An Expected Meeting

" I can't believe I'm being sent all the way to Hogwarts just to dispose of one troublesome hippogriff," Macnair growled at Lucius Malfoy for what seemed like the hundredth time that day while he paced the private lounge they had at the Leakey Cauldron.

"At least you get to kill things legally my friend I have to put on the show of being a highbrow but also a trusting colleague of the ministers," Lucius acknowledged with venom in his voice and glowered at the obvious dipleasure of his current situation." Besides, that hippogriff mangled my son and happens to belong to that great oaf Hagrid, who if you'd be so kind as to think hard enough is friends with none other than "Saint Potter!" Lucius practically spat out Harry's name like it caused bile to rise in the back of his throat.

"Yeah well that's the only reason I'm not fully against offing this beast," Macnair declared while pacing the room and glancing around at the dingy surrounds that were supposed to occupy the supposed "best room in the house." "Well that and to see the faces of the oaf, the saint and the muggle loving fool of a headmaster when my axe goes clean through that beast's neck in one fell swoop." As they both started cackling like a couple of hags, Lucius watched Macnair fingering his axe blade like he was itching to use it, Lucius noticed he always did that.

Lucius was the first to gain his composure and pulled out an elegant pocket watch to check the time. "What time do you have to be at the castle again?" he enquired in a drawling voice.

"I don't have to be there until 6 tonight but I told that old fool that runs my department that I'd meet him at the three broomsticks at 5:30. Why?" Macnair responded with a confused look as to why Lucius seemed almost somewhere else in thought.

"Well considering that it is quarter after 5 now, you should get a move on before you are late. No need to dissapoint anyone on such an important occasion." Lucius told him. "So get a move on. And do me a favor," he requested, he began twirling his cane like he was itching to use the wand he had concealed in the shaft.

"For you my old friend anything," Macnair replied while pulling his axe off of his belt knowing what Lucius was going to say next.

"Put a dulling charm on your blade before hand. You don't want the poor hippogriff to die too quickly, make it suffer for the pain it caused my son," Lucius demanded while gripping his hands on his cane ready to pull out the wand at a moments notice.

"You've got it. Would you like to perform the charm yourself before I go?" Macnair questioned with an eyebrow arched as he held his trusty axe out to Lucius in both hands.

"The thought had never crossed my mind. " Lucius responded with a mad gleam in his eyes while he pulled his wand so fast Macnair almost didn't notice the fluid movement Lucius used to extract his wand. Lucius then cast the charm with a graceful movement with his wand that would make most people think he was a charms master himself. The once razor sharp axe blade was now so dull that it would be lucky to cut through butter let alone a hippogriff's neck. "There you go all set now. Have fun and do let me know the details of how it goes," Lucius told him while handing the axe back carefully knowing how testy Macnair got when his axe was mistreated in any way other than magical.

"Of course. You know that the ministry insists we kill these beast as humane as possibly and I plan on doing just that," Macnair said with a manical grin before chuckling and apparating away to the Three Broomsticks to his scheduled beheading. But as you all know all his planning was for nothing but that's another story.