Disclaimer: We do not own the Harry Potter characters or world, but the over-active imaginations that produced this we will claim.
Rituals and Consequences
by mmagicwolf and WickerChair
Chapter Fifty-One: Surrey with Fringe Elements
Sunday, June 23, 1991
Roy Craig walked into the central London office of Potters, Ltd. He was met at the reception desk by Margreta Potter, known and feared as Greta by Wiro teams around the world, and Raoul Chaput. "Good evening, Roy," said Greta. "Your services are required tonight on an expedition to Surrey. Raoul Chaput will be your partner. I believe you remember working together?"
Roy exchanged glances with Raoul. "Yes, Greta," they responded in unison.
"Your vehicle is in the employee car park, as usual it is parked in the 'Employee of the Month' slot. You will find the usual supplies for a reconnaissance mission. Your target is 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging. There are wards on the property, despite no record of wizards living there. You are unlikely to be able to pass the wards, but you will not need to do so. Your task is to question the neighbors. We have learned that Harrison Potter may be a resident at that location. If such is the case, your task is to gather evidence that can be used to remove Harrison from the household. I will remain available for communication until eight tomorrow morning."
"The task needs to be done tonight?"
"According to the Wiro team that has been watching the house, the residents will be out of town until tomorrow about nine. In the interest of not being detected, I am requesting that you complete your mission by eight."
"Understood. Do you have any specific orders?"
"I would like for both of you to search the neighbors' houses for any evidence of how many individuals live in the house. Both of you are experienced with the Loquatore class of spells. Cast Loquasomina veratra on any neighbors that are home. That should not register at the ministry, but will allow you to get the information required. Any questions?"
"Do you have any idea as to the nature of the wards?" asked Raoul.
"None. They were already in place when I was there in November 1981. Do not attempt to cross them, they might be monitored."
"Understood. We will contact you by eight."
~O~
The stretch of M3 between London and M25 passed swiftly, the traffic light in the early morning hours. In the passenger seat, Raoul noticed that the last few headlights before they reached the junction left visual trails for a few seconds. The junction passed with a brief wave of nausea that disappeared as swiftly as it came.
When a second wave of nausea struck a mile later, Raoul knew something was wrong. "Roy, are you noticing odd effects?"
Roy swallowed heavily. "Must have eaten something..."
"That disagreed?" Raoul asked.
"Yeah. Only other time I ever felt like this was in chemical warfare training. Some of the agents function as emetics."
Raoul nodded, "I had the same training, but there was never anything like this. Migraines have the effect."
"But those who suffer from migraines would never be allowed to enter the special forces. Besides," Roy chuckled mirthlessly, "wizards don't get migraines."
"Eliminate chemical warfare, migraines, and you are left with wards?"
"Miles from Little Whinging? Assuming of course that they originate at Little Whinging." Roy paled as another wave of nausea struck. "I have never heard of a ward extending this far, but..."
"I have never heard of such a thing either. I have heard of wards that deflect non-magicals at a distance; Hogwarts springs to mind immediately."
"Potter luck strikes again?" asked Roy.
Raoul nodded, "There are some wards that affect wizards, but I don't recognize these effects from any of the training I've had about wards. I did not specialize in wards, but I had the basic course. I believe that we should contact Greta."
As the two walked to the restaurant to find a telephone they paused and looked at each other. Raoul was the first to put it into words, "As soon as we decided to turn back, the nausea abated."
"We need a warding expert."
"Agreed. I'll call Greta."
~O~
"Greta speaking."
"When you were in Little Whinging, did the wards extend beyond the boundary of 4 Privet Drive?"
"Well, they exerted a slight influence to prevent any of the wizards on the team from crossing the boundary. It seemed to be correlated with magical ability, but merely caused a reluctance to enter the property. It was a different effect than I have ever encountered. I presume that the wards were established by Lily Evans for her sister who reportedly hated magic."
"We are almost five miles from Little Whinging and have had to stop because of nausea and visual disturbances. As soon as we made the decision to return to London, the effects halted."
Greta frowned at the receiver. "What do you mean?"
"Greta, whoever set up this ward is determined that any wizard looking for 4 Privet Drive will not get close to the place. I have never encountered such an effect. It is different than a Notice-Me-Not or Confundus charm, but the effects are similar in type. The physical effects are not trivial. The only stories of effects that even come close to to this were told by curse-breakers who dealt with some of the more secretive Egyptian wizards. Do we have a ward-breaker available?"
"I will check." Greta checked her list of contacts and scowled. "Raoul, you know that ward-breaking and ward-making are two sides of the same coin. There are many ward-breakers, but none are available at this time." Greta paused for a long moment. "Raoul, you and Roy return to London immediately."
"Yes, Greta," responded Raoul automatically. His instincts started to quiver. "Something is going on. I think," he paused, "something is changing. These wards may not be what we think they are."
"Raoul, get out of there. Now. Report back to me when you return to London."
"Yes, Greta," responded Raoul. Catching Roy by the arm, they ran from the restaurant. On entering the car, he turned to Roy and ordered, "Drive. Fast!"
Raoul started the engine and entered the M3 returning to London. "What's going on? I don't feel..." Roy trailed off as he felt what Raoul had already noticed. "Right. Driving fast."
~O~
In the restaurant the patrons who were having an early breakfast noticed the pair who had gone immediately to the telephone and left as though someone were chasing them. One of the regulars shrugged, turned to the man in the next booth and said, "Should we report this?"
"Report what? They only started looking scared after they made the telephone call. Perhaps it was bad news."
"Probably so. They appeared to be military. Maybe they found out their leave was revoked."
A universal chuckle greeted the thought, and the strange pair was forgotten. After all, there was work to be done, and the day had already begun.
~O~
After two minutes, the sensation subsided and Roy slowed down to the legal speed limit. "What was that?" he asked, shuddering.
"I don't know. Something powerful, in pain, and very, very angry."
