“…If you don’t have money, get the hell out!
You think this is a charity ward?!
Get out!
Out!
Out!”
“I really just need a bit of food.
I can work for it.”
“You, work?
Look at the rags you’re wearing!
What shop would hire you?”
Ivan heard the shouting and poked his head around the corner to see where it was coming from.
A man dressed in robes covered with patch upon patch was being shooed out by a fat wizard brandishing a broom.
The man was very thin, his cheekbones protruding sharply.
His hair was flecked with gray, yet he didn’t look particularly old.
Was he in his thirties?
Forties?
It was hard to tell.
At that moment, he was tightly clutching two copper Knuts in his hand.
“Are these…
enough for a piece of bread?” he asked, looking at the fat wizard with a flicker of hope in his voice.
The fat wizard glanced at the copper coins in his hand and let out a derisive sneer.
“Just two Knuts?
Where do you get the nerve to pull those out?
You think this is twenty years ago?
Even the cheapest black bread costs five Knuts now!”
Ivan watched silently.
He hadn’t intended to meddle in someone else’s business, but the moment the man looked up, a specific person came to mind.
Someone who appeared many times in the original story—Remus Lupin.
Or rather, the future werewolf professor, Lupin.
Dirt-poor, forever searching for work, and forever hungry.
The timeline matched up as well.
At this point, Harry should have just started the plot where the owls deliver his acceptance letters.
Meanwhile, Lupin was still struggling at the bottom of the wizarding world, surviving on odd jobs and the charity of friends.
“Is there maybe a cheap sandwich about to expire…” the man pressed on.
“No!
Now get lost!” The fat wizard spat.
“You still haven’t paid back what you owed me before, and now you want a bargain?
I’m telling you: Not!
A!
Chance!”
Ivan didn’t hesitate any longer and walked straight over.
“How much does he owe you?” Ivan asked the fat wizard.
The fat wizard blinked, confused as to why this kid was running over.
“None of your damn business.
Scram, brat.”
Ivan pulled a handful of copper Knuts from his robes, about fifty in total.
“Is this enough?”
The fat wizard’s eyes widened, and he remained silent.
Ivan pulled out another handful, at least a hundred coins this time.
“Is this enough?”
The fat wizard finally lowered his broom.
“Enough, enough!
He only owed me three silver Sickles.
The rest is enough to buy a whole basket of bread, plus two bottles of undiluted Butterbeer.”
“Then let’s do that.” Ivan turned to look at Lupin.
“You pick what you want.
I’ll pay.”
Lupin stared blankly at the boy who had suddenly appeared.
“Child, where are your parents?
“I’m eleven, not a three-year-old.”
Ivan stuffed a handful of coins into Lupin’s hand.
“Besides, you need this more right now.”
Lupin gripped the Knuts, his throat bobbing as he swallowed.
Finally, he whispered, “Thank you.
I’ll pay you back.”
“Suit yourself.” Ivan shrugged indifferently.
“My name is Ivan.
You?”
“…Remus.
Remus Lupin.”
“Alright, Remus.” Ivan jerked his chin toward the shop.
“Go pick what you want.
I’ll wait.”
Lupin stood still for a moment.
He looked at Ivan, then at the money in his hand, and finally at the fat wizard.
The wizard had already switched to an overly enthusiastic smile.
“Come in, sir!
Please!
We have freshly baked raisin bread, still warm!”
Lupin took a deep breath and walked into the shop.
Ivan didn’t follow him inside; he just leaned against the doorframe and watched.
Lupin was very restrained in his choices.
One loaf of black bread, a wedge of cheese, and two apples.
He tried to hand the remaining copper Knuts back to Ivan.
“This is enough.
Thank you.”
Ivan didn’t take them.
“Keep it all.”
“I can’t.”
“Then consider it an advance.
I happen to need a temporary assistant.”
“You know how to use a wand, right?”
Lupin’s fingers instinctively moved toward the inside of his tattered robes, where a wand was indeed tucked away.
“I do.
But why choose me?”
“Because I’m alone, and you’re alone.”
Ivan grabbed a paper bag from the counter, packed Lupin’s selections into it, and then shoved two extra meat pasties inside for good measure.
“Two people partnering up is always better than one.
Right?”
He settled the rest of the bill, and the fat wizard bowed and scraped as he saw them out the door.
The two walked side-by-side down the small path.
“What do you need me to do?” Lupin asked.
“I haven’t decided yet,” Ivan said honestly.
“Maybe carry things, maybe run errands, maybe…
act as a bodyguard?
Either way, food is provided and wages are paid daily.
Interested?”
Lupin stared at him for a while longer.
“Fine.
But I have to tell you something first…”
Before he could finish his sentence, the alleyway suddenly grew dark.
Three wizards in black robes blocked the path ahead, appearing like three shifting shadows.
They wore dark, heavy robes.
The leader had a scar running from his left eye down to his chin.
The Scar-faced man grinned, baring a row of yellow teeth.
“Aha!
Look what we found.
Two lost little lambs.”
Ivan scanned the three of them.
Their attire looked a bit like the legendary “snatcher” crews.
He had heard some rumors while eating at a pub yesterday.
They were the type who specialized in capturing vagrant wizards, Squibs, and those “who wouldn’t be missed if they disappeared” to sell them to the black mines.
Of course, they also took private jobs on the side, catching fugitives for bounties.
“What do you want?” Lupin growled.
“What do we want?
To take you to a nice place, of course.
Not only is room and board provided, but we even have work for you!”
“You should leave.
we aren’t interested,” Lupin said, his wand already peeking out from beneath his robes.
The Scar-faced man tsked.
“Quite the backbone on this one.”
He drew his own wand.
“I was hoping to save some effort, but I guess that’s not happening!”
Seeing that the situation was about to escalate into a full-blown duel, Ivan quickly stepped forward.
“Wait.
Don’t you guys just want money?”
The snatchers blinked, caught off guard.
Ivan pulled a cloth bag from his robes.
It was bulging and heavy.
He weighed it in his hand, then used all his strength to hurl it upward and forward—
“Whose wallet broke?!
Quick, pick up the money!”
*Clatter-clatter-clink!!!*
A massive bag of copper Knuts erupted like a sudden rainstorm, pouring out and flooding the entire alley!
The Scar-faced man froze.
His two companions froze as well.
But the alley didn’t freeze.
Almost the instant the coins hit the ground, seven or eight ragged, green-eyed paupers surged out from the shadows, the cracks in the walls, and from behind broken doors.
They lunged at the scattered copper coins like starving wolves, using both hands and feet to scramble and grab.
“It’s mine!
It’s all mine!”
“Get lost!
I saw it first!”
“There’s more over there!
Go over there!”
“Grab it, quick!”
The scene descended into instant chaos.
The Scar-faced man’s face twisted with rage.
“Get out of the way!
All of you, move!”
He raised his wand, but an old woman, her eyes red with greed, jabbed her walking stick directly into his kidney.
He stumbled, his spell went wide, and it blasted a patch of a wall into charred blackness.
“What are you waiting for, an invitation to dinner?!
Run!” Ivan grabbed Lupin’s arm and bolted.
Lupin snapped back to his senses and started running as well.
As Ivan ran, he didn’t forget to toss two more handfuls of Knuts behind him.
They took several lefts and rights through the maze-like alleys, only stopping once the commotion behind them had completely died down.
Lupin let out a long breath and turned to stare at Ivan.
“Where did you pull that bag of Knuts from just now?”
He had seen it clearly.
That bag hadn’t been enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm, and it wasn’t even that large, yet it had poured out at least several hundred copper coins.
There was no way a normal bag could have held that much.
Hearing this, Ivan grinned and patted his waist.
“Just a little ancestral trick.
Don’t be jealous.”
Lupin watched him for a few more seconds, then wisely chose not to press further.
The wizarding world was full of strange things.