Raising a Whole Family

At first, when Anton dragged Lupin into danger to find a Goblin who could cure him, he had hoped to gain someone he could rely on.

After all, whether in Wizarding or Muggle society, it was far too difficult for a ten-year-old-looking child to live alone.

But now he stared at the crowd on the Wooden Plank with a strange expression.

A haughty little girl with blood magic, a Blood-Cursed Werewolf, and the young lady of a Pure-blood family.

A middle-aged Werewolf who was supposedly above average in strength, but had been left perpetually weak by a bug in the Cruciatus Curse.

A Goblin who had lived for hundreds of years and was now lying there, seemingly indifferent to life or death.

A semi-transparent, headless Wizard Ghost clutching his own head and hoping Anton would help him get a Vessel someday.

And a Viper, a full twelve feet long, locked in an iron cage.

That was right, he had found Nagini too.

Good heavens!

All he wanted was someone to rely on.

But Fate had played a huge joke on him.

Not only had he gained no one to rely on, he had ended up with five people relying on him!

His little, scrawny ten-year-old shoulders~

This was just too much~

Far too much!!!

At such a young age, he already had to support a whole family?

"Fate sure is an interesting, mischievous little bitch." Anton grinned brightly and waved his Wand. A glowing arrow appeared in midair, wavered, then pointed southeast. "Destination: France. Let's go!"

A rope tied to the tail of the Flying Broomstick connected it to the Wooden Plank.

They traveled onward, far out across the sea.

The Old Wizard drifted on the Wooden Plank, facing the faint light where sea met sky, singing an ancient, rough-edged song of prophecy.

"O brave changer, he came forth from the mist."

"Morning dew dampened the hem of his robe."

"The birds sang at his arrival."

"The Wildflowers by the road swayed and danced for him."

"He walked on, smiling, with light in his wake..."

Pedro and Lupin lay side by side. Nagini flicked her tongue inside the iron cage, while Anna hugged her knees, resting her chin on them. She tilted her head toward Anton and smiled sweetly.

Time flew by.

Winter snow drifted down, quietly blanketing the streets of London, Britain.

In northwest London, on Grimmauld Place, a twenty-minute journey from King's Cross Station,

at number 11 Grimmauld Place, Chada Information Consulting Company welcomed another busy day at noon, as the warm sunlight melted the snow.

"Oh, damn it, when is the United States headquarters going to assign us a new manager? This whole situation is a mess." A young blonde woman in a blue-gray wool coat and gold-rimmed glasses complained as she looked at the disorderly stack of papers on her desk.

Beautiful women were always treated kindly by their colleagues. A young employee with a receding hairline and a slight belly leaned his upper body toward her, as if that would bring him just a little closer.

"Ilsa, you probably don't know this, but our new manager has already arrived."

That immediately drew everyone's attention. The young man looked even more pleased with himself. "I heard he was transferred from France."

"Unbelievable!" Ilsa's face was full of resistance. "Why transfer someone from France? Even if the United States headquarters has no suitable candidates, surely Britain can find someone?"

The young man shrugged. "We all know that in the future—oh, no, just a couple of years from now—information consulting companies will be everywhere. But right now, aside from the ones that specialize in serving the construction industry, we're the only company of our kind in all of London."

"It's hard to find the right person. Are we supposed to make a detective our manager?"

The others burst into laughter.

Ilsa pursed her lips and shrugged. "I wouldn't mind having Holmes as my boss."

Just then, a male employee who looked to be about thirty, sitting across from Ilsa and reading a newspaper, lowered it. He had dark green eyes that Ilsa liked, and a healthy, muscular build that filled out his shirt perfectly.

"I asked our colleagues in France. Our new boss is British."

"Really?" Ilsa looked delighted. "Gerber, I mean, how is that possible?"

All eyes left the young man and settled on Gerber.

Gerber elegantly lifted his coffee cup and took a sip. Seeing everyone watching him expectantly, especially Ilsa's anxious expression, he gave a mysterious smile. "Apparently, he's a Briton who's been living in France. After joining the French company, his outstanding abilities caught headquarters' attention, and they specifically assigned him to oversee the business in Britain."

"That's right. That's exactly what happened." A remarkably refined gentleman stood at the office entrance.

He elegantly took off his hat, revealing slicked-back hair with every strand meticulously groomed. The hazy yellow light shone on his golden hair, lending it a subtle elegance.

The gentleman's face bore the wrinkles of a life weathered by hardship, but his sharp intelligence and radiant smile softened them, giving him an unmistakable air of wisdom.

"My name is Remus John Lupin. It's a pleasure to be your colleague."

"Please, just call me Lupin. I like working in a relaxed atmosphere."

Lupin gestured toward the empty spot at reception. "Look, our receptionist has quit again, leaving another vacancy. It seems we have plenty to do."

A boss who seemed so energetic, kind, calm, intelligent, and perceptive won over most of the employees at this new company in an instant.

Everyone stood up and applauded his arrival.

Lupin clearly lived up to expectations. He glanced at the watch hanging from his chest. "Since I'm new here, I'd like to meet with each of you one-on-one in my office, so we can get to know each other better."

"We have twenty excellent employees. If we move quickly, perhaps we can finish before the end of the workday?"

He phrased it as a question, but his decisive manner instantly won everyone's confidence.

"Mr. Gerber, as the company accountant, I'd like you to be first. All right?"

"Of course, boss," Gerber readily agreed.

Gerber didn't notice that across from him, Ms. Ilsa was watching the boss with a furrowed brow.

The new manager, Lupin, was witty and good-natured. He was also sharp-minded. After each employee came out of their meeting, their opinion of him grew even more favorable.

"Thank goodness. I've always worried headquarters would shut us down." The balding young man who had spoken first looked radiant as he spoke excitedly to Ilsa. "After all, business was never good under our previous boss."

Ilsa forced a faint smile. "I-is that so? Well, that's wonderful."

Finally, ten minutes before the end of the workday, it was Ms. Ilsa's turn.

She clenched her hands, her fingers turning pale from the force, and quickly stood up.

Gerber across from her smiled faintly. "Ilsa, don't worry. The boss is broad-minded. He won't take a little accidental offense to heart."

He winked. "Of course, we should also be careful not to offend him, right?"

Ilsa seemed not to hear him. She walked into the boss's office in a daze.

Bang!

The thick wooden door to the manager's office slammed shut. Everyone in the office looked at one another.

When Ilsa entered, Lupin was holding a cup of coffee, one hand in his pocket, quietly gazing out the window at a stretch of ruins.

As though something lay within the ruins between number 11 and number 13 Grimmauld Place.

"Lupin!" Ilsa snarled coldly under her breath, her teeth clenched.

She grabbed him roughly by the collar. "Listen, you're not welcome here. I want you to leave at once."

Lupin was clearly startled. He stared at her in surprise. "Ms. Ilsa, what are you doing?"

Ilsa sneered and leaned closer. "Remus John Lupin, I know who you are!"

"If you don't want things to get ugly, leave this company right now!"

Lupin's expression turned cold. He frowned slightly, pushed Ilsa away, and straightened his tie. "I'm quite certain we've never met before, Ms. Ilsa. Are you sure you haven't mistaken me for someone else?"

Ilsa looked furious. She glanced out the window and stood up straighter. "It's the full moon tonight! Listen, either you leave with some dignity, or I'll call the Ministry of Magic!"

"The Ministry of Magic?" Lupin seemed to hear something funny and chuckled. "Ms. Ilsa, it's not April Fools' Day. Did you fall asleep at your desk and wake up confused?"

His expression grew cold. "I don't want to hear any more childish nonsense about magic. This is an information consulting company, not a playground!"

Ilsa glared down at him. "Ridiculous."

With that, she flung open the office door and faced all her colleagues. "Perhaps we should hold a welcome party over dinner tonight. What do you think?"

There was no shortage of men in the office eager to curry favor with her. A few joined in, and soon everyone was cheering.

Ilsa turned to Lupin and scoffed. "Well, manager, do you dare come? It's the full moon tonight!"

Lupin smiled calmly. "I don't know what you're trying to pull, but I hope you'll sincerely apologize after the dinner. You're an exceptionally talented information processor, after all, so I'll give you this chance."

Ilsa didn't appreciate the offer. She turned and walked out.

Behind her,

by the window, Lupin smiled calmly and took another sip of coffee. He frowned.

"Polyjuice Potion tastes disgusting!"

Rowling's setup for Lupin being poor and down on his luck: because he was a Werewolf, he couldn't find a job that paid. But the absurd thing was that when Lupin became a professor and it came out that he was a Werewolf, all the parents were shocked. So, as the only Magic School in Britain, it had barely a handful of professors. Why didn't the people who'd refused to give Lupin a job because they knew he was a Werewolf speak up? I nearly went mad trying to work out how to write this into the story.