Chapter 14 : Mad-Eye Moody

"Sirius, what's going on? There was a sudden magical reaction here, so I brought people right away." The leader, leaning on a cane, with a grotesque, scar-covered face and a false eye that spun like a living eyepatch, looked at the two—one tall, one short—and asked.

Anduin glanced at the figures who had appeared so suddenly, guessing they were probably Aurors. "They're so slow . . . you guys really are something else", he muttered to himself.

Upon seeing them, Sirius guided Anduin to meet them.

"It was two Death Eaters. I recognized them . . . Snape and Avery. Unfortunately, they were wearing masks, so we probably can't accuse them. Those two bastards . . . they attacked me by chance and chased me all the way to Knockturn Alley. Luckily, Anduin stepped in and helped me just in time. Otherwise, I might not have lasted until you got here". After explaining, Sirius introduced the two parties.

"This is Mad-Eye Moody, a Veteran Auror and a member of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. And this is Anduin Wilson, a young wizard I just met. He's really talented; he gave that bastard Avery a proper beating. And by the way, he's about to start Hogwarts this year". Sirius made the introductions and explained everything that had happened to Moody.

Moody listened carefully, fixing his mismatched eyes on Anduin. "Kid, what you did was brave, but this kind of thing isn't something a young wizard should be showing off with. Don't be so reckless if it happens again. If you get hurt, your family will be devastated".

"Mr. Moody, something like that won't happen again".

'If you'd arrived earlier, it wouldn't have been up to me', Anduin thought silently, but still admitted his mistake honestly. He didn't want to argue with this guy who looked like some fierce demon hunter.

"Alright. I won't report your mistake of casting spells outside of school this time. I'll get the details from Sirius and follow up. Go home now. Frank, you take him back." Mad-Eye Moody handled the matter professionally, not giving Anduin any further trouble. He called Frank Longbottom and asked him to help escort Anduin back.

"Mr. Moody, I'm an orphan. I'm currently staying at the Leaky Cauldron. I can get back on my own."

"What? Even so, let Frank go with you." Mad-Eye Moody looked Anduin over again and finally realized why an underage wizard was here, he lived right in Diagon Alley.

Seeing this, Anduin followed Frank out of the alley with indifference. It had truly been a day of rotten luck, running into so much chaos.

"Anduin, thank you! I'll come visit you when I have time!" Sirius shouted loudly at the retreating Anduin.

Yelling that loudly in the middle of the night . . . without a care for others' sleep, Anduin turned and waved back at Sirius wordlessly.

Once back at the Leaky Cauldron, Anduin thanked Frank Longbottom for accompanying him and returned to his room.

Scene after scene from the day kept replaying in his mind.

"Death Eaters are way too dangerous. What kind of spell did that Snape guy use? Its penetrating power was insane . . . not even two Barrier Curses could stop it. Looks like my spell practice isn't enough . . . I need to strengthen the magical density of the Barrier Curse." Anduin made up his mind to train even harder. He wouldn't leave the Leaky Cauldron until school started, he'd shut himself away here to prepare.

After some reflection, Anduin pulled out the amulet again. Gazing at the piece of copper that had saved his life, he decided to write to Lily the next day to properly thank her.

In the time that followed, Anduin stayed highly disciplined, continuing his studies according to his plan. He had basically mastered all the spells from Elementary Spells and Self-Defense Against the Dark Arts, and was now beginning to review textbooks on Transfiguration, Herbology, and Potions.

The day after that night, Sirius visited Anduin once, and they talked at length about his conflicts with the Death Eaters and many things about the Order of the Phoenix. It seemed many in the wizarding world knew of the Order, but few knew who was actually in it. Sirius, however, was a well-known member.

No wonder he was targeted. In Anduin's eyes, Sirius was a showy kind of guy—loyal, cheerful, but a bit of a braggart. Still, Anduin had a good impression of him.

Little by little, Anduin and Sirius became friends, and they began writing letters to each other.

Anduin's correspondence with Lily also continued.

After explaining everything and thanking her by letter, Lily was delighted that her alchemical trinket had helped Anduin. In turn, she thanked him as well, since Sirius Black was also a close friend of hers. She explained that the amulet was actually an experimental piece of hers, and she was thrilled it had worked.

Anduin was speechless at that . . . giving someone a magical item without knowing if it even worked? That was really something. After that, the two of them started discussing how the amulet worked. Anduin was extremely curious—how could a spell strong enough to cut through two Barrier Curses be stopped by this charm? His thirst for knowledge wouldn't let him rest until he explored its secrets.

Lily generously explained the mechanism, though Anduin couldn't fully grasp it. All he could understand was that the amulet had two key parts: one was a responsive charm that activated automatically in danger, and the other was a protective spell imbued with Lily's own unique understanding.

Lily said she'd learned it from an old book at school that detailed spellcasting techniques using emotions. Anduin asked her for the name of the book, planning to study it once he got to Hogwarts.

His correspondence with Sirius, however, wasn't as frequent. One day, Anduin unexpectedly received a package from him that contained exactly 200 Galleons—a thank-you gift. In the letter, Sirius said that although he could've handled those two Death Eaters himself, he still wanted to show his gratitude to Anduin for stepping in.

At first, Anduin had only had a decent opinion of the guy. But after seeing this, his impression of Sirius—the show-off—improved dramatically. "This big brother is loaded . . . just throwing money at me like that. That's next level."

Originally, Anduin hadn't planned to keep much contact with him, but he figured it wouldn't hurt to stay close to someone like that. If one day he happened to get lucky and catch a few scraps, wouldn't that be a win?

So, from time to time, he'd keep in touch with him and flatter the narcissist a little. For that, Anduin had to endure letters full of Sirius's bragging and self-glorification.

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