Here's your daily vote reminder 🕺🕺
❃
2 years later
Maybelle Cliffdane
I was late for my last day of work. Pathetic.
Penelope had spilled her cheerios all over the apartment floor in the middle of a temper tantrum, all because she couldn't velcro her bloody sneakers.
After cleaning the floor of spilt milk, calling Chloe from across the hall to babysit, running out the door in a coat and formal pants to Grand Central Station, I hopped onto a crowded subway train to the Woolworth Building in Manhattan.
I stepped into the revolving doors, waving my wand at the carved owl overhead, giving me leeway into the Congress.
The entryway to the building was cathedral-like, packed with witches and wizards; as a former death eater I'd had to climb my way to the top of the chain to even earn some respect, not only as a bearer of the dark mark, but as a woman. Luckily, I'd proved the rumors of my help to The Order during The Battle of Hogwarts to be true, and was now valued by many high ranking individuals.
I'd debated staying in New York City to finish off the final two of my four year sentence, but I'd already decided to split them between here and The Ministry the moment I left the hospital. Going back to London was a difficult decision, but it was one I was determined to take.
I had nearly done it; I was just missing a piece.
I was this close to creating an effective obliviation reversal potion.
I stuffed myself into the elevator as I pressed the button for the 31st floor.
"Morning, Miss Cliffdane,"
"Morning Kelly," I nodded towards my unit chief, heels clicking along the halls of the MACAUSA's Healing Department.
"How's Penelope doing with the news?" she stood, swiping a strand of hair from her messy bun as she followed after me, clipboard in hand.
"She's a bit upset. I'm sure she'll miss her ballet friends, but London has a nice program," I smiled somberly, waving my wand as to open the doors, the healers in our unit already tending to patients.
"Well, we've been incredibly lucky to have you," she gave me a small pat on the shoulder, striding off in her baby blue blouse and navy pencil skirt to consult with families.
I worked in a very specific area of the healing department; I worked for the special victims unit, as a healer for those affected in those specific crimes. I'd not only been trained in particular ways of healing, but in both psychology and criminal profiling.
My job in London would be exactly the same, other than being in New York, of course.
I quite enjoyed my job. Getting lost in cases along with the constant problem solving worked my brain away from the memories of Draco and I. The chaos of the chase made my adrenaline rush.
Nearly everything in my apartment had been provided by The Ministry, so I only had to pack up Penelope and I's personal belongings.
Saying goodbye to my work friends would be the most difficult, especially my team. Andre, Sable, Kelly, Roman and I had solved the most cases out of any unit in the building; in the little time I'd been with them they'd been my closest friends.
The violence I saw on a daily basis never interfered with the love of my job, or the love for my daughter. For my sake she'd been gifted with wavy brown hair; unfortunately her eyes were a bright shade of blue. I couldn't look at her directly for an extended amount of time without breaking down.
I could only see him.
As I opened the door to the conference room, I was met with a spurt of confetti, cupcakes laid out on the table.
"Surprise!"
"You didn't have to do all this, you're going to make me cry," I gave Andre a hug, "let me guess, you baked these?"
"I did," he smiled, handing me a tupperware box, "an extra for Penny. I know she likes chocolate frosting,"
"Thank you so much," I placed the box in my purse, casting a spell so the cupcake wouldn't fall over, keeping the sprinkle covered frosting perfectly untouched despite it's sideways position.
"I hate to ruin the mood, but we've got a case to get to," Kelly exclaimed, bringing up the images on the projector.
"It's my last day, let's make it a good one."
"Our unsub is a man we know only as umbra interfectorem, he attacks members of The Order who fought against Voldemort in the battle of Hogwarts by slitting their throats and dumping their bodies in dumpsters all around New York. We've recovered three bodies so far, all with the skin of their left forearm sliced off, the deathly hallows symbol spray-painted onto the dumpster in which they've been disposed of in,"
"His name means shadow killer in Latin, do you think that could refer to the fact that he hasn't been caught? We could be looking at a past death eater here," Roman exclaimed, fiddling with his pen in between his fingers.
"It's possible," Kelly shrugged, sitting down in her chair.
"He's got to have a very overconfident personality if he can call himself the shadow killer after only three deaths, we're probably looking for a male," I exclaimed, pattering my feet on the ground below. "The deathly hallows symbol isn't just random either, that means something to him,"
"Well there's three items that make up the deathly hallows, The Elder Wand, which Harry Potter snapped in half after the battle of Hogwarts and threw into The Black Lake, the resurrection stone which was smashed to pieces by centaurs during the battle, and the invisibility cloak which was and is currently owned by Harry Potter," Sable exclaimed.
"If he's attacking members of The Order do you think Potter could be in danger?" Andre asked curiously.
"I don't think so," I huffed, "if he's after Potter, why come to New York? If he wanted to recover the hallows he would've stayed in Europe. The deathly hallows could be symbolic of his efforts,"
"The elder wand was the most powerful wand in the world, that could represent the power he holds over his victims. The resurrection stone could represent how he gets to play God, choosing who lives and dies, and the invisibility cloak represents how he manages to get away from the scenes untouched and unseen," Roman explained.
"Alright, so we're looking for a highly intelligent male unsub with narcissistic personality disorder. He was either tried for being a death eater directly after the war but somehow outsmarted the legal system in order to run free, or avoided the legal system entirely. He'll have a dark mark on his left forearm, and most likely has a strong build. If he fought in the second wizarding war we're looking for a man in his thirties to forties," Kelly exclaimed, jotting down the profile into her notes.
"Still, why come to New York?" I bit down on my lip in confusion, "there are higher ranking order members in London. Why take all the effort of coming here?"
"Maybe he's targeting specific members," Andre exclaimed.
Roman looked at me nervously, "What if he's getting revenge?"
"What do you mean?" I asked him, his eyes growing rigid.
"What if he's targeting Order members who were at first planning or working with The Dark Lord? What if these are acts of payback for their betrayal?"
"Holy shit," I muttered, looking up at him with worry.
"We need to find a connection between the three victims, Sable I need you to cross reference all witches and wizards who were involved in helping The Order during the wizarding war with those who were at first involved with The Dark Lord,"
"On it," she ran to her computer. "All three of the victims so far had the skin of their forearms peeled off with the same knife used to slit their throats, and all three spent time under house arrest for their associations with The Dark Lord,"
"So because the people he's killing had the dark mark but turned to The Order he believes they aren't worthy," Roman exclaimed.
"If the profile fits how we believe it to be his kills will escalate, become more violent," I muttered, tasting iron on my lips as I realized how hard I'd been biting down.
What if my daughter is in danger?
"Or, he escalates to other forms of psychological torture to prove to his victims that he has power over them," Andre exclaimed.
"If he wants to play God so badly he may go after loved ones of his targets to have psychological control over them instead of murdering the target himself. If he truly wants revenge against specific individuals he'd rather psychologically torture them than ending their lives. He wants to extend the pain for as long as possible,"
"Release the profile to the public, May. I want everybody in New York looking for this guy," Kelly handed me her clipboard with a nod, as I made my way to the press room with Roman.
"Did you know one in two hundred people have narcissistic personality disorder? That means there's at least one hundred narcissists in this building. Two thousand employees work here, both muggle and magi," he exclaimed, taking a sip of his coffee as his hand raked through his dirty blonde hair.
"That's definitely not terrifying," I muttered, "and I definitely didn't need to know that," I pushed open the doors.
"Sorry," he chuckled as I stepped up to the podium, cameras flashing brightly in my face.
I was not looking forward to my face being all over the morning news.
"Our unsub is a male in his late thirties to early forties. He has exceptional intelligence and may have undiagnosed narcissistic personality disorder. He would have been tried for being a death eater in London directly after the war, but outsmarted the Ministry's legal system in order to go free with little to no charge. Identification will be a dark mark on his left forearm, and a strong build. This man slits his victims throats and leaves them in dumpsters scattered around New York, specifically Manhattan. If you see a deathly hallows symbol spray painted on one of these dumpsters please keep your distance and call our hotline, thank you,"
Cameras continued to flash as the room erupted with questions.
"We'll release what we can when we have more information," Roman ushered me out of the room.
"God, they're so aggravating," I rolled my eyes, rubbing my temples with my fingers.
"Well, you won't have to see them ever again after today," he leaned against the wall with a chuckle, "as if the ones in London won't be any less annoying,"
I gave a sigh as I stared up at him, a small frown playing across my face.
"Hey," he pinched my cheek gently, "what's wrong?"
"Nothing," I smiled, "I'm just gonna miss you guys,"
"I see," he nodded, brushing his hair back with his hand, revealing his sharp jawline.
I stood on my tip toes, giving him a small peck on the cheek, "Thank you Roman. For everything,"
"Everything being... what?" he asked confusedly, a rosy color rising on his cheeks.
"Not treating me like shit when I first got here," I smiled, shaking my head. "For a know it all you can be really dense sometimes," I gave him a playful wink before walking back to the conference room.
We caught him, Drazhan Grimaldi, merely six hours later, a bloodied knife and a can of white spray paint in his backpack.
"This feels too easy," I stood next to Kelly, watching as Andre stuffed the man into the back of a police car.
"It's your last day, and we caught the guy. No overthinking sweetheart," she smiled, giving me a wave as I apparated home.
"Thank you for watching her," I paid Chloe in cash, taking a sleeping Penelope from her arms.
I quietly shut the door, turning off the lights as I placed her into her crib with a kiss to the forehead before snuggling into my own bed, falling into a deep slumber.
Merely a week later, I was on a plane back to London.
❃