through the information in my memory about Lord Winter.
Lord of the “Icy Heart.” Stern, unbending, and intelligent.
Also a fierce hater of all non-humans.
In the near future, the 31st Minister of Magic of Germany.
And the most hated man among non-human races in Europe, due to his policies that would spark two bloody non-human uprisings in Germany from 1990 to 1997.
Just “wonderful.”
“What’s your name?”
I asked, while running through possible courses of action and their consequences.
Getting involved in this murky business without knowing all the facts was risky.
Though, technically, I was already in it.
With a bang and a blaze.
On one hand, there were the kidnappers, most likely planning to blackmail one of Europe’s most influential men.
On the other, the German Ministry of Magic, led by Lord Winter.
And me, who had killed a few of the kidnappers, but that didn’t help Lord Winter, as his family had still been taken.
In this scenario, I’d be facing lengthy interrogations and questioning from the German and Czechoslovakian Ministries, with the British involved as well, since I was a “native of foggy Albion.”
Such a high-profile case, one that hadn’t appeared in the headlines in my time…
Wait.
“Sebas Tian.”
“Maria, is something bothering you?”
The brown-eyed girl, who had already put her fifth spoonful of sugar in her tea, turned her thoughtful gaze to me.
The light breeze from the open window of our house brought a refreshing feeling of early autumn.
“My former mentor has been acting strange lately.
I think she’s still grieving over her butler’s death in that train accident.”
“Sooner or later, death comes for us all.”
“Yes.
But Sebas was like an uncle to her…”
I looked at the man, still bent over, who was supposed to die around this time.
At that moment, my love emerged from the compartment, her face grim, and strode purposefully toward us.
My love, who, at this time, should have been in Prague preparing for another trip to Egypt, despite all my attempts to gently dissuade her from such a dangerous job as a Curse-Breaker.
The fates of these two had changed.
Because this world never saw the youngest Master Ritualist in three centuries, Gilderoy Geysek.
The only heir of the Counts Geysek died in 1960 at sixteen, leaving only old Maximilian from the direct line of the ancient wizarding family, whose lifespan was already approaching its two-hundredth year.
But this world might yet see a master of magic named Gilderoy Lockhart…
“Mr.
Lockhart, are you my…”
“I agree!
As a true man, I can’t leave ladies in distress.
I’ll immediately begin their rescue from the filthy hands of their kidnappers.”
“What?”
“Lord Winter will be forever in your debt.”
Maria’s mouth dropped open in surprise as I shrugged off my coat and began pulling items from my trunk for the task ahead.
Soon, a whole system of belts was fastened across my torso and thighs, with small bags attached that were enchanted with space-expansion and had holders for artifacts and talismans.
I put on a custom-made, specially soaked dragon-hide jacket, then began fastening bracers to my forearms, while mentally using magical telekinesis to secure a dark gray cloak to my shoulders.
That Sharp Hoods member had been very helpful with his “donation” of ingredients, which I’d put to good use.
“The magical background is in disarray after your spell, and the train has traveled a considerable distance.
Are you sure you can track the Portkey’s trail?”
My love asked doubtfully.
She might not know or remember me, but that didn’t change the fact that I remembered.
“Mr.
Tian, give me one of the kidnapped ladies’ belongings.
Something they frequently touched.”
Walking toward the most popular compartment on the train, I said to the Winter family butler.
He hesitated, then pulled a small glass sphere from his pocket, inside which a storm cloud crackled.
The ignored girl followed us with an indignant puff.
I walked through the doorway, whose door had been incinerated by my previous spell.
The first-class compartment was in chaos, with belongings scattered everywhere.
Tian hadn’t dared touch anything, fearing he’d disturb the Portkey’s magical traces.
With a smooth wave of my wand and a few spoken words, I revealed the magical and spatial traces of the magical activity that had taken place here.
Before my eyes appeared a jumble of colorful lines, streams, and swirling mists that would make any unprepared person nauseous.
I spotted the characteristic distortion of an activated Portkey, slightly distorted, and sent a small pulse of magic toward it.
Thin lines stretched from the faintly glowing distortion in different directions and deeper.
Too many, and too thin.
Direct Apparition, following the spatial coordinates derived from this trail, would lead to a point far from the exit, or worse, result in a Splinching.
I pulled a ritual circle blank from the tube attached to my thigh. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
I moved the clutter out of the way with my foot and unrolled the parchment on the floor.
A quill appeared in my hand, and an inkwell beside the parchment.
With a smooth, flawless hand, I traced a runic chain in the empty spaces.
Search.
Connection.
Place.
Space.
Person.
Time.
Object.
Coordinate.
The runic combinations, imbued with meaning, began to fill with my magic.
Through the artifact-quill, I sent a mental copy of the Portkey’s trail into the final runic chain, causing it to morph into specific numbers.
Satisfied there were no errors, I brought the glass sphere with the crackling dark rain cloud inside to my eyes.
Emot-dep, or “Emotional dependence.” A rather amusing trinket that visualizes the mood of the person holding it as a weather phenomenon.
I brought the glass sphere to the part of the runic chain whose semantic load boiled down to “Object.” I removed my hand, letting the sphere hover in the air, and spoke the activation words.
“Satus.”
A tremor passed through the air, and the lines of symbols glowed with azure light.
The coordinate numbers began to waver until, a minute later, the coordinates of a single Portkey exit point stabilized.
I took the sphere, rolled up the parchment with the ritual circle, and left the compartment to rejoin the silently waiting butler and Maria.
The sounds of people waking up began to reach my ears.
“Take this notebook.
It’s enchanted with Protean Charms, so we can communicate quickly.
Though I’ve healed your wounds, in your current state, you’d only be a burden, so I can’t take you with me.”
The man clenched his fists, nodded sullenly, and took the small black-covered notebook.
“I’m coming with you!”
Maria, you never change.
“Such matters aren’t for beautiful, delicate ladies, especially ones who’ve just been injured.”
The “beautiful, delicate lady” opened her mouth to express her “position,” her opinion of my “position,” and where exactly she thought my “position” belonged.
“Besides, I have an important task for you.”
The girl’s mouth snapped shut at the sight of my serious face.
I placed my belongings into her hands.
“Guard my trunk.”
I stepped back from the frozen girl and the stone-faced Tian.
“Until we meet again.”
Clutching the parchment with the ritual circle in my hand, I channeled magic into the section with the spatial coordinates.
With a distinct pop of distorted space, I was transported to…
A kaleidoscope of colors and landscapes flashed before my eyes.
…
a dense coniferous forest.
I rolled to the side, ready for an enemy ambush.
Well, “ready” was a strong word.
I stared in confusion at the glass sphere I’d drawn instead of my wand.
The incomplete integration of soul and body was playing tricks on my reflexes.
Fortunately, no one had prepared a “warm welcome” for me here.
I stood up and cast a detection charm.
The translucent wave spread out, finding nothing, and reached a boulder twenty meters away.
They’d cleaned up the trail.
But it wouldn’t help them.
Even with the concealment charms that prevented me from immediately finding the Winter ladies with the Emot-dep, they couldn’t hide completely.
I inhaled the faint scent of the kidnappers and the kidnapped, which they’d clearly tried to remove with a spell.
But for that to work against me, the spell would have to cover at least a kilometer.
My trained eye found a few broken branches on the withered grass, and I smirked.
“These amateurs are no match for a man who hunted werewolves in the Polish forests.”
The “Gilderoy Lockhart” mask began to slip from my consciousness, leaving an empty expression on my face.
Maria stared indignantly at the empty space where that…
that peacock had been standing!
At that moment, the girl became firmly convinced of the truth of a joke common among her colleagues: 90% of all powerful wizards are “cracked in the head,” and the remaining 10% are just very good at hiding it.
“Lady Maria, you may rest in my compartment for now.
I’ll take care of the Aurors’ arrival, calming the passengers, and everything else.”
Tian said courteously, casting a grim glance at the floor.
Automatically following his gaze, the girl looked at the severed head of a wizard lying on the train floor, an expression of bewilderment frozen on his face.
Maria doubled over.
The smell of burnt meat hit her nostrils with renewed force.
Five minutes later, Maria sat in the compartment, grimly wiping the remnants of vomit from her mouth with a handkerchief.
The image of the golden-haired wizard watching her, who had disappeared with a mysterious teleportation after his parting words, surfaced in her mind.
At that moment, he was holding a rolled-up parchment and an Emot-dep, a familiar toy to Maria, who had one just like it as a child.
The only thing that surprised her then was the illusion of a bright sun breaking through the clouds inside the glass sphere.
“What a psycho.
Just a few steps away from him were the ‘finely chopped’ body parts of people, and he was genuinely happy about something.”