“Thank you for your cooperation, Mr.
Lockhart.
We simply ask that you remain in Prague for the next week while all circumstances of the incident are clarified.”
“I’m happy to help.
As a true champion of justice, I couldn’t ignore what happened.”
“Next time, I must ask you to wait for the arrival of the Auror task force.
This is work for us, not civilians, especially foreigners.”
“Alas, time too often limits our options.
Otherwise, as a law-abiding citizen, I would certainly wait for our guardians of law and order.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“Incidentally, would you satisfy my curiosity?
Were you able to find the kidnappers at that location?”
“Unfortunately, I cannot share that information.”
I looked at the Auror-investigator with an understanding, slightly disappointed smile.
“I understand.
Following one’s duty is a commendable quality.
And since you have no more questions, may I go?”
“Yes.
It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr.
Lockhart.”
“Likewise, Mr.
Horak.”
I shook hands with the standing man, who clearly had some Tatar ancestry, and walked toward the exit of the interrogation room in the Czechoslovak Ministry of Magic’s Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Unlike the British Ministry of Magic, which was located practically under Whitehall, the Czech wizards weren’t constrained by a lack of magic from ley lines.
They’d built a spacious, massive ten-story building in Prague’s primary spatial plane, better known as Summer Square.
In the past, this area had mostly held the ancestral estates of aristocratic magical families and the First Council of Wizards.
Later came a period of “collective rapprochement,” almost an “urbanization” of wizards.
Wizards, who had been fierce individualists in those days, began gradually uniting into various collectives.
This process peaked with the adoption of the Statute of Secrecy.
The First Council building became the seat of the International Confederation of Wizards, and the few pureblood families that had stood the test of time had to make way for Europe’s major guilds.
My former compatriots didn’t want to miss out on potential profits and bought up all available land, later leasing it to other guilds or organizations.
I was currently heading toward the Ministry’s exit, whose main doors opened onto Summer Square.
My robe’s hem billowed with my steps, a smile shining on my face for all the wizards I passed.
But this time, there were far more people with a spark of recognition in their eyes.
“Is that the British guy?”
“He looks like the photo in the Herald…”
“Hey, I heard he’s a writer…”
I overheard the whispers through magically enhanced hearing and narrowed my eyes thoughtfully.
It seemed the kid who’d snapped a photo of our company (me, the Winters, Tian, and five Aurors) entering the Ministry had already sold the picture to a newspaper.
Around the corner, I finally saw the booth with the Ministry employee checking magical foci at the entrance and exit.
Beyond it was the reception hall, flanked by massive fireplaces for spatial transport.
Opposite the visitor registration booths were three grand entrances, each over three meters tall.
Wizards loved the number three.
And if they could show off their wealth and one-up others while doing it, they were unstoppable.
I used to be like that too.
Actually, no, I enjoyed it!
Crowds of wizards moved in all directions, some passing through the wide-open grand doors, others disappearing into green flames in the fireplaces.
A group of Indians who had just exited the Portkey Hall walked past.
There was a throng of reporters, clearly waiting for some Ministry department head or a Master of Magic who’d decided to patent their work.
Among the thousand scents wafting through the hall, I caught a familiar one.
Lilac.
I turned my head, scanning the crowd of wizards, and spotted a flash of a chestnut-haired head.
Dressed in jeans and a sweater, the girl nervously looked around, clutching my suitcase.
It was so strange to see her in the flesh, not in my dreams.
Maria.
“You can take your wand back now.”
“Thank you.”
I took my magical focus from the scales where the Ministry employee with the purple pointed hat had been checking it.
I automatically checked it for any tracking charms or curses.
Leaving your wand in someone else’s hands and not checking it for surprises, even if it had been in sight the whole time…
With that attitude toward my safety, I might as well hold my wand to my own head and shout “Bombarda.” It would be far more merciful than some potential curses.
My smile became more natural as my beloved’s brown eyes finally noticed me.
My legs seemed to carry me toward her of their own accord, and a warmth I’d almost forgotten spread through my chest.
I pushed down the thoughts that this wasn’t the past, that this was another world, that this girl was a different person.
I saw her.
I felt her.
This was my Maria.
She just never knew me, Gilderoy Geysek.
A flash of light hit my eyes.
I barely restrained myself from using offensive charms.
“Hello, Mr.
I’m Lela Novak, a journalist for the Herald of Magic.
Could you answer a few questions about the attack on the train from Prague to Berlin?”
“Is it true that you used Fiendfyre to burn a dozen attackers and destroy a third of the train?”
“What’s your relationship with the wife of the head of the German Ministry’s Department of Magical Law Enforcement?”
“Did you confess your love to Irisfil von Winter?”
“Oh, damn it!”
Looking at the crowd of reporters surrounding me and the occasional camera flashes, I fully immersed myself in the mental mask of “Gilderoy Lockhart.” My face still wore a charming smile, despite the hours-long interrogation with short breaks that had stretched on for almost a day and the interrupted meeting with my beloved.
Maria Binovil looked with resignation at the blue-eyed blond surrounded by reporters.
Yesterday, several hours after returning to Prague from the train for questioning, she’d finally been able to see her mentor-friend and her daughter and even talk to her a little.
But meeting that Brit again hadn’t happened.
The Aurors had taken him away for testimony too quickly.
And now she’d been standing here since morning for three hours, holding a stranger’s suitcase that practically burned in her hands.
And just when she thought she could finally return the damn thing and go home to rest before tomorrow’s train to Berlin, these journalists had blocked her way.
Sighing, she looked at the suitcase again.
Unremarkable, brown, with a black handle and a simple mechanical lock.
“Maybe I should have given it to the Aurors?”
Cold blue eyes with hidden darkness in their depths stared at her from a face with swollen veins.
The oppressive, searing magical power pressed on her shoulders as if she were at the bottom of the ocean, not in a train.
“Better to hand it to him personally.”
Nervously smiling, the girl turned her attention back to the reporters who, even after fifteen minutes of interview, clearly weren’t going to stop.
“Been waiting long?”
“Ah!”
Jumping at the sudden male voice behind her, the girl quickly turned to face the intruder, ready to give him a piece of her mind for such jokes.
She froze.
The blue-eyed blond in the gold-and-blue robe was smiling at her.
“E-ah?”
She followed his gaze to the crowd of reporters still surrounding “Lockhart,” then back at Gilderoy, who spread his hands.
“Magic and no trickery.”
“Pff.”
The girl snorted.
“Lady Maria, you are as eloquent as ever today.”
The wizard smiled joyfully, looking into her eyes, which sparkled with indignation.
But before she could respond, he continued.
“Let’s go to a wonderful café nearby.
My illusion won’t last long, and I need to thank you for fulfilling my request.”
“That request didn’t sound like a request at the time.”
Maria said sarcastically, following the fast-walking wizard.
Only now did she notice that the surrounding wizards no longer noticed them but subconsciously moved out of their way.
“Will a reward of pastries and a cup of British black tea for a job brilliantly done satisfy you?”
“I haven’t forgotten the ‘refined lady’ comment.”
“Oh, so you want a different reward?
And what might satisfy you?”
The appreciative glance that ran over her figure made Maria blush.
The look was too meaningful.
And the wizard himself, despite his narcissism, which showed in almost every movement, was attractive with his good looks and unshakable confidence.
“I’m willing to go to great lengths for such a beautiful lady.”
And his nerve.
“Pastries and tea will be fine.”
Behind them, “Lockhart’s” voice began to ring out, somehow cutting through the noise of the surrounding wizards.
“I’d be happy to continue answering your questions, but unfortunately, even wizards like me need rest after such adventures.
But don’t worry, soon a new book by Gilderoy Lockhart will appear on bookstore shelves, where you can learn all the details of these events.
For now, I must take my leave.”
Turning her head, the girl saw the “Lockhart” figure bow and then explode into golden dust under the stunned exclamations of the onlookers.
The crowd recoiled, mesmerized by the swirling tornado of glittering gold particles that had appeared where the wizard had vanished.
Ministry workers who had come to stop the “outrage” arrived just as the tornado reached the ceiling and spread across it in golden rivulets, which soon disappeared.
Shaking her head, Maria looked at the golden-haired wizard walking beside her.
“Was all that really necessary?”
“People love spectacles, and I love Galleons from book sales.”
“So it was advertising.
Aren’t you afraid they’ll fine you for using such powerful charms in the Ministry?”
“If you’d carefully read the rules for Ministry visitors, you’d know they only apply after registration.
Until closing time, the reception hall is considered an extension of Summer Square, where advanced illusion charms that don’t harm other wizards are permitted.
It’s mentioned in Article 423…”
“Alright, alright.
I get it, you’re the smartest, strongest wizard.”
“Did you have any doubts?”
Looking at the smugly smirking Lockhart, Binovil realized with surprise that she was talking to him as if they’d known each other for years, not as if he’d cold-bloodedly killed three wizards in front of her just yesterday.
She now looked at the golden-haired wizard with more wariness.
“So this is the kind of guy Mom was talking about.
Before you know it, he’ll have you in bed.”
“Darling, wake up.”
A playful finger traced patterns on my chest, patterns known only to the woman herself.
I stirred sleepily, not wanting to wake up and leave the female body pressed against me.
“Wake up.
Wake up.”
“Maria, five more minutes.”
A feminine giggle echoed through the room.
A woman’s hand began to stroke my body, waking it up in ALL the right places.
“Darling, aren’t you forgetting something?”
“And what could I have forgotten, my audacious temptress?”
I grabbed the girl, and with a surprised gasp, I was hovering over her, looking into those precious brown eyes.
Smiling, she placed her hand on my cheek and began stroking it slowly.
“You remember.”
With an effort, I tore myself away from her tempting body and looked at the window.
Outside, heavy rain was falling, interspersed with lightning and thunder.
I frowned at the memory.
Then I swore.
“Oh, damn it.
That damn Frenchman is coming again today, asking me to remove the ‘heir’s curse.’ But I think we have some time for ‘games.'”
“Why did you run away?”
I looked into the precious brown eyes, now with blackened whites.
A chill emanated from the hand touching my cheek.
“We were waiting for you and we’re still waiting.
Me, Grisha, Kretzko, Maximilian, old Tao, and the others.”
“I had to…”
Two cold hands cupped my cheeks.
Maria smiled at me with love in her eyes.
Her delicate, seemingly flawless skin began to pale and crack.
“Fool, you’ve already fulfilled your self-imposed duty and more.
Why don’t you want to find the peace you so desire and return to your family, even after death?
We’re waiting.”
“Maria, I…”
“Or are you already attracted to this version of Maria?
After twenty, you men like them younger, don’t you?
Or maybe you don’t like a girl with a child, even if it’s your own child?
Or is it the pale body you don’t like?”
Or are you in love with something mortal?
“I love you, Maria!”
“Haha.”
Her face slowly approached, and her lips touched mine.
A grave cold flooded inside me, and my body began to go numb and lose sensation.
Darkness filled my eyes.
“I’ll be waiting.”
A clap of thunder echoed.
I calmly opened my eyes and looked at the hotel ceiling.
Sunlight fell on my skin, easily penetrating the window of the room I’d rented again after my meeting with Maria a couple of days ago, followed by tea at the café.
Right now, she was probably preparing for a new expedition to Egypt.
I slowly rose from the bed and walked to the window, which offered a view of the cloudless sky and the bright, dazzling sun.
Not the dim disk that could sometimes be seen on rare clear days after five years of the Cataclysm.
“I need to spend more time on meditation.”
I turned to my things and began to dress.
Today, I needed to buy paper for my calculations and start writing a new book.
I also needed to sort through the “trophies” from those amateur kidnappers-smugglers and visit Kretzko for a couple of potions.
Because of that encounter with the high vampire, I needed to take some measures to gain the ability to fight such creatures directly.
Creatures that were resistant to first through fourth category magic.
I’d hoped to regain the ability to freely use fifth-category magic before I started dealing with such things.
And I had to “get lucky” enough to tangle with a high vampire, and those bastards hold grudges, too.
But fate clearly had other plans.
My hand involuntarily reached for the transfigured, enchanted case.
As I opened it, the scent of lilac hit my nose.
I looked at the lock of Maria’s hair I’d managed to take unnoticed during the treatment on the train.
I’d had to perform a couple of strengthening rituals quickly so that even if she used standard severing charms, the connection between the lock and my beloved would remain.
In a couple of days, I’d make an artifact similar to family clocks that show the condition of family members, and then the connection between the artifact and the girl could only be broken by the highest ritual, “Severing of Ties.”
“Or are you already attracted to this version of Maria?”
I looked at the window, which offered a view of one of Prague’s magical streets.
Maybe this was another world with another past, but Maria and Kretzko were the same here, just never having met me.
And so were the others.
So I wouldn’t let them go through that nightmare again.
And what would happen after I prevented the local Cataclysm or got proof it would never happen…
we’ll see.
There’s too much to do.