Anna Grayson and The Order of Merlin
Cigam Draziw

Mr. Bernard S. Heidelbach,Chief Financial Officer of Westfront International Investment Group, steppedout of his taxi in front of its downtown Chicagodestination. As he stepped out onto the sidewalk, he looked up at the fifty-storyhigh-rise office building looming before him. He was impressed. The imposingstructure looked like it was made entirely of glass, and gave no hint of itsstructural inner workings.

As he dodged the late afternoonpedestrians crossing through his path to the front door, the man noticed howhot it was. It’s late August; of course, it’s hot, he thought tohimself. An inner voice answered back, Yeah, but it’s not the heat makingyou sweat. The little voice he rarely listened to was right. Despite theoppressive and blistering temperatures radiating off the sidewalk baking thecity’s walkers, Heidelbach knew his discomfort was due to the significance ofthe meeting he was about to have with the individual he had made an appointmentto see only that morning.

He crossed the sidewalk andentered the building through its massive revolving doors. As he walked into thelobby, a cool air-conditioned breeze hit him full in the face, which didnothing about his uncomfortably tight collar and the sweat rolling down hisback inside his suit. As he walked forward toward the empty hallway in front ofhim, the man’s nervousness confirmed his problem was anxiety more than thetemperature outside. He was worried. He might very well be making a terriblemistake in his approach to his appointment this afternoon. But he needed tounderstand what was happening. He wanted some answers. He needed somebody toexplain what he saw yesterday.

Crossingthe immense marble floor, the clacking sound of his leather shoes echoed in thespace around him, making it sound like he was part of a larger group. He wishedit were true; he could use some help for what he was about to do next. Hefinally stopped and looked up at a colossal rolling archway above him. Curvinground the arch were the words, Cigam Draziw and Associates. He soundedout words, “Ke-gum Dra-zoo. Definitely the right place,” he said apprehensively,to himself. He straightened his tie. He passed beneath the archway and towardthe brass elevators waiting on the other side. As he pushed the button andwaited for the car to arrive, Mr. Heidelbach realized he didn’t know what floorbutton to press. He hurriedly reached inside his coat and pulled out a smalladdress book as the elevator doors opened with a snap. He stepped into the car,looking at the name and address of his appointment; he didn’t have the floornumber.

“Great!” he said, irritated, ashe turned to look at the dark buttons on the panel before him. Which floor?he thought nervously. “Well… he is the Chairman of the bank, isn’t he? So thatwould put him on — the top floor.” He pushed the button highest up and to theright on the panel. The button’s light glowed bright, but nothing happened. Hepushed it again… still the elevator doors would not close. “Hmmmm, now what?” hesaid, looking at his watch to confirm the time.

“Yes, sir. May I help you?”asked a pleasant voice from above. Mr. Heidelbach spun around quickly.

“Ahhh — yes, please. I’mlooking for the office of the Chairman. I have an appointment,” he explained,still looking for the source of the woman’s voice. He saw a small black andwhite monitor in the corner of the ceiling to his right with a young woman’sface looking down at him.

“What is your name, sir?” askedthe woman sharply.

“Oh, of course… Mr. Bernard Heidelbachof the Westfront Group,” he answered, turning to face her image squarely.

“Hold on, Mr. Heidelbach, letme confirm your appointment with Mrs. McConnell, the Chairman’s executiveassistant,” she said, and then the monitor went black with a click.

After about thirty seconds, theman began rocking back and forth on his feet and inspecting the walls of thecar around him. Stay calm, he thought to himself, think of somethingtotally unrelated. “Hmm, real bird’s wood,” he said, focusing on the wallsagain inside the car. “Very nice; stuff goes for about two hundred dollars alinear foo...”

Click

“Mr. Heidelbach?” came thevoice from the ceiling again.

“Yes…” the man replied with a jolt.This time the woman looking down at him was displaying a very nice smile as shespoke.

“I am very sorry for your wait,sir. I have confirmed your appointment. Please stand clear of the elevatordoors, and I’ll bring you up directly to the Chairman’s suite. Would you likesome coffee or some tea perhaps? Have you eaten lunch?” she asked amiably, withthat unrelenting smile.

“Ah — no. I’m fine, thank you.You say I’ll be going directly to the Chairman’s office from this elevator?” heasked, stretching his neck forward as if to hear her more clearly.

“Yes, sir. Mister Graysonoccupies the entire top floor.”

“Okay… well then — that’ll do,”he finished, as he turned to face the doors again. There was a sharp click frombehind him, and then a long low buzzing noise. A strong sense of fear began toovertake him as he waited for the elevator doors to close. He allowed his eyesto focus down the hallway from which he had arrived, and realized how strangeit was that he hadn’t seen anybody else in the building.

The doors slammed with a thud,which snapped his focus back inside the car again. He could feel a slow buildup of speed as the elevator began to rise. Then he felt a strange sensation offloating, which made him extremely dizzy and slightly nauseous. He immediatelystuck his right arm out to lean against the wall of the car. The dizziness madehim feel very warm again, as cold sweat began pouring into his shirt collar.The car’s walls seemed to blur and distort slightly in front of him, adding tohis wooziness. He closed his eyes and leaned harder against the wall. Finally,the car began to slow and eventually stopped. He immediately stood straight andforced his eyes open. He looked at the display above the door and saw he indeedhad arrived at the topmost floor. Mr. Heidelbach wiped his forehead with hishandkerchief, flattened his hair and adjusted his tie again. He was as ready ashe could be. The doors opened.

He stepped into an openingnothing at all like what he expected. There were no windows in the immensespace. He thought how strange this was, considering he was on the top floor ofan executive suite. The view outside overlooking the city must be fantastic. Itwas odd that a person in Mister Grayson’s position wouldn’t take advantage ofhis picturesque location. But compared to what he had recently witnessed, Mr. Heidelbachrealized his definition of strange had changed considerably over the lastforty-eight hours.

The space was enormous, butclearly partitioned into several unseen areas surrounding what looked like aformal boardroom. A very large highly polished black oval table sat in themiddle of the space surrounded by at least fifty chairs. In front of eachchair, sitting on the table, was a large stone bowl, large enough for anindividual to wash his hands. Although the bowls definitely added to themystique of the setting, Mr. Heidelbach couldn’t think what in the world theywould be used for. At the head of the table, opposite from where he wasstanding, stood a black stone podium. Behind the podium sat a heavy desk with asmall reading lamp and several old scrolls stacked neatly across the table’stop. A black leather chair was pushed against the desk, and at least tentelevision screens of various sizes were built into the wall behind it. Theywere all dark.

The room was absolutelyspotless and contained four large fireplaces, two on each side of the room, bigenough for a man to enter. He thought about how strange it was to have afireplace in a boardroom, never mind four of this size.

Humph… the Chairmanmust be cold-blooded, he thought with a smirk, as he walked around theparameter of the office looking at each of the portraits lining the walls andabove the mantels.

One picture contained the imageof a very prestigious looking gentleman in an ornate frame much bigger than allof the others in the room. Heidelbach knew from the gold etched letteringattached to the bottom of the frame that the person in the portrait wasundoubtedly the Chairman’s father. He was stern, very gray, and gave theimpression of a powerful man both physically and in spirit. His eyes, brightgreen in color, were seated deep in his face under eyebrows that betrayed theman’s original red hair color. The eyes were tilted to the right as ifcontemplating some far-off memory. Heidelbach was glad the portrait’s gaze wasnot looking directly at him. Those eyes; it would be hard to imagine onesurviving the direct stare of a man such as this. He was dressed in what lookedlike a black robe, but he wasn’t a judge. “What is that he’s holding?”Heidelbach asked himself, as he leaned forward to have a closer look. “A darkwooden stick — like a baton. Hmmmm… maybe he was a conductor of music,” hesurmised.

“Screeeeech!” came a loud noisebehind him. The man quickly spun around as his heart leaped uncontrollably.

“My God…what?” he said wildly,backing up against the wall as if to protect himself from some unknownassailant. “What in God’s name is that?”

It was an owl, a very largeanimal, sitting in a black barred cage. Its huge eyes focused on where the manwas standing. “Now what is that doing in the city?” the man said, as he walkedup to the cage and slowly circled its exterior. “Humph! Must be a pet.” Then,from behind, he heard the sound of a banging door.

“Sidney! How are you?” Mister Grayson walked into the room at a veryfast pace. “Sorry I kept you waiting; blasted teleconference with the FederalReserve ran over. Should always know to double my scheduled time when I’mworking with the government,” he said, walking quickly up to Mr. Heidelbachwith his hand out-stretched. He shook his visitor’s hand vigorously with a hugesmile. He was wearing a very dark suit with a white shirt and silver silk tie.Mister Grayson was impeccably gloomed with jet-black wavy hair. He was a lottaller than Mr. Heidelbach had imagined, but then again, most powerful menwere.

“How’s John these days?” MisterGrayson asked, motioning his guest toward the desk and an empty chair whileunbuttoning his suit coat.

“Oh…ahh… he’s doing well —thank you. That is, he’s well as can be expected under the present circumstances.His wife has been ill,” Mr. Heidelbach informed him, nervously.

“What? Really? I hadn’t heard.It isn’t serious, I hope?” Mister Grayson said, opening a cigar box on thedesk. “Have one?” he asked, tilting the box toward him.

“No, thank you, MisterGrayson,” Heidelbach answered, contemplating how he should start the seriouspart of their conversation. “Sir… I’ve come to you with some importantconcerns, and I don’t want to take up too much of your time, so I’ll getdirectly to the point.”

“Ahh…” Mister Graysoninterrupted, “a man respectful of my time — now that’s a rare replace indeed.Frankly, I was a bit concerned when I heard you wanted an appointment on suchshort notice. If there were any problems with our doing business together Iwould have thought John would have come to me directly. This illness with hiswife must be very serious,” he finished, in an assuming tone.

“No, sir,” said Heidelbach,“John…. er…. I mean Mr. Landers doesn’t know I’m here today. As a matter offact, he told me to drop the matter entirely, so you can imagine the risk I’mtaking in coming to you anyway.”

Mister Grayson frowned. “Well, Sidney, I think I mighthave to re-examine my opinion about you. Going against the wishes of your bank’sPresident can be a very serious matter. I only hope what you’ve come here foris worth the risk you’re taking. How can I help you?” he asked, putting downhis lit cigar. He laced his fingers together in front of him and leaned forwardwith a confident smile. “What’s the matter, Sidney?”

“Well, sir, as you know, theinvestors represented by your firm have come to us recently with a substantialamount of — ah — equity. The quantity alone should have raised several alarmsin our firm, but they didn’t, despite the,” and here Heidelbach paused, lookingfor the right words, “method of disbursement.” The man continued, “But, then again, there were never any questionsabout the source of this equity flowing into my company either. That concernsme, Mister Grayson, and frankly I didn’t reach the position I have in mycompany by letting this kind of detail slide by me without full disclosure.”

“Equity? Methods ofdisbursement? Full disclosure?” Mister Grayson repeated with a frown. “What areyou talking about?”

Heidelbach leaned forward.“Gold,” he said, with wide eyes. “The disbursement of the equity was done usingcommodities — in this case, your people brought us gold.”

“So… is… that a problem?”

“Frankly, yes. In thequantities that we’re talking about — yes; I think it should have raised anumber of questions. After all, one doesn’t normally see this kind of commodityin the amounts your investors have shared. Where does the gold come from?” Mr.Heidelbach asked, longingly. His face appeared strange, almost expectant of alie.

Mister Grayson picked up hiscigar again without saying a word. He took a draw, and then leaned back andblew out a long steady stream of smoke before answering. “Where the gold comesfrom, Sidney,is a private matter between myself and the people I represent. Surely you can understandthat? This part of the world comes to me because they trust me; they’ve puttheir faith in me. They know I will keep their privacy secure because… theirsafety” he leaned forward and dipped his ashes into the glass bowl in thecenter of his desk, “is most important to me. I will go to any length, youunderstand, to insure their trust. Do you understand?” Mister Grayson’s eyeswere now staring down at Heidelbach with unquestionable authority. It remindedhim of the man in the portrait over the fireplace.

Mr. Heidelbach leaned back.“Yes, sir. I do understand — and that is, essentially, Mr. Lander’s view on thematter as well. But again, I’m not the type of person who lets unansweredquestions affect the security of my firm. I also have a duty to those who haveentrusted our company’s financial welfare with me. I checked into some of your investors, MisterGrayson,” the man declared, with a marked change in his tone. It was now coldand direct.

“What?” Mister Grayson replied,in shock. “What’s that you say? How dare you?” he replied, in surprisedindignation. “What gives you the right to invade the privacy of those….” but hewas cut off.

“Yes — yes,” Heidelbachinterrupted, “I’ve acted outside my normal boundaries. But what I found shockedme, Mister Grayson. I found something — beyond imagination,” he said, lookingaround the room nervously before turning to face him again. “I’ve seen things…that defy explanation,” he finished, in a much-lowered voice.

Mister Grayson put out hiscigar, and sat straight in his seat, his hands clenching the arms of his chairin controlled rage. “Seen things?” he said, through tightly clinched teeth.

“Yes,” explained Heidelbach.“You see, I decided to look into the source of this wealth, and was troubled toreplace no explanation for it. Well… you can imagine my surprise. I even tried toverify the information of these so-called investors of yours — names,addresses, background checks, etc.”

“Background checks?” Graysonrepeated, now applying so much pressure to the arms of his leather chair thatit was beginning to emit groaning clicks under his nails.

“I could only replace informationon two names,” Heidelbach continued. “The first was the Worsten family in Massachusetts. I made avisit to a small suburb outside of Boston,and ended up spending two days searching a remote area of woods. It was therethat I finally found them.” He paused, and then, “Mister Grayson — do you knowthese people?” Heidelbach’s eyes were focused on his lap, listening for aresponse.

“No — not personally — no,”Mister Grayson answered back.

Heidelbach continued his tale,“The things I saw there in the woods, Mister Grayson, astounded me so much thatI never allowed myself to be seen. I continued to watch them all day there inthe cold woods and I saw them…” he stopped suddenly, his eyes still down, notlooking at the man seated across the desk in front of him. “I saw them flying!”His eyes shot forward, looking directly into Mister Grayson’s face. Graysonmatched his stare for a while, and then dropped his focus toward the deskdrawer in front of him. He glanced back up at Heidelbach, saying nothing.

“Did you hear me, MisterGrayson?” asked Heidelbach, who didn’t seem at all surprised by Grayson’s lackof reaction to what he had just said. “I said they were flying. Zooming aroundon the doors of their house. I saw furniture and rugs being cleaned in mid-airwithout anything to hold them up, and individuals appearing and disappearingfrom out of thin air. I then found the second investor who goes by the name ofClouts in Hampshire, England. And what I found there wasmuch worse. He was… cohabitating… with indescribable creatures.”

There was a very long pausebefore Heidelbach finally stood up. “Who are these people you represent,Grayson? What are they?” he suddenly shouted, leaning over the desk in front ofhim.

“Sit down!” Grayson bellowed,with a look of stern warning in his eyes. He then took a deep breath to calmhimself, and reached up to pull down the knot of his tie. He then slumped backinto his chair again. “Please Sidney…have a seat,” he said, motioning to the chair behind the man once more.Heidelbach sat down.

“I reported my replaceings to myPresident, of course,” Heidelbach said, in a matter-of-fact tone. Then helooked up to meet Grayson’s gaze again. “His response was much the same as yourown. He already knew. He didn’t say that, but I could tell he already knew whatthese people were, and he verified this knowledge by telling me to drop thematter and forget what I saw. But I had to come here today and tell youpersonally of my replaceings. I had to see the look on your face. I didn’t know ifwhat I’ve found in these two cases represent all of the clients you manage,Mister Grayson, but now, from your reaction, I believe they do. What are thesethings I’ve seen, Grayson? Who are you, and what are you really trying toaccomplish with my firm?”

There was another long pausebetween the two men, and then a loud bang at the adjoining door as it suddenlyflew open against its stops.

“Mister Grayson…” said agrowling voice from across the room, “I forgot to have you sign this parchmentconcerning the ministry’s holdings in Bulgaria. I…” the voice immediatelystopped. Standing there fifteen feet inside the door was a goblin holding twolarge scrolls. Standingjust four feet tall, the creature was dressed in an old velvet green suit coatwith tails and a Colonel string tie. His brown eyes darted up to see Mr.Heidelbach, and then over to Mister Grayson who was now slowly laying his faceinto the palm of one hand.

“My… apologies… sir, I didn’trealize you were entertaining a guest,” the creature said, with a nervoussmile, his eyes darting back to Heidelbach again.

“My God…!” said Sidney, jumping out ofhis chair and backing away from the desk. “It’s… it’s one — one of thosecreatures I saw in England…with Clouts.” He stepped backwards in obvious fear, and suddenly tripped andfell over his own feet.

The goblin looked up at MisterGrayson, “I’m very sorry sir… I had no idea a Muggle was here,” he said, asorrow filled draw overlaying his words.

“It’s all right, Greechins,”replied Mister Grayson, raising his head to look at him, “completely my fault.Please stay where you are.” The Goblin nodded uncertainly, looking back atHeidelbach who was trying to stand again.

“WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?”Heidelbach screamed, finally returning to his feet, “WHAT ARE YOU? WHAT DO YOU WANT? WHAT IS THAT THING?” he shrieked, pointing atthe figure standing near the door. “It’s a demon — some kind of unholy creaturefrom…”

“Now… hold on, sir,” challengedthe goblin. “I’ve been in the service of Mister Grayson for many years now. Iam one of his most trusted servants. Demon indeed!” he replied, resentfully.

“Sidney,” Mister Grayson interrupted, a drawnsadness was in his voice, “your boss, Mr. Landers, is a long time friend andadvisor. He has been a trusted Muggl… ah… I mean associate for many years. Theinformation he possesses about me, and the people I represent, is safe. He hasproven his openness and ability to accept the things around him for what theyreally are. Unfortunately, you and I are not at that point in ourrelationship.” Mister Grayson opened hisdesk drawer and pulled something out, pointing it into the air. Heidelbachrecognized it immediately from the portrait of the man holding the samebaton-like instrument. He glanced up at the portrait again, and was shocked tosee the man in the picture begin to move, now placing that long dreadedgreen-eyed gaze upon him. He saw the man in the picture point his wooden stickat him.

With a look of horror-filledshock, Heidelbach looked back at Grayson, who was now pointing his stick at himas well. “What is that you’re holding?” Heidelbach asked, taking an unsure stepbackwards.

Mister Grayson sighed. “It’s… awand. I’m very sorry about this, Sidney.I truly am.” He stretched out his arm to its fullest extent and shouted, “Obliviate!”Mr. Heidelbach’s eyes immediately glazed over, and his jaw fell slack. Anabsentminded and faraway look came over his face, as his whole body seemed torest on the answers finally delivered to him by the wand’s spell. MisterGrayson slumped back into his chair running his other hand through his hair anddown the back of his neck.

“What a mess,” he said, in atired moan.

“I am sorry, sir. I should haveknocked first,” said the goblin

“No — no, it had to be doneanyway. It’s just… I hate it when I have to do that.” Mister Grayson meant whathe said. The Director prided himself on being able to correctly maneuverthrough the high-level negotiations expected of him everyday without the use ofmagic to push his will upon others. His dealings with the Muggle world hadproven to him that, if done correctly, it was far easier to parley his needsacross a common set of goals rather than bend the will of everyone with the useof his wand. While putting a spell on somebody like Sidney seemed the easiest way to handlethings, Mister Grayson knew this method required on-going work and maintenance.His way of bargaining produced longer lasting results, and freed more of hiscreative time to pursue the value in his post.

Grayson quickly stood up. “Wehave a lot of work to do here, Greechins. I want you to move Sidney’s things into my private study. I willneed to begin probing his memory for any information he’s discovered over thelast week. I don’t want to wipe out everything, so this will take an extendedamount of time. I want you to call his boss, John Landers, in New York. Explain what’s happened, and tellhim I’ll be performing another memory altering charm on Sidney immediately. Make sure he understandsthis was our fault — I don’t want him punishing poor Sidney just for being thorough.

“Then contact the AccidentalMagic Reversal Squad, and the Improper Use of Magic Office. Have them contactboth the Worsten family in New England andClouts in Hampshire; have them get these families in line immediately. It’s badenough they were seen, but they don’t even know they were discovered. Stupidamateurs. Have these offices contact me directly in about an hour. I’llprobably have more detail about any other Muggles with whom Sidney has sharedhis information.

“Then I want you to go back andclean up these accounts. A Muggle should never be able to purposely replace awizarding family. Although our friend here is extremely intelligent, I get thefeeling we’ve probably made his job rather easy through our lack of diligence.Check all of the records for any links to our banks overseas. Have Meredithhelp you; she has the account numbers in her possession. We also need to replaceanother way to transfer assets into Muggle banks other than sacks full ofgold.” Mister Grayson walked over to his chair and sat down again rubbing hisforehead.

“I will take care ofeverything, sir,” said the Goblin, and he turned to leave.

“And one more thing Greechins,”Grayson called out. “Have them take another look at my elevator. The spell usedto turn it into a port key still isn’t right. How am I supposed to have adiscussion with my Muggle visitors here in the basement of the estate if whenthey get here, they’re always sick? I almost had to carry Sidney to his chair when I arrived. You willprobably get a lot of pretext and complaints about my office and the mix ofmagic and electricity that we manage here, but I’m tired of their excuses. Iwant the problems fixed. See to it,” he finished, without looking up for aresponse.

“Yes, sir,” replied Greechins,“right away, sir.” The goblin left the room.

Grayson looked up, rubbing theback of his neck. Heidelbach was still standing in front of him with a weaksmile moving across on his face. “Well, Sidney— lets go,” he said, standing up and walking over to the man. He gently tookhim by the arm and guided him to the door of his private study. “Through here,there’s a good fellow,” he said, kindly.

“What? Is the meeting over?”asked the Muggle, in a sleepy voice.

“Yes it is, Sidney. Your presentation was first rate.Please come in and let me fix you some tea,” said Mister Grayson. He opened thedoor to his private study and guided his companion into the adjoining room.“Have a seat there on the couch,” he said, as he slowly closed the door behindthem.