Hi all! So sorry for the long wait. College midterms were not fun, and final projects less so. However. I am back! And until Finals roll around I'll be cranking out a few more chapters hopefully.
THANK YOU reviewers! You are the reason I keep writing. Please review this chapter and tell me what you think. The more people I know like to read this, the more I am encouraged to keep at it, even if its just one word!
Also, still haven't managed to get a beta. Thought I had one, but they stopped responding to my emails so I'm on the hunt again. Please ignore any typos, or better yet, point them out so I can fix them.
Enjoy!
'String of Missing Objects Reported Throughout London'
Daily Prophet, page 3
By Gloria Rosehip
It seems that Owl Post has gotten less reliable lately. Over the last year, reports of missing packages have greatly increased over the London area. Despite the new sticking charms, Owls have been losing packages here and there, at one point as often as five times in one month! This is an outrage to the good witches and wizards of London, who would like to rely on Owl Post.
What is to blame, you ask? The Owls? The Charms? Dark Creatures?
We here at the Daily Prophet are proud to say we have found the cause. Wards! The Ministry has always been fond of boasting on the clear regulations and enforcements regarding wards. However, lately it seems certain wizards of ill repute have been putting up illegal wards left and right. We would like to remind these wizards that Owls are highly sensitive to magical disruptions, and if encountering an unknown ward will occasionally lose their senses and their packages.
If you care for your Owl and your post, you will follow ministry guidelines and report all and any wards you have currently and plan to place in the future. If you have any questions, please see the following question and answer session with Hilda Valesnit of the Department for… (cont'd page 11c)
The objects were reaching out to him.
The first time Harry crept forward he didn't think much of it. He just felt inclined to grab that particular box at the top, and none of the others felt like being worth grabbing. When he got back and opened the box in excitement, he saw a very expensive looking dagger. Two snakes twined around the top, and the hilt was set with bright red rubies. At first he was disappointed, while it looked like it was worth money, it didn't look like Wizard technology. However, when Mr. Steel saw it he practically levitated in excitement.
"Finally! To see one right before my eyes…." Mr. Steel began to reach out, then jerked his hand back.
"No, no, better not." He turned and looked at Harry. For a second he seemed about to say something, perhaps explain the purpose of the dagger.
"This is very, very good, son. Very good! I've been hoping that you boys would find one some day. These daggers were described in great detail in one of the books I have. A dark, dark book, all about Wizarding rituals that use… well, no matter. See these small knobs around the base of the blade and along the dull end? And this tiny snake here, with wings and a mane? Defining features of a ritual blade, very distinctive."
Harry was confused at how this could be useful, but Mr. Steel wasn't very inclined to share any true details about what the blade could do. He wouldn't even touch it, but lifted the whole box up and quickly went back to his office after giving Harry a congratulate smile. Mike sulked in the corner.
"Beginners luck!" He muttered. Kerr gave Mike a glare.
"Don't think I'm going to let you get away with leaving him! You were supposed to wait, and instead you just scampered back here with that big grin on your face. Serves you right that he actually found something." Kerr turned to Harry.
"Beginners luck or not, why don't you go out again tomorrow night, it's about time we revisit another sight over in section seven. Last few times we haven't got anything good, but it's been over a month since we've tried." Harry nodded, feeling butterflies in his stomach. Another time out, and so soon! He was so happy he had managed to actually find something worthwhile to the group.
"Will… Mike be going with me again?" Harry wasn't sure he wanted to trust the surly boy to be his guard after he had already been left once.
"No. Rick will be your watcher. Now off you go to bed!" Kerr dismissed him before turning back to Mike with a scowl.
"This is the last time I'm going to tolerate you…."
Harry closed the door behind him, grinning at the thought of Mike getting a good talking to. The boy seemed to have a grudge against him, and for the life of him he couldn't quite figure out why.
When Harry slowly approached the pile of boxes, it took him a few seconds to realize that he was being tugged. It was very subtle. It was almost like moving towards one area felt… smoother. As if turning away would make his fingers feel numb, his feet slow and rough. His fingers reached of their own accord for another package, wrapped in crinkly paper and bound about with fraying string. It looked like it had been covered ages ago and put away in storage and forgotten, only to be mailed out as an afterthought.
It looked like pure rubbish. Yet… Harry's eyes began to drift shut, his fingers tightening about the package, his mind drifting to something…. Something right out of reach, something dull and blurry, calling to him, and all he would need to do was say the words and the door would open and he would see...
"Harry…. Harry!" Ricks voice whispered fervently from nearby. "Harry! Get back here! Snap out of it!"
Harry dropped the package with a loud thump. Rick cursed and quickly grabbed it (When had he gotten so close?) before turning and scrambling back the way they had come. For a second Harry felt out of breath, before a sound behind him prompted him to run after Rick. He didn't dare look back for fear they had been caught.
When he caught up to Rick a few blocks later the boy was glaring at him.
"What were you thinking? You don't freaking daydream in their territory! WE could have been caught! You better hope this thing is worth something or you are in big trouble!" The boy scowled and turned away. Harry felt his shoulders sag as they returned to the shop. What had happened?
Mr. Steel seemed deep in thought. He had been in the room with the artifacts when they had returned, looking over some books on Wizarding animals to try and find out more about what the winged snake on the dagger was, and whether it was a symbol or an actually living animal.
When Rick saw him he immediately started venting about Harry's mistake. Mr. Steel frowned, and cut him off.
"Let me see this package." Rick frowned and slapped it on the table, earning an angry look. "DO NOT let your anger cause you to damage something that could be of use!"
"That dolt already dropped it! And did I mention we almost got CAUGHT?" Harry suddenly realized that Rick was acting not just out of anger. The boy was deathly afraid, his skin pale and his fingers shaking. Mr. Steel seemed to come to the same conclusion.
"Sit down, Rick. You didn't get caught, or you wouldn't be here now, and especially not with this. Next time, Harry will know to be more careful, and not get over-confident." Harry wanted to deny that, and tell what had really happened to him, but Mr. Steel had already turned back to the package and began removing the paper.
Harry couldn't see what it was at first. Then Mr. Steel carefully lifted it up, and he could make out that it was a crude and roughly circular box. It looked like someone had taken a axe and just hewn the shape out of a piece of wood. It seemed to be stained a dark brown, though in places you could see the lighter more natural wood color underneath.
Mr. Steel was holding his breath. Was this….? Blood. Yes, what else could it be? It looked like the box had been splattered in blood, over and over, and then left to dry. He had never been gladder to be wearing gloves. Trying to gather his composure, he looked over at the two boys. Rick was still pale, and seemed to have no idea what it was he had carried to the house. Harry… looked like a mixture of confusion, anger, and fear. Mr. Steel wondered if the boy had somehow known what this was. Or perhaps felt it…?
This box had a purpose. A dark one. And was it any coincidence that Harry, on his first two tries, had brought back two of the darkest objects yet? First that dagger, meant to be used in various blood rituals. Ones that often involved unwilling donors. Now, this box, and who knew what was inside it? He certainly wasn't going to open it in front of the two boys, he had learned to err on the side of caution, and both looked scared enough as it was.
After he sent the two away, with a long look at Harry, he carefully rewrapped the box and took it through his office into the back room where he kept the more dangerous objects.
When he had first started his research, he had been afraid. Afraid of these people with their technology and secrets. Over the years he had learned of all the wonderful things they seemed capable of. Healing bones in seconds, creating beautiful moving pieces of art, Spells to do every household chore, Animals whose fur and feathers could create potions to become invisible, to fly, to walk on water… the options were endless. It seemed there was nothing they were not capable of. However, he had also learned of things that made his previous fear seem like a child's fear of the dark. Curses to make ones skin boil, bones vanish, heart stop. Objects whose touch brought death. Rituals to destroy enemy's minds or to make one have the strength of a hundred men.
It seemed for every beautiful thing these Wizards created, there were a dozen ways to turn it to evil purposes. He had begun to keep these dark things separate from the younger boys, not wanting to taint them with the darkness, letting them see the wonders instead. In his heart he had begun to wonder if it would do more damage to the human race to expose these monsters. If a few miracle cures were worth the price. If a man could buy a cure for blindness… could he not also purchase a potion to create it?
Over and over, after he opened the bloody box and calmly cataloged the grisly objects within, the question repeated in his mind. Was it worth it?
Things began to change. At first, for the better. It didn't take long at all for the other boys to realize that Harry had a knack for finding magical objects. Luckily for him, they were not always artifacts that Mr. Steel took away to the back room.
The third object he found was a miniature red bird in a beautiful silver cage, about the size of a man's fist. The small bird within would sing songs whenever a light was turned on, and seemed to give off a peaceful aura. Mr. Steel explained that it was a Wizarding child's toy, often kept above toddler's bed to make them laugh. It didn't have to be fed or watered like a normal bird, and the boys couldn't find any switch or batteries that operated it.
"Magic." Tiny proudly proclaimed after another attempt to find a power source failed. Mike wanted to bust the bird open to see what it looked like inside, but Rick shook his head.
"That would be a shame. Its so pretty." Mike rolled his eyes and frowned. Kerr laughed.
"You cant do that, cause Tiny already asked if he could have it. He wants to keep it in his room, and Mr. Steel said it wasn't a problem."
"YES!" Tiny exclaimed, and grabbed the cage before trotting to his room to hang it up. Harry shook his head, imagining listening to bird song all day long. It was a good day.
It had been over a year since Mr. Steel and the group had taken him in. Harry knew, in the back of his head, that he should be about nine and a half years old now. The other boys never celebrated birthdays, so Harry never really felt like mentioning it when his rolled around at the end of July. Instead, the boys celebrated every time they brought back something that was worthwhile to Mr. Steel.
Almost every time, when it was Harry's turn to creep forward to steal a box, he would feel steered to a certain area. Every time this happened the object was magical. Harry began to separate different tugs as well, and by the time three months had gone by he could tell different types of tugs. If numb fingers accompanied the tug, it was dark. If it was a very light tug, it usually led to a toy or some sort of candy. If it felt like a heavy, dull tug it was something that contained a powerful spell like the dagger. Sometimes he would feel more then one tug and could choose which one to follow. Sometimes a tug could feel like more then one sensation, which could mean it was an innocent toy with a powerful spell on it, or a book that contained a dark aura. Even so, it was always a surprise to find out what he had taken that day.
Though he was often tempted to explain the weird feelings to the other boys and Mr. Steel, something always held him back. What if they thought that he had been corrupted by one of the artifacts? Or if a Wizard had somehow gotten a hold of him and cursed him? Harry just shrugged when they asked him about it, and told them it must be luck. Eventually the boys stopped asking how. Harry was glad they hadn't started asking why. Would he always be a freak, just like his Uncle said?
Not all of the boys were happy with Harry's talent. Mike seemed to get angrier every time, and had gone from tolerant to downright jealous and spiteful. Rick also wasn't entirely happy with Harry's success, feeling that the boy must be using some trick that he refused to share with the others. It came to a head when Kerr called them together to make an announcement.
The boys were all sitting down around the table in the kitchen. Kerr stood up, then asked Harry and Tiny to come over. "Mr. Steel has informed me that you two have about earned your first wing." Harry was speechless. He remembered when he first came to the gang and finding out about their tattoos. It had all seemed so unattainable back then.
"Don't we get our first one after a solo assignment?" Tiny asked from next to him. Harry felt his joy sink a little. Figures they would have to go through a test first.
"Usually yes. However, Mr. Steel doesn't want us going out alone anymore. Haven't really needed to split up anyway, with Harry here bringing in so much." Kerr smiled at Harry. Mike and Rick both frowned.
"Tiny has been doing a wonderful job too, of course. It is actually past time for him to get his, but we figured you two could both get them done the same day." Tiny nodded, but Harry could tell that he would have rather gotten his done separately. Though the boy never acted it, Harry could tell that Tiny felt a little bit left behind.
"We will all be going with you two to get it done next Saturday, after midnight. Mr. Steel has a man that does it for us. He did all of ours." Kerr gestured to Mike and Rick. Neither of them looked happy. At least not for Harry. Both seemed genuine as they congratulated Tiny, but were sharp and brisk with Harry.
"So Skinny here will be a 'Wing. How ironic." Mike muttered under his breath to Rick. Before Harry could turn and look back at him, Kerr spoke up.
"We'll have to go the back ways, don't want to attract any attention." Kerr then began to explain the route they would take, and some basics about how to take care of tattoos after getting them. By the time Kerr was done, all the boys were ready for bed, and Harry had forgot about Mike's comment.
When Harry and Tiny finally went back to their room that night, it was hard to get to sleep.
"You think it will hurt much Harry?" Tiny asked. Before he could even answer Tiny continued.
"I wonder if we will ever get our second wing? You think so? How long you think before the tattoo heals and we can show it off? I hate that we have to keep it bandaged for a week, and rub that smelly stuff on it. Kerr sure does care a lot about infection, I bet no ones ever had any trouble before. I bet…."
Harry tuned Tiny out. His own thoughts were a world away. For him, the tattoo represented that he was finally going to be fully accepted into the Steel Wings. It wouldn't matter that Mike and Rick didn't like him as much; he would be one of them now. Maybe he could spend the rest of his life here, helping Mr. Steel research the odd and mysterious Wizards. Maybe one day he and Mr. Steel could expose them to the world, and then he, Harry, would be a hero!
