After delivering a polite series of knocks on the door and receiving a prompt summons delivered in the clear, professional tones of a middle-aged woman's voice calling "Enter, please,"
Bryan and Remus stepped across the threshold and entered the room one after the other, with Bryan taking the lead.
The office they found themselves in was roughly half the size of a typical Hogwarts classroom. The space was well-organized and professionally maintained, with clean lines and practical furnishings.
The room contained two won behind separate desks. The woman facing the door directly, who was presumably the one who had just called them in with professional courtesy, was a middle-aged lady with shoulder-length burgundy hair.
At the mont of their entry, she sat at her wooden desk, listlessly flipping through what appeared to be a colorful Muggle magazine filled with intricate knitting patterns, detailed instructions for various stitches, and photographs of completed projects in bright yarns.
Behind the other desk, which was considerably smaller in size but appeared much more actively used, being piled high with thick stacks of official materials, docunts, and reference books, sat a much younger woman who looked to be fresh out of school, possibly in her first professional position after graduation.
This young woman was quite beautiful in a way that imdiately caught the eye and held it. Her lustrous chestnut hair glead with light that seed to capture and reflect the magical illumination of the office, creating subtle highlights that shifted and danced as she moved.
At that particular mont, she was gently pressing lips together in concentration, her brow slightly furrowed as she focused intently on organizing and reviewing the day's accumulated wizard immigration docunts.
The only thing that diminished her beauty was her hair pulled back into an efficient ponytail and her solemn, focused expression, which slightly diluted her natural charm.
Bryan's footsteps, which had been moving forward with their normal rhythm, suddenly ca to an abnormally abrupt halt just inside the doorway, creating a mont of awkward stillness that imdiately puzzled Remus, who was following closely beside him and had expected them to go directly to the desk for their business.
Confused by this unexpected pause, Remus quickly glanced sideways at his companion, and what he saw there caused him to feel a sudden surge of surprise that was quite amusing.
Bryan was staring at the young woman who appeared to be working as an assistant, his lips were slightly parted, as if he had been about to speak but had forgotten what he intended to say, and his eyes showed a hint of sothing that could only be described as bewildered emotion.
Following Bryan's transfixed gaze with growing understanding and amusent, Remus also took notice of the exceptional beauty of this female assistant, and suddenly everything beca clear to him.
For a brief mont, Remus found himself fighting back a sudden, almost overwhelming urge to burst into delighted laughter at the situation unfolding in front of him.
Remus had known Bryan for quite so ti now. Whether it was Bryan's magical accomplishnts that had earned him recognition throughout the wizarding world, or his remarkable wisdom in understanding human nature,
Bryan's shrewdness and competence consistently inspired awe and respect in many who dealt with him for the first ti.
Of course, once you got to know Bryan well enough to see past the public persona, you would discover that he was actually a very approachable wizard beneath all the acclaim, always thoughtful and considerate of others' feelings, willing to listen to different perspectives.
Such an exceptional wizard, with his impressive achievents and mature deanor, naturally made people unconsciously overlook his actual age.
Like Remus himself, most people who interacted with Bryan subconsciously treated him as if he were an older, more experienced wizard than he actually was, soone comparable to Dumbledore in wisdom, a figure who had seen decades of life and accumulated the kind of deep understanding that only ca with age and experience.
But the reality that Remus sotis forgot, and that was now being reminded to him, was that beneath all the accomplishnts and reputation, Bryan was just a young man in his early twenties!
He was still at an age where natural attractions and romantic feelings would be perfectly normal and expected, still young enough to be struck speechless by an exceptionally beautiful woman.
So, viewed from this perspective, Bryan's current expression as he studied that beautiful young assistant wasn't so absurd or jarring after all. In fact, it was probably the most natural and age-appropriate reaction he could have had under the circumstances.
The windows in this deep underground office were obviously the product of sophisticated magical engineering, designed to overco the psychological challenges of working in a space that would otherwise feel like a basent or bunker.
Instead of showing the blank concrete walls that would naturally surround an underground facility, these enchanted windows projected incredibly realistic images of starry skies stretched above forests that seed to stretch like ocean waves toward distant horizons.
The magical illusion was so convincing that it was easy to forget they were actually far beneath the surface of the earth.
The projected night sky showed countless stars twinkling with realistic patterns of brightness and color, while teor showers occasionally streaked across the artificial heavens.
The forest scenes below showed trees swaying in simulated breezes, with leaves rustling and branches moving in patterns that perfectly mimicked natural forest environnts.
In the auditory component of the illusion, the refreshing sound of wind could be heard moving through the projected trees, creating a subtle background ambiance that was both soothing and realistic.
From ti to ti, ethereal and distant bird songs would drift through this artificial atmosphere, all combining to create an environnt that felt like a peaceful forest clearing rather than a governnt office.
But apart from these magical illusions that provided such a pleasant working environnt, the only actual sound in the room was the soft, rhythmic whisper of paper against paper as the young assistant continued turning through her stack of immigration docunts, occasionally pausing to make notations or sort papers into different categories.
At so point during this long mont of silence, the unusual quiet that had settled over the room began to pierce the consciousness of both the middle-aged witch who had been absorbed in her knitting magazine and the young assistant who had been concentrating so intently on organizing her materials.
They simultaneously put down what they were doing and looked toward the two n by the door.
"Ahem—" Remus cleared his throat.
Recognizing that Bryan appeared to be temporarily incapacitated by whatever had struck him speechless, Remus stepped forward from beside his friend, feeling that he needed to take charge of the situation and get their official business back on track before the silence beca truly awkward for everyone involved.
"Good day, ladies," Remus said with politeness and a warm smile. "We've co from London and need to process our—"
Remus's carefully polite words were cut short with dramatic suddenness by a high-pitched, excitent-filled shriek that seed to explode from the middle-aged witch like a magical firecracker going off in the quiet office.
"Good God!" she exclaid, her voice reaching a volu and pitch that showed she had just witnessed sothing absolutely extraordinary and unbelievable.
The middle-aged witch, who only monts before had been peacefully reading her knitting magazine in the relaxed atmosphere of a routine workday, suddenly shot up from her chair.
She moved with a whoosh of motion and rushed around her wooden desk. Without any hesitation or concern, she ran quickly across the office floor to stand directly before the two n.
She completely ignored the sowhat embarrassed Remus, who had been in the middle of his polite introduction and now consciously stepped aside to give her room, clearly recognizing that he was no longer the focus of attention in this suddenly transford scene.
Instead of acknowledging Remus at all, the witch focused her entire attention on staring wide-eyed at Bryan's face, her hands flying up to cover her mouth as her excited voice began to tremble with emotion.
"I couldn't be mistaken, absolutely not! Dear , I couldn't possibly be wrong about sothing like this. You're..."
The middle-aged witch's eyes blazed with light as she stared fixedly at Bryan, as she found herself rendered completely speechless by the magnitude of the mont.
Bryan, whose expression had been dazed until now, finally ca back to his senses. He pressed his lips together, his deanor returning to normal, and smiled warmly at the middle-aged witch.
"Good day, madam," He said with courtesy and warmth. "I am Bryan Watson, and this,"
He gestured toward Remus, "is Remus Lupin. We're here today to process our official entry permits so that we can legally conduct business within the United States."
"I'm Mandy Hill!" the middle-aged witch responded imdiately, her voice still carrying that shrill tone of excitent. "Oh, of course, everyone who cos to this office is here for processing permits!"
Mrs. Hill's laugh was high and slightly hysterical. She seed to realize that her response hadn't been particularly helpful or professional, and she attempted to clarify her aning while still struggling with her obvious emotional state.
"What I an is," She continued, her voice still shaking with excitent, "oh, what an incredible honor this is, Mr. Watson! I never thought... oh, that I could actually—!"
The overwhelming nature of her excitent left Mrs. Hill speaking incoherently, her words tumbling over each other in a rush of emotion that made it difficult to follow her train of thought.
In her enthusiasm, she reached out and grabbed Bryan's hand with both of hers, shaking it vigorously several tis with the kind of energetic enthusiasm for congratulating lottery winners or celebrating major life events.
After this enthusiastic handshaking, she suddenly seed to realize what she was doing and pulled back slightly, using one hand to wipe away tears of excitent and emotion that had begun to gather in her eyes.
"Do you rember, Mr. Watson? You saved my family's lives!"
This was completely unexpected. Remus looked at Bryan in surprise, only to find that Bryan's face also showed confusion.
"Last year's Quidditch World Cup final!" Mrs. Hill sniffled slightly as emotion continued to overwhelm her composure and knowing Mr. Watson must be completely bewildered, she took the initiative to explain.
"That spectacular duel!!" she continued. "Harmon, Deacon, and I—oh, they're my son and husband, were all there in the stands that day, enjoying what we thought was going to be nothing more than an exciting Quidditch Final.
But then everything went wrong, and that dangerous situation developed with the dark witch who was trying to cause chaos and harm innocent spectators. You blocked her attack and protected all of us! We all consider you to be the most outstanding wizard of our ti.
Oh, Harmon's bedroom is absolutely covered with your posters. He has accumulated a whole stack of your Chocolate Frog cards, and he's constantly trading with other collectors to get different variations and editions.
Oh, I dare say if he knew that I had actually t you in person and had the chance to speak with you face to face, he would probably faint from pure excitent!"
Mrs. Hill's eyes suddenly lit up with a new idea, and she clasped her hands together in a gesture of hopeful pleading. "Could I possibly impose upon you to provide an autograph for him?!"
"Heh heh—" Bryan chuckled softly. "If you're willing to process my entry procedures, Mrs. Hill, I'll leave your son an autograph. How's that?"
Mrs. Hill was overjoyed. She grabbed Bryan's sleeve and pulled him toward her desk. Turning around, she finally noticed that her assistant was also staring intently at Bryan Watson.
"Oh, damn, I completely forgot to introduce her!" Mrs. Hill exclaid, slapping her forehead with the palm of her hand.
Her expression imdiately brightened again as she turned to redy this oversight. "This young woman is Alia Depp. She just graduated from Ilvermorny last year with outstanding academic credentials and was directly recruited.
She's currently interning with , though I bet she won't stay with long before being transferred to a more critical departnt. She dreams of becoming an Auror. Oh, by the way, she also greatly admires you!"
Being introduced in this manner, with such praise and personal details shared in front of a stranger, caused Alia to experience a wave of embarrassnt that manifested as a blush spreading across her cheeks.
A flash of shyness appeared briefly in her brown eyes. However, beyond this montary display of vulnerability, she showed no other improprieties or unprofessional behavior.
Unlike Mrs. Hill's overwhelming excitent and emotional outpouring, which had transford the office atmosphere into sothing resembling a fan convention, Alia approached the situation with self-control.
She walked toward Bryan, extended her hand, and spoke in a controlled, steady voice.
"It's a great honor to et you, Mr. Watson."
Bryan seed sowhat constrained. He hesitated for several seconds before extending his hand, lightly grasping Alia's and shaking it briefly before imdiately releasing it.
"Hello," Bryan pressed his lips together as he spoke, a strange light flashing montarily in his purple eyes.
"So then—" Mrs. Hill continued, still practically panting with excitent as she forced herself to contain her emotions and attempt to return to so semblance of professional behavior.
"Mr. Watson, what brings you to New York? What is the official purpose of your visit to the United States?"
"The purpose of my visit is to advance a business collaboration. I submitted an application through the Cooperation Departnt for permission to sell a wonderful alchemical item within the United States, but unfortunately, it wasn't approved. So, I've co here hoping to et with the relevant officials."
"Ah, of course, of course—" Mrs. Hill smiled and nodded repeatedly, only staring at Bryan without paying attention to what he was saying. Alia, though also staring at Bryan, actually listened to his words.
"Mr. Watson, and Mr. Lupin—" Alia quickly glanced at Mandy, her eyes showing a trace of helplessness, knowing her superior was completely out of control and unable to handle her essential duties. Alia had no choice but to press her lips together, muster her courage, and say:
"According to regulations, you need to present entry permit receipts jointly approved by the Wizard Immigration Managent Office and the Security Departnt—"
"Oh, certainly no problem at all," Remus replied with a warm smile, relieved to finally be dealing with soone who was focused on the actual business at hand.
He pulled two parchnts covered with stamps from his briefcase. After a mont's hesitation, he handed them to Mrs. Hill as the senior official, but she was too busy talking to Bryan and casually passed them to Alia.
Taking the two application receipts, Alia quickly returned to her desk. She took a scanning device that resembled a Muggle magnifying glass from her drawer and checked each of the constantly writhing blue stamps to verify they weren't forgeries.
Remus's entry permit was fine. Alia used special cutting tools to trim Remus's photo and key sections, pasted them into a small hardcover booklet similar to a Muggle passport, and applied the official stamp.
Then she processed Bryan's entry permit in the sa manner. The stamps and signatures were equally legitimate—naturally so, since the distinguished Bryan Watson would hardly engage in such sordid forgery. But when she saw the line of small silver text printed with special magic at the bottom of the receipt, Alia froze.
————————————
For More Chapters; /FicFrenzy
Reviews
All reviews (0)