The Masked Hero - Part 2
The long line inside the bookstore wound all the way to the back, making it impossible to see the man signing autographs at the central table because so many middle-aged women were waiting excitedly for their turn while touching up their makeup.
It was amusing to see that one of those women was Mrs. Weasley herself, who was even fixing her hair just like the others.
"Good, you're finally here. I waited an eternity for you," Ron said the moment he saw them arrive, wearing the exhausted expression of someone who had been forced to follow his mother around this place the entire time.
Harry and Percy seemed to suddenly realize that they had forgotten something while enjoying their walk and their ice cream with Tyson and Hermione.
And that something was exactly this.
They had forgotten Ron.
Mrs. Weasley seemed to have saved places for all of them, which immediately caused a few complaints from some irritated women who were just about to start protesting.
Until the good bodyguard Adrien stepped in.
Though in reality, all he did was show his face and offer a knightly apology that made the ladies close their mouths.
And suddenly they seemed like the kindest women in the world.
Sally glanced for a moment at the knightly bodyguard who had been following them around to protect them just in case, and after seeing his face, she seemed to understand why the women suddenly no longer had many complaints.
Today, in an attempt to look fairly normal and avoid being recognized as a knight in a magical area, Adrien had dressed quite casually. A white shirt and black pants that made him look effortlessly stylish.
On top of that, in an attempt to tone down both his presence and his perfect face, Sally had created a necklace for him that helped conceal some of his best features, making him look a little less attractive.
But when you only go from a ten to a nine, well, there is not much difference.
Right now he looked like a famous television actor, and he was wearing non-prescription glasses as another attempt to further hide his appearance.
But somehow that only made things worse.
He looked even more intellectual.
Adrien seemed to notice Sally's gaze and turned to look at her, meeting her eyes.
"Is something wrong?" Adrien asked softly.
"Uh... no, nothing. I was just thinking that with those glasses you look like a professor," Sally said casually.
"Oh."
Adrien adjusted the glasses for a moment.
"I suppose that makes sense. Technically, I am one. I have a Master's degree in Literature and a doctorate in History," Adrien replied calmly.
Sally blinked in surprise.
"You are? I thought you were a knight."
"I am."
Adrien gave a small shrug.
"Knowledge is highly valued among us. Gemma isn't the only teacher in the group."
That made Sally remember something.
Mark had once mentioned that he possessed several master's degrees.
At the time she had assumed he was exaggerating.
That realization made her feel a little inadequate.
She worked with the knights at the Veil, yet she had never even finished her final year of high school.
Or rather, she had never had the time to do it.
Adrien, as always possessing that ability to read Sally's expressions with unsettling ease, seemed to know exactly what she was thinking.
"You know, if you want to, it's not too late to try earning a degree. I'm sure many of us would be happy to help. After all, the things you're doing for us at work are genuinely a huge help," he added while lightly touching the pendant that was currently trying its best to hide him.
Trying being the key word.
"Well... I would like that," Sally said without thinking too much about it, smiling.
After all, it had always been one of her dreams.
Along with becoming a writer.
Though her life had ended up taking a very strange turn.
Very strange.
Though obviously, she had done it for the sake of protecting her children.
Before the two of them could continue their conversation while moving forward with the line, a sudden noise caught their attention.
As well as the attention of everyone around them who was waiting for an autograph from the Masked Hero.
Apparently, the sound had come from the table where he had been sitting.
And it had indeed come from there, because suddenly a cape could be seen fluttering as it disappeared at high speed through a nearby door, as though its owner were fleeing for his life, leaving everyone completely confused.
Including Harry, Percy, Hermione, and Ron, who were standing right at the front with Mrs. Weasley, who had just barely managed to get the final autograph from her hero, though the signature seemed somewhat scribbled at the end.
"What happened?" Sally asked in confusion, looking toward Mrs. Weasley, who looked even more confused than she did.
"He... I don't know. He was talking about how he got that scar while fighting an evil and dark... but before he could say what, he suddenly seemed to see something, went pale, turned around, and simply left," Molly said, still confused and genuinely unsure what had happened.
The only one who seemed to have a somewhat strange expression right now was Harry.
His gaze shifted toward Adrien.
Because while that overly narcissistic wizard had been talking, Harry had the distinct feeling that he had glanced toward his mother for a moment and then fixed his eyes on Adrien.
And as if he had somehow seen through Adrien's disguise, he had jumped up and run away as though his life depended on it.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please excuse us. We regret that the autograph signing has to end here," one of the employees announced while trying to control the crowd. "The Masked Hero has received a very urgent call that requires his immediate attention. It's related to his future academic responsibilities at Hogwarts."
"Will he be a professor at Hogwarts?" someone immediately asked, sounding almost excited.
"Yes. The Masked Hero will be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and he takes this position very seriously. That's why he didn't hesitate to leave everything behind, so we hope you'll excuse him," the employee said.
Those words seemed to calm the crowd considerably once they learned he was doing it for the sake of educating children.
"Wow," Percy said. "Looks like he takes his job pretty seriously."
Hermione's eyes widened excitedly after learning he would be their new professor, clutching her books while hoping she could get them signed at Hogwarts since she hadn't managed it here.
Ron didn't seem very impressed.
Or rather, he couldn't have cared less.
His mother talked so much about that Masked Hero, and he kept seeing girls and women swooning over him when nobody could even see his face, that he genuinely didn't understand why.
Tyson simply looked like an innocent spectator, going along with whatever everyone else around him was saying.
As for Harry, his gaze drifted once more toward the door the man had escaped through, feeling that something about all of this simply didn't add up.
"Well. I have a feeling that our future professor just saw something that terrified him and ran away," he said.
But nobody seemed to hear him.
And a professor who was supposed to teach them how to defend themselves running away like that was probably not a very good sign.
...