"First your vow, then I'll explain what I need from you and then we'll talk about your pay," the dark-haired teen explained as he settled back into his chair.
"I, Mundungus Arabus Fletcher, do hereby swear on my life and magic that I will keep the secrets of Harry James Potter until such time as he relieves me of said vow. I also vow to run his errands without deceit, and to comply with our agreement," the dumpy man incanted without his normal lazy accent, holding his wand up near his head. When the last word was spoken there was a blue light that surrounded him and sealed his promise to his magic.
Hydrus nodded and then explained what he needed from the thief. It took about twenty minutes of talking to go over the things that were necessary.
Fletcher listened; his eyes alight with greed at the payments the young man was offering. "Alright… 'ydrus, I'll see what I can do. Which do yew wan' first, da paperwork awer yaaahr money switched?" he asked when the teen finished.
"Money first, I think," the dark-haired wizard said rubbing his chin in thought. He really needed to get some more books from the Muggle world if he was going to study what he needed to know. The paperwork wasn't really needed right away, besides, it was for after his plans took effect. With magic he could live off the grid, so to speak.
"Sure, give me what yew wan' ter exchange, plus me fee, an' I'll be back in an 'aaahr."
The teen nodded an hour was reasonable. "I have to go and get it, stay here and keep your greedy hands off my stuff. Kreacher is watching you," Hydrus warned as he got up to leave the room, nodding to his house elf. The thief grumbled, but the teen ignored him. He went to the kitchen, closed the door and put a warning ward over it. He summoned 1,030 galleons out of his pocketspace. It piled on the table in front of him. He took a bag, which he finally got extended, and spelled the gold to it. The teen then took down his ward and joined his new partner in crime. "Here, remember you only get three percent," he said as he handed the man the bag.
"I remember. I'll be back soon." Mundungus took the bag and left the house.
The younger wizard went back to the kitchen and took out his list that he started a month ago. He looked over what he needed to do now. With the conversation with Death and his new face, he could put more ideas into action. While he waited for Fletcher, he did as Death had suggested and reread the tale of the Deathly Hallows. More plans of revenge came from that.
After he finished the tale, he looked at his list once again. First he needed to research electronics, if the books he got from the Frostwell vault were correct he could have a computer set up here in no time. Not only that, but it could be spelled to receive information straight from books. However, it took more than just knowing the words; you had to know Runes and Arithmancy.
Hydrus resigned himself to a lot of studying, mourning the fact that Hermione was going back to Hogwarts and wouldn't be able to help him. That and he was still unsure as to whether or not to include his friends in his plans, they would try and stop him. If he had Hermione do the research for him, she'd figure out what he was up to pretty damn quick. No, if he was going to pull this off he needed to do his own work. The books he got, just before his second death, were going to help with that.
The young man let his mind drift for a minute, everyone Hydrus knew would be returning to the school, except him. He had already talked to McGonagall about it a week ago, and informed her there was no way in hell he was going through all the gossip and mistrust again. And since she never helped in the past he damn sure didn't trust her to help now. She was quite put out that one of her favorite students thought so lowly of her, but she had to admit the entire Hogwarts staff had let their Savior down. Blast Dumbledore and his orders.
During that talk, he did convince the Headmistress to fix the Sorting Hat. Now the hat looked like it had when it was first designed. The patches and frays were gone, and the grateful relic stood tall and proud. With the encrusted dirt gone the original colors now came through. Its cone was a dark purple, while the rim was a muted black. The hat thanked the teen profusely.
Shaking himself out of his musings, he went back to his list. The second thing he had to do was figure out how to make money. He had plenty in his pocketspace, but he also wanted to make sure it never ran out. If he was going to live forever, then he was going to need more. So he noted down that research was needed for the stock markets and sporting events for the last twenty years. He was also going to have to come up with a way to appear to age, fake his death, and then come back as a cousin or son or something. Maybe he could talk to a friendly vampire; he remembered the one from Slughorn's party, Sanguini. He might write to him or his human companion, Eldred Worple.
Another thing he needed to do was to get to WWW's and buy five of everything George had in stock. If he was going to go back in time then he needed to make sure that there was fun involved. And WWW products were the best for that, plus, there were items that could confuse an enemy so you could get away.
Next item in his plan was to study the books on time travel, the ones from the vaults were all theory, he figured with those and the Muggle fantasy books, and he would understand how it worked. That was for a later time though.
The last thing on his list was to understand how to overcome his battered emotions. If he was going to do any good he needed to be in more control. Self-help books can only take you so far, maybe he would need to seek professional help.
With all of this in mind, Hydrus went to the library and set up an area to get started. Now that he thought about it he was glad that everyone would be returning to Hogwarts, it would give him time to deal with all that Death told him and come to a decision on how to make them understand what he didn't completely understand. Since there were only a few weeks left until Hogwarts reopened, he would need to invite Ron and Hermione over. However, was he willing to let them know about his new look, or should he glamor himself back to the old one? Given the fact that they would not be joining him on his journey it might be best to lie.
Fletcher showed up an hour later with good amount of Muggle money. The younger wizard thanked him for his service and showed him the door. He told the petty thief that he should return with the paperwork within the month.
Taking himself back to the library, he pulled all books on electronics and the Frostwell journals, from his pocketspace and started reading and taking notes. He would get that computer up and running soon. Hydrus knew he wasn't a quick study, so it will probably take years to implement his plans, but he was determined to make sure they came to pass. Time was on his side.
....
Join my P@treon FOR FREE and get 5 advanced chapters.
Paid members can get upto 60+ chapters ahead of the public release.
Link : [email protected]/thebookaddict