Chapter 3: A Black Dysk
Disclaimer: I am not good enough to do justice to what I tried to write, maybe some day but not today.
A Black Dysk
MAY I HAVE A MOMENT OF YOUR TIME MR. BLACK?
Harry glanced over at the scythe bearing figure, "sure what can I do for you?"
WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE TO TAKE OVER FOR ME FOR A FEW HOURS? I HAVE AN ERRAND THAT I WOULD LIKE TO DO.
"What about that granddaughter of yours?" Harry asked, "the one that usually subs for you?"
I AM TRYING TO ARRANGE A SURPRISE FOR HER. Death replied. AND ASKING HER WOULD RUIN THE SURPRISE.
"No problem," Harry agreed. "When do you want me to fill in?"
AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, Death said. I AM AFRAID THAT I ONLY RECENTLY LEARNED WHAT I HAD TO DO.
"Just let me grab a few things and we can be on our way," Harry said quickly.
IIIIIIIIII
Susan's eyes narrowed as she saw something out of the corner of her eye and frowned deeply when her eyes verified her deepest fears. "I'd hoped that he'd have learned the first time," she said in disappointment as she set out towards the cloaked figure. "You."
"Something I can do for you?" Harry asked with a lazy grin.
"Where's your master?" Susan demanded.
"Master?" Harry rubbed his chin. "Don't think I've got one of those."
"My grandfather, where is he." Susan growled.
"Not sure what you're talking about," Harry said absently while checking his watch.
"Now listen here," Susan began with false calm.
"Excuse me," Harry pulled a small horse figurine out of his pocket. "I've got an appointment I've got to keep."
"That's not Binky," Susan gasped.
"No it's Mortis," Harry agreed. "Have a good day."
"But . . ."
"Why do I always meet the werd ones," Harry muttered to himself as he galloped off. "Why?" Dismissing his thoughts of self pity, Harry landed and walked into a convent alley.
"Give us your gold," a voice hissed from behind. "And your horse."
"Hmmm?" Harry glanced over his shoulder to look at the group of thugs, "maybe later."
"I don't think you understand the seriousness of the situation," the man said slowly, silently asking himself why did he always have to deal with the crazy ones?
"Supposing I give you what you want," Harry began. "What then?"
"I won't lie to you," the man said with a nasty grin. "I don't have a licence, I'll have to cut you up so no one can give the guild my description."
"I see," Harry said in understanding. "Goodbye." Two rather . . . bloody minutes later, Harry put his scythe away and resumed his wait. "Hello," he called out to a passerby. "You spelled your hat wrong."
"Not in the face . . . wait, you're not the normal guy?" Rincewind said while still maintaining his readiness to flee.
"Afraid he's busy at the moment," Harry replied.
"So where's the danger?" Rincewind demanded. "Why isn't something attacking me?" His voice turned shrill.
"I'm afraid that's my fault," Harry said with an embarrassed chuckle. "You see I'm new to this and I accidentally eliminated the threat . . . sorry bout that."
"I . . ."
"I'll just be going then shall I?" Harry said to the stunned wizzard. "Bye then." Harry mounted his horse and headed for the hills. "One more thing to do," Harry muttered to himself.
Harry's next and last stop was a small village in a tiny out of the way country. He got off his mount and slipped unnoticed into the nearest house.
"It's his time then?" An old woman asked without looking up from her patient.
"Afraid so," Harry agreed.
"Subbing for the other one then?"
"Just for a few hours," Harry whispered.
"Get on with it then," the old woman commanded.
"May you find peace in the next world," Harry said quietly. "It's done."
"Be on your way then," the old woman said without bothering to look up.
Harry slipped out of the house as silently as he had entered and headed towards his horse.
THANK YOU, Death said as he rode down on Mortis's twin.
"What'd you get her?" Harry asked.
A CARD WITH A HUMOROUS SAYING ABOUT THE AGING PROCESS AND SOME FLOWERS.
"Mind if I make a suggestion?" Harry asked.
WHAT IS IT?
"Just something else you might want to give," Harry said with a grin. "Have you considered giving her any . . ."
IIIIIIIIII
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSAN.
"Birthday?" Susan asked in shock. "Congratulations on being one step closer to death," Susan read the card. "
THE SHOPKEEPER ASSURED ME THAT IT WAS QUITE HUMOROUS, Death added helpfully.
IIIIIIIIII
"I'm back," Harry called out.
"Welcome back," Henchgirl said with a big grin. "And you brought a cute little kitty, hello little kitty."
"Kitty?" Harry turned to regard the ugliest mass of scar tissue shaped like a cat that he'd ever seen. "Must have stowed away with me, "better take him back."
"Could you just wait a few days?" Henchgirl begged. "He's so cute that I just have to cuddle with him."
"Just a few days," Harry reluctantly agreed. "Then he goes home."
"Yay," Henchgirl cheered. Little did Harry know the magnitude of his latest error. "Where do you think I could find some milk for him?"
"There should be some on the front step," Harry replied. "I worked out a deal with a milk man when I was gone."
"I'll go look then."
IIIIIIIIII
"Is the monster gone?" The Doctor demanded. "Did you take it back to hell?"
"I took him home," Harry demurred.
"It shouldn't have even been possible," the Doctor muttered to herself. "How'd he do it?"
"Do what?" Harry immediately cursed himself for asking.
"The Nundu's pregnant," the Doctor said flatly.
"Bu . . . how?"
"That thing you took back, Henchgirl's widdle kitty did it." The Doctor growled. "I didn't even notice till after you were gone. Bad enough it wrecks my lab but to saddle me with having to take care of a pregnant Nundu."
"But how?" Harry said in confusion, "I didn't think it was possible for a house cat to breed with a Nundu."
"Apparently no cat has ever tried," the Doctor said dryly. "Though I still maintain that the little bugger's a demon."
AN: This is my rather pathetic attempt to play in the private preserve of one of the greats, maybe some day I can do it justice but not today.
Omake: Skeletons
"What's this potion do again?" Harry demanded.
"It's an invisibility potion, it makes you invisible." Henchgirl replied with a perky smile. "Now drink."
"Just so you understand," Harry sighed. "This is under protest."
"Drink," Henchgirl repeated. "Chug chug chug," she cheered as Harry downed the potion.
"Is it working?" Harry was afraid to look down at himself.
"Um . . . sort of," Henchgirl said nervously. "Why don't I just step out for a bit."
"What did you do?" Harry demanded. "Where's my skin?"
"It's still there," Henchgirl said with a smile. "It's just invisible."
"Why are my organs disappearing?"
"They're not disappearing," Henchgirl said with a huff. "They're just invisible."
"Oh," Harry said in relief. "I suppose my bones are next . . . I said I suppose my bones are next."
"Doesn't look like it," Henchgirl said with a frown. "Maybe if I were to . . . hmmm."
"How long is this going to last?" Harry's skeleton demanded.
"No more then a couple days," Henchgirl said dismissively. "And you should eventually learn to control it."
"Control it?" Harry asked flatly."
"After a few months," Henchgirl agreed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to figure out how to brew another potion that will hide your bones."
"What am I supposed to do now?" Harry's skeleton whined.
"I'd put on a cloak and point at people," Henchgirl said after a moment of thought. "Maybe check my watch occasionally."
Omake: Mr. Black and the Demoness
By meteoricshipyards
In a private chateau in the Swiss Alps a bell started ringing. The
bell came from an alarm clock like object that was sitting on an end
table next to a bed where a blanket covered two people. An arm
appeared from under the blanket and started feeling around the end
table. It found what it was looking for - a small carbon-graphite
stick. It pointed the stick at the other arm which had reached out
from under the blankets, and suddenly a large mallet formed in the
other hand. With uncanny precision, the mallet hit the alarm clock
looking thing and flattened it. The mallet disappeared and two heads
emerged from under the blanket.
"Vat eez it, Darlink?" asked a beautiful blond woman whose shoulders
gave the impression that she wasn't wearing anything, which,
coincidently, she wasn't.
"Nothing for you to worry about Katrina. Go back to bed, I'll be
back with breakfast before you know it."
"Don't take too long, Meester Black."
"I won't. These things are usually cleared up pretty quickly." Mr.
Black, wearing silk pajamas with snorkacks on them, got up and
slipped into the bathroom to get changed. He returned to the
bedroom, and cast a Reparo on the Dork-Lord Detector that the
Professor had made for him. The alarm-clock like object's hands
showed longitude and latitude rather than time.
Katrina looked like she was sleeping again. Harry sighed. It was
always something. He had come to the Alps to learn to ski and come
to a mutually beneficial arrangement with the young Russian woman.
She would teach him to ski and he would help her break the curse that
was upon her. He felt he was getting the better part of the deal.
All he had to do was sleep with her and not have sex. Simple, for
someone who could resist Veela magic. But the "cure" was spoiled by
the alarm, so they'll have to try again that night.
He opened the door to the living room and looked at his other
guests. How the heck had they found him? A whole flock of Veela
were sleeping out there. The remains of last night's Monopoly game
were still on the table. What was it with Veela and Monopoly?
He Apparated to the coordinates on the Dork Lord Detector, and found
himself in a trailer park in upstate New York. He looked around, and
quickly located the source of the magical emanations. He knocked on
the door.
It was opened by a man in shabby robes, aiming a wand at him.
"What do you want? I'm very busy!"
"I noticed the magic here, and just wanted to make sure everything
was OK."
"A wizard, eh? Come in. You're just in time. You can assist me.
Yes, this will work out fine."
Harry entered the mobile home, and sat on the kitchen chair he was
directed to. The wizard never lowered his wand. The table had been
removed from the kitchen, and a pentagram was drawn on the linoleum
floor. Harry couldn't help but notice it was rather sloppily done.
As Harry sat down, chains appeared from the chair and wrapped around
him. He sighed. This could get ugly.
The wizard turned back to the pentagram, read horrible sounding words
from a book, lit a black candle, ran a bell, and finished with, "I
summon you, She-Who-Must-Obey!"
The street lights in the trailer park went out, and the candle
flickered, and there was something in the pentagram. It was six and
a half feet high, with horns that extended another half foot above
that. Two huge leathery, bat like wings were on it's back. The rest
of it looked like a large, beautifully proportioned woman. It wore a
tiny, light blue bikini that might not be legal at many beaches, it
was so small.
"Success! You will help me take over the world! Start with that
one!" the mad wizard cried, pointing at Harry.
The demoness looked at the figure and smiled. While, except for the
horns, wings, and color - obsidian black, a black that no flesh and
blood creature could actually be - she looked mostly human, her
smile disabused anyone of that notion. Her teeth were long, pointed
and sharp. The Dark Lord shuddered a little as he saw them. 'This
is going to be messy,' he thought.
The demoness spoke with a heavy Brooklyn accent. "Hello, Mr. Black.
How ya doin'?"
"Same as aways, it seems. I just can't seem to get a vacation in.
New outfit?"
"Ya noticed! Yeah, I quit Hellie's. Da bums just don't tip there.
I like waitressing, and all, but I could barely afford the rent. I
got a job with Ma Bell now. I'm a switchboard operator. I get to
disconnect people who are rude! Just yesterday, I cut off a long
distance call from Dis."
Harry and the demoness laughed.
"I'm glad things are working out for you, She."
"Afder you helped me out that time, ain't no one messing wid me
anymore. I just can't thank you enough."
"My pleasure, She."
The wizard had enough. "Don't talk him to death, kill him!"
The demoness looked at the little man and put her hands on her
hips. "I don't think so, mister! Dis here is a friend o' mine!"
"But you are She-Who-Must-Obey!"
"Big deal! Strange names come into fashion for a few centuries, and
my parents saddle me with this one. I hear the same thing happens
wid you 'umans. You end up with names like 'Moonbeam' and 'John'
until common sense takes over again. Doesn't help the kids, though.
They get stuck wid the silly names for da rest of dere lives."
"AARRRGGG!" The wizard tried to point his wand at Harry but when his
hand was outstretched he noticed that there was no wand in it.
Harry, still sitting in the chair, but without chains on him, was
holding it.
"You want me to take care of this bum, Mr. Black?" She asked.
"Thanks, She. That would be great."
"Come on mister. I think you'd make a nice snack for Cuddles. Don't
be a stranger, Mr. Black!" She grabbed the wizard, and was gone
before the little man could scream.
Harry shuddered a little. He had met Cuddles. Demon pets
were . . . . Anyway, he would have just killed him. He left a note
for the American Aurors, magically sent out a call to them, and
Apparated away.
Today he was going to try snowboarding, right after he got Katrina
and the rest of his guests breakfast.
Omake by Chris Hill
"Boy! Where are you Boy! You are needed!" screamed a being in blue armour.
A young boy across the street slaped his face, then went over to the
screaming giant. "What do you want?"
"Boy, there is great danger. Not just to us, but to this entire town."
stated the being.
"Skulker," Danny Fenton said, "I've faced Plasmius, I've faced Pariah,
and I've faced a lot of others from the Ghost Zone. I've even faced an
evil me! What could be worse than that?"
"Child, while we may battle, there is a secret that I've never told
you. Indeed, you are worthy of learning the secret where Plasmius is
not. We battle to prevent boredom! Do you think, as untrained as you
are, you would really have a chance against all of us, or even me if I
trully brought forth my abilities?" said Skulker.
"Yeah, that's why I always kick your butt!" scowled Danny.
Skulker took a second, and then began laughing out loud while leading
Danny away from the more public areas. "Child, we exist just short of
Forever! Do you not think that we would get bored after all that time?
Besides, only a fool, such as Plasmius would want this world to be
under an iron rule. I may accept his money, but his foolishness is his
own destruction."
"What is it then?" Danny said a little numb.
"Child...Danny. There is a strong power approaching this town, one
that we ghost fear more than Pariah. This being is named Black. He
pretends to be human. A Wizard, if you will. By the laws he laughs at,
all that happens in Amity Park should not occur, and everyones
memories would be erased. There are more rumours about him than can be
imagined. It is said that he is older than the Ancient spirits who
trapped Pariah, that he is the First, but having a way to return to
life at any time. It is said that his power is a million times greater
than Pariah." Skulker said.
A stunned Danny replied, "What does he want here?"
"Danny, to answer your question, you need to ask, what does any
immortal want? Truthfully, I think that he wants to see one ghost who
named himself Voldemort to suffer for the pain he put some mortal
through. He will probably want to use your portal. If he does, let
him. Do not endanger yourself." Skulker warned.
"Besides, Voldemort is a whiney bint! I for one would be glad to hear
his screams of torment, if I could get rid of his stupid comments. He
does not deserve to be counted among the dead!"
"Wait, this guy is worse than the box ghost?"
"Danny, this guy drives other ghosts off by being a complete
complaining, whiny, stupid entity. Of course we want to get rid of
him."
"Wait! Hold on!" Danny said, not wanting anything to threaten his
family, friends, or town, no matter the cost to himself, "There's got
to be a way to prevent something bad from happening!"
Skulker rubbed his chin, "Danny, I know of no being that would
challenge him, Evil being fear him, weather they are mortal, ghost, or
demon, and yes, demons do exist. The best we could do is make an
appeal to him and appease his sensibilities."
"So you'll help me protect the town?" Danny cautiously ventured.
A smirk greeted that question, "I have been authorized by all the
ghost you have encountered to offer a truce, from now to a month after
his attention is drawn elsewhere. You will not abandon the mortals,
no matter what happens, we know this. It was predicted by everyone
that knows you, and we respect this."
Skulker looked around to see if anyone, or anything, was listening.
"Do me a favour, Ghost Child, do not let the mortals you associate
with to know the truth of why I battle, or allow them to know the
respect that I have for you, and that you have for me. It is better
that they are cautious, and will protect themselves against those who
are trully evil such as Pariah. It is a strength that they will need.
One more thing..."
Here Skulker shouted hard enough to force Dannys hair to fly back, "DO
NOT THINK THAT YOU SHOULD EVER LET UP IN BATTLE! We may be dealing
with you lightly, but be assured, the battles will get harder."
"Why Skulker?" Danny said as his oftime foe was about to leave. "Why
are you telling me this? Why are you...training me?"
"That is not my place to tell." Skulker replied, "Perhaps you should
talk with Clockwork once more."
Sam was lying in her bed when a twelve year old ghost dashed into her room.
"Whereishe!whereishe!Dannyhastobehere!whereishe!" said ghost gibbled.
"Whoah! Slow down Dani. What's wrong?"
The young ghost girl caught herself and started to breath slowly, "Mr.
Black is coming! He heard about Danny and got curious!"
Sam shook her head, "Who is Mr. Black?"
"Who is Mr. Black?!" the panicked ghost girl said, looking around the
room for some of Sam's research material. Seeing one of the books
that might explain things, she grabbed it and opened it up to a plate
depicting a scary character. "This is who he is!"
Sam looked at the picture, and saw a black cloaked figure bearing a scythe.
A few days later, Days that had a worried Sam, Dani, and Jazz doing
everything they could to follow Danny, much to his displeasure
whenever he caught them at it, a stranger whistled his way into town.
He did the usual things, such as go to a dinner for breakfast, see the
sights, and catch the Amity Park Ghost Tour. A tourist through and
through, although he was snickering badly at the 'Guys in White.'
Later that afternoon, he started to visit areas that normal people
would not be allowed in. This pissed off the 'Guys in White', which
prompted a personal visit by him to their headquarters. Nobody said
what happened, but suddenly, the 'Guys in White' were all smiles,
forced smiles, but smiles, as they were being audited by a person the
man left behind.
This person, dressed in black, was going through every one of their
receipts and disallowing so many of them, that the threat of
diminished funding was becoming overwhelming.
"May I ask what it is that you are buying that takes up approximately
a quarter of an 8 billion dollar budget?" the auditor without a
recognizable face asked.
One of the two Guy's in White answered, "You will need to file form
1007D in triplicate along with Information Request form 877A and
Information Release form 9437B to get the necessary forms to file to
receive that information."
The auditor was getting angry. So far, no matter what he needed, it
seemed there was a form, that required a form, to get a form, to fill
out a form to receive the original form in order to get the
information. "Right. In that case, I'm going to have a billion
dollars removed from your budget. It's obvious that it takes that
amount of dead trees to get simple information."
The two agents looked at each other. "Detergent. It's for the
detergent we need to keep our suits white as per department
regulations."
"Now we're getting somewhere," the auditor said under his breath.
"Almost 2 billion dollars for detergent for one hundred agents? What
do you do to your suits, eat garbage with them on? I'll allow
$250,000.00 for the year. That should get you dry cleaning everyday
of the year for all of your people, which means that you've seriously
overspent on just that department."
"Now, I've noticed that you've earmarked a budget of almost 250
million to follow one Danny Fenton around. I also notice that you are
using a lot of technology from Fentonworks that has not been paid for.
I can only assume that this means the technology being used has been
stollen. All this money, to try and find something to blame on a
child, seems more to ensure that you do not have to pay the Fentons if
they find out that you have stollen their technology. That budget
will be slashed to one hundred dollars, and you will comply with
federal regulations. Which means that you owe the Fentons ten times
what it would have originally cost if you had just purchased the
technology originally or obtained the rights to use it. You will be
paying them as a purchase of the technology, and use only what they
will allow you to. This means the Fentons must be brought in to audit
all of your equipment." the auditor said as he tapped a copy of the
Fenton Ghost Thermos.
The two agents winced. If truth be known, everything was based on the
Fentons technology, and they had already made the kid mad at them
several times in the past. It would not be pretty if he was the one
to audit their equipment. "What if we set it up as a college fund for
the kids?"
"Possible. I agree. In this case, your former target, Danny Fenton,
will be the one to conduct the audit." He smilled at the obvious
winces and clenched hands that the two agents in front of him made.
It was so nice to catch them in wrong doing. A big part of the MoB
was catching governments going overboard.
"Getting to that, you've listed Fenton and his friends as allies of
this Danny Phantom. Since you are stopping this persecution, you will
allow Phantom and his allies full governmental protection. This means
no chasing him, hounding him, or going after him. In fact, I think he
will make an excellent boss of your organization once I talk with the
people back in Washington. In the meantime, I have contacted
C.O.N.T.R.O.L. and have gotten their permission to have one of their
best agents assigned here to help you determine what to do." Serves
the idiots right. Going after the badd guys was ok, but going after
the good guys? It was England all over again. Besides, Phantom was a
ghost, and that meant that he was magical.
"Control?" the agent on the right opened his eyes wide, "Is this a
joke? Control doesn't exist!"
"Strange of you to say that. Maxwell Smart, Agent 86 will be in
charge of the Guy's in White until such a time as your budget and
organization are fully reviewed with the President." The auditor
smirked as he took a bite of the excellent strawberry shortcake that
he had been served, "A word of caution. He is better than the cover
story we made for him, although he does speak in all of those cliches
that we used on the show."
The agent on the left winced, and then almost grovelled as he fought
to keep his 8 billion dollar budget.
This was important! If they lost the Phantom case, then their budget
would be reduced to a ridiculous ¼ billion dollars, especially if the
Fenton's ripped apart their arsennal.
Harry was having a good time in Amity Park. It was a nice place, calm,
peaceful, and nothing like the reputation made it out to be. "I guess
the muggles sensationalize everything out of proportion to what's
actually happening."
He had hoped to meet the local Ghost Hero, however, and congradulate
him, possibly even get him to come and teach a few classes back at the
island as he was the only one who could possibly teach others how to
deal with beings like Peeves. Unfortunately, it would have to wait as
he had to get back to what he needed to do. Can't let the bad guys
think he was on a permanent vacation, despite how relaxing that
sounded.
He'd have to come back every two weeks until he finally met Mr.
Phantom. It was the only thing to do in this situation, and he was
sure that they'd meet up if he kept to this schedule.
Besides, that dinner had some of the best coffee cake that he'd ever tasted!
End
Omake by luinlothana
After reading yest another piece of the Hunt and listening to the
news at the same time I couldn't help but wonder how would Poland
and Mr. Black mix. As some ideas jumped into my head and proved
quite persistent I started to write omake playing with this idea.
But it started getting too long and I started doubting that anybody
but Poles could understand the references I gave so I stopped
writing before it got unreadable. But since I wrote it anyway I
decided to send it here (mostly in case someone here does know
Poland well enough for it to make some sense). I hope you won't
consider it spamming.
Things certainly can get stranger
„I still don't see why you wanted to come here, Mr. Black. I mean
I'm not saying it's not a nice country…"
"hush, I have a feeling that it might be interesting. Now if you
don't need me for anything… port me down."
Harry looked where he landed. He seemed to be in the middle of some
field. But the magic in the air was so obvious that one could even
taste it easily. The only thing around that wasn't a field seemed to
be an old willow standing between the crops. Upon a closer look it
appeared that someone was sitting inside. Without any further
thought Harry approached the willow.
"Hello?"
"Oh, hello, haven't noticed you." a creature inside the willow
replied
Harry pointedly looked around
"Really?"
"Well, I'm doing crosswords and wasn't really looking." the
crossword fan admitted "I'm Rokita, by the way. A devil."
"A devil?"
"To be precise I'm a czort. Different qualifications and a bit
different job profile."
Harry decided not to wonder about it too much. Stranger thing have
happened after all. To him at least.
"A czort then? How interesting. I'm Mr. Black."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, master." Rokita grinned presenting
quite uneven teeth
"Master? Where did that come from?"
"As I'm sure you know, czort department is generally responsible for
chaos, mischief and impossible happenings."
Harry chose not to comment and just nodded
"Someone with your skills in those fields deserves no lesser title."
"I'd be glad if we sticked to Mr. Black though."
"Naturally, master." the czort grinned "This meeting deserves
celebrating. Would you care for some fruit wine? Made it myself."
"Why not. So what are you doing in this willow?"
"Why, I'm working, of course." the czort produced two glasses from
somewhere and filled them with liquid from a brown bottle. A few
drops fell on the wood burning holes through it. Then he gave one
glass to his guest.
"You health, Mr. Black." the czort rose his glass and drank half of
it in one gulp "And I'm working as a link between Muggles and
Magicals."
"Really? And doesn't it bother people a bit, you know, with you
being a czort and all?"
"It's a tradition. And besides they all know that magic exist, so
it's enough to say every time that there isn't such thing as magic.
And even though there isn't I'm still revulsed by the fact that it
exists. They like hearing that."
Harry didn't look convinced. He took a sip of the fruit wine hoping
it might make the situation clearer. It didn't
"And you are working in the middle of nowhere with nobody around?"
"Sure. This way everybody knows how to find me." explained the
czort as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "But enough
of that" he finished his glass in another gulp "I guess you didn't
come here to talk to me, did you, master Black?"
"Actually I was just looking for a few suggestions as to what to
visit here."
"One moment" the czort said "You know a person like you might like
to see Venice…"
"When I said here I was thinking more in the terms of a country"
"Of course you were. It's not far from here. Venice is a village
between Biskupin and Venice lakes. Though I heard some stories that
someone liked the name enough to use it for some city near Adriatic…
Anyway, here is the address of Venice Devil, you may like to talk to
him. He has a habit of scaring his guests away but he is pretty all
right apart from that. And I heard that there will be hatching of a
dragon in Krakow's dragon reserve. Polish Golden Wawel Dragon is
nearly extinct now due to it's violent reaction to some food humans
leave so the hetching is going to be quite an event. And besides
you'd be able to see the capital at the same time."
The knowledge gained in primary school concerning geography suddenly
surfaced in Harry's head.
"Isn't Warsaw the capital?"
"Muggle capital, yes. Though the magical capital was moved back to
Krakow." czort's voice dropped to whisper "Too many ghosts. Some
people found it unnerving. Especially foreign guests. But one does
not speak about it openly."
Harry nodded in understanding.
"So Venice first, you say? Thank you for advice. Would you mind
providing me a portkey?"
"For you, master? Free of charge. Double even is you want to catch
the hatching as well." He set to work not waiting for reply "Here.
It activates on words Wenecja' and smok'. Have fun, master."
Harry opened his mouth to say something and then changed his mind.
He just smiled to himself and shook his head.
"Thanks. Until next time. And thanks for the drink. Wenecja"
He disappeared. The czort put a sign back in 10 minutes (if you're
lucky)' on one of the branches and turned to the mirror that hung
inside. After a moment a creature with horns and wheat legs appeared
in view
"This is dytko central. Who do you want to talk with?"
"The boss."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes"
"Well, if you're sure. Connecting to Boruta's office"
"Sir? I just wanted to report that Mr. Black is visiting the
country. I thought you would want to know."
"He's visiting? Now? Just when we're in the middle in another file
crisis?"
"It's just an idea, sir, but maybe he came to provide a distraction
from continuous file affairs?"
"Rokita?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Remind me to give you a pay rise if I don't fire you first. I'll
tell everybody to look for Black files. It could be fun. For that
matter, I'll hint the Muggles that they should start searching as
well. And you may take the day off if you want."
"Thank you, sir. Goodbye, sir."
Rokita disconnected and disappeared from the willow not bothering to
take the sign off.
At the same time Harry was just entering ruins of some castle.
According to the piece of paper he got from the czort this was where
he could find Venetian Devil. It didn't take long until some strange
noises were heard. As he stepped a bit further the play of shadows
accompanied the sound. And finally a creature half covered by
shadows appeared.
"Who dares to enter my castle?" the figure demanded in a voice that
would be scary for anyone who didn't happen to survive a few years
of Potions taught by Snape.
"I'm Mr. Black. Venetian Devil, I presume?"
It seemed that at these words the figure lost the heart for haunting.
"I don't suppose you are going to run away no matter what I do to
scare you?" the figure tried
"I don't think so. Though you may try inviting me to see a few
albums of family photos or photos of your cats or both."
"I don't think I have any, sorry. But since you aren't running away
I might as well introduce myself properly while we walk to the gold
chamber where I live. I'm Miko³aj Na³êcz Chwa³owic. Pleasure to meet
you, Mr. Black."
"You don't like to be addressed as Venetian Devil, I take it?"
"Well, it's too official I guess. I don't particularly mind it but
it's more of a title than actual name. All my friends call me
Miko³aj. Oh, here were are – the golden chamber."
"I can certainly see you believe in rich furnishing, Miko³aj"
The devil laughed
"Well, yes, the treasure. That's part of my problem, you know. I
have four chambers full of treasure but I can give it only to a
person that asks me for it and I'm obliged to scare people away. And
even if someone doesn't get scared I can't give much. It's quite
annoying, actually. I'm guarding the treasures for centuries and I
can't even get a proper vacation because of that."
Harry looked sympathetic.
"Can't anything be arranged?"
"No. Sitting here all alone is giving boredom a whole new
definition. And I actually like giving presents to those that
actually need them, you see. only people seem to be giving up too
easily, lately. You're the first person to come here in half a year."
"And have you considered perhaps making some sort of stipendium
program?"
"What do you mean?"
"An organised for of what you said. Only instead of all those
special effects you'd use one of the above chambers to interview
applicants. An interview like that can be stressfull enough to
consider your job done. I'm sure one on my man would be glad to help
organizing it." he handed Miko³aj a zippo "Instuctions are on the
side. You just need to ask for Pencil. And I'm sure wizards and
witches from poorer families would be glad that there is a
possibility like that."
"Sounds good. but under one condition, if you don't mind"
"What would that be?"
"I'm sure lending your name to promote the fund"
"I don't think it would be a problem."
The Nation Memory Institute was resembling a panicked hive at the
moment. An elderly man sat in his office and was desperately tried
to look as if he controlled everything that was happening.
"Sir? I think we found it at last."
"Good work, Nowak. Now bring be the Black's file here"
"Files you mean, sir. And it's Kowalski."
„Doesn't matter. Bring it here."
"Of course sir" the man gestured and another man carried couple of
very thick files
"Thank you, Kowalski, put it on the desk"
"Of course. But it's Nowak, sir."
"Naturally" the man left
"So what can you tell me about him, Nowak?"
"Kowalski, sir. We were actually quite surprised when we found the
file was complete, lacking only a photo. He was going by Czarny,
which is a quite obvious pseudonym as it translates as Black into
English. There was a note, that a few people tried to make him a
photo and failed. When someone was send to remedy that he ended with
severe case of hypothermia frostbites that made him loose a hand. In
July. Another one was hit by a car. In the middle of a wood, forty
kilometers from the nearest road. Then there was a gangrene case
after a paper cut…"
"You are getting off the topic, Nowak."
"Kowalski, sir. The interesting thing about the files if that none
of them state which site he was on. Just some observations, note of
what he did from time to time. the first files were made during war
and then they thought he was on a friend as he was fighting against
nazis. Then he was back in 1948 and for two years it seemed as of he
was in the opposition. And then He resurfaced in 1951 and seemed
pretty neutral but the file said that he is not to be
underestimated. And nobody is to aggravate him. He's described as
too powerful to oppose. The last mention of him is from February
1953. He left the country to go to USSR. He was heard mentioning
that he has a meeting with a very important person in Moscow.
Supposedly he never came back."
"Any idea who this person was?"
"Well, on one other occasion he mentioned that he knows Stalin
personally so…" Kowalski quickly made some connections "But… sir, I
think that not annoying this person was one of the smartest moves
made by PZPR"
AN02: Dedicated to those who weren't as lucky. Absent companions.