The only allowance he made, for the cooling weather, was the addition of sleeves to his, previously sleeveless robe, and a pair of white gloves. Normally, he wouldn't have even bothered with that, but, unlike other places he'd visited while on assignment, Hogsmeade wasn't an active combat zone. And that meant he wasn't likely to generate a lot of extra body heat in the near future.

Clothing modifications complete, the Death Scythe picked up his briefcase and left his living quarters.

A few minutes later found him at the entrance at the front of the school and, with a few steps past that, he entered one of the thestral drawn carriages. Inside were a couple other staff members, Sinistra and Vector, the Astronomy and Arithmancy teachers respectively. Of his fellow professors, the two of them tended towards the more severe end of the spectrum. Which meant that, unlike the friendlier members of the teaching staff, he hadn't had much interaction with the two.

Being entirely honest, though, that was how he preferred to keep it. Typical, polite, neutrality painted his face as he watched them from where he sat. It wasn't an expression that necessarily discouraged conversation but, it also didn't do much to encourage it.

The other two Professors, with similar expressions, seemed inclined to do the same and the carriage stayed quiet throughout the trip, calm silence amongst strangers. Between being out of the magically-saturated castle, and the lack of dialog, Justin found himself, quite possibly, the most at ease he'd been since he'd first started his mission. Even the Horcrux was keeping quiet under the treated leather of his briefcase.

He mentally intoned a small prayer, a quick expression of gratitude for the peace, and then closed his eyes as the souls of the town starting hovering at the edges of his senses.

It was, another adaptation to a new environment. And, unlike his introduction to Hogwarts, it wasn't going to be done in sections, first Dumbledore, then the staff, and then the students. This was going to be a wave of people, from the get-go.

He was already throwing up barriers between himself and his soul perception. But, that didn't stop him from sensing the two powerful souls, broadcasting loudly from somewhere in town.

They were right on time then, though that wasn't particularly surprising. The two of them were one of the most efficient Meister/Weapon pairs he'd ever encountered, and possibly even more business minded than he was.

The younger of the two had a soul perception that was nearly as strong as his. And, unlike his, it was entirely under control. So, it was very likely they knew he had arrived.

As they had agreed on though, they didn't meet him at the station and Justin walked off the carriage and into town alone. At least, as alone as he could be in a crowd of several hundred other students and teachers.

"Professor Law!"

Speaking of students.

Justin paused and turned around, smiling politely as he caught sight of the one who'd grabbed his attention.

"Hello, Miss Lovegood," he said. The Ravenclaw was wearing thick pink glasses and a pile of orange scarves. She was definitely one of his more unconventional students, but she had talent in addition to her eccentricities. "How are you today?"

"Purple," she said. "Though I could probably use some more yellow."

He smiled, somewhat uneasily. Was he missing a Wizard thing or a Luna thing? For all that he had studied the culture of his current place of residence, he still slipped every once in awhile. It could usually be blamed on the fact that he was from a foreign country, but, occasionally, he'd had to do some pretty serious recoup after a social blunder.

Well, he'd just have to fake it. "Not orange?" he asked.

"That's not a bad idea, Professor," she smiled. "Orange might even be better. I didn't know you were so versed in Colorstrology!"

"Lucky guess?" he said. "I'm not, really."

"You're quite modest," she said. "That's not a trait I'd expect from your kind. But, it's not a bad one to have overall."

"My kind?" Justin asked, a bit amused.

"Soul Eaters-"

And suddenly, slight amusement turned almost panic. If it wasn't likely to immediately give him away, he'd have stopped in his tracks. As it was, he barely managed to avoid widening his eyes.

"-I'm sorry, Soul what?" Justin said, cutting her off.

Luna grinned, "don't worry, Professor. Your secret is safe with me. Unless you'd like to do an interview for the Quibbler?"

The Quib-what? Justin shook his head and opened his mouth, "I'm sorry, Miss Lovegood. I really don't know what you're talking about."

"Hm, well the last thing I expected was to find a Soul Eater who didn't even know what one is. That would be quite like me saying I don't know what humans are," she laughed. "Which, would be a bit ridiculous. Perhaps you've been infected with Klikskies? They eat facts. I think I have some repellant," she pulled her bag up, equally showy as the rest of her outfit, and started digging through it.

...did that mean she didn't believe him? Or was she just going off on a tangent? He was much better at keeping secrets than talking his way out of revealed ones. There was a reason he kept things close to his chest.

"Miss Lovegood, I really don't know what you're talking about," well, maybe reiteration would drive the point home.

She paused her search and looked at him fully. "You don't? But, I was so sure. Your cross-"

"My cross?" Justin asked.

"The symbol on it. A circle for unity, three in between for chaos, balance and experience. Three prongs to represent teeth? You know, the three parts of the soul? Unified as one? A Soul Eater's meal of choice?"

Three circles for what? Prongs? He didn't even have to fake the confusion in his next line.

"What?"

She looked somewhat discouraged and he felt a serious twinge of guilt. Her guess about his identity wasn't actually wrong. But, he couldn't tell her that.

"You really don't? How disappointing."

"I'm sorry," Justin said, sincerely. "It's a family heirloom. My father gave it to me."

There, he was offering her a touch of truth to make up for the deception. It wasn't really fair, but, it was the best he could do.

"Family heirloom? Maybe your family hunted Soul Eaters then? Did anyone in your family have the last name Kitchen?"

"Kitchen? No, not that I'm aware," he paused and this time his eyes did widen. Did she mean Kishin?

"Too bad. Oh well," she obviously hadn't noticed his growing shock. "Well, I apologize then. I suppose you're as human as the rest of us."

"Sorry to disappoint," Justin said, deciding to worry about it later. Perhaps Lord Death had some sort of idea what she was talking about. "Still, even if you were wrong this time, it's a good skill to be so observant. You normally sit towards the back, right? It's amazing you noticed my cross at all."

She smiled shyly. "Well, it looks like I'm not the only observant one. That's right, Professor," she shot him another smile. "Anyways, I'll be going now. Sorry to bother you."

"Not at all," Justin said. "If you ever have questions, feel free to bring them to me."

She smiled again and walked away, turning around to wave, once she was a few feet away. Justin waved back and started walking in the opposite direction.

As much as he'd have liked to look into the bookstore she was headed towards, two flashes of blue light were telling him that he needed to head elsewhere.

Elsewhere ended up being a crowded street. But, even amongst the crowd, the souls of Meister Giuliano Carracci and, his partner, Lukas Reinhardt, were loud and bright enough to distinguish them. Their clothes however, a set of black robes and hats, did not. They were much better at blending in than he'd been upon the start of his mission.

The two of them were sitting in front of a small restaurant, rapidly chatting at each other in Italian, the twenty-eight year old meister's native language and one his German partner had mastered.

Justin ignored them though and made his way into one of the nearby shops, looked around for a bit, then walked into another. The trick was appearing nonchalant, which was somewhat difficult to do in such a loud environment without earphones, but, he continued walking around, in hopes it might fool at least some people.

"Signore Law!"

The signal that he was allowed to stop. His subordinates were calling an all clear.

Justin turned to the voice and adopted a surprised expression. "Carracci? Hello. I didn't expect to see you here."

The Italian beamed at him and walked over. "Hello, hello! I could say the same, Mr. Law. What are you doing here?" the thin, blond, man asked.

"I teach now," Justin replied, he gestured towards Hogwarts. "At the school, just up the road."

"You?! Teaching?!" the man grabbed his arm, and Justin resisted the urge to brush him off. (Mission. Cover. Important.) "Now that is a story I must hear, come, sit with me and Lukas for a bit, if you have the time."

Justin nodded. "Sure, I didn't have any real plans."

"Well, now you do, friend. Eat lunch with us?"

Justin nodded again.

"Excellent," the man said. "How's your Italian doing, Captain?" he asked, switching back to his own language.

"It's as good as it's ever been," Justin replied.

"So, perfect?" Carracci smiled. "Glad to hear it."

The two sat down at the table and Justin felt a subtle ward materialize over them.

"We are fairly certain that no one in the near vicinity speaks Italian," the Meister said, in response to Justin's perception of the spell.

"But it never hurts to be careful," his partner, the forty-two year old, sniper-rifle, continued.

Both partners had blond hair but, while the Italian's was curly and toned closer to brown, the German's was nearly white - almost bleached looking - and neatly combed back. The Italian had darker features, and brown eyes. The German was paler, taller and older, nearly fifteen years his partner's senior. The two of them hadn't gone through the Academy together, but their teamwork was flawless anyways.

Carracci's prowess at hunting, tracking, and sniping was a perfect match to the rifle's weapon form and preferred mission types. Beyond that, both of them had a severe, no nonsense attitude to approaching missions that had seriously turned any other potential partners off. That said, when paired together, it made them a lethal combination that approached missions with single-minded, and, very effective, determination.

They were his go-to team for pretty much anything that required a touch more subtle than "There's a monster. Go kill it.".

"Death Scythe," Reinhardt never addressed him by anything other than his official title. His partner was prone to Mister, Sir and even Captain for reasons Justin didn't really understand. But the German was a stickler for protocol. "We are ready to work. Did you bring the Horcrux?"

"It's in the briefcase," Justin replied, making no motion to indicate what they were talking about. "It's a diary, with a hole through the center. There are also some notes from Dumbledore, his personal theories. I'll leave the treatment of those up to your discretion."

"That thing is disgusting," the meister said. "I can feel it. It's like oil, creeping into your skin."

"I'm pleased to be rid of it," Justin replied. "The sooner we destroy these aberrations, the better."

"Agreed, Death Scythe," the rifle said. "The division is much less...structured...when you're not around to coordinate everything. We'll all be glad when you are able to come back."

"Have there been any problems?" Justin asked.

"Oh, the usual stuff. The Greek branch complains about being under-funded, the French branch wants to go on strike and the Swiss branch won't talk to any of us. The only real problem is that you're not around to mediate," Carracci said.

Justin grimaced. "Report, fully. I need to know what kind of chaos I'll be coming back to."

His two subordinates nodded.

"Oh, and Meister Bright and her partner, Lucan Hemlock, they split up."

"They've never gotten along well," Justin said. "But they were very successful. It's disappointing to hear that they won't be working together any more."

"But, not surprising?" Carracci replied.

"No, unfortunately, not at all."

"There is a group of people coming towards us," Reinhardt said, halting the conversation.

Justin, back faced towards the street, couldn't see them. But, even keeping his soul perception somewhat limited, he knew the ringleader behind their approach. Umbridge's soul was as unpleasant as ever, and the group of people surrounding her had just as much pride as she did.

"A co-worker of sorts," Justin replied. "She's most likely the one dressed in something fluffy and pink."

"The man with her is Minister Fudge," Carracci said. "And the blond man is a follower of Voldemort. I can sense the taint on his arm."

"Yes, one of the other Professors at the school feels similar," Justin replied.

"We could always capture and interrogate him," Reinhard said. "It might save us some time," ever pragmatic.

"No," Justin said. "I doubt Voldemort trusts his followers with the sort of information we need. Besides, if he's walking around with Minister Fudge-"

"-then he's probably important. Too bad," the Italian smirked. "That sounded fun. Lower the ward Lukas, they might want to talk to us."

"Hopefully not," Justin replied.

There was always the possibility that they were just going to the restaurant...

"Mister Law," high, screechy.

...but he was never that lucky.

Justin stood up and turned around. His subordinates did the same, falling in line to flank him at his sides.

"Madame Umbridge, hello. I hope you're having a pleasant afternoon," he smiled.

"I am," she said. Her expression turned somewhat sour. "As I'm sure you know," she gestured towards the man wearing green robes and a bowler hat at her side. "This is Minister Fudge."

Justin nodded and held his hand out. The Minister stepped forward and shook it enthusiastically.

"Hello, young man. It's a pleasure to meet you!" he smiled widely. "We were all having lunch together when your name came up. And, let me say, I am very impressed."

...what? Madame Umbridge hated him.

"So, the DWMA, then? That's definitely something, my young friend."

Of course.

Politics.

Madame Umbridge had targeted him before she knew where he came from. Minister Fudge though, was doing the opposite. The DWMA had a certain prestige attached to it that the Minister was obviously interested in making contact with. Justin represented his opportunity to do so.

Fudge was going to play much nicer than Umbridge had.

Frankly, he didn't know which was worse.

The Ministry was incompetent. He had zero interest in parley with them.

So, Justin nodded.

Short, to the point. It did nothing to help the conversation along.

The Minister coughed. "Well, are you enjoying your stay at Hogwarts then, Mr. Law?"

"It's been fine."

The Minister laughed. "I'm glad to hear it. Tell me, how does it hold up to your homeschool?"

"Fine."

He had a feeling Carracci was holding in snickers. Justin's expression was entirely apathy though.

"Just fine?" another voice cut in. This one belonged to the follower of Voldemort. "Hogwarts is the finest institute of magic in the whole of Europe."

He was, potentially, quite a bit more useful than Fudge.

"Hogwarts has been an interesting experience. Teaching is very rewarding, Mister?"

Blond, aristocratic features. The Defense Professor had a pretty good idea.

"Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy. And you? Justin Law, correct? That's not a name I've heard before."

From his place at Justin's side, his subordinate snorted. The two of them were obviously bored of watching from the sidelines.

The Malfoy head raised an eyebrow.

"Of course you haven't," Reinhardt said. "He's an alumnus of the DWMA."

His partner looked equally amused. "The DWMA recruits from all over the world," he said, letting a distinctly Italian lilt color his tone. "And, only the those of distinguished blood are invited by our Lord Headmaster to attend."

"That causes," the German paused. "Oh, what is the wort? Rivalries? Yes. Many rivalries amongst the students. Between families, people of different countries, whatever."

"As a result, it's quite common for people at the Academy to hide their true name and origins," Justin said, allowing his French accent to wax as strong as his subordinate's Italian. "I'm hardly an American, but, you'll have to forgive me, if I keep the rest of my background secret."

Malfoy was trained to school his expressions, but, Justin didn't doubt that the man's apathetic veneer was hiding a wave of curiosity.

"You recruit based on bloodlines?" Malfoy asked.

Technically? Yes. You were either born a demon weapon or with a soul powerful enough to be a meister. There was no way of getting around it. One either had the potential, or they didn't, and those traits tended to carry on through families. Not exclusively, but, largely.

So, yes. Just not in the way Malfoy was thinking. But, well, he didn't need to know that.

He had no interest in the Ministry, but, one of Voldemort's followers? That was someone he wouldn't mind having on his side. If it took a bit of subtle information manipulation to appear sympathetic to the man's ideals then, by all means, that's what he'd do.

"Of course," Justin said. "The coursework at the Academy is rigorous. Only those born powerful are able to keep up. You're either good enough, or you're not. There are no exceptions at the DWMA."

Because Lord Death wasn't fond of recruiting powerless civilians and sending them off to die, but, again, Malfoy didn't need to know that.

It was working though. Malfoy looked entirely satisfied with what he was hearing. And, there was something pettily satisfying about the shade of gray Umbridge was turning.

One of her boss's most powerful supporters seemed more and more pleased with him. It'd be interesting to see what effect this conversation was going to have on future interactions.

"It sounds like your Headmaster is an inspired man," Malfoy said.

"Truly," Justin replied, allowing a fervent light to enter his eyes. "There is none greater."

Malfoy smirked. "Well, this has been a fascinating conversation, Professor Law. Perhaps you'd be interested in continuing it later but, for now, I must take my leave. Minister," he tipped his head towards the man and walked away.

"Yes," Fudge said. "Perhaps I'd better do the same. I hope to talk to you soon, Professor Law. I think you and I could be of great use to each other."

With that said, he, Umbridge and the rest of their entourage walked away. Justin and his sat down.

"Well," Carracci said. "That didn't go so badly. Nicely done, Sir."

"It's a waste of time," Justin said. "I'm counting on you two to get this done quickly. I need to return as soon as possible."

"Yes, Death Scythe," the two said.

Justin stood up to leave.

"Oh, Lukas," Giuliano said. "Mr. Law accidentally left his briefcase behind.

The German walked over and picked it up. "Well, then, I guess it's up to us to take care of it."

If anyone had been watching, there was no reason to suggest the meeting between them and their superior had been anything more than a casual coincidence.

A/N: Well, this is a bizarrely quick update. But I think I'm riding on the "wow, I got a lot of reviews last chapter" high. (They are very motivating guys *wink, wink, nudge, nudge*)

Same as last chapter, anyone who leaves a signed review can get a copy of the deleted scenes for this one. There's a little over 1200 words worth of them for this one. And, if you missed last chapter's, no big deal. Just let me know and I'll send both. :)

I'm somewhat anti-OC, so apologies for including mine. I couldn't think of any cannon characters who specialized in more covert missions and were specifically affiliated with the European Branch, so I created some instead. Hopefully Giuliano and Lukas weren't totally terrible, haha. Also, as far as titles go, I don't think SE ever really explicitly stated what Death Scythes are called, so I just used Spirit's title as the official one, and incorporated other ideas into Giuliano's speech patterns. ;)

And, on another note, everyone I had read this chapter, prior to publishing, asked me where the interpretation of Death's mask thing came from. So, if you're curious, it didn't come from anywhere. I just made it up. It's not cannon at all, haha. Klikskies also aren't cannon. They're just a combination of random letters and my exploitation of Luna's eccentric belief system.