Ch85. A guide
The trio was currently flying in towards Tanzania, on their 'quest' towards the druidic tribes living around Lake Victoria. Apparently, those used nature magic of sorts, something rare nowadays that was definitely not used in big amounts. From what he knew, only Tanzanian tribes and some of the Amazonian magical communities were able to use it. Hadrian was very eager to find out about their nature magic they according to rumors could perform wandlessly. So far, he saw some of it in Egypt and it was kinda different than what he did. Inefficient and crude without any focus. What these wizards did was basically using the bones in their hand as a focus. Instead of a part of a magical animal, they used themselves. The idea was quite praiseworthy but... it certainly didn't work all that well. That was why he was so expectant of visiting a tribe of nature magic users as if they could cast nature magic wandlessly, it would be an incredible referencing material.
Contrary to Hadrian's quiet excitement, Narcissa was uncharacteristically bouncing like a child as she watched the world from the small window of the airplane. No broom could fly so high as the airplanes so it brought her a massive joy to see the world below. Dora on the other hand decided to sit as far away from the window as possible, trying to ignore that they were currently a few thousands of meters above the ground. Hadrian could only chuckle at how cute her paleness was. She tried to appear calm by 'reading' a book but... firstly, she had the book upside down, and secondly, her hands were quivering slightly. Hadrian let her quake in her boots for a bit before he reassuringly put his hand on her knee, squeezing a bit. The gesture instantly attracted Dora's attention, making her give him a weak smile. Chuckling to himself, Hadrian leaned closer and kissed her.
"Just think of it like Quidditch. You are now a big girl. Relax." He quipped with an unveiled amusement in his voice, making her happy gaze vanish as a scowl resurfaced on her face. Dora certainly didn't share his sentiment!
"Quidditch!?" She glared at Hadrian and he was thankful she kept her voice low. "Quidditch is completely safe compared to this lunacy!" She huffed at him, offended that such a blasphemy even left his lips. Hadrian chuckled hearing her 'reasoning' but Dora continued nevertheless, heedless of his eye-roll.
"If you fall from a broom in Quidditch, you won't necessarily die! But what if the airplane crashed!?" Dora heatedly whispered, wiping the sweat from her forehead. Hadrian found her concern quite cute and put his hand on her head and patted it with an amused head shake, making her scowl at him. It was then that Narcissa decided to join the conversation as she turned towards Dora and rolled her eyes at her.
"Relax, Nymphadora. These airplanes are less dangerous than Hogwarts express." Narcissa explained lazily to Dora what she read in a brochure on the airport and Hadrian resisted the urge to facepalm. He wouldn't really bet on that thing for knowledge. His eyes started twitching nevertheless as Narcissa continued. "And anyway, what could possibly go wrong?"
Hadrian froze at these words and really facepalmed this time.
'Uh-oh. Did she really have to say it?'
...
"Raise your hands! This plane is hijacked!"
Hadrian groaned and glared at Narcissa whose chest suspiciously trembled as if she was holding in her laughter while her head was averted from him, facing the window. Dora looked with a blank expression at the man with an automatic rifle and then turned to Hadrian.
"Still think this is safe?" She whispered in a deadpan voice, making Hadrian give her a stink eye.
"Fuck my luck." He grumbled, not answering Dora.
"Hey, you!" One of the hijackers apparently heard Hadrian and decided to pay attention to him. He started to approach his seat.
"Fuck my luck double time." Hadrian repeated, his gaze completely blank as both Dora and Narcissa took out their wands while the man was getting closer. They looked discreetly at Hadrian, making him sigh in exasperation. Of course, something like this just had to happen to him! He turned to Narcissa with a question obvious in his gaze, heedless of the approaching man. "Narcissa?"
"Got it." She acknowledged with a smile, making Hadrian decide the course of their actions as their eyes were firmly locked together. A smile appeared on Narcissa's face "I also have everything I would need with me." She added and turned towards the assailants her eyes scouting all of them, their positions, and weaponry.
Hadrian smiled at her. "In that case," He took out five rubber balls out of his pocket as he looked directly into the eyes of the hijacker who was now quite close to them. As their eyes met, Hadrian smiled widely at the man whose eyes widened. The man didn't have a good feeling from that grin as a chill ran through his spine but it was too late. Hadrian threw the five balls up while transfiguring them into sharp nails made out of metal. "here." He finished his signal for Narcissa.
The five hijackers had only a second to notice something wrong as they spotted five nails in the air before Narcissa banished all five of them into their heads, hitting each of them, sending their bodies onto the floor, dead. The panic ensued.
"Well, nice. This can be counted as a successful surprise attack." Hadrian praised Narcissa. "We can make a combo out of this." He quipped jokingly as his other hand snaked around Dora's shoulder, calming the distraught girl down. After all, she did just witness the murder of five people. She was shaken but Hadrian didn't really feel any need to coddle her. Comfort? Yes. Be there for her as a supporting pillar in this situation? Definitely. Coddle her? Nuh-uh. Dora would just have to get used to it like the big girl she was.
"Yes, this can definitely be our combo." Contrary to Hadrian's expectations, Narcissa agreed to him wholeheartedly. This was a fast and surprising attack. It took barely three seconds for Hadrian to throw the balls up, transfigure them, and for her to banish them. The men didn't have even a chance to react.
"Well, then. Time to shut the crowd up." Narcissa put her wand on her throat and used Sonorous charm. "Shut up!" She screamed with a very annoyed voice with a touch of threat in it.
The loud voice made the plane quiet down in instant. Every single person was cowed except one. The trio watched as a man from the front seats slowly stood up, showing them his empty palms, a wand visible in his sleeve in a wand-holster. The man was of black skin and had quite a worried expression on his face. He carefully approached the seats of the trio and when he got to them without being cursed, Hadrian could see a visible relief on his face.
"Hello, I am Juma Keinth." The man introduced himself, his eyes not leaving Narcissa, ignoring Hadrian and Dora. He was watching her every move with worry as he thought it was her who killed the assailants. For him, Hadrian and Dora presented no threat.
"Narcissa... Malfoy." Narcissa returned the introductions but decided against declaring herself a Black. It wouldn't be nice if the man was somehow connected to someone in Wizarding Britain and spilled the secrets. Her introductions earned her a loud gulp but the man's eyes showed he had no idea what the name 'Malfoy' meant. This little tidbit pleased Narcissa as she gestured to Hadrian. "If you want to talk to someone, talk to him." She stood up and left her seat which made her come closer to Juma who quickly and fearfully scooted away. He might have been a wizard and killed his fair share but the coldblooded and unbothered way this woman dispatched the five terrorists made even his blood boil.
"Yes... if you have Occlumency, you should probably activate it." Hadrian told Juma as he nudged Dora whose face morphed into an understanding and her Occlumency shields rose. This action earned him an inquisitive gaze from Narcissa as she took out a paper with a rune and put it on the floor. Juma didn't question the 'suggestion' and also raised his Occlumency shields.
Juma watched as the extremely complex rune on the paper shined and felt something brush his Occlumency shields. It made him blankly blink at the pale-blond-haired woman who set up that kind of rune. He had his own understanding of runes and knew that... mind-altering runes are the top of the crop and nobody really learns them nowadays as Legilimency was easier and faster to learn. They were up there with sub-dimension creation runes so the woman in front of him must have attained an utter pinnacle of rune-making.
"So... Mr. Keinth, how can I help you?"
Juma heard the voice of the boy... Hadrian, asking him and it took him a moment to reboot his brain in order to answer. In his defense, he did just witness an area of effect mind-alteration that should not have been possible according to so many rules of magic that it made him as impressed as sick. He tore his eyes from the small paper with the dangerous rune and turned to Hadrian with a conflicted expression.
"I just..." He started politely but instantly stopped, not knowing how to continue. His eyes landed on patiently waiting Hadrian and his chest deflated. "I just wanted to warn you that while Tanzania is not a part of ICW, the Secrecy is a serious thing and you should make sure this doesn't get out..." He awkwardly pointed out while rubbing the back of his head in an exasperated manner. "But... I see you have that handled."
"Hm... Mr. Keinth, you are Tanzanian wizard?" Hadrian asked.
"Yes, I studied in Egypt and occasionally do some odd..." Juma's face tightened as he threw Hadrian a meaningful look. "jobs there."
"Ah... so a mercenary, then." Hadrian understood his meaning. Juma just nodded while noting the second woman, the young pink-haired girl tensed up and gripped her wand tighter, only for Hadrian to calm her by putting his hand on her shoulder. "In that case, you must know Tanzania... the tribes there... quite well, no?" Hadrian smirked. He intended to get a guide anyway so this might be quite a 'fruitful' encounter.
Juma instantly knew where this was going. Sure, he knew these madmen. He had a choice. Go to Egypt or some other school for Wizards in Africa or join a tribe. Considering he hightailed it away from Tanzania the second the offer was made, his opinion on these 'tradition' protecting tribes was obvious. But... the people in front of him seemed wealthy. In the end, he was a mercenary.
"I... I do."
And with that... Hadrian gained a local guide.
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Author: Okay guys, I was told the dialogues are bland and short paragraphs make the story seem rushed so I tried to 'correct' that in this chapter. If you feel so inclined, feel free to leave me a comment and compare this chapter to the previous ones. I am mostly interested in how it felt like to read it after reading the previous chapters in terms of format and if the interaction between the characters is better or not...