Vincent Behrens

In Diagon Alley, the usually irreverent Hobart stood ramrod straight, speaking to a witch in thick emerald robes and a pointed wizard's hat.

"Merry Christmas, Professor McGonagall." Hobart forced a smile. If he had known he would run into Professor McGonagall, he would never have come.

Seeing Hobart looking like a mouse confronted by a cat, Will wondered just what he had experienced at school.

"Hobart Howard?" Professor McGonagall looked Hobart up and down, then glanced at Will beside him. She took Will by the shoulder and pulled him behind her.

"Why have you brought Will here?"

Professor McGonagall looked as though she had caught a motorcycle-riding delinquent trying to sweet-talk her precious daughter, her eyes full of scrutiny.

"Well, I'm actually Will's uncle. His biological uncle."

"Will's uncle?" Professor McGonagall frowned, her gaze approaching outright scrutiny. "As I recall, Will came from a single-parent family, and his mother passed away. As for you, Hobart, weren't you born into a Muggle aristocratic family?"

"Professor, the truth is..." Hobart tried to explain, but a look from Professor McGonagall silenced him.

Professor McGonagall was no fool. Remembering what Professor Flitwick had told her about Will's background and considering Hobart's family circumstances, she quickly reached a judgment. She sighed inwardly. Another family melodrama. She had stopped Hobart because she did not want Will hurt by another reminder of his status.

"Will is a good child. I hope that, as his uncle, you can set a good example for him."

Hobart nodded like a chicken pecking at grain. He could hardly help being afraid. After all, Professor McGonagall had been the one to introduce him to the wizarding world, and after he entered Gryffindor, the stern professor had been his Head of House.

That was why, when he wrote to a professor, he had written directly to Professor Flitwick. Writing to Professor McGonagall had never even crossed his mind.

(Professor McGonagall resigned from the Ministry of Magic in 1956 to teach at Hogwarts and was already Head of House by 1970, when Hobart attended school. Professor Flitwick joined Hogwarts in 1970.)

As the two spoke, a girl suddenly came over and loudly greeted Professor McGonagall and Will.

"Professor McGonagall! Will! What are you doing here?"

Will knew who it was as soon as he heard her voice.

Professor McGonagall greeted the girl. "Miss Lestrange."

At the sight of the old man behind her, Professor McGonagall even smiled and greeted him. "Mr. Lestrange."

"Just call me Roy, Professor McGonagall."

Will could tell the old man knew Professor McGonagall well. What puzzled him was that a member of the Lestrange family would be so familiar with her, and apparently so friendly, too.

"Grandfather, this is the Will I told you about." Sylvia came over to Will and naturally slipped her arm through his as she introduced him to her grandfather.

"Hello, Mr. Lestrange," Will said politely.

"No need to be so formal, young Will." The old man was very amiable, unlike most of the old geezers from the wizarding world's pure-blood families. He even looked Will up and down with something like... appreciation in his eyes?

"Sylvia, young Will, go and enjoy yourselves. I'd like a word with Professor McGonagall." Smiling, Roy gave Sylvia a small purse. "There are some Galleons inside. Go and buy yourselves something you like."

"All right..." Sylvia knew this was the adults' way of sending her away, but she obediently headed toward the nearby Flourish and Blotts with Will.

"Professor McGonagall, I'll go and pay for Will's things." Hobart seized his chance to escape her clutches. Professor McGonagall and Roy Lestrange seemed to have something to discuss, so she did not stop him.

The bookshop should, by rights, have been closed on Christmas Day, but a young wizard was minding the shop.

At the entrance, Hobart patted Will and told him to pick out some books, saying he would pay. At the same time, he winked at Will. "Not bad, Will. You take after me."

The more he looked at Will, the more he liked him.

Will actually suspected that his Charisma skill might also have something to do with Hobart treating him so well. There was Charisma LV2's bonus ability to consider.

[LV2 bonus ability, Star of Attraction: You attract more attention. Others' liking or dislike of you will increase to a certain extent.]

Ignoring Hobart's approving look, Will browsed the books with Sylvia. As he selected them, he asked curiously, "Your grandfather seems to know Professor McGonagall very well. They practically look like old friends."

He remembered that the Lestrange family had hardly been a good family in the original story.

Many members of the Lestrange family were enthusiasts of dark magic and pure-blood supremacists who despised Muggles, Muggle-borns, and blood traitors. As a result, the family had a poor reputation in the wizarding world. To preserve the purity of their bloodline, they also practiced marriage between close relatives, much like the Gaunt family.

This had also produced quite a few freaks within the Lestrange family. In later years, their numbers had dwindled, and their most famous member was Bellatrix Lestrange. Of course, before marrying Rodolphus Lestrange, her surname had been Black.

He truly could not recall any member of the Lestrange family who was friendly toward Muggles and so close to the Hogwarts side.

That made him very curious about Sylvia's family.

Sylvia reached for a copy of The Magic of Beautification as she answered, "Oh, my grandfather has always been on good terms with the Hogwarts professors. They even fought Voldemort together. My father told me that because our family helped Professor Dumbledore and the others back then, our relatives hunted us down. Some madwoman called Bellatrix even hit my grandfather with a Cruciatus Curse. Professor Dumbledore arrived just in time to save him."

Will was rather bewildered. Was this still the world of Harry Potter?

Holding The Magic of Beautification, Sylvia suddenly seemed to remember something. "Well, haven't you always wanted to know why I'm so interested in you?"

"Yes. Are you willing to tell me now?" Will took a copy of Runes Explained Further from the shelf.

"If you come to my house for Christmas, I'll tell you." Sylvia glanced at Will, then could not help pursing her lips at the stack of books in his arms.

"You really want me to spend Christmas at your house?" Will pulled out a copy of An Analysis of Classic Potions from Hogwarts Potions Classes.

"Of course. Everyone in my family would welcome you. In fact, I told them about you as soon as I got home, and they said they'd be delighted if you wanted to come." Sylvia took a few of Will's books to share the load. "If you come, I'll let you sleep in my little sister's room."

"Wait, where would your sister sleep?"

"I don't have a little sister. I just really wanted one when I was little, so I prepared a room and asked my parents to have a little sister for me so she could live there. But I still don't have one."

The corner of Will's eye twitched. Did this count as an idiot girl finding joy in everything?

He placed his large stack of books in front of the shop assistant, still unsure how to answer Sylvia.

"I think spending Christmas at her house would be a fine choice," Hobart suggested to Will as he surveyed the pile of books.

He was actually afraid Will would be upset. There was no way Will could attend the family banquet that evening. Rather than leave him in the castle feeling hurt, it would be better to let him have a merry Christmas at this girl's home.

Besides, he could tell that the girl liked his nephew very much, and old Roy was a friend of Professor McGonagall's. It would certainly be better than leaving Will in the Howard family castle.

Will considered it.

A quarter of an hour later.

Will shook his head to ease his dizziness. Roy Lestrange had brought him and Sylvia along by Apparition.

It was not a pleasant sensation. It felt as though someone had stuffed him into a tumble washer. He had been squeezed hard from every direction, unable to breathe at all, his chest feeling as though several iron bands were constricting it. Even his internal organs and eyeballs seemed to have been compressed.

Sylvia did not look particularly well either, but this clearly was not her first experience.

"Are you all right, child?" Roy Lestrange asked with concern.

Will rubbed his temples. "I'm all right, sir."

Only after confirming that Will was indeed fine did Roy relax. "Then, young Mr. Behrens, welcome to Lestrange Manor."

The manor stood in a valley. Although snow fell that day and heavy clouds pressed down on the gray sky, they could not conceal the beauty of the old British-style estate in the valley. A small castle stood at its very center, with a thin layer of snow on the surrounding dark gray stone walls. Ivy dusted with snow clung to the cracks, making the texture of the walls all the clearer. The Christmas wreath on the walnut door was strikingly vivid, red berries nestled among green branches and silver bells speckled with snow. Lamps above the door cast a warm glow that pierced the gray chill.

Snow capped the hedges in the garden, and strings of lights shone on cast-iron trellises, their glow reflected in the ice crystals of the frozen fountain. There was also a square with a small clock tower in the garden. Will spotted quite a few house-elves, too.

Well, another wealthy family. I'm surrounded by wealthy families.

Roy led Will through the manor's front garden and into the castle, where he soon saw a huge oil painting hanging in the entrance hall.

Yes, an oil painting, not a magical portrait.

It depicted a sinking ship, with a black-haired young man rescuing a baby from a cabin.

The young man had thick black hair and a lean face. His silver-gray eyes held a reassuring calm, while the infant in his arms looked terrified and was wailing.

The sight of the painting sent a jolt through Will.

The man in the painting looked far too much like him! Or rather, Will looked far too much like that young man!

"This... what is this?" Will asked, pointing at the painting in confusion.

Roy smiled. "This shows a wizard rescuing my grandfather, Corvus V, at the beginning of the century. The family recorded the incident and had it made into a painting several decades ago."

The beginning of the century—that would be eighty or even ninety years ago, Will thought. Could this be one of Dorothy Behrens's ancestors?

That was possible.

Wait, wasn't Corvus V Leta Lestrange's half brother, born to the same father? Corvus died aboard a ship bound for America! This man saved him!?

Will felt that something was wrong.

The next moment, Roy Lestrange's words sent a storm surging through Will's heart.

"This wizard helped the Lestrange family many times. He was the one who allowed us to survive when we were on the brink of destruction, so we're all very grateful to him. But we couldn't find him, or any of his descendants."

"This wizard's name was Vincent Behrens."

Vincent was the alias Will had used in Knockturn Alley.

!!!