Harry Potter
And The
1 Payment for Sins
The hooded stranger sat alone in the corner of the Leaky Caldron. Old Tom, the bartender had been watching him since he had come in off the Muggle street several hours before. He had come in and skulked over to a table in the corner where it was dark and he was hard to make out. He had not moved except to order a Butterbeer from Matilda, the waitress. The beer still sat on the table untouched next to a book he had brought with him. Tom had asked Matilda what he looked like up close, but she had told him that she couldn't see into his hood. He gave Tom the creeps, vaguely resembling a dementor as he did. 'Takes all kinds I suppose,' he thought as he went back to talking with old Doris Crockford about her newest radish crop.
At the same time Tom had lost interest in him, the man looked up at the sound of the bar's back door opening. An old, short man who had a long rat-like nose, and a metallic hand, came in from Diagon Alley. The man scanned the bar, glancing from person to person until he fixed his beady eyes on the hooded man. The rat man hobbled slowly through the tables over to the dark corner. He seated himself across from the stranger at the table. He reached into his pocket and produced a small package wrapped in simple brown parchment and placed it on the table.
"Here's the ah. item you asked me to get for you sir," he said with an undisguised fear in his voice.
The hooded man finally said something in a low hissing wisper.
"Well done Wormtail. Was there any trouble in procuring it?"
"None at all sir. I had to do a little creative haggling down Knockturn Alley, but it worked out in the end."
"You stole it didn't you?" the stranger said, mildly amused.
"Don't be mad sir, there was no other way. I was careful not to be seen. No one will be any the wiser."
The stranger chuckled lightly.
"Don't be afraid my sneaky companion, all is forgiven if the results are satisfactory."
Wormtail still trembled though, not convinced that pain wasn't in his immediate future.
"Leave me, and stay out of trouble. I do not want too much attention drawn to me."
"Yes sir," Wormtail said as he rose and rushed as fast as his legs would take him for the exit.
The stranger picked up the package hefting the little box for a second. He placed it carefully on the table and then reached for the book next to it. The book was Hogwarts: A History. He flipped to a more recent picture of the ancient school near the back of the book and examined it. He could see Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall standing on a third floor balcony facing the camera, the only ones who knew that picture was being taken. He watched as children ran out the front doors and toward Hagrid's hut near the Dark Forrest, no doubt going to a Magical Creatures class. He lingered there for a minute watching the children, particularly a black haired boy with glasses and then slammed the book shut. He whispered to himself in a voice that would scare the dead.
"Soon Mister Potter. Soon you pay for what you have done. One way or another you will end my pain, dead or alive."
And The
1 Payment for Sins
The hooded stranger sat alone in the corner of the Leaky Caldron. Old Tom, the bartender had been watching him since he had come in off the Muggle street several hours before. He had come in and skulked over to a table in the corner where it was dark and he was hard to make out. He had not moved except to order a Butterbeer from Matilda, the waitress. The beer still sat on the table untouched next to a book he had brought with him. Tom had asked Matilda what he looked like up close, but she had told him that she couldn't see into his hood. He gave Tom the creeps, vaguely resembling a dementor as he did. 'Takes all kinds I suppose,' he thought as he went back to talking with old Doris Crockford about her newest radish crop.
At the same time Tom had lost interest in him, the man looked up at the sound of the bar's back door opening. An old, short man who had a long rat-like nose, and a metallic hand, came in from Diagon Alley. The man scanned the bar, glancing from person to person until he fixed his beady eyes on the hooded man. The rat man hobbled slowly through the tables over to the dark corner. He seated himself across from the stranger at the table. He reached into his pocket and produced a small package wrapped in simple brown parchment and placed it on the table.
"Here's the ah. item you asked me to get for you sir," he said with an undisguised fear in his voice.
The hooded man finally said something in a low hissing wisper.
"Well done Wormtail. Was there any trouble in procuring it?"
"None at all sir. I had to do a little creative haggling down Knockturn Alley, but it worked out in the end."
"You stole it didn't you?" the stranger said, mildly amused.
"Don't be mad sir, there was no other way. I was careful not to be seen. No one will be any the wiser."
The stranger chuckled lightly.
"Don't be afraid my sneaky companion, all is forgiven if the results are satisfactory."
Wormtail still trembled though, not convinced that pain wasn't in his immediate future.
"Leave me, and stay out of trouble. I do not want too much attention drawn to me."
"Yes sir," Wormtail said as he rose and rushed as fast as his legs would take him for the exit.
The stranger picked up the package hefting the little box for a second. He placed it carefully on the table and then reached for the book next to it. The book was Hogwarts: A History. He flipped to a more recent picture of the ancient school near the back of the book and examined it. He could see Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall standing on a third floor balcony facing the camera, the only ones who knew that picture was being taken. He watched as children ran out the front doors and toward Hagrid's hut near the Dark Forrest, no doubt going to a Magical Creatures class. He lingered there for a minute watching the children, particularly a black haired boy with glasses and then slammed the book shut. He whispered to himself in a voice that would scare the dead.
"Soon Mister Potter. Soon you pay for what you have done. One way or another you will end my pain, dead or alive."
