Chapter 2: Deeper

Now when the anger hits, you have to decide whether to become one with the darkness living inside of you, or to let it take over. A part of you feels so weak, that it feels best to let the darkness take over. To give you some place to hide. I wanted to kill Nott. I wanted to rip him apart for what he had done to me. It would have been so easy.

It would have been so easy to let the darkness take over.

Four years ago.

I watch them drag Theodore Nott out of that abandoned warehouse, and my hand immediately reaches for my wand. I have only one spell in mind, and the will of a thousand soldiers to do it. I could end him, right here. I didn't care about the consequences—I was already suffering the worst sentence in my life. My wife was dead and the man who murdered her was being dragged—dragged alive—out of the building she was murdered in. I stood up, and I felt my legs taking me towards Nott. I'm not sure if I was consciously aware of it, but I knew I couldn't stop. A part of me didn't want to. So I let the darkness—that hatred, that anger—I let it take control.

I'm so close—I can smell the stench of whiskey and death on him. But then there is another smell…honey and lavender. The smell stops me from going any further. I knew that smell, and it gave me a newfound hope. I turned, and it quickly goes away, but it gives the Aurors enough time to drag Nott out of my sight. I watch as another set of wizards levitate my wife's body out of the warehouse. My eyes are frozen on her And that is when I gained control of my body, and made my way towards her, instead. By this point, I had forgotten about Nott, and my will to kill him. I had forgotten that my body ached like somebody dropped it off a building. My only concern was her.

Isn't that crazy? She's dead, and I still worry about her.

As I get closer, the men carrying her body try to stop me.

"Sorry, sir," One of them says, "But we can't let you near the body." He's just doing his job.

But the next voice I hear surprises me. "That's his wife," The voice comes from Harry Potter. He was standing right beside me and I didn't even realize. Had he been there the whole time?

"That's his wife…he deserves to be with her."

He nods to me before walking away—I don't respond to the gesture. I just need to get to her. I follow the men who are levitating her body, and we finally stop at a black automobile, whose back seat is expanded to hold situations such as this. They set her body down on a stretcher, and two men sit on either side of her. Without invitation, I climb in—they don't say anything to me. I don't say anything to them.

I imagine that it is only me and her in the back of this automobile. And because of that, I take her hand, squeezing it tightly—knowing that she won't squeeze back. And then they fall again, the tears. And then everything else comes back—the anger, the rage. And now I want to kill Nott again. I want to tell the driver or whoever is controlling this thing to stop and let me out. So I can walk back to the warehouse and kill him.

"I know how you feel kid," I hear one of the men say. I look at him—he's an older man. A nice head of gray hair on his head and a beard. I can see the pain in his eyes as he watches me. I believe him.

"Nott murdered my daughter a few months back." He continued. "I felt that rage you were feeling. I wanted to kill him…wanted to make him suffer. But that would make me no better than him."

I know why he's telling me this. He wants me to focus on Astoria and not get lost in my anger. To forget what Nott has done and move forward with my life. To take what the muggles say is "the high road." But then I realize that wasn't his motive at all.

"Potter's great and all, but Nott's taken too many people. If the Aurors won't do it, we have to do better. For our families—our communities."

We have to do better. Is what he said. I understood.

"Yes," I respond, stilling holding on to my wife. "we do."

Present Day.

The blue and red flames disappear and I find myself in the middle of Gringotts's main lobby. The blue and red flames were my creation—something I put together from Snape's spell books. Transportation by floo can only be done in floo network stations, and also require the use of green flames that respond to a spoken destination. These flames, however, require a mental picture of the destination, as if I am apparating. But apparition is messy and loud—so this approach is more subtle and untraceable. There are no floo network stations inside Gringotts—or anywhere else I go.

I walk slowly and carefully—listening and watching for anything suspicious or hostile. The last time I was in Gringotts, I was unknowingly welcomed by a group of Aurors, Seamus included. That was the night I saved his life and the night I revealed to him my true identity.

"See anything?" I whisper.

"Nope." I hear Seamus respond. Before I left, I casted a spell that makes us able to communicate telepathically. Sometimes he can be an irritating bloke, but he has his helpful moments.

"There's a backdoor behind the head goblin's desk—just transfigure the glove into a goblin hand and run it down the middle. It should open."

I make my way towards the desk. As I come closer, I can already tell that the door is too small for me to fit through, but I know trying to take the main tunnel will get me caught before I even reach the third floor. I refrain from touching anything—I've had my run in with goblins. They're sneaky and conniving and they don't like others (especially wizards) touching their stuff. Which is why I have to transfigure my hand into a goblin hand.

"Transfigure." I cast my next spell. I watch as my glove takes the form of a goblin hand. It doesn't hurt like Polyjuice potion would, but it does sting a bit. The transformation is done quickly so I can continue my mission. I have to be done before dawn.

Using my now goblin-transfigured hand, I run my index finger down the middle of the desk, where Seamus says the backdoor is hidden. I hear the sound of gears winding and then a click. A gold sliver traces the outline of the door and then the wooden material of the desk fades away, revealing a poorly lit tunnel.

"The tunnel leads to the bottom floor." Seamus answers the question I want to ask. "But you'll be on the other end of the vaults. You'll have to sneak to the seven thousands—and you're in luck. They've increased security."

I step into the tunnel, preparing to be cramped and uncomfortable, but the tunnel expands to my body shape. Goblin magic.

"Potter's doing, no doubt." I respond. The tunnel is quiet and eerie—it is nowhere near exciting as the train carts that normal customers ride to get to their vaults. For one, you have to walk—and I have to walk all the way to the bottom floor. Second, there was nothing to look at, only dim, broken lights and stone walls. But I will admit, this is a better scenery for the Vigilante than Draco Malfoy.

"You think Potter is after the same thing?" Seamus says after a while. It was nice to hear his voice again—it's too quiet down here.

I shake my head, though I know Seamus isn't able to see it. "No. No one knows about it except the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Honestly, I don't even know myself if it's still in there."

"Well if it's not, then we'll know why Nott's stealing wand blueprints."

I don't respond, but it's only because I've reached the end of the tunnel. I can see the dim light of the lower level caves. A cold wind blows through the tunnel and I take my time exiting. I can't see what's on the other side—exposing myself now would jeopardize the mission.

"Seamus." I say urgently.

"Two guards to your right. Three more standing in the middle of the cave, along with four guarding the Nott's vault."

Nine guards versus one vigilante. Nothing I haven't faced before, but why all the security? Especially around Nott's vault. Maybe Harry thinks he's withdrawing money through his source—or maybe it's something else.

I whip around the corner, facing the first two guards. They don't see me—and they won't. I creep behind them, preparing my next move. I pull out my wand.

"Imperio." I say softly and I watch as the spell takes effect. The guards now seemed relaxed, but I know they are trying to fight for control. They won't win, however.

"Take me to vault 7618." I say, pulling off my mask. "And I want you to take me as a prisoner. Seamus make contact."

"Roger that."

I know the connection is made once the two guards grab me by my arms. I pretend to be captured, letting them drag me across the cave to the other side of the vaults. We make it to the middle, where the other three guards are waiting. The next move is made by Seamus.

"Look who we found," I hear him say, but the words are also spoken from the first guard. "It's the Vigilante."

One of the three middle guards eyes me. He won't make me—but I guess it doesn't hurt to try. Finally, he scoffs. He doesn't believe them.

"The hell it is. There's no bloody way you two caught the Vigilante."

Seamus speaks again, and the second guard holding me speaks. "I'm telling you it is. We can prove it."

I try not to laugh. My partner is toying with them, but the real mission is to stall. Only until the other guards—the ones guarding the vault—notices the commotion and makes their way over here. And that's where the fun will begin.

"There's nothing to prove!" Another middle guard argues. "If that was the Vigilante, he'd be standing here, ready to kick our asses! And you two would already be knocked cold!"

"Bullshit." Says the first guard, he drops my arm. While they continue their argument, I reach for my wand. I noticed we've finally gotten the attention of the other four guards.

Keep them talking Seamus. I think to myself.

The first guard continues to rage on. "We just took down the Vigilante. Had it been any of you three, you'd be halfway to St. Mungos by now."

"What's going on here?" It's showtime. A gruff voice interrupts the guards banter. The four other guards have reached the middle of the cave. The leader of the troop speaks, waiting for an explanation of why the other two aren't at their post by the secret entrance.

"We caught the Vigilante," The second guard says. "We were on our way to bring him to you, but these assholes wouldn't let us through."

The other guard scoffs. "Cause that isn't the Vigilante. He doesn't even have on his mask."

One of the heavy-duty guards speaks next. "It's true. He does wear a mask."

The head guard walks towards me. He wants to decide for himself whether I am the Vigilante or not. And as he walks closer, the rest of his troop closes in on me. They don't know that this is exactly what I want them to do.

The head guard squats in front of me, examining my every being. If they didn't know what I was up to, they knew now. This guy is smart—or maybe I just wanted to start the show already. I smirk, letting him see my wand. The Vigilante's wand.

His eyes grow bigger. "You fucking idiots!" But it's too late.

I stupefy him into the cave wall, knocking him unconscious. The two cursed guards do the same to rest. They can't do much, seeing as Seamus has to control them both—but I don't need them to. The ambush takes no longer than three minutes. All the guards are down.

"Tie them up." I order. "Then tie yourselves up." I walk away, listening to the sounds of the guards' bodies scraping against the cave floor. Right now there is only one thing on my mind, vault 7618.

"How's my time, Seamus?" I ask.

"You got twenty minutes. The first wave of goblins will be appearing the Diagon Alley then."

Enough Time. I quickly transfigure my glove into the goblin hand, tracing the claw down the middle of the vault door. Once again, I hear the sounds of gears turning and locks clicking open. Another second and the vault is open—I'm inside.

I have twenty minutes to find—or not find—what I came here for. And I don't have Seamus to help me. Luckily for me, the Nott's were a neat lot of people. Everything inside the vault is organized and neatly shelved—allowing me to complete my mission in under five minutes. I make my way to a rack of old wands. I recognize a few of them—Nott's wand from Hogwarts, as well as his mother's and his uncle's. But these aren't the ones I'm looking for.

My mission was to find the wand of Manchester Nott, Theodore's grandfather. Based on the hierarchy of the wands, his should reside at the top. But, and not surprisingly, it isn't there, confirming my suspicions.

"It isn't here, Seamus."

"Then, it's true." My partner responds. "Nott's father did get rid of it. And now Nott wants to make another one just like it."

"Or better." I say, but I don't say anything else. There is something else in this vault that catches my attention. A box of blank parchment—folded blank parchment. They are worn out and look as if they have been folded and unfolded many times. Something in my gut tells me this is the same material that was found in Nott's cell in Azkaban. If it is, then maybe I can find a way to decrypt it. Then I can find out who Nott is contacting on the outside. I take a one of the folded pieces of parchment and shove it in my pocket. I proceed to leave the vault—mission complete.

"Ten minutes, pal."

The door to the vault closes and locks behind me. I walk towards the middle of the cave, where I find all nine of the guards tied up. I return my mask to my face and walk closer. The other seven are still unconscious while the two cursed ones are just sitting there, staring into space, as if they have nothing else to live for. I know the feeling.

"Break the connection, Seamus." I say, and I can see the life return to the two guards. They immediately spot me, but I don't care. There's nothing they can do at this point.

"OI! It's the Vigilante!" The first one screams. He tries to free himself from his confinement, but he fails. I don't have much time left, but I need to say something before I go.

"Tell Potter that the Wand of Nott has been destroyed." After that, I disappear in the blue and red flames, no doubt leaving the two guards confused. But I know that they will deliver the message to Harry—he'll want to know how nine of his best guards ended up tied together at the lower level of Gringotts.

I spend the next day in Hermione Granger's office—me and Seamus both. As planned, Potter received the news about the Wand of Nott and Hermione seemed to have found some new information on the genetically engineered creatures. Seeing as me nor Seamus knew anything about the creatures, we let Hermione state her evidence first.

"Here's what we know," She begins. "The creatures are being stolen from Romania and taken to an unknown location south of Bulgaria. Here's what's new- three months later, a Hippogriff-Norwegian Ridgeback Hybrid is spotted in Russia."

Seamus takes a bite of his lunch—Lo Mein and mixed vegetables. A meal he and Hermione call "Chinese Food." I've tried it before—not a big fan.

"So they're going from Romania to Bulgaria then to Russia? That's a lot of movement to not get caught."

"What if there are only two stops?" I ask, pointing to the map Hermione has pinned on the wall. "Russia is a long way from Bulgaria. A long way to be sneaking a Hippogriff-Dragon hybrid around."

Hermione bites her lip. "You think they're letting the hybrids loose after the experiments?"

"Seems likely," I respond. "But then that doesn't explain why the creatures haven't caused a world crisis. A creature that size and with that kind of power—"

Seamus nods. "It should've burned Russia down to its core."

"Maybe someone is controlling them." Hermione suggests. "Maybe the locations of the creatures aren't random. Maybe someone is putting them in place—and just waiting for the order."

I want to smile, but I don't want to ruin her moment. She's having a revelation and I love every bit of it. Though I already had that idea running in my head, I was sure Hermione would figure it out as well. If I didn't have feelings for her, I would ask her to join the team. Another quick mind would be a nice addition. I can think fast—but fighting and thinking about the next move doesn't always mix.

"Okay," Seamus says. "If somebody is strategically putting these creatures in certain areas, what's their motive? A better question: What does this have to do with the wand shop robberies?"

I open my mouth to answer, but there is a knock on the door. We all divert out attention to the doorway where Harry is standing. He wears a satisfied expression—an expression I've seen when he's figured something out. Surely, this didn't have anything to do with the Wand of Nott—that information was still a mystery to me.

"Good news, boss?" Seamus asks, taking another bite of his lunch.

Potter closes the door behind him, locking it as he steps deeper inside the room. My stomach ties itself in knots while watching Harry do this. Something doesn't feel right.

"Actually, yes," Harry says calmly. "A part of this frustrating mystery may be solved."

"How?" Hermione asks, furrowing her brow. I wait for Potter to answer—I have the same question, and the feeling inside of me grows worse.

"It's the Vigilante," he answers. "I know who he is."

The room grows silent and Seamus stops midway as he shoves another forkful of noodles in his mouth. A rock drops inside of my stomach. This can't be possible.

"Oh shit."

Author's Note: You all know how this goes. Follow, Fav, and Review!

~TheeStoryTeller