"So… the police aren't coming?" Henry asked, surprised by the complete lack of police presence. The explosions, fire, and chaos we'd caused were loud enough that any neighbor would've reported it.
"No. They've blocked off this area. Everything was planned in advance: from the silence in the zone to the attacks. Our fight was isolated from the outside world," I explained as I felt my clones arriving at the attackers' temporary base. Soon, I would have answers. "If any law enforcement showed up, it'd be the magical police… and this is so well orchestrated that probably not even they would detect it without a stroke of luck or coincidence."
"And here I thought I'd already discovered enough hidden truths in the army," he said, scratching his head with an incredulous grimace. "Is this common?"
It was Henry's first time witnessing magic, and by extension, deducing the existence of a whole hidden world with its own structure, rules… and threats.
"Not exactly. This seems like an attack aimed specifically at me, for some reason I still don't know. The magical world has its share of chaos, yes, but attacks like this aren't common outside the darkest periods in history. The magical world doesn't have a large enough population to waste," I said, looking down the path ahead and refocusing. "Either way, answers will come. For now, we need to keep going. We're close; we can walk from here. How much do I owe you, Henry?"
"You fixed the scratches on my car… I'll consider the debt paid," he replied with a smile. Discovering the magical world, with all its potential and dangers, was payment enough for someone like him—always cautious. Knowing something else existed was priceless.
"Red… do you want me to do it?" Andromeda asked softly, raising her wand and looking at Henry with some hesitation. She offered to erase his memory.
"What happened?" he asked, noticing the gesture toward that "stick" with which we'd seen each other fight to the death minutes ago.
"Uh… the usual in these cases. The reason you've never heard of these things before. The magical world doesn't allow its existence to become public," I explained.
"Ahhh…" he nodded, understanding. His expression changed, becoming serious, almost solemn. He took a couple steps back and stood still. "Alright. Do what you have to do," he closed his eyes with a determined look, as if accepting a tragic fate.
"Why do you look like you're waiting to be executed?" I asked laughing at his martyr pose. "It's just memory wiping, not killing you."
"Ahh!" he exclaimed, opening his eyes in surprise. "I thought you were going to silence me… in the other sense." He sighed in relief, visibly relaxing.
"And you were going to accept that so calmly?" I asked, curious. Andromeda, beside me, had the same puzzled expression.
"I…" he hesitated when he saw our faces, but after a moment of silence and following his instincts, confessed, "Actually, I was waiting for you to lower their guard so I could shoot you." He said this while slowly raising the gun he held firmly in his hand. "I wasn't going down without a fight."
Andromeda and I just stared at him, stunned. Not just by the honesty of his confession, but by the calm with which he said it and his certainty he could pull it off.
"Henry… you're quite the character," I said, laughing at the situation. It was clear someone like him could be a real danger to any unsuspecting wizard… though if he tried it with me, it wouldn't end well.
"I can't do otherwise. I've got a wife and daughter waiting for me at home. For them, I'd do anything," he answered, shrugging with some embarrassment but firmness in his voice.
"Oh right, you have a daughter…" I murmured, remembering mine for a second. Everything felt so different now compared to that first time this guy gave me a ride in his taxi with my sister.
"Yeah, she's a sweetheart," he said with a sincere smile, rummaging in his pocket until he pulled out his wallet. He opened it and proudly showed us a small photo, as if he hadn't just admitted he thought about killing us.
"She's beautiful… but mine's prettier," I said without hesitation, nodding seriously.
Henry blinked, surprised. He hadn't expected me to also have a daughter when last he saw me with Tonks, looking like we'd just graduated.
"I totally disagree, and I have no problem pulling my gun out to debate that," he replied dryly, but clearly joking… I think… I'd probably do the same in his place.
Andromeda watched us from the side, amused and nostalgic. For a moment, she seemed to fondly remember Ted when he also got into these proud parent competitions.
"Well, back to business," I said, refocusing. "I need to get my girlfriend's family to stop disowning her and get her inheritance."
"And I… guess I should get back to work," Henry muttered, though it was clear he wasn't very calm about what was coming. "That memory wipe… is it safe? I mean, I'm the breadwinner for my family and…"
I looked at him silently for a moment, then at Andromeda, and finally at my wand. I thought about everything I'd done, said, and proven in so little time.
"You know what? We can skip that part. I don't think anything bad will happen if you know all this. They'd just call you crazy if you told anyone," I said with a knowing smile.
"Sure, sure… maybe I should take a few days off. I'm almost hallucinating with all this magic and stuff, right?" Henry answered instantly, going along with the joke naturally. He was smarter than he looked.
"Well, see you later, Mr. Taxi Driver Who Saw Nothing and Won't Say Anything," I said, shaking his hand.
After a brief nod between us, I turned to Andromeda. As expected, she wasn't going to question my decisions. However, halfway down the path, something made me stop. I thought about what I was building. And then...
"Henry?" I called without even turning around.
"Yes?" he replied, just as he was about to get into his car.
"Do you like being a taxi driver?" I asked, while one of my clones retrieved an item from the merchant and sent it to the inventory we shared.
"Hmm... I guess," he said after a pause. "It pays the bills, you meet interesting people, see new places… though by now, everything feels routine. Well, at least until today."
"And have you ever thought about changing jobs?" I continued, approaching to hand him a small golden card. "I might have an offer you'd be interested in."
Henry took it with some hesitation. He noticed right away that it wasn't ordinary: it had an unusual weight, and its golden surface shimmered with inscriptions that seemed to shift slightly in the light.
"I don't know anything about magic," he said quickly, almost as if excusing himself. "I don't think I'm fit for anything from that world." He hesitated—not due to lack of curiosity, but because of everything he had experienced that day. It had left him on edge, aware of the risks. After all, he had a family depending on him.
"Magic is genetic. If you didn't get a letter at eleven, you're not a wizard. Simple as that," I explained, though I realized I was straying from the point. "What I'm offering is a job that exists between both worlds. Not so different from what you already do, but… more interesting."
"You want me to be your personal driver?" he asked, half curious, half skeptical.
"Oh, no. I barely use vehicles," I laughed. "But it would be something like a transporter. For now, it's not something I can fully explain, but… keep the card. I'll get in touch with you later. Then I'll explain it properly, and you'll decide if you're interested."
I turned once again and walked back to Andromeda. But before fully walking away, I glanced back one last time—Henry was still standing there, staring at the card with a hard-to-read expression.
"Think about it. It could be something good for your family. I promise benefits from the magical world and beyond—healthcare, education… even a place for your daughter at a certain special school, where she could go further than any normal human ever could. I don't mistreat those who work for me," I said with a sincere smile. I knew my idea didn't have to exclude Muggles.
"I'll think about it…" he finally said, slipping the card into his pocket. "Maybe our daughters can play together, if that happens."
"I don't think that's a good idea right now. Mine would probably eat yours," I commented as I walked off with Andromeda.
And so we parted ways. But Henry couldn't stop thinking about everything that had happened. He thought he'd seen the world, but that day he realized it was much bigger than he had ever imagined.
Even when he got home, kissed his wife, hugged his daughter, had dinner, and tried to resume his normal routine, he couldn't get what he'd seen out of his head. His wife, concerned by his silence, asked if everything was okay. Henry just smiled and reassured her, saying nothing.
That night, sitting on the couch, he pulled the card from his pocket and stared at it in silence. As he ran his fingers over its surface, the card displayed shifting images of the fief: the restaurant, the hospital, fertile crop fields. Phrases appeared like "Any food in the world," "Heal any wound or illness," "Harvests in minutes."
He took another sip of his drink and reflected on the young man's words.Could he really change his life?Was that world truly as incredible as it seemed?Could he give his daughter a better future by accepting?
He still didn't have the answer.
...
Meanwhile, when Andromeda and I left Henry, we started wandering through the streets, supposedly looking for the right address. Not that it was hard to find… we just weren't in much of a rush.
Going to the Black household was the goal, yes, but it also felt like an excuse to spend some time together.
Andromeda enjoyed being able to talk to me, walk beside me. And I… I couldn't help but wonder how much all of this had affected her. I knew my abilities had triggered everything that happened, but it was clear she had experienced it all much more intensely.
"What job were you going to offer him?" she suddenly asked, returning to what I'd said to Henry.
"More or less what he suggested himself: a driver. Not for me, of course. I've found ways to use my teleportation ability to create routes to and from the fief, but I need someone to manage them safely and efficiently," I said as I wrapped my arm around her waist. "In time, I'll tell you more. It'll be useful… and beneficial for my daughters. All of them," I added in a lower voice, squeezing her butt and locking eyes with her. "Do you really want me to get you pregnant too?" I asked seriously, trying to see through her.
I never disliked the idea of sex, not even of getting a woman pregnant—something I had fully embraced after the birth of my first daughters. However, I wanted to discern whether she truly wanted it, or if she was being driven by her own momentary desire—or worse, by the desire to please me.
If it was just lust, I wouldn't hold back, but I would take my time to nurture the right feelings and ensure that she genuinely wanted it. Since becoming a father, my priorities had changed: now I want the mothers of my children to truly love them—not to see them as just another responsibility. In the future, when things are more stable, I wouldn't mind having more; I could handle it. But for now, this is what I seek.
"I've wanted another child for a while now… and I'd be very happy if it was you who gave it to me," she said softly, resting her head on my shoulder as we kept walking.
"Then it looks like I'll have to fulfill your wish… especially the sexual ones, and lucky for you they align with the reproductive ones," I joked, squeezing her butt again. "Seems like you're not leaving me any choice but to get you pregnant.
"Are you going to take me into an alley right now to start?" she asked, glancing around as if genuinely considering where her son-in-law might 'assault' her by surprise.
"It'd be a lovely experience, honestly…" I smiled. "But I'm afraid we'll have to postpone it," I said, lifting my gaze toward numbers 12 and 14 Grimmauld Place. "We're here."