16. Watching me, watching you.

Tony brought them back to Grimmauld Place. Both sitting in the lounge, deep in thought, trying to assimilate the latest information.

"Tony, we're missing something?" Adam closed his eyes, the lack of sleep making itself known. "You need to explain what you're hiding."

"I'm not hiding anything."

"Yes, you are."

A silence descended on the room.

"I've not been told not to talk about our problems, but, that doesn't mean I'm going to, I just don't have the knowledge."

"I understand that, but let me tell you what I think." Tony nodded, saying nothing. "I think there is a group of people, who are not happy with us Muggles." Adam looked at Tony, who continued to stare at his mug. "I believe it might have something to do with the salamander dragons that are now extinct. I believe they are in direct defiance of your ministry, who, like you, know about them, but are, or were, unwilling to do anything about them. Now, people are being murdered."

"Interesting," Tony said, still refusing to look at Adam.

"I also think human expansion is influencing your people's homes and businesses."

"I disagree with you on that point," Tony said after a moment.

"Explain?"

"Extension spells and charms have no upper limit, as far as I know, you can make them as big or as permanent as you want."

"I don't understand?"

"It's a complex-ish spell, I can make a bag bigger, to hold more stuff, a car to hold more people. I can make a house have more rooms." Adam was giving him a strange look. "You have been inside an extension charm."

"I would have noticed."

"You're inside an extension spell right now." Adam looked around. "You can't tell. The moon market was an extension spell."

"I really do not understand?" He replied.

"As we turned the corner at the industrial estate we passed through the shield, which was a purpose-built extension charm. The entire market was being held on the road between two buildings. This house has at least six floors, each floor has at least six rooms, with a bathroom each. If you go outside, you'll see four floors and you'd be lucky to get three rooms to a floor."

"But there were hundreds of stalls." He said a note of incredulity in his voice.

"Precisely, you can't have a market that size anywhere in the UK without everyone noticing. Both schools I went to were part extension charms, I think part of the Ministry is an extension charm."

"How big can these charms be?"

"Theoretically, you could have an entire village in one."

"That sounds mad."

"But it flies in the face of the Wizarding world not having enough room."

Adam still had a confused face. "People live in them?" Tony nodded. "This is as mad as riding broomsticks," Adam said with an air of resignation.

"Forget extension spells, they're confusing the issue." Tony shook his head and took a deep, resigned breath. "Back to your first comment, there is a general complaint amongst the wizarding communities that Muggles are overstepping their position. You see, some wizards and witches, consider Muggles to be inferior."

"Of that, I have no doubt," Adam replied. "I assume that they are tired of sitting back watching us Muggles damage the planet and use the resources that are available."

"Not quite. The complaint is that the Muggles are spreading out and encroaching upon the lands we live in. However, we are finding it harder and harder to hide. Some of our people are of the opinion we should stand up and be counted."

"Are we not back to extension spells again?"

"No, at least I don't think so."

"I assume that Ramsey Arn is one of these people?"

"Yes, he is, and so was Hedgecock."

"But why were the Muggles killed? I'm almost sure they were working with the wizards."

"I agree, but, remember the three curses."

"You think they were being controlled and then killed when their usefulness was at an end."

"It seems likely. What I don't understand is what they are using the Muggles for in the first place?"

"Any ideas?"

"None whatsoever. I can move around in your world with little problem, nobody gives us a second glance."

"Some people I've seen in the cauldron would look out of place."

"Remember Professor Goranuk?"

Adam thought for a moment. "Yes, the dwarf you met on the Charring Cross Road."

"The dwarf is, in fact, a goblin, on his way to Diagon Alley." Adams' shoulders seemed to slump. "We move around your world all the time. You never notice us."

"A goblin?" Tony nodded, smiling at Adam's discomfort. "I need a drink and something to eat."

A loud crack echoed through the room, and Tony laughed. To Adam's right stood a little man, no bigger than a child. Adam noticed the similarity to the ones he had seen in Torkel's kitchen. His skin was grey and dressed in a clean-knotted sheet. In his bony hands was a tray, two hot steaming drinks and a plateful of sandwiches. He placed them on the table, his eyes drifting towards Adam, trying to catch a glimpse without looking. "Would the young master require anything else?" His voice was much deeper than the childlike voice Adam expected.

"No thank you, Meninda. Your time is your own."

"The young master is kind." He bowed from the waist before a loud crack announced his departure.

Adam was staring slack-mouthed at the empty spot.

"House-Elf," Tony said, taking a sandwich from the plate. "Looks after the house for the Ministry."

"Goblins, Elves, what other surprises do you have in store for me?"

"Remember the book."

"I don't have the fucking book, do I? Is he the reason my clothes were clean, repaired and pressed?" Tony nodded. "Does everything get done for you?"

"No, I have a room here for the duration of this investigation, I've been living in the Leaky Cauldron for a while, or I'm in my houseboat."

Adam sat up. "You kept that quiet. I've always wanted a houseboat, where do you keep her moored?"

"I keep her hidden away where nobody, I hope, knows."

"What's she like?" Tony chuckled for a moment.

"She's old and belonged to my mother's family, you know she's Dutch." Adam nodded. "It's a Dutch barge called Aunt Matilda, and she was about to be sold for scrap as she was rotten and about to sink. I had moved to Durmstrang to finish my schooling, which pleased my mother. I needed somewhere to live, as I didn't like the school accommodation, it's underground, cold and damp. I told my parents what I wanted to do, which they didn't believe I could do."

"What did you do?" Adam felt he needed to ask.

"I took them to the yard in Amsterdam, by apparition. You can imagine how well that went down. They both vomited." Adam could see him smiling at the memory. "Amsterdam was where she was being kept." Tony grinned at the memories. "Then I used magic to repair her, much to my parent's disbelief. I don't think they believed I was a wizard, I think they thought I was becoming some kind of magician doing magic tricks." Adam stopped with his sandwich halfway to his mouth; turning his head to look at Tony who was grinning back.

"Go on, there's more you aren't telling me?"

"I got into a lot of trouble that night." He said ruefully. "Underage wizards are not allowed to do magic outside of school, and I used several powerful spells that night and it was noticed by several Ministries." Tony shook his head again. "Ministry people from the UK, Sweden, and Denmark appeared all around us, Hogwarts, and Durmstrang professors turned up. Then they all argued over who should punish me. My father was arguing with the UK Ministers, and my mother was arguing with the Swedish and Danish ministers, in their own language. The two professors said nothing; they stood to one side, admiring the boat which was still visible to everyone. The noise of the arguments woke everyone up nearby and people came out into the street to look at the amazing floating boat."

"I assume it was cleaned up?"

"Yes. The Durmstrang professor, Anatoli, shouted at everyone until they stopped arguing, then he told me I should make my boat invisible, which I did a moment later, which was what I was about to do before everyone turned up. He then turned to me again, thanked me for doing my homework so well and professionally, and he would see me the following week at school. He and the Hogwarts professors both apparated, leaving the Ministers to sort the mess out."

"How bad was the punishment?"

"There was no punishment. I took my parents home, watched them both vomit again, or at least try to, then went back to the boat, and flew it up to the school. I never heard a word from any of the Ministries."

"Nothing?"

"No. Anatoli has a lot of powerful friends in most Ministries."

"This Anatoli seems to be your guardian angel."

"It was him who helped me make the boat work properly. He was so impressed with what I had done that he helped me with the other adjustments. I kept the rear the same, it became my study, the rest of the barge was literally one room, so he showed me how to use extension charms to make the rooms bigger and more of and permanent." He looked at Adam's confusion. "She now has two bedrooms, a kitchen and a toilet with a shower." A big grin appeared on Tony's face. "And she can still fly." He added, still grinning.

Silence descended as Adam thought about what he was telling him. "Tony, does the Ministry know where the boat is?"

"Probably not, I keep it quiet and I use spells. What are you thinking?"

"You were given this house just before the case started?"

"The day the case started."

"Is it being watched?"

Tony looked at Adam for a moment, his eyes wide in alarm. He reached across and grabbed his arm.