CHAPTER 54.5 – There can’t be a year without surprises in Hogwarts
There were only a few days before classes ended and Logan had to go back to the orphanage, so, he decided to go on a goodbye trip. After all, this was going to probably be the last year he will be in peace inside the castle, with all the upcoming shenanigans on the search for reviving the Dark Lord and killing Harry.
With that said, the trip this time was to the Forbidden Forest, as it couldn’t be any other way. Of course, instead of the usual trip, this time Logan decided to do what his heart told him so, and after reaching the borders of the Forbidden Forest, he turned himself into his not-so-small wolf form and started to run as fast as he could, feeling the wind brushing on his fur, and the dirt he left behind every time his paws pushed him further, becoming faster and faster.
With the help of the Room of Requirements, he had managed to dominate his Animagus form, training as much as possible every day. Now it was possible for him to turn with a simple thought, making it possible for him to keep his wand in the inventory, while turning into his wolf form, which he decided to call it Anubis for now, lacking any other good reference, and earning a “So obvious” comment from the system.
He didn’t care at all and decided to go with that. After all, it was a black canine, with a mist that caused decaying. Pretty fitting, he thought, trying to brush off the system’s comment.
As he was rushing through the forest, reaching the furthest he has ever been, something caught his attention. It was a hooded man, who was standing in the middle of the forest, looking all-around while rubbing his chin. He was pondering what would be such a suspicious man doing in the middle of this place, before remembering all the other times something similar happened.
{Come on! Again!?} He thought, thinking that once again, some dark wizard was about to attack him. But before he could even think to prepare for his next action, a surprising message from the system came to him.
[RUN! NOW!] It felt desperate.
{Huh?} Logan thought for less than a second that something was weird, but just as he decided to simply run away, following the system’s hurried message, the man turned to him.
“Mm? Hey, you.” He simply said, but Logan didn’t care, he turned around and ran as fast as he could. “Yo, dude. Can’t you hear me?” the hooded man talked once again, and somehow Logan could listen to him even when he was running at his top speed. But he didn’t care enough to stop and think deeply about it, he simply kept running, turning mid-way into his human form and activating his invisibility and levitation spells, as well as his strong haste spell.
He ran and ran. Moving to different positions just to try and lose him. The system rushed him to escape as fast as he could, no looking back. But just as he thought it was enough, the voice once again reached him.
“The hell are you running for, dude? That’s so fucking suspicious.” In a moment, the same hooded man that was supposed to be far, far behind, appeared right in front of him, looking straight at him, as if the invisibility spell was a simple joke. Logan could only notice a pair of crimson-red eyes looking back at him, with strands of white hair falling on his forehead.
[FUCK! YOU NEED TO ESCAPE! JUST USE WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO DISTRACT HIM!] The system alerted him once again, and Logan decided to test his luck with a few runes, but just as he took them out of the inventory, something that he didn’t expect happened.
“Chill out, kid.” The hooded man said, and a sudden pressure silenced the world. Logan could no longer move. “Jeez… You make me feel like some kind of creepy old man that’s trying to kidnap you or something.”
“…” Logan couldn’t help but think that he looked exactly like that, he tried to shout it at him, but he couldn’t even move his mouth.
“I’m not here to hurt you, kid.” The man said with a sigh. “I’m just in need of some answers. So, will you calm down and listen to me? You can nod, by the way.”
“…” Logan thought for a moment, before nodding. The man was right, he could move his head now.
“Perfect.” The man smirked, and suddenly, Logan recovered his mobility. At that moment, he finally felt the heaviness around him, falling to his knees while sweat started pouring from all his body. “Oh, right. Sorry, I guess I just went with the moment. No worries, I’ll help you out.” The man said as a blue flame consumed Logan, but just as he thought he was going to be burnt to death, he noticed that the flames weren’t hurting him, they didn’t feel hot at all. Soon, his condition was restored, and he felt new. As if nothing happened before. “There you are. Better now?” The man said, still smirking at him as the flames dissipated into nothingness.
“Yes…” Logan said, still guarded against this mysterious man. He didn’t remember anyone like this in the movies. And certainly never heard about someone like him from the fandom who did read the books. {Who the fuck is this guy…} Logan thought for a moment.
“My name’s…” The guy stopped to think for a moment before he shrugged. “Well, it doesn’t really matter.”
Logan was shocked, to say the least. {Is that mere coincidence… or did he read my mind?}
“You’re just too obvious, kid.” The man said with a sigh.
Logan couldn’t help but open his eyes wide. {What the hell is happening!? System!? Didn’t I master Occlumency!? System!?}
“Mm? I think that thing is hiding itself.” The man in front chuckled. “Anyways, you can relax. As I was saying. I’m not actually here to hurt you. I’m just looking for some answers, you see?”
“…” Logan looked at him even more warily than before.
“So…” The man raised an eyebrow. “Will you answer my questions or not?”
“...What questions?” Logan finally decided to play along, as there wasn’t anything he could do for now.
“Well, the first one is rather simple.” The guy shrugged. “Is this Harry Potter’s world?”
“...What?” Logan’s mouth hung open from the question. It was something he didn’t expect at all.
“I mean… You have a system, so I guess someone gave that to you before transmigrating you here, isn’t that right?”
“…” Logan nodded absentmindedly, not knowing what was happening anymore. {Just who is this guy…?}
“Told you that it doesn’t matter kid. Anyways. Is this Harry Potter’s world or not?”
“...Yes?”
“Meh. Good enough.” The man shrugged. “Second question, are you perhaps called Roger?”
“No…?” Confused, Logan shook his head.
“Mm…” The man rubbed his chin while looking at him directly into the eyes. “Are you sure?”
“Yes…” Logan nodded.
“Oh well. Wrong universe then.” The man finally said, sighing. “I guess I’ll try on another one.”
“Another… one?” Logan couldn’t help but ask.
“Yeah, I’m looking for a man called Roger. He was supposedly transmigrated into a Harry Potter world. So I’m just trying my luck with multiple universes with the same setting.” The man shrugged.
“Why…?” He reached a point where he was completely confused.
“That motherfucker dared to make my daughter cry.” The man simply said. “But got lucky enough to run away before I got to him. I already took care of the imbecile that dared to transmigrate him away from me, but he’s still going to pay. I’ll make sure of that.” Logan could swear the man was grinding his teeth hard enough to cut a diamond.
“Oh… Okay…”
“Yeah…” The man sighed. “I guess I’ll just have to keep looking. Sorry to scare you kid. And that system you have on you too.”
“...No worries.”
“By the way, how are you finding it?” He suddenly asked with a tilted head and an amused face.
“What?”
“Being transmigrated I mean. I know it can be overwhelming, but it’s also exciting, isn’t it?”
“I… guess? I mean… It was a real surprise when I died and was offered to reincarnate here…”
“Oh, so you died? That might hit harder, I think.” He shrugged. “Was it forced or something?”
“Huh? No. No, it wasn’t.”
“Oh great, if it was, you can just tell me, I can take care of the little red shit that brought you here, if it was forced, also, I can take care of that system for you, if you want.”
“No… No! It won’t be necessary. I’m really glad for the opportunity I was given.” Logan quickly said.
“Mm… Is that so?” The man nodded. “Well, if you’re okay with that, no problems then. I’ll be taking my leave. Take care, kid.” The guy turned around and with a wave of his hand, a portal opened.
“Right… Thanks…” Logan nodded absentmindedly.
“Oh, right.” As he took a step forward, the man suddenly stopped and turned around. “I guess it would be better if you forget this interaction.”
“Huh?”
“Have a nice sleep, kid.” The man said as he waved his hand towards Logan.
“W-Wait…” That was all Logan could say before his mind drifted away, falling asleep right there and then.
“Well, Roger. Get fucking ready for when I found you. Piece of shit. No one makes my daughter cry and lives to tell the tale.” Logan couldn’t hear the last words of the man as he walked into the portal. But something else did.
[We just survived utter annihilation…] If the system were a normal being, it would be sweating seas-worth of cold sweat. The next instant, after the mysterious man disappeared, Logan magically found himself on his bed, still sleeping. While the system prayed not to find that monster ever again. [I better keep all of this to myself…] The system thought as it tried to calm itself.