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Disclaimer: I do not own Sherlock and I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters from the tv series and the books respectively. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Chapter 35 - Assets One: The Wizard
The alert came the moment the US Minister for Foreign Affairs sent back a reply to the British Prime Minister that he would be visiting. Naturally Mycroft knew before the media, but unfortunately at the same time as an up and rising extremist group. The threat arrived via an attack on the site for the Ministry of Defence. A bomb threat. Potential targets? Twenty four major tourist spots, public building, the subway and the Parliament. It was that very moment every agency was on alert. First priority, keep people from panicking. Second, keep people safe. Third? Find the terrorists and neutralise them, preferably before the US Minister arrive on British soil. The time frame they had to work was a mere seventy two hours. It was a challenge Mycroft Holmes took on a more personal level and it showed in the way he took charge, issuing orders with clinical certainty and detachment. The camera network he had set up was to be used to its utmost potency, all agencies were on standby and police presence on the streets was more widespread.
However there were two assets Mycroft had that he wanted to use to their fullest potential. One was his assistant. The wizard was using what he knew best to help along the investigation. While warding the entire area of London was not an option, not by a long shot, the key locations of interest were already under magical protection from the days Voldemort was active. Mycroft's building, the Parliament and the British PM's residence were protected by powerful wards. Everything else was free game and the green eyed wizard knew it. What he could to do help Mycroft was try and find out which would be the most possible target for the terrorists. It was guess work and a play on possibilities and luck, namely, one branch of magic the wizard did not particularly like; Divination.
Mycroft was a sceptic but he also was a man who trusted results. Magic was real. Fact. Prophecies were real. Fact. The Boy-Who-Lived had a destiny driven by a prophecy. Fact. His assistant was a fully qualified wizard who had failed his Divination classes. Fact.
Yet despite everything they were both at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, a house Mycroft had previously never stepped foot inside. He had known of the place's existence, he had known the location via its Secret Keeper, but had never entered both because of the boundaries between employer and employee and because there had been no reason to enter before this.
"You are going to use divination to find out where the terrorists will strike?" Mycroft repeated and he hated repeating himself, it made him sound less serious than he was.
"Pretty much, yes," the green eyed wizard confirmed.
"I... I don't see how that is possible. Or helpful," Mycroft remarked as he sipped tea from the tea set the house elf had produced for him and his host. The china was fine and the patterns delicate and detailed. It was on par with the tea set her Majesty used. And the tea was of the finest quality. And the finger foods were excellent. Had the situation not been so dire Mycroft would have asked the wizard to share his little helper with him. Perhaps he would make note of it for the future.
"Have some faith," Mycroft's assistant muttered as he pointed to the little black velvet pouch he had in his hands.
"So, tarots, crystal ball?" the Holmes man asked. He eyes his tea cup. "Tealeaves?"
"I can't read tea leaves, I'm pants at reading the Crystal ball unless I'm concerned and I have no talent whatsoever at card reading."
"Awful way to start, don't you think?"
The wizard sighed. "No, I don't think. Divination has many branches, many uses. Right now we want choices and options, yes or no answers, to narrow the playfield."
"Indeed."
"Then that's what I'm going to do," the raven haired man declared.
"What's in the pouch?" Mycroft asked and the wizard smirked; He had asked for a clear spot on the coffee table and Kreacher had given him just that.
"This crystal I made myself, using materials no longer available to me. Even the string is made of magic. It took me six months to make these," the pouch was emptied in one hand, "They are used to scrye for answers. Ever heard of Pendulum Divination Mycroft Holmes?"