45. Hit Where It Hurts

I expected something like this to happen, but not like this. The escape of enemies trapped in Askaban was somehow wrong, but at the same time it made sense.

Peter Petigrew had disappeared, that is, Ron's mouse friend had apparently vanished into thin air, without explanation, on the day Sirius had been released, and now, according to the news, it appears that he was the perpetrator of the escape.

Obviously, the assholes at the Ministry, with their rare exceptions, decided that the people would be safe and well, and that they would soon bring each of the fugitives back to their respective cells.

It was time to deal another blow to the future rise of the man without a nose, so I put on my best clothes and headed for Gringotts.

"Grotooth, I want you to recover the losses of the Black family, so cover it with interest, and take 10% in gold for your side. Especially from the families that have allied themselves with the dark guy.

If none of them show up to pay, just transfer the goods from their vaults to mine. When you have that done let me know, I want to take a look at things I can use in the near future."

He just looks at me like I'm a Dark Lord. wide-eyed, surprised. "It will be done, but why? if I may know." he was curious.

"Simple, my friend, the little dark guy is still alive, but in hiding. Now that so many of his slaves have escaped, he will have financial backing, and I don't want to give that advantage to an enemy, so that's why." I explain calmly.

"I pity your enemies, Mister Black." he sighs, but starts digging through his piles of notes.

I stand up calmly, heading towards the exit. "I have no pity for my enemies, Master Grotooth, because in my eyes, they are just rabid dogs, with no cure, and if not killed, they can infect others." I leave your room, and go home.

Since the day of the escape, I had barely seen Dora, who was working almost 24/7. The pretty girl looked haggard and weak, so I tried to help as much as I could.

I offered Amelia some of my people, the ones who worked as security guards for the Black family's many farms. Of course, they would only heed her direct orders, and wouldn't think twice about killing if necessary.

She actually refused at first, but after a while, she accepted the request. There were two attempts to assassinate her, so having people look after her and her niece's safety made her change her mind.

Muggle-borns were plentiful in the wizarding world, and because they were discriminated against by some, and those same few firmly held power in the country, hiring them for this type of service was a no-brainer.

They might be called mercenaries, but they were loyal mercenaries as they strictly followed the contract. It didn't make them slaves, but it did ensure they wouldn't betray those they worked for.

Just before returning to school, where my 5th school year would begin, Grotooth notifies me that a lot of gold and valuables have been added to my coffers. Without waiting too long, I went to check if my prize was among them.

"That crazy cousin of yours, she enchanted the objects in the vault, and when we touched them, they started copying each other like rabbits in heat. I tell you, she doesn't show up, or I'll kick her ass out of here myself." he looked really pissed off.

His arms and forehead were marked with what appeared to be fresh burns.

"This is something I want to see, Master Grotooth, as far as I know, my cousin is tall, and I don't know how her foot can reach her ass so easily. But I leave you with an idea, knock her down first, it might get easier." I tease the leprechaun, who just gives me a sour look.

After digging around a bit, I found what I was looking for, the damn chalice of the founder of my school house. I sealed the thing as I had the others, and now my mind was focused on the last one.

The fucking stone that was hidden somewhere I can't remember where it is, although I can see a picture of the old house where old Volds would hide to have his resurrection.

Now I could only wait, and see how things will progress. Even with so many changes made by me, some things still compensated for others, so there won't be many deviations from the natural line of events.

And even if I didn't compensate anything, it's a written story, already linear, and the changes that the timeline itself allows, is what you can do. The problem is that this rule only affect some realities.

Anyway.

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Was on the train with the big group of friends. Harry, Hermione, Luna, Ginny, Nev, Ronald, Susan and Anna. While we are talking, the train stops abruptly, and the cold starts to take over everything.

Unsurprisingly, the red-haired coward started ranting and babbling incoherently, which made me delete the idiot.

Relax, he's just sleeping.

Without thinking too much, I just invoked my Patronus while helping others invoke theirs.

"Bring to your heart the maximum of happy memories and feelings, as well as the will to protect yourself and those around you. This fortifies and facilitates the magic to be cast."

And it was no surprise, no surprise, when Nev was the first to get his Patronus. A beautiful ferocious and hungry looking tiger, roaring with great pride.

Hermione and her otter, floating around us happily. Harry drew his doe, tall and imposing, full of power. Luna surprises me with a cute and fluffy bunny. Anna has a fierce eagle and Susan has a beautiful badger.

We then made them spread out, protecting the train, and pushing the dementors away. Mine was just a ball, made on purpose so as not to scare my friends too much.

But, I have a curious brother by my side.

"Bro, what's your Patronus? Why is he just a ball?" he looks at me curious and suspicious.

"Say my Patronus might scare and give people the wrong idea. So leave it at that." I'm sincere.

"I want to see later." he looks at me seriously, and I just sigh, nodding in agreement.