France; first part

Henry walked to the entrance of the ministry with the letter in his hand. He entered the red telephone box and picked up the receiver. "The Ministry of Magic, department of magical transport, portkey office at 10.30 a.m., Henry Pearce," Henry said.

Then the interior of the booth began to descend underground. Henry put the receiver back on the console and watched the cabin descend. The Ministry was crowded, just like in the films. People were moving around, moving from place to place. The atrium looked grand with its polished dark wood floor and dark walls.

When the telephone booth reached the floor, Henry made his way to the fountain of magical brothers. The attendant checked his wand and directed him to the lifts. After Henry got his wand back, he proceeded to the lift. On the one hand, he was examining his surroundings. "I wish I had more time to travel. It is refreshing to explore the wizard world," Henry thought.

After the lift was full, and the paper aeroplanes entered, it moved. The lift first went up two floors and then moved to the left. Most of the magicians got off, and the lift kept moving. Henry was among them. Unlike most magicians, Henry was not wearing a robe. He wore a black suit and a black coat.

The inner lining of the coat was dark navy blue. Henry arrived at the Ministry of Magic half an hour early. After getting out of the lift, he started moving down the corridor. There were many offices on the right and left sides of the corridor. Henry went towards the office numbered 1001, where he had an appointment. He was careful not to bump into anyone. Since it was the summer period, many magicians were travelling to different countries on holiday.

Henry finally found the office and knocked on the door. The door opened by itself and allowed Henry to see inside the office. The walls of the office were covered with cabinets. There was a world map on the ceiling of the office.

"Are you lost, young man?" asked a woman named Martha. Henry turned to Martha sitting at her desk in the centre of the office. There were many papers on the desk and a lot of keys with labels on them. "Hello, Mrs Munch. I'm Henry Pearce, here for my appointment," Henry said, smiling.

Martha looked at Henry in surprise. "May I have the necessary letter, Mr Pearce?" said Martha. She was aware of her appointment with Henry today, but she did not expect him to be a boy in his teens. Henry handed Martha the appointment letter he had received from the ministry. Martha took the letter and cast a silent spell with her wand.

After seeing that the letter was genuine, she cast another silent spell to check Henry's registered details. After making all the necessary verifications, Martha wasted no more time and asked Henry for the galleons needed for the use of the portkey. When Henry paid the five galleons, Martha took the key with France written on it from the desk and went to the cupboard on the wall of the office.

She took out the bowl-shaped portkay and handed it to Henry. "To activate it, just say France. Have a delightful holiday, Mr Pearce," Martha said. Henry smiled and took the bowl from Martha's hand. "Thank you, Mrs Munch," said Henry. After activating the key, the familiar sensation of materialisation enveloped him.

When he opened his eyes again, he was in a different office. "Welcome to France, may I have the necessary documents," said a man who looked to be in his late thirties. Henry nodded and handed over the documents Martha had given him. After completing the necessary procedures at the French Ministry of Magic, Henry went to the magic street of France.

The entrance to the street was the concrete block under the statue. Henry said "Good day" in French to the French Auror standing guard next to the statue and handed him the documents he held in his hand. The Auror nodded and took the documents from Henry's hand. He was surprised when he read the documents, but he directed Henry to the entrance of the street.

After passing through the wall, Henry walked a little further and examined the street. It was very different from Diagon Alley. The buildings looked much more modern, and the architecture was much better. The street was much wider and the magicians' clothes looked much more modern. In England, magicians seemed to have stayed in the Victorian era.

In France, it was more like 1950. Henry walked down the street and found a restaurant. Henry had deliberately woken up late and had not eaten breakfast. He had never travelled abroad in his past life, but he had tasted enough of the cuisine to know what France was famous for. After ordering, Henry started to watch the people on the street.

"Jarvis, how's it going?" Henry asked in his mind.

"Sir, French magicians are no different from English magicians. Most of them don't have occlumency shields and the ones that do are at an undeveloped level," said Jarvis.

"Make sure you are unnoticed and guide me with the information you have gathered," Henry said.

Henry had released his legillimency field since he had stepped off the Hogwarts Express. Although it was one of the reasons he had been caught last time, there were very few wizards in the world of Dumbledore's calibre. Unless they had a magical eye, they could not detect his legillimency field. Even if someone did find him, natural legillimency was rare, but it wasn't like there wasn't any around.

Besides, Henry wasn't making a direct legillimency attack. Jarvis was using Henry's magic to read the legillimency field and memories. Jarvis was almost impossible to detect under a control attack. The reason Henry was taking risks again was because he was aware of his ability in legillimency. It naturally gifted him in both occlumency and legillimency.

The benefits of legillimency went far beyond reading and altering memories. It was very useful in duelling and group combat. That's why Henry took risks. Even if he didn't intend to face the world alone, there was nothing wrong with being prepared.

As Henry drifted in his thoughts, his order was ready to be served. The waiter left the table after bringing the food. Henry ordered boeuf bourguignon and ratatouille. He started eating without wasting time. With a smile on his face, he left the restaurant. He continued to walk down the street. First, he started looking for a hotel to arrange his accommodation. He found it quickly, with Jarvis's guidance.

His next stop after the hotel was all the bookshops he saw. Henry had come to France for two purposes. It was to gather information and on holiday. He would stay here for a week. He would spend the first three days gathering information and the rest of his time travelling and enjoying Paris.

By the evening, he had bought every rare book he could find and every book he didn't own. He even bought himself a suit, and a dress made of acromantula thread with many charms because he liked the clothes. Time passed quickly as Henry walked up and down the street, shopping in all the shops.

After dark, Henry did not go back to his hotel immediately and prepared to go to another street. Henry entered a dark alley in the street and went towards the wall. Just as Henry was about to pass through the wall, he suddenly stopped.

Henry slowly turned round. In front of Henry, two men were screaming on the ground and a man was standing in the middle of them, pointing his staff at Henry. But when the man heard his comrades suddenly collapse and scream, he turned to his friends instead of looking at Henry.

"I was tired of waiting for you to attack. I almost forgot about you if Jarvis hadn't reminded me," Henry said.

Henry sheathed his wand and cast two silent spells. One spell was disarm, the other petrificus totalus. "Axy," Henry muttered as he neutralised the third man.

"Axy, ready for your command, my lord," Axy said after materialising. Henry pointed to the three men in front of him and opened the briefcase he was holding. "Axy, take them to my lab, tie them up and gag them," Henry said. Axy nodded and snapped her fingers. The three men rose into the air and flew towards the briefcase. Axy followed them into the briefcase. Henry turned round and went through the wall. As Henry passed through the wall, his clothes began to change. His Sith robes and mask reappeared.