"S-s-s-s..."
As the train whistle sounded, the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station.
Leonard dragged his suitcase off Platform Nine and Three-Quarters and found Londo already waiting outside.
The little old man still wore the same rigid expression as always. Only when he saw Leonard did something flicker briefly in his eyes, before he quickly returned to his usual composure.
"I received your report card. You did well." Londo lifted his chin with restrained pride. "Come on. Let's go home."
"Wait a second. Do you want to go take a look around Diagon Alley?" Leonard asked.
"Diagon Alley?" Londo froze for a moment, a wistful look flashing across his face.
"Forget it. What's the point of going there?" Londo sighed. "I've accepted it. A Squib is a Squib. No matter how unwilling I am to admit it, I'm still a Squib with no magical talent. Even if I stubbornly keep trying to stay close to the wizarding world, what good does it do? It just makes me miserable all over again."
He turned to Leonard with a smile.
"Because of magic, I fought with your father. That's why he left home, and ended up dying out there. This is heaven's punishment for me. Punishment for refusing to look forward, for stopping in place and clinging to foolish hopes…"
"You don't need to cater to me. I've truly come to terms with it."
Londo looked up at the sun overhead. The glare stung his eyes until he couldn't keep them open, and tears slid down the corners of his eyes.
"Magic is like the sun resting on the tip of my tongue. Trying to look at it, trying to get close to it, only burns my eyes."
Leonard watched Londo's dramatic self-reflection for two seconds before saying, "Where are you getting all this melodrama from? The point is, I want to go. If you don't want to, you can just go home first."
Londo: ?
Londo stared at Leonard in silence for a moment, then coughed awkwardly.
"How could I let you go alone? You're just a child. I'll go with you."
"You weren't saying that a minute ago," Leonard said. "And besides, before school even started, you dumped me there for over a month, didn't you?"
"Stop talking nonsense. Let's go!"
...
Diagon Alley, the Leaky Cauldron.
Leonard booked two rooms. After leaving their luggage upstairs, he brought Londo into Diagon Alley.
Londo kept saying he'd let go, that he'd given up, but in truth he couldn't bring himself to abandon the wizarding world at all. Like a child, he clung to a lingering hope, desperate to imprint everything he saw here into his memory.
Leonard, on the other hand, was far more casual. He walked ahead at an easy pace, leading the way while scanning the shops on both sides.
With Leonard's memory, he quickly noticed that several shops had changed owners. Their signs hadn't changed, though, and they were still selling the same goods as before.
The new owners were all burly, towering wizards, nearly two meters tall.
They were Werewolf wizards.
With Lucius Malfoy's help, Midgard's tentacles had finally reached into Diagon Alley. And in the future, Midgard's influence would likely continue to expand.
Leonard nodded in satisfaction, then turned and stepped into Flourish and Blotts.
Next term's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was Gilderoy Lockhart, that absolute fraud. When the time came, Leonard would definitely be forced to buy a pile of books that looked pretty but were completely useless.
But buying them now versus buying them later would definitely mean different prices. With Lockhart's money-grubbing instincts, there was no way he wouldn't jack up the prices once he forced students to buy his books.
Leonard had plenty of money, but he still didn't want to be taken for a fool, so he decided to buy the books early.
Londo followed him into the shop. Looking at the towering stacks of books piled all the way to the ceiling, he muttered under his breath and sidled away, clearly worried something might fall on him.
Leonard didn't bother with him. He simply looked at the owner of Flourish and Blotts.
"I'd like a complete set of Gilderoy Lockhart's works."
The owner wasn't surprised at all. He looked up with a smile.
"Certainly. Just a moment."
He immediately picked up a neatly packaged stack of books and placed them in front of Leonard.
"Here you are. Mr. Lockhart's popularity has dropped a bit recently, so we've been selling his books in bundled sets. But I've heard Mr. Lockhart will be releasing a new book soon. The launch event will be held right here at our shop. If you're interested, feel free to stop by."
Leonard ignored the shopkeeper's rambling, only pausing when he heard the words new book release.
Damn it. He'd forgotten that shameless bastard Lockhart still had Magical Me.
Whatever. Buying early wasn't a loss. He could just get that one later.
"I understand. Please wrap them up for me."
Leonard spent thirty Galleons on the discounted set.
Carrying around a collection of books he was destined never to use, Leonard felt like an idiot.
But that was fine.
Sooner or later, everyone became an idiot for Lockhart.
After talking himself into it, Leonard took Londo around for another walk before returning to the Leaky Cauldron.
Back at the pub, Leonard tossed the full Lockhart set he'd just bought straight into Londo's arms, to his delighted surprise. He also sent the owl Gray to Londo's room.
Londo adored Gray, and he loved books from the wizarding world even more. Lockhart's books were perfect for passing the time as light reading.
Just like that, Londo was thoroughly occupied, and Leonard finally got the solitude he wanted.
When night fell, Leonard smoothly slipped into his robes and headed for Knockturn Alley under cover of darkness.
Marcus had already been waiting there for quite some time.
Under Marcus's guidance, Leonard moved through without any trouble, until he arrived before Midgard.
Claudia, dressed in a white dress, was curled up obediently on Midgard's lap, fast asleep like a kitten.
Leonard's attention was naturally drawn to her sleeping face.
In that white dress, Claudia looked like a soft, delicate little white flower. It suited her perfectly.
But Leonard's gaze kept drifting uncontrollably toward her exposed collarbone. Under Midgard's half-smiling look, he felt a bit awkward.
"Stop staring," Midgard said. "Aren't you taking her back with you for summer break? You'll have plenty of time to look then."
Midgard carefully placed Claudia onto a small bed, set the unicorn doll beside her, and stood up.
"Let's go. Malfoy is waiting for us. I get the feeling he's not very clear-headed. He doesn't even seem to understand why we're targeting him."
Midgard gave a vicious grin.
"He looks pretty aggrieved about it, too."
"Tsk. You don't even know what he's hiding, so why are you making that face?" Leonard said helplessly.
"Oh, please." Midgard rolled his eyes. "If you say he's hiding something, then he's hiding something. What's there to think about?"
Midgard waved impatiently.
"Come on. Let's give this Mr. Malfoy a proper lesson."