Mirrors were everywhere in the world, both muggle and magical, and everyone liked seeing their reflections. They were all over houses, offices, businesses, bathrooms, and were even carried by people in their day-to-day lives. So why couldn't he set up a network of charmed mirrors to spy and gather information?
...
After all, knowledge was power; knowing what his enemies were planning would be a major advantage, and even just general information had its uses. It would be like playing a game of poker, but being able to see their hands... He was good at what he did, but he could always use such an advantage.
That was one of his tasks upon his return to Hogwarts; he was simply going to set up a grid, a spy network around the school. Whilst he personally doubted the information gain from the exercise would be all that important or valuable, it would be an effective proving ground for the concept, and if it worked, it could be employed in the larger world... for which he had the perfect tool and agent for the task already on his payroll.
Smiling as he heard the familiar tap of heels on wood, "Malcolm! You're early!" Rita exclaimed like an excited schoolgirl rushing into the front room, before stopping in surprise at seeing him sitting comfortably on her couch like he owned it. "Oh. My Lord," she greeted, recovering her wits rather fast. That was certainly admirable.
Smirking from the couch, "No need to dress up for me," he said good-naturedly, while admiring Rita in her classic red ball gown. When she dressed appropriately, she was actually a rather attractive woman. "Expecting someone else?" he offered from his place on Rita's sofa as he observed her reaction.
"I have a dinner date," she offered in explanation, shuffling uneasily on the spot. "What brings you around, my Lord?"
"Can't I just pop around and visit my favorite reporter?" he joked, discreetly admiring Rita's curves for once, before pushing such distracting thoughts from his mind. "It is Christmas after all, the season of good cheer." He could literally see her biting off a remark that she was his only reporter, as he mentally added 'for the moment.'
"My Lord, I'm very busy this evening," giving him a stern look, which had absolutely no effect on him. "So could you please tell me why you're here?" the renowned reporter requested as respectfully as possible.
Mentally debating whether to remind the woman just who was in charge of this relationship, he quickly dismissed it as petty and childish and in the long-term possibly detrimental to his interests. "I require you for New Year's Eve. I'll be attending the Ministry New Year's Ball with my Godfather; I want you there," he stated firmly, in a tone which clearly said that it was an order and not a request.
Once again she started shuffling uneasily on the spot like a soldier at attention. "My Lord, I'm not on the guest list; another Prophet reporter was selected to cover the event. Plus I've already made plans for New Year's."
Mentally sighing, "I never intended for you to go in an official role," he explained. "I was intending to smuggle you in, just like I did at the bank," referring back to his meeting with the Hogwarts staff. He again debated whether to just order Rita to cancel her plans, as Rita shuffled again uneasily. Again, he decided against it, as Rita had been performing her duties and tasks exceptionally well so far and had actually gone above and beyond what he had expected on several occasions.
The time for the proverbial 'stick' was not quite at hand. "Fine." At this Rita seemed to release a sigh of relief at him not forcing the issue, before he quickly added, "But remember, from now on you keep yourself free for official events. If not, well I'm going to have to punish you," catching her attention.
"I don't believe that would be necessary, my Lord," the bound woman stated quickly.
"Maybe," he admitted, knowing it was unlikely. "It's just a warning in case I feel that you are failing in your duties and responsibilities to me," as he got out of his seat and walked into the kitchen. Speaking as he walked, "The Headmaster has erected new wards around Hogwarts, several of them are animagus detection wards and traps." He put on the kettle and set down a mug. Looking over his shoulder at the illegal animagus, "Want a cuppa?" he asked with casual ease as he worked his way around the familiar kitchen.
"No thank you, my Lord," Rita answered respectfully.
"Suit yourself," he said, as he added coffee and sugar to the cup, before turning back to face Rita. "Naturally, this means that you can't come onto the school grounds anymore for the foreseeable future, which I admit is a minor setback, but nothing major," as the kettle popped. "Have you been keeping up with your studies?" referring to his orders for her to learn the mind arts.
"It is a most difficult skill to learn," Rita started. "I find that I don't have the time to effectively study it," as Harry drank some of his coffee.
Considering his reply before speaking, he leaned casually against the table. "That's most disappointing," his tone cold. "I was able to learn and use mind magic as a first year, while having little experience with magic." Rita once again shuffled uneasily. "But it is a difficult skill," he offered. "But I expect better effort on your part," sounding like a stern teacher or parent as he spoke. Drinking some more of his coffee, "I trust that you will find the energy and time to learn the skill? I assure you, it has many benefits."
"Yes, my Lord," nodding her head while understanding that it was an order, not a request, and that failure carried consequences.
"Good, otherwise you may find yourself lacking a social life until you do," he remarked nonchalantly as he examined his dressed-up reporter, wondering if she had been more successful and driven in her other assigned tasks. "Now show me these files that I asked you to start creating," referring to their meeting in Hogsmeade over a month and a half ago as Rita took off up the stairs.
He took the head's seat at the kitchen table while waiting for Rita to return with the files she had been ordered to prepare. Within a matter of minutes Rita was back holding a brown box and placing it on the table for his inspection. Hoping the box to reveal several shrunken files, he quickly flicked his wand to resize it to its normal dimensions. Picking a file at random from the pile, he flicked open the file in his hand, before quickly scanning the top document to see that the file was on a Ministry employee called Dirk Cresswell, a muggleborn wizard currently working in the Goblin Liaison Office. This was a rather impressive achievement and a testament to the man's ability, since he had been able to overcome the traditional Ministry resistance to appointing muggleborns to influential positions.
Closing the file, "Good job, Rita," he noted, looking over at the clock, realizing he had to go before Sirius noticed he had disappeared. He also had to do some shopping in the alley before he returned. "Keep up the good work, I'll leave you to enjoy your evening."
"Thank you, my Lord," Rita replied obediently as he headed over to the fireplace to leave.
...
(Magical Menagerie)
Stepping into the pet store for the first time, his senses were bombarded with different animal cries and smells. Spotting the section he needed almost instantly, a cluster of owls in cages set him into motion as he headed towards the owl section of the store looking for high-quality owl treats and a new owl perch for Serenity. However, as he made his way across the shop floor he was bombarded with voices, almost hissing in nature; he spun around looking for the source of the voices, but only saw customers talking quietly amongst themselves.
Masking a rare frown, he moved across the shop floor looking for the source of the voices he was hearing. As he entered the reptile section his mind started narrowing down the possible options; as he arrived at the snake/reptile section of the store the pieces finally started to come together, when he remembered his family tree having a connection to the Slytherin family. Kneeling down by the glass cage which reminded him of a fish tank, he observed the resident snake basking on a rock feature in the cage, "Warm," it hissed in its obviously cozy and comfortable state.
It took a moment for the discovery to sink in; he was able to understand snakes! As excitement ran up his spine at the discovery that he was a parselmouth, cold logic kicked in reminding him that the talent was unfairly considered dark by the British wizarding world. While that mattered little to him, he would keep his newly discovered talent hidden for the time being with the whole Chamber of Secrets deal ongoing.
He turned to listen to the other snakes in turn. If anyone had been watching him, all they would have seen was a kid eyeing some possible pets, never guessing that he was listening to their voices. He was tempted to buy a magical snake right away, so he could start practicing the skill and start to learn its limitations and possible usages, but it was hardly a suitable time.
...
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