10. ...What the Heck?!

Ryan had learned occulmacy thoroughly thanks to Aria which granted him control over his expressions, but it didn't mean he wasn't susceptible to freezing because of surprises and shocks. And he was feeling one right now.

'Okay... WHAT THE FUCK? HOW DID I BECOME A DARK LORD OF ALL THINGS??' Ryan thought while looking at the daily prophet showing a moving image of him as Grim throwing almost dead people in the tavern where he takes quests. Ryan's eye twitched as he barely controlled his annoyance. He knew things might escalate but he didn't think it would be this soon.

The three he had targetted were apparently in the inner circle of death eaters, which he should have realized since why would Fenrir Greyback contact some nobody?

'And why the fuck does it have so much focus on my eyes? Damn it, I should have gone for red eyes for the dramatic flair and all that jazz... *sigh*, now I probably need to find some form of contacts for my time at Hogwarts, or else they would start discrimination against me for having green eyes as if being a parslemouth was not enough.' Ryan thought and bit into the apple he had bought. 'What to do? What to do?' Ryan sang in his head while wondering what idiot really decided to fund Skeeter of all people about this. There were about 4 months to his 10th birthday. And then only a year would be left to decide which school he should attend. He could easily skip the country if he liked to.

'... Nah, I always wanted to go to Hogwarts at least once. Some idiots in glasses or no-nose aren't gonna stop me... And while being OP is awesome, I don't want to be too detached from society. I ain't living my second life hiding away. Plus, seeing the plot from a front-row seat should be fun... right?' Ryan thought. 'Since I have already seen most things here, I think it's time to go somewhere else. Well, the closest is France. Thank god Aria has instant language comprehension once she read someone's mind, making it easy for him to learn as well.'

"Aria, add brooding on top of Eifel Tower to the list of things to do," Ryan muttered.

[Affirmative sir, I have added it below 'Find out if Snape is an animagus bat'] Aria responded back.

"Who are you? What did you do to my sweet Aria?" Ryan responded and continued a banter with her. She was the only one he could talk to without any masks.

[Also master, the shadows have gotten the ministry mapped. I have also confirmed the absence of trial records of Sirius Black. Also, Peter Pettigrew seems to have joined the ministry as the head of International exchange, and I have found multiple illegal trades of magical animals, muggleborns, and other magical artifacts in that department. Due to his friendship with Auror Potter, no one suspects a thing.] She spoke.

"The rat's not hiding? Why?... Hmm, taking knowledge out of Pettigrew's head would solve all my doubts... meh, maybe later," Ryan spoke aloud.

Be that as it is, he didn't want one 'Auror Potter' to come to interfere in his life, not when he was enjoying the action as Grim that he usually encounters. Ryan knew of this because of his shadow bugs in the ministry.

'I wonder if Skeeter's shadow would also be able to transform back if I crush her in her bug form.' Ryan wondered, seeing who had written the article. 'Whatever, I'm mostly done here anyway. Magical creatures have been highly regulated after the war, and there are not many here either. The ones brought illegally are the ones found normally, and the rarer ones are usually dead, so I won't find new prey. Not unless I move towards Scotland, since the forbidden forest is there with Hogwarts. Wales only has domesticated ones. Guess I should make preparation to fly to France. Should take about an hour to reach Paris at my current average flying speed.' Ryan thought. His flight speed was nearing Mach 1, but he wondered if he could endure the boredom.

*Next day*

"I see no god up here... *slurp* other than me," A teen in a black cloak said while slurping a rainbow-colored smoothy.

[That's because most gods never visit the mortal world, master] Aria interrupted in his 'being one with the meme' moment in a monotone voice.

"*sigh* Why are you such a killjoy?" Ryan sighed and muttered.

[Because you wanted someone to interact and question you when you made me your Manas, master~] She replied back, and Ryan could almost feel her smirking. Ryan may sound annoyed, but he enjoyed his banter with Aria. It was one of the things that didn't erode his sanity. He was still a human, and humans were social creatures. So the lack of interaction would soon have a negative impact on him.

"Hmm..., anything on the radars yet?" Ryan asked her. Aria was using telepathic and magical senses to the fullest to trace a concentrated magical hotspot, as that would be one of the areas where wizards could be found.

[Not yet] She replied.

"Hmm, take your time. It's only a matter of time, after all, we have the high ground." Ryan muttered and drank his smoothie.

[...]

In the end, Ryan had to abandon his high ground to cover more area to find areas with wizards.

*Later*

Ryan walked while eating a Paris-Brest he had ordered. 'I'm definitely getting a sweet tooth. First the Frangipane Tart, then a Hazelnut dacquoise, and now this. Good thing I can't get cavities!'

Tracing some houses with wards on the outskirts of Paris, Ryan was able to have Aria read some minds and find out from the local wizards about the magical places. And it was good that he did that since the French ministry had enough sense to not make their ministry right below the capital, as doing so would be limiting the area they could set up their scanners and other artifacts, as space-increasing charms usually interfere with them.

Another thing he found out was about the French wizard's way of travel. While apparitions and portkeys were still there, they had an alternative to the British Floo network. Here, there was a system called Labrinth, in which they were provided magical keys and doors, and one had to say the name of the place they wished to visit for the door to connect to another door in the chosen destination, like a network of doors. So, a run-down version of Doraemon's Anywhere door, but only applicable in France.

Here again, Ryan saw Pureblood bigotry in action, as the supposed creators of this system were the Abate families, and they had divided the level of keys and doors, making Purebloods have the privilege and some other stuff. Ryan didn't pay attention to what differences they had because he came to visit and have fun, not debate racism and get a headache.

Even if this was concerning, Ryan did find racism quite less in France than in Britain, as he could even spot some half-magical creatures here and there. Though the Aurors around were keeping an eye on them. This was because of the faction led by Monsieur Delacour, one of the leading enchanters and Minister of Magical Coalition and Peace in France, though it was a better-sounding name than the previous one, Department of Magical Creatures and Wizard Negotiations. Probably didn't sit well with the magical races for wizards to just call them creatures. Yet they call the non-magical muggles.

Delacour was the poster guy for the department since his marrying a half-Veela reassured people he would pay attention to his department with utmost care. 'Then again, Delacour was a family with a long history, and one of the three biggest families in France, with the other two being Abates and Flamels.' Ryan thought. 'While Flamels have a strong front on keeping traditions, but still accept beneficial changes, Abate's have total old philosophies, like not having a woman in any field of work, Pureblood rights, etc. Everywhere I go,... all I see is politics.' Ryan thought while spotting a bookstore.

He had come to a building that looked similar to no-maj malls, except it was a repurposed fort. Ryan liked the aesthetic and wandered around the shops a bit before coming to the bookstore. He found most books to be written in French, but he also found travel journals about other magical nations. Ryan smirked at the successful haul, then picked up a stash labeled Beuxbeaton's course, and paid the shopkeeper. The guy looked at Ryan as if he was mad but still started calculating the total cost.

"Ca Alors! C'est beaucoup de livres"(My goodness, those are a lot of books!) Ryan heard a squeaky voice say that.

He turned around and saw a family of four, which the smallest one had said after looking at the pile in front of him. Ryan just took a look and chuckled at the reaction.

The man came forward to him, and this time Ryan also saw some guards behind them. "Mes excuses, ce n'était pas notre intention de vous déranger"(My apologies, it wasn't our intention to disturb you) The man said to him. Ryan was genuinely surprised at this. He could tell the guy in front of him was a pureblood, yet he came and apologized for his child's behavior.

[[[A/N:- Pretend the conversations in France and other countries are in their native language]]]

"There isn't any need to apologize." Ryan shook his head and said. He then noticed the guy calculating the money was acting a bit out of it, looking behind Ryan.

"Hey, what happened?" Ryan asked and waved his hand in front of the guy, but he stood as if he was in a trance. A mild stinging hex moved past Ryan, who had noticed it but not acted as he wanted to see if they were trying to make trouble, he knew that spell won't hurt him or others. It just hit the shopkeeper, who winced and snapped out of his trance. The shopkeeper turned to glare at the one who shot the hex but his face became pale after seeing the one doing it.

"L-lord Delacour." The shopkeeper muttered. Now Ryan's mind went numb for a few seconds. Delacour? Wasn't he just thinking about them? '

'But if he's the lord, then that would mean..' Ryan turned back and Aria tried to observe the magical aura of the three ladies behind the man. Ryan agreed those three were beauties, or more like cute in the case of the little girls. 'So they are Veelas? Guess that explains the shopkeeper's reaction. But why don't I feel anyth-' Ryan thought but as his gaze fell on the older daughter, his magic suddenly reacted against his control.

'Wha-ARIA!!' Ryan panicked at the sudden problem and called Aria to control what was happening. The shop was suddenly filled with magical pressure because of Ryan. Everyone felt the pressure and couldn't react because of it, while the two Aurors and the Delacour couple snapped out but still felt oppressed. Aria took over and got it in control, and reacted to protect her master.

The shop was suddenly filled with a bright light, blinding them. Everyone covered their eyes because of the shine, and when they recovered, they found the boy and his books to be missing, and stacks of Galleons.