Magic Multiverse 33 (Patreon)

He was lucky that his little gambling ‘buddy’ had very loose lips while gambling, talking at length about the exclusive gathering of ‘old and distinguished pure families’, guaranteed to have Malfoy there.

The only problem, it was a big risk, especially since it represented a gathering of wizards. Dark wizards, according to gossip he had picked up during the day. Malfoy and Nott were infamous names; but he wasn’t sure he had the full context.

“Let’s observe first,” he muttered to himself.

Luckily, while Draco Malfoy and the rest of his ilk might be dark wizards, they were also rich, so their private exclusive club was at the most exclusive part of Diagon Alley rather than the depths of the dangerous Knockturn Alley.

He had been further encouraged by the people in the gambling den. Admittedly, they were probably the weakest wizards, but even with magic, they didn’t feel threatening. It helped that, with Magical Combat and his trip to the bookstore combined, he had a better understanding of the general capabilities of an average wizard.

By any reasonable measure, they felt much less threatening than the average vampire.

The location of the club meant that it was surrounded by other cafes and restaurants that wanted to benefit from the exclusivity, so, he sat down, paid three sickles for a cup of tea, and used the chance to observe the club. It was fancy, and the official entrance had strict security.

That didn’t apply to another entrance at the back, where he had noticed multiple waiters coming out for a quick smoke. That had been promising … and even more promising was the fact that waiters were wearing fancy masks, no doubt a part of the allure.

But, he didn’t dare to test it. He didn’t truly understand all the magical security measures they could use in such a club. However, he didn’t change his mind either. He couldn’t just sit back and hope everything got solved without his intervention.

People on Hermione’s and Holly’s side sounded too incompetent in politics. What else could explain the losing side of a scary war holding a post equivalent to Head of Foreign Office?

He decided to stay patient instead. He sat in front of the club, waiting for an opportunity. No expensive club was free of commotion. He didn’t have anything specific in mind. Maybe one of the waiters would pull a supply run, or maybe there would be a fight near the entrance, intense enough to allow him to slip inside.

He got what he had been looking for an hour later, when an angry woman burst out of the club, escorted by two others that were trying to calm her down. They weren’t the first people going in or out, but considering the one in the middle was complaining about Draco’s betrayal loudly, he decided it was worth checking.

He paid the bill and left, following them from a distance. Luckily, their argument was loud enough.

"—and after everything, he just decides on a whim to abandon me, instead picking that sickly bitch Astoria as his new fiancee. Can you believe it?” the woman complained. “But it’s my fault for trusting Malfoys. Fucking backstabbers,” she complained loudly to her friends.

Sam could see that it was a mistake, because her friends were clearly uncomfortable talking badly about Malfoy. “Please, Pansy,” one of them finally whispered. “Not so loud. You know he is on the rise once more.”

“Only because they went and begged that Potter bitch after the war, which allowed them to stay out of Azkaban after everything. They were ten times worse than my poor, innocent father,” she complained. “Yet, he’s imprisoned, and they are out.”

Sam stayed near them, observing the situation. The first thing he noticed was that Pansy was beautiful despite the unpleasant expression she was wearing. Sharp cheekbones, dark eyes, and a beautiful face. It helped that her robe was clearly tailored to perfection, and far more form-fitting than others. Nothing revealing, as wizards seemed to be very conservative even in what passed for nightlife, but still striking.

However, she was also entitled and petulant. She was also unobservant enough to miss the fact that her two ‘friends’ were distancing themselves from her during the talk.

Together, it gave him a robust preliminary picture. Pansy clearly had a very overblown sense of her own importance, propped only by Malfoy, and the mention of her father ending in prison while the other dark families were back on the rise further reinforced that.

Admittedly, after all the other bad assumptions he had made recently, he wasn’t entirely sure of the accuracy of his assessment, but with Holly’s name as a fallback, it was worth trying.

It was risky … but nowhere near as risky as going around hunting vampires.

After spending a day walking around and observing the magical world, he could see that the magical world was considerably less alert than he had initially expected when he learned about memory wipes. They didn’t even use magic that often in crowded places. All he needed was to walk in confidence and be careful if anyone pulled their wand.

He didn’t try to engineer a meeting immediately, because he could see two of her friends were looking for an excuse to abandon Pansy. It happened fifteen minutes into her tirade, both giving obviously fake excuses before disappearing.

As they walked away, Pansy froze. She might lack subtlety, but she was clearly not stupid enough to miss what her friends’ sudden disappearance meant.

Perfect time to approach, he decided. He sat across her, giving her his best smile. “Sorry to interrupt, but I couldn't help overhearing your talk, and I think we can help each other.”

It was an unnecessarily direct approach, but from everything he had seen, she was spoiled, rich, and sheltered. The kind of person that wouldn’t question her luck when a solution immediately appeared.

At least, that was his bet.

“Who are you, and what are you talking about?”

“My name is Samuel,” he said with a wide smile, though he let a little danger bleed into it. “And, I have been hired to create some trouble for Draco Malfoy. I have a feeling that you’ll be interested in that.”

“And, your last name?” she asked.

“Let’s keep it a secret for the moment, as I’m supposed to be undercover,” he said, aware that pureblood wizards obsessed with family names. “Instead, let’s focus on how we can help each other.”

She paused, her expression flickering. He could already see her flickering. “What are you, some kind of hit wizard?”

He shrugged, intentionally mysterious. “A problem solver is a more apt description, Miss Parkinson,” he said.

“I won’t help you to hurt Draco,” she said, suddenly tense.

He chuckled, still playing the theatrical angle. “Of course not. I’m not some common thug sent to hurt people. I have been paid to create some problems … and wouldn’t you agree that ruining his engagement would be a perfect way to fulfill that request.”

Just like that, her worry had turned to enthusiasm. “Really?”

“Of course. I have been paid to distract him from some kind of political issue. They have hired me, because they don’t want to be traced back,” he volunteered proactively.

“What issue?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I don’t get paid to ask too many unnecessary questions, Miss Parkinson. My clients appreciate discretion.”

“Prove it,” she said, but even as she said that, he could see that she was halfway there. She just needed an excuse.

“How would I prove, Miss Parkinson,” he teased her, waited until she opened her mouth, then raised his hands, and pointing at the cup … and it floated.

“W-wandless magic,” she muttered, shocked.

“Well, I have to have my advantages, since I shouldn’t use my wand unless it’s an emergency,” he said. It was something he had decided to pull since he had seen Holly cast wandless magic, yet everyone else was acting like wands were the only way of using magic.

Pansy reacted just as he had hoped, acting as if his ability to use magic without a wand made him a powerhouse.

The earlier talk in the gambling den had shown just how prejudiced the wizards could be about certain things about magic and power, and wandless was one of them. Admittedly, the little Wiccan trick he pulled wasn’t exactly simple.

Expert-level competence was no joke.

“So, what do you have in mind?” she said, her attitude already flipped completely.

“Well, that’s why I approached. Admittedly, I don’t know much about how things are in Europe. I grew up in America,” he lied, which was a better way of explaining his lack of knowledge.

He was betting on their insular nature.

Her eyes widened. “Really?”

He smiled mysteriously, but didn’t discuss. He didn’t know much about MACUSA enough to lie, and before he understood exactly why wizards avoided the west coast, he didn’t want to admit to living in Los Angeles either. “Yes, but let’s focus on our shared target,” he said.

“Yes, Draco,” she said. “You need to break her relationship with that cursed bitch Astoria,” Pansy muttered.

“That’s a viable option,” he corrected, deliberately not committing to a direction immediately, as he wanted her anxious. “Of course, I need your help for that, or I might have to find a cruder way to trouble him.”

“Of course I’ll help,” she said, her tone carrying the worry he had been hoping for. “Actually, there’s an easy way of doing that,” she said.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“You’ll be my fake boyfriend, which will be enough to drive my Draco crazy with jealousy, and he’ll fight to take me back. That way, you’ll fulfill your mission easily.”

“That’s a smart plan,” he said. “Of course, that depends on Mr. Malfoy’s personality, which I’m not exactly familiar with.”

She smirked. “It’s easy. Draco hates losing. All we have to do is act like we have been dating for a while behind his back, and he’ll go crazy.”

He hummed, nodding. That was not half bad. The best part, he had read the kind of stories that the Daily Prophet wrote about notable people, and they were not really different from tabloids.

It was also too easy, but he hadn’t missed just how quickly her attitude had changed after he had revealed his ‘wandless’ magic. He suspected that, without his little trick, she would never have decided a fake-boyfriend scheme was acceptable.

But then, he wasn’t that surprised. It was probably the magical equivalent of having a very expensive car. The perfect way to seduce a shallow woman.

Altogether, he didn’t mind it. It would create a scandal for Draco, distracting him from trying to sabotage Holly and Hermione. But first, he needed to put the advantage to good use.

“Fine, but I need to question you for an hour or two, to make sure I know about movers and shakers,” he said.

She nodded, but she was absent-minded. “We also need to learn to act as if we’re familiar with each other, maybe even kiss comfortably. Otherwise, Draco wouldn’t believe it.”

“Well, that sounds like an excellent plan,” he said, fascinated by just how quickly Pansy was filling the blanks. “We need some privacy, of course. We can’t afford anyone listening to us.”

“Fine, grab my hand,” she asked as she pulled her wand.

He did so. A part of him hated giving up control, but it was a part of the plan. He was supposed to be some kind of super wizard, he couldn’t be afraid of her casting a spell. If he wanted to help Hermione, he had to take certain risks, and believe that he had read Pansy correctly.

So, he hid his insecurities and grabbed her hand. The next second was the most horrible time he had ever had, feeling like he had been squeezed through a tube. If it hadn’t been for his Acrobatics, he would have hit the floor painfully, but he managed to balance himself.

He was in a different room.

“We’re in the Three Broomsticks,” she said. “I have a permanent room here. It’s good to have a little room that could be used to escape whenever my family gets too overbearing,” she said.

He nodded, vaguely remembering mentions of it. “It’s in Hogsmeade, right?” he asked. Some kind of magical village, according to snippets he had heard during the day. At the same time, he raised his hand and pointed at the candles, which started to burn immediately.

“Yes,” she said, but suddenly, he saw her blushing, which confirmed his earlier guess. Her sudden fake-boyfriend idea had a lot to do with her fascination with his wandless magic.

He sat on the bed instead of the chair, and patted his side. She immediately followed, too eager. “Now, we have two objectives. We need to get familiar enough to be able to act as if we have been dating behind Draco’s back for a while. At the same time, you have to tell me more about his political connections and plans, so that I know which one to target,” he said, then he caressed her cheek. “I want to trouble him, but not at the expense of damaging the larger pureblood cause.”

“Right,” she said, immediately believing his assertion, which was weird. He was ready to repeat some of the nonsense he had heard at the gambling den to convince her of his seriousness.

But then, it probably came from her expectations. From her perspective, he was a mysterious but strong wizard, so of course he would be a pureblood. Her biases, combined with the bitterness of being dumped, were doing a lot of work.

He brushed her hair from her face, enjoying her blush more. “I’m going to kiss you now,” he whispered.

She didn’t say anything. She just turned to him, closed her eyes, and allowed him to kiss her. He started gentle, but she was surprisingly enthusiastic, her tongue dancing. He was happy to follow.

She was an experienced kisser, which he took as permission to go further, sliding his hands through her silky dark brown hair, the other on her cheek, taking control. She whimpered at his mouth.

After all, just because she was an experienced kisser didn’t mean she had experienced someone like him.

He kissed her for a minute before pulling back, her breathing wild. He knew that he could push her down and take her, and she would happily go along. However, he didn’t forget the real aim of the night. He kissed her neck for a second, then pulled back. “Why don’t you start telling me about the world after the war? I need to know how the pureblood cause is recovering.”

“Sure,” she said with a soft, whimpering noise. “We got lucky when Potter proved to be as weak and indecisive as Dumbledore, and decided to prioritize reconciliation instead of pushing for her advantage, or we would have been screwed.”

“How about Granger and Weasley?” he asked. “I read that they had played a big role in the war as well.”

“What about them?” Pansy said with a scoff. “Granger is a nonentity as far as politics is concerned; she’s working for the Department of Mysteries. Weasley is even worse. The only reason he has the fame is to distract people from Potter’s achievements.”

He hummed. “Incompetent enemies are always a gift,” he said playfully. At the same time, he waved his hand, and the top button of her robe popped open. With her fascination with his magical expertise, it was an easy move. She whimpered. “It’s a bit warm in here, right?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said, leaning back, her breathing getting faster as he repeated the same trick for the second and third buttons.

“So, you were telling me about the critical political initiatives of our side,” he reminded her, followed by another button.

“Right…” she said, and started giving him a very detailed breakdown of the political outlook. Watching her tell everything, he was starting to understand why honeypotting was one of the most common techniques for spying.

Distracted by arousal, it was easy to lose track of what was supposed to be a secret or not.

He did his best to memorize key points, but it was a bit of a challenge. After all, while she didn’t have an attractive personality, the same couldn’t be said for her body, which was surprisingly amazing. Distracted by his kisses, she was happy to get rid of her robe completely, even allowing him to remove her dress with no fuss, revealing a surprisingly fancy bra underneath.

“Tell me more,” he whispered once Pansy finally reached Draco’s flagship political coup, which was using Hermione as a threat to force reversing a critical law relating to money pureblood families had with no discernible source.

Connecting the dots, it was clear that she was talking about the pureblood families who stole and raided during the war. He had to admire their audacity; trying to keep the gains from the war after losing it.

He also downgraded the good side’s political acumen even lower. Even if Pansy’s summary was inaccurate, they were still threatening one of the war heroes with little to no impact.

He had a lot to talk about with Holly once he could reveal his knowledge of the magic world.

But, for the moment, he focused on questioning Pansy about the politics, even when his hand had slipped into her panties, even when her whimpers were making it difficult to understand her.

Half an hour later, she stopped talking about politics. “Please,” she begged. “I need to…”

“Of course, Pansy. All you needed to ask,” he said with a chuckle, flicked his finger and made her climax. Pansy climaxed … and he had a surprise reward of his own.

[Personal Victory, +5 Tantric]

[Tertiary Special Character Defeated, Pansy Parkinson]

[+10 Potions]

[Potions Uninitiated -> Basic]

He was glad that she was busy trying to contain her trembling, because that meant she missed his shocked expression. Her giving a reward was a welcome surprise, as he hadn’t expected at first.

But, the real surprise was the reward itself. Of all the available branches of magic, she might have given him the most useful one.

Because Potions didn’t require a wand.

Just like that, he had a change of plans. His initial objective was to learn what she was saying and convince her to go on a quick trip to the club tonight, and try to see if she could be leveraged for more.

The Potions skill alone was enough for a quick change of plans. Not to mention, Pansy looked considerably better once her smug expression had been relaxed by an explosive climax.

Not to mention, she happily spilled a lot of secrets. Maybe he could help Holly solve the grand issue without revealing himself in the first place…