Harry rowed the boat silently for nearly an hour. The sun was low in the sky and a gentle breeze flew over the river.
"So what is this thing that was stolen?" Harry asked curiously
"You'll see..." was all the answer Wulfric gave, not bothering to look up from the book he was reading.
"How are we going to get it?"
After a few moments Wulfric looked up. "It was taken from me by a band of thieves. I want you to find them, and bring it back. Everything else is up to you. "
"How am I supposed to find these thieves then?"
Wulfric shrugged and gazed out over the water "You'll need to gather information."
"But I don't know anybody..."
A smile appeared on the old man's face. "Remember what I said. Knowledge is power. Even the most simplest of knowledge."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means you might have to go out of your comfort zone to get the job done."
"And what are you going to do for me when I return with this very precious item?"
Wulfric looked thoughtfull for a moment "I guess I'll begin teaching you to use your magic offensively. Or defensively if you so prefer."
Harry nodded with pleasure. It was about time he began learning powerful spells.
The old man suddenly jerked upwards and motioned for Harry to stop the boat. "I will be getting off here." He said, standing up and straightening his robes "I'll be around when you find my things."
"Wait, what was stolen? I am sure I heard you say THINGS."
"Only two things... a pair I would dare say." Wulfric answered, "Farewell and good luck." And with a small flash of fire he was gone.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Harry rowed on until he got to the small dock of the town. He carefully tired the boat to a post and began walking into town.
As he walked he thought over what he had. It wasn't much. Just the things he had bought with Qenaz, a small satchel of things from the old man's tower filled with little things he thought might come in use. A few books and enough food for possibly three days. He also had a few gold coins jingling in his pocket.
He did nearly a full lap around the town when he realized it was almost nightfall. His feet carried him towards the inn he had visited prior to meeting the old man.
As soon as he walked in he was hit with the stench of alcohol and the sound of loud laughter, which quickly faded away as soon as he stepped through the threshold.
Weapons were suddenly pulled out and he found himself facing a large assortment of weapons. Harry was just about to pull out his wand when someone pushed ahead of him.
"Go on! Clear out, yeh mangy dogs! That's the Knights friend yer harrasin there! Yeh wouldn't want to see Qenaz angry at you all would yeh? Go on now, back on yer way!"
Harry looked up to see the bar keeper looming over him, with an unreadable expression on his face. He waved a large rag at the mob in front of him and it quickly dispersed and was back to merry making in moments.
The bar keep turned to Harry and placed a large hand on his shoulder, guiding him towards the bar "Com'ere lad. Sit yerself down at the bar I'll get ya something to eat and a quick cup."
Harry allowed himself to be guided to a chair and a large foaming mug was slid in front of him. "Thanks..." he muttered to the bar keeper
"The two sellswords told me to keep an eye put for yeh. Said they'd help me out later with a few debt problems if I gave yeh some help when yeh come knocking around. Fair deal, aye?"
Harry nodded and took a sip of his cup. He took a moment to take a quick look around the bar, Qenaz and Dlisn were no where around, but he did see Sirius sitting in a corner with Wulfric and the town blacksmith. His godfather threw him a wink before going back to the game of cards he was in the middle of.
Harry turned back around in time to see the bar keeper slide a large bowl of soup with a hunk of bread in front of him. After it came a steaming plate with potatoes and steak covered in sauce.
His stomach suddenly growled and as he realized he hadn't eaten anything all morning.
"Call me if yeh be needing anything else." The bar keeper say, turning to cater to a bunch of people just walking in.
Harry began eating slowly as he thought over his options. He knew the town pretty well, just not the people within it. What did he know?
Not much...
Who could he ask help from? Wulfric wasn't going to give him any details. Sirius probably didn't know anything. He didn't have very many options then.
Harry took a large gulp from his mug and cringed a tiny bit, whatever that was in it was strong.
"To strong for yeh, lad?" The bar keeper asked, looming over him again
Harry shook his head "It's fine, thank you."
The bark keeper had nodded with a small smile and turned to walk away when Harry calmed him back
"Do you know where I can get some... information?" Harry asked, his voice dropping several decibels
The bar keeper arched and an eyebrow and leaned in closer to Harry, lowering his voice as well "Now, just what kind of information are we looking for?" he asked with a slight bit of mirth in his voice
"The kind you wouldn't want the wrong people hearing." Harry said seriously, lifting his fork, laden with food towards his mouth.
"You on a quest with Qenaz?" The bar keeper asked, eyeing Harry carefully
"Something like that." Harry replied carefully after a few bites
The bar keeper eyed Harry for a few more moments before nodding and walking a few steps away. He casually picked up a glass and began polishing it slowly. "I'll see what I can do about it. Now how about a bit of pie to finish of yer meal, eh? I got a fresh one just comin out now."
Harry nodded and the bar keeper through him a wink and disapeared into the back room. While he was gone Harry through another look at Wulfric and Sirius. They were still playing cards with the blacksmith and several others.
Sirius noticed him looking at them and quickly lowered his cards and bowed his head. A few fellows laughed at him as he got up and made his way over to Harry
"Enjoying your quest?" He asked taking a seat next to his godson
"Working on it." Harry replied draining the last of his mug and eating the last bite of his meal.
Sirius smiled warmly and gave him a clap on the shoulder "If you need any help I'll be around."
Harry grinned back "What are you going to be doing from now on?"
"I've got nearly twenty years of things to be doing and I can't let you go off on adventures without me!" Sirius said standing up "But for now I'm going to go show those gits how to play a real hand in cards"
Harry gave his godfather a quick hug. Just before he let go, Harry felt something slide into the pocket of his cloak. With a confused look he watched Sirius wink at him and walk away. He looked up to see the bar keeper walking back towards him with a small plate.
"I got yeh a nice big slice." The bar keeper said setting the plate down with a fork next to him.
Harry took a large bite and thanked him. "What do I owe you?"
"Oh, nothin, but a handshake." The bar keeper replied extending his hand
Harry immediately noticed a small gleam in his hand, but extended his own and shook it nonetheless. The feeling of cold metal was pressed into his hand along with something else. He thanked the bar keeper again and picked up the fork with his other hand and began eating the pie with a blank look on his face.
He discreetly lipped whatever that was handed to him in to his pocket and quickly finished his food.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Harry closed the inn door firmly behind him as he stepped out into the street. Night had already fallen and the streets were mostly empty. He walked briskly down the street for several minutes, throwing several glances over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't being followed. When he was positive no one was following him he took a sudden right turn and stepped into a dark alley way.
It was nearly pitch black in there so he slowly pulled out his wand and cast Lumos. He patted the pocket Sirius had dropped something into and pulled out a small mirror. A smile broke across his face as he realized Sirius had just given him a way to call for help. He held it up expecting Sirius face to appear, but nothing happened. For several minutes he tried to figure out how to activate it, until it dawned on him Sirius had probably cast a password on it. After another moment of trying to figure out what THAT was, he was just about to give up when he had a sudden moment of inspiration.
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Harry muttered slowly
The surface of the mirror rippled revealing The bottom of Sirius's face. His godfather looked down and smirked at Harry.
The mirror move quite suddenly and Harry could see the entire inn. he squinted into the mirror to get a better look as it moved. He couldn't tell how it was moving, but he could see it circling the table Sirius was playing cards on.
It stopped in front of Sirius, right behind the man he was playing cards against, giving Harry a good veiw of the man's cards.
Harry sighed when he realized what Sirius was trying to tell him and quickly memorized the cards. The mirror circled back around and dropped into Sirius's lap.
His god father picked up his cards and stared at them carefully. His eyes suddenly dropped down and stared at Harry expectingly
Harry laughed good heartily and told Sirius what the man had.
Sirius murmured his thanks under quietly his breath and congratulated Harry on figuring out the password before turning his attention back to the card game.
Harry smiled happily as he slipped the mirror back into his pocket and reached into his other to see what the barkeeper had given him.
Inside his pocket was a little silver coin with an odd spiral and a crumpled piece of paper. He opened it and shined his wand light on it to read better.
Twentynine Grossneair Street
Go around the back alley to the side door. Say you are there for the boss.
Remember, you are a mage. That commands respect around here. Use it to your advantage. Make sure none follow you.
Get rid of this paper when you are done.
Harry, memorized the address and pointed his wand at the small piece of paper.
"Incindeo." He cast, setting the paper ablaze. He stomped out the ashes and walked out of the alley.
He paused for a moment and thought to how he could manage to not be seen. He would love to have had his invisibility cloak right then, but he'd have to make do with the spell Wulfric taught him.
It was difficult at first to concetrate on the spell and watch where he was going at first, but he got used to it as he walked for a bit.
It wasn't too long before Harry found the place. It was quite the large building with the large word 'Brothel' emblazoned on it.
Harry blushed a scarlet red and carefully walked down the alley beside it. As he neared the side down he could see two mean standing next to it. Both garbed in green and black from head to toe.
One had long black hair that fell around his face. A sword was strapped on his back and his was casually tossing a scroll up into the air and catching it. The other had a large white cloth wrapped around the bottom of his head and face. A large sword stood propped against the wall next to them.
Harry watched them carefully. They were alert and already seemed aware of his presence because bother were now standing with their backs to the door and peering down the alley way cautiously
"Who ever is there, show yourself!" the one with the large sword said. "You do not want us to get violent."
Harry took a deep breath and walked in between them before dropping his spell.
They both jumped backwards and eyed him mysteriously.
"What buisness do you have here?" The other one said "Speak swiftly before I kill you."
Harry exhaled strongly and looked at him in the eye. "Take me to your boss. Now."
"He's not expecting you. Get lost." Big Sword snarled, leveling his sword towards Harry's neck
Harry didn't move as the man adjusted his sword. Even though he was screaming on the inside. It was huge. Easily a foot taller than him.
"I said..." Harry spoke slowly, slipped his wand out. "Take me to your boss. DIFFINDO!"
His wand lashed out at the large sword man ad he casted the spell. The man jumped back thinking it was a weapon, but the spell still tore through the cloth on his face, tearing it in half revealing the face of a young man.
The second one lashed his sword out at Harry with blinding speed. Harry barely had time to move out of its way. Instead of slicing his arm off it only sliced into forearm, leaving a deep nasty cut.
Harry cast a quick stunner, knocking the man with a large sword off his feet, he spun around just in time to point his wand at the other and cast a second stunner.
Breathing heavily, Harry propped the two unconscious bodies against the side of the building as he waited for the adrenaline to wear off. His arm was throbbing and bleeding heavily.
He looked at the building's door and wriggled the handle. ir was not surprisingly locked and a quick Alohomora spell didn't help.
So, Harry did the only other thing he could think of. He walked a few steps back a picked up a small stone.
In mid air it turned into a large boulder and smashed through the door way, leaving a
Large amount of splintered wood and a large sized hole. Harry carefully stepped through it into a large room. Inside were to couches facing each other with two people sitting in front of each other. There were two more people clothed in black and green along the wall. Both had weapons out and were poised to attack him. Harry raised his wand and the person on the couch, but leveled it almost immediately with a groan.
"You two again?!"
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AN
There you go! This was kind of a filler chapter, it's basically from here on that Harry really starts his adventures. There will be plenty of action next chapter, since this story has been somewhat lacking in that department.
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