Chapter Twenty Four – Searching and Questioning
Agent Grayden closed his eyes as the car turned onto Grimmauld Place. This was the third of the Black estates to check. It had taken Cromwell a couple of days digging through the archives to find out where the Black family had established their estates in London. It had taken a few more days to correspond those locations with modern London. The Black family had apparently covered all of their estates with unplottable charms. Lady Aydin's family had figure out the means to counter such spells centuries ago. But they were time consuming.
So far the other two estates had come up blank. The people living in them were distant relations separated by multiple generations. There was also no indication of any protective magic beyond that of the Covenant.
Grayden was riding in the back seat of the car with two of Major Chisholm's SAS team sitting in the front seat. He began to work through the proper spells to see past the protective magic of the Covenant. Being under the direct supervision of the Crown's representative meant he had the capacity to use his magic to sense and see into the enclaves. It was not an easy set of spells to perform and he could only do it a couple of times a day.
"Number 12 should be coming up any time now," the driver said.
Grayden nodded and whispered the final incantation to put himself in the proper frame of mind.
"It should be right up there," the driver said. "But I don't see a number 12."
"Relax Corporal," the other man said. "Remember the concealment magic. We're not supposed to see it. That's agents Grayden's job. So keep quiet and let him do it."
"Yes Sir," came the reply.
The car slowed as it approached the point where number 12 Gimmauld was supposed to be. Grayden reached out with his senses and smiled. He could feel the barrier around the house. There were multiple protective charms and concealment spells. Many of them felt as it they had been strengthened recently. Strengthened by a wizard with a considerable amount of power.
There, he could feel the power of a fidelous charm covering the house. It was erected within the last few months. That fit the timetable of Riddle's revival. He reached out past the fidelous and other protective magic to the house itself. It was being lived in. The house radiated magic. He could sense active spells being used. Wand magic.
The car drove past the house and resumed its normal speed. Grayden relaxed. He began to work through the spells that he had sensed. The protective magic around the house was quite elaborate. At least three of the spells seemed to be set up to only allow blood relations or those they permitted entry into the house. Such spells were usually keyed to direct bloodlines. Sirius Black was the only surviving direct heir to this branch of the Black family. The spells would have been to be keyed to him.
Which meant if the house was being used, he had to be the one using it. He pulled himself out of the trance.
"I think we found our target," he said.
"Lt. Colonel Riley Finn," Riley said after picking up the phone on his desk.
"Colonel Finn," came the reply. "Major Chisholm. Congratulations on the promotion."
"Thank you Major. I haven't heard from you since that dust up in Iraq a few months ago," Riley said.
"Yes, you'd think after all the training films people would learn to be a touch more careful opening certain crypts," Major Chisholm responded.
"In their defense," Riley said. "They did have legitimate reason to believe there was a weapons cache inside. They were just wrong about what types of weapons."
"Quite."
"So Major. To what do I owe the pleasure of the this call?"
"I need to pick your brain on the subject of Slayers," Major Chisholm said. "We have a bit of situation here and it looks like my lads are going to be working with a Slayer or two. I need to know what to expect so I can get them prepared."
"I going to assume you can't give me any details," Riley said. "But it's got to be something serious if the Councils agreed to work directly with you. They're very reluctant to cooperate with any of our teams."
"We were never foolish enough to try and assassinate a Slayer," Major Chisholm said. "Your superiors botched things rather badly with that Initiative fiasco."
"I heard a little about the tongue lashing the President got from your Prime Minister after that," Riley said. "And I was there when General Collins got that call from Lady Aydin. I've never seen the man get so rattled. You have my respect for dealing with her on regular basis."
"It can be a chore," Major Chisholm said. "It is generally best to stay on her good side. So what can you tell me about working with Slayers?"
"First thing," Riley said. "Any notions or problems you or any member of your team have about women in combat, forget them. Believe me Major, I doubt you will ever meet a more pure example of a warrior than a Slayer. They never look it and a lot times they don't act it. But don't let your eyes or first impressions fool you. When a fight starts, its like nothing you've ever seen before."
"Most of my lads won't have a problem with that," Major Chisholm said. "They've been working with Special Projects long enough to know appearances don't mean very much. I do have a couple of recent transfers I'll need to have a quiet talk with. Good lads, but they haven't adjusted to strangeness of the supernatural yet."
"Another thing to keep in mind Major," Riley said. "And this is a little more delicate. Don't think that a Slayer has to prove herself to you. The odds are, you're going to have to prove yourself to her. These women have been fighting for five years. Some of them have faced things that could slaughter both of our teams combined. It's little hard to accept some times, but when it comes to the supernatural, we're the clean up crews. We get the small stuff."
"That's been true for centuries Colonel," Major Chisholm mused. "The Crown figured out a long time ago. The Champions are meant for the large battles. Our job is to make their job easier."
"I wish my superiors had figured that out earlier," Riley said. "One more piece of advice Major. Something I didn't figure out until it was too late. Probably the highest compliment you will ever get from a Slayer is her trusting you enough to watch her back in fight. You understand what I'm saying Major."
Major Chisholm nodded his head. "That I understand perfectly. So are they're any non-classified stories you can share about your experiences working with Slayers?"
"There are a couple," Riley said. "I can't repeat the embarrassing ones. Too much risk they can be traced back to me and I really don't want to spend the next few months in the hospital. Let me tell you about this one time in Sunnydale...."
"I can't believe you're going away from the office Giles," Willow said.
"You were one of the people who pointed out that it was important for the senior members of the Council to put in appearances at the field offices occasionally," Giles said. "And, as they have reminded me repeatedly over the last few weeks, Buffy and Faith have done a disproportionate amount of the traveling. As have you. It is past time I checked in our facilities myself. It should only take a few days. I'll just be going to Rio and Cleveland with a brief stop over at Guardian's New York office."
"What will the paperwork do without you?" Dawn said.
"Willow will be handling most of it," Giles said.
"I will?" Willow said in mock horror. "I really don't want to be in charge that much Giles."
"Nonetheless, while you all complain about jet setting around the world, I do all the paperwork. So if I jet set, you do the paperwork."
"It was Buffy and Faith that complained," Willow pouted. "Why am I being punished."
"It wasn't Buffy or Faith that booked the tickets without telling me first," Giles replied.
"Who told?" Willow said.
"I am not without resources Willow," Giles smiled. "I know a great deal more about what happens around here then you realize. A great deal more."
"Give up now Willow," Dawn said. "I think he may be going into Ripper mode."
"Alright I surrender," Willow said. "Is anything else you need us to work on while your gone."
"Just make sure to keep me informed with matters dealing with the Wizarding world," Giles said. "I read Dawn's analysis comparing the wizards reactions to historical threats vs. their reaction to Riddle," he nodded to Dawn. "You are correct, we are missing something. Something connected to Riddle that makes him unique."
"We need to find a way to develop our own contacts in the Wizarding world," Dawn said. "Jennifer Sinclair is the only wand wielder we've been able to talk to and work with."
"Sophia said she will try to schedule a meeting with Jennifer's grandfather Elder Sinclair," Willow said. "Maybe he can arrange for some additional contacts. It can't be that hard. It's not like we're looking to infiltrate the government. All I want to do is learn more about how their world works first hand. Written reports just don't cut it."
"What about the possibility of entering the enclaves directly?" Giles asked.
"The individual estates and homes we could probably penetrate," Dawn said. "But the larger enclaves, like Diagon alley or Hogsmeade up in Scotland, have very specific entry points. Those are well protected not only by concealment spells but charms to block entry by non-wizards. According to Sophia her family found ways to bypass those protective spells a long time ago. But I don't feel real comfortable using any of them just yet."
Giles shook his head. "200,000 people. All of them capable of using magic. I still have a hard time grasping the reality of it."
"We all do," Dawn said. "Demon's are almost easier to believe than some of this stuff. They do almost everything with magic."
"There is one question we haven't asked yet," Willow said.
"What's that?" Dawn asked.
"What's the price?"
"Excuse me?" Dawn responded.
"Like you said, they do almost everything with magic," Willow paused to look both Dawn and Giles in the eyes. "We all know magic comes with a price tag. So the real question we should be asking is, what price does the Wizarding world pay to use all that magic?"