ENCHANTRESS | Harry Potter

ONE

London, March 26, 2003

Lighting struck, a sharp sound standing out against the dull drilling of the rain as it hit the buildings or the pavement. Under a shed in an alley, a person appeared out of thin air. The witch's arrival was masked by the rain, the telltale crack of apparition swallowed in the early hours of the morning. She was holding a black suitcase by her side, as big as her upper body—she was rather small—and was dressed in a black, long coat, a black hat on her head hiding her face. The only way someone could tell she was a woman was by her shoes—short-heeled black boots—as her body was hidden under the layers of clothing she was wearing and her face was unseen. She took a brief look around and walked ahead.

She left the safety of the shelter, rain instantly falling on her clothes and starting to create patterns of water, although she seemed to pay this no mind as she kept on walking, soon enough leaving the alley she had apparated in. She turned at the end of the alley, headed right. There was no one else walking on the pavement along her side, no cars passing. Dawn was just starting to shyly break through, the sun not seen yet. In the rainy morning, one could hardly notice the little light appearing in the horizon.

She walked on, careful to not step on any puddles on her way. She had a specific destination in mind even though she had never been in this city before. Her information had been specific enough she didn't need to know the streets to be aware of where she was going.

She turned on her right and climbed a couple of steps to the front door of one of the apartments along the street. She looked around, her gaze falling at a little niche in between the bricks. Her grandmother's words echoed in her mind.

The owner is a friend of mine. I will have him place a key of the front door in between two bricks of the building.

She found the key as instructed and didn't hesitate to place it in the keyhole and turn it. At once, the door was unlocked. She stepped inside, water dripping down her clothes, and quickly she locked the door once she was indoors. She took a quick look around and once she realized there was no means for her to be watched, she took out a dark piece of wood from one of her coat's pockets—a wand—and wordlessly waved it over herself. At once, she was dry. She left the front door, leaving behind only a small puddle of rain water.

She passed by the lift and headed right for the staircase, wasting no time to start climbing the stairs, her suitcase hitting against her side at points as she climbed. She reached the first floor and that's where she stayed. She walked deeper in the corridor leading to the apartments located in the first floor of the building, right for the door she knew the owner of the building lived. As she headed closer to the door, she checked the watch on her wrist.

6:03

She was just in time.

She stopped by the door and without hesitation, knocked on it. There was a moment of silence before something was heard moving in the other side of the room. She waited. Soon, she heard locks being unlocked from the inside and seconds later, an old man with short grey hair was standing in front of her. He briefly looked up at her before his eyes narrowed.

"Bada Kim?"

She nodded, "Yes sir."

"You look nothing like Annie."

Bada resisted the urge to roll her eyes – of course she didn't look like her grandmother who was born and raised in London.

"I take it you are William Evans?"

"That is me," he agreed at once, his gaze searching for something inside his house before he seemed to notice what he wanted and with a small sound that indicated his success, he reached to get it. Bada noticed it was a key. He moved past her, leaving the door of his apartment open behind him and after some deliberation, she followed after him, all the way to the other side of the corridor.