005 New Home

"Obliviate" As soon as we apparated to safety, I used a memory charm on my parents... it was easier than explaining what I was doing in the living room of our old house. "We were attacked, after a hard fight you defeated attackers and we fled to safety... to be sure you burned our old house." I also suggested to them that I should have more freedom. Moments later, they awoke from their trance.

"Mom, where are we?" My mother looked around the room, but from the look on her face it was obvious she didn't know where we were either. We both looked at my father.

"This is my Uncle Aleister's house in Leamington, we're in England."

England? Fuck... from all possible places in the world I ended up in England... bad weather, bad food, but at least it was rather safe here, apart from the magical NSDAP in the form of Death Eaters. Personally, I had nothing against them, in my previous life I did business with various people and the only color I was interested in was green... except for the communists, I bought weapons from them, but I did not sell them anything... as Lenin said "The Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them." Very true... especially looking at the relationship between the US and China just before my death. Therefore, despite having not many moral principles, I always followed this one.

My reflections were interrupted by my parents' conversation... as the house was not used, my father went to check if some nasty creature like pixie, imp, boggart, gypsy or some bum had lived in the house. As for my mother, she started cleaning with a wand and spells... well, magic version I Robot.

Having nothing else to do, I decided to see our new residence... after looking into several rooms, I was convinced that the former owner must be insane. There were many Egyptian and Greek monuments everywhere, strange drawings and pictures of sheep on the walls... in one of the rooms there was a portrait of my uncle, it did not move as it used to be in the wizarding world... under the portrait was the quote "I am above you and in you. My ecstasy is in yours." I knew a bit about who Aleister "Beast" Crowley was, he and his life have been an inspiration for many metal bands and songs, but to know and to see are two completely different things.

(Father POV)

"I know they were people from the ministry, and if they dared to attack this openly, it means that the old man is dead and we cannot return to the country." I tried to think logically, but it wasn't the easy... they wanted to kill my family... MY FAMILY!!!

"What now, honey? What are we doing next?"

Good question, I wasn't sure what to do myself, but I had to calm Inga somehow. "We will be safe here, we have enough savings, and when Sambor grows up we will send him here to school."

"Hogwarts? Do you know who the headmaster of this school is? Our parents supported Grindelwald and this man... do you think sending Sambor over there is a good idea?"

There was a bit of a point in what Inga said... but so many years have passed that probably no one in their right mind will cause problems to the child. "Time will tell, but it's the best solution for the current situation."

(End POV)

"Mom, there is a rubber sheep in my room..." My uncle had strange likes when it comes to home decor. Apart from Egyptian and Greek antiques, there were also many figures, sculptures and pictures of farm animals... in this house, the term "animal lover" took on a literal meaning.

"Where did you find it?!" I heard my mother scream from downstairs and heavy footsteps up the stairs.

"Under my bed, it must be Uncle Aleister's lucky sheep." I decided to have a little fun at my mother's expense. "See for yourself that she has a cute face... as if she was saying 'lovee mee'.

Before I could say anything more, my mother rushed into my room, grabbed a sheep from my hands... as she was coming down the stairs, I heard her saying to herself... "This is not a normal family, it can't be. Aleister... fucking sheep shagger."

Over the next few days, everything returned to normal, and I returned to my work on smartmirror, although I did not take my notes from Poland, fortunately I remembered every step to recreate my prototype. I also decided to work a little on my apparition, spells and my own safety... the experiences of that night made me realize one thing... that instead of relying on someone, it is better to rely only on yourself.

I also considered all the pros and cons of my decisions, and the first one was about making my invention public...

Apart from money, I would probably gain a fame which, despite its many flaws, also gives me a protective shield. It is much more difficult to eliminate such a person, and the killer must take into account that killing a high profile target will be associated with great publicity. It did not mean total security, but total security never exists.

I also needed people and, more importantly, loyal people... unfortunately, loyalty is a commodity that quickly expires. People have their own ambitions, think they are underestimated or they want more money or power... so to find the right people you have to look for them in the gutter. Desperate, not quite alive, but not yet dead... and when they are on the border between vegetation and death, you extend a helping hand... to give them a reason to live again. There were also magical ways like Unbreakable Vow, which I also intended to use as extra protection against betrayal.