Only a Mother
The door to Wanda's house sounded with a firm, though not urgent, knock. She rose calmly from the couch and went to open it without showing the slightest haste.
Standing at the entrance was an elderly man, easily recognizable: his stern and slightly disturbed expression made it clear he wasn't there by choice. It was Albus Dumbledore.
"You finally came. I thought you didn't want your things," Wanda remarked with a serene, almost mocking smile.
Before Dumbledore could respond, a flying parchment interrupted him, floating gently until it hovered in front of him.
"Sign," said Wanda with the same calm tone. But though her voice was soft, it carried an undeniable command.
Dumbledore read the heading on the document:
"Transfer of Magical Legal Guardianship."
He glanced from the parchment to Wanda, who stared at him emotionlessly, a quill floating by her hand like a silent threat.
"Sigh… I'm too old for this sort of thing," Dumbledore muttered before taking the quill and signing with resignation.
The parchment rolled up on its own and vanished with a small pop.
Wanda flicked her wrist and tossed him a bag. Dumbledore caught it and opened it to inspect its contents. Inside were his personal belongingsthough what concerned him most were the magical objects within: relics, grimoires, and most importantly, a particular book. One no one else should ever read… unless they wanted to create another Voldemort.
"By the way, I withdrew the money that rightfully belongs to Harry," Wanda added as she turned to go back inside. "You should be grateful I was polite. If this had been the first day we met, I would've claimed guardianship by other means."
And without giving him the chance to reply, she shut the door in his face.
Dumbledore hadn't even been able to defend himself from the start.
…
Meanwhile, inside the house...
"Mom, who was it?" Harry asked without taking his focus off the heavy bowling ball he was levitating. Beside him, Hermione was attempting the same with a simple football.
Hermione, with her competitive streak activated, decided to try lifting the bowling ball toobut couldn't raise it more than a few centimeters before giving up and returning to the football. Sweat slid down her forehead from the effort. She was so focused she couldn't even speak.
"No one. Just a salesman," Wanda replied calmly as she walked over to them.
"Take a break," she added when she saw Hermione's exhausted face, barely managing to keep the ball in the air.
Harry, on the other hand, maintained his control with ease. He didn't even seem particularly focused. That was the difference between chaos magic and the magic of this world: one responded directly to the user's will; the other required constant concentration to stay active.
Hermione and Harry lowered their respective objects. Hermione dropped to the floor and stared at the ceiling, lightly panting. Harry remained silent, not wanting to reignite her competitive spirit.
"Mom, why aren't we learning other spells? Are we just going to use telekinesis?" Harry asked curiously.
"It's an excellent way to train your magical control and stamina," Wanda replied as she sat down. "Besides, telekinesis is useful for everything. With enough power, you could lift a building… and, well, throw it at someone. Ahem, it's useful," she corrected herself with a smile.
"I thought it was pretty easy," said Harry, shrugging.
"I think it's really hard!" Hermione replied, now somewhat recovered, shooting him a side glance with her eyes lit by competitiveness.
Harry silently regretted opening his mouth.
Wanda just smiled. It was fun watching them interact.
…
Later, while the children rested after another competition to see who could hold their objects in the air the longest, Wanda was sitting on the couch with a book in her hands.
She looked up, closed the book calmly, and gave a quick glance at the kids, who were now snacking without a care in the world. She got up and walked steadily to the back door that led to the garden.
She opened it naturally and stepped outside. Her eyes narrowed, focusing on the shadows moving around the propertybelieving she couldn't see them.
Sigh… she exhaled without emotion.
She raised her hand, and seven wizards were dragged by an invisible force, lifted into the air like puppets caught in unseen strings. They were completely compressed by an overwhelming magical pressure, as if giant invisible hands were crushing them.
All of them were trained wizards. All of them were terrified.
Wanda released the mouth of one.
"You filthy mudblood! Release us right now! We're from the Pluff family!" he shoutedbefore his blood burst outward… and dried mid-air as if it had never existed.
"I'm usually more composed. It's been a while since I've killed anyone," Wanda said with an expressionless face. "But that's only for those not stupid enough to attack my house… where my son lives."
In the past, she'd settled for stripping dark wizards of their magic if they committed crimes near Harry. But these people weren't just any criminals: they had come with the intention of doing harm.
Another one, feeling his mouth was also freed, cried out desperately:
"We'll tell you everything, please!"
"I already know who sent you and where they are. I just wanted you to feel the suffering you were planning to causeto watch someone die in front of you before being next," Wanda said. And another exploded.
Sometimes, being evil was the simplest solution.
The rest opened their eyes in horror, but Wanda didn't want Harry or Hermione to hear anything.
So they all exploded at once.
Blood splattered through the air… but was absorbed into the ground within seconds, leaving no trace.
Wanda's clothes shifted, revealing her true attire as the Scarlet Witch.
And she vanished with a soft pop.
…
An increasingly haggard old man, Arthurus Flint, was seated in front of an antique desk, softly tapping the surface with one of his fingersblackened by the curse he had recently discovered was consuming him.
An incurable curse.
That's why his methods had become more desperate, more direct. He wanted to clean up the mess he had dragged his family into, hoping the family tree would remember him as a hero… and not as the fool who caused the downfall of the Flints at the hands of the Greengrass family.
The Flint family's eighteen legal businesses had been burned to the ground. Ten out of their eleven dark enterprises had been discovered by the Aurors, and the last onea guild of assassins working under the family namewas currently carrying out what would likely be its final mission before vanishing underground.
"I don't understand what's so special about that woman and her son for the Greengrass family to protect them so fiercely…" Arthurus muttered, his voice unhinged with laughter as his body trembled slightly from the curse that was slowly devouring him from within.
"But I'll take at least one of them with me."
"You really are a fool," said a soft, icy female voice suddenly from the shadows behind him. "The Greengrass family wasn't protecting your enemies… They were protecting all the pseudo-noble families in the wizarding world."
The old man spun around instantly, holding a wand that was clearly not his own.
But before he could even cast a spell, the wand exploded in his hand, sending shards flying across the room.
His eyes widened in true terror.
Standing calmly before him was a woman dressed in a scarlet outfit that looked like it had been spun from pure blood. Her hair floated gently as if the wind blew for her alone, and her mere presence made the air in the room heavier, harder to breathe.
"You…" Arthurus whispered, trembling.
"A foolish worry, yours," Wanda said coldly, not even bothering to hide her disdain. "I would only destroy the idiotic family that tries to harm my son… not all of them. But I understand why they reacted. They figured out fairly quickly that it was me hunting down dark wizards."
"What are you doing here…?" he asked, his voice breaking.
Wanda looked at him for a moment, emotionless.
"I'm sending you to hell. And I don't mean that metaphorically."
A crimson-red portal opened to one side, swirling as if it bled dark energy. From it emerged a grotesque, terrifying infernal creature. Its body was covered in a corrosive liquid that melted the ground beneath its feet, its fangs as sharp as blades, its eyes entirely red, and claw marks all over its bodyevidence of battles with its own brethren in that hellish place.
Arthurus turned pale, frozen in horror.
"Take him," Wanda ordered calmly.
The beast didn't hesitate. It extended a massive hand and grabbed him with chilling ease, dragging him into the portal. Inside, dozensno, hundredsof demons could be seen walking through a city made of blackened stone and fire.
"NOOOO!!!" screamed Arthurus, his voice fading as he was swallowed by the portal with no hope of return.
Wanda watched the scene in silence.
"This is the last time…" she murmured to herself as her steps began to ignite in magical flames.
With a soft pop, she vanished.
The mansion was left behind, burning in fire red as blood, slowly consumed by the flames of punishment.
…
Next chapter: Journey to Ottery St. Catchpole,
where a beautifuland slightly oddblonde lady will make her appearance.