King of Lightning [HP FANFIC]

Sirius, upon hearing that it was Dumbledore's suggestion, exchanged a glance with Anduin, and both nodded. It seemed this was one of Dumbledore's arrangements, and he had no doubt already made the necessary preparations.

If nothing happened, all the better . . . but if a Death Eater dared to show up and cause trouble, Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix would surely give them a very special Christmas present.

James Potter looked particularly cheerful that day. He glanced at Anduin beside him and let out a hearty laugh. "Merry Christmas, Anduin. I didn't expect to see you again so soon. They told me you saved Sirius. Lily and I were terrified when we heard he'd nearly gotten into trouble, but I never imagined he'd be lucky enough to have a young hero rush to his aid."

Frank Longbottom chimed in with a smile. "Yes, I was there too at the time. I heard Anduin even defeated a Death Eater. Anduin, I don't know if you still remember me, but in any case, Merry Christmas."

Sirius grew a little sour again at the mention of the incident. Ever since the chase in Knockturn Alley, his mischievous friends hadn't let him live it down. At this point, he felt like he was developing mild Little Wizard PTSD.

"Ahem, ahem." Sirius cleared his throat a couple of times, trying to steer the conversation away. "Listen, I haven't even had the chance to introduce you properly. This is Anduin Wilson, currently a first-year student at Hogwarts."

He then turned to Anduin and continued, "Let me introduce you. The tall one is Remus Lupin, the round one is Peter Pettigrew. You've already met James. And the other two are Frank and Alice Longbottom, the Longbottom couple."

"Hello, Anduin. Thank you for helping Sirius," said the tall Lupin warmly.

"H-hello, nice to meet you," muttered the slightly timid Peter Pettigrew.

Anduin nodded politely to them all, and they greeted him with equal courtesy. At that moment, a middle-aged woman emerged from the kitchen, hands on her hips, and barked firmly at the group, "Alright, you lot, are you planning to have Christmas dinner or not? Someone get in here and help! Or do you expect this old woman to do everything herself?"

Frank Longbottom couldn't help but protest, "Mum, you're not even fifty yet. Stop calling yourself old."

Augusta Longbottom, Frank's mother, shot her son a withering look and replied, "And whose fault is it that my son turned out to be such a handful?"

Seeing this, Anduin stepped forward to defuse the tension. "Mrs. Longbottom, you've worked so hard already. Please, let me help you."

Augusta watched as Anduin deftly took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. She couldn't help exclaiming to her son, "Look at that! Even a child is more considerate than you."

Then she turned to Anduin with a much softer expression and said, "Thank you, dear, but let the adults handle the dinner. We don't want you getting burned."

Frank could only shrug sheepishly at his mother's scolding and stick out his tongue awkwardly. Sirius, however, spoke up. "Mrs. Longbottom, don't underestimate Anduin. His cooking skills are excellent. I've been enjoying his meals these past few days, and I think I might've even put on a few pounds."

At Sirius's words, Augusta gave Anduin a look of surprise. Without hesitation, she promptly ushered him into the kitchen.

Inside, only Lily was busy with preparations. After Anduin tied on an apron, he began skillfully handling the ingredients. Augusta couldn't help but praise him. "I didn't expect someone so young to be so thoughtful . . . and to know how to cook as well."

Anduin smiled modestly, his hands never stopping. "I've lived on my own since I was little, so I had to learn to take care of myself."

Hearing this, Augusta's face softened even more as she gently patted Anduin's head. "Poor boy, you must've been through so much. It's such a shame you weren't born into our family. We never would've let you suffer like that."

Anduin felt a swell of emotion at Augusta's sudden motherly affection and replied, "Mrs. Longbottom, thank you for your kindness. Your son is also a brave man, and I'm sure all of you will have happiness ahead."

Augusta smiled warmly. Though she was strict with her son, Frank had always been her pride.

As though recalling something, Anduin turned to Lily and asked, "Lily, did Dumbledore mention anything to you? About that matter?"

Lily instantly understood and answered, "Yes, we all received the warning. James and I have been reinforcing our home with protective charms these past few days, and I'm certain Professor Dumbledore has made his arrangements as well. I heard it was you who passed on the warning this time too. I haven't thanked you properly yet."

Augusta nodded with a touch of pride. "Dumbledore is still as reliable as ever. If those Death Eaters value their lives, they'd better not show their faces here."

Hearing this, Anduin's suspicions began to solidify. He had long suspected someone within the Order of the Phoenix was leaking information to the Death Eaters. If nothing happened tonight, it was very likely that someone had tipped them off, forcing them to call off their operation. So perhaps, just perhaps, tonight really would remain peaceful.

With that thought, Anduin let the matter rest and continued helping in the kitchen. He even prepared two dishes: a creamy Western-style mushroom soup and spicy tuna cakes. When Augusta tasted them, her eyes lit up with delight. Though they had only just met, her gaze toward Anduin grew warmer and more affectionate with each passing moment.

When everything was nearly ready, Anduin was the first to leave the kitchen. In the living room, the others were gathered around two babies crawling on the floor.

Anduin joined them, though he couldn't quite tell which baby was which. The group of playful adults had set the little ones on the carpet, attempting to get them to "race" in a crawling competition. But the two tiny wizards were wholly uninterested; one crawled a couple of steps and then sat down to suck his hand, while the other veered left and right aimlessly before crawling back to where he started.

One of them was Harry, who would one day grow up to defeat Lord Voldemort. As a baby, however, he didn't seem remarkable at all. Anduin had never been clear on the original Harry Potter story, and he didn't even know if his presence here would be enough to save Lily from Voldemort's clutches. If he could, he truly wished to rewrite the Potter family's tragedy . . . but how? Was it a careless slip that had allowed Voldemort to strike? Or was there another, deeper reason?

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