Regency in Diagon Alley [Theodore Nott | Harry Potter AU]

Chapter Thirteen

The barrier had a specific scent of sweets, old books and... bird – wet bird.

Remus was at the docks when the flash of gold light appeared blending in the flash of lightning, creating some sort of wall at the border at the edge of the River Thames. There was no trace of it visibly but Remus could smell the scent of magic around the city, and he had no doubt it was placed around the borders of London to keep someone inside. The beauties of being a werewolf, he could smell magic when it was cast, unlike Muggles or ordinary witches and wizards his acute sense of smell made him aware of everyone and everything, which made him a perfect agent.

Only his closest friends knew of his ability, and it was an accident when they did. James and Sirius noticed then that he was untouchable of their pranks, always knowing where they have hidden the dungbombs or whether they have touched this breakfast to make it explode. There was always a scent that magic leaves and each one was different for each person, because of that he made it his business to know the scent of magic that his friends had to always identify them... also in hope to find some sort of familiarity when his beast side smells those scents and spare them.

James smelt like the forest, a mix of wet grass and soil. At first they thought it was because he would always lay on the grass and liked mud-fights, but as it turns out his Animagus form is of the woods. A stag that runs in the forest.

Lily's was more of the mixed ingredients that could be found in a standard Potion Master's lab. Pine, flames, boiled something, but there would always be a hint of lilies on her. Typical.

For the Potter children, he has yet to familiarize himself with them since he did not have the pleasure to stay longer to get to meet Harry and Diana.

Tom Goldstein had a scent of the ocean due to his family home close to the coast, while his wife, Charity, had a strong scent of plants. A great mixture of plants and flowers since the woman owned a greenhouse and likes to spend her days studying and caring for faunas.

Emmanuelle's scent was a mix of the ocean and chocolate. He always found it fitting for her to smell like chocolate since some butterflies would sometimes smell like chocolate. Unlike her mother, though, Carina's magical scent was more of the summer breeze, hyacinths, and a hint of dog. He managed to get Carina's scent accidentally when he almost ran into the young lady in the street earlier that day, she was looking for her dog that has gone missing. And Remus managed to smell the traces of her magic as she tried to use the Avesengium Charm to see traces of her dog's movements.

There was none since Snuffles did not walk out of the door and ran into the night, no. Snuffles apparated out of the house like any wizard.

He did not stay long enough to see how far the girl would go for her pet, even if he wanted to see how his goddaughter has grown after seventeen years since he last saw her. He only managed to get a good look at her, just to make himself familiar of Carina – a young, tall woman with curly, dark hair who has grown splendidly – and then left.

Now in London, where the rain seems to be turning to a storm, Remus stood by the docks and watched the whisps of magic flow in the air. It was not Regulus. No, Regulus' scent was of whiskey and ink. Whoever it was that cast this spell was either someone who knew his secret and was part of their undercover work or it was a complete coincidence. Maybe a random witch or wizard was looking someone. Or maybe it was the Auror's work to keep a wanted dark witch or wizard from leaving the city.

The sudden absence of the rain falling on him broke Remus from his thoughts. There was an umbrella above him, though it was always touching his head now with how low it was.

"If you plan to stand there all day, brooding in the rain, you might as well use an umbrella," a husky voice of a woman said.

A woman a tad bit shorter than him stood at his side holding the umbrella as high as she could. She had short brown hair that was cut to a man's hair length, with curls peeking down from the edge of her top hat. Instead of the usual dresses that the ladies wore in the city, she wore a long maroon skirt that reached just above her ankles, a white blouse with a topaz ribbon, and over it all was a coat that he believes was made for men.