~*T*~

"Yaxley," Hermione said, read off the sign on the front gate, as the faint blue glow from Taylor's teleport faded quickly in the sunlight.

"Only one with a dungeon," Taylor said, "Or only one with people in their dungeon."

"Other people?"

"Nope, just him, and his four involuntary guests. He's adjusted his wards, no animals in or out."

"What are we going to do?"

"Bring them down," Lisa said, "Ripple-fire them, to create destructive resonance."

Cowbells converged on the wards by the dozens, by the hundreds.

BOOM. BA-BOOM. BOO-BOO-BOO-BOO-BOO-M.

The explosions started with a single cowbell, then three, rapidly increased into a steady, rolling thunder of high explosives, then faded away.

Inside the house, a man had his hands over his mouth and nose. He breathed shallowly, already a tiny bit blue. The intermittent, painful stings and bites kept him from concentrating enough to apparate.

BOOM. BOOM.

A cowbell blew in the front window, and another opened the door.

Amy tilted Yaxley's head back, and Lisa smiled, "Oh, your friends have been over? That's nice to know. The auror's have a watch on your house? Really? How come they didn't - oh, you've shared? With who? He's not as pain-resistant, could you, thank you, Amy, no, you aren't going to live through this, the easier you make this the quicker your death. You don't want to die like Malfoy, burned alive from inside? Tell me what I want to know. Money, codes, safe houses, everything, of course. Oh, you have floo passwords? The Dark Lord had a password? In parseltongue? I think that earns you a quick death, what do you think, Amy? Taylor?"

Taylor landed a cowbell on Yaxley's face. His eyes crossed, trying to look at it.

"Yes, I think a quick death would be a suitable reward," Amy let go, stepped back.

BOOM.

Lisa picked up Yaxley's wand, "Can we release the prisoners?"

"They're chained, so not without showing ourselves," Taylor said.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

BOOM. BOOM.

"They should be found, now."

Lisa cast the Dark Mark from Yaxley's front step, dropped his wand, and they teleported away.

~*i*~

"We were on-scene within 30 seconds of the Dark Mark being cast," the auror said, "Yaxley asked us to monitor, because he was afraid he'd be a target."

"The neighbors mentioned thunder on a clear day," Director Bones stated, "Why didn't you respond then?"

"I set up a magic-detection charm, and went to get a sandwich, because I was hungry. I'd been gone maybe seven minutes, and had just gotten my sandwich when the charm triggered. I apparated back, and found the Mark over his house, the wards down, him dead of an apparent blasting curse to the face, and a blasted-open dungeon with four prisoners."

~*i*~

Dolohov collapsed backward, grabbing for the giant beetle that landed on his face.

BOOM.

~*i*~

"Ten out of seventy, today," Director Bones told Minister Fudge and Chief Warlock Dumbledore, "I think he is worried they'll run."

"He can call them back, and track them, using the Dark Mark on their arm," Dumbledore said, stroking his beard, "Why would he be worried about them getting away?"

"Maybe he thinks it would be, undignified, maybe, if he had to chase them?"

"And all of them have died from explosive curses or that unknown fire potion," Dumbledore shook his head, "He used to favor the Unforgivables."

"He may know, Malfoy knew, that we modified his Taboo to pinpoint the use of the torture and killing curses."

"I still think we should have watched for the Imperius," Fudge said, "But the Unspeakables could only stretch the Taboo so far, and Bagnold insisted on the torture curse."

Dumbledore nodded, "I thought the Imperius was a bigger threat myself, but Crouch backed Bagnold."

"Can the Unspeakables adjust the Taboo again, or will it break?"

"I don't know," Fudge said, "I'll have them look into it."

"We should keep this out of the papers," Dumbledore said, "We don't want to start a panic over so many prominent citizens being murdered."

"No, we don't want that," Fudge agreed fervently, "Talk to Lovegood, please. The Prophet won't publish anything like this unless we tell them to, but I'll have a word with the editor to make sure."

Dumbledore nodded, "I will talk to Xenophilius."

~*i*~

Comm Beetle Menace?

London: The streets are full of them, and they're on more and more shirts every day. They provide an alternative phone network, and speak in Majel Barrett's voice. Many people have asked what they want, why they have been released, and who makes money off free communications.

When they go through their setup routine, they won't assign a contact number until the Terms and Conditions are agreed to. Ask a Comm Beetle to read these Terms and Conditions, or read the copy we transcribed on Page 3, and the answers to those questions become readily apparent.

The first few pages are normal enough legalese, describing the relationship between the User and Hebert Communications, limiting the user's rights to interfere with the service, troll other users, and so on. After that it becomes more interesting.

All communications are recorded, and some are monitored, for "Training and Quality Assurance." The Comm Beetle listens and watches, both for voice commands and for "user safety."

The user grants Taylor, Amy, and Luna Hebert a limited power of attorney, including the right to call Police, Child Protective, or Emergency services for the user, and custody of the user's minor children at the discretion of the Heberts.

We talked with our legal department, and it would be difficult to enforce these terms in court, but until they are challenged, they are presumed valid.

So, the question becomes, do you trust Hebert Communications? And more importantly, how far do you trust Taylor, Amy, and Luna? Only time will tell if our trust is misplaced.

~*T*~