Chapter 51.2- Doom Days

I reached into my other pocket and tossed him a single Galleon. “Word of advice kid, don’t place your fingers into pockets that look as nice as mine. These are enchanted to catch you out. Wizards dressed more poorly are more likely to have failing, fading, or non-existent anti-theft enchantments”, I said, disabling the trap and allowing him to leave unmolested. He did not, instead staring at me, and then at the galleon, head snapping between both over and over again. I just chuckled before rubbing him on the hair and leaving him behind. There was something that I liked about ambition— a desire to change your state in life. To believe you were worth more Han the world thought you were. Even just looking at his eyes told me the kid had it in spades.

For one, not for a second did he think he was my lesser. I had more money, more power, more magical knowledge, and he didn’t care. Just saw me as another obstacle to be overcome. That, I could respect. Of course, it was like enough to get the kid killed before he even made it to eleven and got a chance to see just how big the wizarding world truly was.

I caught up to Sirius in no time. I was still shooting up like a reed so I’d managed to become tall enough that I could see the heads of a good portion of the crowd and I just had to look for one with hair worn like his was the worst of the Eighties. I chuckled to myself and made sure yo note to mention to Sirius that the only reason I found him was because of his aged haircut. He would fume. He was quite attached to…whatever that mess on his head was.

He led us straight to the hotel first of all. We had luggage to put down, but it was not like either of us had any pressing need to do so, all our suitcases being shrunk down.

“We could have gone ahead to secure good seats in the arena” I said. This was, hopefully, going to be the only day I’d be spending entirely in the stands. It was scheduled for the opening ceremony and several exhibition duels from actual competitors in the adult duelling scene. I would never admit it out loud, but I was anxious to see what these men were capable of. Back when Flitwick and I had been on talking terms, he’d been unequivocal about me not being ready to duel at that level and it made me wonder— just how good were they?

“I bought a box. Don’t worry, we’ll have the best seats in the arena no matter when we arrive” He said, haughtily with a sniff.

“Should I be worried about the money you’re spending on this? The Penthouse suite, now a box in the stadium itself. Neither of those could have been cheap” I ventured. Money wasn’t something I worried about, we could always make (or take) more when needed, but I had to guard against this man beggaring himself while chasing frivolities.

“Worry not. Treat this like an investment. With the size of the bet I placed on you, the winnings from that will more than pay for anything we spend here and even have us take home a profit” I froze on my way to my room as I heard that.

“You’re joking” I tried— I hoped. He was not, in fact, joking.