Chapter 75 - Papa Legba

In the darkness of Diagon Alley, three hooded figures stand before a very, small shop the size of a single room that has a brightly painted red door. "Is this the place?" Grumbled the burly figure of Death Eater, Seth.

"Yes, apparently the shop is always moving on its own," replied the long-nosed Death Eater, Aeron. "But there are rumors that this place can only be found by those willing to pay the price. What do you think Lestrange?"

The two men turn to stare at Rodolphus Lestrange, who since his wife's passing had become rather silent and grave. The silence grows until neither man can bear it, however, before they have a chance to speak, Rodolphus says, "Whatever the case, perhaps, we should heed the rumors with caution. For as the rumors go the Rain Man answers any question for a price, I do believe we should be more concerned with that he will request of us in exchange."

Seth furrowed his brows and coolly retorts, "How can we possibly fear anyone other than our Dark Lord." Lestrange does not answer nor seems to care as the words just slide off of him like water over oil. Seth huffs indignantly and mutters, "Cold-hearted bugger."

"Calm yourself, Seth," Aeron chided. "What Lestrange said is true, we should be wary when bargaining with this man." Seth snorts indignantly but does not make a rude comment again. "Well then, who'll knock on the door?"

Without waiting, Seth bravely steps forward and before his fist can connect with the crimson door, the door lets out a loud squeak as it opens on its own. A bit embarrassed, Seth hastily lowers his large fist and gruffly says, "Let's go." And steps into the darkness of the room, the other two men stride inside as the crimson door loudly shuts behind them.

The room is lit by hundreds of candles as straw-like dolls are pinned to the walls, while ancient wooden masks and an even an array of skulls. However, the strangest decorations are neatly dressed strange little dolls precisely sitting all around, watching. Ignoring the eyes of the dolls that seem to watch their every movement, intricate spells are drawn on the walls in bright white chalk, while the floor is largely bare without a single drawn spell. However, upon a closer examination, there can be seen a dark ink-like substance carefully drawn across the entire the length of the floor in thin lines to effectively create a giant spell matrix.

Sitting at a table wearing a crimson turban around his head a dark-skinned man does not look up as he turns tarot cards over onto the table. "So, you have come seeking answers? But what can this humble practitioner of superstitious magic, do for you powerful wizards on this fine evening?" The man smirked as the sleeve of his white robe brushes against the wooden table causing the wooden and other colored bead necklaces to gently rattle as well.

Aeron takes a step forward and ignores the tone of the question. For it was true, the modern-day wizarding world did not look well upon practicing sorcerers of so-called ancient, superstitious magic's. "We seek answers and we are told you that the Rain Man can provide an answer for any question for a price," Aeron replied.

"That much is certainly true," the man mused as he continued to turn the cards. "However, the answer that which you seek may be at a price that none of you can afford."

"Nevertheless, we will still pay it even if it costs us our lives," Aeron fervently stated.

"A life is a very good trade indeed," the Rain Man said as he paused at seeing the card in hand. Quickly turning the card over, he adds, "However, there are far worse things than death."

"We fear not the price," Aeron stubbornly said again.

"Very well, and what is that which you seek?" The Rain Man asked as he carefully gathered the tarot cards and gently stacked them into a pile in the middle of the table.

"We seek the identity of the enemy of our Dark Lord?"

"Oh? Your Dark Lord has many enemies," The Rain Man mused. "I fear that you will need to be much more specific than that."

"We seek the enemy that foiled our attack and killed our brothers on Hallows Eve," Aeron crisply replied.

"I see," the Rain Man said as he rose to his feet to reveal his dark bare feet. And despite the cold outside and the chill of the floor, the cold seemed to have no effect on him.

The Rain Man whispers in a soft foreign language as a large emerald snake with bright emerald eyes emerges from underneath the table. Aeron instantly takes a step back as the large snake twines its body around the Rain-Main almost covering him from head to toes as the snake's large head came to rest his shoulders. The snake's slit emerald eyes gaze at them with an eerie intelligence as its tongue flickers out at them.

"A token of your Dark Lord, if you will," the Rain Man softly said as only his eyes could be seen from between the snake's coils.

"Lestrange?" Aeron said as Rodolphus reached into his cloak and removed a tiny vial filled with a red substance. With a coldness in his eyes, Rodolphus places the vial into the Rain Man's hands.

The Rain Man's hands clamp around the vial as suddenly a beating like drum sounds can be heard. The Rain Man steps back as he begins to chant and almost dance to the beating drum beats. Soft voices can suddenly be heard hissing and singing from all the little dolls throughout the shop. The room becomes deathly silent as a dark door in the shop that had not been there before bursting open.

A cold breeze sweeps through the shop causing the candle to flicker and almost go out. The whispering and drums are gone as a heavy silence fell upon the room. None of the three Death Eater's dare move as magic without a wand was always dangerous to perform. But like all things, there are always heretics using magic rituals that were considered taboo by any wand using wizard and witch society throughout the entire world.

A soft, almost masculine voice can be heard whispering from the depths of the shadowy darkness. With care, the Rain Man pours the vial of blood out as the blood seemingly floats away and vanishes into the cold doorway. The Rain Man whispers to the dark doorway as if asking a question, but they only understood the words, that of a name, Papa Legba, the gatekeeper to the underworld, a devil to some and a savior to others.

The emerald snake suddenly hissed as if in pain and limply slides off of the Rain Man's body to motionlessly fall onto the floor. The Rain Man seems to tremble as he suddenly reaches under the table and grabs a squawking phoenix. Without any hesitation, he slices it's head off and pours blood onto the floor. The three men flinch at seeing such a beautiful magical creature be so suddenly killed in ritual sacrifice.