New Mission pt2

Grabbing all that I would need on a small trip, I packed just the bare necessities. Of course, I wasn't lugging this stuff around in a bag, but a pouch. One with a decent space charm on it with weight reduction, practically I could carry anything around as long as it weighed less than 100 kg, and didn't take up too much space.

All I needed was a few sets of clothes, a cloak that would keep me anonymous and I was set. I scuttled down to Dalton's office to pickup whatever the mission had required. Naturally, in all secretive fashion, I was instead handed a package and told to open it once I was on my way.

The package included all the information I needed and also three empty envelopes.

From what I was told, these empty envelopes were enchanted to wither away once a letter was placed inside, and they would appear back here. There were also other ways of sending the letters back, as long as I placed them in the envelopes and burned it, it would act similar to a floo network and teleport back here.

It was a highly secretive method of information gathering and not anything I had ever imagined. The possibility to trace a method as discrete as this...perhaps only a person already in the loop could even attempt that.

Once I'd received all the necessary materials, I began to tread my way towards the exits, aiming to stop by somewhere outside the base and read the information presented to me.

But as I began walking away from Dalton, he stopped me in my tracks.

"Here, take this"

He had placed a signet ring in my palm, one that I was slightly familiar with. A golden signet ring with a snake engraved in its pattern. A portkey.

"Where will it take me."

"A days journey away from your destination, . You can only use it twice, after that it will most likely shatter. When you use it again, you're going to come back to a safehouse nearby, finding your way back to the base won't be a challenge." He explained solemnly.

I clutched the ring in my grasp, as the cold metal touched my palms. The ring held a certain weight to it, and it stuck to my hands, as if afraid that I would throw it away.

Feeling this strange attraction to it, I slipped the ring on my finger, but it was a hair too wide. To my surprise the ring slowly but surely shifted its form as it snugly fit on my hand.

"I will take care of it." I nodded.

I slipped on my cloak that covered me from head to toe and I masked my face with a scarf. With a flick of my wand, I swirled away into space.

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[Bucharest Outskirts]

I was about 10 kilometers away from the City, I reckoned this was a place as good as any to get started.

With the ring still on my finger, I simply channeled some magic and instantly the portkey began to function. The snake engraving began to slither around the ring as it glimmered. The portkey swallowed me whole and immediately spit me out to the other side, a few meters off the ground.

I cushioned my fall using a spell and began to survey my surroundings. Once I had verified no one was around me, I began to read the requirements of the scouting mission.

"Let's see here."

Skimming through the letter, I could extrapolate that my mission was set around the village Bicaz, a small town in the eastern Carpathian mountains, lush with greenery and surrounded by a lake. But more importantly, its naturally diverse and tall mountain valleys served as perfect locations for a barricade.

In fact, the town served as a muggle border checkpoint in the 1920's. Though, that had long been dissolved. From what I read, the contact point was listed as a nearby house within the mountaintops. My signature was a simple pseudonym.....scout.

It made sense that I wasn't allowed to say my real name, neither was I allowed to show my face. Hence why I had already masked it.

Treading along the hillside, the wind gushed past me as the forest brimmed with life. Critters and birds alike scrambled along the muddy forest tracks, scavenging for food. I had of course, cast a charm around me to ward off any unwanted attention. Which is why I breezed past the forest unnoticed.

An isolated valley, came to view, as the forest trail died out. From here onwards, the road was dry, barren and sedimented. A strange sight to see in a lush jungle.

The tracks continued along the path, with a steep decline towards the bottom of the valley, only silence echoed here. Not a hint of green could be spotted in the rocky grove below the hill side, all but a rotten shack, with walls that barely clung to life, supported by something unseen.

My eyes had picked up a faint trace of magic within the brick lines, someone had repaired this, and it had been done quite recently.

I crept closer, along the rocky road, carefully placing my steps with great poise, and as I approached the perimeter of the shack, a certain peculiarity caught me by surprise. The pebbles in the ground were suspended ever so slightly, as the rubble refused to settle down.

It was a minute detail. Nevertheless, I carefully stretched out my hands, till my fingers could barely feel a lull in the air.

The hills were home to ferocious winds, yet the shack seemed to be still. Not a fraction of wind made it past the barrier.

A home ward to prevent intruders. One of the basics of home security. But why bother with a small shack? Needless to say, if I stepped in, whoever's ward it was would know my presence.

But since I was tasked to do it, I wasn't too anxious. Besides, the ward might stop the winds, but it was by no means able to stop apparition. A ward of that level would practically be impossible to construct without proper experts and specialists to maintain it.

I strode forward towards the ward, my wand tucked between my fingers. As I crept forwards with caution, but as I slipped inside the ward, a sudden noise came from the shack, like tumbling bricks.

"Someone's inside.."

Despite me pacing towards the door, no attempts to come out were made.

Two steps from the door, I stood my ground, and yet the shack had seemingly become eerily quiet.

My wand was trained at the door, and a flick of my wrist pushed it open.

The door screeched as it shot back into the wall, but the shack seemed isolated. The interior was dimly lit, and poorly furnished. Nothing but a bunch of chairs and a table in its center. But a cracked vase scattered on the floor, as its water seeped into the rotten wooden planks.

My eyes darted towards the water, and in the measly puddle, I could barely spot a few figures reflected from the corners of the shack. A still moment of silence took over, I had realized their presence.

I heard faint breaths, perhaps hoping that I hadn't known, the people present had no idea who I was, or perhaps they thought I was someone else. Either way, I simply whispered

"I know you're in there."

The breaths halted in shock, and the room went deathly quiet.

Oh, wow. I guess they weren't quite as hospitable as I suspected. Then a familiar sensation washed over me, as my body went on full alert.

Suddenly, the floors creaked as someone bolted towards the door and a bolt of light shot towards me.

"Stupefy"

I immediately parried the spell with a counter charm, but a slurry of spells followed from the other side as they all sprang into action.

"Petrificus Totalus"

"Flipendo"

"Impedimenta"

"Confringo"

An invisible shield instantly erupted forth from my wand as it wrapped around me, deflecting all attacks as it blasted across the perimeter of the shack.

However, that wasn't the end, the four wands lit up again, with a barrage of charms and jinxes to that assaulted my shield. It was far too disadvantageous to remain stationary.

My body flickered as I apparated away. The enemy was disoriented as they saw me disappear, only once they had stopped casting, I warped back in behind one.

He tried to retaliate but his reflexes were too slow, my spell knocked him out cold as his body slumped on to the wall beside him.

The remaining three, realized what had happened, and in a fraction of a second, multiple stunners flew my way, but I simply disapparated out of view again.

The three remaining were completely confused on what to do, not only were they powerless, but their fear began overpowering them.

"Cover each others backs" A blonde girl shouted as she panicked

The three lined their backs against each other forming a triangle, covering all three directions.

I observed them, out of sight. Noticing their nervous and anxiety stricken faces, I knew they weren't used to combat, much less versus a trained wizard. Knowing this, I decided to play around a bit.

I apparated into view, standing on the tiled roof, as they noticed my presence.

Among them, a brown haired boy instinctively tried to stun me, but he failed miserably as I swatted his pathetic attempt away.

"Who are you?" The blonde girl questioned, aggravated, her hands fidgeting as she apprehensively held on to her wand for dear life.

Feeling playful, a sly smile crept up on my face.

"Who am I? Shouldn't I be asking the questions here? After all, you're the one who attacked me." I shrugged, plodding along the roof.

The three didn't look convinced with what I said, instead the brown haired boy was further agitated as he spoke.

"Serena, don't talk to him, he's one of them. We just need to win, we're three he's one."

The boy crept closer, breaking away from position as he stared up at me.

"Surrender, if you know what's good for you." He barked.

I could only hold in a laugh as he tried to threaten me, his own legs betrayed his confidence, slightly shaking when he tried to intimidate me.

When he noticed me with a mocking grin, he sloppily casted a spell.

~Expelliarmus

..... But no effect took place, my shield charm was back into play, as it blocked any spell from reaching me.

I suppose it was time to end it, I couldn't bear to wait any longer than I already had. I flicked my wand as an explosion rang out beneath them, blasting them apart. Of course, I faced retaliation when I did.

The blonde girl astonishingly tried to burn the place to the ground as a flaming ball exploded from her wand.

~Incendio

I counter spelled her, to minimize the damage, as water sprouted from mine. But unbeknownst me as our spells met, the brown haired boy took the chance for a surprise attack.

~Bombarda Maxima

He chanted with great vigor, and before I could help it, the whole house had erupted as the explosion blasted through the roof, reducing most of the shack to smithereens.

Of course, I had barely been harmed. Needless to say, apparition had not allowed the spell to even reach me, as I warped away to safety.

But it was annoying nonetheless, a mere stranger had almost got the drop on me. Perhaps, I was too careless, my mood had instantly turned sour.

The four of us were surrounded with shards of glass and pieces of shattered stone, with a flicker of my wand, these pieces of shrapnel moved as if possessed, swarming around them with extreme speed. Circling them like vultures as they tried to fling them away.

The shrapnel suddenly came to a halt, with edges grazing their necks, like pointed swords ready for slaughter.

"Do not move a muscle." I spoke with a leaden voice.

This had frightened them considerably, as they were frozen stiff with fear.

I immediately transfigured the scattered wood, as it pounced towards them contorted around their bodies, constricting them like serpents.

I gathered their wounds despite their useless protests, leaving them helplessly chained to each other. They channeled their anger to call me colorful words, but I was in no mood to listen as the wood constricted harder, almost squeezing their last breaths out of them.

Once they were exhausted enough to not resist, I calmly sat down beside them.

"Now then, let's have a word shall we?"

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A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter, sorry for late update, kinda got sick with a cold somehow. Plus accidentally grinded too much on destiny the other day. Leave a comment if you liked it, leave a review to share your opinion! (I might not care though)