Tom and Mia must've walked for miles. Through the long grass, past all semblances of civilization and down to long, sandy bay far away from the cliffs but still beside the channel. The sky was still grey and seagulls were still screeching from the heavens. It was like nothing had changed- like the world was the same even after what just happened. Which, of course, it was. But not for them.
Tom stopped in his tracks. He stared out across the beach. It was completely desolate- nothing in sight apart from wet, murky sand, scattered pebbles littering the floor and, of course, the ever-lasting ocean. Mia, still holding Tom's hand, looked up at him questioningly.
"Where are we going?"
Tom didn't know the answer himself. Letting go of Mia's hand and letting his own drop down by his sides, he slowly walked forward onto the beaches until he reached the edge, where the tide kept coming to. Calmly he sat down, holding his head low. His mind felt like it was on fire and he just needed... a break. Mia could sense this and so didn't follow him, instead just waiting from the sides, looking over at him concernedly.
He took off his shoes and put them down on the sand, feeling the water wash up against his toes. He pulled his head up and gazed across the horizon. The sun was coming out now through a crack in the grey clouds, shining down on the sea making it dazzle like sapphires. Tom's hands sunk in the wet sand as they dangled motionlessly by his side. He allowed his whole body to finally relax. His work wasn't over yet but... he deserved this.
The waves rushed up at him in an almost hypnotic fashion. It was relaxing, hearing the sounds of the sea, the now calm winds and the gulls cacawing in the distance. He felt, more so than he had even at Luna's house, at peace.
He thought back to what had just transpired. His conversation with Alexander Young.
It confirmed many things he knew already: his special power was called the Anti-Magic Equation. He could activate it at will and if he so choosed could permanently take someone's magic away but, of course, only at the price of his own. He filed that information in his mind under 'last resorts'.
The Malumis family had been enslaved by the Young Family and there were many 'farms' out there, all hidden. To his knowledge the only people he knew to have ever escaped these farms were his parents and, with his help, Mia. Tom still couldn't wrap his head around how this injustice had been allowed to happen. This horrendous sin that was so horrific in nature that he struggled even imagining it. He didn't know what the farms were like but from how they had been briefly described to him by Mia and Alexander Young, he could infer they were nightmarish. Maybe that was what Mia had been having nightmares about. Like Tom had at her age, Mia had started having bad dreams, waking up in cold sweats or in tears. Tom noticed it happened more and more frequently now and he always tried his best to calm her down and go back to sleep when it did happen. He wanted to know more about the farms but... whenever he saw her like that he was reminded about her feelings and found himself unable to ask her. Perhaps it was for the better.
And then of course there was the subject of Mia as a whole. She was 'the Key'. As Tom kept looking at the ocean, his eyes seemed to glaze over as he focused more on his thoughts.
Mia being the Key explained a lot of things. She'd presumably been taken out of the farm so that she could be somewhere under the direct eye of the Young Family, assuring her absolute safety. It explained why when Tom intercepted the messages between the Young Family agents he had assumed it was their most valuable object. And it explained why even Tom could sense there was something important about her. In all sense she was the Key to all this. But Tom couldn't bear to think of her as an object. She was her own person; a child; she didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve to be used and disposed of before being replaced by another child to continue the cycle. The Young Family really did make him sick.
'But,' as Tom stared ever forward, his mind wandered to the next thing plaguing him, 'What do I do now?'
To say Hogwarts was chaotic would be an understatement. To say the Wizarding World was chaotic would be an understatement. It had now been one week exactly since the dramatic death of Aubyn Young, right in the heart of Hogwarts grounds. Since then, the world seemed to have split into two groups: those who stuck with the original narrative, perpetuated by the Daily Prophet that Tom Malumis is an evil psychopath who murdered Harry Potter and now a poor innocent boy and those who have rallied under the name 'Malumists'. The movement that started in Hogwarts has now grown out of the school; and not just the parents of the children as well. Many, many people found out about Aubyn's confession, what he said. On a few occasions already, riots have almost started. You didn't have to be in the Ministry of Magic to tell that tensions were at a high- the boiling pot was ready to overflow.
Hogwarts was somehow even worse. All structure had left the school. There were no 'lessons' anymore, there were just teachers trying to make students, especially older students, not go berserk. Most people didn't even know what to do most days so simply wandered about. Many 'Malumist' students protested any semblance of order that the teachers tried to throw at them. They were NOT going to just let this die down.
Ron's office was completely silent. He sat by his desk and held his head in his hands. Only a year ago this room he was sitting in; this desk he was sitting by, they belonged to Harry Potter. Even now it hadn't set in. Any second he imagined Harry to pop back up, like he always did, like he had before. And now his whole world had been flung upside down. He had been good friends with the Young Family- he had been close with Aubyn. Seeing him be murdered right in front of him was horrible, it was despicable but... hearing his words... hearing what he said.
Again he hid his face away.
'Why does this job have to be so hard...' he thought to himself.
Quietly, Hermione Granger opened the door to the office and slowly walked in. Her face changed to a sad frown when she saw Ron and she walked up to him. Ron didn't look up or move but he did notice Hermione come in.
"What am I meant to do Hermione?" he asked quietly.
"I think..." she whispered, "You've done very well this year."
"I haven't," Ron said lowly, "Nowhere near as well as Harry did."
"Hm," was Hermione's only reply.
"I can't believe he's really gone, Hermione," he said, "I... I can't."
"I can't either..."
"What do I do?" Ron repeated.
Hermione looked at her husband and shook her head, "I don't know," she admitted, "I have no idea what to do. I have no idea what you can do."
"And what about Aubyn? What about him!?" Hermione felt Ron was getting agitated so put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He quickly calmed himself down.
"I..." words failed Hermione, "Trust me, I'm as shocked as you are."
"Well you're a lot better at hiding your feelings than I am," Ron grumbled. Hermione chuckled.
"Oh I've had my breakdowns," she said quietly, "And I think in front of the students you've been really good.
Ron groaned, "Oh don't bring up the students. It's like a war zone in here, we've literally lost complete control. Students in yelling matches with teachers- no lessons- sure they respect the unspoken rules like 'no random anarchy' and..." he struggled for something else, "No... boys in the girls bathroom or stuff like that but with the stuff that matters... Hogwarts is in turmoil."
"Can you blame them?" Hermione asked.
"Well no but..." Ron sighed, "I guess you're right. Where do you lie- who do you agree with?"
Hermione paused, "Who do you agree with?" was her only answer.
"I go with Aubyn... but I can't..."
Hermione bit her lip and walked over to the edge of the Headmaster's office. Slowly she revealed a small pile of letters that had been lying, just slightly out of sight and brought them over to Ron's desk.
"I found these when I was clearing out this office last year... I didn't tell you because... well... I just couldn't at the time."
Ron looked at Hermione, confused, "What are these?"
Hermione averted her gaze guiltily, "Letters ... from Harry."
Ron stood up in his chair, "To us!" he yelled out indignantly. Hermione nodded, "Wha- Hermione! Why didn't you tell me?!"
"If you read them you'll see... you just... wouldn't have wanted to hear it," she explained. Ron snatched the letters away from Hermione. They were more like notes than letters. Each was no longer than 3 lines.
'I know you two are still apprehensive about Tom Malumis but I wanted to say he is trying.
Please give him the benefit of the doubt from now on.'
'This is important:
Cut off all ties to the Young Family. I have grown incredibly skeptical of them in recent times. I am not saying this lightly. I am going to see if my suspicions will be confirmed.'
'Ron, Hermione, I have discovered something very urgent.
Tom Malumis was indeed right about the Young Family. My suspicions are confirmed.
I will talk to you about it later.'
Ron felt an overwhelming wave of grief wash over him as he read the letters. He barely processed what they said but just to read messages that Harry left them, as if he was still alive... it was just... too much. He breathed out slowly before rereading the messages.
"This is-"
Hermione spoke up, "These are from before last year, after Christmas. He met up with Alistair Young. I don't know what was said but his 'suspicions' whatever they were must have been confirmed. And that was probably why Aubyn murdered him."
"Aubyn didn't murder-" snapped Ron instantly before pausing and considering what the letters were saying. He breathed a large sigh which quickly turned into a loud groan of agitation.
"I know," was Hermione's simple reply.
"But then... it is true!" Ron couldn't believe it. Hermione gave him a sad look and looked down to the floor in shame.
"I'm afraid so."
Tom still sat by the beaches. The sun shone down on him brightly. Slowly he pulled up his hand and took his wand slowly out of his pocket. He inspected it carefully, tilting his head to the side slightly as he did so. He remembered what Alexander had told him. 'The Elder Wand'... whatever that was. He didn't want any part of it. He crunched the wand in his palm, splitting it back into the pieces he had found it in once upon a time ago. He tossed into the ocean and watched as it was instantly washed away. He knew as soon as it disappeared that it was gone forever. That wand... whatever it was... was never coming back. He rejected it.
Alexander's words still echoed in his mind.
"You cannot win."
"We're unbeatable."
And then, it all clicked in Tom's mind. He finally pulled himself up from the shore and walked slowly back to Mia. He knew what to do.
"The Ministry," he said out loud.
"What?" Mia asked, confused.
"We have to go to the Ministry," Tom elaborated but didn't really clear up any of Mia's confusion. She gave him a look. Tom held out her hand for her to take, which she did and continued, "We'll storm the Ministry. We'll try and get as many people on side as possible. We have to prove what we have heard."
"Why can't we just..." Tom looked down at Mia, "... stop?" she paused, "Like, y'know, go somewhere, like maybe we could go back to that lady! We could go to bed and h-have nice food and just... stop."
"Mia..." Tom's eyes were so full of sorrow. He bent down to look at her, "I am so... so sorry..." he swallowed, "We... we have to. Trust me, I want to just stop. I want to just fall asleep and never wake back up but I can't. And I'm sorry Mia but until this is done you can't either. BUT..." Mia looked at him, "I promise you... I promise that after this is all done you'll go and you'll have a nice house, with nice food and everything will be good."
Mia smiled weakly, "And... you'll be there?"
"... Yes," Tom took a second to reply. Mia beamed and hugged him. Tom reciprocated but even now, he still couldn't smile. He held his chest slightly, right where Alistair Young had hit him with a curse a few days prior.
He just had to... get it done.