Chapter 372: Inside Man
If you want to read ahead, you can check out my Patreón @
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The link is also in the synopsis.
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Quinn brushed the yellow grass off his jacket and leather gloves.
The five Snatchers and the one Death Eater lay on the forest ground. The five Snatchers had their arms tied up while their leg bones turned to a liquid jelly as they shivered in the aftershock of the magic. The sole Death Eaters, however, laid unharmed other than the 'light' bruising that Death Eaters usually suffered when they came across Quinn in his Invisible Vigilante persona.
"I knew there was a chance that violating the Taboo this early would attract someone higher up the ladder, but never knew it would be someone so high up the ladder."
Lucius Malfoy stared up at Quinn with one of his eyes beaten black-and-blue. The man who was once proud as a peacock shivered on the dirty ground with his hand raised in a desperate appeal to make Quinn stop.
"Why would someone like you, Lucius Malfoy, be part of a field group. . . accompanying these nobodies," he glanced at the ruffians. "I always assumed you were the indoors type, sitting behind your fancy desk, pulling the strings— but here you are," his eyes went to Malfoy's empty sleeve, "and you don't have an arm. . . how did that happen?"
He already knew Lucius Malfoy didn't have an arm. He had seen the thing happen in Barty Crouch Junior's memories— one of the deranged man's most prominent recent memories, making pieces of information he had seen on the Death Eaters. Alas, like Quinn, the Invisible Vigilante wanted to keep the fact he was a Legilimency secret.
"P-Please, s-spare me," said Lucius, his tone knitted with begging, "I-I will give you a-anything."
Quinn's pupil narrowed as he gave Lucius a staredown. "There is nothing precious than your life, Lucius Malfoy, and I would love nothing more than to reap that precious life of yours and rid the Dark Lord of one of his precious assets."
Instead of begging more, Lucius laid flat down on the floor; it was as if all the life and struggle to survive had left him because of Quinn's few words. He let out a weak scoff. "Then off with it. I'm no asset to the Dark Lord," he raised his empty sleeve. "Killing me won't make any difference, so do it and do it quickly."
Quinn narrowed his eyes and readily reached out to Lucius' mind with Legilimency, and he didn't have to go deep to run into a rush of emotions of longing, regret, acceptance, and a myriad of very depressing emotions that even made Quinn's mood drop. He went a little deeper and found the reason behind all the complicated emotions.
". . . I heard that your son abandoned the glorious cause you and your wife left you. That must hurt," Quinn quipped where it hurt. "How did it feel to have your family betray everything you stood for?"
Lucius didn't vocalize his answer, but Quinn didn't need vocalization as he was inside Lucius' mind. The emotions and inner thoughts told him the presence of great initial anger followed by regret and doubt, which preceded a great sense of belief-shattering turmoil with pain and a resurgence of pain, hatred, and abhorrence.
"Is that how you lost your arm? Punishment for your Malfoy family's betrayal. I guess it was in the Malfoy blood to bite the hand of the one who fed you when the usefulness ends."
Lucius flared up, "Don't you dare! My family is not traitors! I have always supported the just and right cause of the Dark Lord—"
"One person does not equate to the entire family," Quinn interrupted. "Oh, wait, you are the only one remaining, so it is the entire family."
Quinn's mocking invigorated Lucius by setting a fire of anger inside him. Quinn internally smiled; he had heated up the iron, and now it was time to strike it with his strongest hammer.
"Just kill me!" Lucius wailed.
"Would you like to meet your family, Lucius?" asked Quinn, not paying attention to the angry appeal. "I can make that happen."
Lucius sprung up to his knees like a man who had found water in a desert and crawled towards Quinn with his hands tied behind his back.
"Y-Y-You can do that?"
"I know where they are, so it is not a stretch to say that I can make it happen."
"Please, p-please, my family— family, I want to meet my family. L-Let me meet them."
Quinn's eyes shined behind his mask. He pushed Lucius away with his leg, making the bruised man fall to the ground. "I can arrange a meeting with your family, but for that to happen, I will need something in return— because taking away your life is still a luxury that I would love to indulge in."
A shine of hope returned to Lucius's eyes as he rapidly nodded. "I will do anything— anything— my family— just my family."
Quinn nodded. Coming to the forest to trigger the Taboo, he hadn't planned for the current situation. He had never thought that he would chance upon a Lucius Malfoy who was angry with Voldemort and his Death Eaters— a man that no longer cared about trying to assert absolute dominance of pureblood over everyone else— a father and husband who longed and cared for his family's wellbeing.
It was a little too easy to turn Lucius, and in any other circumstance, he would doubt the effectiveness of his words, but in this case, he had confirmed that Lucius Malfoy was going to dance to any tune Quinn decided to play.
Could he deliver on his promise?
Could he let Lucius meet Draco and Narcissa Malfoy?
He could do it. . . after all, he knew precisely where the both Malfoys were living in peace with fear always buzzing with worry. It wasn't that difficult when you knew where you were looking at.
"You are going to work in the Death Eater organization as my spy. As you said, even if you have fallen out of favor, the information you have access to is still useful to me— so anything major that happens with the Death Eaters, I want to hear about it. Go it?"
"I-I understand."
"Good," said Quinn, but he noticed that Lucius wanted to say something, so he asked him to speak up.
"What will happen if the Dark Lord knows about it?" asked Lucius.
Quinn's lips rose up slightly behind his mask. "If the Dark Lord knows about this. . . you die, Lucius Malfoy— you die."
Lucius froze like a block of ice. The already pale man looked like he had been converted to a vampire. No matter what anyone said, the thought of death scared all men, and it seemed that Lucius Malfoy, who had been the dealer of death, was now feeling the fear of being on the side of the wand.
"You're the one to lose the most, Lucius, but at the same time, the one to gain the most. If you chose to refuse, I could kill you know, and everything would be over, but if you comply with this little deal of mine, you can meet your family and take the chance against Voldemort. A piece of advice, Lucius Malfoy, believe it or not, the Dark Lord will be much more lenient to his Death Eaters than I am to them."
There was a turn of silence as Quinn stared at Lucius, who stared down at the ground.
". . . If you can guarantee that I can meet my family. . ."
"You will be able to meet your family. But don't be mistaken; you won't be able to live them— it'll be a meeting for the amount of time I decide. . . and in case they refuse to meet you, it'll be your bad luck."
The last line seemed to strike Lucius like a sledgehammer. It was evident that the man hadn't thought of the possibility of his son and wife refusing to meet him.
"So, I ask you again and for the last time. Make your decision because your life will depend on it, and make it now."
Quinn had said his piece. Make the most of the situation. He had gotten Lucius Malfoy, so he was going to make a man who was once the second-in-command into a spy that would feed him all the stuff he ever needed.
'He has no confidence.' He had studied people and their minds for such a long time that he knew what confidence looked like. He had seen Lucius Malfoy at his best, and now he had seen the same man at his current worse.
Quinn had seen the potential. . . 'Now, I just need to bring it back.' If Lucius Malfoy had become an asset for Voldemort, why couldn't he become one for him?
Lucius looked up towards Quinn, and with a strong tone that had been lacking before, he spoke, "I will do it. I will become your spy."
". . . Well then, Lucius Malfoy. Look forward to meeting your family because, after that, we have a lot of work to do.
Quinn turned to the Snatchers and finished, "Now, let's change some memories and call it a day."
It was time to start picking the big snake's scales out.
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Quinn West - MC - Having insider information.
FictionOnlyReader - Author - A shorter chapter. Couldn't write more on this scene of the story. This last leg of the story will fluctuate like crazy, so hang on tight and keep reading. Internship fatigue has also started to get to me, it has been forcing my schedule to become irregular.
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Chapter 373: I'm The One Who Knocks
If you want to read ahead, you can check out my Patreón @
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The link is also in the synopsis.
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Quinn apparated on the edge of what looked like a normal residential street located in the suburbs outside London in the southeast part of England.
It was one of those areas with identical houses for streets and blocks built by a single construction firm. Except for the cars in the driveways, the gardens, and occasional houses painted in different colors, the houses looked as if they had been copy-and-pasted from the same mold.
It was as Quinn had imagined: an image of normalcy— but at the same time, it surprised him that this was the place the Order of Phoenix had chosen such a place.
"I guess it is fitting," muttered Quinn.
Quinn snapped his fingers, and his appearance shimmered and twisted until his face had been replaced by someone else. Gone were his black hair had been replaced with brown hair perfectly parted seventy-thirty along, and his stone-grey had been dyed to a hazel color. His height increased by a few inches, and his entire body lost muscle tone until he seemed on the verge of being lanky. He rolled his shoulders, and his emerald green three-piece suit morphed into a salaryman's brown work suit with a thick tie.
The new face put on a smile and clenched his fist around a conjured work suitcase. He walked to a house with a trimmed garden with a bed of weather-appropriate lush flowers— everything in the garden was just good enough that it won't arise complaints from the neighbors but not good enough that they would come looking for tips.
As he stepped on the empty drive, he felt a tingle travel down his back. He took in a shallow but sharp breath as the magic in the ward scanned him. In a fraction of a second, he devised the motive behind the scan— it was looking if he possessed magic. He smiled and countered the ward with countermagic, which made it seem that he didn't possess a drop of magic in his veins.
'Even if they didn't want Goblin wards in here, they should've at least put up Aegis. Well good, less work for me,'' he thought, noticing that the warding around the house wasn't from either of the top two best in the business. 'I don't know if I should feel appreciated or insulted at them trying to copy Aegis' quick response alert.' The ward was clearly going to alert people, and they would arrive here to surround him as soon as possible
He kept his eye on the door front door and didn't look at the invisible guard sitting on the yard chair as he stunned him unconscious.
'Idiot sleeping on the job in the middle of the day.'
He knocked on the door and enhanced his hearing, focusing it on hearing what was going on inside the house; he heard two sets of footsteps moving, with one of them moving towards the door.
"Yes?" The door creaked open, and Draco Malfoy peaked out from inside with suspicion and caution clear in his eyes.
"Good morning, dear sir. My name is John, and it must be a lucky day because I'm here with a revolution—"
"Sorry, not interested."
Draco cut him short and began the door closed shut the door, but Quinn put his shoe in between to stop it from closing.
"What're you doing?" Draco exclaimed.
"Sir, respectfully speaking, you are missing a great opportunity right now." Quinn grabbed the door and forcefully pulled it open as he stepped inside.
"What do you think you are doing?!" yelled Draco.
"Nothing, sir; this is for your own good." Quinn closed the door behind him, and the latches clicked into their places.
Hearing all the commotion, the second resident, Narcissa Malfoy, came out running. She had a worried look on her face and a wand in her as if she was expecting something wrong.
"Who are you?" she yelled, pointing her wand at the unwanted guest.
"John's" smile dimmed. He raised his hand, and the brown suitcase turned into a black mask that he put on his face. The Malfoy's watched as the hazel eyes and brown hair both turned black. As their minds tried to understand what was happening, 'he' gave them a push to make it crystal clear. 'He' patted his suit, and the brown work-suit turned into an outfit that covered head to toe in black.
"Y-You," Draco stepped back as realization dawned on him.
"Good day, Malfoys," said Quinn in his distorted Noir voice. "I have heard a lot about both of you; it's nice to meet you in person."
Narcissa pulled Draco behind her and raised her wand to Quinn. "Why are you here? If it is about the Dark Lord and Death Eaters, we are no longer part of that world. Please leave us alone."
Quinn raised both his hands up, showing that he had no wand, and then flicked his finger slightly, sending Narcissa's wand flying to the ceiling. Quinn lowered his hand and put his right palm side up to have the wand glide to it.
"Now that we have the dangerous out of the way, we can have a civilized talk," Quinn slipped Narcissa's wand into his pocket. "As for you not being part of the world. . . I'm sorry, Madam Malfoy, as long as you have that last name, you'll always be part of that world." He looked to Draco, "Especially with what your son did recently. That is why both of you are here, am I wrong?"
He stepped forward and walked into the house. Behind him, the mother and son tried to open the door to escape, but the door wouldn't budge. Inside, Quinn looked at the decor that was clearly non-magical, but there had been changes made to make it feel like home to a magical person with the extensive use of transfiguration— which told Quinn that the neighbors weren't visiting and that the residents were feeling out of place but comfortable enough. . . or pretending to be comfortable enough to make changes to the house.
Quinn sat down on the sofa and crossed his feet to make himself comfortable. Boom! Quinn raised his brow and curled his finger in the beckoning gesture. There were two screams as Draco and Narcissa came flying into the lounge, forced to sit down on the sofa in front of him.
"Even though this is not your home, it is not nice to destroy your place of living." Quinn disarmed Draco and confiscated his wand as well. "Now that we are seated let's discuss what I came here to talk about."
"Please leave us alone," Narcissa pleaded. "We were brought here by the Order of Phoenix. You know who they are— Dumbledore's group! They wouldn't bring us here if we were with the Dark Lord."
As Narcissa tried to get Quinn(Invisible Vigilante) to leave, he observed the silent Draco, who sat by her side. Quinn noticed how Draco sat close to his mother, leaning forward toward Quinn, trying to put Narcissa behind him as she had done at the door, trying to shield her from the vigilante with the reputation of ripping up bodies.
Quinn gathered magic in his voice box and exuded it, weaved it in his words. "I would like it very much if both of you could calm down. As long as you cooperate with me here, I have no desire to hurt both of you. So if we can have a calm discussion without raising our voices."
"What do you want?" asked Draco testily.
"I am here on the behalf—"
"Can you remove that from voice," said Draco, even as Narcissa tightly clutched his arm, "it is hard to understand."
Quinn tilted his head as he silently stared at Draco for a second before opening his mouth and the voice that came out of it made the blood drain from the Malfoy's face.
"Would you prefer if I sounded like this?" Voldemort's voice wasn't something both of them had pleasant memories of. "I guessed not." His voice returned to as it was before, "Now, as I was saying, I'm here to talk. I'm here to talk to you regarding Lucius Malfoy—"
"What about him?" this time, it was Narcissa who interrupted.
"He would like to meet both of you."
"What?" Draco narrowed his eyes. "You are working with Death Eaters now?"
"No, but I am looking to form a working relationship with him. But for that to happen, he has put up a condition that he wants to meet you."
"We don't want to meet him!" Draco said without a thought.
Quinn turned to Narcissa, indicating that he was waiting for her response.
". . . What are you going to do with Lucius?" she asked. "From what I have heard, you don't spare Death Eaters when you get a hand on them. Because of you, one of my friend's husband is still in St. Mungos to this day."
"I'm not sorry at all. Your husband was going to end up the same as your friend's husband, but when the man is Lucius Malfoy, even I have to give it a second thought. As for what I'm going to do with him? He's to be my inside informant."
"And he wants to meet us to do it?"
"From what it seems, he hasn't been enjoying the home without both of you there. He misses you two; wants to meet you."
"Oh yeah? He should've thought of that before he recruited his son into being a Death Eater," spat Draco, his breathing labored.
Narcissa put her hand on Draco's shoulder. She asked Quinn, "What if this turns out to be a ploy to drag us to the Dark Lord for our betrayal. He will turn our lives into hells if he gets his hand on us."
"As I said, I have no desire to harm you," said Quinn. "If the meeting is to be a ploy, then I'll kill everyone who's there to capture you and leave the curse that I have placed in Lucius' body to run its course and make his life, as you put it, a living hell until he dies and goes to hell."
Quinn had decided to strike a deal with Lucius because he knew that the silver-tongued Malfoy wouldn't truly cooperate if he forced the man to work for him. The only way to have a working relationship was if Lucius Malfoy worked with him willingly. But that didn't mean that Quinn trusted Lucius, and thus, he had put in a curse that would eventually kill Lucius if Quinn didn't remove it. Plus, if Lucius Malfoy wasn't going to work with him, what was the use of him living.
"At said meeting, I'll be present to ensure your safety," he finished.
The Malfoy pair looked confused and stunned at the masked individual sitting in front of them. They probably thought that their image of the Invisible Vigilante didn't match what they were seeing now.
"Why are you telling all of this?" asked Narcissa.
"Because it does me no harm. If you accept, I shall take you to meet Lucius. If you refuse, I shall erase your memory and the memory of the guard outside," Malfoys looked aghast, but Quinn continued, "If you accept, just to get me out of the house right now and inform the Order of Phoenix later so that they can change your location— it doesn't matter to me as you have nothing on me that can put me in a disadvantageous situation— but I can always find you again later. . . it was a bit difficult to find both this time, but it won't be so much the next time around."
"We saw your face," said Draco.
"Do you really think that was my real face?" Quinn said without the chuckle he would've usually put in. "There is a reason why I have been able to evade the authorities and the Dark Lord's Death Eaters."
It wasn't difficult to find them at all. They had a Labyrinth door installed in this house, and he had a tendency to go through the purchase details of every door along with the backdoor magic he placed in the doors that told him the location of where the doors had been installed.
And now, he didn't even need that to find them.
Quinn crossed his legs, "Take your time and make a decision. The right decision on your part can be a big blow to the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters."
It took them long to arrive at a decision, but it did put a smile on Quinn's face behind his mask.
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Quinn West - MC - Well. . . I guess the "John" person is tied up with Invisible Vigilante. Damn! I particularly liked that one!
Narcissa Malfoy - Mother - Frightened at what the man in front of her is capable of.
Draco Malfoy - Son - Does not want to appreciate having his residence invaded.
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If you have any ideas regarding the magic you want to see in this fiction or want to offer some ideas regarding the progression. Move onto the DISCORD Server and blast those ideas.
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CREATORS' THOUGHTS
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