The Secret Mission

The secret mission

The year was 1953 somewhere near France on Ombus Drive. Yoder took an old, decaying newspaper and leaned back against his hard, brown chair. He slowly unfolded "The Daily Death" and took a sip from his newly - bought beer from the counter. It was almost midnight and it started to rain heavily outside the Muggle pub. Jim Yoder was a small, oldish wizard dressed in a black suit similar to a Muggle, working in the stock market. He was on a secret mission to Italy and only his friend, Joseph Thomson, knew about it. He was trying to meet Joseph later for a late dinner after he finished drinking his favorite beer at his favorite pub. As he looked around the pub, the sky roared releasing lightning sparks. In the pub there were only about thirteen people, excluding him. A few glanced up from their food, hesitating, waiting, listening for the next roll, smiling nervously, little secret glimmers of apprehension in their eyes. The loud thunder reminded them of the War when the Germans bombarded their homes. They were still nervous and afraid of hearing loud sounds. Though it was only thunder, it sounded like a big bomb had exploded nearby. The others were completely unruffled, making jokes about it in order to torture the few who were beginning to suffer.

"So many deaths lately," said Yoder to Miles Minker, his wizard friend and owner of the pub. "I wonder if it will ever stop."

"Bad business, Jim. Really bad business. All my regular customers have gone to the USSR to fight in some war," said Minker sighing. "I'll have to close down if this drat war continues."

"I thought since that Auror killed Grindelwald, the dying would stop. Hooooo...but was I wrong," Yoder added angrily but softly, not wanting any Muggle in the pub to hear him. "Do you know the name of the Auror?"

"I think the auror's name was Albus Dumble-something," responded Minker, while cleaning a dirty mug.

"You really mean that Auror really killed the Dark lord?"

" Yes, and Grindelwald permanently broke the Auror's nose in the process."

Suddenly, a young man stood by Yoder's right side. He was dripping wet from the heavy rain. Yoder assumed that the young man had just entered the pub a second ago. With just a glance at the stranger, Yoder knew that he was a wizard.

"Is this chair taken?" he said.

"No," Yoder answered.

"Mind if I sit down for a while?"

"No, go ahead. I insist."

"Thanks," he said.

Looking at the young man, he was only about twenty years old and his face was thin and rather pale. He wore a black cloak with a hood that overshadowed his unknown face but his eyes were bright turquoise, almost unnatural in hue. The young man sat down and Minker left when he was called away by a demand for more beer.

"Why are you here, young man?" Yoder asked, still looking at him. " What are you looking for in France?"

Yoder wondered if he had seen the young man before but to no avail. He seemed disturbingly familiar, almost like he knew the young man before.

"I'm not exactly sure," the young man responded.

His voice sounded nice, almost as if he was trying to hide his true, evil voice. Yoder watched the young man placed a spidery, gloved hand on the counter.

" I am planning to visit my parents in Italy."

Yoder had never known anyone with a light Irish accent who had any Italian parents. He was still trying to figure out where he had seen or heard this young man before.

"I've heard you are a famous Auror," said the young man, allowing himself a forceful smile.

"I see," Yoder said nervously, though he was already feeling annoyed. "But how did you know?"

The young man laughed.

"I have heard about you in the paper." The young man smirked. "Killed fifty of Grindelwald's dark servants. Impressive."

The smirk on his lips was growing wider, causing Yoder to feel more nervous.

"I'm glad someone knew about me," said Yoder, trying to sound normal and polite. " But for now, I need to visit an old friend of mine. Goodbye."

Yoder walked out the door, taking his newspaper with him.

It was already midnight and Joseph Thomson drowsed in his armchair, reading an essay on a Muggle economy. The weather was cold as it was raining rather heavily and his chair was very comfortable.

"Where is he?" he asked himself.

They were supposed to meet for a late dinner but Yoder seemed to be twenty minutes late. Yoder have never been late before ever since becoming an Auror.

Looking out the window, Thomson saw two blurred figures hurrying from a passage into the courtyard. Both figures seemed to be struggling fiercely and a green light flashed before Thomson that blinded him temporarily. Silence fell in the courtyard.

"Hello there!" Thomson shouted but no reply came nor could he distinguish anybody in the courtyard.

Thomson took his umbrella immediately and paced quickly to the courtyard armed with his wand.

"Lumos!" A light appeared at the tip of Joe's wand casting a yellowish glow on everything within seven feet. On the wet ground, he saw a body, dead; both eyes wide open staring into the dark sky.

"Jim?" said Thomson, recognizing the dead man as his friend. He saw him clutching a newspaper tightly.

Removing the paper was no easy task because Jim Yoder's hand was clamped so tightly around the paper that it tore into two. Thomson smoothed out the newspaper. It read:

After the death of Grindelwald, the war finally ended but many other supporters of the dark lord are still at large in Italy. An Auror was assigned to Italy today, to act as a spy for the ministry. In other news, many wizards and witches have been mysteriously murdered the past few months. The murderer has been identified as Lord Voldemort; the ministry believes that he is a servant of Grindelwald. If you are approached by or see a wizard with bright turquoise eyes, wearing a black cloak, the ministry urges you to contact them as soon as possible. This wizard is highly dangerous. He was last seen in Nimrod Drive near Ombus Drive.

Thomson looked up the dark sky and saw something vast and green flying up into the sky, glittering across the darkness. Thomson realized that it was a skull, composed of what looked like emerald stars, with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue. It rose higher and higher, blazing in a haze of greenish smoke.

"What did this to you?" said Thomas, looking at the motionless dead body of Jim Yoder, his friend.

The End