Prologue
The rain was hammering down solidly onto the city. Droplets spattered windows and burst themselves on the ground. It was nighttime, and the bleak darkness was only more exemplified by the broiling clouds rumbling up ahead. The rain fell like it had a purpose, and at the moment, its purpose was to drench a small, pale boy who was skulking about in an alleyway. He was busy setting about a few large cardboard boxes and dustbin lids to make as his makeshift home.
The little boy clambered inside one of the boxes and pulled another box in front of him, putting a dust bin lid on the roof of the box, he pulled some old worn clothes over himself and quietly drifted asleep.
Varick EngelFaust glared around him and uttered an exasperated sigh. He was a proud man of middle height, wispy brown hair and sharp blue eyes. He had many wrinkles adorning his face and at the moment they were forming a scowl. His arms were crossed and he was tapping his feet irritably.
His companion Finn Herrmann was opposite to him. He was tall, with blonde hair and brown eyes and was eagerly looking around the place with bubbly excitement.
"You see that? Aquarium! An aquarium! It says here"-
"Indeed. As interesting as this may be ve 'ave a job to do. Lord Dietrich vould not be pleased with us if we dawdled. Hmm?"
Finn looked crest fallen. He was a 6-foot tall lad with strong muscles, but it seemed his childish nature hadn't grown out yet and turned the man into a young excitable puppy, happily wagging its tail at new places.
Varick sighed and returned to the slip of paper and the map that had been given to him by Lord Dietrich. According to the magical readings, the little brat should be outside of Surrey, nearing the borders of London…
"So…v'ere do ve go next?"
"Vell…ve should be going…hmm…'ow much money do you 'ave?"
Finn's face screwed up as he fished around in his huge coat pockets. He produced a bulging wallet and gave it trustingly to Varick, who took it with his black-gloved hands and produced a wad of money.
Flagging down a taxi, they hopped in and he snapped his destination.
The taxi road off as the clouds opened again.
The taxi driver was apparently talking about some odd muggle sport called football.
"So, vhat you do again? Finn asked cheerily. Varick rolled his eyes, and while the taxi driver was busy explaining the rules and game play of 'football' he produced a small round piece of metal. The metal was shaped like a tennis ball, and when touched with a wand, magically opened itself up. Inside the ball were a small screen and a little dot, showing the outskirts of London. Varick shed a small smile. Of course, this was an unregistered artefact, but it was a useful and compulsory device used only in the slave trade. It would be silly to go tramping around the place going after little kids on the streets, it would look too suspicious and could be easily tracked, making it impractical. So Lord Dietrich had invented the Portable Magic Detector. A handy device that tracked down magical fields that was moving in a certain way signalling the presence of a human.
The journey was long and boring punctuated by traffic jams and road works, so he turned back to his Detector and admired the level of magic that was being given off…maybe that was why his master had been so excited.
"You 'ere that? It sounds like fun! I vant to try it sometime!" Varick jumped and quickly hid his device.
"What? You mean you've never played football in your life?" the driver asked incredulously.
"No, I"- Varick slapped a hand over Finn's mouth.
" 'E vas brought up in a posh family, they never allowed him to play football because they did not vant him dirty!"
The taxi turned his head slightly to look at the two strange men.
"If you say so…we're here."
Varick climbed out of the car and paid the driver his money then walked a little down the street. He glared at the rubbish littering the sidewalk as if his glare would make it disintegrate. 'You vould never find rubbish like this on the streets of Berlin,' he thought to himself.
After the taxi had drove off and he looked around to make sure no one was walking around or spying on them through their poorly made curtains he pulled the detector out of his coat pocket and consulted it. His heart jumped a bit and he almost bit his tongue. Finn peered over his shoulder and looked confused.
"V'at is wrong?" Varick merely ignore him and whipped his head around looking for the quickest way to the square of wherever he was. He took out another map that was more detailed for the area and sprinted away in the direction to the square. Finn quickly caught up and calmly jogged beside him. He glared at him.
He entered the square and leaned down slightly, desperately trying to catch his breath. People looked oddly at him as they passed by.
"V'at ve do now?" Several girls wearing dangerously short skirts giggled near by. Varick scowled at them and straightened up.
"Did I tell you I 'ated muggles and all things muggle?" he muttered more to himself.
Finn screwed his forehead in thought for a moment and then happily replied, "Yarrh, I think you 'ave.
You said it v'en ve entered London"-
Varick glowered at him and strode off down to the side of the square and into a side street, looking for a specific alleyway.
Finn looked on thoroughly confused. He looked around interestedly and ended up looking at the group of girls giggling madly and blushing at his gaze. One of them winked, and clueless, he winked back, before jogging after his companion. The girls fell about laughing with red faces.
Finn found the alleyway and stood by Varick's side as he was staring down him. Finn looked down and found a small set of boxes arranged in a way for shelter. But that wasn't what had Varick gaping. Inside the boxes, underneath a bundle of clothes, a very small pale boy. He was curled in a fatal position. But that's not what was making them gape with astonishment.
The boy had a jagged lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead.
This was the Boy-Who-Lived.