chapter 7

The London Warehouses were a remarkable maze of buildings, both old and modern, some dating back several centuries. They served as points of trade and supplied the needs of the large city, linked by trade with various parts of the country and even with other continents. The buildings were erected randomly, over the centuries, as they were needed, without any construction plans in advance. The territory was covered by magical protection shields. It was considered the responsibility of the Ministry to look after them, although the majority of the place was owned by private entrepreneurs.

Lin had obtained a pass to this area. She came after six, when the place was nearly deserted. The guard, having seen hundreds of wizards during the day, indifferently checked her ticket and let her through.

There were numerous cloth industries set in the area, but one of them specifically captured Lin’s interest, due to its recent origin and lack of motion within the business. Three times the maintenance of it exceeded its profits. It was suspicious that the owner of the new enterprise would care so little for its initial success.

Lin found the building, after a hard search, nearly in the middle of the maze. It was grey and rectangular with sharp corners stretching up to the low sky. A heavy lock hung on its front door. Lin did not tamper with it just in case a passing security guard might notice. She searched for a less conspicuous entrance. The building was totally closed off like a stone block. Its only window was out of reach.

Nearby, Lin noticed a heavy waste container and tried to move it. There was a limit to spells. Normally, wizards could not levitate an object that exceeded several times the weight of what they could physically lift. The container shuddered and clanged in protest, but the frozen ground released it and it lifted an inch. Lin dragged it to stand right underneath the window. She hid the tracks where the container used to be and then climbed on top of it. The window was dirty, but it was made out of normal glass. Balancing on a slippery surface, Lin removed the glass from the frame. She squeezed through the narrow gap. It was dark inside. Lin hung there, holding onto the frame and then jumped. Due to a stealth charm, her landing was soundless, but the window turned out to be far from the floor. She landed rather uncomfortably on her behind.

The warehouse room was small and had two large containers along the walls, bolted to the floor. There was light seeping in from the next room where Lin could hear voices. She snuck along the wall to peek inside. The next storage area was much larger. It had various tables, set with cauldrons and bottles. On the floor stood boxes, the labels on which were ripped off. Four wizards were present, and one more voice was coming from the depth of the room.

“Three days is the minimum before the substance becomes stable. You do not want to risk it.”

“You don’t want to risk Aurors coming here either. They are circling around the old bag’s place. If that son of a newt had told us earlier that it was not his shop. Never mind, the boss told us to move the lab to another place and fast.”

The bass voice of the speaker was menacing. His back reminded Lin of the garbage container she’d just moved. However, his cooperative argued.

“You did not tell me this on Monday. You brought me these and said you want them soon. These sprays have a low concentration of the explosive ingredient. They need to simmer longer before they are ready for use.”

“What is our target this time?” another wizard interrupted the ongoing squabbling. “He keeps promising to get rid of him, but when?”

“Not him. The boss wants to use these for something else.” The bass voice seemed to have the greatest authority in this group.

“Damn, better be soon. I can’t believe that idiocy, to be fined or jailed for beating that worthless shit of a house-elf that I own. Should I get jailed for misusing my toilet paper too?”

Lin backed away. Common sense told her to get out of here and call for backup. Alone, she was not going to deal with five wizards who were willing to kill. Only then Lin realized that she was trapped. Apparating with protection shields in place was too risky. The window was out of reach. The only exit that she saw was located in the next room. Perhaps, she could risk it while their backs were turned? No.

“Enough!” the bass ordered. “Nox, go to the next room and get the equipment. It’s in the left container. We will begin by moving part of the items. The alchemist doesn’t need them all.”

Grumbling, the wizard, who complained about the house-elves, complied.

Lin had nowhere to hide. She pressed her back to the right wall. The wizard entered without seeing her, and then lit his wand to dig through the left container. He cursed, not finding what he needed and turned right to continue the search. Lin Stunned him, but before falling he yelled out a warning. The wizards reacted at once, charging with drawn wands. Lin grabbed the Stunned wizard by the collar and pushed him into the next room, where he was instantly hit by several hexes. Whatever spells the wizards expected and shielded from were not thrown at them. Blinding flare illuminated the place.

“Careful! The equipment!” one of them shouted.

Lin bolted towards the exit in a white blur. Surprisingly, this was not the way out. There was a corridor with a narrow staircase, but she could not go back. Without a choice, Lin ran, jumping over two stairs at once, pursued by a shower of curses, both verbal and magical. There was a heavily bolted door at the top of the stairs. Lin blasted it down. Cold wind met her. She fell and on her butt rapidly slid along the icy roof. She stopped by grabbing onto a ledge. The ground below was far and dark, and she had nowhere else to go.

Great wizards of time had the ability to fly. The power was not equivalent to flying a broomstick, but they could lift off the ground and travel short distances. They could jump down from over eleven meter heights as the spell slowed down their fall. The spell was part of Auror training, but almost no one could perform it. Lin was in the larger group of those who could not. She remembered this when her pursuers appeared on the roof. They did not hurry to step onto the treacherous surface and regarded her from a distance. The victim could not run from them anymore.

“You sprint well, bitch. Can you also fly?” asked one of them. He laughed along with the others.

Was jumping off the roof any better then being hexed into oblivion?

“Hex her already or move so I can,” the bass voice insisted.

Lin jumped before the blue lightning reached her. Her stomach compressed, making concentration difficult. She could feel the air temporarily thickening around her, but her wand hand trembled from the exertion, never fully managing the spell.

Lin hit the ground hard. The world blinked out of existence, and after a few moments, Lin realised that she lay on her stomach with her face pressed into snow. Landing into a large snowdrift prevented her immediate death. “Move,” she told herself, “move at once,” but her body hurt terribly and refused to cooperate. It was as though the earth was holding her down with a binding spell that Lin could not shake off. They will come downstairs and finish me off, was the last thing Lin thought of before the darkness descended on her again.