Almost

Chapter 38: Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder

George was just coming through the floo when she arrived, and he didn't even take the time to brush off the ash from his cloak before wrapping her in a hug.

"How's Crawley?" he asked, still holding her against his chest.

She nodded. "He's much better, thanks to Angelina and the Illvermorny healer. But I've got him trapped on the couch."

Harry came through the floo as she spoke. He pushed his glasses up his nose and looked around.

"No shadow today?"

Katherine smiled sheepishly. "I may have given them the slip. But Crawley's covering for me."

Harry's eyebrows raised, but she brushed it off to get to the point.

"Whoever attacked Crawley used Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. From your store."

George's face fell, losing any color in an instant. "How do you—"

"They left the bottle behind," she continued. "I'm guessing as a message."

"Wait, what happened to Crawley?" Harry asked, his green eyes furrowing.

"He was at Illvermorny yesterday with Picquery. Someone threw this powder at them and then stabbed him in the arm and left behind a healthy dose of acromantula venom."

Harry shivered. "Nasty stuff. And expensive."

"How expensive?" Katherine asked.

"Last I'd heard, over a hundred Galleons a pint."

Katherine didn't have the focus to lend converting that, but it seemed like a lot of money for something that small.

"We keep a log," George said. "Ron is very particular about it; Verity is less so. But I can look and see who has bought it recently."

Harry bristled, his mind tracing the same path as Katherine's across his face. "I don't like that they were in the store. I'll get some aurors stationed in Diagon Alley as soon as I'm back in the office."

"Ron and I don't need—"

"If these people were in and out of Illvermorny," Katherine reasoned to her father, "who knows what they can do. The whole alley could be at risk."

"I'll put someone in Ollivanders, too," Harry said. Katherine gulped—she knew that they were guarding the information of the tempering, but she was glad that Lee would get that protection, too.

"I can't not tell Lee what's happening. Not after all he's done."

George stepped towards the fireplace. "I'll go get the logs, grab Vander on my way back."

He was gone before she could answer, his face still pained by the idea of his products being used to hurt Ezra.

"I don't have long," Katherine said, turning to Harry. "Crawley won't be able to cover for me forever. But there's something else, something small. Hollinghunt and I were in Ottery St. Catchpole yesterday getting tea, and we ran into Kevin. I didn't mean to, and I didn't look like myself, but he recognized my voice and my ring and Hollinghunt basically admitted to him that we knew me. Well, Wren, I guess. Regardless, I can't shake the feeling that something is wrong with the memory charms."

Harry paused, taking a seat and gesturing for Katherine to do the same. She sank into the couch she had singed the first time she'd sat in it, the burn marks now magicked away.

"Do you remember what Crawley told you about his mother? How seeing him would make her agitated?"

"Yes," Katherine said.