Mad-Eye Moody

"Sirius Black, what's the situation? There was a sudden magical reaction here, so I brought people over right away." The man at the front leaned on a cane, his face hideous and scarred, with a fake eye that spun wildly in every direction like an eyepatch. He looked at the two figures before him—one large, one small—and asked.

Anduin watched the sudden arrivals and knew they were likely Aurors. 'Took you long enough, didn't it?' he muttered inwardly.

Seeing the figures appear, Sirius Black led Anduin over to meet them.

"It was two Death Eaters. I recognized them—Snape and Avery. Too bad they were both wearing masks, so we can't press charges. Those bastards caught me off guard and chased me all the way to Knockturn Alley. Luckily, Anduin stepped in and helped me out, or I might not have lasted until you got here."

Sirius explained, then introduced both sides.

"This is Mad-Eye Moody, a Senior Auror and Hit Wizard from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. And this is Anduin Wilson, a young friend I just met. He's got some real skill—gave that bastard Avery a thorough beating. By the way, he's a young wizard about to start at Hogwarts this year." Sirius made the introductions, also recounting the events to Moody.

Moody listened, then fixed his mismatched eyes on Anduin. "Kid, what you did was brave, but this kind of thing isn't for a young wizard like you to pretend to be strong over. Don't be so reckless next time. If you got hurt, your family would be heartbroken."

"Mr. Moody, this kind of thing won't happen again."

If you lot had shown up sooner, I wouldn't have had to step in, Anduin thought, exasperated, but he obediently admitted his fault to Moody. He had no desire to argue with someone who looked like a Zhong Kui incarnate.

"Alright, I'll overlook your underage magic use this time. I'll get the full story from Sirius later. Go home now. Frank, you're in charge of seeing him back." Mad-Eye Moody handled things efficiently, not pressing Anduin further, and called over Frank Longbottom to escort him home.

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

"What? Frank's still taking you." Mad-Eye Moody gave Anduin another look, finally realizing why an underage wizard was here—he lived in Diagon Alley.

Anduin shrugged and followed Frank out of the alley. What a rotten day, running into all this.

"Anduin, thanks! I'll come see you when I get the chance!" Sirius shouted after Anduin as he walked away.

Yelling like that in the middle of the night, not caring if you wake people up, Anduin thought, turning back to wave at Sirius with a helpless expression.

Back at the Leaky Cauldron, Anduin thanked Frank Longbottom for seeing him home and returned to his room.

The day's events kept flashing through Anduin's mind.

"Death Eaters are way too dangerous. What kind of spell was that Snape guy casting? The penetration was incredible—two Obstacle Charms couldn't even stop it. I'm clearly not practicing enough. I need to boost the magic power density of my Obstacle Charm."

Anduin made up his mind to push himself harder. He wouldn't leave the Leaky Cauldron until school started—he'd just train in seclusion here.

With that decided, Anduin pulled out the protective charm again, staring at the copper piece that had saved his life. He planned to write to Lily tomorrow to thank her properly.

In the days that followed, Anduin remained disciplined, sticking to his study plan. He'd already learned most of the spells from Beginner Spells and the Guide to Self-Defense Against the Dark Arts, and had started flipping through textbooks on Transfiguration, Herbology, and Potions.

The day after that night, Sirius Black came to visit Anduin. They talked a lot about Sirius's grudges with the Death Eaters and even some things about the Order of the Phoenix. It seemed a lot of people in the Wizarding World knew about the Order, though not its exact members. Sirius was one of the more well-known members.

No wonder he got targeted, Anduin thought. In his eyes, Sirius was a guy who liked to pretend to be strong, valued loyalty, was cheerful, but had a bit of a show-off streak. Still, Anduin had a good impression of him.

So, over time, Anduin and Sirius became friends, exchanging letters regularly.

Anduin's correspondence with Lily also continued.

After explaining the situation and thanking her in his letters, Lily was delighted that her Alchemical Gadget had helped Anduin. She thanked him in return, mentioning that Sirius Black was also a good friend of hers, and that the protective charm was actually an experimental piece of hers—she was thrilled it had worked.

Anduin found this pretty ridiculous. Giving someone a gift without even knowing if it works—who does that? Still, he started discussing the charm's mechanics with Lily. The fact that a spell capable of cutting through two Obstacle Charms could be blocked by the charm's enchantment fascinated him, and his thirst for knowledge drove him to uncover its secrets.

Lily generously explained the principles, but Anduin couldn't fully grasp it. He only understood that the charm contained two main layers: a Reactive Charm that activated automatically in danger, and a Protective Charm infused with Lily's unique understanding.

Lily said she'd learned it from an old book at school, which contained methods for casting spells using emotions. Anduin asked for the book's title, planning to study it once he got to school.

His correspondence with Sirius was less frequent. At first, Anduin suddenly received a package from Sirius containing 200 Galleons, along with a letter saying it was a thank-you gift. Sirius wrote that while he could have handled the two Death Eaters himself, he still appreciated Anduin's help.

Anduin had only had a decent impression of the guy before, but now his opinion of this show-off skyrocketed. Rich guy, huh? Just throwing money at people—what a move.

Anduin hadn't really wanted to keep in touch with him, but he figured he shouldn't neglect this big shot. Who knows, maybe a few scraps from him could set me up.

So he occasionally wrote back, flattering the narcissist, enduring Sirius's boastful and exaggerated replies.