Chapter 387 Another Hunt?

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“Y-You can fly?”

Quinn secured the Horcrux into one of his pockets and turned to face the shocked Bogrod who had just seen him float up to the Horcrux. Flight wasn’t something explored in the magical world, and despite the planet’s rich history, no supernatural species without the innate ability to fly had managed to take flight. As far as he knew, Voldemort was the only one who had managed to discover the magic of true, unaided flight. Even his wind magic wasn’t considered true flight.

He wondered how he should respond to Bogrod. Flight was something he had ended up locking in for the Invisible Vigilante persona, and Quinn West person wasn’t supposed to have. But after a moment of thought, he came to arrive at the thought that the Invisible Vigilante’s flying capabilities weren’t ever made public. If DMLE was to share that information with anyone, Gringotts and goblins would be way down the list.

“Possibility of extending our powers. . . that’s what you said to me before, wasn’t it,” he spoke to the stunned goblin. “I wouldn’t deny that magical foci created by the human race have allowed us to gain a certain level of dominance on the planet. . . but it is not an end of all solution. There’s magic coursing inside every one of us, and with all that power, it opens the door to infinite possibility. It is only the question of who grabs the opportunity and makes the most of it.” He patted Bogrod’s shoulder as he walked out of the vault. “Your kind simply needs to find and aid the goblins capable and willing to chase after the infinite possibility— that’s how you extend power, not by being bitter about another race’s fruit of labor.”

Quinn couldn’t deny that even though he didn’t like how his life was now, securing the fifth Horcrux and giving the rousing speech to Bogrod had put him in a jolly mood. The only way this day could be better was if Voldemort somehow surrendered his life.

Just as they came into the vaults, Quinn and Bogrod exited the deep underground— quietly and without any problem. No one except three souls knew what had happened.

“Give Riphook a promotion,” said Quinn. He wasn’t going to reveal what had happened today, and neither was Bogrod, as long as he didn’t want to face the full wrath of his kind. “A promotion with increased authority and a pay bump will be enough incentive for him not to speak of today’s another person. I think that’ll be best for everyone, don’t you think?”

Bogrod nodded, but his eyes were intently staring at Quinn. There was a mix of anticipation and threat in the black eyes, which differed from humans.

“You don’t have to look at me like this,” smiled Quinn. He took out the box storing the ancient dagger and handed it to the eager goblin. “I won’t go back on our bargain. Today went as it was supposed to go— simple and without a fuss— and I have no intention to complicate and muddle it.” But Bogrod was no longer listening; his entire being was taking in the ancient glory of his ancestors. The sight made Quinn chuckle.

After ensuring everything was in place, and no one had noticed something wrong, Quinn bade Bogrod farewell. He changed his back to the John persona appearance in the lounge and stepped out of Gringotts as a happy middle-aged man. However, by the time he had reached Leaky Cauldron, all the joy was gone, replaced by suspicion and vigilance.

He was being followed.

He was sure of it. In the short walk from the bank to the inn, he had a prickling intuition that someone was watching him. To confirm he had a tail, he stopped to get a bite to eat and stealthily scoured the area to find there were at least three people who were keeping note of him. One of them even came to dine at the outdoor restaurant he was eating at; surely to keep a closer check.

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‘Who the hell are they?’ he thought. He had sent out a Legilimency probe out to the nearest person, but the man had a strong enough Occlumency that there was a possibility of alerting him.

Quinn slowly ate his meal with his mind racing to figure out who these people were. As he finished the last bite, he had decided to find out who these people were, why they were following him, and everything else they could give him.

‘They’re following me, so be it.’ He exited the restaurant and took the Leaky Cauldron exit to enter the non-magical London. He made sure to travel slowly and made it easier for them to follow after him. A map of London materialized in his mind. He knew the layout of major cities because of the Labyrinth project— the placement of doors had taken up an extensive amount of research— and a put of that research was to find areas with the least amount of non-magical activity.

Incidentally, one such candidate location was near Leaky Cauldron.

Quinn led the tail to a park that didn’t see many visitors because of the bad state it was in. The only people that could be found there were hobos and people wanting a place to get high or drunk. He walked deep into the park, circled the area once before sitting on a bench with a book in hand. . . and waited for the playing field to set itself.

Slowly he dissipated magic into the air around and spread it out. He sucked in a sharp breath as he gained what felt like another sense— it was a great experience, but not something he was used to. His magic in the air sent back the rough location of the people around him. . .

‘Twenty—’ the number shocked him ‘— twenty people! What are they overcompensating for?’ But it didn’t matter; he could take all of them— and the more there were, the more information he could get out. ‘Time to get the party started. . . I have been feeling irritated; this will hit just the spot.’

He snapped his fingers, and the mini ward stone tied to a spatial locking ward that he carried around because of his work with the Snatchers came to life. He stood up, and he could feel the disturbance in the air as the twenty people felt the ward around them.

“People hiding around me, let’s not be rude; why not you all show yourself, and we can talk like civilized people,” said Quinn. ‘John’s’ lanky frame straightened up like a ramrod with his hands behind his back. “We are all alone; no one will come here because of the wards— I’m sure this is what all of us want, correct? Come out— now.”

Quinn roamed his eyes at the scene with ancient trees dotting the park with dry foliage covering the ground and paved paths in their fall colors. If not for the garbage that was thrown without care, it was almost picturesque. After a moment, he heard the rustle of leaves as people dressed in tan-brown attires stepped from behind trees while others dropped their invisibility spells. Soon, he had a dozen men and women surrounding him, with eight still hidden, but Quinn didn’t call them out and let them think that he didn’t know.

“What can I do for you all finely dressed people?” asked Quinn with confidence, but his eyes darted around with unhidden distrust. He had to put up a vigilant act to give them confidence.

“Quinn.”

Hearing his name made Quinn purse his lips into a thin white line. He looked down at the ground near his shoes for a moment in silence before he released his magic, and the ‘John’ disguise melted away, leaving Quinn in his original appearance.

He turned back toward the person who called his name. “Are you from Gringotts? I told Bogrod I didn’t want this to be messy—” He didn’t need to continue for him to get the answer as it was staring him in the eye.

“. . . Aksel Thorne,” he said with unhidden surprise. Aksel Thorne, the co-founder of Limax Group, a “Private Security” firm sponsored by Quinn’s father, Adam West, and later by George West after Adam’s death. The man in front of him had been with Quinn in Denmark and Italy, both times acting as his guide and bodyguard. “If you’re here, then that must mean he sent you. . .”

“Your grandfather wants you home, Quinn,” said Aksel, the large, athletic, and militant man. “He and everyone in your family has been worried sick about whereabouts. You need to return home so that everyone rest can easy.”

“And he sent you to get me home,” Quinn looked around, “and you brought along all of this. . .”

“Please come with us; we don’t want this to get ugly. We are in a no-maj area, and if this gets out of hand, we will get in trouble with the authorities. I’m sure, like us, you don’t want to break the secrecy laws,” said Aksel, keeping his voice and body language as non-threatening as he could.

“Yeah, kid, give this tomfoolery up and come back with us,” came a voice from behind. Quinn turned and again faced some he recognized.

“Mr. Neil. . . you’re here as well,” said Quinn. The man who looked like a delinquent was another Limax co-founder. He had only met Neil once in Denmark. Quinn decided to pay attention to the faces of the people and was surprised that the third founder was present as well. “Even Mr. Lucas came . . all three of you’re here.” Lucas, the taciturn of the three, waved his hand.

“Your grandfather made all three of us personally come here for you,” said Neil, as if the entire interaction was a big bother. “The last time we got three got together for a mission was. . . I can’t even remember when that was, that’s how long it has been. That’s why let’s end this so we can get back to our lives. I left vacation to come here, kid. Don’t make this more of a hassle than it already has been.”

Quinn didn’t reply to Neil; instead, he turned to Aksel and asked, “You brought both of them together without you—” he noticed something in Aksel’s expression “— you didn’t bring them. . . you were made to bring them. . . . What did grandfather told you, Mr. Aksel?”

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“That you have run away from home for some reason and need to return home,” said Aksel concisely.

“How did you even find me?”

“You might be nifty with magic, Quinn. But we have been doing this as a job for decades. It took a little effort, but it wasn’t that difficult.”

“Did he tell you why I ran away?”

“We asked, but he refused to divulge.”

Quinn’s eyes shined. This meant they didn’t know his alternate identity. His grandfather had kept Limax in the dark and held back a lot of information that could’ve helped them. A smile broke out on Quinn’s face— by keeping it hidden, his grandfather had given him an advantage.

He turned his smile into a chuckle and pointed at all the people surrounding him. “All three founders along with so many people just to catch me? Don’t you think this is going overboard? I have just finished schooling.”

It was Neil who answered, “Your grandfather thinks you’re dangerous because you took out a dozen Death Eaters. I saw the files on them— they were amateurs; I could’ve done that.”

‘This is good,’ thought Quinn. ‘This doesn’t need to get messy.’

Quinn loosened his arms and shook his hand a little. He breathed in and out before saying,

“Sorry, but if anything, I’m not easy.”

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Quinn West – MC – No! I’m the only one who hunts! The other way around doesn’t work!

Aksel Thorn – Limax – Let’s go home, okay?

Neil – Limax – Come on, man! I’m missing ladies on the beach!

Lucas – Limax – *Wave.*

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