Disclaimer: I am not Tish Eggleston Pahl, J.K. Rowling, Dave Wolverton, or Chris Cassidy.
As word of the Ministry's defeat spreads across the galaxy, Fay Dunbar meets with notorious smuggler chief Aberforth Dumbledore.
Aberforth. Can l get you something, Fay?
Fay. I'm all set, but thanks.
Aberforth. I trust everything went as planned.
Fay reaches into her pocket and draws out a datapad. She slides it across the table to him.
Looks good. I've already transferred ten thousand into your Devonian account, plus three thousand for the unexpected company.
Fay. Thanks.
Aberforth. Nice work, by the way. On time and under budget.
Fay nods.
Fay. So . . .
Aberforth. So?
Fay. Heard anything interesting lately?
Aberforth. Perhaps. You?
Fay. Rebels blew another Dark Mark.
Aberforth. Why do you suppose the Dark Lord keeps building these things if the DA can take them out so easily?
Fay. Don't know. Maybe we should ask him.
Aberforth. Unfortunately, we can't do that. As you know, he's dead.
Fay. Pity. Snape, too.
Aberforth. A DA pilot named Potter took them both out.
Fay. He killed Golgomath, too.
Aberforth. Actually, I understand that technically it wasn't Potter.
Fay. Doesn't look like Malfoy walked away from it either.
Aberforth. I'd not count him out until I saw the armor and the body inside it.
Fay nods.
Fay. Still, it's been a regular bloodbath. Not bad for a single Auror.
Aberforth shrugs.
Aberforth. Ron Weasley is alive.
Fay. How very nice for him.
Aberforth. I would imagine he was pleased with the outcome.
Fay. A lot of good people are loose now with Golgomath gone.
Aberforth. Yes. It will be some time, I think, before anyone has the resources to pay any attention to us.
Fay. And even longer before the Giants, or at least Golgomath's clan, regroup.
Aberforth. I've decided it's a good time for building.
Fay. I work alone, Ab.
Aberforth. Marius wouldn't want that, Fay.
Fay. I'm still available for hire, though. And for you, at pre-Collapse-of-the-Ministry rates.
Aberforth. You are too generous.
Fay. Consider it my volume discount against your future jobs, Aberforth.
Aberforth. You seem very confident, Fay.
Fay. On time and under budget are one of your favorite combinations.
Aberforth. Indeed they are. As it happens, I might have something for you.
Fay. Oh, yeah?
Aberforth. I'm looking for a base to headquarter my operation.
Aberforth slides a data disc toward Fay. She looks it over.
Fay. Some pretty exact specs here.
Aberforth. I'm sure you can understand my need for certain precautions.
Fay nods as she looks through the file, a file which outlines Aberforth's plan to build an organization which will fill the void left by the deaths of Golgomath and Prince Quirrell. Fay estimates that Aberforth will be the one on top within four or five years.
Fay. You really think these kinds of precautions are necessary?
Aberforth. [strokes his beard] Did Marius ever speak to you of the Aurors?
Fay. [nods] He had the kind of healthy respect for them that one does for a chimaera ― a mixture of awe and fear. [shakes her head] Weren't Aurors supposed to be guardians of peace and justice? A sort of intergalactic police force?
Aberforth. Information about them before the purges is pretty scarce. But it seems the Aurors served at the beck and call of the Wizengamot, forwarding the Old Ministry's agenda across the galaxy. If the past is any guide, neither the Aurors, nor the new Wizengamot the DA is supposedly intending to establish are likely to appreciate our methods of doing business.
Fay. We're talking about one Auror here, not thousands.
Aberforth. [narrows his eyes] Potter destroyed Severus Snape and the Dark Lord in a matter of days.
Fay. Yes, but . . .
Aberforth. And how long do you think it will take Potter to start reestablishing an Order of the Phoenix? And once he does that, how long before they turn their attention to us, with or without a new Wizengamot?
Fay. I don't know. Five, ten years. Maybe twenty.
Aberforth. I still plan to be around then. I also plan to be ready when they come.
Fay glances down at the datapad.
Fay. We know there were smuggling operations and even a fringe during the days of the Old Ministry. They must have had ways to get around Aurors then.
Aberforth. [nods] I thought that Marius might have known of possible locations. He was working the lanes before we were even born.
Fay. I'll see what I can do. Reach you through the usual channels?
Aberforth nods, then his eyes narrow as he notices something behind Fay.
Aberforth. Who is that, and what is she doing?
Fay turns and recognizes the woman located at a nearby table, where Aberforth also knows the man beside her.
Fay. Her name is Sophie Roper. She's from London.
Aberforth. [snorts] Obviously, in that outfit. What is she doing here?
Fay. She's a con. I've seen her pushing scams for a while now.
Fay and Aberforth focus on the device in Roper's hands.
Aberforth. Is that what I think it is?
Fay. Looks like a retinal disguiser. But I've never seen on in that kind of configuration before.
Aberforth. Any device to foil a retinal scan must be species-specific. The one she has looks as if it can be modified for different species.
Fay. [rolls her eyes] I'd say the odds of that thing working are about the same as the Aurors returning.
Aberforth. The Aurors have returned.
Fay. An Auror. Not the Aurors.
Aberforth. True.
Fay. [smiles] Space, Aberforth. I wish I had a legion of them here to mark the occasion that you admitted to being wrong.
Aberforth. [arches an eyebrow] I am not wrong; I merely have an incomplete picture of the situation. Only time will prove which of us has the better information.
Keen to move the discussion from the Aurors, Fay turns back to Roper.
Fay. Her mark is a friend of yours?
Aberforth. His name is Goldstein. He is one of my newer people. I may let Goldstein lose a couple hundred to teach him something. But Sophie Roper should know that there will be repercussions to cheating my people:
Fay. [rises] I'll get her off your back.
Aberforth crosses his arms.
Aberforth. Are you implying I need your services to handle a Londoner con in designer wear?
Fay. [laughs] Never. This one's on me. She's got some information I want.
Fay walks over to that table, just as Goldstein passes the retinal disguiser back to Roper.
Goldstein. No thanks. I can't see needing something quite like this.
Fay. Good evening, gentles.
Goldstein and Roper turn to look over at her.
Goldstein. Looks like you have another buyer anyway.
Fay. When erumpents fly, Goldstein. [indicates Aberforth] Boss wants you.
Exit Goldstein.
Goldstein was never your mark, was he?
Roper. No, he wasn't.
Fay moves her hand to her mouth, stunned by the implication that she was the mark.
Fay. Why did you approach me about this property?
Roper. To show my gratitude and make amends.
Fay. [laughs] Yeah, right. And Dumbledore's Army will win the . . .
Fay trails off.
Roper. My usual client doesn't have the vision to see that new precautions are in order considering recent events.
Fay. Potter is just one Auror.
Roper. One Auror who took out the Dark Lord, Severus Snape, Draco Malfoy, and a criminal organization that was centuries old. Imagine what more of them might do. Aurors protect the galaxy from people like us. I knew I couldn't be the only who is concerned.
Fay. So, you came to me thinking I might have customers who have more vision than yours do?
Roper. I did my homework. I know you do.
Fay. So what's on Devon?
Roper. Information costs money, Fay.
Fay. You're still in the hole, and a card short, Roper. Before we go anywhere, I want to know what we're going for.
Roper. An old smuggler.
Fay. Every lead begins there. Tell me something I don't already know.
Roper. An old smuggler . . . and his pet.
Fay. Pet?
Roper. [nods] The spacer told me about a small rodent called a hinkypunk.
Fay. Hinky-what?
Roper. Hinkypunks. They are stupid and smelly, and the only thing they are good for is repelling Aurors.
Fay. [snorts] I'm having hard time believing that a rodent could stop what Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape couldn't.
Roper. [nods] As do I. But my contact really believed it. And he was old enough to have remembered the days when we needed to be able to repel Aurors. I have a few other leads. But if you have a client looking for a possible Auror-proof base, we need to find where hinkypunks come from before someone else does.
Meanwhile, as Fay and Roper seek the mysterious region known as the Isle of Drear, the question of Malfoy's ultimate fate is at last answered.
It has been several weeks, and Urquhart — recovered from his time spent in the Veil — journeys to the site of the Battle of the Chamber of Secrets, hoping to recover anything that may have been left behind. The ground is littered with the corpses of Golgomath's henchmen.
More than that, at the center of the Chamber of Secrets, the Devil's Snare has been completely destroyed. Lying nearby is one of the Snare's more notorious victims, one who managed to escape and then destroy the monster — Draco Malfoy.
However, without the distinctive armor, Urquhart does not recognize this weakened shell of a man as the infamous Slytherin bounty hunter.
Malfoy. Help.
Urquhart approaches, surprised that Malfoy still lives.
Urquhart. What happened?
Malfoy. Snare . . . swallowed me. I killed it. Blew it up.
Natalya rushes toward Malfoy.
Natalya. Oh, here. Help me get him inside.
Urquhart and Natalya help Malfoy onto the Emerald, helping him to regain his strength.
Malfoy grips Urquhart's wrist.
Malfoy. Thank you. Thank you, my friend.
Urquhart. It was nothing.
Malfoy. Nothing? You still . . . you still want to be partners, Urquhart?
Malfoy holds out his hand. Urquhart stares in shock as he becomes among the few to see Malfoy's true face. He is speechless for a moment, recalling the times Malfoy betrayed him and nearly killed him . . . and considers the fact that his rival is now entirely at his mercy.
Urquhart. Call me Payback.
Fear appears in Malfoy's cold gray eyes.
Malfoy. I . . . I was just following orders. I'm sorry.
Urquhart grabs Malfoy by the throat, in his mind's eye strangling Ron Weasley.
Urquhart. But I'm the one who got burned.
Malfoy. Sorry! I'm sorry!
Natalya pulls Urquhart back.
Natalya. What's going on here?
Urquhart indicates Malfoy.
Urquhart. He tried to kill me.
Urquhart then notices that at some point during their struggle Malfoy managed to gain hold of his rifle. It is now aimed at Urquhart, but Malfoy has not pulled the trigger.
Go ahead. I've got nothing to lose.
Malfoy flips the rifle over and hands it to Urquhart.
Malfoy. I owe you. Do what you will.
Urquhart holsters the rifle and studies Malfoy a moment.
Urquhart. I'm getting married in a couple of weeks, and I'll need a best man. You available?
Malfoy nods, and the two men shake.
Exit all.
