Chapter 5 Underwater Basket Weaving

Disclaimer: You'd like that wouldn't you? Well . . . I'm not going to fall for it.

"Chief," Ninety nine called out. "The Dutch are on the floo and they wish to speak with you."

"Fine," the aged man grunted. "Send them through."

"Dutch Magical Law Enforcement to Control, come in Control," the woman in the flames called out.

"Must you all do that every time you call?" The Chief groaned, "must you?"

"Yes," the woman replied. "We must."

"Fine," the Chief agreed in defeat. "What can I do for you?"

"It's what we can do for you," the woman said with a smile. "I have a bit of information to share . . . think of it as payment for cracking Black's riddle."

"What is it?" The Chief leaned forward.

"As you may have heard, Mr. Black recently authenticated a painting for us."

"Yes," the Chief agreed. "I thought it a bit odd that you'd ask Mr. Black to perform such a menial task but . . . "

"We had our reasons," the woman said sharply. "One of them was a desire to confirm that the Painter had contact with the magical world."

"And?"

"And he painted another portrait," the woman replied. "One of incredible detail, his masterpiece."

"So?" The Chief asked, "I'm still not seeing the point to this."

"The other portrait is also magical," the woman began. "The subject is a man in black . . . the wards on the painting make it impossible to remember any details about the man's face."

"So you have a painting of Mr. Black," the Chief said with a shrug. "So what?"

"So it's got something sealed within it . . . something bad," the woman said. "Possibly worse than the . . . thing in Austria."

"I see." The chief slumped in his chair, "is there anything I can do to help keep this thing contained?"

"The wards on the painting are foolproof," the woman replied. "We're afraid that any action on our part would have a negative effect."

"So what are you going to do with it?"

"We're going to present it to Mr. Black," the woman said with a grin. "He likes art and there's no one better to guard it."

IIIIIIIIII

"Are we there yet?" Luna asked for the three hundredth time.

"Damn it Luna," Hermione exploded. "Are you trying to make me angry?"

"Yes I am," Luna agreed. "And it would help if you'd just go ahead and lose your temper so I can get on to more productive activities."

"What?" Hermione asked in shock, "why?"

"You've been bottling everything up since Harry disappeared," Luna explained. "It's not healthy and since you refused my offer of a massage . . ."

"I am not repressing my feelings," Hermione replied.

"Yes you are"

"No I'm not"

"Yes you are"

"No I'm . . . Stop trying to make me angry."

"No"

"Yes"

"No"

"Ye . . . arg." Hermione took several deep calming breaths. "Ok . . . how about this, we spend a day relaxing . . . then will you stop trying to make me angry?"

"Maybe," Luna said with a grin. "What did you have in mind?"

"There's a spa near here," Hermione began lecturing. "It is based around a hot spring that's been in use since Roman times . . ."

"Ok," Luna interrupted. "But if I think that you haven't relaxed enough then the deal's off."

"Fine," Hermione agreed. "Let's go."

IIIIIIIIII

Dumbledore's search for information had brought him to Germany to meet with an old friend. It was for the best, he told himself. Let Hermione and Luna talk to the people and let young Nym . . . Tonks speak to Law Enforcement. He was going to take advantage of a lifetime of contacts and favors owed to speak with those in power.

"Albus," Ritter said with a smile. "What brings you here?"

"Business," Dumbledore said with a frown of regret. "How's Hans?"

"Doing well," Ritter replied. "What can I do for you?"

"I need to find Mr. Black," Dumbledore said bluntly.

"You don't find Mr. Black," Ritter replied. "He finds you . . . why do you need him?"

"I believe that he's the only one that can help me find Harry Potter," Dumbledore explained. "And I was hoping to find him to enlist his help."

"I see . . . why is Harry Potter missing?"

"It is all my fault," Dumbledore admitted. "I put too much faith in a prophecy. I . . . I ruined the boy's life and excused it all as being necessary to serve the greater good."

"Why do you wish to find Harry Potter?" Hans demanded.

"To apologize," Dumbledore replied. "To beg him to at least see his friends if he does not wish to see me, to assure myself that he is alright and happy where he is."

"I see," Ritter said slowly. "Here is what I know about Mr. Black. He is very old, he is very dangerous, he has a very odd sense of humor, and he hates blood purists very much."

"That's all?" Dumbledore asked in shock.

"That's all," Ritter confirmed. "If you wish, I'll let you go over the reports of the 'Black Massacre,' perhaps you'll be able to get some insight that eluded us."

"Thank you," Dumbledore said slowly. "You have been a great help."

"What are friends for Albus?"

IIIIIIIIII

"So it's agreed," the shadowy man looked around the table. "The only possible threat to our plan is from Mr. Black . . . Mr. Black has to die."

"Is that even possible?" One of the other men asked, "I heard that he couldn't be killed."

"Superstition," another snorted. "And even if he is an immortal, he can still be distracted."

"What do you propose to do?"

"I propose that we provide a distraction," the shadowy man offered. "We send a team to Black island to cause a bit of trouble. Even if they are not able to cause any real damage, the damage to Black's reputation will be immense. He'll have to contend with that and he'll be busy fixing his wards, leaving the way free for us to strike."

"And how do you intend to get a team onto the island?"

"No ship is unsinkable and no fortress is impossible to take," the shadowy man replied. "The wards around his island are good, but they cannot be perfect. There is a spell that when added to a portkey will seek out any holes in the ward."

"You're sure," one of the men demanded.

"I've put months of research and mountains of money into the development of this charm," the shadowy man replied. "It cannot fail."

"Remember those words," one of the others ordered.

IIIIIIIIII

"So what do you think this class will be about?" One of the Aurors whispered to her companion.

"Who can say," the other Auror whispered back. "I've heard that this class is going to be taught by Black himself."

"So we're going to learn some deadly spell to use on our enemies?" The first Auror asked.

"Not likely," a man entered the conversation. "Mr. Black is much too subtle for that."

"Who're you?" One of the Aurors asked with a frown.

"Secret agent eighty six of Control," Max replied. "The last class Mr. Black taught was on how to make an omelet. Who can say what this one will be on . . . "

"Hello everyone," Harry announced himself as he entered the room. "Welcome to my class on arts and crafts."

"Arts and crafts?" One of the aurors whispered.

"Shhh," Max whispered back.

"I'm going to be teaching you how to weave baskets underwater," Harry continued, unaware of the whispered comments. "Now, the first thing you'll need to learn how to do is breath underwater . . ."

IIIIIIIIII

Max stumbled out of the class with an odd look on his face, for once it had seemed that Mr. Black was teaching them something useful without having to spend weeks in research to discover what it was . . . to be honest it was making him a bit paranoid. "This is secret agent eighty six calling Control, come in Control."

"What is it Max?" The chief's voice asked.

"Mr. Black taught us how to breath underwater," Max replied. "And how to weave a basket."

"I see," the Chief replied. "How hard is it to learn?"

"To breath underwater?" Max asked, "not hard at all. Would take me about five minutes to teach it."

"Come in Max," the Chief said suddenly. "It's time for you to come home."

"But Chief," Max protested. "I'm learning so much."

"Good," the Chief replied. "Because I have an assignment for you, I'll give you the details when you come in."

"Yes Chief."

IIIIIIIIII

"What happened?" One of the men demanded. "I thought you said your charm would work?"

"My charm is flawless," the shadowy man sneered. "The only explanation is that the team you gave me made a mistake."

"Or that Mr. Black's wards are perfect," another man added. "What happened?"

"Everything went well until the team reached the limit's of Black's wards," the shadowy man explained. "Then they stopped."

"What?"

"They stopped," the shadowy man repeated. "They stopped and the team dropped into the water and drowned."

"More likely they froze to death," another man spoke suddenly. "As cold as the water is."

"We thought of that," the shadowy man spat. "Each of them had warming charms to contend with the harsh conditions."

"That explains a few things," another man said with a grin. "You'll never guess what Mr. Black taught today."

"Get on with it," the shadowy man demanded.

"How to breath underwater," the man said with a grin.

"He's toying with us," the shadowy man hissed.

"That or he only knows that someone tried something and is directing his taunt to his unknown foes," the man said with a shrug. "The fact that we are still alive indicates the latter to me. I think that you're going to have to modify your plan a bit."

"What do you suggest?" The shadowy man asked wearily.

"Just a few small modifications to your plan," the man said with a modest shrug. "I say we watch the wards till they open and send in a team."

"Fine," the shadowy man agreed.

"I'd also like to propose that we change targets," the man said with a cold smile. "Instead of random damage we target Black's friends, the death of even one of them would weaken him considerably."

"I like it," the shadowy man said with a grin. "When your opponent is too strong you go around him to target one of his weaknesses, one of his family."