It was a long day at the shop at it always had been for the old keeper. Checking an old pocket watch tucked into his cream sweater vest, he sighed pleasantly and moved from around the counter. "Oh, I do hope Paul made chicken tonight." The plump man sighed happily at the thought as he passed by a few old shelves of crystals they kept for the local children.
Their shop was a simple habberdashery that had passed down his family for over a century now, and he was proud that their son had also shown some intrigue in the craft. Another proud maker of the little fineries of life.
Turning the sign around on the glass door, the man stroked his well-groomed mustache and checked his reddish brown short kept hair in the reflection. Happy, even jolly blue eyes shimmered. What a good night it was as he gazed out onto the stars. The country lacked the city sides' light pollution and made for such spectacular nighttime views.
He was about to turn around when the lights all flickered off in the store. He turned, looking around curiously as a hand rested gently on a wand tucked beneath the band of his tanned slacks. Power outages were rather uncommon here.
Slowly moving into the store, shifting beside a few small shelves of button designs, embroidering images, and a booklet shelf, he turned around the corner to find a wand in his throat and a cloaked figure slowly pressing it closer against it.
"Now... let us not be hasty, my friend." The man said in as calming a tone as he could muster.
"We have come to collect what is owed to use, Nicholas!" The figure barked angrily in a raspy voice that reminded the old man of gnashing rat's teeth. "We know you have it!"
The old man gulped softly, thinking on the box in his office before he batted the wand aside before punching the figure back as he drew his own wand. "Expel -"
"Crucio." A deadpan voice intoned behind him as the old man crumpled to his knees. A second cloaked figure slowly walked behind him, his wand pointed down at the pained man to maintain the tortorous curse. "Check the office welp. It's likely in there."
"Y-yes, sir!" The raspy figure scrambled up, rushing to the office.
The deadpan figure returned green eyed focus back down on the elderly shopkeep. The dark light from the windows grimly illuminated snake like skin along the chin of the hooded figure. "It is not personal. You simply are in our way."
"Y..ou... don...t.. kn.." The poor man struggled to sputter even simple words free.
"Oh, I am quite aware of what I seek. The return of my master. The restoration of my bloodline. Yes," as the curse seemed to intensify, "but settling for making you go mad with pain and begging for mercy... that certainly will tide me over."
The figure intoned another curse as the man screamed out. His blood suddenly felt like it had been turned to venom. "Yes. You will suffer before the end."
"I have it, sir!" He heard the raspy voice shout as he rushed back out, cradling a small black box marked by a snake of silver wrapped around it.
"N...o...!!" The elderly man croked out, touching his own nose as the minion let out a hard scream. The deadpan figure looked up in a bit of shock as he watched his minion be made to vomit up wooden trains, toys, and soldiers, convulsing as his body slumped to the ground in pain.
"That was a mistske, old man." Violent green eyes turning back on him as they slit like serpentine eyes. "He was useful." The figure strood across the floor and stepped on the heaving chest of the man. "Beg." As he slashed off the old mans nose with a slicing curse. "Beg! CRUCIO!!" Intoning the curse again as the wand dug into the man's chest and trying to bury all the way to his heart.
"Avada Kedabra." A rather soft and dainty voice spoke as the snake like man simply went ram rod for a second before slowly collapsing over as dead as a doornail.
Shaking, panting, and quickly chugging a small potion tucked into his pocket as his nose and body burned back to a livable state, he rose up in a hurry to see who had next appeared. Rubbing his nose achingly as it reformed, he looked in utter disbelief as he saw a little girl stand in the glass doorway he hadn't had a chance to lock.
A simple little girl in a pink and yellow dress with a little blue jacket sitting over her shoulders. Blonde hair in a banged haircut with little curls at the tips by her upper arms in perfect symmetry. Cute and curious green eyes locked onto the elderly man behind hexagonal glasses. "Do you still have those crystals? I know I am late."
The old man's jaw could have hit the floor. "I-I.."? Too flabbergasted by what he had witnessed as he looked at the girl as she walked in and looked around before smiling as she knelt and scooped up three crystals of amethyst.
"How much for these, sir?" She smiled and dug into her skirt pocket before drawing out a tenner. "Is this enough?"
"Young lady... you just saved my life. You... how do you know that spell?" He asked, walking over cautiously still.
"You were in danger, and you have the crystals I wanted."
"And... the curse...?" Still a little floored by how simple her logic came to be.
"I read it in my mama's book. She's an auror, you see. Very good at her job. Gets crud from the ministry all the time." The girl handed him the tenner. "Did you need some assistance cleaning up? I do not need to be back home until at least an hour from now."
The man gulped slowly as he could hear in the distance the brooms and apparatuons of ministry agents. "I think that would be quite nice, yes."
An hour later
"No you fucking aren't you bloody cockheaded shitstain of a smear on griffindors least colorful taint!" A rather violently redheaded woman shouted at the lead auror as he gulped down while holding a notepad. He had only stated what procedure was. His partner chuckled, knowing he was just a naive rookie still.
"Listen, Agent Tanya, your child used an unforgiva -"
"She saved an old man's life is what she did! Would ya be so eager if she had just blown a hole out the back of his noggin instead?! Oh, she's got plenty of spells to defend herself! How bout I show you a few!" Rolling up a long flowy sleeve, the elder auror knew it was time to step in.
"Look, it doesn't look good to have a child even knowing that curse exists. Let alone using it. We won't throw her in Azkaban, though." He assured her
This calmed her down enough that she didn't seem ready to bite either of their heads off yet. "Be hell ta pay if ya did ya git."
"But we do still need to find a way to handle this. This is... this is bad if it gets out to the media. So we need your daughter to go somewhere for a while until this blows over." He braced for what was next.
The witch, however, sighed in annoyance. She had a solution. She didn't want to send their sweet Selena to Hogwarts after all the stories her wife had told her, but that letter had come, and now she needed it. "I... may have a solution."
"Well, all ears, Agent Tanya."
"What do you have planned this time, Lovegood?"
The witch sighed and pulled out a letter marked with a red wax symbol. "Unfortunately, my wife's alma matter will have to do."