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Yeah! Here's the new chapter!
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-Diagon Alley-
"So... I think this means that there are sentient books..." my dad said, looking strangely and curiously at The Monster Book of Monsters in my arms.
"Well, that's not the weirdest thing I've seen since we walked into Diagon Alley today," my mom said with a shrug.
"True" my father also shrugged.
We had just left Flourish and Blotts after I bought the books I needed for my classes this year.
I actually already had a lot of books, and among them there were several books of all Hogwarts subjects, even the books that were ordered this year, so I actually just went to the bookstore to buy the Care of Magical Creatures book.
It was funny the face the salesperson made when I specifically asked for the Monster Book, and it was even funnier to see the comical look on his face when the book didn't try to bite me but instead snuggled into my arms like a puppy wanting to be petted.
'I'm glad the book didn't try to bite me, since if it had bitten me I would have punched it until it obeyed me' I thought with a happy smile on my face, and for some reason the Monster Book in my arms trembled in fear.
"Mom, can we have ice cream?" Cele asked, pointing to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.
"Hmm, yes, but only one, since you get very agitated when you eat too much candy," my mom said, pinching Cele's nose affectionately.
"Yay!" Cele exclaimed happily.
"Oh, magic ice cream" my dad said with a sick look.
"Oh dear, it's not the ice cream or the ice cream parlour fault that you ate a bad tasting ice cream, it's your fault that didn't listen to Ethan's warnings" my mom said, and I on the side huffed as I smothered my laugh with my hand, remembering why my father doesn't like wizarding ice cream parlours.
"Is it my fault? How was I supposed to know that an ice cream called the Mysterious Every Flavor could literally taste like anything?!" my father asked with an indignant expression.
"You already ate the Every Flavor Beans, so shouldn't it have been obvious to you that that ice cream could taste like, well… anything?" I asked, looking at my dad with a raised eyebrow.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Well... Now that you mention it..." he said looking away embarrassed.
"And that's why, darling, everyone considers me the sensible and intelligent person in our marriage," my mother said, pinching my father's cheek lovingly, and he blushed, embarrassed, but with a silly smile on his face.
And he also made a point of ignoring the whipping sound I made.
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-A few days later – Private Room at Leaky Cauldron-
'Hmm, okay, I think I'm developing a law phobia' I wondered.
I was currently sitting while leaning my elbows on the table in front of me, reading some papers my mom and I had prepared beforehand.
I was in a private room waiting for the lawyer I'd hired to arrive.
After talking to the goblins I discovered that there were some law firms in Diagon Alley, and I took the address, name and basic information of these agencies until one caught my eye.
What caught my eye was the name of one of the employees at an agency called "Callaghan's Laws and Contracts", and that employee's name was Edward Tonks aka Ted Tonks, father of 'Don't call me Nymphadora' Tonks .
Because of that name I didn't even have to look at the information from the other agencies. I immediately sent a letter to Ted's agency asking for their services, specifying that I wanted him to be the one to come talk to me.
And now here I am, waiting for the father of one of the best characters in the franchise to show up.
As I was rereading the papers in front of me, I felt two people approach my room, and one of them was Tom.
*Knock! Knock!*
"Ethan, Ted is here" Tom said, and then I heard the door open.
"Thanks Tom" Ted said nodding to the pub owner, who nodded back, closing the door and giving us privacy to talk.
"Hello Mr. Tonks," I said, standing up and reaching out to greet the blond and slightly big-bellied man who had just entered the room.
Ted was wearing a formal suit, and he also sported a neat little mustache on his face along with a calm smile, giving the impression that he was someone friendly.
"Hello Mr. Night" he said shaking my hand with a strange smile on his face, "I wasn't expecting my client to be so young"
Listening to him I simply smiled with a shrug.
Ted then put his briefcase on the floor and sat in the chair across from me, raising an eyebrow slightly as he looked at the papers in front of me.
"So, in the letter you sent me you didn't specify what you wanted my services for" Ted started the conversation.
"Actually, the service I hired you for is more like a consultancy," I said, and with Ted's curious look I continued, "I'd like someone familiar with the wizarding laws to help me publish my books on this side of the world"
"Do you want me to help you publish your books? Are you a writer?" Ted asked, to which I nodded in confirmation, "What books have you written?" he asked me curiously.
"I'm the writer of three book franchises that are somewhat famous in the Muggle world. They are The Inheritance Cycle, Percy Jackson, and The Chronicles of Narnia," I said, and I saw Ted's eyes widen in surprise.
"Wait! Are you telling me that you are the author of these works!?" he asked me with a shocked look on his face.
"Ahnn, yes" I nodded confused by his outburst, "My name is Ethan Night, and everyone knows that the author of these books only uses his 'pseudonym' which is Night... And from your expression I suppose that you've read my books, right?" I said.
And Ted nodded automatically.
"Well then hello, I'm the author of these works" I said with an amused smile on my face.
"This... I can't believe it, my wife and I are huge fans of your works!" Ted said now excitedly, and this time I looked at him in surprise, as I thought he had only read my books, not that he was a fan.
'Err, I'm still not used to having a lot of fans around the world. First it was Penny, and now Ted... Who's next? Hermione?' I thought, chuckling inwardly.
"Well, I feel really happy to meet someone who is a fan of my works" I said with a smile to Ted, and he smiled back.
"Well, now that I know who my client is and what he wants my services for, I feel it has now become my obligation to help you with the legislation to publish your books in our world" Ted said with a friendly smile and amused, and then he picked up his briefcase and placed it on the table, opening it and taking some papers from inside.
"If you can help me, I'll give you and your wife the sequel to my books in advance, which also happen to be part of a special and limited edition that I plan to publish in a few months... And with my autograph," I said jokingly, but the look Ted gave me made me realize that maybe I had offered him something too tempting, and that I'm probably going to regret it.
"So, Mr. Night, I think you'd better start prepping your quill for the autographs," Ted said, a resolute and a little obsessive look on his face.
"Err... Okay?" I said slowly.
'New rule. Never try to bribe a fan again' I thought, sweating.
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-Nights' House-
Coming home from my business meeting with Ted, I went straight to my room, as my parents and Cele weren't home and wouldn't arrive until a little later.
Ted had explained to me what I needed to do and what papers to sign in order to publish my books in some wizarding bookshop.
He also told me about some things I had thought about before. Ted had told me that I could publish the books, but I would have to be of legal age or have the permission of my magical guardian, who was currently the Headmaster and the Professor Flitwick.
I trusted them both enough to know that they wouldn't abuse the fact that they were my magical guardians, not least because, even with them being my current guardians in the wizarding world, the ones who had the most control over things related to me were my parents, both in the muggle world as well as the wizarding world, and not even the Ministry of Magic could dispute that.
But thinking about magic guardian made me think of something.
I knew that at some point the Headmaster Dumbledore might be removed from his position as headmaster of Hogwarts, and that with that the next headmaster would have some control over my life in the wizarding world.
And something Ted had told me is that the ministry also has some control over my life, and they could choose another magical guardian for me by themselves, and that didn't sit well with me.
And as I listened to that and realized the implications it would have on my life, I started to think about ways to achieve my emancipation.
I didn't have to think long before an idea came to my mind, and this idea had many advantages, the main one being that this idea was connected to one of my plans for my fourth year.
And to put it simply, the plan involved entering the Tri-Wizard Tournament as the champion of Hogwarts, where I would be considered of legal age – accidentally and involuntarily – by the ministry and Hogwarts, and also by the magic of the Goblet of Fire's magical contract.
And before anyone asks me if this is possible, yes it is.
After reading many books about the tournament, about emancipation and about magical contracts I was able to come to this conclusion.
And thanks to that I knew my plan would work, and that was a good thing, as I couldn't think of any other way to become emancipated, at least not legally.
'Well, in addition to earning my emancipation, I can also gain some momentary fame in the wizarding world to boost the sales of my books' I shrugged my shoulders, 'And that fame would increase even more if I showed some of my talent in the tournament tasks, something I'm obviously going to do' I thought, now with a slightly arrogant and competitive look on my face.
And as I was imagining people's expressions realizing how amazing I am, something came to mind.
'Wow, I just realized how similar to Lockhart I sounded' I thought with a shudder running through my body, 'I just hope that if I win the tournament, I don't gain any fans like his obsessive and passionate fans'
End.
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(End AN: Spring has just started in the country where I live.
And now the rainy and hot season has started too... *cry*
Why can't it be cold all year round!?)