(::) (::) (::) There's your virtual cookies, Deborah; you've definitely earned them. Actually, I was thinking of just sticking Artemis Fowl in the story, but I didn't really feel like making it a crossover this late, and Artemis wouldn't be doing this for the pure love of power anyways (he'd be too busy planning a Gringotts heist). Also, I apologize for the absence of dialogue in the last chapter- I'm not really used to this showing-not-telling thing yet.
The first day of work usually makes people anxious, but it was worse for Liza. She was even anxious about being anxious- what if she let off her magic before she was supposed to? Her worries were put to an abrupt end, though as she reached the front desk and a rather unattractive man in his sixties started to give her directions.
"Hello, Miss DiMarco. You must be the new intern in Magical Crime Control," he said in a raspy voice. She had used as much strategic makeup as she could to look eighteen, and now she smiled shyly, as if she wasn't sure she could live up to the name of Magical Crime officer. "Have you brought a wand, a power crystal, or any other illegal source of magic?" She shook her head no. "All right, then. Now your main function for the next few weeks is going to be to organize reports for the senior officers and run any errands that they might need."
In other words, Liza would be a typical lackey intern. This suited her just fine- she now had an excuse to be anywhere as long as she could think up a phony message when questioned. She let the manager drone on until they got to the fourth floor, and she spotted her first familiar face. "... and if you have any questions, you can just ask Antonito, I mean, Antoinelli, or is it Antonio? Well, he's asked us to just call him George."
George gave Liza the tiniest of winks and began telling her a long and obviously fabricated story about his deatheater days during Voldemort's first reign. Allen had insisted everyone have a partner except him, so Estelle was working with her 'mother' and Liza got George. Today at four they were supposed to attempt their first abduction, and problems were easier to solve with a partner.
Liza spent the day getting coffee for cocky officers and copying rap sheets for 'dangerous offenders', though they appeared to be freedom fighters to hert. With this many people who believed in their cause, Liza wondered if there was some way to organize them. Allen was probably right. The best way to take anything down is from the inside. If his plan failed, though...
It wasn't going to, not when they'd all worked so hard on it. She found George and prepared for test subject alpha.
They saw a blonde woman who was clearly an executive enter an elevator. Quickly following her, they saw two men already in the elevator, nervously noting that they'd have to do all three at once or risk leaving witnesses. George gave the signal.
Liza thought about what these people had done, how many lives they'd taken in the name of their cause, and how evil they were. As she did so, she felt energy seeping out of her and into the executives. In an instant, they were body-bound and George had conjured strings that held them to his hands. Liza and George then tried furiously to apparate, only to discover that apparently the Walpurgi were more paranoid than they thought.
Liza tried to stay calm, then remembered that panicking was the source of her magic. One more burst of energy and all five were invisible, seconds before the elevator opened. They stayed as quiet as they could and rushed out the back door and into the street. Finally, they reached the end of the anti-apparation wards and landed with a clunk in the room Allen had designated.
Estelle and Nancy had gotten there first, and Liza caught the end of their conversation.
Allen was speaking in a tone normally reserved for comforting very young children. "Now, now. You had no control over the matter. It's known as wild magic for a reason, you know."
"But... but this wasn't supposed to happen!"
"Even so, ladies, you must admit it's furthered our cause. A few hundred more of these, and the world can return to normal."
It was then that Liza noticed seven people walking out the door. They looked exactly like the seven people on the floor of the room, except that the people on the floor happened to be dead. Liza, George, Nancy, and Estelle stared in horror at their young leader.
This was definitely not part of the plan.
