another hol library project
The auror leaned back at their desk and sighed heavily. A report of a rouge witch had been placed on his desk and he really hated those assignments. In the years following the incident at Hogwarts they had been getting fewer and far between but every time one showed up there was the possibility of another Voldemort showing up.
He shuddered and chastised himself for showing such weakness even at saying his name in his head. Even though he knew fear of a name was silly and that the evil thing had been destroyed a long time ago he couldn't help reacting even in his own mind.
Sighing heavily once again, he gathered his gear and headed out to check out the suspected rogue witch.
***
Some time later he crossed a dark street in the wharehouse district near the docks and made his way stealthily towards a small crowd of young people. They seemed to be conversing quitely with a hint of excitement as they waited patiently to gain entrance to the building behind them.
Without warning the large doors they were standing beside creaked open wide with an eerie groan. A seductive female voice encourage the small crowd to enter if they dared as there was no going back once they had crossed the threshold.
The auror chuckled and made his way in with the crowd. The moment the last one had stepped through the doorway, it snapped shut with a clang, startling one of the girls in the group and causing her to scream.
The darkened room grew clearer as lights started to glow along the walls. Flickering shadows doing nothing to calm the group he had entered with the auror quietly got out his wand and cast a few silent spells looking for evidence of magic. He was pleasantly surprised to find none. He was about to take his leave and go back and file a false alarm report when the murmurring crowd grew silent.
Looking around for the source he spied a growing mist on a raised platform. In the mist he could barely make out the form of a woman. Definitely a woman and not a witch as his spell was still in effect and there were no traces of magic present. Then the form became clear. It was a woman dressed in flowing white robes that sparkled in the dim lighting. She smiled and began to speak.
"My children." her voice was sweet and clear and still very seductive sounding as she spread her arms wide as if embracing the crowd. "I'm so glad you all felt brave enough to come and meet me."
Whoever this woman was she sure had a way with words, the auror thought as he watched the group almost melt into the embrace of her words.
The woman stepped off the platform and made her way towards the group at a slow steady pace, studying the faces of them as she walked. "My name is Moxie, and I am here to help you." she crooned to the eager faces. "We could do with some refreshments before we start."
She turned to face the wall to the left and closed her eyes and chanted some words while waving her arms about. Years of training allowed the auror to watch this display without falling on the floor laughing at the antics of the deluded woman in front of him only to gasp along with the others when a puff of what looked like smoke appeared and when it had vanished a table heavily laden with food and drink remained.
Sparing a quick glance at his wand he realized that there still wasn't any presence of magic to be seen.
Moxie turned again to face the small crowd and smiled, a trace of smirk quickly vanished as the charm poured on even more from her beaming visage. "What would be a meal without a place to sit?" she continued as once again she closed her eyes and chanted. Another puff of something surrounded the crowd and when it cleared a table and chairs were now present, with beautiful sparkling place settings. It all gleamed in the candle light as if it contained its own aura.
The auror sank back into the only shadows in the room and watched as the woman, Moxie, charmed the gathered crowd. Her words were almost hypnotic as one by one she sweet talked them into doing her bidding. A few more odd displays with items appearing and disappearing at whim continued on through the evening even though the auror still had yet to find any trace of magic being used.
He watched in silence as one by one they signed papers handing over passwords to their bank accounts and deeds to their vehicles. Moxie's smile growing with every signature. As the evening drew to a close and she ushered out the adoring peons, two of them tried to stay. The two men were begging her to let them remain at her side to help her out even more than with the money they had already pledged.
He saw the flash of annoyance in her eyes that was quickly veiled with a tight smile. He noticed she didn't seem alarmed and was actually moving towards the back of the now empty room. She held her hands up and said something to them he couldn't quite make out from his vantage point. But the cruelty of her smile was readily apparent as she held her hands up to stay the progress of the men.
A double clap and short chant resulted in the men vanishing from sight. Their screams quickly becoming muffled as if they were flying far away on a broom. The woman sighed and brushed the palms of her hands on her robes as if trying to wipe the grim away.
The auror watched as she walked purposely towards a doorway recessed into a wall and opened it to reveal not a room but what looked like a control panel. She twisted a few knobs and switches until the rooms 'fantasy' type lighting vanished and only a solitary light bulb above the doorway remained on. He could hear the sounds of clanging beneath his feet and the obvious feel of machinery.
His curiosity aroused he cloaked himself and followed as the woman then slid the panel to one side into the wall and descended a set of stairs behind it. The opening at the bottom was vast, holding machinery and what looked like some sort of engine. Realization dawned at him that the woman was some sort of charlatan. Not a real witch at all. It became even more obvious when he saw the 'table' that had miraculously appeared upstairs now down here resting on a patch of floor that looked exactly like the upstairs room being cleaned off by several very scared looking muggles. The two men from before were now shouting angry insults at Moxie as she sauntered over to the cage they were now sitting in. Waving her fingers in a taunting manner she ordered one of the women working on the table to see that the new workers were informed of all they needed to know.
The auror looked up and saw that the cage had no roof but extended upwards towards the ceiling to roughly where he could work out they had been standing before. Satisfied that there was no magic here, only some conniving muggle female who had managed to make some interesting gadgets, he made his way towards the exit only to stop and smile a not so kind smile.
While he could care less what the muggles did to each other in their own quests for 'power', he didn't take to kindly to one of them passing themselves off as having magical powers. Knowing that his position at the office was secure and knowing that they would probably just plan to send out some cleaners after his report was read and passed around for a few weeks, he decided to cut the red tape and have some fun now.
He followed Moxie as she entered a room via a secured entryway. Pressing her eye against the door to gain entrance. He had assumed it was some sort of gadget run by what he could now identify as a giant steam engine and was amused to see it was an ordinary retina scanner one could find in high end muggle electronic shops.
He apparated inside the room and watched with growing amusement as the woman discarded the flowing robes to reveal a more punk rocker type look. She turned on the computer on her desk and looked to be happily draining the bank accounts of the suckers who had recently left when he decided it was time to have some fun.
A flick of his wand and the computer flew against the wall making a sastisfying crunch as the sparks flew from the now shattered screen. The woman gasped and jumped up reaching for some sort of gadget that sparked as she cranked the handle, madly looking around the room to see who was there. Another flick and the file cabinet where her papers were most likely stored burst into flames.
Moxie shrieked and fired the strange weapon and a burst of elecricity flew across the room, exploding the flaming cabinets. One more flick of his wand the the weapon flew out of her hands and into his, hovering in mid air for an agonzing moment before he allowed his cloak to fall and reveal himself to the now shaking woman before him.
"We don't like your impersonations of magical beings." the auror ground out between his teeth in a voice menacing enough it had caused the last wizard he had caught to burst into tears. "We don't like it at all!" He enforced that last statement with a small flick of his wand towards the weapon in his hand, watching Moxie's face as the metal crumpled in on itself to resphape into a ball of useless metal.
He stepped towards the woman who's control was vanishing faster than a Hogwarts student seeing a howler approach, enjoying the fear eminating from the stupid muggle. She cowered back until she hit the wall by the door. Heat from the burning papers starting to dissapate as he leaned in to mutter "If we ever hear of you impersonating one of our kind again...." He let his voice trail off as he waved his wand behind his back to the office behind him and watched the horror on her face as he transfigured nearly everything in the space into piles of insects.
He stepped back into the mass of squirming bugs as they spread out to cover the walls and breach the gap between them and the cowering woman now moaning by the door. Throwing his arms wide he looked down on her and muttered, "We'll be watching." before apparating himself upstairs to the street outside.
Once there he brushed a few of the bugs off his pant leg where they had hitched and ride and started to walk back towards his office, vainly trying to keep the grin off his face. There may be a few words of reprimand spoken to him by his superior once he read his report but he knew that it was basically what would have happened in a few weeks anyhow. He toyed with the idea of alerting the muggle authorities but decided against it. "The damned stupid muggles can take care of their own." was the last thing heard in the darkened street as he vanished from view.
He shuddered and chastised himself for showing such weakness even at saying his name in his head. Even though he knew fear of a name was silly and that the evil thing had been destroyed a long time ago he couldn't help reacting even in his own mind.
Sighing heavily once again, he gathered his gear and headed out to check out the suspected rogue witch.
***
Some time later he crossed a dark street in the wharehouse district near the docks and made his way stealthily towards a small crowd of young people. They seemed to be conversing quitely with a hint of excitement as they waited patiently to gain entrance to the building behind them.
Without warning the large doors they were standing beside creaked open wide with an eerie groan. A seductive female voice encourage the small crowd to enter if they dared as there was no going back once they had crossed the threshold.
The auror chuckled and made his way in with the crowd. The moment the last one had stepped through the doorway, it snapped shut with a clang, startling one of the girls in the group and causing her to scream.
The darkened room grew clearer as lights started to glow along the walls. Flickering shadows doing nothing to calm the group he had entered with the auror quietly got out his wand and cast a few silent spells looking for evidence of magic. He was pleasantly surprised to find none. He was about to take his leave and go back and file a false alarm report when the murmurring crowd grew silent.
Looking around for the source he spied a growing mist on a raised platform. In the mist he could barely make out the form of a woman. Definitely a woman and not a witch as his spell was still in effect and there were no traces of magic present. Then the form became clear. It was a woman dressed in flowing white robes that sparkled in the dim lighting. She smiled and began to speak.
"My children." her voice was sweet and clear and still very seductive sounding as she spread her arms wide as if embracing the crowd. "I'm so glad you all felt brave enough to come and meet me."
Whoever this woman was she sure had a way with words, the auror thought as he watched the group almost melt into the embrace of her words.
The woman stepped off the platform and made her way towards the group at a slow steady pace, studying the faces of them as she walked. "My name is Moxie, and I am here to help you." she crooned to the eager faces. "We could do with some refreshments before we start."
She turned to face the wall to the left and closed her eyes and chanted some words while waving her arms about. Years of training allowed the auror to watch this display without falling on the floor laughing at the antics of the deluded woman in front of him only to gasp along with the others when a puff of what looked like smoke appeared and when it had vanished a table heavily laden with food and drink remained.
Sparing a quick glance at his wand he realized that there still wasn't any presence of magic to be seen.
Moxie turned again to face the small crowd and smiled, a trace of smirk quickly vanished as the charm poured on even more from her beaming visage. "What would be a meal without a place to sit?" she continued as once again she closed her eyes and chanted. Another puff of something surrounded the crowd and when it cleared a table and chairs were now present, with beautiful sparkling place settings. It all gleamed in the candle light as if it contained its own aura.
The auror sank back into the only shadows in the room and watched as the woman, Moxie, charmed the gathered crowd. Her words were almost hypnotic as one by one she sweet talked them into doing her bidding. A few more odd displays with items appearing and disappearing at whim continued on through the evening even though the auror still had yet to find any trace of magic being used.
He watched in silence as one by one they signed papers handing over passwords to their bank accounts and deeds to their vehicles. Moxie's smile growing with every signature. As the evening drew to a close and she ushered out the adoring peons, two of them tried to stay. The two men were begging her to let them remain at her side to help her out even more than with the money they had already pledged.
He saw the flash of annoyance in her eyes that was quickly veiled with a tight smile. He noticed she didn't seem alarmed and was actually moving towards the back of the now empty room. She held her hands up and said something to them he couldn't quite make out from his vantage point. But the cruelty of her smile was readily apparent as she held her hands up to stay the progress of the men.
A double clap and short chant resulted in the men vanishing from sight. Their screams quickly becoming muffled as if they were flying far away on a broom. The woman sighed and brushed the palms of her hands on her robes as if trying to wipe the grim away.
The auror watched as she walked purposely towards a doorway recessed into a wall and opened it to reveal not a room but what looked like a control panel. She twisted a few knobs and switches until the rooms 'fantasy' type lighting vanished and only a solitary light bulb above the doorway remained on. He could hear the sounds of clanging beneath his feet and the obvious feel of machinery.
His curiosity aroused he cloaked himself and followed as the woman then slid the panel to one side into the wall and descended a set of stairs behind it. The opening at the bottom was vast, holding machinery and what looked like some sort of engine. Realization dawned at him that the woman was some sort of charlatan. Not a real witch at all. It became even more obvious when he saw the 'table' that had miraculously appeared upstairs now down here resting on a patch of floor that looked exactly like the upstairs room being cleaned off by several very scared looking muggles. The two men from before were now shouting angry insults at Moxie as she sauntered over to the cage they were now sitting in. Waving her fingers in a taunting manner she ordered one of the women working on the table to see that the new workers were informed of all they needed to know.
The auror looked up and saw that the cage had no roof but extended upwards towards the ceiling to roughly where he could work out they had been standing before. Satisfied that there was no magic here, only some conniving muggle female who had managed to make some interesting gadgets, he made his way towards the exit only to stop and smile a not so kind smile.
While he could care less what the muggles did to each other in their own quests for 'power', he didn't take to kindly to one of them passing themselves off as having magical powers. Knowing that his position at the office was secure and knowing that they would probably just plan to send out some cleaners after his report was read and passed around for a few weeks, he decided to cut the red tape and have some fun now.
He followed Moxie as she entered a room via a secured entryway. Pressing her eye against the door to gain entrance. He had assumed it was some sort of gadget run by what he could now identify as a giant steam engine and was amused to see it was an ordinary retina scanner one could find in high end muggle electronic shops.
He apparated inside the room and watched with growing amusement as the woman discarded the flowing robes to reveal a more punk rocker type look. She turned on the computer on her desk and looked to be happily draining the bank accounts of the suckers who had recently left when he decided it was time to have some fun.
A flick of his wand and the computer flew against the wall making a sastisfying crunch as the sparks flew from the now shattered screen. The woman gasped and jumped up reaching for some sort of gadget that sparked as she cranked the handle, madly looking around the room to see who was there. Another flick and the file cabinet where her papers were most likely stored burst into flames.
Moxie shrieked and fired the strange weapon and a burst of elecricity flew across the room, exploding the flaming cabinets. One more flick of his wand the the weapon flew out of her hands and into his, hovering in mid air for an agonzing moment before he allowed his cloak to fall and reveal himself to the now shaking woman before him.
"We don't like your impersonations of magical beings." the auror ground out between his teeth in a voice menacing enough it had caused the last wizard he had caught to burst into tears. "We don't like it at all!" He enforced that last statement with a small flick of his wand towards the weapon in his hand, watching Moxie's face as the metal crumpled in on itself to resphape into a ball of useless metal.
He stepped towards the woman who's control was vanishing faster than a Hogwarts student seeing a howler approach, enjoying the fear eminating from the stupid muggle. She cowered back until she hit the wall by the door. Heat from the burning papers starting to dissapate as he leaned in to mutter "If we ever hear of you impersonating one of our kind again...." He let his voice trail off as he waved his wand behind his back to the office behind him and watched the horror on her face as he transfigured nearly everything in the space into piles of insects.
He stepped back into the mass of squirming bugs as they spread out to cover the walls and breach the gap between them and the cowering woman now moaning by the door. Throwing his arms wide he looked down on her and muttered, "We'll be watching." before apparating himself upstairs to the street outside.
Once there he brushed a few of the bugs off his pant leg where they had hitched and ride and started to walk back towards his office, vainly trying to keep the grin off his face. There may be a few words of reprimand spoken to him by his superior once he read his report but he knew that it was basically what would have happened in a few weeks anyhow. He toyed with the idea of alerting the muggle authorities but decided against it. "The damned stupid muggles can take care of their own." was the last thing heard in the darkened street as he vanished from view.