The Firepit

After another one of her night jobs, Linda Perkins returned to the Potions store that she was the only sales personnel in. This time, it had all gone smoothly.

As Linda prepared the shop for opening, she suddenly discovered that there was a man in a leather coif, a loincloth and leather boots standing behind the door, staring at her unblinkingly. Linda opened the door and was about to ask if there was something the man wanted, but the man was the first to speak up.

"I've been looking for you. There's something I'm supposed to deliver – your hands only." As the man spoke, he took out a letter and handed it over to her.

She carefully opened the envelope, suspicious about any traps or curses that could be triggered by the act. Finally, she managed to retrieve a neatly folded letter from the envelope. On the side of it, there was a flickering fire, with the words: 'We know' written under it.

A bit puzzled by the meaning; Linda opened the letter.

The contents were quite simple: 'Dear Miss Perkins, you're hereby invited to the Firepit. This invitation is useable for one-time entry by Floo.'

Linda found it quite unexpected that she was invited in such a manner, but she decided to investigate it, nonetheless.

Linda serviced the customers as per her job description. Their numbers were increasing day by day, after the new line of potions was officially announced. They had even been making requests for specific potions, but all she told them was 'your request has been added to the queue. It will be produced the moment the Potions Master finishes with the earlier requests.'

It didn't take long for the lunch break to arrive. Linda made sure that all the defensive enchantments that she knew were properly placed onto her clothes and body, took a Vitamix potion from her private chest and consumed it on the spot.

Vitamix Potion was one of the many potions that a combat-oriented witch or wizard would need on a daily basis – it would greatly sharpen one's reflexes.

Once Linda felt that she was properly prepared for anything, she closed the shop for the lunch break and used the Floo, with the address 'Firepit'.

Linda found herself in a well-lit hallway with five fireplaces on each side. At the end of the hallway, there was a granite reception desk. There was a neat-looking wizard with graying hair manning the desk. He exuded a certain air of danger. Linda's gut feeling told her that this particular man had a kill list at least twice as long as hers.

Linda approached the reception desk, ready to flick her wand out at any moment.

"Welcome to the Firepit. We've been expecting you, Miss Perkins."

The man then turned to a person wearing dark red robes and a wide-rimmed wizard's hat that completely concealed their features. "Mr. Aspen, please give Miss Perkins a tour of the facilities."

Linda noticed the red-robed person only now, she hadn't sensed them approach or apparate, it was as if they had not been there one moment and were at the next. That sent a chill up her spine. If there were more people like that around, anyone that went against the man behind the counter wouldn't even know why their gaze suddenly landed on their own stump of a neck.

"Please follow me.", the person in red robes bowed to Linda. She couldn't tell if they were male or female, the voice kept changing as they spoke, but always stayed perfectly between the two genders.

Linda cautiously did as she was asked.

As they left the reception area, the red robed person begun the introduction: "This is a special facility for people of a few special professions that require a certain degree of discretion. A certain businessman noticed the demand for the related services and the Firepit was created.

Your name came up when we looked for people that would be interested in the services here."

After a while of walking, they reached a room with glass instead of a front wall. Just like in the 'Mother of Mercy Apothecary' that Linda worked in, the shelves were covered with potions, but at a glance, Linda noticed that the selection of potions was quite different from what she had – in addition to healing potions, there were poisons, explosive potions, corrosive potions and so on.

"As you can see, the Firepit has its own potions shop, equipped for all tasks. Naturally, all of the potions displayed here are of the highest quality, developed by the same Potions Master that created the Mother of Mercy line."

Next was a shop that had small, polished metal balls inside glass cases. There were a few people in the shop, lined up behind the counter. There were also two people that looked like staff members that were delivering those steel balls to the customers.

The metal balls were in boxes of sixteen and there was a label on each of the boxes. From her angle, Linda managed to read three of them, they were 'Leeds', 'New York' and 'Denver'.

"This here is the Portkey shop. Naturally, all of them are two-way, with the second destination set in the reception area by default, but for a bit of extra, it could be set anywhere in the world. Each of these Portkeys are untraceable, tested against the tracking methods used by each of the magical communities in the world."

By that point, it was already dawning on Linda exactly what kind of a place the Firepit was, or at least what it seemed to be. While she still remained cautious, she also felt like she had just found something that was even better than the Potions shop she had been working in so far – there were no untraceable portkeys there, neither were there most of the specialty potions.

Next up was a shop where a wizard was being measured, quite obviously a tailor shop.

"This is our tailor shop, for those that want to look their best or require a very specific set of clothing to look the part when performing a specific task. Obviously, each of the clothes are enchanted by people with a minimum of ten years of experience in the field of defensive apparel, producing results that far surpass anything that a dabbler could achieve. The charms on those clothes could withstand at least three spells of an average caster to the same spot."

Then came a door with the picture of a half face, half mask.

"This is the studio of our resident face sculptor. When you find yourself in the need of changing your appearance more permanently than the Polyjuice Potion or a simple Glamor Charm would allow, they're who you'd want to see. The Firepit recommends using the face sculptor's services immediately before departing as otherwise the new face might be revealed to your competitors. The face sculptor's studio has a special room connected to it that allows departure by Portkey."

With each room they passed, Linda's heart was beating faster and faster. She would do whatever it took to become a member of this place – it was like a dream come true in her line of work! As for the mysterious being that was escorting her around, while she was still cautious about them, it didn't look like they were hostile towards her, at least for the time being.

Next was a room that looked like it belonged into the Muggle world instead. It was lined with various firearms and cold weapons.

"This is the armory. It is one of the few establishments in the Firepit that permit renting in addition to buying. Each of the tools here are enchanted to increase their performance. Consumables, such as bullets are naturally not enchanted. These tools are meant for those special jobs where spell residue is highly undesirable. There is no need to mention that none of these tools are traceable."

Then, the red-cloaked person opened the door and gestured for Linda to enter.

"Now that we've reached the halfway point, it's time for you to be introduced to the rules of the Firepit. Unless you sign the agreement, you will not be permitted to enter this establishment again."

Linda, very much desiring access to such a wealth of the tools of the trade, was quite willing to sign an agreement with it.

She found that the only furniture in the room was a single table and two chairs. She took one of the chairs, stealthily cast a detection spell to make sure that there were no harmful spells or substances on it and sat.

The person took out a scroll of parchment from seemingly out of nowhere, an indicator of a well-concealed extended storage item.

Linda took a look at the scroll. There were seemingly hundreds of lines of text written on it.

"Familiarize yourself with the rules, then memorize them to the dot. The management doesn't tolerate the slightest infringement. We would hate to raise our hand against one such as yourself."

Shelfing the blatant threat, Linda did exactly that. She discovered that there were a few notable rules:

You weren't allowed to harm a client in the territory of the Firepit. You weren't allowed to conduct business other than with the various facilities within the Firepit. There was a side note that specified the fact that you were allowed to plan conducting business and even prepare to conduct business within the Firepit, as that was exactly the purpose of the various facilities within it.

After Linda had carefully read through all the rules, she also discovered that the moment she signed the document, she would become a full-fledged client with all the privileges and after donating a phial of her blood, would be allowed to permanently access the territory through the Floo.

Linda signed it and the person in the red robes handed her a gold coin. They explained: "This is the Firepit coin. Do not lose it as it will be a lot of trouble for the establishment to retrieve it. As long as you carry it, you will have access to the Firepit's medical evacuation services. The way to use it is simple: you only need to send a bit of your magic into it to activate its functions.

It is recommended that you do not call for the medical evacuation team before you have finished your ongoing transactions as endangering the medical team is heavily frowned upon. Depending on the circumstances, might cost you your membership. If malicious intent is discovered, immediate termination will be enacted."

At that point, Linda checked her wristwatch. There was still half an hour remaining of her lunch break. While she didn't think she'd work too long in the Potions shop after that day, she didn't feel good about just leaving in the middle of the day.

Once the person had made a copy of her agreement and handed it to her, they continued with the tour.

"These elevators can be used to access the accommodations. There are various rooms with different degrees of comfort. The simple rule is you get what you pay for. You can rent or even buy accommodations from the reception."

Next, they exited the long corridor and reached an area that looked almost as if they were outdoors, there was sunshine, wind, a few clouds even, but for some reason, it all felt off by just a little bit.

"This is the leisure area of the Firepit. In here, you can find the dueling arena, boxing gym and various other training establishments– the only places where violence between clients and personnel is tolerated, as long as it remains within limits agreed upon by both parties and the house.

There is also a Quidditch pitch to blow off some steam, complete with seating for twenty thousand people – considering the exclusivity of the establishment, it should be more than enough.

Finally, there is a spa complex, complete with saunas and other… services to ensure complete client satisfaction. That concludes the primary introduction of the most frequently used facilities. I believe you're capable of finding out the rest by yourself."

"Thank you for the introduction. I look forward to using the services here.", Linda said.

Suddenly, the guide grabbed her shoulder, stopping her from turning and leaving. They shifted their hat so that the concealment of their visage became undone and Linda saw a face that would give her nightmares for days to come – the features were constantly shifting from one form to another, from one race to another. She could've sworn that she saw a few animalistic features in the mix.

"Remember. The. Rules.", they said while staring Linda dead in the eyes, even their eyes shifting in shape, size and color.

Once she had departed from her guide, she had forgotten everything about their appearance, only remembering that she absolutely had to follow the rules, or something unthinkably horrible would happen to her. She immediately went to the Portkey shop – there were a few jobs she had taken that required a lot of travelling and it was much better to do it in an untraceable manner. Due to the nature of her profession, she didn't require the services of the face sculptor or even the use of Polyjuice – there wasn't anyone alive that could connect her to the jobs she had completed, and it wasn't about to change.

After Linda completed a few other purchases, she returned to the Potions shop.

"Berkel!", she summoned. A moment later, with a pop, a house elf in an immaculate butler's uniform appeared. There was a letter in Berkel's hand. The elf handed it over to Linda.

Linda opened the letter, trusting the elf's master enough to not even check it too thoroughly.

'Dear Miss Perkins, my grandson has brought to my attention the fact that you've taught him quite a bit about wards. I would like to change your position in my employment to better reflect your skills, as I intend to procure quite a few properties that need to be protected. I have already found a few replacements to take over for you in the Potions shop. Yours sincerely, Charles Vywin.'

Naturally, the letter was just a distraction, a way for Gaude to disperse any suspicions towards his interests that Linda may have accumulated. The Firepit had obviously been an establishment that Gaude had spent quite a bit of his newly-'earned' fortune to set up.

As for the artificer position, it was a real thing, Gaude just didn't set any expectations towards Linda taking the position. He was well aware, thanks to Berkel stealthily trailing her, what the exact nature of her 'pastime activities' was. As she was properly paying for all the potions she used during her jobs, Gaude didn't have any complaints.

Ever since Gaude had discovered that such a profession exists, Gaude had seen an opportunity to make more Galleons, and he had taken it by providing a safe haven of sorts to the people practicing it.

Linda spoke: "I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to inform your master that I'm not going to take the offer. In fact, tell him that starting tomorrow, if he's willing to break the contract so suddenly, I would like to end my employment with him as something has come up."