Two Old War Horses (Allen)

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Grimp had just left the Leaky Cauldron. He was a bit drunk, but still able to control himself well enough. He was about to head home when he saw a familiar figure heading in the direction of Knockturn Alley. He formed a devious grin and followed.

He waited to reveal himself, though he was anxious to do so. He waited for the man in front of him to fall into the cold, frightening shadows of Knockturn. He wanted the two to collide at the perfect moment, when the atmosphere was at its most haunting. It was always how Grimp liked to play this game.

So at the proper moment, he removed his wand silently. Even having retired from being an Auror for some time, Grimp still knew how to move with stealth. And few would know he was there. Then again, few were like Allen Clarke and Grimp damn well knew that. And that is why he still played this little game.

When the right moment arrived, he moved in like a shadow himself and took aim with his wand. If Allen was the great man that Grimp remembered him to be, then he knew exactly what was to happen next.

ALLEN PETER CLARKE

[ALLEN PETER CLARKE]

Allen was one his usual beat. Being old and on in his years, he was getting assigned to less and less dangerous patrols, such as the late night Knockturn Alley. While night was usually a great time for Dark Wizards, this late at night was less so in this case. After all, the only ones who were awake this far into the hours were usually drunk, or something else altogether.

Wand in-sleeve, Clarke kept a sharp eye for any movement as he moved through the practically impenetrable blackness of the alley. Boots making their sharp clicking against the cold stone that decorated the ground, though years of neglect made it more difficult to tell that they were ever arranged with any care, Allen began getting a feeling in his chest that indicated something being amiss in the situation.

Following this feeling, from what seemed like nowhere, Allen spun on the heels of his boots and gestured with his hand, calling out, "expelliarmus!!" Prompting a small beam of light to fly from his left hand, directly towards the wand of his target. Not waiting to see if the initial attack was successful or not, the elderly auror made several long strides forward as a wand appeared in his hand.

Pointing it threateningly towards the man as the illumination of his next jinx was nearly loosed from the tip of his wand, Clarke's expression turned from an intense glare to a frown of exasperation. "Bloody Hell Grimp!" Allen yelled at the retired auror, "I was about to put a hole in your chest!" Of course, that was a bit of an exaggeration. Even during war-time when the magical law enforcement had been permitted to take fatal action, Allen only saved his truly deadly curses for when there was no option short just that. Even then, Allen had only cast the killing curse once in those years.

Walking towards his old friend, the paranoid wizard still continued, "for mine and Jaina's 50th anniversary, what did you get us?" Making sure that Grimp was really Grimp, and not someone who took a polyjuice potion.

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Grimp laughed at the reaction, but quickly answered the question as he knew why Allen asked it.

"A bottle of the finest Elderflower Wine," he said. "And a smaller bottle of Quentin Black for you and I to celebrate the occasion with as well. As I recall after the anniversary festivities, you and I got piss drunk at the Dragon's Fire Pub. Damn shame that place isn't open anymore."

He then walked up and gave his friend a light, friendly slap in the face before hugging him.

"You've still got it, you old son of a b***h!" he said. Zerod then picked up his wand and placed it back in his pocket. "Forgive the trickery, old friend, but I was happy to see you out and about and couldn't help playing a little game."

Zerod then looked about.

"Knockturn Alley, ja?" he said. "Plenty of unpleasant memories of this s**t hole of a place. So are you here on a hunt or just some run of the mill patrolling. Either way, I'm inclined to join you... to see if I still got it." Grimp then removed his pipe and placed some tobacco in it before lighting it. "Old habits... gave up trying to break them years ago."

ALLEN PETER CLARKE

[ALLEN PETER CLARKE]

Allen gave a large "harumph" of annoyance at his old friend's prank. The auror had always been an excitable man throughout his near century of service, and age had certainly brought along some impact with each surprise that the younger aurors had begun finding time to spring.

Withdrawing his wand, Clark re-housed it in his jacked and grunted, "you're drunk." in a matter of factly tone, as if it were far from what he considered to be a surprise. Resuming his stride down the walk, Allen looked back and said, "A god damned shame is what it is." Stuffing both fists into the jacket's pockets while Zerod hailed the old veteran. And when Grimp apologized, Allen shot back, "yes well, make sure that you don't make it a habit, I can only take so many more surprises before I keel over from shock, or some kind of heart attack." This time there was some lightness in the edge of his gruff voice to imply that this had been in more of a humor as apposed to the last few statements.

"Quite," Allen then replied at Grimp's reminiscing, "but the scum here were never something that we couldn't handle." Gripping his lighter in habit, having kept the muggle invention over the years, despite having quit smoking half a century prior. "You would be surprised Zerod." Flipping the small machine around in his pocket while the two made their way down the dark alley.

"So have any of my grandchildren been giving you grief?" The old man inquired, scratching the side of his head as a small itch roused, smirking as he waited for some type of witty remark from the German. "Because, you know, I am not apposed to more.... Practical methods of teaching lessons." Making a tongue-in-cheek reference to a certain one-eyed auror who had passed decades before, and had used some of those methods on a certain Minister of Magic.

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That was why Grimp liked Allen so much. Both of them were grumpy old farts who found joy in giving each other hell. True, Grimp was a great deal younger than Allen, but at their ages it mattered much less.

"You... die of a heart attack?" laughed Grimp. "Ha! Not likely. I've seen what you've dealt with. I was there beside you for some of it. It will take more than some foolhardy joke from Zerod Grimp to end the existence of Allen Peter Clarke!"

Grimp laughed again when Clarke spoke of them being able to handle the scum of Knockturn Alley.

"Perhaps we'll get some action tonight, ja?" he said. "You and I versus the whole of the dark forces. Perhaps even that b**** Cora Veltrino will show up and I can have a long-awaited showdown with her!" He puffed his pipe as he looked around the alley. He would settle for a lesser dark magic user for the moment.

Grimp nodded as Allen asked about his grandchildren giving the man grief.

"Ja, but then again most of the students do," he said. "I've become the teacher who's class almost everyone dreads going to. And you don't need to worry, old friend. I've got it all well in hand. I'm very... practical myself."

Nearby, two young dark wizards exited a pub and spotted the elderly men.

"That's old Grimp, and that bloomin' fossil who's still aurorin'," said one of them.

"Let's give the old buggers some grief," said the other.

ALLEN PETER CLARKE

[ALLEN PETER CLARKE]

"Never know, with all of the bacon I'm eating these days," Allen remarked back in his slightly less gruff tone, which usually indicated joking. And when the German wizard brought up a more specific foe that he would like to get a piece of, Clarke simply chuckled. "You're still clearly a bit drunk, I don't think the likes of Cora Veltrino will be making an appearance tonight, or any night soon, if she knows what's good for her."

When Grimp went into some detail about how his students didn't particularly appreciate him, Clarke nodded. "Well, it's likely because they thought you were going to be a push-over, like the other teachers who oversaw your subject, and former aurors have never gone over well among groups of students when they went in for teaching as a "retirement" profession."


While continuing down the road, the old man faintly heard the murmurings of the two thugs, hearing key words like "Grimp" "Aurorin'" and "Grief" among them most clearly. To this, Allen began flipping his wand between his fingers, even tossing it into the air and catching it into his waiting palm, these small flourishes a key indicator to anybody who had known him that he was on stand-by, waiting for an attack. Clarke then shot a glance and smirk towards Zerod to check that the old professor knew what he was doing.

@grimp

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Grimp loved Allen's sense of humor. He knew how to joke in that subtle way where he could easily throw one off thinking the man was serious. At least Grimp had always saw it that way.

"She never knew what the bloody hell was good for her," said Zerod of Cora. "That's why she was in Azkaban for so long, and would still be rotting there if they hadn't allowed her to escape. We'll meet some day, and perhaps she won't make it back to that prison again." There was a cold humor in Grimp's voice that time. Would he kill Cora if he saw her? Hell yes he would because he wouldn't give the dark witch even the smallest chance to do the same to him.

Zerod then laughed about the kids thinking he was a pushover.

"They got that delusion out of their mind the day I let some of them duel with me," he said. "They knew after that and a few detentions in some of their cases that I was certainly no pushover."

Grimp then saw Allen's actions with the wand, actions he knew well. Grimp then listened himself, and smirked back.

"You still have it, old friend," he said, slipping his own wand out. He turned when the attackers sprang at them.

ALLEN PETER CLARKE