Disclaimer:

All characters in the story are the property of J. K. Rowling and Bloomsbury Books, with the exception of Eleanora Sterling and a few supporting characters, who are my own creations. This story is created purely for the entertainment of myself and other like-minded readers and no copyright infringement is intended.

By mentioning J.K. Rowling in this story I do not intend to present her as a fictional character or to imply that the Harry Potter books are not her own 100% original works.

Any opinions, political or otherwise, on world events, personages or governments expressed in these pages, are the opinions of the characters speaking them and not necessarily those of the author.

Chapter 16: The Goodge Street Irregulars

Vera had left Remus' flat at eight the following morning to go to work at the offices of J. M. Walsh & Associates. He was not due there himself for several hours. He busied himself in the morning by crossing over to the magical dimension, going for a stroll in Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley to see if he could pick up any information, and dropping in briefly to the Ministry office. He had mail to deliver: checking the post office box used for inter-dimensional communications before he crossed over, he had found a letter addressed to Madame Pomfrey from Nora Sterling. He would make sure it got to Hogwarts via a Ministry owl this very day.

At lunchtime, he had a quick bite and a pint at the Leaky Cauldron. He couldn't be certain, but just as he stood to leave, he spied a young man coming through the front door who looked remarkably like Draco Malfoy. He was just about to hail his former student when the blond young man suddenly changed direction and was back on the street. Lupin tried to not which direction he had gone in but the young wizard was instantly lost in the bustle of a Muggle noontime crowd. Remus was not even entirely sure it had been Malfoy  - it had been a few years since he had seen him - and didn't have time to look for him in any event, as it was nearly one o'clock and he needed to make his appointment in Goodge Street on time.

Slipping into the Mundane dimension at the nearest portal and hailing a cab, Remus arrived at his destination just moments before the appointed time. The receptionist greeted him and led him to the boardroom. He ran into Vera in the hallway and she gave him a slow, secret smile that warmed him right down to his toes.

Manny Walsh, the "J.M." in J.M Walsh and Associates, impeccably if flashily dressed as usual, entered presently followed by three young men in more casual attire. "This is Jason, our computer expert... I believe you've met already… this is Terry, our weapons expert, and Scott, our spy-tech expert. Boys, this is Remmy Wolfe." After hands were shaken all round, Manny got right to the point.

"I understand that you are looking for some fireworks," he said.

"Um… if you mean what I think you mean, I suppose so, yes," Remus replied, nonplussed.

"It was implied that you were looking for an EMP device. What exactly are we trying to accomplish here?"

Remus took a deep breath. How could he begin to explain? "We're trying to impress someone. Specifically we are hoping to give a demonstration that will suggest we have a weapon of great power on offer."

"Why not just offer to sell them a nuclear device? We can mock one up for you for a nominal charge."

"No, no, this person wouldn't be impressed by anything so... mundane. We need to convince him that we have something entirely new that will add to his arsenal and make him very powerful. We also need to suggest that there is something a little out of the ordinary about this, maybe even something a little – well -- supernatural. It was suggested to me that an EMP bomb could be used as a basis for a spectacular special effect, but that we would need more, erm, fireworks, to pull it off. Without harming anyone of course."

"And this person you are trying to impress – is he a terrorist? A despotic leader of some obscure third world country?" asked Manny blandly.

"I suppose you are partly right on both counts," Remus nodded grimly.

"Why not just give his address to President Bush and let him sort it out?" Jason quipped. Remus grimaced: he had been following the news in this dimension and knew of the United States' war on terrorism.

"Well, we're sort of hoping it won't come to that... this particular threat is one that world governments are currently unaware of and we'd like to neutralize him before he goes too far. So far our own, erm, faction, has known this man to be a particular threat because he has been gathering followers, but so far as we know he has no actual weapons at his disposal. What we're trying to do is lure him into a trap by offering him something he thinks no one else will have."

"So this is a sort of sting operation?" Manny asked.

"If I follow your meaning, yes."

"Why come to us? Why don't you get something like Interpol involved in this?"

"We came to you because you specialize in accommodating this sort of 'unofficial' business, and I was also given to believe there wouldn't be too many bloody questions!" Remus replied tersely.  

"Point taken," Manny said quietly.

After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Terry spoke up. "What's the scenario then?"

"I'm hoping that you can help me figure that out, since I'm not entirely clear on what's possible. The plan is to lure one of our man's operatives into a meeting and a demonstration of the 'weapon'. The demonstration should show that the weapon is capable of knocking out power and possibly killing some people within a certain radius. It should also be suggested that at full force it is capable of something catastrophic, like release some sort of magical powers or 'dark forces', if you will. But bear in mind we only need to impress his followers with this weapon, so that they will convince him to want to see it for himself. If we can just get him into a meeting then I think we'll have him where we want him without any further special effects being required."

Remus heard Terry snort behind his hand and turned on him with barely controlled anger. "Consider if you will, that our mark is pretty much insane, evilly so. You might not believe this sort of nonsense, but he will!" Though Remus knew it was not nonsense, at least not in his home dimension.

"OK. Let's think 'movies', then. Maybe we can suggest it could say, open up a portal to a Demon dimension or something?" Scott suggested.

"You've been watching too many episodes of 'Angel'," Terry sniggered again.

"Actually, I've been reading Robert Asprin's 'M.Y.T.H.' series," Scott retorted under his breath.

"Well, the idea of a dimensional portal is right on the money, but I had more in mind of making him think it would give him access to some dark magics."

"Who does this guy think he is, Lord Voldemort or something?" Terry asked under his breath.

Remus blanched at the inadvertent accuracy of his pop-culture reference, and there was another uncomfortable silence while the boys pondered the problem. "What's your budget on this?"  Manny asked.

"Pretty much unlimited, I think."

Manny sat back and crossed his arms. "Sounds like we should get our 'special events co-ordinator' in on this meeting." He reached over and pressed a button on the desk phone. "Sandra? Can you see if Miss LaFay is free? We'd like to see her in the board room if possible."

Presently, an attractive female in her late thirties with carefully coiffed honey-blonde hair entered the room, and extended her hand to Remus. "Good afternoon, I'm Morgan LaFay. To whom do I owe the pleasure?"

Remus Lupin was so surprised as he took her hand that he almost blurted out his real name. True to her infamous moniker, unless his faculty for detecting magical power was completely out of whack, Miss LaFay was indeed a witch.

NEXT: Remus Checks In

A/N

Again with the apologies. Work & life are nuts. I hope to actually find some time to write SOOOOOOON....

Thanks to Autymn for her kind offer to beta for me... I might still be in touch, but with no time to write there's nothing to beta... at the moment!

RE: the Robert Aspirin reference, I have read a few of the books in the M.Y.T.H. series and greatly enjoyed them. Being a big "Buffy" and "Angel" fan, I have to wonder if Joss Whedon has read them too. He certainly seems to have taken a lot of his ideas about Demon dimensions from them! I also once met Bob Asprin along with a bunch of old-style Klingons at a Star Trek convention in Ann Arbor, Mich. waaaay back in the day... he was doing convention security as Yang the Merciless and his Mongol Hordes. There's some trivia for anyone whose an MYTH fan.

-Grey Lady