An Agreement with Fate

A Fill of Black

I stood up from my bed and took a huge yawn before trying to summon a glass of water for myself and then picking it up physically after giving up.

I grinned as I remembered yesterday.

"What the heck do you mean that I have to take a child in for a few weeks, Albus?!" The man shouted and then looked at me shortly before saying softly, "No offence, kid, but I really like to be alone."

I shrugged and said, "I like to be alone as well."

The man smirked before saying, "Alright, maybe you aren't that bad."

Dumbledore opened his mouth but the other man said, "Oh, shut up. I don't want to hear you blabber all over me, guilt me and then convince me to take in a child."

Dumbledore started saying, "Alphard, my boy, please listen to me . . . ."

I still don't know how Dumbledore could have pulled so many words out of his mind like that but I was impressed by the old man. Even I was convinced to stay here, and the man wasn't even talking to me!

I stretched myself and got out of bed, it was really hard to adjust yourself to such soft surfaces when you have been sleeping on the ground for a long time.

I yawned, tried to find the toilet, and then entered the mentioned room to complete my morning ritual. Afterwards, I sat in the living room, contemplating what I should do.

In the forest, Harry and I could chat whenever we got bored but here I was stuck, this was a tiny place with nothing exciting to look at, I will die waiting for something to distract me.

I groaned and someone chuckled.

Alphard Black said amusedly, "Looks like someone's awake."

I nodded at him and said, "Morning, Alphard."

The older man greeted me back and sat down in front of me in a wooden chair. He said, "Now listen, kid, you are staying here with me due to the sheer manipulation of Albus Dumbledore and because of that, you need to follow some rules, okay?"

"Yeah, I figured", I said.

"Good", said Alphard, "You are much more agreeable than any other kid I know. So, first of all, you are going to Hogwarts in a month and you will prepare hard for it, understood?"

I nodded, it was something I would be happy to do.

Alphard continued, "Second of all, you will remain quiet in the afternoon and evening because I will be working, I do not need any distractions while I complete my highly delicate work. Is that understood?"

I responded, "Alright, I will be silent, but what do you work as anyway?"

Alphard remained silent and thoughtful, likely contemplating if he should tell me or not before sighing and answering, "I am an inventor and a researcher. I study magic, try to find its uses, and what it is, and invent stuff with my knowledge. There is this new device in the market which helps people find if their family members are safe or not, I have its patent."

I raised an eyebrow and asked, "So, did you make a device that can track the increasing heartbeat of the member so that it can know when the said member feels fear or did you make a device that can feel unknown disturbances in the surroundings of the member?"

Alphard smiled and said, "Neither, it is not that simple. If I did that, then I would think they will face danger every time they're excited or surprised, or whenever some random person passes by them. I used a highly complicated system, which you will understand in your seventh year at Hogwarts, after working with Charms, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy with a good understanding of defensive magic."