It was the next day after Antonio had fulfilled his quest of getting a new wand. For the past few days, he had been going through inner turmoil. The turmoil was about what role he should play in the events that were going to unfold.
Only a few days were left for the year 1977 to end, and it was about time to mark the beginning of Voldemort's rise. For now, the Dark Lord was spoken of only in hushed tones among those in power.
But very soon, Voldemort's terror would spread far and wide, and even the general populace would come to know of it.
The dilemma before Antonio was about how much involved he should become in these upcoming events. He could choose to remain a silent spectator and let things unfold as they did in canon.
But he knew that his adrenaline-seeking side would not allow him to remain a silent spectator—not when he had a lot of power at his disposal. He was aware that sooner or later, he was going participate on the wider stage of the Wizarding Britain.
It had been a few hours after the sun had set, and Antonio was behind his wooden counter in the inn.
A wooden door marked the entrance of the inn from the main street. The inn was not very large—five round tables had been placed in the hall of the inn. A long wooden counter was positioned on the right-hand side of the door, and a few stools lined the counter. The drinks had been placed on wooden shelves near the wall behind the counter.
Antonio was in the process of closing the inn- he was wiping off the glasses and arranging them in order. Well, he could have used magic to do so, but there were things he enjoyed doing by himself.
He had just placed a glass on the counter when the gates of his inn opened with a bang and a person walked in. The person was a lady of around 20 years of age.
She was a striking woman with dark, wild, curly hair and dark eyes. She was tall and had pale skin.
Antonio's eyes widened slightly as he recognized this lady- Bellatrix Black.
For the past 2 months, he had been keeping a close eye on the happenings of the wizarding Britain, and the Black family was a prominent part of it. So far, Bellatrix remained a Black—she had not been married to Rodolphus Lestrange.
Antonio, however, was not sure if Bellatrix was at this point in time a Death Eater or not. He was not sure if she had even been in contact with the dark lord or not.
She was wearing a long black skirt, and she almost staggered to one of the tables as she took a seat. No doubt, she was drunk, and she was not using her magic to do away with her intoxication.
"Get me a drink," she slammed her hand on the table.
Bellatrix showed no grace or manners one would expect of an heiress of a family like Black.
Antonio emerged from behind the counter as he approached Bellatrix and stood at some distance away from her.
"Miss," he said softly, "I do not think you are in a condition to drink any further."
"And anyway, I have closed my establishment," he added.
Bellatrix's head turned as she gazed toward Antonio, and a flicker of recognition flashed through her eyes. Even though she could not place a name to Antonio's face, she recognized him. After all, he had been three years senior to her in Hogwarts.
"You are saying no to me?" she asked with narrowed eyes.
Antonio shook his head, "No, Miss Black."
"I am just explaining that I cannot fulfil what you asked," he said.
Bellatrix felt her anger flaring as she whipped her wand from her wand holster, and in an instant a stinging hex left her wand. Even though she could not do anything dangerous to the man simply because he denied him a drink, a few stinging hexes were something that the man totally deserved.
But what happened next came as a shock to Bellatrix. Antonio raised his hand and swatted the hex away onto the walls of the inn.
When did he take his wand out? How did he exactly react? Bellatrix had no idea.
Even if she had not used her full strength, Bellatrix knew that she was far superior to any average wizard. And the ease with which Antonio had swatted away her hex made one thing clear—the man was no average wizard.
Even so, Bellatrix was not satisfied. Another spell left her wand- a disarmament spell. This time it was faster and sharper than the previous spell as Bellatrix had poured more of her magic into the spell.
But the result did not vary- Antonio simply swatted away the disarmament spell.
Bellatrix's eyes widened slightly as she rose up from her seat and two more spells- a pain inducing hex and a pricking spell left her wand.
Antonio remained as composed as ever and like the previous two times, he swatted away the two incoming spells.
Bellatrix was about to get carried away and start a real duel when Antonio's words halted her.
"Miss Black," he said. "I do not think it is a good thing to do. You know fire spells after spells without any reason that too in the inn of the same person."
Bellatrix who had her wand raised lowered her wand but her squinted eyes remained focus on Antonio.
"You are good," she said after moments of silence.
Antonio only smiled in response and did not say anything. Bellatrix continued staring Antonio for another few moments when she finally sighed.
"Fine," she said. "I will leave."
"But can I know your name?" She asked.
"Antonio Olario," he replied curtly.
Bellatrix gave a final nod and disapparited from the inn.
"Maybe I should add anti-apparition wards to the inn," muttered Antonio as he again busied himself with cleaning the glasses.
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