Dobby had skirted this law himself when he'd messed with Harry's mail and his aunt and uncle's home by using some very sketchy legal loopholes in the Rules. Loopholes that honestly couldn't have been done by a sane elf. And Dobby was practically insane by House Elf standards already, plus I couldn't put it past the Malfoy's tortured House Elf that the punishments inflicted on him by the Malfoys had weakened the bond between them, leaving him demented and just free enough to be able to bend the Rules so thoroughly.
Taking a deep breath, I strode through the dark and cold streets towards the Marlin Building, righteous fury burning in my chest and keeping me warm alongside my runic enchantments.
As we got close, I took out a potion bottle – one of the few I'd bothered to take with me – and took a deep swig of the oddly tasteless liquid. The next thing I knew, and I was able to see, hear, smell, and even taste everything far better than I usually could. It wasn't a full hundred percent increase for my senses, not with the potion ingredients I had access to, but it wasn't less than fifty percent, either.
With sharper eyes, I could see a few street cameras watching the building as well as a light in one of the upper windows, as well as a thin wisp of smoke from a cigarette drifting out of an alleyway.
I approached, and saw a man taking a smoke break outside near the Marlin Building. He was a tall man with wide shoulders and looked like he had played some rugby in the past what with his broken nose.
I wasn't sure if he was an actual security guard for the building, or if he was working with the kidnappers, as he wasn't wearing any uniform that I could see under his thick winter jacket, but he did have something that made me worried. A gun, stuffed down the back of his pants that I could just barely see with my enhanced vision.
"Is this man with the ones who kidnapped Delilah?" I asked, taking a rune-bone out of the pouch and tossing it on the sidewalk.
The man heard the clatter of the die and looked my way, frowning, but I ignored him as I bent down to inspect it.
'YES' said the fortune-telling die, and I sighed and shook my head as I picked it up.
"Hey, buddy, move along," the smoker told me, but faster than he could react, I twisted my runic ring and drew out an Ofuda, throwing it at him like it was a playing card. Magic crackled to life within the ink as it flew, the Ofuda talisman somehow recognizing it was time to be used (likely by reading my intent as I tossed it) and after less than a second it seemed to turn into a miniature red lightning bolt that zipped through the air before striking the guard's chest with a "Pop!"
He fell, stunned, and after returning my perception of time back to normal, I walked over to him, nudging the man with my boot. He didn't budge, and I checked the talisman that had struck him. It had burnt up upon activation, and all that was left was a bit of ash stuck to his jacket and a scorch mark on said jacket.
I checked his pulse. He was alive. Unconscious, but that was fine. I then rummaged through his pockets, trying to find something useful. I took his gun, of course. It was crazy hard to get a gun in England and I wasn't going to pass up the chance to fiddle around with one. Ideas for runic or potion enhanced bullets danced through my mind.
Alongside a crumpled packet of cigarettes and some gum, I also discovered a keycard, which was hopefully for the door he'd been guarding, and his wallet.
'Well, I'm already acting like a mugger, might as well go the whole nine-yards,' I thought with amusement, stealing the wad of cash he'd had on him at the time.
Once I was done looting his body, I tried the keycard on the slot on the door, and what do you know, it clicked open!
'This feels too easy,' I thought nervously as I stepped inside, but quickly shook my head to clear that thought away. 'No, don't be paranoid!'
After mentally scolding myself, I moved in through the building until I reached the stairs. They were unlocked, and I took them, choosing to ignore the elevators because they were too loud and obvious.
Entering the stairwell, I held out the crystal vial with that last remaining drop of Tracking Potion, and watched as the bead of liquid within glowed brighter when I held it up to the ceiling. Using it as a guide, I followed it up.
Eventually I came to the landing of the third floor, where the glow was brightest. I double-checked by going to the fourth floor's landing, but when it dimmed, I knew she was being held somewhere below.
The staircase's door opened easily at my touch without so much as a creak or groan. Looking about, the third floor consisted of row upon row of offices, with sturdy wooden doors decorated with brass name plaques.
"She's in here somewhere,' I mused to myself, watching the Tracking Potion start to pulse as it got closer to Delilah.
I walked around for a bit, but after peeking around a corner, I had a feeling I knew exactly where she was. The two thugs standing outside an otherwise unremarkable door was a big giveaway as to which room was currently occupied.
Two Stunner Ofuda later and the big men guarding the door dropped like rocks into the hallway.
"What was that?!" a muffled voice from the other side of the door demanded, having heard the thuds the guards had made upon falling, and when it opened, another Stunner Talisman sent him to the ground.
'Is that it?' I wondered, waiting for another person to emerge or investigate. But no, that seemed to be all of them. I sighed a moment later. I'd only had to use four Stunners.
'Honestly, I felt like I might have gone overboard with the preparation,' I thought to myself, looking down at myself in wry amusement (and a smidge of embarrassment) as I was decked out in magical gear.
'They weren't expecting me at all, that's why,' I reasoned away, before shaking those thoughts clear and walking over to now open door, stepping carefully over the unconscious kidnappers.
The interior was a waiting room with a secretary's desk in a corner that was visible as soon as you entered, and I checked the name on the door. 'Michael T. Tompson, Notary,' said the plaque.
The name meant nothing to me, so I shrugged and walked over to the other door and opened it. Delilah was inside Mr. Tompson's office, tied to a chair and looked frightened but also exhausted.
Her head snapped up to me, eyes wide and I saw she was gagged.
"It's alright…" I began, about to reach up and remove my glasses so the enchantment would fade and she'd be able to know it was me, and not someone worse, but when I looked at her, I realized her gaze wasn't on me. In fact, it had shifted to somewhere on my right.
'There's someone behind the God damn door!' I realized, adrenaline pumping through my veins and I started to turn to face the door as well as and crouch at the same time.
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