The Devil's Son

A progression of mystery

It didn't take long for the daily prophet to get wind of the missing saviour, and soon the entire wizarding world was panicking.

Dumbledore fails to save our Saviour

The boy who lived: lives no more?

The mystery of the missing Harry Potter

Needless to say Albus wasn't thrilled. "We need to find him now!" Shacklebolt shuffled nervously at the pure anger he felt from the usually gentle man. "I'm aware, and we've been looking, but the boy has been missing for three years. There are no leads to follow." Dumbledore slammed his hand on the desk before turning to look out the window, where students were filtering in to the school below. Fawkes trilled out a gentle crone to calm the man. "We have to keep looking." They didn't understand. Dumbledore was beginning to suspect Tom had found a way to cheat death. And it had something to do with Harry Potter.

Shacklebolt and Moody exchanged glances, concerned by Albus' behaviour. "Yes, we'll continue looking as long as you want, but... The ministry will declare him a closed case in a month. We'll be less available after that." Dumbledore didn't reply, and after hesitating the two aurors left, searching for the child that had saved them all those years ago. They truly hoped he was alive.

Remus stood outside Number 4 Privet Drive once again, waiting for Severus to join him. They'd agreed to start here, seeing if they could find any indication of the child's presence. Both had been investigating the surrounding area, asking muggles if they knew everything. Each ended the same way. They didn't see much of the child, he rarely left the house, and then one day the police were outside and the kid was gone. After that they quickly gave up on the neighborhood. They wouldn't find anything there if Harry had never left.

Severus nodded at Lupin as he apperated in, walking forward to the house. A quick revealing spell showed that the Dursleys were out, and they walked in. "Alohamora." It was pristine, everything neatly cleaned, and the scent of bleach clogged in Remus' nose. "Anything?" He shook his head at the potions master, walking into the living room. Photos of the family could be found around the room. None of Harry though. It was clear he hadn't really been loved here, even if Petunia did feel bad for losing him. Sighing, the werewolf walked out, hoping to catch a scent from a bedroom upstairs, when something caught his attention.

Severus's attention was drawn by the frozen figure of the werewolf, staring at a small cupboard under the stairs. "Have you got something?" The sandy haired wolf nodded silently, and the Potions Master frowned before quickly opening the door. What he found inside was shocking. A small piece of paper, with the words Harry's room scrawled in childish handwriting. Small broken plastic toys could be found in the shelf above a small mattress and blanket. "They kept him in a cupboard!" Lupin had gone pale, and Severus was simply enraged. These muggles were monsters. Frowning, he stepped in, picking up a small hairbrush and retrieving several strands of hair, placing it in a vial. Turning back to Remus, he gripped the man's shoulder. "Does the scent lead anywhere?"

Blinking away tears, Remus shook away the thoughts of exactly how much he'd let his cub down. Perhaps if he'd visited earlier... "It's really faint, old, but it doesn't seem to go anywhere. He was last here." Severus looked disappointed and Remus checked one last time, hoping there would be something. "Wait." He ducked down, trying to get into the cupboard. "I can smell Sulfur and...." His eyes widened as he saw the small brown stain on the mattress. "Blood."

A month later and the wizarding world was in mourning. The ministry had announced that they were no longer searching for Harry Potter, the media ruminating on what had happened to the boy. There were many theories, from kidnapping, to murder, to accidental magic. The quibbler even claimed that he had never existed. But everyone agreed that the boy was gone, never to be seen again. Except for three.

Dumbledore threw the orb across the room, watching as it smashed against the wall. One of these things were linked to the blood wards, and they should have alerted him if they'd been disturbed! He'd been searching the room for hours and nothing had worked yet. Where had he..... "Godric." The sorting hat squirmed slightly, before throwing out a small compass at Albus' feet. "Why didn't you mention anything earlier," asked Albus through gritted teeth. "You didn't ask." Furious, he picked up the compass, watching the small hand spin in every direction. It was active at least. He breathed out a deep sigh of relief, the child was alive. What he didn't understand was why the arrow was moving. If the child was in the wards, it would point north, if he wasn't it would point south. East meant danger and West was magical use, but the hand wouldn't stop spinning. What did that mean? A tap of his wand revealed the history of the object, which remained unchanging of the last three years, just spinning. Turning back to the night Harry disappeared, he watched as the needle finally stopped moving. It stood at North for a while before turning rapidly to East and then West before beginning to spin. What had happened?

Remus and Severus were stuck. They'd used the hair and the blood in a potion as part of a tracking ritual. Remus knew it wasn't exactly light magic, but at this point he didn't care so much. It worked, and the relief he'd felt that Harry was alive. It was short lived, as the tracking led them right back to the cupboard. It made no sense! They tried it again and again with no change. The spell claimed Harry was still here. Disappointed, they left, both spending the following months researching different tracking spells to no avail. Harry was gone, and they had no idea how to get him back.

Sorry this chapters short, I don't want to bring the next part until the next chapter. Hope you like it!