Chapter 104: Summons, Repayment, Negotiation (1/2)
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The link is also in the synopsis.
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[The chapter is edited by my Editor: Alan_Loo/AlanL]
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Quinn entered the A.I.D. office limping. He had conjured a shirt and pants over his body and under his robes in the time he had traveled from the Great Lake's shore to the A.I.D. office.
Other than his punctured lung, which he mostly had patched at the lakeshore, most of Quinn's injuries were still raw. All the muscle wounds were being protected and being medically stabilized by magic.
The fractured bone didn't lose any bone fragments, so Quinn was able to completely fix it. But the muscles were torn and ripped apart by the pressure jet. To fix them, Quinn needed to drink a muscle-protein nutrient potion that would provide the body with the material to restore the muscles.
Quinn slumped down in one of the client chairs and leaned into it before diving into his mind and recalled the information about his potion inventory. ”I don't have enough doses. Two standard dose vials won't work.” He looked at the red workshop door and sighed, ”I will have to make it work for now.”
Quinn raised a single finger, and a painting on the wall levitated and from behind a rose-gold key flew out. The rose-gold key flew towards the red workshop door and entered the key slot before turning to open the door.
This rose-gold key was a spare as Quinn's clothes were still hidden near the lakeshore. Quinn had built detachable pockets that he attached to his clean robes every morning. The primary key was in one of those pockets, so Quinn had to use this spare key.
The door lock unlocked with a click, and with an act of magic, Quinn manually opened the cylinder bars lock system that kept the door extra secured in case someone found a key.
After the door opened, two vials of dull, dark red potion flew out towards Quinn. Quinn grabbed one vial while the other one entered the conjured pants' pocket.
Uncorking the vial, Quinn drank the potion in one gulp and set down the empty vial on the table. He closed his eyes and felt the muscle-protein nutrient potion immediately took effect. The potion provided the muscle-protein nutrient to the body, and Quinn cast Healing Magic to utilize that concentrated intake of the nutrients.
With the Healing Magic doing its work, Quinn got up from the client chair and moved to his barstool behind the table. Opening the stationary drawer of his table, Quinn took out a sheet of black paper and a fountain pen with golden ink inside it.
It was the same color scheme as the A.I.D. cards; gold on black.
But before he used the pen and paper, Quinn opened another drawer and took out a fake silver sickle. He pumped magic into it; previously, he hadn't wanted to risk diverting focus and magic because the injuries were severe, but now he was comfortable diverting magic and focus as his wounds were stabilized.
The fake silver sickle transformed to say 'OFFICE' on both sides. Quinn put the coin back into the drawer and turned his attention back to the black paper.
”Let's keep it simple and authoritative,” said Quinn as he uncapped the pen and thought about what to write on the black paper.
After forming the words and sentences in his mind, Quinn began writing.
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[
To,
Ms. Hermione Granger,
Date: May 16, 1994.
Subjects: Summons for repayment.
Ms. Granger,
You are duly summoned and required to report at the A.I.D. office on the main corridor, west sections, fifth-floor, for repaying the debt owed to me for helping you in your time of need.
You are required to appear within 30 MINUTES of receiving this letter. The moment you open the envelope this letter came in, I would be informed, and the clock would start.
For your sake, please comply with the instructions to the point and without any delay.
Regards,
Q. West,
Proprietor,
A.I.D. consultations.
]
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”This will do,” nodded Quinn, folded the black paper into thirds and put it into a white envelope, and addressed it to Hermione. As he sealed the envelope, Quinn charmed the lip of the envelope in such a way that when it was opened, Quinn would know.
As he completed the letter, the office door opened, and his assistant, Luna Lovegood, entered the room.
”You called?” asked Luna as she skipped into the room. She raised her arm to show a leather and sterling silver bracelet on her wrist. The silver piece on the bracelet showed the words 'OFFICE' on it.
The sterling silver piece was charmed with the Protean charm connecting the bracelet with the fake silver sickle. It was a way for Quinn to summon
Quinn raised the letter in his hand and asked. ”Yes, can you go to the library and hand this to Hermione Granger. She will most probably be there, but if she isn't, go to the Gryffindor common room and ask a Gryffindor to call Hermione Granger out.”
Unfortunately, Quinn didn't have Recon on his person, or else he would have told Luna Hermione's precise location. But fortunately, Quinn had a lot of key people's regular routines memorized.
Luna took out the envelope from Quinn and looked at the Hermione Granger written on it.
”Okay,” shrugged Luna and put the envelope inside her robes.
”Luna, please make sure that she gets the envelope immediately and tell her that she is to open it immediately. You have to give it to her as soon as possible,” insisted Quinn, as he only had a little over four hours before the window closed, and he wanted this to end within an hour or two. ”Also, after you give it to her, don't return to the office for today. When you go to dinner, tell Eddie and Marcus that I am busy and won't be attending the meal today. Tell them it isn't something to worry about and to not look for me.”
Luna tilted her head and seemed confused about why Quinn was asking these things. But the serious tone in his voice told her that she should just comply. She did stare at him observantly, but nothing seemed out of order.
”Now, go on and hurry,” instructed Quinn.
Luna nodded and exited the office to find Hermione Granger to hand over Quinn's letter to her.
Quinn sighed in relief and dropped the glamor spell, revealing a slightly pale Quinn. ”Good thing I thought of disguising myself.”
He closed his eyes to concentrate on the Healing Magic to direct the healing process, waiting for Hermione to arrive.
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- (Scene Break) -
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As Quinn had predicted, Luna found Hermione in the library, reading away from a thick tome with brows furrowed in concentration.
And even though she looked severe, Hermione was having a good time as she read the book.
”Hermione Granger.”
The mention of her name made Hermione look up from her book and notice a girl with blond hair and silvery eyes looking at her, standing really close to the table, which surprised Hermione.
”Yes?” asked Hermione tentatively. She recognized the girl in front of her and knew who Luna was. She had noticed the younger girl because she usually hung out with Quinn West's group of friends.
Luna frowned at the tone and asked. ”You are Hermione Granger, right?”
Hermione blinked and nodded in response.
”Oh, good. I thought I found the wrong person.”
Luna took out the envelope that Quinn gave to her from robes and presented it to Hermione. ”This is for you.”
Hermione confusedly received the white letter envelope from Luna and read her name written in beautiful cursive calligraphy with gold ink.
”Who is this from?” asked Hermione. Something told her that the letter envelope wasn't from Luna.
”The letter is from Quinn,” answered Luna.
”Quinn?” The person who was sitting at the table with Hermione, reading her own books, spoke up. She had been listening to the conversation, but when Quinn came up, she joined the conversation. ”Quinn West?”
Luna looked at the person and saw a girl with red hair and green eyes, a sharp look in the girl's eyes as she stared at her.
”You are Ivy Potter. You are pretty,” commented Luna, complimenting the girl. ”From what I know, there isn't another Quinn in Hogwarts. But yes, Quinn West.”
”What does he want?” asked Ivy, briefly glancing at the letter in Hermione's hand.
Luna shrugged her shoulders as she replied. ”I don't know. He just said to deliver the letter.” She turned to Hermione and instructed, ”He said to open the letter immediately.”