Vita Magicis (HP SI-WC) (Patreon)

Chapter 62: The World Cup Awaits

We arrived at the entrance hall of my mansion and found that one of the girls had already called the former homunculus maids down to help deal with the mountain of purchases they had brought back.

They were all lined up neatly in a straight line, with Sella and Leysritt standing at the front as the head maids of the household.

The moment they saw me, they all bowed respectfully.

“Welcome back, Goshujin-sama! Ojou-samas!”

“Hey, Sella. Leysritt.” I greeted them with a lazy wave, the girls beside me doing something similar. “I trust there weren’t any problems while we were away?”

“Not at all, Master. You were only gone for a few hours after all,” Sella replied with a calm shake of her head.

“Affirmative. We spent the whole time Master and the mistresses were away relaxing and watching TV.” Leysritt said with her usual blank expression, even giving us a thumbs up.

I chuckled, joined by a few of the girls, particularly Illya and Astoria, especially when Sella immediately turned red and lightly smacked Leysritt on the arm.

“Leysritt!”

“So… same as usual then?” I teased.

That only made Sella even more embarrassed.

“Onii-chan, stop teasing Sella already,” Illya chimed in with a mischievous grin. “She was just trying to get plenty of rest so she could be as curvy as me~”

She ran her hands dramatically down her body while posing.

“Alright, you two, that’s enough,” Sakura said, gently stepping in. “Leave poor Sella-san alone.”

Though judging by her own amused smile, she wasn’t exactly suffering from the situation.

“Very well,” I said with a small sigh. “Sella, Leysritt, I hope you enjoyed your short vacation, because these girls went a little overboard with their shopping again.”

I pointed directly at Rin, Sakura, and Illya, earning slight blushes from all three.

“Haah… I expected as much,” Sella sighed tiredly, her earlier embarrassment forgotten.

“I’m glad I took a break,” Leysritt muttered to herself.

For the next hour or so, I pulled item after item from my inventory while the girls carefully separated everything into individual piles.

Once that was finally finished, I stepped outside with Luna, Ginny, Rose, and Ilulu to find a good place to plant the berries we had brought back from the Pokémon world.

After a short walk, we found a wide patch of land clear of rocks and trees.

“Alright, this seems like a good spot,” I said while surveying the area. “I’ll either build a greenhouse myself or pay to have one constructed soon.”

“I will begin preparations immediately, Master,” Ilulu said with a firm nod.

“If you’re building it yourself… can I help?” Luna asked softly, still looking incredibly happy after our trip.

“Of course, Luna,” I replied, patting her head and earning a bright smile in return.

“I would offer to help too,” Ginny sighed, slumping slightly. “But I honestly don’t know if Mum will let me out for the rest of the summer. It took almost a miracle, and Felix Felicis, for her to even let me stay this long.”

“Yeah, same here,” Rose added. “Sirius wants to take Harry and me somewhere in South America for the rest of the summer. So I probably won’t see you guys again until the World Cup.”

At the mention of the World Cup, I blinked.

I had honestly forgotten that was happening soon since I wasn’t too much into Quidditch myself.

‘Though with only Barty Crouch Jr. and Lucius being the only Death Eaters still alive, I wonder if the same events will play out?’ I thought silently for a moment before shrugging carelessly.

‘Oh well, in the worst case I will at least ensure Barty escapes since that will trigger the events of next year.’

=====

A Month Later — August 1994

With everyone busy packing — or unpacking in the case of Rin, Illya, Sakura, Ilulu, Bella, and Asako — the rest of the day passed quickly. Before long, the girls returned to their respective homes after a round of goodbyes.

After that, the weeks became rather busy.

The girls and I spent most of the summer setting everything up around the mansion so we could safely release our Pokémon without worrying about them wandering too far or causing problems.

The lake surrounding the property proved incredibly useful. It allowed our water Pokémon to enjoy something close to their natural environment. My adorable Dratini, in particular, loved it there and spent most of its time resting at the bottom of the lake, except when it decided to lazily wrap itself around my shoulders.

Mew, on the other hand, had immediately begun exploring the surrounding countryside. Each of its little “trips” lasted longer than the last.

At this point, I knew it was only a matter of time before rumors started spreading through both the magical and Muggle communities about a mysterious flying pink cat.

Not that I was particularly worried.

Mew might be small and adorable, but it was still ridiculously powerful and capable of teleporting anywhere it pleased.

That little troublemaker simply loved pranking people, and I had no doubt that a few unlucky individuals were about to learn that the hard way.

Zapdos on the other hand found a home for itself on the nearest mountain to our mansion and immediately became the top predator. Though I did have to step in when my Thunderbird and Zapdos were about to go at it probably finding the other a potential rival due to their similar natures.

As for the greenhouse project — or greenhouses, plural — in the end we held a vote and decided to build them ourselves.

With several of my construction-related perks working together, the project went surprisingly smoothly. By the end of the summer, we had successfully completed four greenhouses spread across the property.

As promised, Luna came to help with the work, bringing both of her parents along after they expressed interest in seeing the Pokémon we had for themselves.

Luna hadn’t wasted any time showing them everything.

Thankfully, I had no issue with that. Her parents were good friends and had been wonderful company during their visits.

They spent most of the time excitedly discussing Pokémon facts, asking questions about the different species, and marveling at every new discovery they encountered.

While we never explicitly told them the Pokémon came from another world, Luna later confirmed she hadn’t revealed that particular detail, they clearly understood that the creatures were entirely unlike anything found in our world.

With the growing number of Pokémon we needed to care for, and the maids already busy maintaining the mansion itself, it quickly became obvious that we needed additional help.

So I took care of the problem.

Using the Company, I purchased two clones of Nurse Joy and two clones of generic female Pokémon Breeders to assist with caring for the Pokémon.

Of course, with the arrival of our new helpers, we had to spend some time making sure they had everything they needed to properly care for the Pokémon.

That mainly meant acquiring the machines used in the Pokémon world to heal them, as well as building proper fenced areas for certain species.

Luckily, my little visit to the Game Corner was already paying off. I had managed to get my hands on several of those machines from the stash Team Rocket had hidden there.

Since I wanted to complete the set, and because it felt fitting, I also decided to purchase a clone of Officer Jenny.

She was assigned to patrol the estate grounds, making sure no trespassers wandered onto the property.

With her Growlithe partner and a sleek dirt bike, she honestly looked both badass and… admittedly pretty sexy while making her rounds.

All of that work took up most of July and stretched well into the mid days of August, but eventually everything was finished.

Once the preparations were complete, I informed the other girls that they were welcome to keep their Pokémon here at the estate for the time being if they didn’t want to risk awkward questions from their families.

Almost all of them accepted the offer.

The only exceptions were Rose and Luna. Harry and Sirius didn’t seem to mind the Pokémon much, they were more curious than anything, and in Luna’s case, her father had practically fallen in love with them.

Either way, after all the work we had done, it was finally time for a well-earned break.

Which meant we were heading to the Quidditch World Cup to watch the finals.

Since we didn’t want to wake up ridiculously early on the day of the event, we planned to travel a day ahead of time. The others had already confirmed they would be meeting us there later.

At the moment, we were making our way toward the Portkey location.

Most of the girls walked ahead, chatting excitedly among themselves about the upcoming match, while Bella, Asako, and I brought up the rear.

“Bella, I have a task for you,” I said quietly.

Immediately, the woman beside me straightened, all traces of her relaxed posture gone.

“Of course, my Lord,” Bella replied reverently. “I am here to serve.”

“Your old friend Barty Crouch Jr. will be at the World Cup tomorrow during the finals,” I continued calmly. “He’ll be under an Invisibility Cloak and near Crouch Sr.’s house-elf.”

Bella’s lips curled slightly at the name.

“I want you to assist him if he fails to escape on his own.”

“It will be done, my Lord,” Bella said, bowing her head without asking a single question.

“Normally, I’d ask you to disguise yourself,” I said calmly. “Your face used to be far too recognizable to the Wizarding community. But that shouldn’t be a problem anymore, considering all traces of Bellatrix Lestrange have been erased from the memories of everyone in this universe.”

Bella nodded quietly.

“From now on, the only person who exists is Bella Black,” I continued. “A very distant relative of the Black family from a squib branch. I trust you don’t have any issue with that?”

I watched her carefully. Even if she was a clone, she still carried the memories of the original Bellatrix, who absolutely loathed being associated with squibs or muggles.

Bella immediately shook her head.

“Of course not, my Lord,” she said quickly. “I am honored to bear the name you have given me, and I will wear it proudly as I continue to serve you.”

For a brief moment she looked almost panicked, but when she saw my relaxed expression she visibly settled.

“Good,” I said with a nod. “I look forward to seeing what you do with it.”

Bella straightened slightly, quietly preening at the praise.

I then turned to Asako, who had remained silent beside us.

“As for you, Asako.”

At the sound of her name, she immediately focused all of her attention on me.

“Similar to Bella, I want you to remain hidden tomorrow evening. Keep watch in case any Death Eaters start causing trouble.”

“Of course, Master,” Asako replied with a crisp nod.

“Most of them have already been dealt with,” I continued. “Aside from Crouch Jr. and Lucius. But I wouldn’t put it past old Lucius to hire a few random thugs to stir up chaos.”

“And if I encounter them?” Asako asked calmly.

“With the exception of Lucius,” I said flatly, “kill them.”

My face remained completely expressionless.

“I still have one more use for that fool before he becomes expendable.”

“As you command.”

After that, we walked the rest of the way in silence until we reached the Portkey location, where a Ministry employee was already waiting.

“Mr. Cordelia, I presume?” the man asked, glancing briefly down at a clipboard before nodding toward us.

“That’s us,” I replied with a small nod.

“Please have your party gather around the boot,” he said, gesturing to the dirty old object lying on the ground. “The Portkey will activate shortly.”

“Ugh… do we really have to touch this filthy thing?” Illya complained with a grimace as she reluctantly grabbed it.

“It’s only for a moment, so stop whining, brat,” Rin said, rolling her eyes as she knelt beside her.

“I have some disinfectant you can use afterward, Illya-san,” Sakura offered while crouching down as well, though she also eyed the boot with mild distaste.

“Thanks, Sakura~”

“It’s just a boot,” I muttered under my breath while kneeling beside them.

“What was that, Onii-chan~?” Illya asked in a sing-song voice.

“Nothing.”

A moment later, the Ministry worker called out for us to hold on.

Then the familiar sensation hit.

A sharp tug from somewhere behind my navel yanked us forward as the Portkey activated.

=====

The first thing that greeted us upon arrival in Dartmoor, England, was the constant background noise one would expect when attending a world event of this scale.

Voices, distant shouting, laughter, and the general bustle of thousands of people filled the air.

The girls, still not quite used to traveling by Portkey, landed in various undignified positions. Some ended up flat on their backs while others had their butts sticking up in the air as they groaned miserably.

“Owwieee~ I hate Portkeys!”

“Seconded. Aether! When are you going to learn a teleportation spell or something!? Wait… couldn’t we have just had Ilulu teleport us here?”

“I landed on my breasts…”

Looking down at the groaning forms of Illya, Rin, and Sakura, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the ridiculous positions they had ended up in. Meanwhile, Asako and Bella had landed perfectly on their feet without the slightest issue.

“Sorry about that,” I said with an amused shake of my head. “But with so many eyes on the World Cup, I figured it would be better if we traveled the normal way.”

I paused for a moment before casually turning away and whistling innocently.

“And as for learning a teleportation spell… I may have already done that. Watching Mew teleport around all the time made it pretty easy to pick up.”

“…So you’re saying you basically forgot?” Rin asked flatly as she finally pushed herself up and brushed the dirt from her clothes.

“…Yep.” I nodded with a small grin.

“Tsk. You seriously need to start remembering all your abilities,” Rin muttered with a sigh, though her stern expression quickly softened. “At this point you probably don’t even know half the things you can do anymore.”

“You’re not wrong,” I admitted, scratching the back of my head as we started walking toward a Ministry representative waiting in the distance.

“It’s kind of hard to keep track,” I continued. “I’m constantly getting new abilities.”

After that, conversation died down as the Ministry official directed us toward our assigned campsite.

We slowly made our way through the massive gathering toward our tent.

As we walked, we passed witches and wizards from all over the world, laughing and chatting excitedly among themselves. Nearly everyone wore either green and white or red and black, proudly representing Ireland and Bulgaria, the two teams set to face each other in tomorrow’s final.

“This is a little too crowded for my tastes,” Sakura muttered quietly as she slipped closer and wrapped herself around one of my arms, clearly uncomfortable with the sheer number of people surrounding us.

“Don’t worry,” I said gently, pulling her a little closer. “Once we reach our tent, most of the noise should die down.”

“Ooh~ Are those Veela, Onii-chan?” Illya suddenly asked, pointing toward a nearby group with bright curiosity.

Blinking, I followed her finger.

And came face to face with the first Veela I had ever seen in this world.

I only had one thought.

Man… the books did not do them justice.

They were unbelievably beautiful, with long blonde/silver hair and perfect faces, easily on par with the girls walking beside me, and that was saying something considering they had all been enhanced by my perks.

And that was without even factoring in the Veela’s natural allure.

I might have stared a little too long.

One of them suddenly noticed me looking and met my gaze directly before a teasing look appeared on her eyes. After a moment, she leaned toward her friends and whispered something.

Immediately, the rest of them turned their attention toward me.

Flirty smiles appeared.

One of them even blew me a kiss before they all giggled together.

‘And they’re teases too,’ I thought flatly.

Unfortunately, their attention didn’t go unnoticed.

The girls beside me immediately closed ranks.

Before I could react, I found myself surrounded on all sides as each of them grabbed onto some part of me — arms, shoulders, even my back — glaring at the Veela with varying degrees of hostility.

Sadly, that only seemed to encourage the Veela further.

They leaned into their natural charm, their allure subtly spilling into the air as they continued trying to capture my attention.

I sighed internally.

Oh boy…

I really hope Fleur and Gabrielle aren’t like this.