By the time Felix, Starla, and Soren had finished most of their shopping, the afternoon sun had begun to soften over Diagon Alley.
Their supplies were packed away, Felix’s new wand was safely secured in his custom holder, and Kratos sat comfortably on his arm, occasionally turning his head to inspect the passing crowd with the stern expression of a creature who seemed to distrust anyone who looked too cheerful.
Felix had just begun wondering whether the day was finally winding down when Starla slowed beside him.
She glanced across the street, and a familiar smile appeared on her face.
“Soren,” she said, nudging him lightly with her elbow, “there’s someone I think you should meet.”
Soren followed her gaze toward the approaching wizard before slowly turning back to his wife.
His eyebrow rose.
“That is an extraordinarily suspicious way to introduce someone. Should I be concerned that you’re about to reveal a second husband you’ve been keeping in London?”
Starla stared at him for half a second before bursting into laughter.
“A second husband? After all these years, that’s where your mind goes?”
“I prefer to remain prepared for unexpected developments. You said it exactly like someone about to reveal a shocking family secret.”
“I’ve known him for years.”
“That does not make it less suspicious. If anything, it makes it considerably worse.”
Felix laughed as Starla shook her head.
“You’re ridiculous.”
“And yet you married me.”
“Some days I wonder how that happened.”
“Too late now.”
Before Starla could answer, Molly Weasley approached with the wizard they had been discussing.
He had reddish-brown hair, a friendly face, and the slightly worn but perfectly respectable appearance of someone who cared considerably more about his family than about impressing strangers.
“Arthur, this is Soren,” Molly said warmly.
“Soren, Arthur.”
Arthur extended his hand.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
Soren shook it.
“Likewise. I’ve heard quite a lot about you.”
Arthur smiled.
“I suspect Molly has been responsible for most of that.”
“Almost certainly,” Soren replied.
Molly gave him an unimpressed look.
“And Starla hasn’t told me everything about you?”
Starla smiled innocently.
“I may have omitted a few details.”
Arthur chuckled.
“I was beginning to think the Falkers were some sort of legendary family Molly had invented to make everyone else feel inadequate.”
Soren glanced toward Starla.
“You see what you’ve done?”
“Oh, don’t blame me,” Starla replied.
“Arthur already had an active imagination.”
“I do,” Arthur admitted.
“Although I have to say, I’m slightly disappointed.”
Soren raised an eyebrow.
“Disappointed?”
“I expected more dragons.”
Felix laughed, and even Soren’s expression softened.
“Give us time,” Soren said.
Arthur immediately grinned.
“Now that sounds like something Molly should have warned me about.”
The adults continued talking while Starla and Molly caught up properly.
Felix watched them with quiet amusement.
His mother and Molly had clearly picked up their old friendship as though no time had passed, and Soren and Arthur were already finding plenty to talk about.
Felix knew Arthur Weasley.
Or at least, he knew the Arthur Weasley who had existed in the memories of his previous life.
He had known him as a character from a story he had loved, a father fascinated by Muggle objects and a man who valued family over status.
But the man standing in front of him was no longer a character.
He was real.
And Felix was beginning to understand how strange that was going to feel throughout his new life.
People he had once known through books and films would continue appearing in front of him, no longer as characters whose actions he already knew, but as actual people capable of surprising him.
Arthur eventually noticed him.
“And this must be Felix.”
Felix turned toward him.
“Yes, sir.”
Arthur smiled.
“Molly has told us you’re heading to Hogwarts this September.”
“I am.”
Fred immediately wandered over with George beside him.
“He’s also the rubbish-bin investigator,” Fred said.
George nodded seriously.
“A pioneer in magical waste-container research. Very important work.”
Felix looked at them.
“I thought we agreed on experimental rubbish-bin enthusiast.”
Fred considered that.
“You’re right. We shouldn’t keep changing your professional title.”
George nodded.
“It could damage your reputation.”
Arthur looked between the three boys.
“I feel as though I’ve walked into the middle of a conversation that began hours ago.”
“You have,” Felix said.
“And nobody intends to explain it?”
“I was curious whether the rubbish bin could be tampered with.”
Arthur’s eyebrows rose with genuine interest.
“Could it?”
Soren slowly turned toward him.
“Arthur.”
Arthur cleared his throat.
“Purely academic curiosity.”
Felix smiled.
“Exactly.”
Soren shook his head.
“I am beginning to suspect that I should never have introduced myself to this family.”
Starla laughed.
“You haven’t been introduced properly yet.”
“That sentence does not reassure me.”
The rest of the Weasleys gradually gathered around, giving Felix his first proper look at the family as a whole.
Percy was there, older than Felix and already carrying himself with the seriousness Felix remembered.
Charlie was also with them, still a Hogwarts student and currently occupied with examining several books and supplies he had apparently decided were more interesting than the conversation.
Felix remembered Charlie as the Weasley brother who would eventually devote his life to dragons.
Bill, however, was not with them.
He had already graduated from Hogwarts and had only recently begun his new job at Gringotts, leaving him with little reason to spend the afternoon buying school supplies.
Charlie, on the other hand, still had another year of Hogwarts ahead of him and had plenty of supplies to purchase.
Arthur noticed Felix looking toward him.
“That is Charlie. He’s still at Hogwarts, unlike Bill, who has just started working at Gringotts.”
Charlie looked up from the books he was carrying.
“Dad, I can hear you.”
Molly smiled.
“Good. Then you can also hear me reminding you that you’re supposed to be buying school supplies, not spending all your money on books about dangerous creatures.”
Charlie looked down at the books in his arms.
“They’re educational.”
“They’re about dragons.”
“Dragons are educational.”
Felix couldn’t help smiling.
Charlie noticed him and walked over.
“You’re Felix, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. Felix Falker.”
Charlie glanced at Kratos.
“Is that your falcon?”
“It is. His name’s Kratos.”
Charlie immediately became more interested.
He leaned slightly closer, studying the bird with genuine fascination.
“He’s beautiful. Where’d you get him?”
“The Magical Menagerie. I wasn’t really planning on getting a falcon, but we seemed to get along.”
Kratos turned his head toward Charlie as though considering him.
Charlie smiled.
“He’s got a good look about him.”
Fred leaned toward George.
“See? Even the bird likes him.”
George nodded.
“This is getting ridiculous. First Felix makes friends with us, and now his bird is collecting admirers.”
Felix glanced at them.
“You two are jealous of a falcon?”
“We’re assessing the competition,” Fred replied.
“Competition for what?”
George looked at Fred.
Fred looked at George.
Neither seemed to have an answer.
“Still working on that part,” George admitted.
Charlie laughed, and Felix found himself laughing with him.
The group gradually settled into an easy conversation.
Percy occasionally attempted to steer things toward more respectable topics, only for Fred and George to derail them again.
Charlie was more interested in Kratos and magical creatures, while Ron mostly watched his older brothers with the resigned expression of someone who had already accepted that avoiding their nonsense was impossible.
Ginny remained close to Molly, listening to everything.
Felix knew all of them.
Not personally, of course.
Not yet.
But his memories supplied years of knowledge about these people.
Ron had been one of Harry’s closest friends.
Ginny had grown into someone remarkably important.
Charlie had become a dragon handler.
Bill had gone on to work at Gringotts.
Percy had taken a very different path from his brothers.
And Fred and George…
Felix’s eyes briefly moved toward the twins.
He knew what would eventually happen to Fred.
The memory was distant but painfully clear enough.
Fred would not survive the Battle of Hogwarts.
Felix had spent years carrying that knowledge in a world where it had been nothing more than part of a story.
Now Fred was standing a few feet away, laughing at something George had said, completely unaware of the future Felix remembered.
Something inside Felix settled.
He didn’t know how much he could change.
He didn’t know whether the future he remembered was truly fixed or whether his existence had already altered it.
But he knew he would not simply accept Fred’s fate.
If there was a way to prevent it, Felix would find it.
He didn’t care how complicated the future became afterward.
Ron eventually drifted toward him, hands in his pockets, watching Fred and George with the expression of someone who had spent his entire life surrounded by people louder than him.
“So you’re starting Hogwarts this year too?”
“Yeah,” Felix said.
“Same year as your brothers.”
Ron glanced at the twins, then back at Felix, and something resigned flickered across his face.
“You know they’re going to drag you into everything, right? That’s what they do. They find someone new and then suddenly you’re part of whatever they’ve decided to do that week.”
“I figured that out about ten minutes after meeting them.”
“Then you’re faster than most people.” Ron paused, then added, almost to himself, “Mum’s going to have her hands full with three of you.”
Felix grinned.
“That’s the plan.”
Ron looked at him for a moment, then let out a short laugh, the kind that came from actually meaning it.
“Yeah, all right. You’ll fit in fine.”
Ginny had been watching Kratos for a while, and eventually she stepped closer.
“Can I see him?”
Felix lowered his arm slightly.
“Of course. Just move slowly and let him come to you.”
Ginny carefully reached toward Kratos, and the falcon watched her before settling calmly on Felix’s arm.
“He’s beautiful,” she said.
“He is. He’s also got quite an attitude.”
Fred nodded knowingly.
“So do we.”
George looked at his brother.
“You mean you do.”
“You’re the one who suggested putting itching powder in Percy’s shoes.”
“That was your idea.”
“I improved your idea.”
Ginny giggled, and even Percy looked irritated enough to confirm that the story probably had some truth to it.
Felix smiled.
This was what he had wanted.
Not merely to enter the world he remembered, but to actually live in it.
The people around him weren’t characters anymore.
They were friends he hadn’t met yet, families he was only beginning to know, and lives that would unfold differently because he was here.
The thought gave him a strange sense of responsibility.
But for now, he simply enjoyed the moment.
They still had several things to discuss before returning home, and Molly wanted to make sure the children weren’t wandering around Diagon Alley until evening.
Charlie came along carrying his newly purchased books and supplies, while Percy kept a careful hold on his own things.
Fred and George somehow seemed to have acquired several objects that Molly repeatedly insisted they did not need, while Ron followed behind them and Ginny stayed close to her mother.
The large group made its way through the bustling street and eventually entered the Leaky Cauldron.
They found a large table where everyone could sit together, and food and drinks were ordered, and conversation quickly resumed.
Arthur and Soren continued discussing magical families and Hogwarts while Molly and Starla reminisced about their younger years.
Felix listened to the adults occasionally, but most of his attention remained with the younger Weasleys.
Charlie spoke enthusiastically about magical creatures whenever the subject came up, and Felix discovered that he could easily spend hours listening to him.
Percy had plenty of opinions about Hogwarts rules.
Ron was fascinated by the idea of Felix already knowing Fred and George.
Ginny was still interested in Kratos.
And Fred and George seemed determined to make Felix part of their plans before he had even reached Hogwarts.
Eventually, Arthur brought up the subject of September.
“We should probably settle on a plan for King’s Cross. Molly and I intend to arrive early, and it might be easier if everyone meets before going through the barrier.”
Soren nodded.
“We’ll do the same. Felix should have enough time to find the platform and get settled before the train leaves.”
“Then let’s meet near the barrier,” Molly suggested.
“We can all go through together, and the children can find one another once we’re on the other side.”
Starla smiled.
“That sounds perfect.”
Felix nodded.
“I’ll be there.”
Fred leaned back in his chair and looked at Felix.
“You’ll find us on the train, won’t you? Don’t make us search every compartment.”
Felix smiled.
“I’m sure I’ll find you. Although, judging by the noise you’ve made today, I doubt I’ll have much trouble.”
George laughed.
“Good. We were worried you’d somehow miss us.”
“You’re both remarkably confident.”
“It’s one of our better qualities,” Fred said.
George nodded.
“We have several.”
“Name three.”
The twins went silent.
Ron immediately started laughing.
Charlie shook his head while Percy muttered something about the conversation becoming ridiculous.
Fred eventually looked toward George.
“We may need to reconsider the list.”
George nodded.
“I’ll get back to you.”
Molly smiled despite herself.
“I think that’s enough nonsense for one afternoon.”
The families eventually finished their food and drinks and began preparing to leave.
Molly and Starla hugged goodbye, promising to see one another again at King’s Cross.
Arthur and Soren shook hands once more, both clearly pleased with the unexpected friendship that had begun to form between them.
Felix said goodbye to Charlie first.
“Good luck with the rest of your shopping.”
Charlie smiled.
“Thanks. I’ll see you at King’s Cross.”
Percy gave Felix a polite nod before moving toward his family, while Ron lingered for another moment.
“See you on the train, then.”
“Yeah,” Felix said.
“See you.”
Ginny gave Felix a small smile as Molly called for everyone to start moving.
“I’ll see you at King’s Cross too.”
“See you there,” Felix replied.
Fred and George were the last to approach.
They both wore the same mischievous expressions they had been carrying since Felix first met them.
Fred clapped Felix lightly on the shoulder.
“Don’t forget us, Falker. We’ve only known you for a day and you’ve already become far too useful to lose.”
Felix laughed.
“I don’t think forgetting you two is going to be particularly difficult. You’re rather hard to ignore.”
George grinned.
“Good. That was exactly what we were hoping you’d say.”
Molly called for the twins to stop holding everyone up, and Fred and George finally started walking after the rest of their family.
They continued looking back and waving until they disappeared into the crowd, leaving Felix shaking his head with an amused smile.
Starla watched him.
“You like them.”
Felix nodded.
“They’re fun.”
Soren looked in the direction the twins had disappeared.
“Fun is one word for it.”
Starla laughed.
“You haven’t even seen them at Hogwarts yet.”
Soren gave Felix a long look.
“I have a feeling I’m going to hear about them.”
Felix smiled innocently.
“Probably.”
The journey back to Falker Manor was considerably quieter.
Felix sat beside Starla while Soren remained opposite them, and Kratos rested peacefully nearby.
The countryside passed beyond the window as the carriage carried them farther from London.
Felix looked outside, thinking about the day.
He had gone to Diagon Alley expecting nothing more than school supplies and a wand.
Instead, he had met Arthur Weasley, reconnected his mother with Molly, met Charlie properly, seen Percy again, spoken with Ron and Ginny, and strengthened the friendship that had begun with Fred and George.
More importantly, the future no longer felt quite so distant.
In his previous life, he had watched these people live their stories.
Now he was living among them.
And that meant the future he remembered was no longer guaranteed.
Felix looked down at his hands.
He had knowledge.
He had magic.
He had time.
What he did with those things would determine what came next.
The carriage eventually reached Falker Manor as evening settled over the grounds.
Felix stepped inside with Kratos perched calmly on his arm, followed by Starla and Soren.
The enormous doors closed behind them, and the familiar quiet of the ancient manor returned.
For tonight, at least, the three Falkers were home.