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    • I pinched the bridge of my nose, leaning back in the seat with a sigh.

    The 'please fasten your seatbelts' sign turned off and Zrazta unbuckled from the seat across the table from me, looking out the window at the city below.

    "Why… why… why didn't I leave a portal stone in England?" I asked with another sigh, letting my head drop back against the seat.

    Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

    "It's not that bad. There is only ten hours or so," Zrazta said and looked away from the window, "And we had other things to think about."

    "…Sure."

    It was likely nothing as well. It was nothing last time and it was likely nothing this time. There is nothing that said that Alexis was in trouble this time.

    If she is, I'm eating someone on the fucking principle.

    Growling, I crossed my arms and looked out the window at the land below as it started to turn into clouds.

    This was meant to be a fucking vacation. It turned into something else as soon as I returned to Earth.

    Helping a friend was one thing. But running back and forth and I was getting seriously annoyed about the entire thing.

    "You are pissed," Zrazta said with a frown.

    "…Yeah. Nothing in particular," I sighed, "Just the general situation. I can't wait to get back to work so I can relax."

    That got a grin from her, "As soon as we are sure Alexis is safe, we return."

    I nodded and sighed, "Yeah."

    I miss Sheila and Rengosa. Kalecgos and Targos and Jaina and everyone. Venir. I have not seen Venir is a year. I really should go see her and her trained monkey Consort. Husband. Whatever.

    "I'll try to get some sleep," I said with a frown and leaned back, "Don't think it will be much sleep when we get there."

    Zrazta nodded, "Not here," she said and got up to take my hand, "Lay down on the couch. Can't cuddle properly like that. And take off that armour!"

    "…Yes, ma'am."


    XXXXXXXXX


    "Well?"

    "One second," I answered and focused on my necklace in my hand. We were just outside the airport, early morning sometime. I wasn't even going to attempt to figure out what time it actually was with timezones, inter-planar time zones and whatever else there is involved.

    I slowly wove the spell and reached out towards Alexis necklace.

    Connection, but… she wasn't wearing it. The feeling was different if nobody was wearing the necklace.

    Also, it pointed nowhere near Scotland either, it was close, somewhere in London.

    "Somewhere in the city," I said with a frown, lowering my hand, "That way. She isn't wearing it either."

    If this turn out she was out for a booty call, I'll be annoyed. Relieved, but annoyed.

    "Which way?" Zrazta asked, rubbing her neck.

    I motioned towards the city, "That way. Now to find the train to get us there… it should be… uhm… this way?"

    Can't help but wonder if it would be worth it to try to miniaturize the portal key stone enchanting array and try to fit it to the tracking necklace. That way it would be possible to portal directly there.

    Zrazta nodded and grabbed my hand, "Let's go."

    I moved with her through the crowd, I looked around. Nobody seemed to be paying attention to us which was good at least.

    Sadly, her dress was a write off, it wasn't possible to get the blood out of it so while we waited for Castles plane to get ready, we ran out to get her something else to wear. In this case, jeans and t-shirt.

    I glanced at her and couldn't help but grin. Maybe more tight jeans in the future? If they are gifts she might wear them.

    "Here I think?" Zrazta and paused with a small frown, "…That's the right sign, right?"

    "Think so?" I answered, "Fuck, I hate airports."

    It's not just the crowds, it's the waiting, the security, the general annoyance of it all even if we managed to skip some of those by going on a private jet and using invisibility spells.

    Zrazta nodded and headed down the escalator as I quickly recast the tracking spell. Necklace still off, still in the same direction.

    We'll find her. Again.

    God fucking damn it.




    AN// Unbetaed because I asked way too late.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Right, so this actually got me interested in what exactly the plot of HP and the Cursed Child was. Reading the wiki synopsis, all I could think was, "This reads like a garbage post-Hogwarts fanfic written by a twelve year old. Except with double the garbage."

    Then I noticed that JK Rowling had given it full support, canonised it and all. WTF? Did she spend all her millions/billions already and needed quick cash? WTF?!
     
    Rinn said:
    Right, so this actually got me interested in what exactly the plot of HP and the Cursed Child was. Reading the wiki synopsis, all I could think was, "This reads like a garbage post-Hogwarts fanfic written by a twelve year old. Except with double the garbage."

    Then I noticed that JK Rowling had given it full support, canonised it and all. WTF? Did she spend all her millions/billions already and needed quick cash? WTF?!
    Click to expand...
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    I'm pretty sure that letting someone else write a play was part of her contract.
     
    43
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    • We followed the link to the middle of the city and then we hit a problem. It was somewhere underground.

    Could have been in one of the subway tunnels or something, but considering the Wizards, I was more likely to suspect an underground base or structure of some sort. One we had no way to get down to.

    I didn't have the geomancy of a Black.

    Instead we went with another plan. That man, Potter, was the head of their law enforcement. If anyone knew what had happened to Alexis, it would be him.

    I would just need to find him.

    Pushing the door open I walked into the Leaky Cauldron to find the place almost transformed. Gone were the patrons and most of the tables.

    Instead it looked something like some sort of command post with a map on one of the walls. Wizards were milling back and forth, all wearing dark robes. Their law enforcement seemed to have taken over the building.

    I guess the goblin situation was not quite resolved yet, then.

    Zrazta followed me inside and allowed the door to close loudly behind us, causing everyone to look in our direction.

    "This is a restricted area, sir," the closest man said, a guy looking a bit overweight and with short brown hair, "You need to leave now."

    "I'm looking for Mister Potter," I answered instead, "He isn't expecting me."

    "He isn't here. Try at the ministry."

    I shook my head, "Trust me on this, you really should let him know I want to see him and I'm not leaving until I do."

    "Look, I don't know who you think you Urgh!"

    Flicking my free hand, I threw a shield medallion onto the ground between us and the rest of the wizards as they scrambled for their wands. The shield went up and I lifted the wizard by his neck.

    "I am so tired of bullshit that you have no idea," I told him, taking his wand as he drew it and tossing it over my shoulder, "Please let Mister Potter know that I wish to speak to him at his earliest convenience. We will be in London, the Burger King closest to King's Cross. Neutral ground."

    A spell splashed against the shield separating us and the door from the rest of the wizards.

    I glanced at them and then looked at the man I held off the ground, "He has one hour."

    With that, I threw him backwards through the shield, took Zrazta's hand and headed out again.

    The door closed behind us and she looked up at me, "Was that wise?"

    "...Likely not," I admitted and I shook my head, "But I'm pretty sure it caught their attention."

    That got a grin from her, "Bet it did. The shield medallion?"

    I shrugged, "Only lasts a couple of minutes and then self destructs. Don't like using them, but they are useful at times. Just a pain to make."

    While useful, they needed so much power and time to make that they simply weren't worth it most of the time for a oneshot item.

    But as it showed when I recovered the Orb of Black Ice, being able to block a hallway, even for just a couple of minutes, can be life or death. So I usually carried a couple around.

    "What do you think will happen?" she asked as she looked at a car driving past, thumping with music, "Think he will show up?"

    "Maybe. Maybe not. We'll see… if not, I'll try to scry for Alexis' blood."

    I didn't want to try doing that as, well, quite frankly it was a pain in the tail to do. Even with Alexis, somebody I knew, it was way more vague than with a tracking anchor like a necklace, and it didn't give an exact direction. More of a 'somewhere thataway' and you didn't even get an feeling of the range. Even the anchors gave a line to follow.

    On the plus side though, a blood link was hell of a lost harder to disrupt, so there was that.

    So glad I thought to grab some of Richard's blood before we left on the plane or I would have gotten really fucking annoyed.

    Zrazta slid her arms around mine and leaned softly as we walked, "I think we are being followed," she said quietly.

    "I would be surprised it we weren't," I murmured to her, "Just keep cool. We are in public and these people seem obsessed about keeping hidden. They won't try anything here."

    "Seriously, are all your travels like this? I'm starting to think Sheila and Rengosa have been holding back with their tales."

    "No, sometimes they get exciting."

    That earned me a look from the dragoness, "Can you be serious?"

    "No."

    Growl!

    Grinning slightly, I pulled her tight and nuzzled at her hair, "I'm just teasing, dear. Come on, let's head inside and get a seat. We'll see if the head of oppression shows up or if this turns into a massive trap."

    "And if it does?" she asked, seemingly mollified for now.

    "Spring the trap."





    AN// Many thanks to FPSCanarussia for betaing this section.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Rinn said:
    Right, so this actually got me interested in what exactly the plot of HP and the Cursed Child was. Reading the wiki synopsis, all I could think was, "This reads like a garbage post-Hogwarts fanfic written by a twelve year old. Except with double the garbage."

    Then I noticed that JK Rowling had given it full support, canonised it and all. WTF? Did she spend all her millions/billions already and needed quick cash? WTF?!
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    It actually reads worse than most twelve year old's fanfics too. This is mostly due to it being a script rather than a novel, but it still has some pretty damn terrible lines. My personal theory is JK agreed to endorse it before it was fully written, didn't have enough control things, and just had to endorse the resulting garbage fire.
     
    One of the great things about our viewpoint following a planeswalking dragon is that, if we like the world he's in, we can enjoy Atregos and company experiencing it.
    And if we don't like it, we can enjoy them messing with it (or throwing up their hands and leaving because they're done with this world.)

    Hiver's writing is good enough to handle either case gracefully.
     
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    • We didn't need to wait that long, but it was long enough to get some food and drink and for me to draw some quick designs on the underside of the table.

    Drawn enchantments suck, they burn out in hours at best with any real power going through them. But these didn't need to last longer. It was the most advanced defensive enchantments I had time to make in addition to the ones already on my armour. Zrazta didn't have anything like that, her dress did but she wasn't wearing it right now.

    Instead, she was ready to change back at a moment's notice and in that form she had armour.

    Suddenly dragon is quite a surprise for any ambush.

    I wasn't too happy about it, but it was as it was. She would never accept it if I told her to go somewhere else to stay safe, all it would do would be to get her annoyed with me.

    The door opened and I glanced up in that direction as I sipped at my cola. Two men and a woman entered and I recognized two of them. Potter and… what was that other guy's name? Waffle? Weasel? Something like that. I'm sure it started with a W sound.

    They were wearing what looked like normal clothes instead of those robes. Mostly jeans and shirts.

    Potter looked around before spotting us and walking over, motioning for the other two to stay back.

    "Mister Potter, was it?" I asked and put my cup down as he got close. "I would say it's a pleasure, but..."

    "It is," he confirmed and sat down across from us. "What I want to know is why you assaulted my Aurors and why I shouldn't arrest you?"

    "It seemed the fastest way to get in touch with you. I believe I can make both our lives quite a bit easier."

    "And you could just have owled me."

    I sipped at my cola again. "My name is Atregos, this is my wife Zrazta. We represent the Azure Consortium."

    He frowned. "Never heard of you. "

    "Clearly. I believe you have one of my friends locked up, Alexis Castle."

    Potter frowned. "Miss Castle has been arrested, yes."

    "On what charges?"

    "Conspiring with the enemy in a time of war and other charges, including illegal immigration among others. Then we found out some other things as well. Such as there not even being any records of her with our American counterpart."

    Zrazta raised an eyebrow. "Conspiring with the enemy?"

    "She was arrested leaving goblin territory. She attacked the aurors with magic they had never seen before, but they managed to stun her. She is currently being held at the Ministry awaiting trial."

    I growled softly. "I see. Then I think we have a problem. Luckily, I have a solution. Two of them, actually."

    He shifted slightly in his seat. "Which is?"

    "You let her go, you give all her things back to her and have her escorted here. We then leave and never return to your little corner of the world." I said and picked up a french-fry, leaning back in the seat with my other hand resting on my dagger out of sight.

    "The second option?"

    "I got get her myself. I know which one causes less trouble for both of us."

    Potter shook his head. "You are talking about breaking into the Ministry of Magic and breaking out a prisoner from the Auror cells. Give me one reason I shouldn't arrest you two right now."

    "You aren't able to."

    "We have the building surrounded and I'm Harry Potter."

    Zrazta tilted her head in question. "And?"

    He blinked at her. "Harry Potter. The Boy Who Lived? I defeated Voldemort?"

    I stared at him for a second. "Who?"

    "...Voldemort? The Dark Wizard who terrorized the world twice, the one whose killing curse bounced off me, the one I finally defeated?"

    I shook my head. "Never heard of him. I'm sure it was very scary for you."

    Somehow that description failed to fill me with terror after The Dark Titan.

    Potter looked at me for a long moment. "What is it that you do? The Azure Consortium?"

    "We gather knowledge," Zrazta said with a smile. "Magical, mechanical, even something as basic as recipes. We gather, preserve and trade information."

    He frowned at her. "But you've never heard of Voldemort?"

    She just shrugged.

    Potter drummed his fingers on the table, meeting my eyes for several long seconds. His hand slowly stopped before he looked away and turned to glance back over his shoulder, "Ron?"

    "Yeah?"

    "Go to back to HQ and bring the Castle woman and her things here. We're letting her go."

    The redhead stared at him in surprise. "You have to be joking! You saw what she did to Swanson!"

    "Just do as I say, my responsibility."

    His subordinate hesitated and then nodded. "...Okay, sure. But the Minister is going to be pissed."

    "Let me handle that."



    AN// Buckets of thanks to Grey Rook, for betaing this section.
     
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    • Harry's always been good at recognizing when something is going to be a lot of trouble. Having that trouble politely request not to have to happen to him is probably a novelty.
     
    That was fun. Somebody realized just how far these people were from, and started doing some mental math.

    I'll admit I'm disappointed, I have a soft spot for potterverse and would've like to see them get clued in, but I suppose it's just not worth it to deal with the idiocies that come with for Atregos
     
    Hiver said:
    Potter drummed his fingers on the table, meeting my eyes for several long seconds. His hand slowly stopped before he looked away and turned to glance back over his shoulder, "Ron?"

    "Yeah?"

    "Go to back to HQ and bring the Castle woman and her things here. We're letting her go."
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    I could be hilariously wrong but I think Harry was peeking, which would explain his sudden about face.
     
    Well I guess its lucky that Harry had learned mind magic earlier and thus move to avoid the application of "DRAGON!" to the face. I'm betting the thought that ran through his mind when realized just what he and his people were in the cross-hairs of was something along the lines of "Oh. Shit. :o"
     
    aeroprime said:
    Well I guess its lucky that Harry had learned mind magic earlier and thus move to avoid the application of "DRAGON!" to the face. I'm betting the thought that ran through his mind when realized just what he and his people were in the cross-hairs of was something along the lines of "Oh. Shit. :o"
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    in other words, a mental version of
     
    Ph34r_n0_3V1L said:
    Looking into a planeswalking dragon's thoughts would be something new that's for sure.
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    As I've commented before, what the Potterverse calls dragons are nothing of the sort by Azeroth standards. They're proto-drakes. They're even a near-perfect physical match to an Azerothian proto-drake.

    Savage Proto-Drake

    Versus

    Hungarian Horntail

    Proto-drakes are animals, about the same relation to true dragons as monkeys are to humans. Azerothian dragons are spellcasters, as smart or smarter than humans, have all the advantages a Potterverse 'dragon' does against wizards and then they go and wear armor and wield weapons. Not to mention being MUCH bigger and stronger. On top of that, Blue dragons are a LOT more magical than most humans, and the best Blue would probably take Merlin in a wizard's duel and make it look easy.

    And Harry just looked into the mind of one offering to NOT become a problem he needs to solve? Yeah, I can totally see why he's releasing Alexis. :rofl:
     
    Don't they have any mental defenses, at least alerts? Potter should have just hit a wall, not read him. And frankly they were coming across as some kind of Mafia. Why would any LEO bend to demands like that.

    Betcha there is going to be tracking charms and ambush later. Maybe by the American magi.

    Or they are going to try to give them a polyjuiced LEO in disguise!
     
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    Honestly the best way he could explain this to the Ministry is "Alien Wizards". Basically their own planet's equivalent of earth's human wizards, who run an interplanetary buisiness.

    Plus that being friendly with them is just about the only way to access multiple foreign magical markets.
     
    I bet that part of Harry's decision may also have been, "Someone... who isn't going to call me stupid titles? Yet isn't also an evil enough bastard to need to be taken down? I want to preserve this."

    If Harry was using mind magic... hmmm.
    That is something Azeroth is usually short of direct defenses for, isn't it? Kind of a shame Atregos didn't notice - the right kind of defenses might be a great help against the Old Gods.
    On the other hand, Harry probably wasn't using Legilimency, just closely examining Atregos for physical tells. I base this on Harry's skills (and author-declared aptitudes) and the fact that Atregos felt nothing odd, as even untrained people often do when subject to Legilimency based on the books.
     
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    Doing Leglimancy on a Wizard capable Dragon, even with no mental defense, the first hing you tend to get as a surface thought, is "He is hardly a mouthful".
     
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