"Okay, one more time." Dora said.
They were sitting in a cafe inside Diagon Alley, luckily the terrace was empty and it gave them some privacy and while the cousins discussed the recent development, Harry looked at some of the toys and books that Ezekiel and Dora had bought him.
"Wands by Gregorovitch." Ezekiel sighted as he slowly explained again. "Does not belong to Mykew Gregorovitch. The store itself belongs to the House of Black."
"How?" Dora asked.
"Because grandfather gave it to Mykew Gregorovitch for the duration of his life." He explained. "On the condition that after he died all of his belongings, including his methods to create wands, belonged to the House of Black."
"I still don't get it." Dora shook her head. "Why would he give a store to a complete stranger?"
"I heard grandmother once or twice complain about it. Apparently the man scammed grandfather with some story, got the store running for a few years and then disappeared."
"And you're sure that he didn't kill him?"
"Absolutely." Ezekiel said. "If he had, the ownership of the store would have returned to me, but because of their arrangement all I've got is the bills to pay it."
"Weird, usually that's not how those stories end. I'm surprised he didn't skin him alive or something."
"Grandfather never said that he was angry at the man, just disappointed. It never occurred to me to ask why."
"And he never said what he promised to him? Besides the wand-making methods, I mean." She said as she leaned on her elbow.
"No, never." Ezekiel said as he leaned back on his chair. "But since he's a wand-maker I assumed that it had something to do with that. I just can't imagine what sort of wand could it be to make grandfather act like that. It doesn't really matter, what I want is for that man to..."He looked at Harry, who was currently very interested on the Gobstones that he bought for him. " fulfill his end of the bargain. That store is quite expensive to maintain."
"How could anything be expensive to you?" Dora raised her eyebrow. "Aren't you supposed to be one of the richest man in Europe?"
"I am." Ezekiel said not bothering to hide the pride he felt. "But my family didn't gain that fortune by losing money on closed stores. I could be renting that spot right now!"
"No, they did it by murdering and stealing lands." Dora said sarcastically. "But yeah, everyone goes to that part, I can see your point. I've got to say, you're taking this better than I expected."
"We've got company." He nodded to Harry, whose face was now covered by the liquid of one of the stones. "Trust me, if he wasn't here, I'd be having words with the Mills" He said as he used a napkin to help Harry to clean his face.
"How mature of you." She joked as she took the toy from Harry's hand. "Here Harry, let me show you how it's done."
The rest of the evening went by without much problem. They were able to see everything that the Alley had to offer, until they reached a dark corner.
"What's there?" Harry said as he approached the stone arch entrance. He didn't got too close as Ezekiel grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away from that place.
"That, Harry, is called the Knockturn Alley." Ezekiel said sternly. "And I never want to see you there, understand?"
"But why?"
"It's a place for Dark Wizards, Harry." Dora explained. "The things sold there are all dangerous, the wizards and witches hanging around behave fairly suspiciously too. Best avoid it."
"But Zeke, you said that you're a" Harry looked around to make sure that no one saw him and whispered. "a Dark Wizard. Isn't okay if I go with you?"
"Let me be clear on this, Harry." Ezekiel's tone became more authoritative. "I own many, if not all of the stores there. In any case you can say that I own Knockturn and because I know the kind of people that are there is that I don't want you in that place."
"But if it's that bad, why don't you close it?"
"And where do you think that those people will go if I do that?" Ezekiel replied. "It's better to keep them all in one spot. It's easy to control."
Having accepted the answer, the trio gave one last look around before getting into Ezekiel's car and drove back to his house. As they entered their humble abode they were greeted by an unusual sight. At Least for Ezekiel.
"Welcome home, Master." Kreacher said with his usual devotion, accompanying him were the rest of the house-elves. Ezekiel wouldn't have thought much about it except that this was his Kreacher, the one twisted and Dark and not the disguise that he had ordered him to cast upon himself.
"Kreacher, didn't I order you to change yourself?"
"Yes, Master." Kreacher and the rest bowed bowed to him.
"And you stopped because...?"
"Master said to change so we wouldn't scare Master Pleasedon'tcallmeMasterjustHarryisfine, but Master Pleasedon'tcallmeMasterjustHarryisfine told us that we didn't had to do that anymore." The Dark Elve explained.
"Master what now?" Ezekiel asked Harry.
"I tried to tell them not to call me Master, but they just keep repeating all I said." Harry tried to explain to the laughing cousins.
"Oh, that's brilliant." Ezekiel said as he dried a tear as Dora chuckled. "Kreacher, Harry here will just be referred to as Master Harry from now on." He saw the boy pouting and explained. "This is how my elves talk, just roll with it. Why did you tell them to change back if they scared you?"
"I don't want them to change because of me." Harry replied. "They aren't that scary."
"Harry, it's okay to be afraid." Ezekiel assured him. "Besides it's not like it bothers them, right?"
"We follow the orders of the Lord of The Ancient and Most Noble House Of Black, my Master." The elves bowed again but Harry shook his head.
"No, they don't have to change because of me. I'll get used to." He said trying to sound confident, but his voice shook a bit at the end.
"Very well, just remember that if it's too much you can just tell me or them, alright? Good. Now why don't you and the elves go to your room and start setting up those new toys and books?" He asked. Harry was so happy that he didn't reply as he and the house elves started taking the bags to his room. The elves had given up on the idea of stopping Harry from doing some things that they deemed 'below' him.
"What's on your mind?" Dora asked as Ezekiel closed his eyes while he rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"He needs friends, doesn't he?"
"Well, yes," Dora remarked. "That's pretty obvious. He'll get them next year, no? School and all that?"
"No, I mean right now. He can't just go around with us. He needs some kids his age otherwise I might as well send him with the goblins."
"Sounds like a plan." Dora shrugged. "Except there's none on this Earth that will let you near their children."
"There might be someone." Ezekiel said to Dora's surprise. "Madam Bones said that her niece sent a letter to Harry on the anniversary of his parents."
"Her niece?" Dora asked as she looked at him as he had grown another arm. "You want to take Harry to the real Iron Maiden herself and introduce him to her also quite grieving nice? Just exactly how much faith do you have on that healing of yours?"
"I know it's a bad idea." Ezekiel started but Dora cut him off.
"Bad? A bad idea you say? No, let me explain you." Dora stood in front of him, placing her hands around Ezekiel's head. "Disco, was a bad idea. Woman shoulder pad jackets, bad idea. Thatcher as Prime Minister, really bad idea. This like showering in gasoline and then taking a stroll trough a park on fire while there's an earthquake in the middle of a Godzilla attack. Bad idea doesn't even begin to cover it."
"A bit of an exaggeration, don't you think?" Ezekiel managed to say as Dora's hands squished his head. "I'm not stupid, Dora"
"If you weren't we wouldn't be having this conversation, Ezekiel." Dora said as she pressed her hands even further.
"Alright,then. "Ezekiel said angrily as he took her hands off his face. "Why don't we take him with some of your friends? Oh I forgot." He said ironically" you only go with the heavy drinkers to get arseholed. Don't think he'll like it much."
"Alright, do what you want!" Dora threw her hands to the sky. "Just don't blame me when this whole thing comes down in flames."
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
"..."
"..."
"Aren't you supposed to leave now?" Ezekiel asked.
"Isn't it courtesy for the Head of a House to offer supper to their guests?"
Ezekiel studied her for a moment before sighting exasperated. "Are you out of money again?"
"Look, they raised the rent again. It's the fucking landlord, I think he's got it for me."
"Want me to pay him a visit?" Ezekiel asked, carefully not to show the things that he was already planning to do to the man.
"Nah, I reckon that I can get some dirt on him and get him off my back. Next time, maybe."
"Okay, hope you like risotto then."
"Nice." Dora's mouth began to water. "Say, do you think you can lend me some...?"
"Money's in the same place as always, Dora." Ezekiel said as both walked towards the dining room.
Ezekiel and Harry would arrive at the Tonk's house in the morning to a much normal circumstances. The dark clouds that plagued his once home vanished and the usual bliss that he remembered had taken it's rightful and Harry entered to a happy Dora humming to the tune in the radio as Ted sang along while he prepared breakfast. It seemed that a more relaxed schedule had lead to new roles in the couple. As they greeted his uncles the fireplace lighted up with a familiar green fire and Dora came trough tripping over the carpet as usual.
"One day, Dora you're gonna have to remember to lift your feet when you step in." Andromeda told her daughter as she helped to get back on her feet.
"And maybe one day you'll throw away the carpet, Mum."
The breakfast continued among pleasant conversations and while Harry, Andi and Dora left for a stroll, Ezekiel sat on the living room as Ted went to his study for a document. Ezekiel looked around the room, truly examining the place in years. Not much had changed since he had left the house yet a part of him would always be there. The wallpaper had disappeared and thank God for that. The furniture had barely changed except for the couches that Ezekiel had bought them. The newest addition, the television, had been a source of concern for the family at the time. True, they used magic so little that they might as well be Muggle but that didn't meant that the apparatus couldn't explode violently as soon as they plugged it in. Luckily for everyone no such thing had occurred and the family was able to enjoy the entertainment it provided, although frankly they didn't even use it that much. His trip down memory lane was cut short as Ted sat down next to him.
"Son, are you sure this is a good idea?"
"It's an idea, Ted."
"Zeke, this man." Ted handed over a file to him. "He doesn't like you. He doesn't like your family and honestly, I can't blame him."
"There aren't many people that can be blamed for that, Ted" Ezekiel reminded him.
"You do remember he tried to have you sent to Azkaban, right?"
"Hard to forget." Ezekiel replied. "But right now, like it or not, Adrian Nettle could be the man Harry needs."
"He hates your guts, Zeke."
"He doesn't have to like me, Ted. He has to care about Harry." Ezekiel said as he read the file. Adrian Nettle's tragic life was interesting, to say the least.
Born of a middle-class family in Liverpool, he had first displayed his magic at the age of six when he made the family's cat had attended the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as any other boy of his age but looking at the records, which usually he shouldn't have but that wasn't here nor there, it was quite clear that Nettle wasn't a very competent wizard. While he passed with flying colors every theoretical exam, it was on the practical side that his qualifications took a dive. In fact, judging by the en results, his final grade was around 30% to 35% lower than it should have. Despite this he had managed to secure himself a position in a magical law institute and had graduate as a law-wizard with top scores. Those scores secured him a spot on a good law firm where his talents allowed him to raise the ranks to partner in no time. Life seemed to smile at Adrian Nettle, specially after knowing and dating an apothecary named Marnie Shaw. The happy couple would get married seven years later and they'd both leave their respective jobs to start working on their own. Adrian created a law firm that specialized in assisting Half-Bloods and Muggle-Borns to navigate the bureaucracy of Magical England and Marnie setup her own little apothecary shop in Diagon Alley. The couple had three children, twin daughters and one son.
Tragedy struck the Nettle family during the rise of Voldemort, who didn't took their assistance to the 'impure' as they saw them too kindly. The family disappeared and to their credit, there wasn't much information about their whereabouts or activities at that time. What was known was that they had been captured at some point and taken to one of the Death-Eaters lairs. Adrian Nettle would be the only survivor of that event, according to the reports of the Aurors that had raided the place. According to the man his family had perished but the corpses had been taken away to an undisclosed location and it was believed that they were a part of the now-defunct Inferi army. The one responsible was one Bellatrix Black, who was acquitted of any charges to the surprise of no one. He had tried to bring up those charges again for her trial after Voldemort's fall but at that point the charges we so many that it had just been cobbled together on the murder charges. This hadn't sat well for Adrian who was detained in a holding cell for twenty four hours for punching the officer who told him that. The man had moved to a house in Lincolnshire and had made sporadic visits to London to serve as a Law-Wizard to mixed results.
It seemed that he had a habit of losing in the worst way if his client happened to be suspected of assisting Voldemort during the war.
"Well, there you have it." Ted said once Ezekiel put down the file. "He's not Dark and he doesn't like the Ministry."
"I don't see any signs of him liking Dumbledore either." Ezekiel pointed out. "And he didn't seem to like what happened during my trial or MacNair's"
"It doesn't matter now, doesn't it? Zeke, the man is almost broke, he has no friends nor any connections! If either side decides that they don't like him, the man is as good as dead." Ted replied exasperated.
"What if he had the support of the others?" Ezekiel looked at his uncle. "What if the Grey ran interference?"
The room had fallen silent as soon as that question left his lips. The Grey were Ancient and Noble families who had chosen to remain neutral during the conflict. Their neutrality had different causes but as far as the country's management they tried to make everything fair, within reason of course. The reason for Ted's shock was because of who this proposition involved. Desperate times called for desperate measures, it seemed.
"Are you serious?" Ted managed to ask once he was able to close his mouth from the shock. "Ezekiel..."
"It's a completely hypothetical question. What do you think would happen?
"Zeke, the man is one heartbeat away from declaring a blood feud on you." Ted's shock had yet to vanish. "You can't possibly be thinking that he'll agree to..."
"He's not an idiot, Ted." Ezekiel remarked. "He'll see that Harry is far too big for either side. It'll be better if he remains neutral."
"Ezekiel, he hates you. You know that. That man hates you" Ted repeated himself. "In the full extension of the word."
"I don't need the remainder, Ted. I'm quite aware of his feelings regarding me. Relax, he won't call a blood feud one me." Ezekiel assured him but Ted wasn't having it.
"What makes you so sure?"
"Ted, it's me." Ezekiel said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'll win."
"I know you'll win. What concerns me is what happens after you do, when his daughters inherit the feud. The oldest won't stop and I don't even know the youngest but I reckon that she'll be as eager to join as her sister. What would you do then, will you still win against them?" Ted asked seriously.
"I'll win against anyone."
"Even them? Would you really kill them?" Ted replied sternly.
"Look, this is a waste of time." Ezekiel said as he got up the couch upset. He walked around the room trying to calm himself but it had little effect. "This is a completely hypothetical scenario and that's only one of the results."
"Have you thought that maybe one or possibly both men will try to speak to Harry alone before accepting? Nettle could tell Harry things that could damage him for life or even turn him against you." Ted warned him.
"Harry know that I come from a Dark family. I plan to tell him the rest once he's older."
"And what about what the other could say to him?"
"That's why I got you, Ted." Ezekiel smiled tiredly at his uncle. "In order to prevent this from going down the drain, in case Nettle goes along, I'll need you to setup a meeting with him."
"You're out of your mind, you know that?" Ted asked, the conversation had drained him of any strength he might had. "Can you imagine what Andi would've said to you if you had told this to her?"
"Why do you think that I waited for them to leave? I'm insane, not suicidal." Ezekiel joked as both men gave out a nervous laugh. "Seriously, I need that address, Ted. This may be the only way to ensure some protection for Harry."
"Fine, I'll see were he lives. And I'm coming too." Ted replied. "At least to see how he slams the door on our face."
"Thanks, I could really use the support." Ezekiel smiled tiredly to him. "Have I ever told you how much I hate playing politics?"
Before any of them could reply the door opened and the rest of the family entered, Dora and Harry carrying the bags with the ingredients for lunch as Andi greeted the two.
"Hey, what did I miss?"
"Nothing much, just some plans. Boring stuff as usual." Ted replied as Ezekiel smiled innocently.
"Well, alright." Andi frowned, not believing them for a second. "I'll start with the lunch, Harry has been nagging me to let him help. Turns out that he actually likes to cook, apparently."
"I imagine the new company and not getting burned or cut might have something to do with it." Ezkiel joked. "You should see how Kreacher gets once he tries to get a snack himself."
"Yes, he told me about that." Andi said laughing. "I better get Nymphadora out of the kitchen before she blows up the house." She said as she left.
Now that one issue was resolved, Ezekiel waited for his cousin to arrive sitting back on the couch. Something had been bothering ever since their visit to the docks.
"Hey Dora, do you still have your knife with you?" He asked once she walked into the room.
"Yeah, why?" Dora asked while making sure that her mother hadn't heard them.
"Could you give it to me? I want to check something."
"Sure." She shrugged as she looked trough her pockets, finally finding the switchblade. "I didn't cleaned it, so it might be a bit dirty."
"I'm counting on it." Ezekiel replied as he examined it's sharp edge. As he suspected, a small golden residue had remained from when he had used it to scratch the frames.
"What is it?" Dora asked curiously.
"The gold felt weird, didn't you feel it too? It was the same when I shook Ian Mills hands."
"Oh, yeah. I was wondering why you had to shake his hand that long. Think the gold is enchanted too?"
"I don't know. We could take this to Gringotts and have it checked." Ezekiel suggested.
"You think the goblins would be able to tell with just that? it's not exactly much." Dora pointed out
"They're goblins, Dora." Ezekiel replied. "I'd be surprised if they can't."
Lunch had passed with and was luck would have it Andi decide not to ask about what both men had tried to hide.
"That was amazing, Harry." Dora said about the food. "One day you're gonna make a lucky girl very happy."
The entire room laughed at the boy's red face as Ezekiel ruffled his hair. The joy died when the window opened up and a familiar swan threw a letter at Ezekiel and leaving without looking back.
"Doesn't that woman knows what Sunday means?" Andi asked annoyed.
"Obviously not." Ezekiel frowned as he opened the letter and groaned in annoyance.
"What? The Palace again?" Ted asked.
"No, 'special request' from the States. Something is..." Ezekiel turned to Harry, who was watching every word he said. "Got to leave for a few days. Could you take care of Harry?"
"Sure. Be careful okay?" Both uncles replied automatically.
"You're leaving?." Harry asked scared.
"Just for a few days. There's something causing problems and the Queen asked me to help the people in America to take a look at it." Ezekiel assured him. "It'll be in and out in no time, you'll see. While I'm away, would you mind keeping this for me?" He said as he handed over his wand on it's holster.
"But...don't you need this?" Harry asked surprised.
"No, not for this sort of things." Ezekiel replied smiling. "Now, this is a special wand Harry. Last of its kind, you see? I need you to promise me that you will take care of it."
"I will!" Harry replied as he hugged the wand on his chest.
"Very good. Now don't go around enchanting things or if you do, don't let Andi caught you. Remember, Ted's the cool one." Ezekiel advised him as he got up and hugged the boy. He said his goodbyes to his uncle and got a particularly strong hug from his aunt, how was a bit ticked.
"Wait, you're leaving now? Dora asked.
"International Portkey, you know what's like." Ezekiel replied. "Walk me to the door?"
As soon as they arrived at the door, Dora asked him. "Is your wand really that rare?"
"The wand-maker retired shortly after she made it. Not many wands with thunderbird cores around since then in America. Might as well be the last she made." Ezekiel took the gun-holster from his belt and handed it over. "Here."
"What sort of problem is it?"
"I don't know." Ezekiel shrugged. "The Portkey will leave me in Florida and then they'll tell me. They don't want people to know that America keeps having mutations."
"Okay, good luck then."
"Thanks. And Dora?" He said as he left the house.
"Yes?"
"Touch my car while I'm away, I'll kick you off my will. Got it?" Ezekiel said smiling.
"Break a leg, you wanker!" Dora replied happily as she gave him a two finger salute.
"NYMPHADORA!" The scream of her parents came from behind her, along with Harry's laugh.
Ezekiel stumbled once he arrived. Portkeys tended to leave him dizzy for a while. The weather didn't help much. It was humid but it wasn't the same as England. It was more, if that was even possible. The heat didn't help either, it was like being steamed. Ezekiel didn't like traveling much, he had been born in London and he, if given the choice, would rather die in it. The fact that every time he had to come over to America was to kill some creature that had mutated or to destroy another wizard's fuck ups didn't help either. Mixed bag the Americans, too. It had been quite a surprise when Ezekiel spoke to them. Some people that looked like complete bumps were in fact quite possibly, the nicest and kindest, while the exact opposite could be said with people that looked like respectable members of society. Yes, Ezekiel was quite aware he was a snob.
Ah well, book covers and all that, he supposed.
He finally got himself together when he heard a car pulling over. Looking around he could see that he was on a highway of some kind. The fact that the Aurors had arrived just now concerned him a bit regarding the competence of his partner. A car had indeed pulled next to him and it seemed that they had taken a muggle police car and repainted it. This wasn't very promising.
"Hey buddy, you Black?" A man stuck his head out the window.
Oh goody, he thought, it's one of those.
"No, I'm Magenta." Ezekiel replied sarcastically.
"Har, har, really fucking funny buddy. Get on the car, I'll drive you to the place." The man said.
"The 'place'? You mean the scene." Ezekiel replied as he sat next to him. "I wasn't informed of a scene of a crime."
"Yeah, pretty fucked up place." The man replied. Ezekiel wanted to slam his face into the steering wheel, but then wouldn't know where to go. "Bet yo' psycho ass will love it, you'll see."
Ezekiel examined the man next to him. A big fella, his suit wasn't made for him obviously. His muscles were far too big for it and it made it look short. He had short blonde hair with green eyes and a face that screamed 'Try me'.
"Ezekiel Black, pleased to meet you."He said as he extended his hand.
"Alan Drebin." He replied as he shook his hand hard enough to pop a bone. Ezekiel looked at the man as his hand fixed itself, courtesy of the Black Magic. "Look at that, the old man didn't lie when he told me you're like a bad weed."
"The old man?" Ezekiel asked puzzled.
"Peters." Was all Drebin said.
"Ah, Auror Peters of course! How's he doing? I was surprised when he didn't came to pick me up." Ezekiel replied. "Not that I don't enjoy your company, Auror Drebin."
"He retired." Drebin said, his eyes fixed on him. "You finally broke the old man. But don't worry, buddy. "The man said giving him a smile that made quite the argument for the head-on-the-steering-wheel case."You ain't gonna get rid of me that easy. Once they see that I can take psycho's like you. They'll send me for the big stuff."
"You don't think that this work is valuable?" Ezekiel said unimpressed. "And what, pray tell, do you consider a work worth doing?"
"I'm going for the big offices, man. And you are going to be my golden ticket." Drebin said confidently. "You just wait."
Suure, Ezekiel thought. They remained silent, driving for two more hours until they reached an old church and the car stopped.
"Out." Drevin ordered. Ezekiel rolled his eyes at the man and stepped outside. The church had seen better days as id was practically dilapidated. Drebin tried to push Ezekiel by the shoulder but a look at the man had managed to make him back away surprised. His surprise lasted very little as his face became red with a vein popping up his forehead. The man managed to contain himself and walked him to what appeared to be a metal barrel.
"This is the scene?" Ezekiel asked.
"No, this is how you get there. You need to jump."
"You cannot be serious." Ezekiel replied annoyed looking down the barrel. It seemed to be a vent to some sort of cavern underground. "Isn't there some other way?"
"Nope." Drebin shook his head. "You can apparate back up, but you need to go down first. Plenty of people waiting, don't be rude." He said maliciously.
Ezekiel decided to swallow his pride than to spend another second with the neanderthal in question and promptly slid down the vent. The floor was actually quite farther than he had predicted, resulting in him breaking a leg as he landed. His scream of pain was interrupted by his desire to inform anyone in the general vicinity what he thought of Drebin's mother, but eventually he was able to sit down.
"What the hell were you doing, you idiot?" A man he hadn't asked him.
Looking around he could see that they were plenty of people around them. Just not as many live ones as he'd have wanted. There were dead bodies covering the walls and ceiling. Ezekiel had seen something similar once, as his grandfather had taken him to a small chapel in Rome. This one wasn't covered in dead bodies but bones, in fact. The way the corpses were preserved and positioned reminded him very much of that chapel. In it's own twisted way, there was respect being displayed in front of him.
"Hey, dipshit! I asked what you think you were doing jumping trough that vent!" The man asked angry.
"I was...accessing the scene of the crime?" Ezekiel said unsure.
"Why on Earth would you do it though there? The stairs are in the church." The man replied to an increasingly annoyed Ezekiel. Before he could responded he heard chuckles behind him. He didn't had to turn to see Drebin's face. "Want me to fix that for ya?" The man asked but Ezekiel's leg returned to normal shortly.
"Thanks, but it won't be necessary." Ezekiel replied with all the manners that he could muster. "Thanks for the offer."
Turning around he almost walked into Drebin. The man had an idiotic grin that just begged to Ezekiel to turn it into a jack o' lantern but business was first.
"I suppose you think quite highly of yourself." Ezekiel asked.
"I don't give a damn what you think, Black. That Queen of yours gave you to the Office and they gave you to me. So if I say something, you do it. I say jump..."
"Let me guess, you want me to ask how high?" Ezekiel replied annoyed.
"No." Drebin answered as he walked right up to his face. "You jump as high as you possibly can and then more, capiche? You are a dog on a leash. You're my personal little monster."
"Oh, but haven't you heard, Agent Drebin" Ezekiel took the Black Magic from it's imaginary throat, much to this one's pleasure and continued. "Monsters can kill you when you least expect them"
The silence in the room indicated that he hadn't been as discreet as he should but at the moment he couldn't care less. Turning around he saw numerous vials, containing he are assumed to be embalming and preserving chemicals used to preserve the bodies adorning the walls. The macabre spectacle quickly bored him as he moved to inspect the place. The place also contained what appeared to be old, wooden-geared machines, which would indicate that they weren't from this century. This was quite the puzzle. Moving around he finally found what he was looking for. Rather, it had been the Black Magic that had guided him to an object on one of the corners. An old hand which looked out of place with the rest of the bodies, as it were dispensable. He lifted the rather ancient looking appendix and had the feeling that it was trying to show him something but the Black Magic blocked it. What did interested him was the feeling that it gave. This was connected to the creature and shortly after, he felt that the creature knew about him too.
Interesting. He thought.
Yes, very interesting.
Surprised by the input by the Black Magic, Ezekiel turned around and started walking toward where man had told him but turned around mid way. Drebin was still standing where he left him, too scared to do anything and quickly took the car keys from his pocket before resuming his path to the surface. It was only after placing the keys in the ignition he was surprised by the sudden opening of the passenger door.
"What do you think you're doing?" Drebin asked. "Get out of my car!"
"Get out, daddy's working." Ezekiel said.
"I'm not letting you out of my sight, you freak!" Was all the response he got.
"Suit yourself." Ezekiel shrugged, as he started the car.
He rode without a destination for a while, without listening to what Drebin complained.
It was only after the first mile or so that he realized that the car hadn't been modified in the slightest. All it had was a paint job. This was worrying as shortly after reaching its maximum speed, the roaring sound of another engine filled the air. Looking through the rearview mirror, a rusted truck equipped with what seemed to be a cow catcher on the front moved at an unnatural speed.
One Ezekiel was quite familiar with.
They didn't even had the chance to even try to avoid it. The truck rammed the back of their car, forcing them to spin without control until it finally flipped over itself. Ezekiel managed to crawl from the wreckage, only to find what looked like heavy boots. He tried looking upwards but his back had been injured. By the time he managed to look, the only thing that he could see was a dark figure engulfed in the trucks highlights, wearing some sort of trench coat. The figure had one of his arms above his head, something sinister on his hands.
He didn't even noticed when the arm came down violently, as the darkness had claimed him.
The creature parked it's truck on its new lair, an abandoned meat packing factory. It's old house had been compromised, forcing it to leave several of its properties behind. What annoyed It the most was the meat that had took It so long to get.
The creature began pacing around nervously. It was too close to the day of the sleep. It needed to feed and all it had was those two. The creature stopped moving as he heard movement at the back of it's truck. Surprised, It opened the back of It's truck, expecting to find the mangled pieces wrapped in old bloodied sheets. The hands that wrapped around It's throat was quite the surprise. The creature fell back in shock, a shock that only increased when the man that It had cut to pieces stepped out of the truck.
It turned its head in confusion. The man smell had changed. He had changed. The creature wasn't sure what had happened, but it needed to feed.
It started at the pathetic creature in front of It. That little bug had hurt It's Master. Master would be asleep for a while, It wouldn't let It's Master die. It liked this Master. The bug had hurt Master. It would squash the bug using Master's body. It would wash the pain with the bug's blood.
The bug was ugly. The bug's skin was thick with dark-green scales. His face has prominent jowls, framing a set of needle-like teeth. The majority of the bug's head was bald, save for a patch of bushy, white hair around the back of it's head. A third nostril sits upon Its nose. The bug was only wearing pants.
It's Master's body shook before the sound would actually leave Master's body. "Ha...Ha...Haaaa" It's laughter sounded like the doors of a graveyard creaking open as It pointed at the bug. "Uuugglyyyy"
The bug's head expanded a wide fringe of webbed, insect-like appendages in anger before launching itself against It. It didn't even bother to make a fist. It slapped the bugs head clear of the bug's shoulders.
Pathetic, It sneered. Then the bug grew another one. It stared at the bug with a smile on It's Master's face.
This would be fun!
Both supernatural creatures began hitting each other. Every time their fist connected parts of their bodies would fly off, but they would regrow it instantly and continue to fight. Their fight spilled over the rest of the factory as It preferred the feeling of ripping off the creature's flesh with Ezekiel's hands, the creature had summoned daggers and even a battle axe.
Eventually the Black Magic managed to get Ezekiel's body on top of the creature's back and began to gut him with Ezekiel's bare hands. The Black Magic smiled as the creature groaned in agony when It felt an impact on Ezekiel's chest, along with a warm feeling that quickly spread over. Confused, the Black Magic looked at Ezekiel's chest, only to find a harpoon's head coming out of him. Tilting Ezekiel's head, the Magic turned to see that it had been shoot out of the creature's truck. The harpoon was attached to a chain that led to the inside of the truck's back.
The creature began laughing as the chain started reeling in Ezekiel's body. The Magic stood Ezekiel's ground on the floor but the sudden pull had managed to get his body off the creature. The Magic was so focused on the truck that It didn't noticed when It's enemy got back up and summoned the axe to his hand. Only when It heard the creature's groans It turned Ezekiel's head to see the axe coming down on It's Master's body. The creature made a clean cut, severing Ezekiel's body diagonally and leaving the Magic with only Ezekiel's head and half a torso with just one arm. The truck reeled the body violently as the creature roared in victory. Ezekiel's maimed remains were shot into the back of the truck, disappearing out of sight. Shortly after that the sound of gears crunching bones was heard and blood began to pour of the vehicle.
The creature would roar with glee, it's enemy finally defeated. As It looked at the truck to finish, the creature began to get nervous. It was taking too long for so little bones. The blood had kept flowing, it even had increased it's flow to the point where it had began to flood the building. Suddenly, the truck began to shake as if it was coughing and just as quickly, it stopped. The creature approached its vehicle with caution only to be hit in the chest when the back doors flew off its handles and was throw into the ground.
As It raised its head, the creature was shocked to see Ezekiel Black standing in front of It. The Black Magic made Ezekiel grin.
Joseph Campbell was a simple man. A mechanic, same as his father and his father before him. It wasn't an easy life but it allowed him to put dinner on his family's table and a roof above their heads and that for him was the only thing that mattered. As he reached his fifties her began to look at the path behind him and realized he was quite happy with it. Sure, he had made a mistake or two but he had done everything in his power to make those right and to teach his children not to follow his mistakes. As he stood in front of his shop, looking at the deserted highway near them, he sighted peacefully. His wife was at the gate, sitting in her chair while reading one of those novels that she liked so much. He smiled as he saw her face, the protagonist must've been in quite a mess. God, he loved that woman.
The peaceful morning was cut short when a cracking noise started sounding, but he was unable to figure out where it came from. There was also a smell, so light that one could barely sense it yet it was so awful. He tried to shake his head and waved his hand in front of him to disperse it but just cling to him. It got stronger too. At the same time the noise rattle up, the smell became stronger and stronger. He didn't knew what he wanted more, to cover his ears or to pucke. He did both.
His wife ran up to him, ignoring all what was going on a quickly pulled him away. She took one of the rugs and helped him clear his face.
"Joseph, what is this?" She asked concerned.
"I don't know, Ruth. I don't know." He gasped for air.
The noise increased and Joseph finally understood what it was. It was an car engine. A very rusted, poorly maintained engine. Looking around, he saw that the noise belonged to a vehicle that approached from the horizon faster and faster engulfed in a cloud of dust. The cloud roared as it got closer. Joseph hugged his wife and prayed to God for it to stop. He couldn't see clearly where it was going but he felt in his soul that it was coming for them. The cloud kept going on, growing in size as if it were a storm. He could see now that the storm was followed by a massive flow of birds. Crows. As he feared, the storm turned towards them. It became even faster, as if whatever was running down the highway wasn't bothered by the rules that grounded the rest. The storm closed down upon them so fast that they couldn't react. Joseph hugged Ruth with all he had but he knew it was pointless. Closing his eyes, he braced for an impact that never came. Opening his eyes, he found that the vehicle had stopped right in front of them. It was a truck, rusted and old. It was so close to them that he could see the plate on it a few inches from their faces.
BEATNGU
The old truck remained idle. Husband and wife stared in fear before a splatting sound started them. The crows were falling dead from the sky as if they were somehow connected to whatever fueled the truck. Now the dead birds rained mercilessly from the sky, exploiting in a burst of blood and gore as they reached the ground. The couple had barely managed to reach the safe haven of their shop when they witnessed horrified the scene before them. Never in his worst nightmares had Joseph Campbell imagined that he'd see anything like that. Death. No matter where he looked at, death was all he could see. He felt Ruth's embrace tightening as he tried to leave but he forced his way out of it. He approached the vehicle but stopped when it began creaking, before it suddenly fell apart where it stood and even worse, body parts started falling from the back of the truck. The only noise that could be heard was from the horn but that too disappeared with a final and painful croak. Peeking out he could see that the driver's head had fallen into the steering wheel but he was unable to see who he or she was.
Approaching slowly to the driver's seat, Joseph tried to open the door but the driver beat him to it. The door didn't open up as much as fell off its hinges as the driver tried to exit his ride. He didn't exactly got out of the car as much as fell from it head first and Joseph became even more confused, if that was even possible. It was a man, a naked man covered blood that stumbled while trying to stand up. Joseph did the only thing that came to mind. He ran back to his shop for his shotgun, loaded it with the hunting ammo and returned to aim at the stranger. The adrenaline pumped through his veins as he aimed from a safe distance.
"Hey, you!" He screamed at the man. As soon as the stranger turned around, Joseph wished to had never spoken a word and instead barricaded himself inside the shop. The man's eyes, dear Lord in Heaven, those eyes. He wasn't a particularly devoted man, but those eyes convinced him that Hell existed and that the one in front of him was one of its inhabitants. The man in question had given up on trying to stand and had decided to sit down, disregarding the guts and blood that covered the floor. His eyes were narrowed, adjusting to the light as he looked around. He coughed a bit of blood, not that he seemed to care, before addressing the scared armed man in front of him.
"Good evening, good sir. My name is Ezekiel Black and I'm from London, as you might imagine by my accent" Ezekiel tried to joke, which only made the man aim to his head. Though crowd, he thought. "I'm not here to hurt anyone, sir."
"Yeah, like I'm supposed to believe that you demon!" Joseph interrupted him. "I don't know what the hell you want but let me tell ya', the only thing you'll get is a head full of lead.!"
"Please, no." Ezekiel begged him as he got up helping himself with the truck's corpse. "My good man, if you'd just let me explain." He didn't got to finish his sentence as the Muggle shot him in the chest. The pain had been unbearable as the pellets had gone straight through him. He remained against the truck until he felt the Magic force his blood back into his body, along with his missing pieces. Unfortunately the Muggle had witnessed everything and was now pumping the shotgun again. "Look mate, we can do this all day and I assu."
He was cut off again as the man unloaded his weapon onto Ezekiel. The result was the same as before. At least he didn't look like a freak, Ezekiel thought. Sure, his new shoulder from the time he forced the new muscles at Gringotts had yet to 'normalize' for a lack of a better term but bringing back the pieces of his body was preferable. From an aesthetic point of view, obviously. Personally he'd rather not losing any body parts at all.
As the man kept trying to pump his shotgun, not realizing that it was empty, Ezekiel took the opportunity to rise back to his feet as his magic started responding to him again. Approaching the distracted Muggle, he took the weapon from his hands swiftly and throwed it away.
"Let's try this again, shall we?" He asked to the scared man, who had remained petrified on his spot. "Ready?" He asked with a bit more force that he intended to. Considering that he had been polite enough with the whole shotgun thing, he figured that he could let it slide. "Who are you?"
"Joseph. Joseph Campbell." He replied.
"Hello, Joseph Campbell. As I said before, my name is Ezekiel Black. I'm sure that you're scared for everything you've seen..." He said as he turned around, finally noticing the scene around them. This was going to be a mess, was the only thing that he could think of. Finally he turned around and spoke to the man again. "But I assure you that I have no ill will towards you. Now, would you kindly tell me where are we?"
"Marathon." The Muggle replied.
"Marathon?" Ezekiel repeated surprised. "I've never heard of it. Where in Florida is this Marathon?"
"Florida? This is Texas."
"I'm in Texas!?" Ezekiel replied in shock. "How in the hell..." Ezekiel looked around baffled before turning again towards Joseph. "Joseph, what day is it?"
"The eight." Joseph replied.
This wasn't good.
"The eight of what? What month?" Ezekiel pressed.
"Of August" Joseph replied warely.
A week, a whole week. God know what he could've done during that time. No, not him.
"Joseph, would you happen to have a phone nearby?"
"Yes, in my shop." He replied as Ezekiel followed his finger towards the building.
"Lovely! Who is that woman by the way?" Ezekiel asked as he saw Ruth hide.
"That's my wife, and if you think of doing something to her..."
"I assure you my friend, that the thought has never crossed my mind. However, I do think that it would be rather rude of me to present myself in such state." He pointed at his obvious nudity. "Would you kindly lend me some spare clothes, Joseph?"
Ezekiel was able to dress in an old coverall that was lying around, sadly they had no shoes that'd fit him.
"Thank you so much for this, I was starting to get a bit cold, truth be told." Ezekiel hadn't given up in trying to break the tension. He kept failing. "Anyway, I know that this abusing your hospitality but I'd need to make a phone call. I believe that phone calls out of the state are quite expensive. Would you mind if I do? I promise to pay the bill in full once it arrives."
Seeing that none of them said a word he started walking towards the phone when he heard a click. Apparently Ruth hadn't gone into hiding, she was just looking for her handgun. What was it with Americans and gun? was the question that flew through his mind, but seeing how the truck was still spewing body parts, it occurred to Ezekiel that it in this case it was a valid reason for it.
"Joseph, please tell your wife that's not going to work. Nothing personal, but you'll need some serious magic if you really want to hurt me." Ezekiel deadpanned.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Ruth asked, surprised as her husband took the gun from her hand and told her to save ammo.
"Nothing, you'll forget it soon enough." Ezekiel replied as he dialed.
Ezekiel was sitting on the door of the shop when the cars began appearing. The wizards began clearing up the place and the Campbell's had their memories replaced. As per his request, the couple had a very beautiful afternoon and would wake up the next day feeling more relaxed than ever before. As he looked over the procedure, a man walked next to him. He was a very old man with white hair, his mouth covered by a handlebar mustache.
"I thought you retired." Ezekiel said without looking at him.
"And miss all this?" The man chuckled.
"Why did you put him with me, Peters?" Ezekiel turned to the man.
"Drebin is, well was, the son a congressman." Auror Peters replied. "The man is also a wizard and is suspected of several charges of corruption but there wasn't much we could do about it. His son wasn't the sharpest she in the toolbox, as you could see."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Before he was assigned, we had him sign a contract. He thought that it was for his full protection." Peters smiled as Ezekeil finished his sentence.
"But in reality it was to get a way for your people to get a copy of his memories."
"Yep, the contract that he signed said that the MACUSA gets his memories in case of his passing. Now we can see anything that he did, and if it just so happens that he saw or heard something with his dad..."
"And people say that I'm a monster." Ezekiel said with disgust.
"Well, looking at what you did to that poor bastard, I'd say it's hard to argue. I know you don't like animals, Black but at some point did it occur to you to show the animal some mercy?"
What had he done to the creature, Ezekiel thought. A question that the Black Magic was oh so happy to answer.
Ezekiel saw himself on top of a terrified creature that hardly resembled a man. Both were covered in blood. The creature's blood. Ezekiel, rather his body, was pulling and twisting and all in all gutting the thing but it kept growing back it's missing bits. It was doing it while laughing, like a baby who had just found it's new favorite toy. Staring at the creature in the eyes, the Black family had screamed with enough force to destroy his vocal cords " What a gift it is to relish, a victim that can't perish! Let us taste death again, and again, AND AGAIN!"
"I take it that it has died?" Ezekiel finally asked.
"You destroyed it beyond whatever self healing ability it might had. Just to be sure we'll be tossing all of it's remains through the Veil."
"Good idea." Ezekiel said while looking at the truck, which appeared to be empty. "I'll be taking that, by the way."
"No can't do, Black. That thing officially belongs to" Peters was cut short when chains sprawled from the truck and started attacking the wizards nearby. He turned and offered his hand at Ezekiel. "The Magical Congress of the United States of America wishes to extend it's most sincerest thanks the envoy of Her Majesty for you invaluable assistance to deal with this menace. We wish you the best on your travel home." He said while smiling.
"Thank you, Auror Peters. I'll be sure to request Her Majesty for your direct assistance should the opportunity arise again." Ezekiel replied, vanishing the old man's smile.
He approached the truck who began to shake in it's disassembled state, as if it could sense his presence.
"Hello, remember me?" He said as he casted his magic discreetly on the vehicle's remains, leaving it inert. "Would anybody care to call a tow?" He asked to the dumbfounded witnesses.
Arriving to a nearby city at nighttime and booking a suit for himself, Ezekiel began the tiresome labour of grooming himself, having a suit to be sent to his room and calling home. His family wasn't happy for the lack of updates on his whereabouts and Harry had gotten quite anxious but he managed to calm everyone down and assured them of his impending return. The truck, rather it's parts, was loaded into a magical container which was then shrunk to fit in his pocket. The international Portkey left him near the london's docks where he was able to bring it back to its natural size. Once he verified that whatever fueled the truck was still working, seeing that it had tried to attack him with chains, Ezekiel closed the doors and walked to a street nearby. He closed his eyes as he called out to his mount and a few minutes later it had arrived. His beauty of fire and ivory. Sitting behind the wheels felt natural to him as he spoke.
"Hello, beautiful. I've missed you, did you miss me?" The car responded by roaring it's engine. "Got you a present, dear. How about you get something to eat?" Ezekiel said as he pushed the accelerator and ran the car just outside the container. Leaving the car, he placed himself almost front of it with a hand extended. "Steady, steady. Now!" As the car rammed into the container, destroying any magic that it might had. The sound of metal grinding filled the air until the car backed up, the truck and all it's part having disappeared. It would take some time, but eventually Ezekiel knew that it's new components, specially that engine, would be fully assimilated into his car. "Go to rest, my friend and don't come back until it's done." He ordered to the car, who swiftly drove away. Ezekiel turned on his spot and apparated back at his home.
Apparating at home, Ezekiel found himself another surprise. Dora was sleeping on his couch. She drooled too.
"Dora." He said as he shook her gently. "What are you doing in my house?"
"Zeke...?" She said drowsy, but once her eyes opened she jumped at him. "ZEKE! Where the hell have you been! Do you have any idea how fucked up are things around here?" She continued to ramble at faster and faster as she walked around the room but Ezekiel couldn't follow neither her words or her.
"Dora!" He said as he managed to grab her hands to stop her. "Calm the hell down!" He saw her taking several breaths. "Good, now please, slowly, tell me what's going on."
"Gringotts"
"What about it?"
"I took the knife to Gringotts to check the golden remains, as we said. You were right, they did knew where the gold came from." Dora explained.
"And why would that fuck up anything?"
"Because the gold is from Gringotts. The melted Galleons. Those coins are enchanted with goblin magic, turns out that they can be used as catalyst in many alchemical processes. The examiner took one look and the whole place went insane. They want blood and they want it now."
Oh, fuck.
I don't own Harry Potter, all characters except OC belong to J. K. Rowling.