Tom sighed in content as he walked to the door and flipped the dead bolt. The audible click of the door locking was the sure sign that his day was finally over. He still wasn’t used to staying in one spot and actually being responsible for his own shop. His mind was still in travel mode. So even an easy quiet day felt like a long drawn out ordeal. As he slowly walked back to the counter he thought of the beautiful mountainous expanse in the heart of Europe he has spent his last ‘free’ week at, hunting down an old hermit who supposedly had seen some long lost creature from some long lost fable.

As he reached the counter and lifted the board to enter his ‘employees’ only section he hung his head realizing he had forgotten several closing steps. Pulling out his wand he pointed it at the door, flicking his wrist causing the sign to flip from open to close. Next he pointed at the lock, muttering a hurried lock charm and security alert charm. He was tired, and it was a new charm he had just learned, so while it was normally a very strong and unbreakable charm, in this instance it wasn’t at its best.

Satisfied with having secured his shop, Tom opened the doorway for the stairwell leading up to his apartment, the sound of each footfall on the wood starting heavy and becoming lighter as the relief of relaxation seemed to give him a burst of energy to get up, make dinner and pass out. Stepping into the kitchen he began to wave his wand as a conductor, sausage links and eggs emerging from the fridge to lie themselves in one frying pan as the eggs cracked into a second. The stove lit up and everything began to cook as he dropped himself in a lounge chair watching his meal cook.

“Just another day.”

"Finally."

The lights went out in the Magicarium and a few moments later they came on in the rooms above.  Nate was across Diagon on a balcony dressed like an idiot all in black.  He pulled the dark hood back over his head and checked that he had everything.  Wand, spellsmoke pellets, Pandora's key, and oh yes - there it was.  In his left pocket.  Wanton stupidity. 

He'd need it tonight if he was going to successfully burgle the good Mr. Pierce out of some of his inventory.  It wasn't that Nate thought he wasn't capable of breaking, entering, finding and leaving.  It was that he knew the consequences for failing involved a great deal of The Worst from parties on all sides of the law. 

He sighed and settled in.  Now that Pierce was up at home, Briggs had to wait until he went to bed.  Information supplied did indicate that he wouldn't need to wait long, that Pierce had been seen turning in relatively early since his return to Diagon.  But then again, things didn't always go according to plan.  He could be sitting out here for hours more, it was very possible. 

And Nate would wait.  He'd chew his nails, count the stars, imagine what he'd do to Cinaed Tawse if he was also a murdering git, but he certainly wasn't going to rush in early. 

Dinner didn’t take long, and when it was done he scooped everything onto a plate and placed it onto his well worn dining room table, the chair scrapping the floor as he pulled himself in and made quick work of his dinner. He hadn’t eaten since this morning so his stomach had spent half the day grumbling in hunger. While the food was fairly bland due to his lack of effort in seasoning it, it still tasted delicious.

As he ate he absently picked up the paper in front of him, his eyes scanning the various headlines and moving pictures. Nothing grabbed his attention, so as he stood with a now empty plate he cast the paper in the garbage, stacked the plate in the sink to be dealt with…later, and dragged himself to bed.

He took one of his boots off, dropping it loudly to the floor and as he reached for the next one he groaned, waved his hand in defeat and flopped down, his eyes closing on their own accord, his hand reached into his pocket and limply pulling out his wand. He waved it above his head, no thought to the movement, and whispered lightly.

“Nox.”

The room plunged into darkness, his hand dropping to the bed still half clutching the wand. After a minute he began to snore, his mind drifting to his previous adventures dragging him away from the normalcy that was life in London. He knew coming back was the right decision, that he needed to settle down, but oh how he longed to be ‘free’ as he had seen it.

Where the hell was that poncy, good-for-nothing, Mr-Wizard Finn Grosvenor?  The lights had gone off in the upstairs apartments by now and Nate knew he had to get moving.  Lookout, or no lookout.  Time was ticking and his 'client' Cinaed Tawse wouldn't probably negotiate on the deadline, not after Nate had already insisted on a great deal of delay and planning. 

Is this what he'd come to? Breaking into clutter shops like some common Slytherin flunkie?  He was a common Ravenclaw flunkie, sod all! He had expected to make something of himself, not a rap-sheet.  But if he was to continue a life full of the things he enjoyed - no obligations, plenty of drink, plenty of sport, plenty of money, and plenty of breathing - he'd have to do this the smart way.

And going in without Finn keeping an eye on was not the smart way.

Bloody hell..., he thought, finally able to wait no longer.  He had to eat the curse and go in.  Alone.

The noise of Apparition was common enough on this magical street, but at this our of the night, it could crack and echo.  Best to be as quiet as a mouse.  Nate climbed the old-fashioned way down the rickety iron ladder into the alley, hopped the the ground, and crossed the street.  He looked quite the rogue, dressed all in black.  He bypassed the main front door and slipped into the narrow passageway that led to a back door.

"Alohomora..." he tried, the spell a whisper, the flash of spellfire but a tiny glimmer on the polished brass lock.  The lock wiggled, but stayed fast.  He'd have to try something tougher. 

Finn was running late. He'd been for a cat-nap after a heavy night at the club the previous night, and had forgotten to ask for one of his staff to wake him at the appropriate hour. He hadn't, of course, expected that he would sleep for four hours straight, so when he'd awoken to find that darkness had already fallen, he had fumbled around to find some dark clothing whilst cursing himself for his lack of time-keeping. Nate was relying on him, and he was already letting his pal down by failing to arrive at the agreed time.

The wizarding entrepreneur had apparated nearby, but - not wanting to draw unecessary attention to himself - had made his way silently to the meeting place. Finn hid in a side-alley, allowing himself a peripheral view around the building in question. In the near distance he made out a cloaked and hooded figure lowering himself rung-by-rung down a ladder and towards the front door of the building to be looted. Finn swallowed, took a deep breath and skulked away from the shadows that up until now had been his protection.

"Psst!" Finn mentally kicked himself. If there was anything that would get him noticed, it would be hissing like a cat in a fight.

Nate straightened up and trained his wand away from the lock and at the dummy who'd come up on him in the night.  As soon as he saw it was Finn, his expression flashed with anger.  "Shitting--!" he hissed and slugged the younger wizard hard on the shoulder.

That was just the tension talking.  Another glance at Finn and Nate knew he was actually glad to see his accomplice.  At least now things could go according to plan.  He almost smiled in the darkness.  "Down the rabbit hole..."

Wasting no time, Nate turned back to the lock ready to turn to heftier magic.  With a bit of marking limestone, he slowly drew three runes over the the door handle mechanism, and then cast another spell.  The runes glowed purple-y green and the metal inside the lock shuddered.  He laid a gloved hand to the knob and it opened to his touch.

He didn't say anything, but looked back over at Finn.  He nodded.  Time to party.

Nate crept inside, the tip of his wand glowing a very dim red.  Juuust bright enough to cast shallow shadows on the back room, and then the cluttered shop.  It seemed bigger some how in the empty darkness.  He had some clue where the artifact was kept, and what it looked like, but he'd have to poke around.

Looking back to make sure the Finn had followed alright, Nate stepped very carefully and motioned to a set of stairs leading up.  Master of the castle'd be asleep up there.  They'd have to keep an ear out.

Tawse knew what he wanted enough to be able to describe in detail.  Briggs had cased the place just like they always said a good burglar should, and knew where Pierce kept it.  He also knew how much it would cost a bloke to buy it fair and square and it was more money than either Tawse or Briggs had ever seen.  (Well, Briggs had, but that was an unusual situation.)    Theft really was the only logical option to obtaining it. 

Nate, dressed in black and a deep hood crept quietly, quietly through the shop, his wand out, very dimly lit.  He needed to make his way around to the series of locked display cases behind the counter.  The you-can-look-but-no-touch area.  The place where Pierce kept artifacts so expensive that if you had to ask, you probably couldn't afford it.  The cabinet with some pretty gnarly protective enchantments on it.  Nate had done his homework, though.  He'd practiced.  He knew what he had to do.

He hopped the little half-door behind the counter and approached the locked cabinet.  Some of the light from his wand-tip reflected off the glass, but some made it in, creating sharp shadows on the little trinkets in their stands.  Briggs traced his wand back and forth until he found the little cubby with the device inside.

It was known as a muhra glass.[1]  It was a sphere about the size of his fist framed in a complicated lattice of brass.  The glass itself was dark now.  Tawse hadn't told him its exact purpose, but from what he'd been able to find out, it was Persian and had something to do with potion-making.  Affected time-sensitive aspects of brewing, he supposed.  It was dangerous to handle with bare hands - marks or imperfections on the glass itself could severely impair its abilities to unpredictable affects.  There was a padded silk back waiting in his pocket, to carry the muhra glass out.

Not to open the case.  Housed in its own locked cubby, the lock looked simple enough, but there was some very complicated magic keeping it locked up.  In his research, he'd found the best way to unlock it, would be to confuse it.  From his belt he took out a twig.  It was a pretty normal twig, just off the street.  But it was small enough to fit inside the keyhole.

Briggs simply stuck the twig in the hole - jammed it in so that four or five inches of it stuck out and it would hold steady on its own, wedged into the teeth of the lock.  Now to get tricksy.  Not casting anything on the lock itself, Nate began to cast all manner of simple spells, charms, jinxes and enchantments on the end of the mundane stick.  Most of the spells had no real affect on a boring old stick, but traces of the spell lingered. 

Soon the stick was glowing with bright colors, sparkles, stars and whispy whisps - a muddle of all the spells Nate had been casting these last few minutes.  Soon, the lock, which would probably assume the stick was some sort of unwanted key, would try and deal with it.  Nate was banking that the sheer number of different spells would confuse it into just opening.  Or explode.  Or otherwise fail to be locked. 

He checked over his shoulder, worried that the light would be too bright.  Up close, it was quite bright, and looking into the shop at large, the light was playing around.  He hoped it wasn't bright enough to show out on the street. 

1.	Wiki Article: Muhra Glass

Some hours previous...

Sissel was about to sneak out of the DoM when he felt a buzzing in his pocket. That could only mean one thing. He pulled out an egg timer, which meant the Temporal Tinkering Tracker was going off. He dashed back into the inner TTI sanctum.

"What we got, Jarvis?" Sissel asked to an attending Bureau worker. The Temporal Tinkering Tracker looked much like an oversized Foe Glass. Rather than show the hazy images of enemies, it showed still slides of something that was paradoxical in nature.

"Just that," replied Jarvis. "Looks like a display case. Must be a shop somewhere."

Sissel scrutinized the freeze frame. "There's this cubby," he pointed. "It's locked but the contents are missing. Gotta be worth something right?" He peered closer. "I've seen some of this stuff before...somewhere in Diagon..."

This could be the Cowled Figure's doing, if it was showing up on the Triple-T. The artifacts on display seemed old, probably with fantastical abilities associated with them. Sissel snapped his fingers. "The Magicarium! We thought Pierce might have found some old time sensitive stuff! I'm going to go sit on his shop."  Sissel dashed off.

"You want a tipoff for the MLE?" Jarvis asked.

"I dunno, maybe a Hitwizard? Someone cleared for DoM interface? But only if things get hairy. What's the worse that can happen for an artifact to go missing from a shop?"

/:/:/:/

One quick visit to the Magicarium as the shopping traffic died down and Sissel had been able to accomplish two things: A) Match up the display case with the missing artifact. Muhra glass, known for potion brewing timing properties, the kind of thing TTI would keep tabs on. B) Find in inconspicuous back window to leave jammed open a crack. Should hopefully give Sissel an entry point should the event take place after the shop closed. Sissel found a dead end nook where he could keep eyes on the shop and waited.

And waited.

The lights of the Magicarium and the surrounding Diagon shops dimmed. The street was rather dead tonight. Few ever traversed the Alley so late. Hopefully the incident around the muhra glass would be obvious. Nothing like the old fashioned stakeout, or just sitting behind the rubbish bins like some kid hiding from bullies. It was like Hide-and-Seek, that's how Sissel thought of it. Or Sardines, which was basically Hide-n-Seek in a dark house, were everyone tried to find the same person and squeeze into his hidey hole.

Just when Sissel was about to bemoan a wasted night, something caught his attention. Odd twinkling lights scattering across the Diagon street. It had to be coming from the Magicarium. Sissel snuck to the window he jimmied earlier. It edge d open a squeak. A bit of silencing allowed him to open the window without any more sounds.

Working his way from the back room, sliding behind counters and shelves, wand at the ready, Sissel crept to the main shop floor proper. The dazzling lights were brighter, like a child's nite-lite casting shapes about the room. Sissel found a line of sight past a display.

By the cubby in question, someone was playing the game of "Hide-the-Glow-in-the-Dark-Stick-in-the-Keyhole"  game Sissel never had much interest in playing as a kid, even with an abundance of Glowsticks to play with that his uncle collected out of emergency kits. Seemingly this figure in black was trying to rob the place. Should he try a warning shot? Even with a Body Bind, he risked Glowstick man's tampering with the lock, which if interrupted could trigger the alarm or Garroting Gas or the Hellhounds or whatever security measures Pierce kept on the place.

However, the events decided to transpire so that Sissel didn't have to make his own decision.

What a droll month this had been so far. There had barely been any arrests, and even the few that Apollo was sent on were quite dull. For a man who spent so much time in the hospital due to the nature of his work, he really did enjoy the excitement of dueling intensely. Spells and curses flying every which way, death lurking with every cast. One never was sure when a curse would strike and kill. And that was the fun of it.

Which is probably why Apollo jumped at the idea of making another arrest tonight, even if it did seem quite routine. It was lucky, really, that he was even in the office at the time. Otherwise someone from regular law enforcement would get the case. So although he didn't look it when he apparated off to Diagon Alley, Apollo already had the arenaline coursing through his veins.

They had said it was a break in at The Magicarium. There was good news and bad news to this; bad news was Apollo hadn't a clue where that shop was. The good news was who ever was breaking into it was using some object that glowed bright enough to be seen down the street. Foolish.

With a slight twitch of a smile, Apollo quietly mad his way through the shadows on the opposite side of the street until he stood directly across from what he now saw was a man standing inside The Magicarium. For a small moment, Apollo considered altering his appearance. After all he was one of the better recognized Hit Wizards, if only because of the eccentric hair. But it was possible it would be more fun if they recognized him.

So throwing caution to the wind (which was normal) Apollo apparated to where he imagined the side door of the store would be. What luck, he had left it open. Doing his best to make a show, Apollo casually walked into the shop and leaned against the counter.

He cleared this throat. "So, what's going on here?"

The lock had begun to gnaw at the stick ever so slightly, the key-hole shape sort of warping and contracting trying to make sense of the absurdly enchanted key that had invaded.  A curl of smoke escaped the hole - something was burning in there.  The magically enchanted lock was beginning to do its work to keep the cabinet shut, but it had its work cut out.

Bootfalls and a voice sliced through the silence and sounded far louder than they really were.  In the abject silence, where silence was key, even a casual volume sounded like a crack of lightning.  The hooded Nate Briggs spun around his wand out and immediately fired off a spell.

In planning this li'l heist Nate had considered the things that could go wrong, and how the caper could be salvaged.  He'd thought about Hit Wizards.  He'd thought about Pierce.  He'd thought about being interrupted.  He'd considered violence.   Now, Briggs, even though he had a cute little criminal record, was certainly not a violent offender.  His most recent arrest in October - it had been to Nate's credit that he hadn't raised a wand against the Auror and Hit Wizard who'd come to collect.  Firing back only brought you more trouble.

Unless you thought you could get away...

"Infligo Proterex!"[1] No spell-fire, no flash of light, but a non-lethal force was heading straight for the Hit Wizard.

Even as he finished casting, the lock on the cabinet let out a growl and then spit sparks.  But the twig kept on glowing and wiggling, further confusing the sophisticated spell.  If Nate could just buy himself a few more seconds...!

1.	At the wiki

Just as Sissel thought, ok maybe if I hold my breath long enough I could last without hacking and sneezing and farting to pieces from the supposed Garroting Gas, I'll fire a spell at the guy long enough to...

"So, what's going on here?" said one matchstick headed Hit Wizard that was nonchalantly leaning against the counter.

Given the phrasing and his positioning, it seemed neither of the men had noticed Sissel behind this shelf. And surprise was a very useful advantage.

"Infligo Proterex!" shouted the hooded guy, aiming for the Hit Wizard. Sissel jumped out from his shelf, behind the hooded guy, catching him on the side with his own spell. "Devinctus!"

His wand had a nasty bend to it lately so as white lightning (sounded like a cover band) arched towards the bumbling burglar Sissel was thinking please don't hit the cabinet please don't hit the cabinet--

Apollo sneered slightly and ducked behind the counter as the man spoke. Good lord, he was a well trained Hit Wizard after all. Did the man really think he would be able to knock him back so easily. Apollo actually laughed at the thought of it.

As soon as he was sure that the spell has past him, Apollo leapt up and over the counter, drawing his wand mid-air and wordlessly shooting a bolt of green lightning, Verdimillious. The spell probably wasn't one that was appropriate in this situation, he could easily have ensnared the robber with a simple incarcerous. But his blood was flowing freely, the adreninline coursed through his veins.

And so the thought of causing an electrical discharge on the mans body, and sending him flying back was the most exciting, non lethal spell he could think of on the spot.

Just as he landed, Apollo whipped his wand around, ready to fire another spell when he heard one cast by another voice. Reacting instantly, Apollo took a step back and diagonally, now aiming at where the voice had been. 'Concusso!' he thought firmly, hoping the shockwave would be close enough to hit the other assailant.

His eyes on the Hit Wizard who'd come in the back door, Briggs didn't see the other trespasser behind the shelf and the Subjugation Hex hit him in the ribs; took him completely and confusingly by surprise.  It was a strange sort fortune that Nate was thrown down to his knees, his wand flipping away from him.  He doubled over in startling pain behind the counter when the Hit Wizard silently cast Verdimillious.

Teeth gritted, Nate didn't even see the streak of green lighting over his head when it crackled into the cabinet above him.  The lock shrieked and was now glowing white hot, trying to repel the invasion.  The glass of the case warped and waved eerily like the surface of boiling water, threatening to shatter.

How many were there!?  Nate thought to himself in shock as the effects of the Subjucation Hex faded.  There had been more spellfire than what had come from just one Hit Wizard.  On his hands and knees, he cast about for his wand in the strange shimmering spell light in the dark.  Luckily, it hadn't gone far.  He shot out an arm to grab it from the floor a few feet away, and pulled it to himself.

Looking up he saw the lock was about to blow.  By now, any element of stealth was sunk - no reason for subtlety.   If he could grab the glass and scramble... by his calculations, accomplishing the burglary was still possible...

"Digilock!" It was a nothing hex, just one more enchantment on the twig and lock to tip it over the edge.  No sooner did the spell illuminate the twig and lock, did the lock finally give it.  In a brilliant flash of light and stringy glowing threads, did the lock and cabinet shatter all at once. 

Yes, a hit! Thief down with twined spell bolts. Sissel prepped to move in to make the kill, err, incareration. And he was glad for quick reflexes honed on his days in the school Quidditch team. The Hit Wizard made a shot at him now. Sissel just registered the first shattering of something breakable to dive to the floor. A shockwave flowed through the shelf he had been behind, contents breaking and crumbling.

Sissel rolled by the front door, nearly banging his head against the wall. You sure know how to pick them Jarvis. "Cease and subjugate!" Sissel called out. "Friendly fire, friendly fire! You better hope this guy has insurance!"

There was another breaking of glass, this time from the efforts of the thief. "Don't let him get it!" Sissel aimed for what he could of the thief's lower extremities. "Retrorgenus!"

Apollo had already turned and shot a stunning spell at the first robber when he heard what he thought was the accomplice when he heard "Friendly fire!" Well, darn. Guess it would just be this guy then. And he had already cast a stunning spell... that would be the end of the fun if it hit.

And clearly, Apollo didn't want the man to get it, whatever it was. That was the entire point of him being here, after all. Thinking quickly as he watched the jet of red light soar through the air, Apollo pointed his wand at what used to be the cabinet. "Accio!" he shouted, hoping it would be enough to summon the mystery object.