"This is a terrible idea," Remus muttered, shoving his way into the seedy bar and leaving the door open long enough for the dog and the invisible 12-year-old right behind him.

Sirius Black replies: No, it's a great idea!

[Party] Harry Potter: Sirius says it's a great idea.

They'd figured out party chat sometime during the semester, but since the active list of Marauders had been the same as the party, they usually just used the guild chat. Heading out to Knockturn Alley to do some shenanigans with the elder Marauders, though, made it useful.

Also, at some point in the last few days Sirius and Remus had both gone active again in the guild, so they'd likely need to use party chat back at school for anything they didn't want to distract the adults with.

"That's him," Remus said quietly, nodding toward a man whose whole vibe said "over-the-hill former sports star."

LUDOVIC BAGMAN
Broomrider, Level 10
[MINISTRY,
GRYFFINDOR,
WIMBOURNE WASPS]

[Party] Harry Potter: Wait, he was in Gryffindor?

Sirius Black replies: Yeah. Few years ahead of us. I took over for him as beater my last couple of years.

Remus Lupin replies: Sadly, yes. That's how I knew where he'd be.

Remus, indeed, had been familiar with Ludo Bagman when Harry had brought up the gambling issue, and knew where the man took bets on Sunday evenings. It seemed a reasonable enough idea to go check out his operation after two solid days trying to clean up Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Remus had assumed he'd be going alone, but Sirius and Harry had talked him into letting them tag along.

"Lupin!" Bagman announced, catching sight of the man. "Haven't seen you in months."

"Out of the country for work," Remus nodded, shaking hands with the thickset man. "Stopped in for the holidays."

"Been keeping up with the quidditch?" Bagman grinned. "Got a pick for the New Year's match?"

"Still not my sport, I'm afraid," the werewolf shrugged, trying to extricate himself from a conversation that was rapidly heading to betting. "Wouldn't even know enough to begin weighing them against one another."

"Fair enough, fair enough," Bagman nodded. "Well, good to see you. Happy Christmas!" He settled back at his table, which seemed to be the one that had the best view of the room while remaining private enough to take bets.

"You too," Remus nodded, heading over to the bar.

[Party] Harry Potter: I'll be over here watching him.

The relative privacy of the table meant Harry had found a spot near the wall that didn't look like he was going to be bumped into as he invisibly eavesdropped.

Over the next hour or so, Harry certainly got an education about the things that went on at sketchy pubs. According to Remus, the Hag's Kiss wasn't even the roughest establishment in Knockturn Alley, which went deeper than seemed reasonable for the space magically hidden in the middle of London. This place was mostly just for folks that thought the Leaky Cauldron was too family-friendly, or at least didn't want their business gawked at by everyone heading from London into Diagon Alley.

Given the disreputable characters and salacious behaviors on display, Harry hesitated to ask what the pub goers got up to at the worse establishments even deeper.

He was also getting a pretty firm insight into the way Ludo Bagman did business, all friendly conversations, coins slid across the table, and notes made in a book. A couple of people had asked for extensions on credit they'd been extended, and Bagman had been all smiles while issuing his threats. It wasn't boys with bats that might show up for them, no. He worked at the Ministry. Failure to pay him back could just result in having a word with friends in other departments. And he explained that he'd hate to have to saddle them with sudden fines and lost contracts on top of what they already owed.

[Party] Harry Potter: He's… not actually a very nice person, is he?

Remus Lupin replies: It's a good thing to learn that "friendly" doesn't mean "good."

[Party] Harry Potter: Oh. Uh. They let Death Eaters work at the Ministry? Because Walden Macnair is one.

Remus subtly glanced over at the man Harry had spotted entering the room, and Sirius's doggy head whipped over to look at the same spot, ears laying back (the pub wasn't fancy enough that anyone objected to Remus bringing in his dog). The muscular man with a bad black mustache didn't seem to notice, since several other heads had done the same. He sneered and ignored it, making his way over to the bar to grab a pint.

Remus Lupin replies: We'd always suspected, but could never prove it. He's a sadist. Executes condemned magical creatures for the Ministry.

Sirius Black replies: I wonder if I could get away with biting him.

Fortunately for Sirius not getting caught biting a member of the creature department, Harry found a distraction walking in right behind, apparently part of the 9:00 PM crowd.

MATTHEW JORDAN
Procurer, Level 10
[BOBNAIL'S BINDERY,
GRYFFINDOR]

[Party] Harry Potter: That must be Lee's dad.

The man looked enough like his son that it was a pretty good bet. Unfortunately, Bagman had noticed him, too.

"Matty!" the aging quidditch player announced. "I've very good odds on the Cannons. Five galleons and a win for them will put you back in the black."

Mr. Jordan looked very conflicted. Harry was well aware that the Chudley Cannons, despite being Ron's favorite team, barely ever seemed to win. It sounded like a great way for Lee's family to be out another five galleons. Fortunately, Remus was on point, having walked up and said, "Matt? Matt Jordan? It's been over a decade. Let me buy you a pint." He did a good enough job of acting like he didn't realize he was interrupting Bagman's pitch to not cause an incident.

"Remus Lupin? Yeah, sure," he agreed, with a glance over at Bagman's table. "I'll… uh… can I think about it, Ludo?"

"Sure thing, Matty. Just don't wait too long. Odd are ever-changing!" Bagman told him, letting him get led off by Remus.

Harry only half-listened to this exchange, as Remus seemed to have it well in hand and something else interesting was happening. Sidling up to the bar across the corner at the far end from Macnair were two sketchy-looking individuals who would clearly be related even without Harry being able to see their names. The three had contrived so they could talk without it being obvious to the rest of the bar that they were meeting up, Macnair covering his mouth with his drink and not looking directly at the new couple. For their part, the new arrivals acted like they were talking to each other, but as Harry drifted up invisibly, he could tell that they were talking to Macnair.

Alecto Carrow
Mage/Hunter, Level 11
[DEATH EATERS,
SLYTHERIN]

Amycus Carrow
Mage/Survivalist, Level 11
[DEATH EATERS,
SLYTHERIN]

"Someone set a basilisk loose at the school," Macnair was speaking into his drink as Harry got close enough to overhear, or at least for his chat log to start recording their conversation.

"Rumor is that it was Lucius," Amycus said, as if talking to his… wife? Sister? They looked enough alike in their pale and pasty way that Harry was hoping it was just sister. "Trying to get the old man sacked from his post and kill a few mudbloods while he was at it."

"That stupid Harry Potter ruined his plan before it even had legs," Alecto sneered, and it was unclear whether she hated Lucius Malfoy more than she did Harry.

"Believe me, I know it," Macnair agreed. "Rumor all over the office is that the Minister went to the school special just to meet the brat." He took another swallow of his ale and added, "But I don't believe in coincidences. There are rumors about last year, too. About what Quirrell was up to when he came back from the East."

"If he was coming back, we'd know," Alecto insisted, absently scratching at her left forearm under the long sleeve. "He'd call us."

"Unless he's angry," Macnair almost choked trying to talk around his drink. "We denied him."

"He wouldn't have wanted us stuck in prison," Amycus said, trying to convince himself as much as the others. "We're more useful free."

"That's not what Bella thinks," Macnair disagreed. "I went to see her a few times, you know. Volunteered for guard duty on holidays. "She thinks only the ones that went into that place will have his favor when he returns."

"She would. Barmy twit," Alecto tittered.

"Could it be an heir?" Amycus asked. "I've been hearing about an heir."

"If he had a kid that could use the mark, why wouldn't that child have contacted us?" Macnair asked.

"He didn't," Alecto said, matter-of-factly. "If he'd had the slightest interest in offspring, I would have known."

Macnair actually shot a glance of disbelief at the woman who could charitably be described as "sturdy," then went back to pretending he wasn't talking to the Carrows. "The only rumor I've heard about an Heir is that it could be Potter."

Harry had to stifle his own scoff of disbelief, as close as he was hovering near the end of the bar to spy on the Death Eaters. Fortunately, it was covered by similar sounds of dismissal from the Carrows. "'He'd be a powerful ally, could he be turned,'" Amycus said, clearly doing an impression of Lucius Malfoy. The drawl was a dead giveaway.

"Wasn't his mother a mudblood?" Alecto tagged in.

Harry considered hexing the woman in the back as Macnair shrugged. "I'm pretty sure most of the rumors are coming from Dawlish these days, but the kid's supposed to be some kind of genius caster and killed the basilisk all by himself. If he's on the old man's side, it could be a big problem for us down the line. Easier to hope he's persuadable?"

"Didn't that all happen months ago, anyway?" Amycus asked, the voice of reason. "Unless Potter did something in the last couple of weeks, it's not related. Basically, I'm hearing you don't know either."

"Yeah," Macnair admitted. "If you tell me if you hear something, I'll tell you if I do."

They all nodded, and went back to pretending they didn't know each other as they finished their drinks. Once it was clear that no more information was going to be discussed (and Harry wasn't completely sure what had been discussed), he waited for a break in the traffic across the center of the pub to go back to spying on Bagman.

While he'd been absorbed spying on Death Eaters, it seemed like Remus had managed to get Lee's father out of the bar without making a wager, since Harry didn't see the guy around. Instead, Remus was back alone (if you didn't count the enormous black dog at his feet) and observing the bar. Harry wasn't sure how long they should stay. This place seemed like maybe it was a crossroads of information and they should stick around to see if anyone else relevant came by. But it was also getting late and, as much as he would hate to admit it, very near Harry's bedtime.

Nothing new seemed to be happening over at Bagman's table, and Harry was just about to suggest they pack it in when a nameplate he'd seen before came into the bar. He expected that Mr. Borgin would try to catch the Death Eaters at the bar: after all, he'd first encountered the old procurer cozying up to the Malfoys in his creepy dark magic item shop. But Harry was very surprised to see the older man slide into the chair across from Bagman.

"Liam! Good to see you, pal," the former quidditch pro said, all smiles for the creepy cursed-artifact dealer. "Been meaning to look you up…"

"I know, Ludo," Borgin said, holding onto his dignity while in the same position as several other people Harry had seen throughout the night. "Look, cashflow is an issue right now, end of year. But I came across something that I think we can trade in kind and settle up. Worth more to you than to me…"

Bagman frowned, clearly unhappy with the idea of barter over cold, hard galleons for settling-up. But he sighed and asked, "What've you got?"

The old man glanced around to make sure nobody was paying too much attention and placed a largish case on the table between them. The trunk was cheap wood, and when Borgin opened it for his bookie to inspect, Harry realized that it was just cover for a slightly-smaller, much gaudier case inside. Borgin probably hadn't wanted to carry a jewel-encrusted cask in the open through Knockturn Alley even the short distance from his shop. "I think this could really move you up in the Ministry. Changed hands quite a few times in the last two centuries. But I got hold of it."

"It's a pretty box, I'll allow," Bagman nodded, peering in at the box within a box. "Maybe take a bit off your tab…"

Borgin waved him off, explaining, "The box isn't the artifact, just its conveyance. Surely you know the tale of the Triwizard Tournament?"

"Haven't had one of them since all those people died."

"That was just the excuse for why they stopped it. They lost the means of choosing champions."

"Oh, yeah?" Bagman asked, intrigued despite himself.

"Until now," Borgin nodded, opening the interior cask to reveal a glimpse of an ancient-looking large wooden cup. "With their hands on the Goblet, the Ministry could start the Tournament back up again. And Ludo Bagman in charge of it…"

THE GOBLET OF FIRE (MAIN QUEST)

Who will be the greatest mage in Europe?
O Attend the quidditch World Cup

Both Bagman and Borgin were momentarily nonplussed as a weirdly-close-sounding "Damnit" filtered into their ears. As Harry stifled his annoyance at another main quest starting before he'd finished the last one, they assumed it was probably just a weird trick of the acoustics of the bar and went back to haggling over the artifact.