Rodolphus Lestrange (nex_colubra) wrote in bearandbarnacle, @ 2009-10-25 23:55:00 |
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Current music: | Creedence Clearwater Revival- Bad Moon Rising |
Entry tags: | other, rodolphuspost |
Rodolphus Lestrange: Other: A Clean Sweep
Under the pretext of finding out what he needed to do to get a driving license, Rodolphus had a legitimate reason for being in the Margate Council building. He’d even been polite when the lady behind the counter handed him a booklet and several photocopied sheets of paper. He’d gone into the gents and then, using the Tarnhelm Effect, he was able to wander unnoticed through the building. He didn’t try to open any doors or get into anything. He watched. Muggles had people who did the cleaning, just like house elves, only they called them janitors. And it was the janitors he studied. He found the room in the basement where they kept the supplies, and since no one noticed him, he was able to listen and find out that someone named Tony was the night man here. Perfect! Satisfied with his reconnaissance, Rodolphus left.
That night, he was waiting about half a block away when Tony left the building. Rodolphus approached him, a cigarette dangling from his lips. “Hey mate, got a light?” he called to the janitor. He knew that Tony smoked because he’d heard one of the other janitors fussing about the mess he’d left in the break room.
“Sure,” Tony pulled out his lighter and lit Rodolphus up. The flame revealed a pasty face with thick glasses.
“Thanks,” Rodolphus inhaled deeply. “Long night?” he asked, jerking his chin at the Council building.
“Too right,” Tony replied, rolling his eyes. “Executive Council met tonight. You’d think they were being paid by the word they way they go on.”
Rodolphus snorted sympathetically as Tony went on about all the papers and empty glasses and general disorder the council members always left about.
While Tony was complaining, Rodolphus slipped his wand out of his sleeve. He touched Tony lightly on the arm and murmured an almost inaudible "Imperio".
“I’ve got something I need you to do for me,” Rodolphus told the other man, grinning evilly.
With the Tarnhelm Effect a wizard uses his magic to influence people to dismiss, ignore or otherwise avoid looking at a specified object or person, in this case, Rodolphus. This functionally renders him invisible, since people can’t or won’t notice him and therefore won’t really see him. Like the purloined letter, he becomes unseen in plain sight. The wizard will still be reflected in a mirror or window and they can still be heard (footsteps, coughing etc.) and if he picked something up, that object itself would be seen. It is from Randall Garrett’s Lord Darcy stories, which I highly recommend.