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Demelza had heard on the everlasting underground grapevine about the dagger, and as soon as she established it was Ancient Egyptian, Demelza knew that it must become hers. The first point was always research; after finding (and sometimes buying) information, Demelza learnt that it belonged to the rather reputable Aileen Reid, and after locating her house in London, all it took was a simplistic plan. This was a regular breaking-and-entering job; wizarding homes had security (albeit rudimentary systems) but it was nothing Demelza couldn't handle.

Standing in the doorway of Miss Reid's home, Demelza was bathed in midnight moonlight, her mask glimmering in reflection. With her back against the door, she bit her bottom lip, tapping her wand gently on the doorhandle. Listening out for that faithful 'click', she pushed it open slowly and slithered inside. Demelza aimed to be nocturnally invisible; her dark clothing, slender movements and co-ordinated skill prevented witnesses, and the fact that most wizards would be in bed by this time was a great advantage.

Taking a few cautious steps into the hallway of the rather regal home, Demelza held her wand out, eyes scanning the area frequently. Glancing upstairs, she exhaled a deep breath; it was clear. Now, all she needed to find was the library; pushing open each door several inches, she surveyed them before making such a bold measure. Houses like this were generally riddled with anti-burgalry traps. Taking a peek through each room via the crack in the door, it was become a slow process of elimination, yet every master thief had to take time in their work.

Taking a few delicate steps down the hallway, her scarlet lips twisted into a smile. This just had to be the room. Stepping forward, she tapped her wand on the door handle and after the tip glowed a violet blue, it clicked open allowing Demelza entry. Glancing over her shoulder momentarily, she crept inside, closing the door behind her. The library displayed a great sense of modest graneur; mahogany shelving held dozens of books on archaeology, ancient history and historical theory, and Demelza bit her bottom lip in excitement as she soaked in this studious atmosphere. Her attitude then instantly changed. Striding towards the first chest of drawers in sight, she hurriedly rummaged through each compartment, desperate to find the dagger. Appreciating her surroundings had stopped; business had started.

Ransacking the chest of drawers, Demelza sighed, throwing the various papers, scrolls and quills on the floor. Her eyes darting to a bureau, she immediately set to work on it, throwing its contents all over the floor. Reaching down and ripping out a drawer, she stooped down and gasped with glee as a glimmer of gold came into sight. Reaching into the space where the drawer had once been, she took a rather ornate and beautiful ceremonial dagger and placed it in the palms of her gloved hands. Looking down on it, Demelza smiled and bit her bottom lip once more.
"You'll fetch mummy a rather good price I imagine..." she murmured, absorbed in the dagger's authentic, ancient glory.

Aileen was sound asleep, her cares and worries in the world left behind. Her face looked rather peaceful, even innocent, perhaps reflecting the person she could have been if things had been different. Yet even in her dreams, schemes and plans soon filtered in, making her twist and turn and fret if it was all going to catch up to her. The scene quickly changed and she was running away, down a dark alley, the moon above shining so bright. She shielded her eyes, but it just grew more blinding, until her eyelashes fluttered and finally opened-

A bright ball of light bobbed in front of her face, vanishing just as she got a good look at it. Aileen blinked rapidly, seeing spots, and bolted upright, very awake now. She glanced around her bedroom, squinting, but no one was hiding in the shadows. Still, someone was in the house. Someone had broken in, triggering the silent alarm that had brought the ball of light to her.

Her worst fear had been realized. Rumors had circulated and certain unsavory types were bound to realize she was hiding things. For a second she thought about alerting the authorities, but that meant she had to explain what she was doing keeping ancient, cursed artifacts in her home. No, there would be too many questions. She’d deal with the thief herself.

Aileen slid out from underneath the covers and lowered her bare feet until they touched the floor, then stood, taking her wand off the nightstand and creeping out of her bedroom and towards the stairs. She didn’t dare cast Lumos, instead trying to hear where the thief was. The rapid beating of her heart annoyed her. Adrenaline only got in the way when she needed to be careful and silent.

Suddenly, as she neared the bottom of the stairs, one of the steps creaked underneath her feet. Aileen froze, wand at the ready. She ran down the rest of the steps and towards the library, keeping her eyes peeled and her body close to the wall. There! A small, dark figure. She caught a flash of metal, something glinting in the darkness. Aileen flattened her back against the wall, unaware that her light nightgown and blonde hair pinpointed where she stood.

She took aim and murmured Petrificus Totalus under her breath.

Demelza stared down at the dagger and smiled, gently slipping it into a small square black leather bag on her belt and gripped her wand firmly in the other. Instinctively, she looked through the rest of the bureau, ripping out drawers and scattering their contents on the floor. Yes, certain items were modestly valuable, yet Demelza was the type of thief who wanted the big things, the trophies of professional burgulary. Turning to another shelf, the hilt of the dagger remained poking out of the bag, and she couldn't help but feel satisfied with it at her side. Scanning her eyes through the various items on display, she pushed aside the 'worthless' relics onto the floor, picking out a book at a time and flicking through their knowledgable pages before tossing them nonchalantly onto the floor.

Another book in her hand, she froze immediately as a distinctive crunch was heard from the hallway. Her criminal eyes widening from behind the mirrored mask, she inhaled, holding the air in. Was there any chance they had heard her? Surely not. Nobody had caught her since the early days.

But there was a first time for everything.

Listening out for any other noises, she raked her gloved hands through a cabinet, picking up a small figurine and snapping it briskly. A soft crack was heard as she ruined the pottery, and Demelza sighed; apparently this merry housemaker wasn't clever enough to hide artefacts within ordinarily dull items.

Her sense more intact, she froze once more and gasped as a murmur from the door was heard, and Demelza immediately shrieked, diving across the room and gripping her wand with ferocious intensity. As a curse soared through the air, a figure was stood in the doorway of the library, and Demelza could literally feel the spell narrowly miss her cheek.
"Confringo!" she bellowed in her ruthless tone, a thin red spark launching from the end of her wand and shooting into a shelf directly next to the doorway and the mysterious figure. Demelza squinted her eyes as the spell immediately shattered the shelf; books, wooden splinters, ornaments and shelving soared through the  already trashed room in a deafening crack as Demelza took a step back. In her moment of panic, it seemed her aim was a little off.

Anger built up as she surveyed the damage. The thief didn’t care about leaving belongings exactly as they were. She wanted to leave her mark, to make it obvious that she’d been there. Cocky. Aileen hoped that meant she’d be sloppy in other areas.

The small figure hovered over the cabinet- she was after the dagger. Maybe it was a sense of possessiveness, but Aileen decided right then and there that the thief wouldn’t leave her home as easily as she’d arrived. Aileen held her breath as the woman screeched and dived away, missing the body-bind curse by inches. She took that moment to creep further into the library and duck behind a chair- not much of a barricade, but it was something. The loud crash of falling shelves, books, and other items had Aileen gritting her teeth in anger. The little witch had just cast Confringo at her, so all bets to ‘play nice’ were off.

However, this was her home. As much as she wanted to retaliate in kind, she’d be the one who would have to clean it up later. And she was more of a scholar than a duelist. The only hexes she knew how to cast quickly were the petty ones.

Aileen pointed her wand at the figure and cast the jelly-fingers curse, hoping her aim was accurate. If it worked, the thief would have a heck of a hard time holding onto her wand and anything else that might be in her hands.

Demelza stepped backwards as the shelving and books continued to fall from her rather explosive jinx. She could see the immediate panic in the home-owner's eyes, and Demelza couldn't help but feel rather content with it. Causing worry, distress and anxiety was her forte. As another curse was thrown from her wand, Demelza immediately pushed herself up against the bookshelf, but her agility and knack for evading hexes wasn't so successful. Her left hand felt like jelly and Demelza shrieked; her fingers were soft, lapse and almost, mushy. She'd been hit good, and although her right hand had managed to avoid this inconvenient ailment, having the left out of action was simply annoying.

Grabbing her wand instinctively with the right hand, she gritted her teeth, narrowing her wicked eyes behind the jeweled mask. It was time to really teach this fool just who she was messing with.
"Serpensortia" Demelza bellowed, and gracefully waved her wand around in a circular motion, her ballerina-esque form sending a magenta serpent from her wand into the library, hissing menacingly as it slithered across the floor. "Deal with that, missy."

Jumping onto the already destroyed desk, she curled into a ball, launching herself through the library window in a flurry of splintered glass and a gut-wrenching smash. Landing on the grass outside, she gritted her teeth, aware that her exposed upper arm was bleeding. With wand in her right hand and her left hand feeling like jelly, she breathed heavily and brushed herself down briskly. With no time to lose, Demelza began to sprint across the garden in the darkened night air, never looking back. She had to get away.

 Aileen felt both a small amount of triumph and frustration when one of the thief’s hands went limp. Unfortunately, however, she could still use the other hand to hold her wand. Preparing to cast Impedimenta, Aileen raised her wand and stood slightly to get a better aim, but just as she opened her mouth, the thief cast a curse that made her eyes widen in fear.

Serpensortia. As if it couldn’t get any worse. The snake slithered towards her and Aileen hesitated for a moment, torn between going after the woman and properly defending herself. She heard the sound of shattering glass and her head jerked up, horrified as the thief jumped out and made a run for it.

“Impedimenta!” she yelled after her, a sinking sensation growing in the pit of her stomach when there was no resulting thud or anything that indicated the spell had hit its target. Yet the snake’s hiss got louder, so Aileen moved quickly away from it and towards the broken window. She risked a glance outside- the thief was getting farther and farther away. Aileen swore as the snake changed directions, still slithering towards her and getting more agitated by the second. What was that spell? It took her a moment to remember the right phrase.

“Vipera Evanesca,” she muttered darkly, gesturing with her wand with more force than was needed. The snake reared its head in alarm, but then vanished. The hissing noise lingered in Aileen’s head for another moment.

She quickly looked out the window again. As suspected, the thief was gone. The dagger was gone. And now she had a library and other belongings to try and repair.

Aileen turned on the lights and surveyed the destruction in the room, which looked much worse now that she could see it all. Her heart pounded angrily and she clenched her fists, wanting to scream and rage and hurt something. The dagger wasn’t technically hers, but she had wanted to study it, and the little thief had broken into her home and taken it from her. She wouldn’t forget it, and she didn’t plan on letting the thief keep it, either.

Aileen sent one last glare out the window, then started to slowly clear things up and salvage what she could. Her wand movements were stiff and controlled, but inside she seethed, considering her next step.