Vita Magicis (HP SI-WC) (Patreon)

Chapter 63: Spectacle and Schemes

It took a while for the Veela to finally stop their flirting, and that was only because someone who looked like their manager stepped in and called them away after the commotion their allure had caused.

A massive crowd of men, from teenagers to full-grown adults, had gathered around them, each trying something more ridiculous than the last in an attempt to impress them.

The Veela, however, paid them little attention.

They were far more interested in teasing me and the girls around me.

And once they realized their allure had absolutely no effect on me, their efforts only intensified, turning the whole situation into even more of a spectacle.

The only reason things hadn’t gotten completely out of hand was thanks to a few witches and wizards stationed nearby, most likely their handlers or bodyguards, who were actively keeping the more… overenthusiastic fans in check.

Eventually, though, they were escorted away.

Even as they left, they kept glancing back, waving and blowing kisses in my direction, which only made the girls around me even more irritated.

Once they were finally out of sight, I let out a small sigh.

“…Those girls were massive flirts. It’s a surprise none of them got molested for egging those men on like that.” I muttered flatly.

“Hmph. They would have deserved it if you ask me.” Illya huffed, crossing her arms with a dark look on her face.

“I agree,” Sakura added quietly, though she finally loosened the death grip she had on my hand.

“Tsk. Let’s stop talking about them and get to our tent already,” Rin said, clearly annoyed but eager to move on.

Asako and Bella remained silent, though I did catch Bella muttering something under her breath about “disgusting half-breeds” while glaring in the direction the Veela had gone.

…Yeah, that tracks.

“Anyway,” I said, deciding to redirect things, “I want to explore a bit too. With this many people from all over the world, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of interesting stuff to see, food, trinkets, things like that.”

That did the trick.

The girls’ irritation vanished almost instantly, replaced by bright, eager expressions.

As expected.

I rolled my eyes, these girls had a one track mind.

It didn’t take long for us to find our assigned tent. After settling in and grabbing a quick breakfast, we headed back out, ready to explore the massive campsite.

=====

Several Hours Later

With so much to see and explore, the girls and I spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon wandering around the campsite, trying different delicacies and picking up all sorts of interesting trinkets.

So far, we had seen people from all over Europe, parts of Africa, North and South America, and even Asia.

Basically, everywhere.

It really drove home just how much the wizarding world loved Quidditch, easily on the same level as football… or soccer, as the Americans insisted on calling it.

With this many people around, we had only spotted a handful of Hogwarts students so far, and none of particular note.

Who we did keep spotting, however, was Mew.

Thanks to all the magic and general weirdness surrounding wizards, the little menace went mostly unnoticed. We caught it stealing food more than once before instantly teleporting away with a giggle.

Feeling somewhat responsible, we usually ended up buying something from whichever vendor Mew had targeted, along with a little extra as compensation.

We also saw it playing among the enchanted kites drifting in the sky, using them like trampolines and breaking more than a few in the process.

At this rate, I was half-expecting headlines about a “new magical creature” to start appearing in the papers any day now.

Not that anyone would actually catch it.

Between teleportation and its ability to transform into anything it wanted, Mew was practically impossible to track.

By the time night fell, we had returned to our tent.

Ilulu and I took over the kitchen while the others gathered in the sitting area, going through their purchases and chatting among themselves.

“Wizards are insane,” Rin said, shaking her head. “I saw hundreds of them casually breaking the Statute of Secrecy without a care in the world.”

Which was fair, considering her background, secrecy was everything in her world.

“If this were our world,” Illya added with a serious nod, “this entire place would’ve been wiped out… along with everyone in it.”

“None of them seemed worried,” Sakura said thoughtfully, resting a hand on her chin. “I even saw Aurors nearby, and they just… ignored it.”

“There are probably too few Aurors to enforce anything properly,” I said as I walked over, balancing several dishes in my hands, with Ilulu following behind me carrying more. “So they focus on actual threats.”

I set the plates down.

“Not that I have much faith in the Ministry getting anything done with the current administration anyway.”

That earned a few nods.

“Anyway,” I continued, “time to eat. Ilulu and I decided on a German dish for dinner.”

That was all it took.

The girls immediately scrambled for seats, eyes locked onto the food with eager anticipation.

And just like that…

The first day came to an end quietly, without fanfare, without incident…

…and without a single hint of the chaos that usually happened around us.

=====

Following Day

The day of the final had finally arrived, and with it came our reunion with the Weasleys, Hermione, Harry, Rose, and Sirius, who had all come together as a group.

After greeting Rose, Hermione, and Ginny with hugs, I turned my attention to the boys.

Despite looking a little sleep-deprived, they all had massive grins on their faces. A moment later, the girls were already chatting animatedly with the girls behind me.

“Harry, Ron, Fred, George, how’ve you been?” I asked with a smile, extending my hand as I gave them a closer look.

It seemed Harry and Ron had finally hit their growth spurts. They were now nearly as tall as the twins, though, admittedly, that wasn’t saying too much since the twins had a stocky build.

“Brilliant,” Harry said with a grin, shaking my hand firmly. “I can’t wait for the match to start. And… thanks again for the birthday gift.”

“No problem,” I replied with a nod.

“Aether! Did you know Krum from the Bulgarian team isn’t much older than us?” Ron jumped in immediately, grabbing my hand for a quick shake before launching into an enthusiastic rant.

Blinking, I quickly realized he wasn’t stopping anytime soon.

I glanced at the twins, who were watching the whole thing with amused expressions, clearly used to this.

Thankfully, they decided to take pity on me.

“Alright, that’s enough of that,” Fred said as he shoved Ron aside.

“How you doing, Aether?” George added, stepping in to shake my hand.

“As you can see—” Fred began.

“—our little Ronnikins has the hots for the Bulgarian Seeker,” George finished with a wicked grin.

Ron turned bright red.

“S-Shut up, George!”

“I’m Fred, he’s George,” Fred corrected cheerfully.

“Whatever!” Ron snapped before immediately launching into another rant, this time aimed at his brothers.

I shot the twins a grateful look as they smirked in response.

Before I could say anything else, two more redheads approached.

One was stocky and solidly built, similar to the twins.

The other was taller, with long hair and a fang earring hanging from his ear.

Charlie and Bill Weasley.

“Aether, right?” Charlie said with a friendly grin, offering his hand. “Heard a lot about you from Ron and Ginny. Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” I replied, shaking his hand. “Ginny’s mentioned you a lot too.”

I casually noted the subtle increase in pressure, like he was trying to crush my hand a bit.

It didn’t work.

Charlie blinked faintly before letting go.

Then Bill stepped forward.

“I’m Bill,” he said, gripping my hand. The same test followed, a little more deliberate this time.

Same result.

He raised an eyebrow before a grin spread across his face, not letting go just yet.

“Nice to finally meet the guy my baby sister never shuts up about.”

His words sounded polite enough, but there was a clear undertone of warning behind them.

Internally, I sighed.

Ah… so this is happening.

They’re about to give me the “big brother talk,” aren’t they?

I kept my expression calm.

“That’s me,” I replied easily, not looking bothered in the slightest.

“So, Aether,” Bill began, stepping forward slightly as he and Charlie stood side by side, their contrasting builds making for an funny scene.

“We’re just going to ask this directly,” Charlie continued, crossing his arms.

“What exactly is your relationship with Ginny?”

I raised an eyebrow.

Honestly, I had no reason to hide it.

Not only was I hilariously stronger than both of them combined if things turned south, but more importantly…

I wasn’t doing anything wrong.

“Ginny and I are—”

I didn’t get to finish.

“—I have already told you many times that my private life is none of your business, so sod off!”

Ginny’s voice cut in sharply as she suddenly appeared between us.

Bill finally released my hand as she planted herself in front of me, hands on her hips and eyes blazing.

“I’m not a little girl anymore,” she continued firmly. “Who I associate with, or decide to date, is my business.”

The effect was immediate.

Both Bill and Charlie visibly flinched.

Behind her, Ron, Harry, and the twins quietly stopped what they were doing… and very wisely began edging away from the scene.

Smart.

Once she was done, Ginny huffed lightly before turning to me.

Then, in front of everyone, she rose onto her tiptoes and gave me a quick kiss on the lips.

I returned it without hesitation.

A second later, she grabbed my arm and started pulling me away.

“Come on, Aether,” she said, her tone back to normal, though still loud enough for her brothers to hear. “I want to explore the campsite. Care to show me around?”

“Of course, Gin,” I replied with a small smile.

As we walked away, I glanced back one last time.

Bill and Charlie were still staring at me.

Not hostile…

But definitely not friendly either.

Yeah, that’s going to be a thing.

I turned forward again and leaned down slightly, whispering into Ginny’s ear.

“That was really hot, by the way~”

Ginny shuddered faintly, a blush blooming across her cheeks as she pressed closer to me, even resting her head against my shoulder.

“They mean well, but they’re a bit overprotective,” Ginny muttered as we rejoined the others and kept walking.

“They’re your brothers,” I replied with a small shrug, not the least bit offended. “Of course they’re going to act like that toward the guy hanging around their little sister.”

“When we eventually have kids of our own—”

That was as far as I got before Ginny, along with all of the girls, nearly stumbled mid-step.

All of them turned bright red.

I, of course, kept going completely unfazed.

“—I’m definitely teaching any boys we have to protect their sister,” I continued seriously. “And I’ll be just as protective of my daughters.”

I frowned slightly, already picturing it.

“In fact, any boy that wants to date one of my daughters better be ready, because if they don’t meet even one of my standards…”

I cracked my knuckles lightly and a dark look crossed my face.

“I’m personally kicking their ass and making sure they never see my daughter again.”

Lost in my thoughts, I failed to notice the looks the girls were giving me, some warm, some amused, and more than a few fondly exasperated.

=====

Hours Later

The rest of the day passed quickly as we gave Ginny, Hermione, and Rose a full tour of the campsite.

Just like yesterday, we ended up buying anything that caught our interest and trying every bit of food we hadn’t gotten around to before.

With the finals only hours away, the crowds had grown even larger. The energy in the air was almost electric.

We even ran into Cho Chang, Susan Bones, and Hannah Abbott at one point, chatting and hanging out for a while before they eventually went their separate way.

Before we knew it, it was time.

We joined the massive flow of people heading toward the stadium, making our way up to watch the Ireland versus Bulgaria final.

Asako had already confirmed that Lucius was present, along with Winky… and Barty Crouch Jr.

So far, things were still lining up with what I remembered.

Eventually, we reached the Minister’s box.

Naturally, that meant running into the Malfoys.

That’s when I saw Narcissa Malfoy for the first time standing pompously next to her peacock of a husband and looking down at us.

And one very important thought immediately crossed my mind.

‘Draco’s mom is a total milf. I approve. She’s basically a blonde version of Bella.’

Speaking of which…

Bella was currently giving her sister a long, flat look, clearly sizing her up, before turning away with a faint expression of distaste.

Right on cue, Narcissa’s gaze drifted in our direction as if feeling Bella’s dismissing gaze.

Her eyes landed on me first, carrying that same cold, slightly condescending look Draco liked to imitate.

Then she paused.

Her attention shifted to Bella.

A flicker of curiosity passed through her expression…

…and then it was gone.

She dismissed her entirely, her face returning back to looking like she had a stick up her ass.

Bella of course didn’t react which told me everything I needed to know.

Gone and Forgotten is working perfectly.

If even her own sister couldn’t recognize her, then I had nothing to worry about.

Soon after, we took our seats.

The Minister arrived and immediately began speaking excitedly with Harry, who looked like he’d rather be literally anywhere else.

I barely paid attention.

Instead, my gaze drifted across the stands…

…until it landed on a house-elf nervously clutching her hands together.

Winky.

And beside her—

An “empty” seat.

Except it wasn’t empty.

Through my senses, I could clearly make out the presence of Barty Crouch Jr., hidden beneath an Invisibility Cloak.

I had to stop myself from smirking.

Turning my attention back to the pitch, I listened as the announcer’s voice boomed across the stadium, introducing the teams.

As the Bulgarian team mascots took the field, we were treated to a repeat of yesterday’s spectacle.

The Veela began to dance.

And just like that—

Chaos.

All around us, men completely lost their minds.

Some were shouting declarations of love, others were trying to leap over the railings, and a few were attempting increasingly ridiculous feats to “impress” them.

Ron, unfortunately, was among the worst of them.

“I’m going to jump!” he declared, half-standing on his seat before being yanked back by Harry and Mr. Weasley, who were struggling to keep him from launching himself off the box.

“…Pathetic,” Rin muttered under her breath.

The rest of the girls didn’t look much better in terms of mood, all of them glaring daggers at both the Veela and the affected men.

I ignored the chaos.

Instead, I turned slightly toward Bella, who was seated beside me, and leaned down just enough for only her to hear.

“You know what to do. Don’t fail me.”

I layered my voice with a subtle trick, ensuring it reached her clearly despite the overwhelming noise.

Bella didn’t even hesitate.

“Leave it to me, Master. I won’t fail you.”

Her tone was soft and submissive.

A second later, she vanished from sight, slipping under her own Invisibility Cloak as if she had never been there at all.

I turned back toward the field, expression calm.

Moments later, the Veela’s performance ended, their allure fading as the Irish mascots, Leprechauns, burst onto the pitch.

Gold rained from the sky in glittering waves, instantly drawing the crowd’s attention.

The shift was immediate.

Men snapped out of their stupor, diving and scrambling for the falling coins.

Ron was already on his knees.

“I’m rich! I’m rich!” he shouted, frantically stuffing his pockets with as much gold as he could grab.

I watched for a second…

Then shook my head.

Leaning back into my seat, I pulled Ginny a little closer into my side, relaxing as the match properly began.

The roar of the stadium rose to a fever pitch as the players took to the air.

A small smile tugged at my lips.

Yeah…

This year at Hogwarts is going to be interesting.