Uncle John

During the following months, I spent nearly every day at the workshop with dad. The work was slow going, dad often having to stop to work on enchanting to replace what was sold in the store. Every once in a while someone would even ask for a custom enchantment. He loved it when someone would request something new or unique as it could challenge his skills.

We did end up making some progress. After months of experimentation, dad created a brilliant new control spell that would bring the level of control someone had over the broom to a whole new level. It seemed like the moment you thought of changing directions; the broom already started to turn.

Perhaps the most beneficial thing to me was that I got to see how spells were created. What I saw my father doing to create the spell, changed my thoughts on magic forever. After he had succeeded in creating the new spell, it got me thinking. Spell creation is similar to a program being created on a computer system.

A wizard talented enough to create a spell is like a computer programmer; they can create a program. After they make the program, they save the program to the computer, and anyone can learn how to use the program even without knowing how it was made.

Time marched on, and the next thing I knew, there was only a few weeks until my Hogwarts letter arrived. In May, my parents ended up having to take a two week trip to France to help out mom's sister. Due to the limited room they had at their house, I was going to my uncle's ship for two weeks.

Every time I passed through the vanishing cabinet in our living room and moved to the vanishing cabinet on my uncle's ship I marveled at the power of magic and the many different applications for it.

When I stepped out on the ship, I found myself in the holding room that uncle John kept his cabinet in. Knowing he and my aunt were probably on the top deck, I headed upstairs.

As I walked up the wooden steps, I mused to myself that one of the reasons I loved this ship was its design. It was like one of those old pirate ships from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. The main difference was the size of the inside.

While on my way to the top deck, I passed several witches and wizards who also lived on the ship. They were from all over the world and most of them greeted me with a smile as I passed by.

It took me some time to find my way to the top deck because, while the outside of the ship was normal-sized, the inside of the boat was the size of a cruise ship due to clever expansion charms.

When I reached the deck, I noticed that the ship was anchored outside the city of Alexandria, a port city in Egypt. Seeing that my Aunt and Uncle were lounging in chairs under a ridiculously large pink umbrella canopy, I headed over.

Announcing my arrival, I greeted them in Arabic knowing that my aunt much preferred speaking in her native tongue. "Uncle John. Aunt Nefret, how have you been lately?"

My uncle cracked an eye, looked me over, and said, "You know, a little of this a little of that."

Knowing that their son Omar had started his first year at Uagadou, the wizarding school located at the mountain of the moon in Africa. I asked, "How has it been having Omar away at school?"

"Perfect," "Miserable," my Aunt and Uncle replied at the same time.

Hearing his reply, Nefret smacked him upside the head and demanded, "Oh, and who has been moping around the last six months?"

Finishing her tirade, she shot me a relieved look and said, "He'll be back before you have to head back home. Your uncle has planned a surprise trip to take you both on."

Hearing her words, I turned to my uncle and saw him wordlessly pull out three tickets to the regional dueling finals in Brazil.

Ecstatic I said, "That's awesome, I have always wanted to go, but mom has a dim view of the dueling league, so she has never let us go to one and father isn't about to cross her in this matter."

The next day, my uncle told me over breakfast, "Well, you can either stay here or head out with me. I have some business at the underground bazaar."

I raised an eyebrow as I had never heard about the underground bazaar before.

Seeing my expression, he replied, "You can think of it as a version of Diagon Alley."

Always happy to see more of the wizarding world. I told John, "I want to go."

Before leaving the ship, Uncle John pulled me aside and gave me a gold bracelet to put on. After I put it on, I asked, "What is this bracelet for?"

He pulled out a mirror and said "We're headed to a place where I would rather no one knew your real face."

Upon seeing my reflection, I was shocked; an adult stranger stared back at me. My new appearance made me look like a local. Amazed, I said, "This is bloody amazing; this bracelet is better than the Polyjuice Potion."

Shaking his head in response, he replied, "You can't compare them to a Polyjuice potion that can turn you into anybody, this bracelet has a set appearance. It doesn't matter who puts it on, it's always the same reflection. Useful to be sure, but the flexibility of the Polyjuice potion is what makes it so valuable."

As we made our way through the city of Alexandria, on the edge of town, we came to an empty lot where there was an ancient sandstone archway. Seeing the arch, I asked, "Where does it lead to?"

Winking at me, Uncle John replied. "That would be telling."

Rolling my eyes at his answer, we continued. As we approached, he informed me, "All you need to do is put your hand on the archway as you pass through. If you have a magic touch the archway activates."

Nodding my understanding, I grabbed hold of the stone as I passed through. The next thing I knew, we were standing in an old courtyard that held dozens of stone archways. Before I could say anything, Uncle John informed me, "The archways are one of the main ways wizards in Africa transport themselves. They have been using the archway system for thousands of years; I believe they inspired the wizard who invented the floo network."

Not being able to smell the sea informed me that we were no longer in Alexandria, so I asked, "Where are we?"

"We're in an old section of Cairo, where Muggles don't have access to this place," he replied.

As we began walking, I noticed certain similarities between the underground bazaar and diagon alley. They were both full of magical shops where wizards and witches sold goods. I noticed that the main difference was that the underground was full of twists and turns as we made our way through.

We eventually made our way to an old shop that was full of strange items. As soon as we walked inside, a middle-aged Egyptian wizard wearing teal green and golden robes stepped out from the back area. Holding his arms out before him in a loud voice, "Johnny my boy, how have you been?"

With a grin on his face, John replied, pointedly looking at the wizard's bald head. "Better than you, Seth. At least I still have all my hair."

Seth reacted by holding his hand to his heart as if wounded. I grinned at the antics between these two who were old friends. Interjecting myself into the conversation, I asked, "Aren't there spells that can make hair grow back?"

Seth looked me up and down and asked, "And who is this man who speaks with a child's voice?"

"This is my nephew; I had him put on the changer bracelet because I would rather not have certain individuals recognize him,"

"Ah, I will secure the shop, I want to have a look at the boy. After all, we are family," he responded.

Pulling out a wand, he flicked it to the doors and windows. The door locked behind us, and all the windows darkened.

Once the shop was secure, my uncle nodded to me and I took off my bracelet. Curious about our relations, I asked, "How are we related?"

Coming over and sweeping me off my feet in an enormous bear hug, he boomed out, "I am Nefret's uncle, that makes us family."

After speaking for a while, Seth boomed, "Now onto business."

He brought out a large trunk and slammed it down before my uncle. Watching the lid of the trunk shake as if something was trying to break free. I asked, "What's in there?"

Rubbing my hair, John said, "Maybe when you're a little older, we can talk about it."

Hearing his reply, I shot him an annoyed look.

Before leaving the shop, I put my bracelet back on, and John shrank the trunk and put it into his coat. We spent a few more hours going to random shops. Some we were at for less than a minute with my uncle dropping off a package, others took longer. When we were finished, we made our way back to the arches and passed through them. What awaited us on the other side changed how I viewed my uncle.

On the other side were two wizards and a witch waiting for us in a triangle formation. At first, I assumed they were preparing to use the arch until one said, "You know John, he isn't happy with what you've been up to lately. You have been cutting into what he considers his for a while now."

My uncle narrowed his eyes and spoke two words in such a deadly tone that it sent shivers down my spine, "Move, now." The sound of his voice promised violence if he was not obeyed.

At first, I was worried about being outnumbered, but I noticed the strained expression on the witch and wizards faces. It took me a minute to realize that they were terrified of my uncle. It was a strange sight to me, as I had never seen this side of my uncle before.

Speaking in a pleading tone, "Look, he just wants to make a deal."

Uncle snarled, "If he wants to make a deal, then he can come here and tell me himself."

He brushed past them as if he had no fear of turning his back on them. We spent the remainder of the trip back in silence. Once we made it back to the ship, his whole demeanor shifted. Relaxing,he turned to me and said "I'm sorry that happened."

Confused about the whole situation, I asked, "Who were those guys?"

Running his hand through his dark hair, he responded, "It's a long story."

Seeing my unimpressed look at his attempt to shrug off the events, he said, "Alright, alright, we can talk. Follow me." Heading below deck, we went to his office, the first thing he did was pour himself a glass of fire-whiskey.

After taking a few sips, he spoke in a sorrowful tone, "You know, it's kinda funny how life turned out. When you're young, you have all these ideas for the future, but then one day, life kicks you in the teeth and everything changes. For me, that day happened when my father died and disappeared, and then Whithorn betrayed us. I was still in my sixth year at Hogwarts back when it happened. My original plan was to graduate and join my father in the business. Your father was the one who wanted to travel the world. After the worst happened, everything changed for me; I was no longer thinking about the business; what I wanted was revenge. I threw myself into dueling, learning everything I could about fighting."

Taking a deep breath, he continued, "After I graduated, the first thing I planned to do was challenge Whithorn, he was out of the country then, but I tracked him down to Egypt. That's when I met Seth for the first time, and he gave me a wake-up call. He sat me down and told me that if I took Delvin down, that I would be dooming my family. You see, supporting Delvin from the shadows was his Father, Declan. I told Seth that if his Declan came after my family, then he would meet the same fate as Delvin. I'll never forget how hard Seth laughed at my naivety."

Looking me in the eye, my uncle told me in a somber tone, "Perhaps one of the most dangerous wizards in the world is Declan Whithorn."

Confused, I asked, "How can he be one of the most dangerous wizards in the world? I've never even heard of him."

Shaking his head, John replied, "That's what makes him so dangerous. Most people don't even know about him. You see, he isn't like one of those traditional dark wizards you hear about seeking power to rule the world. The thing that concerns him the most is money."

Giving my uncle a skeptical look, "Love of money, that's not exactly the mark of a dangerous wizard," I said.

My uncle shook his head and said, "You don't understand; he has forged a global network of witches, wizards, goblins, vampires, werewolves, and other creatures that are completely loyal to him. Their goal is wealth and power, and they will stoop to any level to achieve their goal. They have their fingers in everything. Recently, in the last twenty years, they have entered the muggle drug trade; they now secretly control most of the drugs in the world. The amount of money this syndicate has made is astronomical. They've been able to reinvest that wealth into gold, silver, gems, and even land, all of which has value in our world. This wealth is what has allowed them to increase their influence and power. Anyone who opposes them is either secretly bribed to look the other way or quietly disappears. His syndicate has been quietly destroying families all over the world for 40 years."

After hearing everything, I asked in disbelief, "Why the hell aren't the Aurors taking him down?"

Gnashing his teeth, John replied, "As I said, he is very clever. The people who work for him, have to swear an unbreakable vow never to betray him. Plus, with the amount of wealth he has, it is surprisingly easy to bribe people. He also lives on a moving ship, and the number of defensive spells upon it make it a fortress. Not to mention, it's constantly on the move and incredibly difficult to track. But most of all, he isn't breaking the International Statute of Secrecy. You see, a lot of dark wizards end up destroying things in a loud manner. Declan is more subtle than that, which lets him fly under the radar."

Mulling over everything I had learned today, a thought occurred to me, "Uncle John, you said he lives on a ship, right?"

John nodded back at me, saying, "That's right."

Sure of my hunch, I stated, "I'm betting that you procured this ship soon after learning about his ship."

With a shark-like smile on his face, he replied, "What an interesting observation to make. It's almost like you're suggesting I have some secret plan."

His grin let me know I was on the right track, so I continued, "You said he had destroyed families all over the world, I imagine some of the people who disappeared, left families behind."

With John giving me an encouraging nod, I continued, "If someone were to track these people down, I imagine that some of them would want revenge, and I can't help but notice you have people from all over the world living on your ship.

After downing his glass of fire whiskey, John replied with an evil grin, "Imagine that, a group of people coming together to bring down one of the most powerful organizations in the world. They would need to be patient, slowly positioning and infiltrating themselves to be able to take the organization down in one stroke, it could take years to pull off, but you know what they say, revenge is a dish best served cold."