Grandpa Dace's Quest for a stable family

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[X] Find sources of building materials. Your contacts went out of business not that long ago, and you need good sources if you don't want to keep paying so much for them. Guaranteed access to Wood and Stone production facilities. Chance of getting access to Gems, Crystal, Sulfur, or Mercury production facilities.
Cost: 40 000 Galleons

It took him quite a bit of maneuvering, what with the more and more alarming reports he was receiving, but in the end, it seemed his offers found some sellers. While he had focused on wood and stone producers, it just so happened that he managed to suborn a diamond mine and an alchemist.

Assorted producer business: +8 Wood, + 8 Stone, + 2 Gems, +2 Sulfur / Turn



[X] Develop the land (Free action):
-[X]Gold mine:
Cost: 5000 Galleons. Reward: 1 000 G/Turn, 1d6-3 Native Gold / turn afterwards.

The construction of the mine went very well. In fact, it went so well that it started producing gold immediately.

+1000 Galleons, +1 Native Gold.

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[X] Civilian infrastructure. (Requires Rampart step 1 to be complete to be built: One building of the kind may be built per turn.)
-[X]Tavern: Cost: 25 000G.
Increases morale for standing army, Information on other players

Perhaps it was Dace's newfound interest architecture or good weather, however, the tavern was up and running rather quickly. As Dace was inspecting the building incognito while the workers were relaxing there, he heard something interesting.

[Rumor has it that house elves were behaving strangely as of late.]

His eyes narrowed as he drank some firewhiskey. It seemed the Overlord was shoring up his strength. Why, however, was a worrying question. The answer was even more worrying. The Overlord attacking the Ministry would offer Riddle the opening he needed to attack him instead.

[X] Send word to Rufus. [Since you're allied, Dace's sense of Justice compels him to do it]
[] Don't, he's busy enough already.

More intel on Riddle's strategy, increased SL with Rufus Scrimgeour, increased chance of Order faction survival.

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Learning: Actions: 2 (1+Learning over 25)
[X] The old tales are sometimes true. Brush up on your knowledge, after all each time something supernatural happened, a wizard was behind it. Variable results, autopass, may be taken multiple times.
Rolled 4 + 10 (great Library) = 14 Failure due to related critical.

[X]Survey the land. You'll never know what you can find by running around, but at the very least, you'll know the land's map.
70 / 40 / 30 chances of success. May be taken multiple times.
Rolled: 1+ 10(great library) = 11. Critical failure (mitigated)

It started well enough, the survey had revealed several pieces of useful information, even if Dace couldn't make head of tails of it because his research got interrupted by Hassan, who was whining, a giant brush in his jaw.

Having a dog was hard work, especially if he was pony sized.

Still, he was spending his time leisurely brushing his dog, who was on his back, eyes closed and tongue lolling around, when somebody knocked at his new study's door.

"Enter." He began rubbing the beast's belly, causing it to chuff in delight, tail hitting the ground repeatedly with a dull thumping sound.

Martha came in, the slight creases on her dress indicating she ran here.

"My l- Mister Gwallawg." She smoothed her dress, before curtseying slightly. "We have unannounced guests. Albus Dumbledore and a retinue have arrived. They have been led to one of the waiting rooms."

Dace held back a groan and got up, making the canine at his feet jump up to his four and follow him as he got out his living room. The hallways here tall and arched with an organic design of paper thin ivies behind which small, glowing inclusions were shining a green light in a hallway, giving the impression that this hallway was made of leaves under the sun, instead of within a stone castle.

As he was entering the waiting room, he took a moment to take stock of the situation.

Albus Dumbledore was wearing a hot pink robe charmed to have yellow birds flying on it and currently sat in a chair under the sun, his good hand poking at a branch that was spontaneously sprouting through the cracks between the stones while his prosthetic one was twitching, clearly itching to take his wand and try to make heads or tails of what he was seeing. Dace supposed that as a transfiguration specialist and an alchemist, the Rampart would stoke the fires of his intellectual curiosity.

To his right was a young auror, Kingsley Shacklebolt. Tall, dark skinned and eyes unusually focused on his surroundings.

He cleared his throat, causing both the auror and the old man to turn towards him. Martha took a step behind him in warning as Shacklebolt's eyes were fixed on Dace, something lurking behind those dark irises. He was beginning to feel annoyed. If Dumbledore invited himself over here, could he at least not bring a spy with him?!

"Normally, I would try and observe the basic courtesies as a host, however I happen to feel disinclined towards offering them to uninvited guests, considering what exactly happened last time I had some of those." He crossed his arms, looking at Dumbledore emotionlessly as the man coughed and apologized, ignoring Shacklebot who might as well have been a statue, himself ignoring Dumbledore's glances. Hm, to confront or not confront, that is the question... Oh, please, when did he ever miss a chance to ruin Dumbledore's day?

"Indeed. I apologize for coming in unannounced, however, there are a few matters that have come to my attention that I thought you may wish to look into personally."

Dace just looked at him, before sitting down on the chair Martha produced, crossing his legs and waving for him to continue.

" As you've probably heard of, Riddle-"

"Has been steadily depopulating the Orkney Isles and is currently emptying villages left and right in Cornwall; is raising an army of undead to attack me; and has infiltrated your organization ..." He paused for a moment, raising his hand and snapping his fingers, causing Martha to appear behind the dark skinned auror and pin him to the ground. His index fell towards Shacklebolt's prone form and he finished, "Right there." With no little amount of smugness as Dumbledore jumped to his feet, wand trained on the maid and the downed auror in warning.

"This was part of what I was about to talk to you about." He admitted, while Martha was looking around.

"The other one isn't here."

And indeed, Arthur Weasley still hadn't come back from the loo. And when they arrived there to check on his status, they saw the fresh corpse of one of his butlers. Dace closed his eyes, his annoyance rising. Couldn't he have an hour or two for himself where the rest of the world didn't go to hell without him?!

If he was going to infiltrate the enemy's base, where would he go to do maximal damage... Stupid question. With one last warning glance, he began running towards his study, Martha keeping up with him easily, her gauntlets visible to all with crimson blotches on them looking suspiciously like blood. At this point, he didn't even have the heart to reprimand her for doing what he wanted to do himself. The run was long, and when they arrived, it was to a strange spectacle.

His office was turned upside down, some documents outright destroyed, paper was flying everywhere and the wayward Weasley was head in the floo, a cluster of sheets in his fist. Before anyone could react, Martha ran to him, caught the back of his ratty robes, sent him flying over her over her shoulder and almost crushed him against the wall. Scratch that, not 'almost'. The Weasley patriarch began shrieking in a distinctly inhuman way when Martha's gauntlet clad hand accidentally – at least Dace hoped it was accidental- crushed the man's head like a grape over his lower lip in her hand. She jumped back in surprise when the man's form began bubbling and the normally pallid flesh turned grey, muscles bulging and strangled gurgles coming from the undead's mutilated head, his lower jaw and exposed tongue lolling uselessly.

This was when Dumbledore arrived, took stock of the situation and paled. Looks like he didn't know about Weasley. Oh well.

"Martha, please be a dear and finish that off." Dace rolled his eyes, waving his wand to replace the furniture neatly, all the paper folding itself and landing neatly into a pile that was slightly taller than he was.

"Yes, Master." She raised her fists, gauntlets humming with a golden white energy and almost pounced on the shambling undead. The creature, feeling her intent, tried to scramble away but she was too fast and her glowing fist made contact with its torso. The energy crackled, before her fist turned and sunk into the undead's chest, its ribs giving out due to the strength of the blow. Then, the undead that was Arthur Weasley exploded, his gory remnants burning into dust in midair.

Martha then dismissed her weapons, dusted her dress and turned around.

"Would you like some tea?" She asked inquisitively, while Dace just sat in his chair.

"So that's what she meant by training... No, that won't be necessary."

Dumbledore just looked in silence, utterly flabbergasted at what happened, before he focused on Martha.

"Forgive me if this old man is wrong, but was that Life magic you just used?"

Martha looked at Dace, who waved his hand in a 'do whatever you want ' motion and she nodded, offering nothing more on the subject. Dumbledore, seeing that, sighed, his form sagging a bit.

"It seems every time we meet, events conspire against us. Very well, I shall take Kingsley with me and try to break him out of that enchantment that was weaved upon him. As for Arthur..." He waved his wand and the ashes gathered in an urn that just appeared, regret evident on his face. " I will make sure Molly knows what happened. My inattention is what allowed this to happen, after all."

"It is a fault of yours to keep your eyes on the prize and forget everything around you." Dace agreed easily, beginning to separate the folders into piles and producing a quill to sign it, as Dumbledore flinched.

"... Indeed." Blue eyes scanned the room, encountering photographs of Dace, his wife and their granddaughter. "So this is Little Scathach. It gladdens me to see you caring for her. At least one of us learned from their past mistakes."

The quill in Dace's hand broke, Martha dropped the papers she was holding in disbelief and the people in the photographs all turned to glare at the elderly wizard. Dace put his hands on the table, counted to ten, then to twenty when this wasn't enough. He then opened his eyes, formerly blue eyes glaring into older, yet similar ones.

"Contrarily to me, Aife never wanted to have a father." His voice was trembling with barely restrained rage as energy began arcing around his arms, the castle picking on the mood of its owner and shuddering lightly. "Do not assume, for a single instant, that our situations are even remotely similar. Contrarily to you, I never avoided my responsibilities."

Dumbledore grimaced and raised his hands in a placating gesture but Dace was having none of it.

"Don't presume to talk to me about duty and family, Albus Dumbledore, when all of your life you have been running away from it." His voice was even, and his face calm, even as he was slowly rising from the table. "Get out. I've had enough of you for the day."

"I've apologized time and time again, Dace, with the encroaching darkness rising, isn't it time to put our differences aside?" Dumbledore tried to reason, intent on deescalating the situation.

"Apologies won't bring aunt Ariana back. They won't bring back uncle Albeforth, and they certainly won't bring back my mother's life or restore her honor, father. This is your last warning, remove yourself or I will."

Martha looked at the men hesitantly, before steeling herself and summoning her gauntlets back, eyes fixed on the elder wizard, who had closed his eyes, as if he was suffering physical pain.

"I will. If you are so intent on your current course."

As he came back to his office, he thought about another young man, also full of negativity. He knew Dace's eyes were originally blue, but with the Nature turning them green, the resemblance was striking.

Back in his own office, Dace groaned and put his arm over his face, his chair turning into something more comfortable for him to lie on. It was far too early in the day, and he was much too sober to deal with all of it. He heard noises of something padding the room and cracked open an eye as he felt a weight on his chest.

Hassan was looking at him with puppy eyes and whining.

"It's not my fault. He's the one running around with a bunch of incompetents and poking his overly crooked nose where it doesn't belong." He justified himself, feeling the migraine coming.

The dog whined harder.

"Fine. I'll bring Eli and Scathach to deal with him."

"Wuuuuuuuuu~."

Dace groaned harder. Was that what having a conscience felt like? Because if it was, being normal was overrated.




-10 to all Rampart related rolls until the situation is resolved (aka, the paperwork is organized again). Riddle gains awareness of your base's layout. Riddle gains awareness of the zone map. Riddle gains a +10 roll against your faction.

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At least now you're getting an idea why Dace is acting like he is ! Feel free to ask any question you may have about that~

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Martial:
[X] Hire more security staff. -10 to enemy infiltration rolls. 2000G
Cost: 1 000 Galleons. 60 / 40 / 20 % Chances of success.
Rolled 36 –10 (Nat1) = 26: Failure!

Dace had hopes last winter's bad luck didn't carry over, however, that was wishful thinking. With all the mess in his office however, some of the applications disappeared, and Dace was left with subpar candidates at best, and barely concealed spies at worst, which was annoying, considering those investigations didn't come free. However, he'd deal. At least all of his staff on site was as loyal as ever.

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Intrigue: Actions: 2 (1+ Intrigue over 25)
[X] Plots are good for your health! Plot against: (Will receive intel on their moves, plus additional actions if the opportunity arises.)
40 / 30 / 20/ Chances of success.
-[X] Investigate Aife's plot (this turn only)
Rolled 70 + 30 (PS)-10 (Nat1) = 90. Pass.

At least, His ex-heiress's chicken crawl was noticeable enough that it was easy to distinguish from that mess in his office. The fact they were mixed between old books procured from the Hogwarts library, if what he read was right, probably helped too.

The first common point of the books was that they were comparisons between historical records and myths. Historia regum Britannicae, Le Morte d'Arthur, and many, many more books.

It was amusing, and concerning, considering that if her research was correct, king Arthur was still alive, only asleep. Though, what about him is truth, what about him is myth, Dace didn't know.

Still, the most concerning by far was that she was roaming both lower England and Cornwall; which was where both the Overlord and Riddle were based. While he was reasonably sure Riddle had other things to do right now (such as plotting his demise), he was also equally certain that the Overlord was planning an attack.

There were also all sorts of annotated maps, indicating supposed places frequented by Arthur in the legend, such as the entrance of the Underworld, the Lake, Camlann and even three supposed places for Camelot itself. Suspiciously absent were the cave in which Merlin is supposedly trapped, and Avalon, where Morgana has taken Arthur to rest until Britain's hour of need.

Dace sat at his desk, the ever-growing paperwork piles threatening to eat him alive and contemplated what to do.

[] Sabotage her efforts (will take an Intrigue Action slot next turn). You do not trust her at all with old magic and myths that were forgotten for a reason.
80 / 50 / 10 Chances of success.
[] Let it go... For now. You have other fish to fry right now.

Aife has gone on a quest to revive King Arthur! Why? Probably because she's getting desperate. How? Good question. What for? Probably to attack Riddle and the Overlord. And you.

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[X] Plotting is an excellent bonding activity!
-[X] Plot with Scáthach (the younger): +2 RP with Scáthach, Scáthach gains 1d2 Intrigue to base score. She's still a bit young, but better get started early!

"Grandfather?" The little girl raised her head, looking at Dace who was doing that damnable paperwork. "Why do people not tell what they think all the time?"

"Because some people are incredibly thin skinned, and they would lash out or be hurt should they be told what other people thought of them." He answered, not raising his nose from the parchment, readjusting his square, brass rimmed glasses.

"Oh." She said nothing more. The silence stretched in the room and after writing at the end of his document and put it down, turning his head towards the little girl, who was looking at a picture book about a fox, a bear and an alligator. Without looking at it, he could get what it was about. He stretched his arms and cracked his neck, before speaking up again.

"Sometimes, people also want to deceive the people they are talking to in order to obtain something. That's why you should be cautious of the people who are approaching you.

"Hm." She hummed, brow furrowed and a frown on her juvenile face. Like it or not, it was better for her to learn that lesson early on. Less heartache for her that way.

+2 RP with Scáthach, Scáthach gains 1 Intrigue to base score. Base intrigue score reached 10 ! Intrigue base cap reached.

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[X] Dwellings (Free action) (Requires Rampart step 1 to be complete to be built: One building of the kind may be built per turn.)
-[X] Wolf den: Produces 10 Wolves / turn. Costs 10 Wood, 2000 G

Hassan was padding next to Dace as the man led him and his tribe towards a stone structure in a small area where the treants installed themselves, creating the beginnings of a forest. It looked like a wolf's head, its mouth being the opening with stalactites and stalagmites forming a vicious looking set of teeth.

The animal approached the building, sniffed at it and looked around, before entering cautiously. He howled and the rest of his tribe entered quickly, the puppies bouncing everywhere.

Hassan then walked back to the Fort, presumably towards Dace's bed to take a nap.

Wolf den built. +10 wolves / turn. Hassan still won't leave your bed, though.

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[X] Spend time with one of your SLs: +2 RP
-[X] Lucius Malfoy
[X] Screw you Tolkien. Agatha tried and tried again. This time, she agreed that if the two of you work on it, if it fails again, she will give up and you'll be free to recruit other creatures in their stead. If it's a success, well, you'll have supernatural snipers.
40 / 30 / 10% Chances of success
Rolled: 78 + 20 (PS) + 30 (Agatha)- 10 (Nat 1) = 118. success.

Agatha had an insane smile on her face as both her and an exhausted looking Dace were looking down on a table. On that table was the body of a deceased house elf. Or, more accurately, the body of a deceased house elf that regressed to minion.

After a heavy session of dissecting, Dace finally managed to get through her skull that no, house elves were not degraded 'Tolkien elves' and no, there was no evolution mechanics to the whole species. After that, it was trivial to convince her that other venues would be easier to investigate. Which led them to the other table, where a nondescript, featureless homunculus was laying, empty eyes soullessly staring at the ceiling.

Agatha then lifted her wand as Dace fed the vial to the body and began chanting. There was a vibration in the air and through the window, they could see the remnants of a broken spell being woven into the Rampart's own. That made Dace frown.

It seemed the Overlord was ahead of schedule.

The homunculus began to convulse as Agatha continued chanting, its flesh bubbling and its proportions shifting. Once the changes settled, they fell bonelessly back onto the table. The creature looked human enough, albeit with some deviations. Their eyes were slightly bigger than a human's with cat-like irises, pronounced chins and cheekbones, pointed ears, long fingers and limbs, and their shoulders were more developed than their hips. They looked slightly alien, and a bit unsettling.

Then, the creature, tentatively dubbed elf, regained consciousness, blinking rapidly as they tried to take in their surroundings, then their body.

"It... Worked..." they croaked, wonder visible on their face.

"So it seems." Dace answered noncommittally. " Do you feel any compulsion? Destructive impulses? Need to clean up?" The creature shook their head.

"Dobby... I... Don't. I... Am free." The words were spoken as if they were water given to somebody lost in the desert.

From behind the one-way glass on another side of the room, Lucius Malfoy looked at the remaining corpse of the house elf turned minion, his wife's face chalk white as she gripped his arm in almost panic with a worrying gleam in her eyes.

"Lucius..." She whispered, half question and half warning.

"I know." Was his only answer, as he was planning to find a stock of clothes to give, a new manor to buy, and new alliances to build.

Anti-elf Nat 1 purged. House elf to elf conversion possible. Elves available for recruitment once homestead built. Elves gain abilities Double Shot and Chaos Ward. Lucius Malfoy abandons the Death Eaters, muggleborn prejudice diminishes again. +2 RP with Lucius Malfoy. (SL reaches 3 , gain Goldfinger: +10 to Stewardship action rolls

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Personal: Actions: 6 (1 + Stewardship Advisor + Diplomacy Advisor + Mysticism advisor + 2 Martial advisors)
[X] Spend time with one of your SLs: +2 RP
-[X] Therapy Spend time with Lily: +3 RP, +1/? to recovery

After he managed to convince Lily to drink the new recovery draught he brewed, he could see some clarity coming back to her.

"One blink for yes." He blinked. " Two for no. "He blinked twice as an example. "Do you understand me?"

Lily blinked once.

"Good. " It could still be a fluke, so he decided on another question. " Do you think you can break out of those chains?"

She looked at them unblinkingly, then blinked twice.

"Hm, so you're lucid enough for simple questions. Good. Can I count on you to behave if I untie you?"

Lily stared at him, then, after an uneasy paused, slowly nodded. Dace lifted his wand, causing her bindings to fall onto the ground, the noise making her jump up a little. Then, on the seat on the man's right, a small furry head peeked out of a cloth sack. The puppy got out, yipping slightly, before its eyes locked onto Lily, who stared back at it as it clumsily made its way towards her.

The woman became completely immobile as the small animal jumped on her knees, tail whipping the air as it began to try and get her to pet it.

Meanwhile, Dace was recording the data, ignoring his former apprentice's looks for help.

+5 RP with Lily, +1 to Recovery score. Lily is now coherent enough to understand when she is talked to. Still has poor control of her strength and cannot read.

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[X] Train. You hate doing it, and it hates you back, but if it makes Madeye shut up, you'll do it.

Once again, he got beaten by his ancestress, though, this time, he did learn some more concrete things about fighting.

+1 Attack, +1 Defense, +2 Martial

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[X] Agatha broke in the safe. Nobody knows how, or why, but the golden coffer that was found years ago was stolen. While she may not be up to anything dangerous, this was still Agatha, supervision was necessary. (100)

Dace's eyebrow twitched as he heard the news, Martha pouting him tea. Of course, the girl wouldn't stay put for long now that the Elf project didn't take up all of her attention. Still, her breaking into the safe was concerning, so he got up and stalked out of his study, the maid shadowing him silently. Wasn't she following a bit too closely though? He asked himself, turning towards the woman who immediately stopped, her face emotionless and blue eyes fixed on him, unblinkingly. After ten seconds, he decided that a staring contest was a stupid idea and went back to his original plans, namely, find the girl before she blew up the castle. She wasn't particularly hard to find, what with her demented cackling, and he found her soon at the very top of the mountain, her back to them and crouching, the golden coffer open laying at her feet and the blue gem shining brightly as she was hitting it with gusto against the stone.

Each hit made it glow brighter, small ripples of energy coming out from it, until one particularly vicious hit made it sink into the stone, that particular spot becoming the same color as the gem before a massive amount of water emerged from it, seemingly endlessly. The waters of the fountain were winding down, creating a river that headed towards the sea.

The effects were obvious. (Provided they drank from the fountain at least once a year)

[X] The creatures and people approached and a few were even brave enough to drink from it, and they realized soon it strengthened their life energy.
+50% Population Growth. Nature faction heroes' aging process stopped past 20 years of age.

[X] If the Population was strengthened, the land was too, and the river carried with it riches coming from the earth itself, the water taking a sparkly, almost jeweled appearance.
+25 000 G/Turn.

[X] The Fort and the land vibrated lightly, green glyphs lighting up brightly before dimming. Nobody really knew what it did, but life seemed to become... Easier.
+2 Luck to all Nature faction heroes. Nature's bounty now also ignores pollution and nefarious radiation (Including Nuclear fallout. Not that you need to worry about that. No siree. Maybe a little bit.)

Nat 100 Bonus: Choose 1:

[] The land already rejects change, but now, it can even take actions against the unnatural.
- -10 To Undead and Technological (Muggle) related rolls and damage in all territories.

[] While life was all about healing, and protecting, Nature was about Growth, and as you shower Nature with the wonders of Magic, so does it, with its own.
- [Ignores base stat caps] Each turn, one chosen hero will get a permanent boost of +1 to all of their statistics (both in Planning (Diplomacy, Stewardship, Martial, Intrigue, Learning, Mysticism) and Adventure (Attack, Defense, Ranged attack, Ranged defense, Speed, Movement) type).

[] The waters of the fountain were winding down, creating a river that headed towards the sea, and yet, at the foot of the mountains, greenery immediately took root, shrubs leaving place to sturdy trees, the sparse vegetation becoming thicker and livelier, and animals appeared from seemingly nowhere. The sky became a touch darker, its blue gaining the slightest of emerald hints and Nature saturated Mana.
-[Nature's Bounty] and Influence bonuses activated. [Nature's Bounty] and Influence bonuses will automatically activate in any owned territory, regardless of the time spent, as long as you take one action to spike the water supplies with water from the fountain of youth. That action can only be done by the one the Nature Anchor recognizes as Nature Leader.

Grail building obtained: The Fountain of Youth.

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Behold! The power of repeated stupidly high rolls!

Yep. The Nat 100 was rolled after it was decided that it would be your Grail/ToA action. I used the H3 Totem, rebalanced the money so it's not that trivial anymore and made a few flavor changes, including the reference to H1-4 Nature type Hero, Gem. Cause, you know, if you're going to have to fight everyone to keep it, I kinda need to make you guys want to keep it in the first place.

As a precision: Regular human's base stat caps for Diplo and all is limited to 10. Special cases and hybrids, like Oliver, Arthur, Merlin are capped higher.

As a freebie. Fumbledore once again deserves his name. If a mod ever likes this quest, I want Fumbledore as a freaking Tag.