“What do you want now, Garrow?” Logan yelled, storming into the Junior Undersecretary’s mansion. He had received an “urgent” owl requesting his presence at Garrow’s mansion immediately. The hall was empty even of servants, and Logan scowled. He tried to slow his breathing and listened carefully—yes, there it was. He heard pacing, uneven footsteps above him.

He dashed up the stairs and turned; he saw light coming from under a door and went to it, pushing it open. Garrow stopped pacing and looked up.

“Good, you’re here,” he said, smiling. “I’ve sent everyone to bed, so I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t do any more yelling.”

“Why did you summon me?” Logan asked, walking in and shutting the door. The room was empty except for a fireplace and a few pieces of furniture, what looked like a couch and two chairs, all covered with sheets.

“So you can teach me the spell, of course,” Garrow said, smirking. “Our rendezvous is coming up and to be frank, I don’t trust either of you. I don’t trust Snipe to have the spine and I don’t trust you to have the obedience. Therefore, I must be able to perform the spell as well, in case either of you fail me.”

“No,” Logan said. “I’m not going to teach you this spell. It’s bad enough that Astrella and I can do it. This curse is an abomination. I regret ever getting involved!”

Garrow stood immovably for a brief moment before laughing and turning around.

“You’ve been a loner much of your life, haven’t you, Logan?” he said, taking a glass of wine off the mantle and drinking from it. Logan now saw the opened bottle sitting there as well. When Logan didn’t answer, Garrow continued.

“You and people never worked very well together. You’re simply too smart for all of them. Their questions, their goals, their thoughts are all so very insignificant,” the politician said, his voice smooth and menacing. Logan glared at him, but all he did was smile. “Am I right, Logan? Nevermind. I know I am.

“But something’s changed. I’ve noticed. You were never one to talk about abominations before. Abominations are moral things. You were only concerned with the scientific. So I asked myself, what could possibly make an intellectual man, a man of science, start concerning himself with moral debates? Well, obviously someone must have introduced him to the topic. But you had no one in your life whom you cared about enough to allow that sort of introduction, did you?” Garrow asked. Logan’s scowl deepened with every word, his fists clenched, his pulse speeding up.

“Artemis Sinistra is a pretty girl, isn’t she?” the politician said; Logan could practically see the slime oozing from his smile. “And she’s ambitious, intelligent, nowhere near as crazy as her brother…not a bad catch, my friend.”

“Leave her out of this!” Logan shouted, with a sudden desire to go to Artemis’s flat and check on her.

“I will,” Garrow said, filling his glass. “On one condition.”

“No,” Logan repeated, shaking his head.

“Yes,” Garrow said, striding over to him and getting very close. His manic blue eyes bored into Logan’s, and the Unspeakable suddenly wondered why he needed a spell to get to the soul with eyes like that. Because he’s blinded by his own ambitions. “You will teach me, or something very unpleasant will happen to dear Arty. Do you understand?”

Logan swallowed, trying not to breathe in the alcohol-saturated breath that Garrow released. He wanted to step back but refused to show such cowardice. His mind raced, weighing his options as quickly as he could. He didn’t want to show Garrow how to do the spell…but he couldn’t put Artemis in such danger. He knew the reversal spell. If he discovered that Garrow had used it he could just sneak in and put it right. And there were the modifications that he and Astrella had added…slowly, slowly, he nodded. Garrow grinned and stepped back.

“Excellent,” he said, pulling out his wand. He waved it at the sheet on the sofa, and it lifted to reveal—

A young woman…pretty, blonde, Stunned. Logan looked at Garrow incredulously.

“Now?” he asked. “You want me to teach you now?”

“Of course now, the sooner the better,” Garrow said. Logan looked back at the young woman. She couldn’t have been more than twenty…

“She’s a witch,” Logan said, noticing her robes. Garrow nodded.

“Judy Baines. She works for The Daily Prophet. No one will miss her, should anything go wrong,” he said.

“She works for the newspaper and no one will miss her! Garrow, you’re out of your mind!” Logan shouted. Garrow shushed him. He pointed his wand at Judy.

“Ennervate. I imagine she needs to be awake?” the politician shrugged. Logan shook her head as Judy blinked and tried to sit up. She had some difficulty, since her hands were tied. Logan went to her and helped her. Garrow laughed behind him.

“Don’t get too cozy,” he said. “Do you see anything here that could work as a container?”

“It would take hours for me to prepare it,” Logan said. Garrow frowned. The Unspeakable began to laugh. “You thought it would be easy? There are dozens of spells that need to be performed on any prospective container before it will hold the soul. Shows how much you know.”

“Don’t get impudent, Logan,” Garrow said dangerously. He was silent for a few moments, sipping on his wine, before he shrugged. “We’ll have to kill her, then. Can’t let her go.”

“What?” Logan said, standing. Judy simultaneously began to make protests through her gag. “I’m not in the business of killing people, Garrow. Souls can be restored with this curse. I don’t want anyone dying.”

“Then perhaps the Ministry is the wrong business for you,” Garrow said.

“I have no doubt of it. I quit,” Logan said. He turned back to Judy and reached over to untie her bonds when a jet of sparks hit his left hand, burning it. He gasped in pain and drew his hand back, cradling it against his chest and glaring up at Garrow, who had his wand pointed at him.

“You don’t quit until I’m done with you,” Garrow said, all mockery gone. His entire body was rigid, his eyes wide and manic, his jaw clenching and unclenching…from his position on the floor, Logan was dwarfed and felt afraid of Garrow for the first time. He stood up slowly, keeping his eyes on Garrow, before nodding again.

“Now do the spell. I want my demonstration,” Garrow said, keeping his wand on Logan.

Logan pulled his wand out of his robes, absolutely hating Garrow and himself. He looked over at Judy, but couldn’t meet her eyes; instead, he focused on her torso. He bit his lip and took a deep breath. Just get it over with, Logan. Figure out how to get Judy out alive after Garrow has what he wants.

“Extraxi Phasma!” he shouted, flourishing his wand at Judy. He heard Garrow repeat it behind him. In front of him, Judy’s body tensed up as the blue light of the spell hit her. Logan swallowed with difficulty, feeling as though he himself was paralyzed, and stretched his wand arm towards the poor girl.

“Tell me what you’re doing!” Garrow shrieked. “Where is her soul?”

“I’m…looking for it,” Logan gasped, feeling the effects of casting the spell. His heart sped up, and his breathing became shallow with the effort of it. He could feel sweat beading on his forehead.

“How do you find it?” Garrow asked.

“It…starts to glow. And it’s…warm,” Logan said, watching as a pinprick of light began to grow on Judy’s chest. He felt the warmth wash over him and began to pull his arm back; the white light rose, growing even more as it did so. The light reflected off of something on the girl’s cheeks—tears—Logan’s eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat. The floating white light flickered.

“What’s happening? What are you doing?” Garrow asked, his voice high-pitched. He was now clutching at Logan’s left arm, his grip tight. Logan opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Finally, he yelled in pain and fell to his knees. The light disappeared and Judy let out a sob, falling down onto the sofa. Garrow ignored both of them and stepped forward, looking in the air for the soul.

“Where is it? Where did it go, Logan?” he asked anxiously.

“It’s home,” Logan spat, breathing heavily and clutching his chest. Garrow gave him a questioning look, and Logan jerked his head at Judy. The girl was glaring at Garrow and shouting what sounded like a lot of vulgar words between her sobs. Garrow laughed at her.

“Why are you angry with me, Judy? I didn’t do that awful spell to you…but I do need practice,” he said. He looked down at Logan. “So that’s all it is? And if I had a container, I would just put it in there rather than let it go…home. Yes?”

Logan didn’t answer, nor did he look up as he heard the incantation shouted again. He closed his eyes as tightly as he could, but he couldn’t block out the light. Still, he did his best to ignore it and regulate his breathing. Logan wasn’t the most athletic of men, but Garrow was injured…and besides, Logan was better at hexes than the politician. He tightened his grip on his wand as the soul returned home once again. All he had to do was Stun Garrow, and then he could grab Judy and go right to the Ministry. It was time to put an end to this. He chose his moment. He stood up—

“Petrificus Totalus!”

And fell face-first onto the ground again. He felt himself being rolled over by someone’s foot; the face that was revealed was unknown to him, but he could only assume it was one of Garrow’s lackeys. Garrow himself was smiling down at him.

“You were going to hex me and rescue Judy. How heroic of you,” he said. “Artemis is certainly having an impressive effect on you, Logan. It’s good for you.” He paused and his grin turned into a scowl. “You need some reminding of what’s good for you.”

He turned away from Logan and raised his wand again.

“Avada Kedavra!”

Logan couldn’t even shut his eyes to the green light.