As they moved through the crowded hallway just past the coat check room, Percy wished they would've tried going backstage instead. The place wasn't supposed to be a maze, but finding the artist's entrance with all these people blocking his view made it feel like it was. Then there were also the four nefarious figures, who he had lost sight of after an older lady had almost pushed him down a small set of stairs. Accidentally - of course.
By the time he had found the hallway that led to their strange informant's dressing room, the main hall was almost clear, save for a few people who had drinks there afterwards. In the hallway and backrooms, there were also still people going about their business. Enough to make him consider that any feat of magic here was going to mean breaking magic law. It made him regret giving Nerissa her wand. That regret only deepened when they rounded the final corner.
From the opposite of the stuffy corridor came four figures, who stopped like he did. Between the two parties, on the right side, was room number 17. Topsy's room.
Percy raised his hands. "Wait!" He saw hesitance, although all four had drawn their wands. "Let's all put those down, okay?" He slowly lowered his own, hoping they'd follow suit. "Nobody'll get hurt and we can talk this out like civilized people." He made a small signal to Nerissa, hoping she would also lay down her wand like he was about to do, although he was pretty sure she wouldn't. "Now we're here just to talk with an acquaintance of ours. After that we'll-"
"So she is their informant!" Percy realized his mistake. "Get them and kill her!" A woman's voice roared. Magic sparked like fireworks through the hallway as all four of them unleashed destructive curses. He could hardly distinguish them, let alone conjure a shield in time. Fortunately, he was as fast as lightning with apparating. One moment he stood beside Nerissa, and in the next, he tackled the two dark wizards that stood in the back. Glass shattered and wood splintered where he had previously stood, the door and cheap-looking chandelier taking the hits meant for him.
The struggle on the ground didn't last as long as he had hoped. One of the two he had taken with him to the ground grabbed his shoulder with a strong, hairy arm, and hurled him further back in the corridor. Percy fired a poorly aimed stunning spell as he was thrown away, but the other wizard conjured a shield do deflect it.
He crashed into a small trophy cabinet, at the end of the corridor, and felt a dull pain in his back. He wanted nothing more than a moment to recover from that brief flight, as well as the dizziness that his apparating tackle had given him. Not that he'd get one.
Percy ducked to the side just in time to see lightning flash over his head. A silver cup above him shattered into a thousand pieces. "Nerissa! Don't let them get to the door!" He shouted - hoping she understood what was on the line here. Then, he tapped with his wand against the wall and whispered three words that made it seem as if the corridor curved. The curvature increased until Nerissa lost sight of him and the two dark wizards that he had previously tackled.
It was a simplified form of the Fidelius charm, crossed with a concealment spell. It was among one of the finer creations of the great alchemist Paracelsus, whose work Percy knew by heart. It distorted closed spaces with only two exits, tying them together so there was no way of escape. Of course here, that meant his two assailants would only have to turn around to face him from another angle.
Yet Percy was faster. He conjured a shield to stave off the next barrage of hexes and curses, then pointed his wand to his left. "Stupefy!" a white flash shot down the hallway, only to come up behind the wizards and hit the one on the left square in the chest. He stumbled forward and fell, but still moved.
Percy cursed under his breath as he scrambled up. "Of course. Of course they're not human!"
By the time he had found the hallway that led to their strange informant's dressing room, the main hall was almost clear, save for a few people who had drinks there afterwards. In the hallway and backrooms, there were also still people going about their business. Enough to make him consider that any feat of magic here was going to mean breaking magic law. It made him regret giving Nerissa her wand. That regret only deepened when they rounded the final corner.
From the opposite of the stuffy corridor came four figures, who stopped like he did. Between the two parties, on the right side, was room number 17. Topsy's room.
Percy raised his hands. "Wait!" He saw hesitance, although all four had drawn their wands. "Let's all put those down, okay?" He slowly lowered his own, hoping they'd follow suit. "Nobody'll get hurt and we can talk this out like civilized people." He made a small signal to Nerissa, hoping she would also lay down her wand like he was about to do, although he was pretty sure she wouldn't. "Now we're here just to talk with an acquaintance of ours. After that we'll-"
"So she is their informant!" Percy realized his mistake. "Get them and kill her!" A woman's voice roared. Magic sparked like fireworks through the hallway as all four of them unleashed destructive curses. He could hardly distinguish them, let alone conjure a shield in time. Fortunately, he was as fast as lightning with apparating. One moment he stood beside Nerissa, and in the next, he tackled the two dark wizards that stood in the back. Glass shattered and wood splintered where he had previously stood, the door and cheap-looking chandelier taking the hits meant for him.
The struggle on the ground didn't last as long as he had hoped. One of the two he had taken with him to the ground grabbed his shoulder with a strong, hairy arm, and hurled him further back in the corridor. Percy fired a poorly aimed stunning spell as he was thrown away, but the other wizard conjured a shield do deflect it.
He crashed into a small trophy cabinet, at the end of the corridor, and felt a dull pain in his back. He wanted nothing more than a moment to recover from that brief flight, as well as the dizziness that his apparating tackle had given him. Not that he'd get one.
Percy ducked to the side just in time to see lightning flash over his head. A silver cup above him shattered into a thousand pieces. "Nerissa! Don't let them get to the door!" He shouted - hoping she understood what was on the line here. Then, he tapped with his wand against the wall and whispered three words that made it seem as if the corridor curved. The curvature increased until Nerissa lost sight of him and the two dark wizards that he had previously tackled.
It was a simplified form of the Fidelius charm, crossed with a concealment spell. It was among one of the finer creations of the great alchemist Paracelsus, whose work Percy knew by heart. It distorted closed spaces with only two exits, tying them together so there was no way of escape. Of course here, that meant his two assailants would only have to turn around to face him from another angle.
Yet Percy was faster. He conjured a shield to stave off the next barrage of hexes and curses, then pointed his wand to his left. "Stupefy!" a white flash shot down the hallway, only to come up behind the wizards and hit the one on the left square in the chest. He stumbled forward and fell, but still moved.
Percy cursed under his breath as he scrambled up. "Of course. Of course they're not human!"
