Chapter 227 - A Talk Between Two Monarchs (1)
England, London, City of Westminster.
Buckingham Palace.
Asterion was dressed extremely formally at this moment, a blue military suit hugged his body perfectly while his hair was combed meticulously. He wore two rings on his fingers, the Patriarch's Ring of House Black and the Ring of Marvolo Gaunt, containing one of the Three Relics of Death - the Resurrection Stone.
Looking at the majestic palace before him, Asterion let out a helpless sigh. Dumbledore was busy mobilizing the entire Clock Tower to erect barriers and castles all along the Isle of Britain, Rose was definitely not suited to speak to Queen Elizabeth II. Naturally, that left only him to speak to the Matriarch of House Windsor, the British Royal family.
[Note: If you have any doubts about what Great Britain, England and the United Kingdom are, I'll explain. Great Britain = Island. England = One of the three countries located on the Isle of Great Britain. United Kingdom = The union of four countries led by England. Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales. I hope I've helped].
Asterion had already notified him of his arrival, after all, arriving at someone's house unannounced was not polite or even considered a good thing to do. Waiting for a moment, he heard footsteps approaching and soon saw an elderly man wearing a black suit.
"Lord Black." The butler greeted Asterion and gestured for him to follow, which Patriarch Black did in silence.
The butler remained silent as he walked, but he couldn't help glancing at the tall, red-eyed boy beside him. When he heard that he would be guiding one of England's most important Wizards, he had expected to see Dumbledore, as he had done before.
As Butler to the royal family, he was privy to countless secrets that most people would never dream of knowing. He knew that a totally different society to which everyone was oblivious was hidden in the shadows of humanity itself.
Magic, witchcraft, cursed spirits. At the thought of such stories, the butler felt a chill run through his body.
So, seeing his young face, the butler showed no sign of disdain or contempt for his age, although the man next to him was indeed young, the aura he emanated was regal and more princely than Prince Charles himself.
"We have arrived, Lord Black." The butler spoke as he turned to Asterion.
Asterion nodded and stepped forward. The butler opened the door, revealing an elegantly designed room. It was a room for receiving important guests. There were five people in it, only one of whom he knew, and it was someone he was familiar with.
Edward Gray, the Agent who had always accompanied him on missions. Waving discreetly to the man, who returned the greeting, Asterion looked at four other people.
Two men and two women.
The first was an old man wearing a military suit similar to his own, including the Royal blue color, and was Prince Philip and King Consort of England. The man was about 73 years old and looked firmer and more upright than his son, Crown Prince Charles, who was about 46.
The woman next to Prince Charles was Princess Diana, she wore a pink suit and her blonde hair was short, two diamond earrings were in both her ears, a pearl necklace gracefully adorned her neck.
She had such a kind and gentle smile that you'd find it hard not to feel goodwill towards the princess.
However, Asterion's attention was soon focused on the most important person in the room: she was short and sat regally and inspiringly in the chair, a blue suit that matched her husband's hugging her body. Meticulously combed white hair covered her entire head. She had blue eyes, which for some reason reminded him of Dumbledore.
The same strong, determined and slightly stern look.
She was Elizabeth II, Queen of England and the United Kingdom, one of the most powerful women in the muggle world and the monarch of all the English.
Honestly, with the existence of the Cursed Spirits, the Wizarding World was very close to the Muggle World, which created a coexistence for the English Monarchy. Although wizards despised muggles, they respected their monarch, who had helped them enormously over the centuries. You probably wouldn't find a Pureblood Wizard who had never received any help from the House of Windsor.
"Your Grace, the Queen, it's an honor to finally meet you." Asterion placed his hand on his chest and bowed slightly forward as he looked directly into the Queen's eyes, which, strangely enough, were gazing at him with a touch of nostalgia.
"Sit down, Lord Black." Elizabeth looked at Arcturus' great-grandson and couldn't help but notice the great familiarity between them, not just in appearance, but in the way he behaved, he was an exact copy of the man.
Princess Diana served as his maid for the moment, but she didn't seem bothered by the situation, she looked curiously at Asterion, as if expecting him to do something that would surprise her at any moment.
Noticing this, Asterion made the teacup fly towards him, earning an incredulous and delighted look from the 33-year-old Princess. The reaction almost made Patriarch Black laugh, the Princess looked like a child who had discovered a whole new world after seeing a simple demonstration of a levitation spell.
Philip and Elizabeth smiled at the princess's childishness, they really liked this fun-loving and naturally cheerful daughter-in-law, although their son and Diana's marriage was not going well at all. Both sides had lovers, which was slowly ruining the marriage.
Charles didn't like his wife's childishness at such a serious moment, but he remained silent in the face of his father's powerful gaze.
"My condolences, Lord Black. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend Arcturus' wake. We were friends and he protected me when I was a child. He even taught me a few things about controlling those men from Parliament." Elizabeth said, her tone calm but somewhat emotional.
Asterion wasn't surprised, Arcturus had once said that he had protected the Queen of England, which he always spoke of with extreme pride.
"He told me, Your Grace. He was always proud to have protected Your Grace." Asterion replied with a small smile on his lips. A smile that Elizabeth shared at that moment.
After exchanging greetings, Asterion returned to his serious expression and looked at the queen with a calm gaze. "I'll be direct, Your Grace. I have to be in Parliament in just over half an hour."
Elizabeth remained impassive in the face of the incredibly serious voice of her friend's great-grandson. She knew something unbelievably serious was happening.
"The Third Magical World War is about to begin." Asterion was direct and did not hold back. In order to make this war less destructive and to keep the Cursed Spirits from being exposed as much as possible, the help of the Muggle community was more than necessary.
A heavy atmosphere hung in the air, even though Elizabeth didn't know magical history, she had participated in World War II, so how could she not know that this kind of war was simply terrible for the world as a whole.
Seeing that no one said anything, Asterion began to explain. "The First Magical World War caused the then center of the magical world, Rome, to collapse like a sand castle. The Second Magical World War resulted in the fall of Constantinople. We want to prevent England from suffering the same fate."
Asterion's words only made the atmosphere more tense. "England will do whatever it takes to prevent that." Elizabeth didn't flinch at his words, she wasn't an indecisive person to begin with, and she wasn't going to flinch now, at such a delicate moment.
"Your help is appreciated, Your Grace." Asterion said with a grateful look. With a wave of his hand, he took a pile of papers with countless pieces of information that Dumbledore had compiled. "This is information about the war and the likely culprits.
Elizabeth nodded and picked up one of the papers, put on her reading glasses and began to read. When she saw that the cause of the war was the death of the son of the Russian Minister of Magic, orchestrated by France and Germany, she couldn't help but snort out loud.
Ignoring Germany, she commented with a hint of sarcasm. "The French are as desperate as ever."
Asterion rolled his eyes at the English queen's xenophobia; as mentioned before, France and England were countries that didn't like each other, it was an old feud and one that would last even longer. Especially now, with the Third Magical World War.
Elizabeth continued looking at the papers and noticed that the wizards were setting up barriers and spells against Aparatar in strategic places, mainly in London and on the coasts of Wales and Scotland.
It was as if a huge dome had been erected around the country. Within this dome, castles would be built with magic and transformed into true magical fortresses of war, preventing the enemy's rapid advance if the first line of defense was breached.
The world was once again headed for chaos.
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Next Chapter of the Third Volume: Chapter 228 - Preparations for War (1), Chapter 228 - Preparations for War (1), Chapter 229 - Preparations for War (1), Chapter 230 - The French Battlefront (1), Chapter 231 - The French Battlefront (2), Chapter 232 - The French Battlefront (3), Chapter 233 - The French Battlefront (4), Chapter 234 – Battle Between Special Grade Wizards (1), Chapter 235 – Battle Between Special Grade Wizards (2), Chapter 236 – Battle Between Special Grade Wizards (3), Chapter 237 – Battle Between Special Grade Wizards (4), Chapter 238 – Battle Between Special Grade Wizards (5), Chapter 239 - Occupation of the Principality of Andorras (1), Chapter 240 - Occupation of the Principality of Andorras (2), Chapter 241 - City of Calais (1), Chapter 242 - City of Calais (2), Chapter 243 - City of Calais (3), Chapter 244 - City of Calais (4), Chapter 245 - The Grindelwald Plan (1).