Frame up! (Khaat)

Gar heard the scuffle and chuckled. "Well, I do need some of that potion. And the color thing... That sounds interesting." He laughed at the prank Michael had played on Khaat's father. "I think I might try that one day. Sounds fun. Night, Michael."

He went to the bathroom and found the potion, shutting the door and removing his shirt. There was a particularly large bruise on one side, and he dabbed a little bit on. It immediately started to reduce inside. "Wow, potent stuff." He finished putting it on the rest of his bruises before setting the potion in its cabinet and going to his room. His stuff was gone, like Michael said, so he walked to the window and looked out.

It was late at night, perhaps four in the morning, and the clouds covered the stars. This was perfect for him to use his second sight, which he did and zeroed in on a tree a mile away where some kids had sneaked out of their house and were exploring. Glancing up at the moon, he breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't a full one in case someone was a werewolf.

He broke his second sight and laid down on the bed.

"Good night, Lad," Michael said as Gar went upstairs. He was about to sit down when Otto and Faline seemed to be demanding his attention. He sighed heavily. "Alright, alright. I suppose you want a trip out before bed. Alright, then. Let's go." He headed for the back door, but instead, the footstools led him down into the basement. He frowned and went downstairs, following them, drawing his wand--just in case.

They began to bark and way their tassel tails happily and led him over to a leather chair where there were some unusual blotches of color on the leather cushion. It took Michael a moment to wrap his mind around what he was seeing. Seven little doll house sized footstool puppies of all sorts of designs and colors.

"What!" he exclaimed. "How the devil...." he began. Then he cut himself short. "Oh, I sooooo do not want to know. You do realize I will make sure they have wonderful homes, don't you?" He wanted them to know he was not having 9 enchanted footstools in his house. 9 dogs was too much for any wizard. And he was definitely going to ask Robert how to spay and neuter a footstool--first thing in the morning.

"I'll bring you a few extra socks," he sighed, knowing they only ate socks. "Keep them down here, would you? I don't want them peeing on the carpet upstairs. They're not housebroken." The footstools seemed delighted. Michael tried not to show them his frustration at finding they had somehow had puppies. He simply went upstairs, locked up the house with strong protection spellls, delivered a large bowl full of socks, and went to bed.

Otto woke him promptly 3 hours later. 7 am. It was time for Michael to get up. "You're a pain in the butt, do you know that?" he yawned. He got up, slipped on his slippers and headed downstairs still in his t shirt and pajama pants. He waved the teapot to make some tea, and proceeded to let the dogs out. Sometimes nights were just painfully short.

Garulia fell asleep quickly and woke up, it felt, just as quickly. Rolling out of bed, he checked his clock. Five after seven. Oh well, he thought. I guess I'm too anxious to sleep for a long time.

He walked downstairs, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. Reaching into his robes after pulling them on, he pulled out the collecting tin and went through it. There would be enough for new supplies. Toothbrush, couple sets of clothes... He knew he was really needing a bath.

He found Michael already up and said, "Hey, Michael, you don't mind if I go and get some clothes in Hogsmede, do you? I really could use a shower and a toothbrush sounds nice, too."

"Have at it," he said. "It seems I have to go get more socks when the shops open anyway. Somehow..well, I know how..sort of....Faline and Otto had puppies. 7 of them. They showed them to me before you went to bed. I am not keeping 9 dogs. I can deal with two. Not 9. Oh, and lets not forget the bullfrog. He's in a large fountain in the study. His name is Jeremiah. There is hot tea in the pot on the stove. Help yourself. I'm making a couple of omelets and some toast. By that time, the shops should be open. You can get your clothes and your haircut. Just have them put it on my accounts. You're welcome to go down and see the puppies until I finish the omelets. While you're gone this morning, I need to go see Robert or send him an owl. I really do need to know how to have these footstools 'fixed.' "

Garulia laughed. "I don't really think I want to know the breeding process of a footstool," he joked. "Bullfrog? Is he an actual frog or another piece of furniture?"

He grinned. A cooked breakfast sounded great. With this, he poured himself some tea and sipped it. It wasn't too sweet, and it wasn't without sugar, it was kind of in the middle. Gar actually preferred it a little sweeter, but it was good anyway. Sitting at the table, he took a drink of his tea and awaited breakfast.

This was going to be one helluva adventure, Garulia just knew it. Whatever it was that Michael was ordered to do, Gar had a feeling it had to do with stealth missions.

"Oh, no. Jeremiah is a very real bullfrog. He belonged to a friend of mine who passed away. I more or less inherited him." Michael loved to cook. And his friends loved it when he cooked. One of Michael's skills was that he was very proficient in the kitchen. This morning he made omelets with bits of crispy bacon, swiss cheese, and sauteed mushrooms. He was pleased at how light and tall and fluffy they turned out today. By the time the omelets were done, the toaster had made the toast and had plated it with a pot of strawberry jam.

Michael served Gar his plate and then put his own plate along with his mug of tea on the table. "Alright," he said, taking a sip of his tea. "Back to our conversation from last night. The reality of it is that most men my age can't climb anymore. Not like I can. I'm sure that crossed your mind at some point or another. And no, its not an agility potion. The skills are very real. I have no secrets from Robert or Khaat. Robert and I were in school together, and he asked me to be her godfather, along with his brother Remus when Kate first got pregnant with Khaat. He knew exactly who I was and what I did for a living and how I earned my money.

"I am, by trade, a catburglar--as the slang goes. And I am very good at what I do. Either old school or muggle high tech. I stay fresh with my skills. I have never used my skills for dark arts or evil purposes. I used them to survive when I had to when I was young. And then I went to work for Robert and also for either the british muggle government usually, or for our wizarding one, one job at a time. No matter how righteous a government wants to be, there is always a call for agents of stealth. People who can get into places that are designed to be impossible. To all but my family and my very closest friends, I am retired. I work when I want to work, and I have more money stashed away than I will ever spend. I've left it all to Khaat and her children if anything ever happens to me. So, I guess, in a way, you're destined to be a partial recipient of that.

"However, as I said last night, you have potential. The ministry could use someone like you. And so could Robert. He has some very important dealings that I doubt you know anything about. I doubt Khaat has not taken you into her confidence about that part of their lives. Not yet. You would have been too young. Suffice it to say that Robert Lupin is one of the finest men I have ever known, despite what he shows to the wizarding world. Don't misunderstand me, though. The world I am inviting you into can be a dark and dangerous place. But, personally, I have always had a liking for espionage. By the way, how's the omelet?"

Garulia thought about the bullfrog. "Can he talk? Is he more or less sentient?" He immediately dug into his food, and the toast was the first to go since he knew it would get cold quickly. Then Michael started talking, and when he was finished, Gar put his knife and fork down for a moment.

"It's very good, thank you. I know... Well, I know that danger is my cup of tea, I guess you could say. I like danger, and I especially like what I do when I have to be stealthy. But I would like to know exactly what these jobs would consist of. I mean, I know I'd have to steal things. You made that obvious when you said cat burglar. But would I get into fights a lot? Exactly how dangerous would it be?"

"Jeremiah is very sentient. His owner trained him well. He understood his owner well and obeyed her every command. She was a wonderful young woman, and she took him in her pocket every place she went. He's been very lonely since she was killed. And I don't have the time to spend with him like I should. But she had no family. And I didn't want anything happening to him. He was the only living thing in this world who showed he gave a damn about her. I'd like to think she knew I cared." Michael wished he had been able to put himself in front of Marki to shield her instead of letting her take the blow that extinguished the young student's vibrant life. He had made good, though, and had "taken care of" the person who had killed her. He had not stopped until justice had been done. And he had made sure that Jeremiah had a home and that Marki had been "taken care of" after she passed in an honorable way. He had ordered that a single rose be placed on her grave every day for the rest of his life. And he still stopped there regularly to make sure her grave was well maintained. He owed that to her.

"I don't like to fight, actually," Michael said, "But you do need to know how to defend yourself. I will turn you over to Brian Quinn for training for physical toning and for defense training. I do try to make sure that I don't get caught. When you don't get caught, you don't have to fight your way out. I do have to fight when I participate in rescue missions. Who do you think got Felix Barker's first two kidnapping victims out? I did the footwork to find out where he was hiding, broke into his hideout, and fought him into buggering off so that I could take the women he'd kidnapped and tortured. One of which was your mother. He took Khaat twice. Damned near killed her both times.

"And as long as I'm on that subject, I'll let you in on Robert's private line of work. There is a huge industry in our world made of evil men. Men that kidnap wizarding children and sell them for a great price to ridiculously wealthy muggles to exploit the children's wizarding talents. The children's training is skewed so that they only learn spells to make their owners more powerful or more wealthy. And their other magical talents are blocked. They are, for all purposes, slaves. Robert has spent decades recruiting allies from all over the world to go into those places and get our children back to their rightful parents--at no cost to their families. Robert owns the business, but Brian is the commanding officer. That's what he really does. He's a warrior. And because some evil wizards would very much like to use Khaat as a pawn to make Robert bear off his rescuing business, he assigned Brian about the time Abbey was born to be her primary bodyguard. It wasn't until much later that he and Khaat actually fell in love. It was the last thing either one of them wanted. But he treats her like a queen. And I"ve never seen her happier.

"If you do this, you will be drawn right into the deepest parts of the heart of the Lupin family. That's where this all comes together. You will learn far more about your mother and your family than you ever dreamed. My job would be to teach you the stealth pieces and hone your climbing skills, your skills for...well, borrowing...things of international importance. And I would hopefully teach you how to do so and stay alive to enjoy the fruits of your labors."

"If you don't have time," Garulia offered. "I could spend time with Jeremiah for you. Everyone, even bull frogs, need attention. And a friend." And he meant this. The poor guy, not having anyone to spend time with anymore...

"That's terrible!" Gar exclaimed. Wizard children? Used as slaves?! It was as bad as the slave trade in India! "Of course I'll help!" This settled it. If he could do anything to help the world, this would be it. "When can we start training? I refuse to let anything like this go on any longer than it has to!"

In his mind, he vowed to himself to be the best student ever and train like there was no tomorrow. Which, for those kids, there wouldn't be if he didn't do something.

"I think Marki would have liked that," Michael smiled when Gar talked about Jeremiah. "And I think Khaat and Robert and Brian will be pleased with your career choice. I knew you were the right one. Alright. First things first then. Finish your breakfast. Go into town and get whatever you need. Clothes, haircut,...oh, and I'm going to have you pick up a new case of socks for me when you get your clothes. These...dogs...eat a lot of them. Then we'll go to Khaat and Brian's so you can see their place and learn your way around the estate. I'm sure Brian will train you there. But you can stay here anytime you like and for as long as you like. Brian, I"m sure will give you a portkey so you can go back and forth as necessary. And, so you know, Brian's success rate at getting kids back is good. Really good. You'll be in good hands."