6-07
I switch out of my bird form, landing with a little stumbled before coming to a stop. The man, on the shorter side with a stocky frame, dark balding hair and even darker eyes stumbled back, reaching into his robes and fumbling to pull out his wand.
"Don't," I said. "It's me. Mundungus' contact."
"Merlin, boy," the man said. He still hadn't pulled out his wand, I noticed, having more grace pulling out a handkerchief than his wand; he wiped his brow with the thing, getting his breathing under control before he spoke again, "You almost gave me a heart attack."
"Better to err on the side of caution with the current circumstances," I said. "Did Dung tell you what I needed?"
"He did, he did," the man said. "But I should warn you, I've already taken precautions. If I don't get my money the curse on the parchment takes over and everything is lost," he said. "I've also taken countermeasures in case of my death."
"Good on you, mate," I said, pulling out a bag of gold, handing it over to the man. Much like me, he most likely was under the guise of a borrowed form, for that matter it was just as likely that all of this was an act and he was prepared to pounce if I tried anything.
I leaned on the latter idea more and more as he didn't take the bag filled with gold, instead pulling out his wand and levitating it. He pulled out another bag, this one held in hand and, counting, he transferred the gold from one bag to the other. I didn't let my expression even flicker, instead counting on my second set of countermeasures coming into play.
"It's all here," he said. He pulled out a piece of rolled up parchment and handed it over. I didn't take it, instead running my eyes over the paper. It was what I wanted, a list of locations of all the families that had been associated with Voldemort 'involuntarily' during the war. Though some of the places no doubt had Fidelius Charms, the Ministry had spread out their coordinates far enough that I could infer the general region of hidden properties.
Next I started moving my wand, searching for curses on the piece of parchment. There were none, but the spell told me something.
"This paper has been transfigured," I said. The man nodded. "How can I trust that you haven't warped the text?"
"I'm a professional," the man said. "You can trust that I haven't."
"In any case I have measures too," I said. "Though, unfortunately, my countermeasures are MAD."
"Mutually Assured Destruction?"
I nodded. "I won't tell you more than this. But if three days pass and Dung doesn't contact you, then unfortunately you'll be dead."
"Wait, what?" the man said but I was already gone. It wasn't the entire truth, the potion was something I'd had to ask Snape for in terms of existence and creation. The potion worked like the Draught of Living Death, but it could be dispersed into the air as a gas. From the moment I'd arrived the thing had been gassing the area around me and the man, if he didn't get the antidote then he would fall into a sleep that simulated death.
A message for the next person I worked with that I wasn't to be messed with. The man himself I'd wake up after a year or so. It would ruin his life, but a message had to be sent.
He arrived in the foot of Grimmauld, moving through the empty house. Sirius had sent a message three days ago citing a lead of a band of Goblins that seemed as though they would take the job, finding them was the problem though and the man estimated a month before he returned. With Remus off at Hogwarts and a tighter watch suspected on Aunt Petunia the two were scarce to appear in Grimmauld.
Dumbledore was another matter. The man had appeared once in Grimmauld with blood lining his robes. He'd just called Snape for some potions, calling Moody to have a quick conversation and he'd just left without talking to me. I didn't understand it, but then I couldn't understand the man's mind space at present and predicting him was troublesome.
For all intents and purposes I was alone, no one to talk to, to bounce ideas off of, but in all reality I had the watch…or at least I thought. It wasn't hard to assume this because there were still the people who could disappear even from the Human Revealment Charm. As far as I could figure it they were most likely vampires or beings that didn't register as human.
I looked over the list as I moved. It hadn't shifted since I'd left but this could be some long deception. The man would start feeling the effects of the thing within the hour, a strong fatigue that took notice and if he went to the healers they would likely think him overworked. More and more at the third day came closer he would feel more tired, feeling more lethargy, enough that he wouldn't be able to move.
The paper that I was looking at disappeared as into thin air. As I'd thought, this was something of a battle of wills, we'd have to see who won in the long run. But in the meanwhile I had the list in my memory, to check if it was true or not, and even if it wasn't plans had been made for someone else to give me the list.
I pulled out my watch. The next meeting would be in six hours, which meant I had the next batch of the potion to look forward to.
Watching over the potion was tedious, but I let my mind drift in the meanwhile, thinking about the future and trying to form more of a path towards my goals. It was bad that there was a lot of scrutiny around me, but at some point I would need to make allies. I wasn't the best at that, but fortunately for me I was in Slytherin, where the ambitious were, if I was friendly enough I would be able to make those allies.
I would also have to find a way of making money. I hadn't dented my vault much during the last week, but it had been enough that I could still see the difference. Which meant that if I wanted to continue operating as my full capacity, then I would need to make those extra bucks.
Time kept moving, my mind running its course while I watched over the potion so that it correctly ran its course. The black market seemed the easiest option, the greatest risk for the greatest reward. Luckily for me I already had some that would be my broker, I just had to find what I was going to sell.
Memories flickered through my mind before the idea came to me. I noted how much time I had before the next stirring and quickly rushed off for the mirror.
"Dudley," I said. The mirror blinked on but I didn't see Dudley's face beyond. When I listened carefully, though, I could hear snoring beyond. I summoned Prongs and sent him to Dudley, the image changed to show a bleary looking Dudley on the other side.
"Harry, what's going on?" he said, rubbing his face.
"You got a field around you?" I asked.
"Yeah," Dudley muttered. "Something wrong? Is everyone alright?"
"Everyone's fine," I said. "I just figured out a way of making money. I'll need you to go searching around the castle for a Vanishing Cabinet. I'll start working on my end."
"Yeah, fine," said Dudley. "Can I go back to sleep now?"
"Wouldn't it be better that you go now?" Harry asked. "It's not like you'll have time tomorrow."
"I'll figure it out," said Dudley. "I'm going to bed, now. You should do the same, Harry. Goodnight. Off," he said and the image blinked off.
I was probably starting to get stir crazy with how much I was trying to do. But I was moving at a slower pace that I usually would, thinking things through. Every enemy that I earned was because I was hoping to prevent ten more down the line.
I returned to the potion and finished it, ladling the thing into small balls charmed to expel the gas into a steady invisible cloud. That done I went back to my room and completed the work on my glasses, running over the spell concentrations so that they wouldn't overload the metal, keeping an eye out on the capacity of the magic.
The glasses were enchanted with, among other thing, an offensive measure. They were enchanted to let out a thick beam of light that was made up of a concussive force, to an unprotected person it would knock them out without me needing to ratchet the thing up, it would be an entirely different matter to alternate humans. I hadn't had time to test the things, though, but I trusted my abilities in Charms.
An hour before the next meeting before I got a Patronus, a sleek weasel moving through the air.
"You made waves," said Dung's weasel. "I've had five of your appointments pulling out."
I summoned prongs. "Ask him if he's been contacted by the first," I said.
The weasel returned a moment later. "No. He'll probably wait out the three days. Look for help. This will surely give me a bad reputation."
"And I'll pay you," I returned through Prongs. "Let's not discuss this again Dung."
More money he would have to fork out, giving Dung a commission so that the man would tell him of anything interesting going on in the Underworld. It was the same deal that Dung had with Dumbledore, but it didn't hurt to give someone incentive to work for you, and Dung's greatest incentive, fortunately, was money.
"Give me specifics on the ones that cancelled," I said. "Their times."
Dung's weasel returned and listed off the times, I went through my mental list, scratching off the times and seeing how much time I'd have until I was needed somewhere else. There were still three people who wanted to meet with me which spoke more about the amount of work that would have to be put in countermeasures than anything else.
"I'm going out," I said before I left. "Doing something dangerous. I don't know if you're really there or not, but I might need help. This would be a good time for you to appear…"
Nothing happened.
I sighed and started work on the countermeasures I'd set up in advance, summoning objects and sending them moving through the room. The majority of my attention was on a map hovering in front of me while the minority took on other aspects: a small sack hovered closer to my leg and the thread stretched, tying itself around my leg; robes make out of Thestral hide wrapped themselves around me; and my various threads took up positions on my limbs, protection measures.
Using the coordinates I had in my mind I got a firmer image of where I was going and then I started making the Portkeys, the only major difference being the fact that I was adding a lot of height. That done I stepped outside and turned on the spot, appearing in the Forest of Dean for a moment before one of the threads snapped and I was pulled into the sky.
Gravity immediately took effect and I shifted, quickly forming wings that caught the air. I pulled myself up and started a series of short hoots; the bag tied to my leg vibrated before over a myriad of marbles dropped, being carried in random. I waited, keeping myself in one position through massive amount of effort.
Nothing happened.
I scratched out the coordinates in my mind before letting out another pattern. I was pulled and I appeared in the sky again, repeating the process and again nothing happened.
The sixth of the seven coordinates yielded nothing and I was a little relieved that the last did. The marbles detonated, letting out massive amount of black smoke which framed the large invisible bubble of wards.
I swooped lower, skirting to the edges of the bubble and then moving further. It was possible that the very floor itself was cursed and in the long run trees for that matter, there could be all a manner of creatures as well which meant I had to be careful. I entered the trees and wove between branches, at intervals letting out a short sound that made more marbles drop.
They detonated when the hit, earning movement from the trees themselves, branches snapping out towards the source of the disturbance. I continued doing this until I'd rounded the warded property, moving steadily outwards until I reached a place where the protections were no longer in effect. There I allowed myself to land and just roosted.
Six hours in place and nothing happened, not that I was expecting much truth be admitted but I was hopeful. I let out a sigh and running the math in my mind, how fast I'd been flying and the direction to get a set of coordinates in my mind. That would be the next part of the work.
With that I let out a series of short hoots, landing all over magical Britain before I appeared back in Grimmauld.
888
"I'm surprised that I found this," said Dudley. "But then it's the obvious things that we forget about."
I only hummed at that. "You're keeping it safe?" I asked.
"My own special room in the Room of Requirements," said Dudley. "It's gotten to the point where everyone has their own rooms. It gets annoying when you really need the room." Dudley shrugged. "But it's a living."
"Things sound different," I said.
"Not much," said Dudley. "Still the same sense of deception of every corner but we're dealing. I've been doing very well with the recruiting, started even training my people. The real gem is Tonks though, here ability…" Dudley let out a whistle. "I've got her studying the others, better infiltration if it's ever needed."
"That's good. Very good in the long run," I said. "Because from the looks of it a war might be in the distance."
"Anything you know that I don't?"
I shook my head. "Just further revisions on what I've been thinking," I said. "Su is being chased by Dumbledore, there's only so much time before she snaps. More so than not I think that she'll attack all the equipment to do with the Trace, all of this is just the calm before the storm.
"Whether or not she actually succeeds in her goals is another matter, but she's going to lash out soon, and if she's anything like Voldemort it will be violent."
"Have you told this to the others?" asked Dudley.
"Told Moody but he's been thinking along the same lines," I said. "And there's only so many times I can tell him the same thing before he starts getting exasperated."
"What about the full moon in four days?" Dudley asked. "Could he use that?"
"Unlikely," I said. "Su…" I took a breath, pushing the part of my mind that had been steadily building up her character. "This is still working on the common theory so there might be mistakes in it." Dudley gestured for Harry to go on. "Most of the people we've spoken to have said the same thing about their timelines, that Su was a non-entity.
"I think that this is her chance to be someone, be something greater. With Voldemort's sense of grandeur in her, she'll want to go after someone big, someone like Dumbledore. I had mum's protection and my emotions were still warped, consider her."
Dudley sighed, hand running through hair as he asked, "Are you alright in that matter? You know, you haven't been having rogue impulses?"
"You don't have to ask that every time we speak," I said. Against my better judgement I'd told him about everything. I'd pushed through the fear, it wasn't productive in the long run, and I still hadn't figured out how he was reacting to all of this.
"Just concern," he said. "How were things with Dung?"
"Unproductive so far," I said. "I have another meeting in a day. I'm building through my countermeasure stock. Hopefully Dumbledore attacks someplace else soon so I can get back to Hogwarts. It might make selling the stuff easier."
"You sure this junk is worth something?" asked Dudley.
I shrugged at that. "It's Hogwarts, you could find anything."
"I'm getting distracted," said Dudley, too much to deal with. "What about the house that you found? Anything of worth there?"
"Nothing yet," I said. "My crows will return to me if Voldemort tries to make an appearance. In that particular house, that is, anywhere else that I haven't had time to put a watch on and we'll miss him. The guy should be will to speak soon, though."
"Good, good," said Dudley. He looked behind him before he looked back. "I have to go. Stuff to take care off. I'm vetting a Slytherin I thought was interesting."
"Stay safe," I said. Dudley gave a nod and the image blinked off.
I was going through my evening exercises when the Patronus arrive, Kingsley's lynx. Dumbledore attacked a muggle house. Now's the time to move.
I smirked, feeling a little elated because I was going to be back in Hogwarts. It was a further restriction but it was something I was excited to work around.
"One of you appear right now," I said, my wand at my throat and my voice reaching through the entire house. "I need to be hurt real bad and really quickly. If, like I assumed, you're working for Moody, then he'll have told you about this possibility."
A man appeared, stepping out from thin air. His wand wasn't as the ready, instead his fists were clenched.
"This is going to hurt, isn't it?"
The man's only answer was pain.
