Chapter 3
Molly huffed and shifted around on the simple chair she had conjured. She swore when this assignment was done, she was going to have a word with Dumbledore about what constituted real, useful work. So far, he had her stationed near a dock that they suspected was being used to smuggle dark artifacts into Britain.
She was sure that they were sending on her on a low-stakes wild goose chase to keep her out of the real work, but she didn’t take any chances. She was cloaked under heavy disillusionment charms and several protective wards. Her expertise was combat magics, but she couldn’t help but admire her handy work. The wards were textbook perfect. She was pretty sure she could strip naked and scream bloody murder and no one would be the wiser.
Molly scoffed at the thought and imagined her fathers face if he fought her doing that, but then shook her head and refocused. The dock was almost empty and she was pretty sure that the people that were there were muggles. There were four men that had been diligently bringing crates back and forth for the better part of the day. They could possibly be wizards, but why would they be carrying the boxes by hand.
Molly shook her head. These were hardcore blood purists. They probably had some sort of moral code against doing anything the way a muggle would. Still, the thought was grating at her brain. Despite her orders to stick to her spot and do recon only, she slowly made her way outside of her little warded bubble to snoop around. She just hoped that her disillusionment charms would hold.
As she creeped around the decrepit dock, the first thing that she noticed was the slimy quality that the air around her was taking on. It felt as if someone were covering her skin with oil. Her eyes narrowed as she closed in on the crates. There was certainly something magical in there.
She had been so absorbed in checking out the operation that she hadn’t heard the men approaching again. They were eerily silent and didn’t seem to be aware of their surroundings as they walked. Molly noticed that one of the man’s hands were so raw that they bled, but he didn’t seem to notice at all.
Molly ducked behind a stack of crates out of reflex. The men shouldn’t be able to see her, but something about them was really setting off alarm bells in her head. Their movements were too coordinated, almost as if they were being puppeted.
She sucked in a small breath. The Order had been getting reports of various wizards that had been made to do things under the imperious curse. Perhaps they were expanding their horizons to include muggles as well.
Acting quickly, Molly darted out of her hiding spot and crabbed one of the slimy crates. The four men’s heads whipped around at speeds that should have hurt them, but she had already apperated with a crack leaving nothing for them to see.
Molly’s feet hit the ground outside of the unnamed safe house that Sirius owned with a dull thud and then she was off. She wished she could cast a featherlight charm on the crate, but she didn’t know if the artifact within would react poorly to it. It had been risky apperating with it to begin with. She wouldn’t push it.
As soon as she made it inside, she was accosted by none other than the homeowner himself who was gaping at her. “I thought you were supposed to be that that dock?!”
”Yes. Well, now I’m here Sirius. Please do try and keep up.”
Molly began moving through the house, trying to find Dumbledore. The crate was hampering her progress significantly though and her arms were aching. Who had designed the hallways to be so small anyway?
”What are you doing with that box Molly? I thought you were strictly recon?” Sirius continued.
Molly sighed. Her arms were hurting badly now and she didn’t feel like dealing with the man child who owned the house. “Look Sirius, I’m in no mood to deal with you currently. Just tell me where Dumbledore is and he can decide if my actions were out of line okay?”
Sirius scowled at her but gestured to the study. “I’m pretty sure he’s reviewing pensive memories in there.”
Molly gave him a terse nod and let herself into the office. Dumbledore had definitely made himself at home here. It looked very similar to his office at Hogwarts. She carefully lowered the crate onto the desk and looked around for the older wizard.
True to Sirius’ prediction, he was hunched over the small marble bowl that was emitting its strange blue glow. Molly didn’t want to startle him, so she simply settled in and waited until he was finished. As soon as he popped out, she started without preamble.
”I’m pretty sure they’ve got muggles under the imperious curse Albus. I think this crate has one of those artifacts you were looking into.”
Dumbledore blinked and stared at her. “That would be quite disturbing indeed,” he said sagely.
Molly huffed. “We should head back there and help those poor men Albus. One of them had worked his hands raw and didn’t even notice.”
”Perhaps we should examine what you have recovered first?” Dumbledore said with a pointed look at her.
Molly stated him down and refused to be cowed. She had simply done what she thought was best considering the situation. “Yes I suppose. It’s nothing good though so be careful. The magic is very oily.”
Dumbledore seemed to consider her words. He cast a few shield charms and protective wards before vanishing the crate. Inside was a small, but extremely extravagant letter opener. The magic rolling off of it was much stronger than before. It made Molly want to heave.
Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled. “Well, this certainly isn’t very friendly. Good work Molly, I’ll look into it.”
”I want to go back.”
Dumbledore smiled at her. “Why don’t you spend some time here. Rest assured, I have the situation well at hand.”
”At least let me go with the team to undo the curse and obliviate the muggles Albus.”
”I’m afraid we will have to leave the muggles for now,” Dumbledore said, already waving Mollys furious response away. “We must not let the enemy know that we have this information. It is unfortunate, but you must think about the greater good.”