Chapter 7.

"Can I trust you with that?" I asked pleadingly.

"You need to sneak out the castle for the whole week-end?" replied incredulously Loren, goggling me as if I had grown a second head.

I nodded.

"Harry, what on earth is wrong with you, where are you going anyway?" she whined, this time pouting slightly.

"I can't tell you, it's about my family, you know we're under a vow of silence, to protect Zachary and all that."

The lie was unbelievable, too crazy, too inconsistent to be probable. I was being vaguer than vague, making it up as I talked to her, if she tried she could drive me to corner myself easily. I don't even remember how I started the lie...

She sighed.

"Well... I guess I can say I saw you in the library if I'm asked, but they're going to notice you're missing when night comes."

She's in! I fucking love you Loren!

"Yeah, don't try to cover me too much, I'll find something afterwards." I smiled widely, seizing her hand. She looked in my eyes and smiled sadly as I leaned to kiss her a hundredth time.

"And you're going... when?" she whispered, her face against mine.

"Now." I replied seriously. I had pushed back the moment I'd have to tell her about it as far as possible, and now it was time. Ten o'clock, Friday night.

"Oh. Well then, take care, Harry. I'll miss you." she waved as I walked away.

I grinned. She was so detached, so uninterested by details that it made it stupidly easy to make her accept anything. She didn't even ask how I was going out.

If there is one for me, she's the perfect girlfriend. I thought while reaching the familiar third floor statue.

In my satchel were my shrank broom, a full phial of S-class aging potion, and a set of robes and cloak that fit my older me. Transfiguring my school robes was only acceptable for small errands, I couldn't afford to let a simple Finite cast for whatever reason betray my disguise. I also had brought my last three phials of boosted pepper-up concoction, my wardbreaker scope and a few other items.

I was ready to roll.

Half an hour later, I was being briefed by Selena in room number 13. She had showed up at the exact time appointed and dragged me in a room without a word.

"-that's why I'm positive he will hear about us. A wizard hiding is a wizard listening, especially an old school one like him." she finished, turning from the map she had pasted on the wall for the occasion, and faced me.

I diverted my gaze from her deliciously curved behind to her face and nodded.

"So we go in those places, ask about him out loud and hang around a bit to see if he shows up. Understood." I summed up, counting the steps on my fingers.

"Could have done that by myself without spending a fortune on a detective..." I teased, stretching my back.

"Oh yeah? Well too bad because you hired me to do it for you." she retorted heatedly, "And I doubt a kid like you would have been able to even verify his presence in India anyway." she finished with a bitter smile.

"Relax cutie, I was just kidding; I know I wouldn't have a chance without you." I stood up and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her close to me. I was sixteen since less than an hour and the teenage cravings were already strong.

She pushed me back and tutted.

"Not so easy, Books, you can't play with me like with you do with your fangirls at Hogwarts." she laughed. I could have believed her, if it wasn't for the fact that she had settled on a ultra short velvet skirt and broad cleavage for our departure, showing how much she wanted me to play with her. Or how much she's gonna play with me...

"Anyway, where and how do we depart?"

"Portkey, in a few seconds." She pointed to a lamp on the bed table.

"What? I thought portkeys were blocked in the inner layers of Knockturn Alley?"

"Incoming portkeys are. Oh, here we go."

The lamp had begun glowing weakly, the time window had opened. I stood by her side, touching the portkey and got hooked away as the clock rang midnight.

The detestable sensation of being squeezed through the universe awoke my body, I stabilized myself to avoid falling like a rookie in front of Selena and took a sight of the panorama.

It was dawn in India, the sun was rising shyly from the foggy horizon, tracing rays of pale light through the billions of wet trees and low hanging clouds. We were on a mountain, the valley three thousand feet below us was enormous, filled with forest dancing with the wind and rivers flowing savagely. A sight of untamed and endless wilderness.

At our left was a torrent of clear water dropping from the cliff into the bushy forest. It was gigantic, as far as my eyes could see there was nothing but forest and rocks.

"Nothing short of humbling, eh?" I muttered without tearing my eyes off the scenery. "You feel like you're nothing compared to such magnitude."

"Yes, it does that the first times." she agreed.

She let me appreciate the view for a while, the morning wind clashing at us vigorously, and started to walk away. I followed her up down the slope, taking a thin rocky path. Pebbles and gravel fell endlessly in the void under our feet as we walked dangerously close to the edge. Selena was unperturbed and strode down the path confidently.

We walked down the mountain for five minutes until we reached a town. The town was encased in the mountain, placed on a seemingly natural plateau.

It was amazing to see an inhabited place here, when the landscape of green, sandy yellow and blue we saw before looked as wild as the day before humanity set its foot on the planet.

The town was rather large, as secluded as it was, it was fairly populated. Food was displayed at the entrance, merchants shouting over the crowd how fresh were their goods. Selena wasn't interested in taking the tourist trip and continued walking straight through the town. Good, neither am I.

We got deeper in the city and I noticed it wasn't as isolated as I thought, there were cars and modern shops here and there, and I spotted one of these McDonald's in a busy main street. The populace, though, was totally different from what I was used to see in London. Every person I saw could have been a wizard or a witch, there was no definite muggle or wizard clothes as far as I could tell, everybody was draped in colorful clothes, some with shorts and shirts, some with robes. I was unable to say who was a wizard and who was not.

"We're heading for the first of the three places I spotted. It's a bar named The Hilarious Gambler, I don't know if it's some sort of expression in their language but yeah, here it is." she indicated me the building, an old tavern made of rotten wood and flaking paint, the thin windows were whole but so dusty you couldn't see through them.

"Ladies first." I motioned her to enter with an exaggerated bow. She rolled her eyes and pushed the door, giving us a mouthful of the smoke that escaped the hermetic room. We walked inside, ignoring the few people glaring ominously at us and reached the bar. I started to ask for a drink and suddenly realized I didn't speak their language at all. As I was pondering how I could communicate, Selena called the barman and spoke to him shortly. He nodded and went to fill two glasses.

"You speak Indian?" I asked, amazed at her resourcefulness.

"It's Hindi, and yes I do speak it. Along with a few other dozen languages." she replied with a condescending tone. "I'm a worldwide and top class detective, Mr. Books, I work for the best association of detectives in the world. What did you expect? A mindless bimbo?"

I took a few seconds to answer. She's right after all, I'm not paying for some second zone detective...

"Well, it must take a bit of a mindless bimbo to come in such a cold place with a ten inches skirt." I joked, taking the glass from the barman.

"Oh you'll take those words back when we'll be on sea-level, I'd reckon you know how to cast cooling charms? If you don't, you can say goodbye to your cloak and robes." she mocked, then called the barman again.

This time, she spoke with him for about ten minutes, I watched the man's face and understood she was reaching sensible topics. After a few minutes she turned to me and brought her face close to mine.

"There, I told him we were looking for him and meant no harm but he kept telling me he hadn't seen him for decades." she looked around.

"But I think he knows him, I had two persons who redirected me to him. He will probably contact him shortly."

"So, we wait?" I took a sip of my strange cocktail. She nodded.

We waited for three hours in the bar, discussing and drinking non - or barely alcoholic - beverages before giving up.

The sun was now high in the sky and the temperature had raised alarmingly. We were in the middle of a main street, chicken and dogs were racing around our legs, people were moving around on small motorized scooters and three-wheels cars, in the middle of the dense crowd, some were dragging cows or sheep along, shouting and yelling in the storm of noise. Selena was kicking pebbles angrily while striding in the street, bumping in everyone who didn't make way for her.

"By the Tsars! This was my most promising trail!" she shouted like a mad woman.

"By the Tsars?" I asked, amused at her antics. "Sounds a bit old-fashioned don't you think?" I laughed. It was a pity it didn't work out but the trip was already worth the trouble, I found myself happy despite our temporary failure.

"Chill out, Selena, we still got two other places."

"Yeah, right. But I was certain this one would work. I'm sorry." she apologized, giving me a bashful look.

"Don't apologize before you've depleted all of your trails, we might get lucky with the next places." I was starting to get annoyed of having to cheer her up.

"Son of a bitch probably sees Jagdish everyday..." she spat furiously, kicking a stray chicken into orbit and attracting the outraged looks of a number of people. Most of the women were already openly scowling at the very, very short skirt of my employee and kicking chicken made nothing to improve it.

"Mmmh, if you're so sure of that, how about you read his mind to find out?" I suggested idly, waving dust and feathers away.

She stopped in her tracks, forcing me to stop too and turn to watch her questioningly.

"I'm a detective, Mr. Books, and Legilimency is not a skill detectives are authorized to use. And in most countries, even Aurors aren't." she started, "And if you intend to ask me to break the law, let me be clear on that; I will not break the vow I took when I joined the Guild of Novosibirsk, which is linked to the International Law of Witchcraft and Wizardry." she finished, hands on her hip like a caricature.

So she's one of these uptight citizens, following the law like it comes straight out of Merlin's mouth.

"What if I did it? You wouldn't be breaking your vow." I proposed. I turned again and started to walk. This time she followed me, hurrying to catch up.

"That wouldn't be breaking the vow... but I'd have to report you to the local authorities." she admitted, analyzing me strangely.

"Are you really a Legilimens or are you just making fun of me?" she inquired, her voice full of curiosity.

I laughed, the situation was humorous. The twenty five years old detective was trotting beside me, eager to hear my answer, intrigued like a little kid discovering magic. I'm twelve years old and I got an amazing and talented chick hanging on my words, following me around in my adventures. Who else can say the same thing?

I knew it wasn't really the case, but it pleased me to see it like that.

"I am." I finally said. "We could go back there and scan his mind to find out if he really does know him." I offered, turning to her.

"No, no it's not a good idea, really not." she hesitated, staring at me. "He could sense it and report it to the Aurors, and I like to do my job the most cleanly possible." she concluded.

"I've read your past achievements, Selena, and I'm pretty sure you had to cross the line once or twice to complete your assignments, am I wrong?"

"None of your business." she said curtly before she turned away and crossed her arms.

"Alright, let's try the two others, but if we don't find anything, I'll come back here and use what I need to use to get my data." I was still talking to her back. "I'm not playing around, Selena, I need to find this guy, no matter what. You're free to leave if you can't stomach a small privacy invasion."

She nodded and stretched out her arm to me.

"Grab my arm, we're apparating."

The next place we visited was another bar, this time in a large muggle town at the feet of the mountain. It was huge and lively, witches and wizards were having a karaoke party in a corner, bathing the bar in a cheerful mood. The young barman welcomed us with a bright smile and indicated us the man we were looking for. Selena had found him to be one of the most street-wise information trader in the region. He was said to know everything that happened in this town and more. Him too was apparently in regular contact with Jagdish. However, the visit was fruitless again, leaving us hungry and disappointed on the sidewalk.

We agreed to take a pause to eat in a restaurant.

"Here is the waiter." I informed whilst sitting down in the tacky armchair.

"Take me anything with red meat and a jug of fresh water."

Selena shot me an annoyed glare and complied. The waiter took notes and walked away.

"You could at least say please, I am not your servant." she complained, her Slavic accent stronger when she was mad.

"Do we have to go through that everytime? I'm hiring you, right now. You're earning money at this very second thanks to me." I shrugged and comfortably set my back against the chair.

"You are my servant."

She sneered, not taking my taunting seriously. And took her adventurer hat off, shaking her head to let her hair fall on her shoulder. The scene was mesmerizing, I forgot to talk for a moment.

"Anyway, Boss, I don't think it is working." she sighed. "Like I was saying sooner, if he is listening to the streets, if he is interested in who says his name, he already know we're here looking for him. I think he doesn't want to show himself."

"So what, do we give up?" I asked. Those muggles are so damn slow to make food.

"No, I will find him, but it will take me time, a lot of time." she affirmed determinedly.

"He can't hide from me forever, let me tell you that. I'm not one of the best detectives ever for nothing!" she hit the table, shaking the glasses and cutlery, along with her gorgeous chest.

I got to hit that, no matter how it ends.

"Best detectives? I didn't realize you got promoted, your resume said grade four." I grinned and took a sip of fresh water, brought by the waiter.

She harrumphed adorably and raised her hand in a dramatic pose.

"The grade means nothing, what really matters is talent and skill. You'll see, in a few years, I'll be at the top."

We spent the rest of the meal laughing and getting to know each other, as there wasn't much to discuss about the plan. We both knew it'll end up with a small Legilimency attack if the last place to visit didn't bring results.

The third place to visit was a letdown as expected, the witch in the village's central plaza was no help and almost insulted us when we asked about Jagdish, before apparating away.

It was the middle of the afternoon, I looked at Selena and nodded. She sighed knowingly and apparated us back in the first town, right in front of the sturdy bar.

"Here, come with me." I dragged her in the back alley behind the restaurant.

She pointed to a door.

"The back door. Books, it's really not prudent to do that, you could be severing any chance you have to meet him." she whispered.

"If this doesn't work, I'll let you as much time as you need to get him." I assured, looking around. I walked to the back door and unlocked it with an Alohomora. The lock clicked, letting the door swing ajar. Behind it was a corridor with numerous openings on the sides, it seemed to go in a straight line and would probably reach the bar counter.

I entered the corridor, Selena on my back, wands out. We walked past the kitchen, smelling strong spices and hearing meat being chopped to pieces.

"You go to him, seduce him and bring him in that room." I whispered to Selena, pointing to some sort of empty laundry room.

"I'll take care of the rest." I started moving into the room when I felt her slap my back.

"Seduce him? Seduce him? What kind of plan is that, Books? Do you think we're in some stupid children story?" she whispered angrily, slapping my back numerous times.

"Oh come on, you know it will work, just go to him, make him understand you want to - you get the point - and he'll follow you without a doubt." I explained, certain of my plan. Even if the guy knew she would ask him again about Jagdish afterwards, what kind of man would reject her?

"He is not stupid, unlike you! He knows I am with you, he'll know you're waiting to ambush him!" she hissed comically, wiggling her wand around to express how mad she was.

Shit, she's right. Being around her make me stupider every second.

"Right, then I'm going to cast it on him directly, you just watch the corridor."

We reached the end of the corridor, sneaked behind him, Selena took her position behind me, and as I aimed for the barman's calf, "Books, stop it! " she whispered harshly, lowering my wand with her hand.

"What the -" I started, only to be interrupted.

"Shhhh..." she slapped her other hand on my mouth and stretched her neck to listen to the discussion the barman was having. As I waited here, I saw her expression soften and she let a wide grin on her lips.

A few seconds later, she dragged me in the corridor and out the edifice, without a single word.

Once outside, she released me and started talking before I could ask.

"It was him, Books, it was him!" she exclaimed excitedly. "The barman was telling Mr. Chanda about us, he was informing him. All we got to do is go in and grab the man." she grinned again.

"No time to lose, let's go." I ordered, already on my way around the bar.

We entered the bar again, this time by the entrance, and looked at the counter. The barman's expression betrayed him for a few seconds before he acted like his normal self, washing glasses in the sink behind him. Against the counter was Jagdish, feinting sleep like a kid, a still lit pipe creating a nice smoke cloud around him. He was dressed with brown pants and a dark blue tank top, unusual for a wizard this age. He was neither tall or small, and very average in general, except for the impressive brown beard that fell at his knees. Nobody in the whole bar looked nearly as old as him, his skin was so wrinkled it looked less flat than his beard and hair.

We approached the counter and sat, one on each side of him. From this point, it was pretty clear we had him, but I felt like he was playful enough to keep pretending to sleep. Old people tend to be like that...

"Good day, Mister Chanda. I had a hard time finding you." I said, motioning the barman to serve us.

"So it seems he finally found me." he articulated in a not-so-rusty English. "Go ahead and call him, I'm not moving from this seat." he finished strongly, puffing on his pipe.

"We're not here for that, Jagdish." assured Selena in a soft voice, surprising me with the gentle approach. That won't work on such a veteran.

He opened his eyes and turned slowly to her. He took a while examining her, probably scanning more than her face.

"Who are you two chaps? You don't look like the kind of aspirant assassins I'm used to deal with."

"We have nothing to do with any kind of assassination, we want information on..." I paused, wondering if I should say that in front of Selena, who looked like she was about to soil herself if I kept it secret much longer.

"Information on the group you followed in 1902 as a scribe and archivist." I finished, disappointing Selena a bit. However, Jagdish's face suddenly dropped. His eyes were hollow.

"I will not sell such information." he muttered darkly, before puffing on his pipe once more. "You're better off not knowing, kid."

I grabbed his head and smashed it on the wooden counter without too much force. I need him alive and able.

His pipe broke and clattered on the ground as Selena shrieked and jolted in surprise. I was now standing up, my hand on his head, and whipped out my wand with my other hand.

"You're going to give me what I want, old man!" I threatened in his ear, pointing my wand at the public in the bar, preventing them to try anything. Some of them had stood up and unsheathed their wand, but were hesitant about starting a fight.

"I don't want to hurt you, I don't want to kill you, but you've got to give me what I want." I barked in his ear. He was awfully silent.

"Books, what the god damn fuck!" Selena was standing up too and had her wand trained at me. "Release him at once, that wasn't in the deal."

"I do the deal, sweetie" I jabbed my wand toward her, hitting her with a well-earned Expelliarmus. She was knocked back a few feet and grabbed a table to steady herself.

"Sorry, it's not against you, but this guy is of paramount importance to me." I grabbed her wand, sticking my tongue out playfully.

"So, will you give me what I want?" I asked to Jagdish, who was massaging his skull. He looked at me with interest for a few seconds and spoke calmly.

"I will sell it to you, follow me." he dropped off his stool. I tossed Selena's wand back to her and winked before following the elder wizard out of the bar, a hand on his shoulder to prevent apparition.

The detective joined us in the street while we were making our way through the crowd.

"What the fuck was that for? Next time I'll -" she started, genuinely pissed off.

"I couldn't afford to have you stun me and lose him." I cut her harshly.

"Why did you assault him without giving me any warning or anything?" she barked, forcing her hair inside her hat. "What was even the point of that, making baseless threats like that?"

"Baseless?" I raised an eyebrow.

"You wouldn't hurt him." she stated strongly. A few seconds passed after her statement.

"He would." smiled Jagdish.

I would.

Jagdish led us far away from the town, in a cavity of the mountain. He had modified a cave with magic, making it inhabitable and even rather comfortable. The shabby wooden door made it look like an abandoned smuggler cache from outside, but once inside, it was a fairly big house, with a height ceiling and fake windows displaying the landscape outside of the cave.

"Impressive, those windows are no cheap charm." I was the one who broke the silence.

"Thank you, they took me quite some time to get right. " he answered with a smile and walked to an oak sideboard.

"What will you drink?"

"Nothing, thank you." I replied shortly. I wasn't here to make friends.

"Don't be so eager, young man. You very well have the time to take a tea." he poured tea in three porcelain cups.

Selena had been silent the whole time and took a seat, watching me cautiously. She probably stays only to make sure I don't kill the old guy.

"Be it then, what is your price?" I took the cup he offered me but didn't drink.

He sat in the chair in front of Selena and sighed.

"I need you to help me kill a man." he let out before taking a long sip on the boiling hot tea. I watched him impassively. He's dead serious.

The three of us stayed silent for a minute, considering what had been said.

"Who?" I asked with my business tone. At least he wants to deal.

"You don't know of my little... predicament. Do you?"

"Apart being older than steam locomotives, I don't know what you're talking about." I joked, still not trusting the tea. It could have been poisoned easily and the fact that he was drinking it meant nothing at all.

"I am an inventor, a creator!" he shouted suddenly, and stood up, dropping his cup on the floor. "I spent my life inventing and archiving everything I could think of. I discovered priceless things, I stored unbelievable secrets!" he ranted, pacing around me.

"But making progress isn't frequent, my boy, it took me thirty years to develop only one of my dearest discoveries..." he stared into space for a while and went back to his raving.

"Many people were interested in buying my discoveries, oh yes, even if some were labeled as dark magic in the most uncultivated countries." he laughed bitterly. A creaky and dusty laugh that sounded quit maniacal echoing in the large hall. He finished laughing and calmed down, sitting his old bones back in the armchair with difficulty.

"But all of this is over. The fame, the money, it went away with my youth." he cast a Reparo on his cup, salvaging the tea along with it.

"And now, when I wish nothing more than a simple retirement and a quiet end of life, I'm being targeted by a greedy crime lord who wants my secrets." he finished, and took a sip.

I took a few second to think about it.

"You want me to kill that crime lord?"

"By Shiva, no! Have you gone mad?" he laughed vigorously.

"No, no, that would be madness, I want you to kill the assassin they sent out after me." he patted his stomach like it appeased the pain caused by the laughter and continued, "He's been tracking me for five years now, I dueled him two times and am positive I can't beat him on my own, especially with my old age." he sipped on his tea.

"Get rid of him, and you'll get everything you asked for."

My first question was the obvious one.

"Why didn't you get help sooner?"

"It is very sad, stranger, to become an old man. All of my dearest friends died long ago, and nobody would risk their life for an old man like me. The authorities are no help in this case, they cannot defend me, and the few good-hearted people who would actually put their life on the line for me aren't strong enough to take my opponent down."

"A mercenary then?"

"I have no money, nothing to offer except a few memories and dusty archives." he smiled sadly once more and waved to the hall. "I don't even have any land."

"But then what the heck is the assassin after?" I asked incredulously.

He sighed and motioned me to sit down.

"The Kaoru Family wanted something from me long ago. A secret of mine, something I sold to a broom company a few years after. They didn't take it well, they threatened me and tried to force me to work for them as compensation. I refused and got under the protection of their rival Family, the Natsuko Family, which had an arrangement with the aforementioned broom company." he explained, pouring a himself another cup of tea.

"But five years ago, the Natusko Family was destroyed when its head, the witch Haruko Natsuko, got killed by her own bodyguard under the Imperius curse. It was the final nail in the coffin for the Natsuko Family.

Since this day, the Kaorus have methodically sent killers everywhere in the world to deal with everybody who was under the protection of the Natsukos."

He shrugged slightly. "Now they have most likely forgotten about me and don't care in the very least about my fate, but the assassin after me has developed a liking to chasing me. He enjoys trying to kill me, I'm quite confident he's become crazy. Crazy, but dangerous. He's skilled with a wand, a prerequisite for an assassin, and I've found myself unable to take care of him."

"At first, I thought hiding wasn't so bad, and he would give up after a while, but now he's become a real nuisance." he sighed and clapped his hands together, smiling again. "So this is the agreement, you kill him, and I'll give you everything I have about this dreadful day."

I thought about it for a few moments. I'm fairly powerful and have a plethora of battle curses and spells ready to use, but to fight a seasoned assassin? That's a whole different story than slaying mildly dangerous beasts in the Forbidden Forest. Last time I almost got trampled by a duo of zebras... Would I be able to fight an adult wizard whose job is to kill, and win?

The idea seemed ridiculous. But I'm a Potter, and that has to count for something.

"Just how skilled is he? What spell did he attack you with?"

Jagdish stroked his forehead, remembering his encounters with the crazy killer. "I can't say for sure, most of his spells are sent silently, but I remember him trying a Crucio once, and he managed a very dangerous cutting curse that beheaded a massive centenarian oak." he took a pause and added "Wand waving isn't my area of expertise, my boy, he's probably not that good."

Crucio, heh? Hard to manage but I don't know if it was an actual valid Crucio, and to cut a tree isn't really hard, very different than cutting a magical being... I might have my chances.

Selena was watching me silently, slightly shocked that I was considering the offer.

"Very well, I will help you. We'll set up a bait, you'll start dueling him and I'll come in to overthrow him." I exposed, rather content of the plan. It was shameful, to come and kill him almost in the back when he was fighting someone else, but I couldn't hear the fair-play part of my mind who would have complained. This part of my mind died along with my sister.

"You can't be serious!" snapped Selena, rising from her seat.

"Selena, you can go now. Your mission is a success, thank you." I said to the incredulous girl, reporting my attention on the old wizard now puffing on another ivory pipe.

"No way, I stay here until it's over, I can't believe you're actually agreeing to that..." she pouted, crossing her arms.

I smirked, this was going to be interesting at the very least.

"We have a lot to plan, Mr. Chanda. I'd reckon we start as soon as possible."

"Is the portkey reliable? I don't know if we can trust this weird shaman or whatever she was." I questioned vaguely, playing with a lock of Selena's dark red hair.

She was resting on me, her head on my slightly hairy chest. The aging potion had put me in an age where I had some chest hair, but not really chest hair. The night had been torrid, passionate, so much we actually stayed in the hotel room the whole Sunday. Selena was more of a wild cat than I had imagined. She had shown me things I never heard about, apparently, there were numerous charms invented especially for sex.

"If half the city comes to her to get their portkeys, I think we can trust her work." she answered sarcastically, sliding her hand across my upper body.

"How are you going to explain you've disappeared for the weekend? Hogwarts doesn't allow that, do they?" she asked curiously, raising her worn out face to me. She looked like she ran a marathon. I probably look the exact same... Totally worth it no matter how you look at it. I grinned.

"Yeah well, I'll find something... I don't know yet." I shrugged. We stayed silent for a while.

"You could say that you found a secret room and got stuck inside." she suggested suddenly. "It happened to a student in Durmstrang once, the door opened only once per day, so he had to sleep in the room."

That's totally retarded, a secret room with a door that opens only once a day? I considered it for a few seconds. Actually, it wouldn't surprise me that such a place actually does exist in Hogwarts...

"It's perfect, thanks for the idea. You're my favorite employee." I pinched her hip, making her giggle like a schoolgirl and kissed her.

After a few more caresses and giggles, I left the bed and took a shower.

"So what do I say in the report?" I talked loudly to cover the sound of the shower. "Very professional, very creative in bed and not afraid of handling big things?" as an answer she threw me a pillow.

"The mission isn't over until you kill that guy." she said from the bed, still lying naked. She was probably planning to stay here until the landlord ask her to pay another day.

"My mission won't be over until I do a lot of things, sweetheart, but your mission was to find Jagdish and arrange a meeting with him. Mission accomplished." I walked out of the shower.

"I will be here when you do it." she declared, eyeing me dangerously like a fox spotting a fat chicken.

"I thought you were against all that? It won't be pretty you know, we're going to execute this man."

"I know, Books. I want to be here to see it. I want to see the consequences of my work." she got up and slid to me like a vampire in a bad muggle movie, her body language expressing nothing but lust.

I dodged her and walked to my clothes.

"Alright then, you know how to contact me. But I'm warning you, if you fuck our plan up, it ain't gonna be pretty for you." I threatened before grabbing the portkeyed cigar box. I smiled and mimicked a flying kiss, like Lily used to send to Zachary. "See you later, cutie." I said, blowing the imaginary kiss.

The last thing I saw before being brutally tossed back in Diagon Alley was Selena diving unceremoniously in the bed to take a nap.

The last months passed most eventlessly in Hogwarts, except for the general panic and numerous students who left in fear of the Heir of Slytherin. More attacks happened, but this time Zach wasn't the main suspect anymore, as his girlfriend Hermione got killed. Girlfriend? I don't even know. Also, she's not dead. Yet.

All of this didn't interest me in the very least, I wasn't scared of that shithead beast. The Forest Warrior, the Monster Slayer I was. Self-proclaimed title, sure, but not without reason. Loren wasn't scared either, she was too crazy for that. She trusted me to watch her back, and a part of her probably still believed I was the Heir. Maybe most of her probably believe that. That would explain the lack of fucks she gives about the situation.

We had gone public a few weeks after my trip to India, mostly because she was constantly dragging me in closets to snog and cuddle and I was fed up with it. People had started wondering why she was suddenly so happy and lighthearted with all the attacks and fear happening around us and soon started to rumor about her being the Heir. Stupid as hell, but that never prevented rumors from existing.

To avoid being investigated too much, I admitted to Louise that I dated Loren. An hour later, the whole castle knew it. Maybe I'm exaggerating, just anyone who ever cared about it.

Since then, it was nothing more than a few Occlumency lessons here and there, small trips in the forest just to keep myself in shape and a lot of getting cozier with Loren.

"So what do you think about that?" She was currently sitting beside me in the large armchair in front of the fireplace. We were playing a nice game of Exploding Snap with the Scottish rules, to change a bit.

"I just don't understand why Medusa, of all people, would spend centuries buried beneath a castle and wait for some kid to open the lid. Even if she came here to find her lover in the first place." I dragged two cards from the deck and rasped the table to indicate my turn was over.

"Also, I think that if the legend says she turns people to stone, they would actually be turned to stone. Your story of the stone being a metaphor to say they're petrified doesn't convince me." I concluded, watching intently Smith who was checking his three cards. Probably thinks the card will explode on Rosaline. Loren will get a turn ahead of him.

She pouted. "You're meant to agree with me, what's the point of dating if you don't?" she quipped while taking the top card of the deck. Smith had called it on Rosaline and it failed, now Loren had an edge for the next turn, having more points than her direct opponent on this particular turn.

I stabbed her side with my finger, triggering a cute giggle. It was so easy to be nice and to have fun.

"The point? To snog, of course." I grinned as she leaned on me and brushed her lips on mine while the other players rolled their eyes and Louise pretended to puke.

"Medusa never existed anyway, the old mythology is nothing but stories and tales for children. I think the heir can control a basilisk or a cockatrice." suggested Lynn with a serious voice.

"And I'd bet on the basilisk because guess what, it's the king of snakes." he reinforced his point by slapping his card on the table, gaining the upper hand on Loren.

"No way a basilisk can hide in the castle and attack random students without anybody seeing it." affirmed Smith, a few people nodded. He got a point.

"Besides, basilisk aren't known for being the kindest, it would eat the student after attacking it." I added. More nods.

"Perhaps, but it's still the hypothesis that makes the most sense to me. A king snake for the heir of Slytherin, someone who speaks parseltongue to control it..." he trailed off, looking in the opposite direction as if he hadn't just said that.

Silence followed Lynn's statement, everybody looking worriedly at me. He also got a point, it would make sense. But Zach? Heir of Slytherin? Get real.

My Hufflepuff maties sure had gotten smarter during the year, I felt a bit proud about it, as if my presence triggered that.

"Maybe you're right, I don't know Zach that much better than you. If he's the heir, he hid it well." I admitted, knocking on the table to pass my turn. Exploding snap on the second card of the deck. Rosaline has game, she won't pick it. Smith on the other hand... him or Loren.

"Still doesn't make much sense that students are only petrified. I liked my Medusa story better. At least it had romance." pouted Loren, making everybody laugh, she drew the exploding snap and jumped back in surprise as the card suddenly exploded in her hand. I laughed along with the group and spent the evening having lighthearted fun with my housemates.

We'll see how it comes out in the end, I'd be damned if Zach is actually linked to it, somehow. I chortled internally.

He is a parseltongue, after all... And a Potter.

Summer made the Indian jungle unbearably moist. I was sweating profusely, hiding on a large branch of the huge mahogany tree like a panther waiting to jump on its prey. There probably are panther hiding in trees all around us.

Selena was in the same position as me, laying on another branch and swatting mosquitoes left and right. Unfortunately, none of us knew any kind of mosquito repelling charm.

Our prey wasn't present yet, only the bait. Jagdish was pacing around, near the old ruins. There was a huge statue's head laying on the damp soil next to him, on which he had put his water bottle and bag, already tired of having walked this far.

"How much time do we wait?" Selena was already fed up with the mosquitoes and the uncomfortable position.

"We wait until he comes, if you don't want to, you're free to apparate, it's now or never. We still have time to cut the ward for a few seconds." I whispered briefly, scrutinizing the jungle.

"But what if he doesn't?"

"He will, Jagdish encountered him a few days ago to make sure he's still on his track." I explained quietly. "Now shut it, we need to stay invisible."

Selena wanted to see it for some reason, she had insisted numerous time. Maybe she want to see the guy die to quench her murdering desires? The explanation seemed plausible, she came from Durmstrang after all. She had insisted that she wouldn't help us kill the assassin, even if he deserved it. She came as a spectator and I couldn't stop thinking that it was a mistake to allow her. What if she want to stop us and bring us to the Ministry? She worked with the French Ministry a few years ago... I shook my head. Too late now, she's here.

Jagdish sat on a piece of ruin and rested a bit, drinking from a plastic bottle. I took my shirt off, offering more skin to the mosquitoes. The heat was worse than the insects for me, they barely stung. I peered in the distance, at the other side of the ruins, and distinguished a seven-headed horse with wings taking off and flying low above the treetops. This incredibly huge forest is magical, I really wonder how they hide that to muggles. Do they even bother to?

Suddenly, a black bear came out of a bush, running toward Jagdish on his rear legs, his claws open and roaring loudly. Jagdish stood up, whipped out his wand and started an intricate motion. What is he- I was starting to wonder why he didn't simply blast it off, when unexpectedly, the bear stopped and dropped back on his four legs. He eyed Jagdish menacingly and turned away. Animals could sense it when they were in front of a wizard, and most of the time they were scared.

"Not very subtle, my friend!" yelled Jagdish. I straightened and readied my wand. On my left, from behind a tree appeared a wizard, walking confidently toward Jagdish with a crazy grin. He was dressed with a black leather suit, probably reinforced with defense charms and runes. His long silver hair were tied in a ponytail trailing behind him. He started to laugh, executed a couple pirouettes on his way and stopped a few yards from his target, ecstatic.

"Finally, my favorite prey is all mine! For how long have I been chasing you, old man? Three years? Five years? I frankly don't remember!" He laughed madly, his eyes gleaming with malevolence.

"I will enjoy tearing your guts out, oh yes." He placed his right hand on his hip, his wand in the left, and pulled on a sword handle I hadn't seen at first. A long and shiny katana slid out of his belt, out of its void scabbard, until it was steadily pointed to Jagdish.

The Japanese killer grinned even more widely.

"I shall cut you, for having stood up against the all mighty Kaoru Family, in the name of my master Akio Kaoru!" he proclaimed loudly, visibly enjoying the moment.

"Very well." Jagdish opened the dance by shooting a conjured trident, easily dodged by his opponent who looked eager to draw blood with his sword as he was racing toward Jagdish. Jagdish hastily banished a rock to him at high speed, forcing him to dive.

I choose this moment to act, I stood up and aimed at the crazy assassin. He was far away from me but I was especially good with my aim. I sent a stunner at him, the plain old Stupefy, but muttering the incantation so weakly he couldn't hear it.

Just as the spell was about to connect, he spun around and blocked it with a small shield. Damn, he's not bad, he can sense the magic. It was to be expected from an assassin but I had to at least try.

His eyes were searching me in the landscape of wood and leaves. Jagdish continued with a couple of banished rocks and a stunner, attracting the man's attention on him.

"Got some back-up, old fool?" he barked madly, shooting a highly pressurized jet of water on Jagdish' medium shield.

I dropped down the branch and ran to him, firing a Secaferox, the huge deep blue cutting curse traveled fast, forcing the killer to dive on the ground and almost beheading Jagdish on the way. The sight of the advanced dark curse sobered my opponent, he was now glaring at me apprehensively.

"One in the back and one on the front? That's really dirty, old jerk!" he bellowed before sending silently a bright green light ball to me. Having no idea what it was, I repelled the slow moving attack to the side with a strong Aspernum Maximus to keep my ground, and immediately followed by a short series of banishers and stunners.

He dodged my salvo of mild spells and charged to me. I wasn't fast enough to blast him away or dive efficiently, I jumped back, letting only the tip of his blade reach me and took a slash in the breast. The pain surged in the cut, burning my flesh. I lost no time and barraged him with stunners and dark perforation curses, terrified of having him and his sword so close to me.

The prey countered with a conjured rock shield and turned to Jagdish, only to dive on the side to avoid a stunner. As he fell on the ground, he caught one of my strong Serbian perforation curses in the kidney. Blood spurted heavily, flowing through his fingers as he raised another shield and moved aside. He was wincing painfully, his eyes panicked. I wanted more, dark magic was already feeding me, but I needed more.

"We'll meet again, old man, you can't hire wands to protect you for long!" he hissed behind his bared teeth, sweating heavily and taking hiccupped breaths. The curse had bored a two inch wide tunnel almost going through his body. Might want to put a bit more power next time, to get a clean hole.

He spun around, trying to apparate away but unfortunately for him got blocked by our ward. A horrified look of realization flashed on his face before I hit him with a disarming charm, sending him crashing against a tree.

I walked to him and kicked him viciously in the wound, making him fall on the ground, still wincing and clutching the hole. I was eager to end it, my magic wanted it.

"Do you want to do it?" I asked, turning to Jagdish. He looked sadly at the man at my feet and shook his head before walking slowly to the ruins to take a seat.

"Don't be stupid, if you kill me, they'll send a killer after you too!" barked the condemned man from under me. I kicked him on the thorax, pinned him on the ground with my foot and pointed my wand to his face.

His tone changed into a fearful, pleading whine. "No! Please! Don't do it! What do you want? I can-"

"Secaferox!" I shouted, cutting his words and his neck with a single motion. The deep blue scythe cleaved a wide gash in the ground under us and his head rolled to the side as blood sprayed out of his neck, painting the jungle floor crimson and filling the fresh cut in the ground like some kind of disturbed symbolism. The dark curse nourished my being with an insane amount of joy, tossing me in a sea of bliss. All the pain of a soul dying flowed into me, converted in a wicked pleasure. I stood here, standing on the draining corpse, for a full minute until the sick delight became bearable. I moved my fingers around my wand, caressed it tenderly, staring at the lifeless eyes of the head in front of me, and felt an electric wave across my body. I killed a man.

My thoughts cleared a bit.

I just beat and beheaded a professional killer. My internal Harry grinned bitterly. And I'm making such a fuss about it... Zach killed a fucking Basilisk less than a month ago, along with a piece of Voldemort's soul and he didn't even get a scratch. Hot fluid dripped from by breast where I had been cut, striking cherry lines on my upper body, a reminder that I was still behind the boy-who-lived.

Selena reached us, her face pale. She placed a hand on my shoulder.

"A-Are you alright?" she asked, looking aghast.

"He wasn't that crazy after all." I started, still numbed by dark magic. I was feeling sick now, the pleasure was too wicked.

"Once in front of his own end, he was frighteningly sane." I muttered, still staring at the silver haired head on the ground. Selena pulled on my arm.

"Come on, what is done is done."

We walked to Jagdish, who was making tea, and sat on the rectangular stone with him. This time I accepted the tea and drank it thankfully. Our party stayed silent for some time, we sipped on our tea cups and watched the sky darken with thick ominous clouds. Rain would fall soon.

We eventually got rid of the ward, by removing the master rune we had carved on the mahogany tree, and apparated back in Jagdish's cave. I was carefully monitoring him. If he wanted to cross me and disappear without giving me any data, it would be now.

Selena insisted to heal my cut immediately, I had planned to let it go on its own since it wasn't very deep. It had turned out the blade was enchanted with dark stuff, making the wound impossible to close without a special treatment.

"And even once the wound is closed and healed, you'll probably get a permanent magical scar." scolded Selena while applying some balm on my chest.

"I can't believe you wanted to just, I quote, let it go on its own!" she threw her arm in the air desperately and went back to treat it. I wasn't paying attention to her ramblings, I was watching Jagdish, who had gone in a separate room and came back with a bunch of dusty parchments.

He placed the stash of paper on a table and turned to me.

"Mr. Books, if you would kindly bring the Pensieve behind you and discard Miss Selena, I think it is time to get your payment."

AN: I sort of wrote all of this in a rush, but I think it ended up alright. Let me know how you feel about it.