Chapter 237 - Up Up and Away!

The moment I read the different location listed on the identity, I did not let my face change. Calm makes better armor than anger.

I kept my gaze on the parchment, let my fingertip drift as if following the last lines of blood, and reread. It didn't take long to see where they thought they could tuck a dagger between ribs: the clause for my Portkey did not name the destination—only "the same location." Same as what? Same as the group's destination? Same as the place where the contract was signed? Language is a tricky thing, and I know exactly how to deal with this.

'I can't ask them to change the contract as we had already signed it, but it is a bit easy to tell them that I caught their trick and it would be in their best interest to change this shit...'

I leaned back in the chair until the wood complained softly and looked at Nalini as if we were talking about tea. "The coin isn't linked to the same place as the rope," I said. "Let's not pretend that was an accident."

Mr. Patil froze. Nalini didn't. Her eyes went flat and bright, no hint of emotion on her face, but her mana did twitch in annoyance. "You can tell that?" she asked, mild as winter light.

"You're asking a Black that, it seems your research was focused more on my hidden bloodline," I said. "Don't insult my intelligence. We won't proceed until the spell is redone and I am satisfied. And before you think to be clever, the rope's destination is explicitly stated in the contract. Changing that would cost you too much."

For a beat, I thought she would test how far I could be pushed. Then she sighed—not dramatic, not performative; a woman adjusting a plan a fraction to the left—and flicked her wand. A neat blue lash of spellwork cracked into the coin with a cold snap. The little disk jumped, heated briefly in my senses, then settled.

I did not look at it. "You done," I asked, challenging her authority a little bit, pushing just a bit more of my own.

She arched the barest eyebrow but let it go. "Verify," she said.

I did, of course, twice and quietly. The rope sat on the table steady as a plumb line, its destination keyed to the Leaky Cauldron, where exactly I wasn't sure, but that is not my concern for now. The coin now had the same destination— the Ashura Valley part was erased from the description as if it had never been there.

"Good enough," I said, and finally let a breath out that didn't show on my face. "Password-setting?"

Nalini inclined her head. "Push mana into the coin as you speak your command. It cannot be longer than two seconds. The second time you speak that exact phrase, you will trigger it—no one else. Choose something you do not say by accident, or the contract will decide you violated your own terms if you leave before handing over the memories and take what you swore."

I nodded, and I palmed the coin. The cuffs on my legs fell away as my mana vibrated in comfort. I felt the metal's faint readiness under my skin and sent the smallest thread of mana I was allowed—more seepage than flow—into the waiting lattice.

"~To infinity and beyondss~" I hissed in Parseltongue, the syllables slipping like oil over stone, the mana around me vibrating at the touch of the ancient language.

The coin accepted the phrase with a tiny click that only my mana sense could hear. Mr. Patil glanced up, surprised despite himself at the language. Nalini only nodded, as if a box on a list had been ticked.

"Let's get this over with," she said, and from somewhere—my wand—arced toward me in an underhand throw. I caught it out of reflex. It felt like seeing an old friend across a crowded room at a funeral: a mix of relief, grief, and cautious happiness. My mana sang like someone had opened a valve. 

No one spoke as we slipped out of the negotiation room. I slipped the portkey assigned to me into my inventory. The hallway outside breathed cold stone and old incense; somewhere in the building, a metallic clink chimed periodically. We passed through two doorways and turned into the adjoining chamber, where my friends sat slumped in their chairs, their heads tilted, their breath steady.

Mr. Patil moved first, businesslike now that there were steps to count. He herded them gently into a rough circle with their chairs, then set the rope's length across their laps, tucking it into limp fingers so each hand could claim a part of the loop. Sirius, he arranged last, careful despite himself. Their bindings fell away to minimize any interference with the portkey charm.

"I'm going to change the timer," Nalini said, already beginning the motion. "Activation in one minute." Her wand wrote the time-change into the rope with a firm, confident spell—blue-white and precise. The rope thrummed; a quick inspect told me that the spell was overwritten, and now the timer was ticking down from 1 minute instead of 1 hour.

Mr. Patil followed her with an unfamiliar charm: air thickened and folded, compressing into clear spheres around each set of knuckles. Soundless, as the rope was now firmly locked in their grasp. "So they won't drop it when they startle," he said, almost apologetic to the air.

I kept an eye on the timer now: fifty-eight seconds, fifty-seven.

"I'm going to wake them just before the timer ends," I said. I did not make it a question. "I want them conscious when they land. Your spheres will hold throughout the journey?"

"They should," Mr. Patil said. His mouth tugged. "In theory. I haven't tested that charm through a Portkey."

"Hmm," I hummed, nothing I could do about it now. I had to time Sirius correctly so he should be able to guide everyone else.

Nalini gave me a look—half agreement, half impatience.

I stepped to Sirius first. Close up, the stunner's signature mana was seeping into his mana channels like red gauze. My wand rose as I took aim and waited for the timer to tick down to 5 seconds.

"Enervate~," I said, clean and clipped, and sent the spell through the gauze like a seam ripper, removing the suppression.

Red peeled back. Sirius's eyes grogily snapped open, and I focused on moving through to Harry, who was next to him, and cast the charm again.

"Wha-?" Sirius mumbled.

"Portkey activating in four seconds," I said. "Should be keyed to Leaky Cauldron, make sure the rest don't let the rope go, the charm should help." I rapid-fired instructions as the man tried to look around. He was still wearing a blindfold, and as I turned to enervate the rest of them, the patils had already done so. Checking their mana channels to make sure nothing goes wrong, I turn back to Sirius.

"Give me 6 hours before contacting Dumbledore. I should be back by then." I finished as everyone started shifting. Nalini stood very still behind me, absorbing my words. Mr. Patil wiped his palms discreetly on his kurta. The candle's flame burned straight.

"Don't let go," I directed that command to everyone else as the portkey hummed and its magic rippled. They floated upwards, and at the last second, I focused on Sirius's blindfold.

"Accio Blindfold~" They passed through the roof as they vanished, leaving behind a blindfold that was zipping toward me, and I caught it with my left hand.

'There, that should help with their landing. Hopefully Harry doesn't break his nose or glasses this time.' I thought and turned back to the Patils.

"Let's go, we don't have much time now."

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