Chapter 19: Reeves Manor Banquet

The Reeves family manor may not be as grand or imposing as Hogwarts, or the Malfoy manor, but it was no joke. It was a three-story mansion with stone walls surrounding the estate and the gate was painted copper. Two gargoyles guarded the entrance. It looked impressive, but it had the same look as the other pure-blooded families. Emphasis on being slightly run down and scary in general.

Outside the gate, a male wizard suddenly appeared using Apparition with a younger boy and girl.The male wizard looked at the manor carefully and said," Are you sure you don't want me to come in with you Lady Alyssa."

Alyssa shook her head," Just stick to the plan Austin. I'll be safe."

Austin Greengrass gave one last look at her and apparated away. Toby looked at the disappearing wizard and said," I never really asked, but where did you find Austin anyway? He's seriously dedicated to The Alliance."

"He's actually one of the newer members inducted into the Alliance," responded Alyssa," Apparently, Grandpa Albernotch gave this speech in a bar in London, which inspired a bunch of young wizards. Austin Greengrass is one of these wizards. He wants his family to rise so he chooses to ally himself with us."

"Is this the same bar where the Aurors arrested a bunch of black wizards?" asked Toby

"Yes," replied Alyssa while checking her watch," Any moment now…"

While they were talking, the wizards in the Reeves Manor were getting restless. Christiana Graves held her wand nervously as she stared out the window.

A wizard next to her whispered," She's not coming inside the manor. Do you think that Reeves' girl alerted the heiress of The Alliance?"

"Shut Up!" whispered Christiana fiercely. She was also wondering the same thing. Just when she thought that this ambush was going to be a bust, she spotted a triple-decker bus rapidly approaching. From the bus, two slightly older boys came tumbling out vomiting out the contents of their stomachs fervently on the roadside.

"Who are they?" mumbled Christiana.

The wizard next to her said," Cassandra invited all of them together since it would be suspicious if she only invited Alyssa."

Christiana tore her gaze away from the windows," The minute they enter the gate, lock the main door and have our forces surround the mansion. No one is allowed in or out. Today, she must die!"

"What about the other boys accompanying her?" asked the wizard.

"If possible, we can memory wipe them, or else, just silence them permanently."

After Cedric and Wilson recovered they greeted Toby and Alyssa. Cedric complained," That is the first and last time I'll ever get on the Knight Bus. God knows why this forsaken thing even exists."

Wilson was faring better. He picked up the suitcase next to him and immediately became serious," Alyysa, we reviewed the plan carefully. Are you sure that you can defend yourself in case things go haywire?"

Alyssa nodded," At this point, we have already committed. There's no point in going back."

Wilson looked at the daunting manor in front of him," I hope so Alyssa."

Walking to the gate of the manor, Toby knocked twice, and the door opened automatically. A house-elf appeared in front of them and said," Welcome dear guests, please come in. Lord Reeves and Lady Cassandra are waiting for you inside."

The house elf led the way into the manor. Toby glanced at the house-elves expression in interest. He found that the house elves' eyes were clear and glossy.

"Imperius?" muttered Toby looking at Alyssa in confirmation.

She nodded and put her index finger on her lips. Taking the hint, he decided to pretend as if he didn't notice that detail. In front of the dining hall, both Cassandra and an unfamiliar brunette lady stood there, waiting for them.

The brunette hair introduced herself," Welcome to the Reeves Manor. My name is~"

Wilson rushed forward and put both his arms on the brunette lady and asked," Miss, where is… ugh.. the lavatory. I think..ugh... I'm about to 'Belch~'"

Wilson made a puking noise which scared both Cassandra and the Brunette lady. Cassandra immediately pointed upstairs and said," There is a lavatory upstairs. Just go!Quickly!"

The brunette lady stopped Wilson and said," There's no need to go that far. Run down the corridor and take the third right. You'll see a restroom there."

'Restroom,' noted Toby,' She probably not British.'

At this time, Cedric stumbled and covered his mouth. The brunette gestured for Cedric to follow Wilson down the current path. Nodding gratefully, Cedric rushed after Wilson with the suitcase in his hand. To prevent anyone from noticing this detail, Toby asked," Cassandra, who is this lady beside you? Is she your mother? She's extraordinarily young though."

The brunette chuckled at the comment about her being young. Cassandra answered," She's actually the benefactor who saved my father in the hospital. She helped bring my father back to the manor."

'Benefactor… that was the agreed code given to her by Alyssa for the leader of the hostile party. So she's the mastermind behind this operation.' Toby nodded," I see. So your father plans to marry her?"

"What!" shrieked the brunette," I just saved Thomas by accident. I was just doing what any human would do."

"First name basis, and not marrying huh, then Uncle Reeves is definitely planning to keep her as a mistress," Toby muttered all of this under his breath, but everyone in the room heard this.

Alyssa smacked Toby on his arm and playfully continued the joke," Toby, don't be rude! What if she's the future Lady Reeves."

Red-faced, the brunette said," We should sit down at the dining table. It's getting late."

Under the guidance of the brunette lady, they were led to a luxuriously decorated table filled with delicious desserts, cake, cookies, and much more. They sat down together, while the waiters surrounded the room. Even Cedric and Wilson joined them. But no one noticed that the suitcases they held in their hand were missing.

The brunette stood up to give a toast," My name is Christiana Graves and it is my honor today to hold a banquet for all of you in the absence of Lord Reeves. Please, dig in."

Without holding back, Wilson grabbed a slice of cake and loaded the desserts on his plate.

"Prefect, you just vomited, are you sure you want to eat so heavily?" asked Cedric.

"Leaves more space in your stomach, Cedric. You should learn more from me."

Afterward, Alyssa reached for a strawberry shortcake, but the cake lept out of her hands did a little dance, and finally went back to her plate. Alyssa looked at it with mirth," It's an amazing novelty, Cassandra. Where did you get it from?"

Christiana interjected," These types of cakes are pretty rare in Britain, but they are much more common in the U.S."

Alyssa said," There's so much food on the table that it seems a bit wasteful. It's such a shame that these delicacies would be wasted."

Christiana giggled," I never really expected a young girl like you to think about wasting food like this."

Alyssa sighed," My family is actually really poor, so I have been frugal from the start. It really makes me envy the pure-blood families of Britain."

Both Toby and Christiana snorted.

'If mountains of gold coins are considered poor, then I will change my name to Andrew Garfield,' thought Toby.

Christiana smiled and decided to drop a bomb on the table," If the Grindelwald family is considered poor, then no one can consider themselves rich."

Everyone visibly tensed now that the cat was out of the bag, but Alyssa kept eating nonchalantly," It's not as much as we used to have. Now, we are so poor that only millions of Golden Galleons are left in our vault."

Seeing Alyssa so calm, Christiana grew nervous. She clapped her hands twice. Immediately, an endless stream of wizards surrounded the dining room in its entirety. Having gained confidence at the sight of her supporters, she provoked Alyssa," Honestly, the reason why this feast is so rich is because this will be your last meal. And after we are done with you, the food here will be eaten as a celebration banquet."

Alyssa just continued eating," Oh, then I'm sorry that I am eating the food meant for your celebratory banquet."

Christiana waved her hand," It's fine. Since it is your last meal, you should enjoy it while it lasts."

The hall fell into an eerie quietness, only to be broken by the sound of munching biscuits. Everyone looked over to Toby, who was still eating besides Alyssa.

"*crunch**crunch* What are you all looking at me for? She told us to enjoy the feast so that's what I am doing.``

"Enough!" shouted Christiana," Do you think this is a joke? We have you surrounded. It is only a matter of seconds before you die."

Alyssa took a napkin, wiped her mouth, and said," Since I'm about to die, then you might as well tell me who you are."

"Who we are! I'll tell you who we are," Christiana started laughing like a deranged clown," Lets play a game."

Christiana started looking at Toby, Wilson, and Cedric. "How about this? Why don't we let our guests beside you fight with my men? For each round that they win, I'll answer one question of yours."

Alyssa raised an eyebrow," And if we lose?"

"Then the duelist dies!!" said Christiana Graves.

Alyssa stood up and said," Fine by me. First up, let Toby go up in the first one vs one."

Christiana started laughing," Are you too scared Grindelwald? Will you let your friends die before you?"

Alyssa dragged a chair over to watch the duel," We'll see who has the last laugh."

Facing a confident Alyssa, a voice in Christiana's heart kept telling her that she couldn't delay any longer. Just when Christine was about to give an order and let the surrounding wizards swarm over to deal with Alyssa, Alyssa suddenly said,

"What? Don't you dare to play the game you brought up yourself?"

Before Christiana could speak, another wizard came out from behind Christiana, pulled out the wand in his arms, and said: "I'm up first! I want you to see with your own eyes when I kill your friends one by one.! Remember, it's not me who killed them, but twas your overconfidence!"

Seeing that the wizard had already stepped forward and stood opposite Toby, Christina had to go with the flow. She looked at Alyssa and said," I hope your confidence can last while your friends are slowly killed."

Toby and the other wizard stood about ten meters away from each other. All the other wizards formed a circle around them, serving like a ring. Christina gestured for the man to begin. Immediately, a green light shone on the man's wand and he shouted," Avada Kedavra."

The killing curse flew towards Toby, but unfazed, Toby waved his wand and a mud wall rose, blocking the spell. Some of the wizards present gasped. They just witnessed a first-year student create a mud wall blocking a killing curse. Yet the boy in front of them was still calm.

Christina's eyes flashed," Amazing composure and quick spellcasting. This boy must be a genius trained by the alliance from a young age."

Alyssa shrugged," Believe it or not, Toby had only been introduced to the magical world for only six months now. He's just a genius."

Christina responded," Then it's a pity that the genius will be buried six feet under today."

Toby looked at the wizard across from him and said," Is this all you got? Then, I'm sorely disappointed."

The wizard got out of his stupor and grinned," This will be more fun than I thought."

Immediately, the wizard sent out a flurry of curses, but Toby's earth walls blocked them all. The wizard grew angry and said," Is this all you got?"

Whilst dodging, Toby responded," Haven't you noticed that the room smells a bit better, even slightly sweeter?"

The wizard paused and carefully smelled the room. He immediately exclaimed," What is this? Is it poison?"

Most of the surrounding wizards panicked and some even cast a bubble-head charm on their head to isolate the poison. Christiana yelled," You idiot! If it was poison, everyone would show some symptoms. He's bluffing you. It's probably the smell of some nectar-scented candles."

"You're right," said Toby," It isn't poison." As he spoke, faint smoke began to become visible all around them. The smoke was translucent, almost pink in color.

The surrounding wizards tried to step back and swat away the smoke, but it kept on lingering around everyone."

"What is this madness," screamed Christiana.

"You are all in my world now," responded Toby, raising his wand for dramatic effect," Welcome to Sakasama no Sekai."

Toby cast the spell,"Verete Za Warudo"

Everyone's vision began to act strange. They found themselves almost floating on their roof. In everyone's eyes, people began to stand on nothing, upside down.

One of the wizards couldn't take it anymore," Stop it! Finite Incantatem! Finite Incantatem!!!"

"It's no use," Toby's voice haunted them," Here in my domain, everything is inverted. Left is Right. Up is down. Forward is backward. Everything is an illusion."

The wizard dueling Toby pointed his wand," Then as long as I kill you, this illusion will end right." Even though Toby was upside down in his eyes, he aimed at the center of Toby's body, where he knew the spell would definitely hit.

Toby chuckled," Then what if you can't see me." 'Aoratos.'

Toby grew translucent and he was not visible anymore to the naked eye.

The wizard kept his ears open. He knew that even if Toby was invisible, his footsteps could be heard. Hearing a sound to the left of him, he spun around and cast a killing curse.

"Did I get him?" muttered the wizard.

"Sorry," said Toby," Remember, left is right, right is left."

The wizard spun towards the voice just to see a Diffindo(Severing Curse) fly towards him. The wizard smirked and said," So what if a measly spell flies towards me? I can just dodge it."

Since the wizard knew that the spell was coming from the left, he leaned right, but still, the curse hit him.

"What!"

"Even if your mind can process the information, your body will not be able to react in time." Toby continued to taunt him.

The wizard clutched his right shoulder," If I can't react, then I'll defend myself from all corners." 'Protego'

A translucent, but stable shell enveloped him. The wizard smirked," So what now boy? Only an Avada Kedabra can break the shell, but I don't think that you learned an unforgivable yet. Besides, maintaining this spell must be draining your magic at an alarming rate."

Toby sighed in mock defeat," It's true that I can't break your shield," Toby paused for dramatic effect," But this can."

Toby opened his jacket to the wizard in front of him.

"Is that~"

"Two model 1076 pistols, ten stun grenades, 2 frag grenades, 3 smoke bombs. If this can't stop you, then muggle arm-makers should give up their industry."

The wizard sighed," I give up."

Immediately, the illusion was canceled. Everyone present regained their sight. The wizard clutched his right shoulder and said," You really are an amazing boy."

One of the wizards said," Gary, you are holding the wrong shoulder."

"What!" The wizard checked to see that his right shoulder was intact and the left shoulder was bleeding out," but~"

"In my spell, even damage taken is reversed. Thus the true horror of Verete Za Warudo."

…

Alyssa smiled at Toby," Is this your best spell?"

Toby nodded," It's the best spell that I've created."

Wilson was shocked," Seriously. You didn't even complete your first year and you started creating your own spells. Aren't you too good at this?"

Christina was shaken by her defeat. She sighed and trembled," Just who are you?"

Toby stretched out his hand and gave her a thumbs up," My name is Toby Maguire and I'm the man who is going to become Hokage..er Pirate King. Damn it! I mean Wizard King."

Christina sighed. One of her best henchmen was defeated right in front of her by a boy who had just started using magic. " You've won, now ask away."

Alyssa asked," Who are you?"

Christina smiled deviously," I am Christiana Graves."

Alyssa frowned," That's not what I meant."

Christina responded," You should be clear from the start. It's not my fault that your question wasn't properly framed."

Alyssa sighed," Then let's move on to the next duel."

Christiana laughed," Do think it is you who is controlling the direction of this situation? It is me! No more duels! Everyone! Kill them all!