"Little Sirius, what's the situation? There was a magical disturbance here just now, so I came quickly." The voice came from the leader of the group that had just arrived. He was leaning on a e, his face heavily scarred, and his appearance was rather uling. One of his eyes was covered with a magical eye that moved indepely, sing the se in all dires. It was her than Mad-Eye Moody, the famous Auror.

  Alex g the new arrivals and quickly deduced that they were likely Aurors. He couldn't help but think sarcastically, 'Took them long enough to get here.'

  Seeing the new arrivals, Sirius led Alex over to meet them.

  "It was two Death Eaters—Snape and Avery. I know them well, but unfortunately, they were both masked, so there's no way to officially accuse them. Those two sdrels had been tailing me, and I ended up in Knockturn Alley. If it weren't for Alex here, I might not have sted until you arrived," Sirius expined with a wry smile before introdug everyone.

  "Mad-Eye, this here is Alex Wilson, a little wizard I just met. He's the one who took down Avery—kicked his backside quite thhly! And would you believe it, he's just about to start at Hogwarts." Sirius gri Alex proudly.

  Moody's magical eye focused on Alex, looking him over thhly. "Boy, you've done a brave thing, but situations like this are no pce for an underage wizard. Don't be so reckless ime. If you'd gotten hurt, your family would've beeated."

  "Mr. Moody, I uand. I won't act rashly again." Alex agreed, although he couldn't help but think, 'If you Aurors had arrived sooner, I wouldn't have o step in at all.' But he didn't argue a his thoughts to himself.

  Moody grunted in response, accepting Alex's promise. "Alright, I'll overlook the fact that you were casting spells outside of school grounds this time. I'll follow up with Sirius oails. Frank, see to it that he gets home safely."

  Alex looked up and said, "Mr. Moody, I'm an orphan. I'm staying at the Leaky Cauldron for now. I find my own way back."

  Moody paused for a moment, seeming to take in Alex's situation before nodding. "Alright, but Frank, you still make sure he gets back safe." He gestured to Frank Longbottom, one of the other Aurors.

  Alex shrugged and followed Frank out of the alley without pint, feeling more exhausted than anything after the night's events. 'What a night of bad luck,' he thought to himself.

  As they were leaving, Sirius called out, "Thanks again, Alex! I'll stop by to visit when I ."

  Alex waved back, feeling slightly embarrassed by Sirius's loud goodbye. 'Does he have to shout like that in the middle of the night?'

  Once back at the Leaky Cauldron, Alex thanked Frank for esc him and headed straight to his room. As he y down, the events of the night pyed through his mind o.

  'The Death Eaters are no joke. That spell Snape used—it was terrifying. The power behind it broke through two of my Obstru Jinxes like they were nothing. I o work on strengthening my magic. My practice isn't enough if I want to survive against people like that.'

  Alex made a firm decisiht then and there. He wouldn't be leaving the Leaky Cauldron until school started. He po train rigorously, using every moment to improve his skills.

  With that thought in mind, he pulled out the copper amulet that had saved his life. He stared at the now-dull pieetal a a surge of gratitude toward Lily Potter. 'I o thank her properly for this.'

  The day, Alex wrote a letter to Lily, thanking her for the life-saving gift. A few days ter, Lily wrote back, thrilled that her experimental amulet had worked so well. In her letter, she expihat the amulet ractice piece she had made to test some of her alchemy skills. She was overjoyed that it had proven so effective.

  Alex couldn't help but feel a bit surprised at how casually she had given him such a powerful item. 'Who just hands out experimental magic like that?' he wondered. Still, his curiosity got the better of him, and he asked Lily more about how the amulet worked. To his delight, Lily expihe basic principles behind its magic.

  The amulet, she expined, had two key entments. The first was a stress-activated charm that would trigger automatically if the wearer was in dahe sed rotective shield spell, something Lily had developed with her own unique uanding of magical defense. She mentioned learning the teique from an old book at Hogwarts and offered to tell Alex more when they were at school.

  Meanwhile, Sirius also kept in touch, though not as frequently. One day, Alex received a package from Sirius—inside were 200 gold Galleons, along with a hanking him for his help during the Knockturn Alley enter. Sirius, in typical fashion, had written, "I could've hahem myself, but I appreciate the backup!"

  Alex couldn't help but smile. 'This guy loves to py the hero,' he thought. His impression of Sirius had improved, though. The man was generous, ae his bravado, he was gehankful. Still, 200 Galleo like an excessive reward. But knowing Sirius, Alex decided it was best not tue. He wrote back, thanking him for the gift and keeping up correspondence, even if Sirius's letters were filled with bragging and tales of his own daring adventures.

  Time passed quickly, and soon, it was time for Alex to head to Hogwarts. Over the past month, he had made tremendous progress in his studies and training, pushing himself hard to master the spells in the beginner's spellbook as well as several defensive spells. He had even begun studying Transfiguration, Herbology, and Potions, though he khese subjects would need more hands-on guida school.

  On the day of his departure, Alex packed his luggage, said his goodbyes to Tom, the innkeeper, and headed for King's Cross Station.

  Tom, who had grown fond of Alex during his stay, gifted him a small barrel of butterbeer as a parting gift. Alex, iurom a few simple recipes, including one for fried chi, which earned him a warm, fatherly smile from the old man.