Harry Potter: The Boy Loved by Beasts

Uninvited Visitor!

Chapter 37: ohhhhh scary kitty!

Vira: That nosy witch is coming?

Author: I would like it if you called her Professor McGonagall, but yep!

Vine had grown smoothly to occupy the underworld and those in power. The working class and honest people were unaware of it, but the influence was there.

One of the most visible aspects was in the field of technology, which had grown tremendously. The details of this will be shown as time passes, but what I can say is that a worldwide organization, with nearly every resource and unconcerned with political borders, was heavily investing in that sector.

It was mainly in weaponry and the digital sector, which at the time were too expensive to be widespread. However, the business talents that VINE had managed to nurture were numerous, and their properly valued ideas were generating an immense amount of resources for VINE to grow.

The talent program that Vira had created was certainly helping in Vine's growth, but in my view, the sole reason for its survival was Silas's ability.

Silas had an enhanced danger-sensing and emotion-detecting ability compared to Vira. While Vira could detect kindness and other emotions, his ability did not work well on the complexities of the human mind—especially when he overthought every emotion they excluded and confused himself.

But Silas did not have such trouble. He simply went: That guy doesn't like Vira. That guy does. Based on this simple usage, Silas had managed to eliminate a major threat to VINE and Vira.

The fear of betrayal and rebellion was real for every organization that existed—be it a small business that collapsed because relatives sold shares for petty money, or the big players who were slowly exhausted and consumed to death as rebellious subordinates drained the organization's resources for their own benefit.

The first part was not a problem for Vira, as there was no one with authority or shares unless he granted them. Vine was neither a democratic nor a communist organization—it was plain old dictatorship, solely under the command of Orion Seraphis, more commonly known as VIRA.

The organization was more centralized than any other system of rule or hierarchy. It was almost a cult—people joined mostly for benefits and served it because of Vira. Those who remained close to him for too long seemed infected, brainwashed into giving their lives to him without even batting an eye.

Enough about VINE and how powerful it is—I believe everyone has gotten tired of it. So, let's once again step inside the life of Vira.

Although he was nearly a god to the people of Vine—and even more so to James, who had completely dedicated himself to Vira—his daily life was as bland as ever.

Unlike the impulsive and flashy period that lasted nine months before vanishing completely, Vira now lived a simple life. Though, there was one thing that stuck from that period.

His wine addiction—which earned him countless reprimands from Nicolas, such as now.

Nicolas: "Where did you get the wine from this time? I hid them all the last time I came."

Vira, lying lazily on the grass, basking in the sun, spoke as he rubbed the head of one of the owls that, for some reason, had gathered around him.

Vira: "Asked James to go get some."

Then, as he turned the bottle around to reveal the words on the white label, he spoke in a slightly slurred voice.

Vira: "Chadu Yqem, it says! Want some?"

Hearing his tone, Nicolas felt his head throbbing. He snatched the bottle away and threw it aside.

Nicolas: "It's Château d'Yquem! And no, I've got something to ask! Sober up!"

Saying that, he turned toward James, who was giggling in the corner, and simply jerked his head to the left.

James, seemingly used to such interactions, understood what the old man meant and went inside to get a glass of water.

The glass was clearly custom-made for Vira, as it literally had Vira written on it and was larger than a normal glass.

After bringing the oversized glass of water—which was bigger than Vira's hand—Vira gulped down about half of it in a single go before handing it back.

After that, he closed his eyes for a moment, then shook his head like a rattle.

Nicolas seemed to know what was going on. As soon as Vira opened his eyes again, he spoke in a serious tone, as if Vira was now fully awake.

Nicolas: "What do you want to do with Ryan?"

Vira: "Who?"

Hearing this, Nicolas would have probably given more information, but this wasn't the first time this had happened. Besides, Silas would probably bite him if he took his job. So, he remained unmoved and silent, waiting for Silas to do his part.

After a few seconds of silence, Vira seemed to receive the information as he spoke.

Vira: "James' student? So what about him?"

By now, it was well known that Vira didn't remember names. This wasn't the first time Nicolas had to deal with it, so he simply said:

Nicolas: "He and his sister are quite talented. I wouldn't have come to talk to you just for him, but his sister seems gifted in medicine. Even Professor Stephan wanted—"

Vira didn't even remember who the hell Stephan was, but he had no patience for Nicolas winding his words up. So, before Nicolas could finish, he cut in.

Vira: "When will you stop dragging out your words? If she's talented, then invest. What else is there to discuss?"

Nicolas: "You killed their parents! You wanna talk about that?" he said with a little smirk—for absolutely no reason or context whatsoever.

Vira: "So... huh! What now?"

Nicolas: "You didn't say anything, so they were let in with the other orphans in that talent program of yours."

Vira: "Don't worry about it then. I'll know if they wanna cause trouble. Anything else?"

Vira remained completely indifferent to the fact that he was raising the children of a woman he had killed—or that his decisions had led to their father's demise when he kicked everyone out of the ER for Viper.

Nicolas: "Nothing else. But what are you going to do with Peter?"

Vira: "Didn't I leave that to you? Let the economic nerds evaluate his score."

Nicolas: "Well, about that... He's been embezzling more and more money ever since his wife gave birth to his second child."

Vira seemed unconcerned about the money, but he asked in a surprised tone:

Vira: "He has another baby?"

Nicolas: "His second son. He should've sent you an invitation for the naming ceremony. When are you going to talk to him?"

Vira: "The ratio of abuse to contribution is still within safe limits, right?"

Nicolas: "Well, yeah. He ranks highest in the amount of money embezzled."

Nicolas already knew what Vira would say. So before Vira could open his mouth, he waved his hand and spoke in a louder voice—

Nicolas: "For fuck's sake! He won't accept your crazy plan. Why would he want to secure the future for three generations when he can just take enough to satisfy his entire bloodline?"

Hearing him speak had two immediate effects—one, all the guards silently left the area, leaving only James in the garden. And two, he managed to annoy Vira.

But before anything could come of it, a cat's meow interrupted them.

The cat seemed to appear out of nowhere. The birds in the sky, the small reptiles hidden in the bushes—none of them had noticed it until it made a sound.

Vira, startled for a brief moment, relaxed when he realized it was just an animal. The kindness radiating from it seemed to ease the irritation from his previous conversation.

As the cat approached, Vira bent his knees and raised his hand to pet it.

But before he could even stretch his fingers toward the cat—

Something strange happened.