Tonight was the night, there was no going back. Everything he had been working on for these many months led up to this moment. Now was the time for action. For he had heard of the recent muggings on wizards lately. The culprit seemed to know their trade well. But how would they fair against his little test? Dressed in some of his finest Ventus left his home near sunset and headed for a darker section of London where he had implied he would be later that night. It had taken a while to setup the trail, but by now he was fairly confidant he was being tailed. After all he had so sloppily flaunted his wealth around Diagon he wouldn't be surprised if a flock of burglars tried to rob him. It was only a matter of time until an attempt was made...

Ventus made a turn down a dingy side street into a small abandoned courtyard hidden away behind the old houses. It only had the one entrance from the street, and Ventus dropped a caterwaul charm as he moved through the alley. He had scouted this area out prior to this night. It was almost perfect on its own, but a few extra enchantments Ventus had been putting up over the past month ensured not only his own safety but also his privacy. Last thing he needed was an auror or a muggle to hear the commotion and come running. So calmly, wand in hand, Ventus once again applied silencing charms around the border of the courtyard and alleyway.

That step completed Ventus reached with his left hand into his coat pocket and pulled out ten bleach-white marbles which he almost carelessly dropped to the ground. They rolled away from him in almost every direction, forming a very rough circle. Ventus smirked to himself. The board was set, and the pieces were moving. All he needed was his prey to spring the trap.

And here they were now, if the alarm were to be believed. Acting quickly Ventus spun round and shot a stunning spell down the alleyway towards whomever it was that currently stood there. With any luck it was the potential mugger. And then the true game could begin...

Fools and their money... The strutting peacock was as bold as could be and it was time to show him what real entitlement looked like.  Vesta, in taking every cent he had, would have earned it threefold.  She'd been tailing him all evening and now it was nearly midnight.  She'd slip from corner to corner, disappearing into that black puff of mist and to re-appear again.

And on he walked, taking narrow turns in a dark part of town.  Probably headed to some exclusive dueling ring, or a cockatrice fight - the bloody frivolities of the wealthy and arrogant...

On her own feet she made the last turn, but was greeted by the screeching of a cat, the shout of an incantation and the flash of spellfire.  Vesta whipped her wand reflexively and got a shield charm up just in time to deflect the stunner.

It was a trap! The scenarios flashed in her mind, but she was able to quickly rule out Auror involvement.  It was just Shang staging some silly, heroic, arrogant stand-off.

"Shang!" she shouted and moved quickly.  "You know what I want, little wizard," she sang out.

She strode out boldly and sent a sweeping Reductus Curse ahead of her, wide enough to send anything in a cone of fifteen feet flying, plowing her way towards him.  Vesta Baddrick was never guilty of subtlety.

Well, she certainly was much better at this than previously anticipated. Ventus frowned and quickly took a step back, disapparating and re appearing upon the roof of one of the houses behind him. Not exactly going to plan... The plan was to stun her, position her properly between the circle, revive her and give her his proposition. So far parts one through three had failed, by the look of things his little marbles had be scattered around. The best laid schemes... Ah well, time to improvise.

Ventus brought a shield charm quickly to preempt the next spell that doubtless was heading towards him. "I had a proposition for you," he called down to her, pulling a coin purse out from his coat pocket. "Five hundred galleons. All you need to do is survive." With a wicked grin Ventus snapped his fingers.

Almost immediately the already dark courtyard seemed to darken further, and a strong gale began to blow within it. The wind slowly picked up the ten marbles he had dropped, pulling them apart until it was merely a vortex of dust. Then suddenly the gale subsided and the dust fell in ten neat piles in a rough semicircle. Again Ventus snapped his fingers and the dust began to rise, forming the shapes of skeletons before finally solidifying, their glowing eyes all focusing on Vesta.

"Should be easy enough," Ventus commented. "I myself don't know the limits of the Skeletons, that's what we're here to learn. Survive all the ones I throw at you and you can have your prize. No strings attached." No strings other than the fact that he would still probably report her. If only for ruining his plans.

Crazy. Psychotic. Blaggard.

Vesta turned in place as the wind blew in the courtyard, whipping around her black and green hair, filling her mouth and eyes with dust and dirt.  The rat wasn't just turning on a thief, this whole thing was some megalomaniacal set-up! Fancy, pompous, rich git! 

"I don't play games!" she shrieked no longer caring if their scuffle was heard.  Shang wanted to escalate? Baddrick could escalate.

But all around her in the tight little courtyard now was a circle of a dozen bone-white skeletons.  She'd never seen anything like it.  They weren't Inferi... They were something else and she had no idea what they were capable of.  She didn't have time for this hockey.

Still turning in place trying to keep distance from all of the ghouls closing in, she let loose a mighty spell, one of her best. 

"Diffrus Perfigum!"[1]  A jet of white light erupted from her wand's end and piled through a skeleton.  It shattered grandly, into dust.

Immediately, Vesta whipped around to do the very same thing to the next skeleton.  It had the same effect - a scattering of dust and bits of bone.  A third time she turned to face the next one, by now having no fear that she wouldn't simply blast them all into nothingness and take what was hers from Shang. 

But she hadn't taken care to watch over the demise of the first skeleton.  The dust had slowly regathered itself and was recobbling together bone and form and becoming whole again.  And now the second and the third followed suit.

1.	Fragmentation Curse

"Don't play games?" Ventus mocked in a rather insane voice. "Why, you're playing one right now!" He sneered and sat down upon the roof ledge, watching as his creations closed in on his prey.

One thing he learned very quickly was that she was a competent witch. Much more capable than Ventus imagined to be able to use such a powerful spell. Curious that she would be a simple robber if she was this powerful for she easily dispatched the first few aberrations that shambled towards her.

Or at least he thought she did. Ventus himself didn't realize they could regenerate after a hit like that. He had, of course, theorized how much damage they could take, but he didn't think they could literally be blown into dust and reform. That was worth noting. Now he wondered what she would try next. Perhaps a more subtle spell that destroyed the head? That's what Ventus would have done, at least. That or fire. Theoretically the bones should be weak to fire, similar to inferi.

Thing were now picking up. With the first three skeletons once again formed Ventus watched as they coordinated their next move. This was interesting in itself. He hadn't thought they could communicate in anyway, but as he sat and watched he saw them all exchange glances and adjust their positioning. Now four of them began to circle around her while the remaining six closed in from the front.

"Tick, tock," Ventus called out wickedly.

The first of them finally made contact, grabbing and clawing at her face and hair.  Vesta shrieked with frustration and panic! They were too close! Wand work seemed to have its strength at the length you could extend and wave your wand; closer quarters only limited your range of motion. 

As a witch, Vesta had specialized in the Dark Arts, driven on by her mysterious and cruel tutor who taught her by showing her first hand what the spells she wanted to learn would do.  Her own body was riddled in scars both physical and psychological.  It only caused her to feel more entitled to all that she could take for herself, of taking from the undeserving what was rightfully hers.

She lashed out with her hands, pushing and stricking the skeletons as they gnashed their teeth, biting and clawing.  Her blows did as much as to knock them back a pace or two, to push them into each other.  But she wouldn't be able to stand more than a few more moments of this before they swarmed her, took her down, and presumably destroyed her.

Vesta shrieked again as she realized that she needed to call upon her magic or she would die a shameful, painful death.   Her mind had gone where Shang's went - fire.  She had to try fire.

Fire was an unforgiving element and did not judge.  The flesh of the caster or the flesh of the target - fire cared nothing about it!

Vesta shouted the incantation and pushed and shoved so that she could sweep her wand arm around her head.  The tip of her wand flashed red hot and then all around her in a wide circle - maybe 6 feet across - flared up like a solid wall.  It was so hot and so close that it singed the end of her hair just by the heat. 

But the skeletons were inside the ring with her!  With a mighty kick, she thrust a skeleton away from her.  It fell backwards into the wall of fire surround them and instantly began to char and disintegrate with a haunting wail.  A black cloud of mist emitted from its mouth and shot towards the dark sky where it disappeared.

Ventus licked his lips in delight as he watched the rattling bones being to claw and tear at her. Up until now he had expected her to survive this encounter. But the prospect of a new pet was now exciting him. He smiled and considered what new theory he should use her body for. Perhaps the first inferi?

But then she surprised him again this evening. Skillfully she manage to create a ring of fire around her. Of course it was also around the skeletons, but the fact that she managed to do anything at all with them grabbing at her was a feat itself. Ventus frowned for a moment as he watched her kick one of his creations into the flames where it burned into nothingness. So fire did destroy them utterly. That was good to know.

Ventus watched as she knocked a few more into the flames, nodding slightly as a slight smile flickered across his face. For a moment he considered throwing the rest of the minions he had brought with him into the fray while his prey was still preoccupied with the current threat. He had a good fifteen more with him after all. But with a full circle of fire protecting her they would never get within range.

With a sigh Ventus pulled out his bag of gold, ready to toss it down to her and leave for a time before returning and making it look like an actual attack on himself. He already had the tools with him to ensure he would be able to bleed on the ground. It was just a matter of setting up the rest of the area to look like an ambush.

As clever as the plan appeared to be, it was not as graceful as Vesta would have wanted.  When one played with fire, all the old witches' tales were startlingly, ruthlessly accurate.  The skeletons did not seem at all afraid of her or the fire and continued to claw at her without pause.  Even though she'd dispatched two, the others were relentless.  She tripped and her sleeve caught fire. 

She screamed in pain as the fire burned her arm and the skeletons took the opportunity to bite and claw even further.  In the panic of the moment, she Apparated.  Apparated to douse the fire, to escape the skeletons, to risk Splinching to save herself. 

Vesta Baddrick appeared just outside of ring and fell to her knees.  She was bleeding from scratches to her face and neck, and her right forearm was badly burnt. 

"You're psychotic...!" she breathed out a damning insult.  "Twisted...!"  She pressed herself to standing and began to back out of the ally.  She held her burned wand arm with her left hand, not able to raise it. 

"Rot in hell!"

She was humiliated.  Rendered completely useless by some over-stuffed dandy of a necromancer. 

Oooh this certainly took an interesting turn in the final moments. Ventus had expected the girl to simply use a spell to blast them all-all at once, that is-into the flames. But alas it looks like the clawing and biting proved too much for her and caused her to burn herself. Ventus gave a wicked grin as he watched her sleeve burst into flames.

"Well, there goes the wand arm." Still, she managed to apparate out of the circle and back into the alleyway. The skeletons, sensing their prey had left, ambled around aimlessly. Five managed to walk into the flames on their own. But Ventus couldn't just let his prey get away.

With a pop he apparated in front of her. "And you were doing so well," Ventus purred in a mocking tone. "Still, I do always pay my debts," and with that he dropped the bag of five-hundred galleons at her feet. He gave her a small cruel grin before apparating to the roof tops of the alleyway.

"If you ever grow bored of being a simple mugger look me up," he called down to her. "But then again, perhaps not. Wouldn't want my insanity rubbing off." With no more than a cruel laugh Ventus disappeared-

-And reappeared on the other side of the buildings that surrounded the courtyard. He still had to set up the seen for the aurors, after all.

Vesta scowled so fiercely, one would wonder if she'd ever felt so much revulsion in her life before.  (She had.)  She got to her feet and spat on the bag of gold. 

She cursed again at Shang, and then again to the empty night when he was gone and all that was left lighting the courtyard was her ring of fire.  She raised her hand weakly and doused the magical flames.  And then, she stared at the bag of gold a moment.

It would be foolish not to take it, but to accept it would be an act of submission.  But then... it was 500 gold, or so he said. 

With a nauseous feeling in her gut, she snatched up the bag, and turned on her heel.

CRACK, and she was gone.