You follow Aegidius inside and find the place packed full of shabby Mundanes, as well as the rough men in charge. A prior acquaintance intrudes on you...

The interior of the warehouse is astonishingly crowded. There must be at least two hundred people in here. And yet it is very quiet compared to the noisy atmosphere at that 'shopping mall' you were in yesterday. A low murmur of conversation had been floating around, but when Aegidius walks in, a raspy voice shouts out: "Oi, shut yer mouths, the lot of you! Quiet until you're spoken to! Next one who asks 'how long is it gonna be' or 'when's we gettin paid' gets shown the door, empty-handed!" The atmosphere becomes deathly silent except for a few crying babies and toddlers, whose parents are frantically trying to shush them.

As Kinzie suspected, there is a conspicuous lack of any Christmas decorations here. In contrast to the crowds at that fancy giant shop, the people in here are dressed a bit differently. Some of their clothes are flashy and garish, others are stained and ragged. But even though the trappings of wealth seem to be different in a non-magical city, you are fairly sure that no one in here is wealthy. Except... except for a dozen men wearing identical black suits. You note with a small degree of alarm that about half of those men are carrying lengths of pipe, wooden boards, or cricket bats in their hands. But all of them are facing the crowds around them, and only spare you and Aegidius nervous glances.

A dark-skinned middle-aged man with a goatee seems to be some kind of authority figure, as he is the only one who approaches you.

"Wait here." Aegidius says, stepping forward to speak with his acquaintance(?) in low voices that you can't overhear. Looking around, you notice that there is a commonality among those gathered here: aside from the tough guys in suits, most of the people gathered in this place seem to be families with young children. A few of them seem to have only the father, and quite a lot of them have only a mother. Some of the kids seem to be here without anyone at all.

The guys in suits start making the rounds to the small groups. The kids and parents are visibly nervous when they're being spoken to. What they're saying is a bit louder than Aegidius so you can overhear:

"Remember you lot. No gettin' in our friends' way, no coaching the little ones, and NO BLEEDIN' QUESTIONS! No askin', and most especially no answering! You there, yes, you, c'mere!" The one speaking grabs a plump woman by her wrist and drags her forward. "Where were you today? Say someone at your job asks you that tomorrow. What you gonna be telling 'em?"

"N-nowhere. I was nowhere." the woman says. "I mean... I was just taking my boy out shopping. Ordinary day."

"Right you are, my love." that seems to have been the correct question, as he releases her. "And remember, if you somehow 'forgot' to put yer phones in those bins by the door," he indicates some tables with large tubs on them near the entrances, "this is your last chance, five minutes from now will be too late, MUCH too late, savvy?" The nervous mundane families nod vehemently.

You feel a tug on your sleeve. Turning around, you see it is Milly Cherrywood, looking quite nervous. She leans close and whispers: "Francisca! Do you have any idea what's going on? Why are there so many coloreds in here? I thought Boarbristle was in the British isles! Is this really London?"

"Color? What are you talking abo-" you suddenly remember some of the odd complaints that Milly had about Boarbristle's dormitories. It seems like they've got some very 'different' ideas out there in the Kingdom of Virginia where she's from, across the sea. "Ugh... Milly, don't say anything like that out loud, that's rude. And can't you figure it out? It's the same thing as yesterday. We're screening for mundaneborn magic users like that girl from the big shop yesterday... See if you can detect magic from any of them, see if they can touch or interact with glowing lights we conjure, that sort of th-"

Kinzie MacMullins, meanwhile, makes little effort to keep her voice down. "Fuck me! Is THIS how they do it? My Da' never said anything about this."

Felice meanwhile has wrinkled her nose and looks disdainful. "Ugh! How awful." at first you think she's concerned with the way these low-class mundanes are being treated but she soon disabuses you of that notion: "What a smell! There's a worse vomit stench in here than in the van, and, eckkk! Messy diapers! Why must children be so disgusting? This is why I never go to the Beavertail hall. They don't have the diaper stink nearly as under control as they think the do."

"My oh my. These must be your lovely assistants." there's a hint of a lascivious growl in the head-man's voice as he comes over alongside Aegidius. "The name's Mr. Choudary. Welcome to my neck of the woods, girls. Sorry for the crowding - we've had to pull this together on short notice, you see."

"Oh shite." Kinzie says. "Choudary? You're 'Five-Key Vinny'?" she has what looks like a mixture of fear and awe on her face.

"'Keys'?" you ask in spite of yourself. "I don't see any keys..."

The man in the suit chuckles mirthlessly as he touches a finger to his nose. "Much as I'd like to, I think it's best we don't get too familiar with each other, girls."

"Quite right." Aegidius gives another glare at Kinzie. "You all know what to do. Get to it."

Looking out at the many fearful faces, you frown deeply and feel a bit ill, and not because of the smells that Felice was noticing (not that those are pleasant). You don't know all the details, but you have an ill feeling in the pit of your stomach that something isn't right here. Yesterday, you had taken Aegidius's word for what happened without thinking about it too much. But now, thinking back, you recall a detail that eluded you at the time:

He mentioned speaking to the magically-talented child's parents... but that was AFTER you all left the shopping center with her in tow. He said they'd agreed to send the girl to a magical primary school... but was that after he'd already led their daughter away? What parents would dare to say no, under circumstances like those? Is this normal? Is this how things are done?

"Actually, just one more thing," Mr. Choudary clears his throat. "The... agreed upon matter? You brought it, right?"

"Yes. Speak no more of this." Aegidius says sternly, tossing the leather knapsack to his shady acquaintance. 'Five-Keys Vinny' (is that a nickname? somehow it makes you even more nervous that he has a nickname, especially if somebody like Kinzie has heard of it) opens the bag and peers inside.

His mouth spreads into a satisfied grin. "Spec-tacular." he says.

Aegidius gives Felice a push towards one of the crowds. "Ouf! Alright, you brute, I'm going, I'm going." the Draconis girl huffs. You start to follow her but Aegidius bars you with his hand. "No. Other quadrant." he says, pointing to a different group of four or five families at another corner of the warehouse. Clearly he means for you and your fellow students to split up.

Nervously, you try and smile as you approach. There are four families here, with six kids between them, four boys and two girls. You wave awkwardly. The kids mostly just look confused. But their parents do everything they can to avoid meeting your gaze and seem to be trying to look away from you without being too obvious about it.

Just as you're stooping down and pulling out your wand to conjure up some glowing bubbles, you hear a flutter above you. Looking up, you see that a bird got inside and has landed on one of the rafters high overhead.

No... not just any bird. An owl. You suddenly realize you haven't seen any owls since you got into this filthy mundane city, just pigeons and other small birds.

Wait... it's 9 in the morning. Sunrise was nearly two hours ago. What's an owl doing here? You feel a cold tingling on the back of your neck.

Glancing back over your shoulders you see that Kinzie, Milly, and Felice have gotten to work, calling up minor conjurations. None of them seem to see the owl or notice it. You stare at Aegidius until he glances in your direction, and flick your eyes and your head upwards in the direction of the owl.

You see a furrow of concern form on your brother's brow as he looks upward at the bird. But the bird doesn't move. It just stays there, watching.

"Mr. Choudary?" Aegidius says to the man in charge, beckoning him over.

As you stare, trying to see, you hear an insistent cough from behind you. It happens several times before you eventually realize it's someone trying to get your attention.

Turning around, you see a pale young woman, only a few years older than you, standing there. She has a a small straw-haired boy of five or six years standing next to her.

"Closer." she says, eyes always flicking back to the thuggish men in suits. Those guys seem to be a little concerned by seeing Aegidius call their boss over, and their backs are turned. Confused, you step over and lean closer to her.

"Half to you if you'll give it to us." she says.

"What?" you ask. "Give what...? What half?"

"If Piotr is selected." she puts her head on the boy next to her. "I give you half the money. Half million euros. That quarter million for you, quarter for me. I'll bring that at midnight. Deal?"

"Oi!" A pudgy middle-aged man in an ill-fitting suit whispers harshly at you, his face a snarl. "Stop that whispering! Right now! No cheating, you bint! And that goes for you too, all due respect!" he directs the latter part toward you.

You look back and see that Aegidius is having an animated conversation with Mr. Choudary. Your brother is clearly getting heated, though you can't overhear him. It's definitely distracting the guards.

A tightness starts forming in your throat and in your chest. "I'm... sorry." you say to them. "I didn't know it was going to be like this."

Before they can say anything, you hear the shady warehouse owner shout: "Right! Everyone, your attention please! Due to unforeseen circumstances we're going to have to cancel for today. Before you start to gripe, everyone still gets their participation fee..."

From all over the warehouse, indigant murmurs of protest begin bubbling up. But one of Mr. Choudary's henchmen shouts: "SHUT UP! This ain't a discussion! Take your brats, get your phones back, and clear out!"

You see Milly and Felice giving you curious glances from across the warehouse floor. You can only frown and shrug your shoulders at them.

As the crowds bustle around the tables and mutter irately, overseen by the guards, you stomp your way over to Aegidius and his acquaintance.

"Aegidius!!" you hiss at him. "What is the meaning of-"

"[I need you to think very carefully before you answer this Franziska.]" he says in your native tongue. "[Have you had any interaction at the academy with a 6th year named Patrique Collier?]"

His voice is deathly serious. You screw your face up. Damn it! And you'd just wound up to really give him an eminently justified tongue-lashing. But you tried standing up to him last night and it didn't go so well. Something tells you now isn't the time to try again. "[...yes, I met him once, briefly.]"

"[Met him how? What happened exactly? What did he say?]" Aegidius demands quickly.

"Ha ha, listen to those two! Sounds like an old WWII movie, eh?" one of the guards standing close enough to overhear the two of you chuckles. Both of you shoot him an irate glare in unison, and the man in charge walks over and cuffs him on the side of the head.

You look back to Aegidius, your cheeks reddening, and you roll your eyes. "[I was having sex with my boyfriend at the time, Albert Cordwhistle, in the main hall. Patrique came over and teased us, and then he and his girlfriend had sex too, while watching us. He didn't talk about anything besides... lewd comments.]"

"[What girl is that? Did you know her?]" Aegidius looks vexed, like he's trying to puzzle out something.

"Ehhhh..." you are looking rather vexed yourself. "[Another upper-class student. Samara Grover. She's been harassing me since I got to the academy for some reason. Doing pranks on me, being a nuisance, even putting a raw, bloody chicken-heart in a satchel on my door. I only found out it was her recently.]"

Looking out across the warehouse you see that most of the Mundane families have been cleared out now.

Then you hear a shout of alarm from one of the thuggish mundane guards. "OI! You! Who the fuck are you? What're you doin' up there?"

Following his outstretched finger, you look up to the metal rafter where you'd first noticed the owl. Only now, it is no longer an owl. Rather precariously, there is a young pale man in a Boarbristle uniform sitting up there. He gives you a cheery wave from his lofty perch.

A girlish giggling comes from behind you. You see the mischievously smirking, bespectacled face of Felice looking up there, and giving a wave to the newcomer (who, it seems, is an 'animorphist' who has mastered the skill of self-transmutation into the form of an animal and back again).

"Allo~!" Felice says cutely. "What a nice surprise! Coming to rescue me from that sour-faced ogre who has been holding me captive?"

Squinting, you do in fact recognize the man sitting way up there. It's none other than Patrique, Felice's older brother.

"I most certainly have, mon lapinetter. No need to worry about this business anymore. We'll have ourselves a nice lunch at a cafe near here and pick you out some nice clothes." Patrique says with a chuckle. "Go wait for me at the main street. And your two friends as well... mm, the lovely young Miss Cherrywood, and..." he glances at Kinzie, "...whoever that one is. I just need to have a quick word with the Weber siblings first."

"Patrique!" Aegidius bellows up at him, this time in English: "You fool! What are you doing here? Have you any idea the damage you could have..." he shakes his head furiously. "Never mind the headmistress. The Ministry themselves will hear of this!"

"Shut up." Patrique says, his voice suddenly icy. And then, like flicking a lamp back on, he speaks sweetly to his sister Felice again: "Go on! Run along, the three of you. This won't take long, I promise. For every minute I delay I will spoil you with an extra gold coin!"

The thuggish employees of Mr. Choudary are all staring up in bewilderment, wondering aloud how Patrique managed to get up there with no one noticing. But their boss himself is frowning, holding one of those small talking-boxes that Mundanes use to communicate up this ear. "Pick up damn it, pick up." he says, sounding agitated.

"Oh my~" Felice giggles again. "So sorry Patrique, but I can smell a lover's quarrel brewing! Ouh ouh ouhhhh~!" she trills, swaying her backside from left to right. "You and Aegidius? I underestimated you! You could not convince me to give up a front row seat to THESE fireworks for a hundred-"

"FELICE!" Patrique shouts down at her, his voice suddenly sharp, all humor gone from it. "This is not the time for games. As I said. There is some private business with Aegidius and his sister. Take Cherrywood and the other girl-"

"FUCK OFF, YOU POSH FART BOX! I HAVE A NAME!" Kinzie shrieks up at him.

"-and get out. Now, if you please." Patrique finishes.

Milly looks quite bewildered, even more than usual, and looks at the door. She has a bit of a fragile disposition, that one, and looks like she wants to bolt. Kinzie shrugs and starts muttering curses, and walks towards the exit. In the meantime, it seems like the rest of the mundane families sense something is seriously amiss, hurriedly get out, some of them not even bothering to retrieve their phone-devices before they go.

"Stay right where you are, Cherrywood, MacMullins." Aegidius rumbles, keeping his eyes fixed on Patrique.

Suddenly, both of them are looking at you, as if expecting you to give them some kind of direction. Felice, too, is starting to look worried rather than amused, and looks at you as if expecting you to have some kind of answer.