章節 34: 34 Escalation
Lucas leaned in slightly, ensuring that only the barman could catch his words. "Let's just say I have a particular need that a regular employment agency wouldn't understand. I heard you're the man who knows where to find the less conventional workforce."
The barman studied Lucas for a moment, then nodded toward the far corner of the bar where a hooded figure sat alone nursing a drink. "Talk to old man Grimsby over there. He might know something, but be careful. He doesn't like his business discussed openly."
Thanking the barman with a nod, Lucas moved towards the indicated corner. Grimsby, an elderly man with a face etched with lines of a hard-lived life, glanced up as Lucas approached. Without waiting for an invitation, Lucas took the seat across from him.
"I've been told you might have information about a certain type of employee," Lucas began, keeping his voice low to match the clandestine atmosphere.
Grimsby, who had a perpetual squint as if he was constantly sizing up people and situations, leaned back and studied Lucas. "Depends on what you're lookin' for. And more importantly, what you're willin' to part with."
Lucas, understanding the unspoken language of such transactions, slid a small pouch across the table. Grimsby snatched it up, quickly inspecting the contents. It contained the few remaining coins Lucas had safed up.
"Not enough." Grimsby said a little pissed off by Lucas' small sum.
"Maybe this is enough?" Lucas said as he reached his hand into his pocket, intending to use Legilimency to forcefully make Grimsby accept his small pouch. It wasn't that hard to infiltrate the old man's mind, he knew Occlumency, but never had formal training. He most likely picked it up along with his job, making him no match for Lucas and his Legilimency.
As Lucas was inside his mind he was able to see, through Grimsby's eyes, a jet of red light streaking across the dimly lit bar. Lucas instinctively ducked down, his heart pounding hard in his chest. The spell missed him barely, instead hitting Grimsby squarely in his chest and eating its way through his torso. It was some kind of flesh eating curse.
Lucas felt the agony for a fraction of a second before he could cut the connection. He had missed the spell cast, a mistake that could have cost his life.
The bar's atmosphere had shifted palpably. The Hooded figures now openly brandished their wands, and the once-muted conversations turned into threats.
"Die you Legilimens!"
"Filthy mind rapist!"
"You deserve the Cruciatus!"
"Your kind should all be executed!"
Lucas took a deep breath, steadying himself for the inevitable battle, as he reprimanded himself, 'Shit! I should have known that. Fuck!'
He took a fleeting glance at the hooded figures approaching, shooting some more spells, before he looked at the lifeless body of the old man. He countered the few spells that would have managed to hit him. Lucas said a silent apology as he positioned himself behind his body. Fear and rage threatened to overtake his mind. The situation had totally escalated out of hand, he just wanted to buy a house elf.
"Don't look him in the eyes!" A few shouted as they continued to blast the table and corpse with spells, not really paying attention if their spells hit.
Lucas anxiously reached out to the first mind he could feel in the darkness. It was a relatively normal mind with rudimentary defences. Not having a lot of time or options remaining, he did the first thing that came to his mind and outright crushed it all, letting the darkness devour the remains.
*Thud*
A body hit the floor and the attackers stopped for a second. A blood-curdling scream woke everyone from their stupor, "August, NOOOOOOO!!!"
The woman, who had screamed for the fallen wizard, had tears streaming down her face as she turned towards where Lucas was hiding. With all the rage and anger she could muster she bellowed, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
The green spell flashed across the room and hit Grimsby's body, which jolted a little. After the first killing curse came the second and third. The woman had totally lost it.
'Why? Why couldn't it be easy?', Lucas thought as his own emotions started to emerge from their clammed state. 'Fuck it. You wanted to do this, I had no choice.'
Abruptly the atmosphere inside the bar shifted and everyone could feel a pressure looming over them, Lucas had released his domain. He could feel the five remaining wizards and the barman radiating their magic, passively attacking his domain. He could also feel the killing curse completely disregarding it and directly hitting its mark. 'My turn.'
Seemingly out of thin air a spell had materialised above two unsuspecting wizards. Completely caught off guard it went straight trough them, splitting each of them in two.
The remaining two, apart from the mad woman, quickly cast a Protego on themselves and examined the surroundings, looking for the attacker.
"Who is there?"
"Show yourself!"
But the only answer that came was the shattering of a shielding charm and the headless body of its protecting wizard. Scared shitless, the other one tried to make a run for the door, but before he could reach it, he was also bisected.
The woman as the last one standing had exhausted herself by the numerous useless casts on the already dead Grimsby and only now grasped what was happening around her. She was on the brink of a mental breakdown and the puddle of blood she was standing in didn't help.
Unfortunately for her, Lucas couldn't just stop at this and go seperate ways. It was his negligence that brought this situation upon him in the first place.
"I am sorry." he said from behind his hiding place as he crsuhed her mind as well. Now the only other person remaining was the barman, who seemed rather indifferent to this situation. It most likely wasn't the first time something like this happened, but it would be the last. Lucas wasn't about to let some loose ends remain. He wasn't sure if the ministry investigated such cases in Knockturn Alley or what evidences you could gather from such a scene, but what was one more casualty.
With one last apology the barman was decapitated as well.
*Sigh*
Lucas was painfully aware that all this pain and death could have been avoided, if he was just a bit more careful and didn't think that he could solve any problem with Legilimency. 'At least they weren't good people'
Before he ultimately left the alley without a house elf, he looted any coins they had, obliterated their bodies as well as clothes, and cleaned up the rest of the place a little bit. That's the least he could do and with the extra money he should be able to buy an elf the next time.
Back in Diagon Alley he took a break, bought some ice cream and went back home. Anything else he could do tomorrow. He also had to explain the sudden mood shift to his mother. 'Couldn't I make the connection one way?'
Turns out, yes he can and pretty easily at that. So in the future, when he runs into an unpleasant situation he can hide his changing emotions from her.
----
It took a while for the ministry to be informed about the attack in Knockturn Alley, but it was the duty of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to investigate even there.
It was pretty normal for conflicts to erupt and this looked like any other clash that got out of hand, so it was classified as a gang conflict and officially closed. No one expected this to be far more extraordinary than it appeared to be.
----
Because of the unexpected turn of events Lucas decided to lay low for a while and learn how to enchant first, before going back to buy his house elf.
The knowledge of the Petillos was enough to get him started. He doubted that any of the few master enchanter wouldn't have myriads of artifacts on themselves, making it near impossible to get their knowledge out of their minds without getting noticed. He also wouldn't need more. His magic was completly different to enchant than the normal one.
It was far more versatile and he could practically add any magic he wanted onto any object, as long as it was of sufficient quality. Although all that sounded great, it also meant that he needed far more training and patience than a normal enchanter, who could follow instructions from a training manual. But that didn't deter him and hours turned into days and days into weeks.
He showed every successful enchantment to his mother, who was overjoyed and proud regardless of what he brought. It started with small every day objects, like a sponge that automatically cleaned the plates and cutlery, and ended with a necklace that would protect the wearer from mental attacks. Lucas now felt comfortable to enchant his future clients' objects to a satisfactory degree.
So he once more found himself in Knockturn Alley in another shady bar. Lucas, now more experienced and cautious, entered the dimly lit room, the air thick with the scent of potions, drinks and hushed conversations. He approached the counter and quietly asked, "Where would one find someone, who is willing to sell a house elf?"
The bar fell into a momentary hush. The occupants, wrapped in various shades of mystery, turned curious eyes toward Lucas. House elves were a peculiar topic not often traded, with the ministry itself selling them.
The bartender, an aging wizard with a crooked nose, eyed him shrewdly before responding, "And who is asking?"
Lucas not looking for any nonsense placed a fat pouch with a klinking noise that only coins could make on the counter, "Does it matter?"
A hooded figure at the far end of the bar seemed to take interest in the conversation. Without a word, they slid off their stool and approached Lucas.
"I heard you're in need of a house elf," the figure said, their voice low and raspy.
Lucas nodded, "Yes, but I require one with a particular set of skills, discretion and secretiveness being a must."
The hooded figure regarded him for a moment, then spoke, "Follow me. We'll talk where prying ears won't catch wind." They walked towards the back of the establishment into a secluded room. "I go by the name Alistair," the figure said, a hint of caution in their tone. "and I happen to have come into posession of a house elf recently. Now, why do you need a house elf?"
Lucas did a double take, making sure no one else was inside the room, before he scanned the hooded figure's thoughts. The moment he overcame the defences an alarm briefly sounded and the figure immediately reached for their wand. Unfortunately there was nothing stopping Lucas from playing with her mind anymore. The figure, now revealed to be a woman, came to a sudden halt not feeling her body anymore, like it was frozen, before she could lift her wand.
A sense of dread and hopelessness spread throughout her body as she looked into his cold and indifferent eyes, "Don't worry, I just want to know who I am doing business with."
Lucas swiftly extracted the information he wanted, mainly who she was and where the house elf came from. Imagine his surprise, when it turned out that it was Mrs. Malfoy, Draco's mother, and she thought that she could make a profit if she sold him an elf from the ministry. In that way she would have more money to spent on clothes or jewellery. The Malfoy's weren't poor of course, but she only got so much allowance from her husband and lately she had seen a few dresses that she just couldn't get out of her mind.
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"What a coincidence, Mrs. Malfoy," Lucas said, his voice chillingly calm. "If it's you I don't doubt that we can come to an agreement. How about we meet back here tomorrow at the same time?"
Mrs. Malfoy, still under the influence of Lucas's Legilimency, nodded nervously, her head had been unfrozen. Her thoughts raced, contemplating the potential consequences of dealing with someone who could delve into her mind so effortlessly.
"Good. Then lets meet tomorrow." the boy said as he turned around towards the door and disappeared from her sight.
Once he was gone, Narcissa regained the feeling in her body and felt a cold shiver run down her spine. She had entered into a deal with somebody, who exuded power and confidence that left her uneasy. Before she could grab the floating pouch that Lucas had left behind a warning rang through her head, 'And don't think about telling anyone about our deal. Cissy.'
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