Chapter 40: Trade
From how the man walked through the manor, Tom deduced that he must have visited on many occasions. They walked down many corridors before exiting outside to a small pavilion a bit away from the house.
"Ah, this should do." The man commented.
He settled down in one of the benches at the pavilion and motioned Tom to sit. Tom remained standing, his figure stiff.
"Where is she?" He asked.
"Hmm, I don't know. You tell me." He answered.
Tom resisted the urge to just lunge at the guy. Instead, he took a deep breath and organized his thoughts. Perhaps, a different strategy was needed. Clearing his throat, Tom began, "First, who are you? Why did you take Harry? And what do you want?"
The stranger laughed at the questions before giving Tom a condescending glance.
"The first question, is for you to figure out. Was your friend named Harry? How interesting. She is remarkable …" The stranger trailed off, his eyes unfocused as he looked in the air.
"Did you kill her?" Tom asked curtly.
The stranger shifted out of his daze and looked at Tom in surprise.
"Kill? That is a rather harsh term. He chuckled. "I can guarantee you that she isn't damaged physically."
"Then where is she?" Tom asked again.
"In an undisclosed location, amongst my followers. Tell me, boy, why should I give her back to you anyways?" He leaned in with a smirk.
Tom took a step back, a bit intimidated, but immediately recovered and internally reprimanded himself for showing weakness.
"A trade." He replied in confidence. The stranger raised his eyebrows.
Tom looked around and spotted a fallen flower from the garden. Giving a swift jerk of his arms, he brought the flower and levitated in front of the blonde. The blond looked at the flower as a maniacal smile spread in his face.
"Deal." He grinned as he handed Tom a piece of paper.
"Your friend will be returned as soon as you get back to school. I will be in touch, keep it with you and don't let anyone see it." He stood up and began walking back towards the mansion.
Tom looked at the paper. It had a diagram of a circle inscribed within a triangle with a line running down the middle.