A ripple of darkness shimmered at the doorway an instant before Tina, Seraphina Picquery, and Modesty Barebone apparated onto the front step
Tina had made an effort for the occasion hair done, dress tidy and she greeted Baima and Garfield with an excited smile.
"Good evening, Madam President." Queenie cheered.
"Hello, Queenie," Seraphina replied warmly.
Queenie gestured to the massive orange creature seated with impeccable posture beside Baima.
"This is His Majesty, King Garfield the First… and his servant Baima."
Seraphina blinked.
King… the First?
There's a kingdom for this orange creature?
And what sort of household casually uses the word "servant"?
Modesty, however, simply stared at Garfield with unblinking calm, as if meeting a royal cat was perfectly normal. That alone told Seraphina volumes.
Only children from old, secluded pure-blood lines had such composure. Some families remained so isolated they treated the wider magical world like idle gossip, Voldemort himself had never made it onto their radar.
Such families existed…perhaps this girl came from one.
✦••┈┈••✦••┈┈••✦
Everyone eventually gathered around the table.
The meal was not large in quantity, but every dish was made from rare, exquisite ingredients that were nearly impossible to obtain on the open market.
Seraphina's eyebrows rose despite herself.
"This is… quite a feast. It must have cost your family dearly."
A gentle probe to gauge the Goldstein household's resources.
Tina opened her mouth, but Queenie answered first.
"Oh, it wasn't us. Garfield paid for everything. We only handled the cooking and shopping."
"Oh?" Seraphina's gaze slid to the orange king. "Then thank you, King Garfield."
Garfield did not even look up from his plate. The food was far more interesting than politics.
Scheming. High-level magical control. Political sharpness.
Seraphina Picquery had all the traits of a formidable leader. Garfield acknowledged it, but her little attempt to pry into his wealth felt almost insulting.
He chose to play the proud orange monarch and ignored her, continuing to eat while Queenie cut smaller pieces for him.
Queenie then added lightly, "These ingredients are low-value things to His Majesty. Hardly worth mentioning."
Seraphina's eyes brightened at once.
Low value.
If that was true…
"Your Majesty King Garfield," She said sweetly, "Our Ministry of Magic is currently short on operating funds. Would you consider providing… some support?"
Garfield froze mid-bite.
Oh?
So not only did she want his help imprisoning Grindelwald, she wanted his money too?
Over my fluffy orange body, Garfield thought.
He flicked his tail, expression impassive.
"Tell her support is impossible," he projected into Queenie's mind. "However… I can consider an investment. Under magical witness, I'll purchase equity in their Ministry of Magic."
"If they fail to repay, they'll mortgage their headquarters' land to me."
Queenie translated carefully.
Seraphina went silent. That was not "support."
That was a corporate takeover.
Garfield was no longer amused.
He had accepted this mission because Dumbledore had promised a herb that would allow him to speak, a precious opportunity.
But now the American Ministry was testing him… and trying to exploit him.
This could not continue.
"Queenie," Garfield said, "Tell her I will guard Grindelwald for one month. After that, they'll need to figure things out themselves."
Seraphina stiffened. One month was far too short.
Her original plan was to use Garfield until…
One.. they uncovered Grindelwald's hidden vaults, or
Two… they completed negotiations with the British Ministry
And those could take much longer.
Thus began the tug-of-war.
Seraphina countered with an indefinite term.
Garfield refused immediately.
She tried one year.
He dropped it by nine months.
She bottomed out at six.
He returned with three.
In the end, Garfield's stance remained immovable.
Three months. No more.
Anything longer, and the required remuneration… treasure, magical artifacts, rare items would bleed the American Ministry dry.
Seraphina had always considered herself shrewd, sharp enough to navigate the tangle of wizarding politics without ever being outplayed.
Yet only later did she realize the humiliating truth… she had never once managed to outsmart an orange cat.
Her negotiation with Garfield would go down as the second great stain on her political career. The first, of course, was being fooled by Grindelwald.
But this one felt worse somehow. Being tricked by a dark wizard was understandable. Being outmanoeuvred by a plump orange cat who couldn't even speak? Unforgivable.
Compared to Seraphina, who talked too much and whom Garfield found increasingly irritating, Modesty was a breath of fresh air.
Quiet, obedient, and curious, the little girl said nothing unnecessary. She simply stared at Garfield, wondering what made this seemingly ordinary fat cat so special.
From dinner alone, however, she could detect nothing unusual… except that Garfield ate. A lot. Half the dishes on the table ended up in his stomach, and the other half barely survived his second round.
When the negotiations ended, Modesty left with Seraphina, still puzzled.
With Tina as witness, Garfield and Seraphina finalized their contract, which included Seraphina's reluctant agreement to let Modesty return to England under Garfield's supervision.
Seraphina was already calculating the price of a steamship ticket when Garfield abruptly upended her plans. After signing the agreement, he took Modesty to a secluded corner of New York, one warded to repel Muggles and, without warning, opened a shimmering portal right in front of her.
A doorway across worlds. And before Seraphina could even shout, Garfield stepped through with Modesty, and both vanished.
Seraphina's jaw practically hit the cobblestones.
She turned to Tina, flustered. "What kind of magic is that?!"
Tina, well aware she could not reveal the truth, that Garfield belonged to a tier of magical existence far beyond Seraphina, lied smoothly.
"That's just a special racial talent. Unique to Garfield."
"Oh…" Seraphina said, somewhat reassured. Magical creatures often possessed innate skills wizards couldn't replicate. Many were hunted solely for those abilities.
But then another worrying thought struck her.
"Can that portal work inside protected spaces? Inside our Ministry? Or our home?"
Tina shook her head.
"No. Without the owner's permission, it can only appear near the entrance of a residence."
"And the size?"
"Large enough for one person."
"Duration?"
"No more than ten seconds."
After a long interrogation, Seraphina finally relaxed.
At least Garfield wasn't a potential strategic weapon of mass teleportation. If the little orange cat could sustain large portals indefinitely, she would have already ordered his capture or elimination no matter the cost.
Magical creatures were rare, yes, but dangerous magical creatures were another matter entirely.
✦••┈┈••✦••┈┈••✦
Back at her office, Seraphina promptly updated Garfield's danger classification, straight to the highest tier. His file now sat alongside the likes of venomous panthers and ancient dragons.
Meanwhile, Garfield had delivered Modesty safely to Newt Scamander. Before stepping through his return portal, he reminded Newt.
"Don't forget to write to Dumbledore. Tell him to come pick up Modesty himself and to bring me the herbs he promised. I'll wait ten days."
Then he opened a door back to Carter Manor.
Once home, Garfield resumed his inspection of his domain, the sprawling Carter estate, checked on Peggy, observed James Carter and his loyal knight Carl, and settled in to await Dumbledore's magical herb.
England's weather was as miserable as ever, gray and damp.
Three days passed like this.
Then, under the gloomy sky, an owl appeared above Carter Manor. A tiny satchel hung from its leg, glowing faintly with a magical seal.
It circled once, then swooped gracefully onto the rooftop, landing beside Garfield as he surveyed his territory.
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
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