Chapter 27
In the weeks that led up to the beginning of exams, that is the NEWTs and OWLs, more and more focus was placed on school work and less on what was going on in the outer world. James and Cecil were sure that they were under observation. On more than one occasion one or the other would look over a shoulder and catch a portrait or drifting ghost looking away quickly. They had already decided to play it straight until the end of term but having an entire castle keeping an eye on you tended to make you careful how you stepped.
Ted had halted the extra curricular sessions but James had seen him on a several occasions holding quiet conversations with several sixth years that he knew were visitors to a particular room on the dungeon level. He assumed that plans for transitioning the leadership of the group were underway. James and his friend spent most of their free time working on their school work. If they couldn't use their skills and energy on something interesting, they might as well go out in a blaze of academic glory.
This particular session was taking place at the table in the Great Hall. They were sitting side by side working on a pair of scrolls since they were in different sessions of the same History of Magic class. They were discussing differing interpretations of a particularly gruesome incident in the seemingly endless wizards versus goblins conflicts. Cecil viewed it in the context of gangs fighting over turf while James thought that the idea of minimizing the unauthorized use of wands by highly suspect goblins was more the issue.
"James, mate, yer missing the point. People with power always wants to keep others from threatenin' their position. Humans got wands first and wanted to keep anyone else from musclin' in. All that stuff about making the world safe and such sounds nice but its all smoke and mirrors. It's always personal."
"Good grief, Cecil, what an attitude. Are you able to look at anyone and not suspect an ulterior motive?"
"Don't know what a ulterior is, but I know that you gotta be careful who ya trust. Word to the wise."
James shook his head but then stopped and looked up at the feel of a hand sliding across his shoulder. He saw Kai standing behind him.
"Hi, James. Will you have time this weekend to visit with Wullie? Professor Hagrid mentioned it to me after class today."
"Um, yeah, either afternoon."
"Sunday then. I have a match to fly on Saturday. Do you think you might want to watch?" she asked, her expression expectant.
"What do you think, Cec, wanna go watch Kai fly rings around some folks?"
"Yeah, sure," Cecil replied, "maybe there will be some good crack ups."
James couldn't help but laugh. He looked back at Kai and said,
"Okay, Saturday is Quidditch and Sunday with Wullie."
"Terrific. See ya later," she said, with a squeeze on his shoulder and then she was off.
Cecil watched her walk away and then he looked back at James.
"What's the story there, mate?"
"I'm not entirely sure. We're friends. She's fun to be around. Anything else, don't really know. I mean she is two years older than me."
Cecil nodded and then said,
"She is a bit stunning, she is."
James had to agree but wasn't about to say anything more. They went back to arguing wizard goblin relationships.
His father had some issues of his own to deal with. In the weekend following his conversation with James, Harry was having another serious conversation. Anthony Goldstein had come out to the house to have a talk with Harry.
"It's more than passing strange, Harry. Just a few days after you came back from that little trip whole segments of the East European magical community have gone to ground. We had a number of them under surveillance and now, we can find a trace of them."
"Who are they hiding from, you or me?"
"To tell you the truth, Harry, I doubt it's either of us, much as we might like to think so. I was just about to tell you about a couple of characters we did manage to locate. Completely naked, both of them, not a mark on them but every major bone in their bodies broken, some of the long bones broken in multiple places. We think they were some of those top tier types that we had Abagail looking for."
"How do you break bones without leaving marks?"
"I asked the healers at St. Mungo's that very question. They said that if someone was strong enough and you caused their muscles to contract hard enough it might cause some bones to break," Anthony explained.
"So what are we talking about, some form of torture?"
"It's possible. But we don't know if it was to try and get information out of them or as some form of punishment."
Harry sat back in his chair and thought about what he was being told. After a few moments he said,
"Anthony, what about this? In every instance the witches and wizards in league with these old ones have failed. Granted, they were able to get hold of you and the others, but we got you out and they lost a lot of people. This includes repeated attempts to get at me. Then I show up in their inner sanctum and threaten them with annihilation. What if this is some form of retribution for their failures?"
Anthony thought about this and nodded slowly.
"It's as good as anything we've come up with. Maybe the two we found were meant as both examples and as a way to keep their particular access point a secret."
Harry had a sudden inspiration.
"Anthony, where are the bodies of these two?"
"We spelled them and then brought them back and put them on ice at the Ministry. We were hoping someone could figure out what was done to them and then who might have been able to do it. Why?"
"I know someone who was able to use his nose to track down a certain wayward Auror investigator who got himself plucked off the street. Maybe he could sniff out where these two might have been."
"So that's how you found me, Harry?" Anthony asked. "You never really explained that."
"It's kind of a secret but I think I can enlist that same help again. I'll let you know what I come up with."
"Great, Harry, I'll take any help I can get. Abagail had pretty much hit a dead end, so she came home a few days ago."
"Really? I haven't heard from her yet. I guess she's spending the time to get reacquainted with Angus. I assume they'll be dropping in for dinner one of these nights."
"I hope she's getting some rest. She was kind of worn out there at the end," Anthony said.
He held his hands up as if to ward off Harry and with good reason. At this comment Harry fixed his friend and former comrade with a baleful glare.
"Don't look at me like that, Harry. That is one very willful young lady. We kept telling her she was working too hard but she wouldn't hear of it. I think you set her a bad example. She kept saying something about doing what she could while she was able or something like that."
Harry's scowl turned into a frown and the conversation came to an end a short while later. He told Anthony he'd contact him when he knew that he'd have that assistance he suggested. Once Anthony had left he went in search for his wife. It took him fifteen minutes to get her calm enough that he felt he could leave the house and not have her following along.
He used the Floo Network to reach Diagon Alley and made his way straight to the young couple's apartment. Angus answered the knock on the door.
"Aye, good afternoon, Professor. Ay told 'er she should've let ye know she was home."
"I understand, Angus. No worries," Harry said as he stepped into the small apartment.
The object of his interest was sitting on the small couch with her feet pulled up, wrapped in a blanket and sound asleep. She did look more than a little drawn and there were shadows under her eyes. Harry gestured to Angus to follow him into the tiny kitchen.
"So what's going on here, Angus?" he asked quietly.
"Ay came home three days ago and found her lyin' right here on the couch, sir. She looked awful. Worse'n what ye see there, Professor. She slept for a full day," Angus said, keeping his eyes on the couch the whole time.
Harry shook his head and said,
"If I didn't know better, I'd say she was born a Weasley."
Angus was wise enough not to comment.
"Cuppa tea, Professor?"
"Yes, thank you, Angus."
Angus took the kettle from the stove and poured out for Harry and himself. They sipped and chatted quietly for ten minutes or so when they heard someone stirring in the living room. Both looked toward the couch and saw Abagail looking back at them.
"Harry? What are you doing here?"
"That's odd. That's what I was going to ask you. Imagine my surprise to learn you were back for several days already," Harry said as he carried his tea cup into the room and sat in the chair facing the couch.
Abagail barely managed to stifle a huge yawn with one hand. When Angus came in he had a second cup in hand and offered it to Abagail.
"Oh, thank you, sweetie. I know, Harry, I know. But I was just so worn out when I got home. Anthony insisted I come home by train. He wouldn't trust me to get home using magic."
"Fine. Now, would you care to explain why you got in just such a state?" Harry asked, regarding her over the rim of his tea cup.
"You know darn well how I got so tired, Harry. I was working hard trying to locate the people who knew where that portal is."
"Bloody hell, Abagail, you're not going to do anyone any good if you wear yourself down to the point you kill yourself," Harry declared in a sudden flare of temper.
Abagail's eyes flashed as she regarded her father from the couch.
"Stop it, Harry, please, just stop it," she said, flaring a bit herself. "Whether you like it or not, I'm an adult now and if I want to kill myself trying to do these things, it's for me to decide. I'd like to think I'm smart enough to keep that from happening, but there it is. Furthermore, it's about time you realized that you're very much like a general in this thing. An old style fighting general maybe, but none the less. And every general knows that sometimes the foot soldiers get banged around."
"Foot soldiers? When did you enlist?" Harry asked with more than a bit of sarcasm.
"I didn't, you conscripted me that first day of class. It could never have been any other way," she replied with a small version of her impish grin.
Harry sat regarding his eldest daughter, the anger fading. Then he began to smile a bit and said,
"I'll leave you to get some more rest. You're likely to need it. Once I report this to the Field Marshall, I'd imagine you're in for an inspection visit."
Harry wasn't happy with the shape Abagail was in, but once Ginny found out about it, he knew he needn't worry about it further. So he concentrated his efforts on exams and getting the students sorted out for the end of term. This was of course on top of his duties involving the next class of first years, the up coming summer Tri Schools conference and whatever fall out there might be from what Anthony had reported.
When he heard the knock on his door the evening before the term ended he looked up and called out,
"Enter."
The door swung open and Ted stepped in. The relative quiet of the last weeks had eased their student\teacher relationship so both smiled as Harry waved him in.
"Ted, all set for the ride home? You're sure you don't want to use the Floo Network?"
"No, thanks, sir. It'll be good to take one more ride home. Plus we have some things to work out and the train will be a good place for it."
Harry had no doubt who 'we' was. He simply nodded.
"So, your application is in?"
"Yup, and thanks for arranging the letters for me," Ted said.
"I would have done one myself, but I didn't want to appear to be trying to influence the Chief. Not that they won't ask me about it informally, but at least it'll be on the up and up on paper."
"You know, sir," Ted said with a smile, "the world won't come to an end if you try and call in a favor or two."
"Maybe, but that can be a hard thing to stop once you start. Keep that in mind, especially when you start dealing with the public."
"Hmm, I guess. Darn, I was looking forward to hitting up Angelina for the odd biscuit or two."
The young wizard laughed as Harry fixed him with a raised eyebrow. Then he got serious.
"You know, Harry," he said, dropping the sir, "I'm sorry about how things worked out with James. I know he's got issues about making his own way, but I wasn't going to be the one to throw him under a lorrie, so to speak."
"I understand, Ted. But I think he's managing pretty well."
Harry and his godson spent another ten minutes or so chatting about what Ted had in store for himself in the likely event he was picked for Patroller service.
Unlike Ted, James would be making the trip home via the Floo Network with his father. Harry had insisted since he still wasn't sure what was going on with the old ones and security was still an issue. So he was saying his farewells outside the Dining Hall the next morning.
"We'll miss you on the train, James, but I'll see you soon enough I'm sure," Vee told her cousin.
"I'm betting it'll be less than a week. It'll give our mums the chance to plot Da's birthday party."
Vee laughed and with a quick squeeze of a hug she hurried off to collect her personal things to carry to the carriages. That left James standing with Kai. She smiled at him and said,
"I guess we'll see each other at Quidditch camp. You'll be there, won't you?"
"I'm pretty sure. After playing in the summer youth league I'll do the camp and then figure out what I'll do playing here," James replied.
"I was thinking about the league this summer, but my parents are starting up a new business and they'll need me to help out. So I guess I'll see you at camp."
"I guess so," James said, suddenly realizing that he was studying the girl's face, as if he was trying to fix her features in his memory.
With that she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly. After a heartbeat, he replied in kind. He wasn't sure but he thought she might have leaned into him a bit. Then she slid her arms from around him but took hold of his upper arms and darted her head forward to place a quick kiss on his lips. When she stepped back her face was flushed and with a fleeting,
"See ya," she was hurrying away back to the tower.
James watched her go, blinking several times and then began to walk towards the door with halting steps. He picked up his bag and went outside to find his father waiting for him. His trunk would be taken in hand by a couple of helpful house elves.
"So, son, got all your good byes taken care of?"
"Yes, sir," James said a little distractedly.
Harry chose not to enquire further. He and his son walked side by side toward the gate, exchanging a few greetings and farewells as they went.
"Oh, I got a message from Ronin this morning. He'd like to see you the Saturday after next. With your gear."
"Oh, okay," the boy said, perking up a bit. "That will be brilliant. I was wondering if we'd start up again."
When they got home and James entered the kitchen he was nearly swarmed under. First it was hugs and kisses from his mother, who swore he had grown an inch or two. Albus' reaction was more, 'okay, you're home, we'll talk later'. His sister Lily gave him a hug around the waist and Mr. Monty rubbed against the back of his legs. Snuffles was the last to greet him. The big dog was becoming hard of hearing of late and it had taken a while for the noise from the kitchen to alert him to something going on. Upon seeing James he perked up quite a bit and managed some pretty serious frisking and for such a large dog he managed to knock a few people around.
James spent a fair amount of time getting reacquainted with his old partner in crime and eventually Ginny had to shoo them all out of the kitchen so that the elves could take control of his things and make a start on lunch. As James got to his room Albus strolled in behind him.
"So, I understand you managed to get yourself into some trouble, big brother."
"Yeah, Al, I did. It was a good idea but I didn't do it right."
"Well, one more year on your own and then I'll be up there to help keep you out of trouble, or at least getting caught," Albus said as he regarded his brother with his father's eyes.
"Yeah, pull the other one. You'll probably wind up in Slytherin, you evil little genius."
"Hey, that's not funny. Dad would have a fit if I got put in old snake face's house."
"I dunno, you are named after one of Slytherin's more famous members. And Da does think of him as a hero of sorts. You never know," James said, regarding his brother with a smirk as the younger boy considered this possibility with some chagrin.
"Don't be mean to Albie, James," Lily said from the doorway. "You shouldn't tease about things like that."
"Come on, Lil, I've been gone for months. I have a lot of catching up to do," James said with a laugh.
"Come on, Mr. Monty, James is being a meanie. Let's go before he starts on us."
James watched as his sister walked away down the corridor and had turned back to emptying and sorting his personal gear when he heard,
"Ahem."
James looked at the foot of the bed and saw his Gran Lily standing there, regarding him with a cocked eyebrow.
"Oh, hello, Gran."
She said nothing but held out her arms in a gesture that spoke volumes. James smiled a bit and walked up to be enfolded in that odd, almost not there, ethereal hug. Ethereal or not, he knew what was expected and he wrapped his arms around the back of his grandmother and hugged back.
"Well, I must say, young man, that there has been a marked improvement in the quality of your hugs."
"I bet I know where that came from," Albus said from the other side of the bed.
"Shut it, you git," James growled.
"Ah ah, they'll be none of that. Albus, would you excuse us please?" Lily asked, but never expected the possibility of a negative answer.
Albus just shrugged and left the room. Lily released her hold on her grandson and let him take a few steps back. She looked at him with an appraising eye.
"I was going to suggest you stop teasing your brother after I heard that Slytherin jibe but what was that last part about?"
"Nothin'."
"Oh, please, James. Just because I've been dead for over thirty years doesn't mean I don't know what's going on. I'm well aware of your friendship with the young Gryffindor girl. But why go after your brother like that?" Lily asked.
"Because it's confusing and I don't need him sticking his know it all nose into it."
"Well, I'll take that as a hint and not stick my nose into it either, for the moment. But think about this. Your brother missed not having you here for months at a time. Despite enjoying talking to your father over a game of wizards chess, Albus really missed not having you here to talk things over with. He is your brother and he's one of very few people who can understand what it's like to be your father's son."
James regarded his youthful looking grandmother and nodded a bit. In a flash of insight he realized what a formidable witch she would have grown in to if she had lived. Perhaps he would think about what she had told him.
As regarded the father he was in the process of getting a handle on the assistance he had offered to Anthony. He was sitting in the library in his favorite chair, his eyes closed but fully awake.
"Dragon?"
He waited a few moments and the answer came back but as if from a great distance.
"Wizard."
"You sound like you are very far away, Dragon."
"This is to the good, since I am indeed far away. Nearly as far away as it is possible to be and still remain in this time and on this world. It affirms my faith in the constancy of nature."
"Is it too far for you to render some assistance in the matter of the old ones?"
"Never. State your need, wizard."
"Do you recall how the location of the kidnappers was discovered?"
"I do," the Dragon replied tersely.
"My friend, Anthony Goldstein, the Auror investigator is in possession of two corpses of wizards who were sorely used by what we believe to be magical means. They may also have been in contact with the old ones, perhaps through the portal we seek. I thought perhaps you might be able to pick up a trail from them, like you did the spelled galleon."
There was a pause. Perhaps the Dragon was considering the idea, Harry thought.
"It is an idea with merit, Wizard, and one worth the attempt. Look for me in the meadow after the sun has set on the day after tomorrow. You will have the carcasses available?"
"I will make the arrangements," Harry said, although he though the idea of the two dead wizards as carcasses was a bit primitive, but probably logical from the dragon's perspective.
"I will be there."
Before the echo of the dragon's words faded from his mind he was already making his way up to the owlry and sent a message to Anthony asking him to arrange the movement of the battered wizard corpses to Meadow Crest, night after next.
The following morning James got a bit of a surprise as he dragged himself out of bed and got himself presentable for breakfast. It wasn't all that early as his parents had told him to have a lie in on the first day of summer break. As he left his room he thought he heard noise coming from down the corridor, from Abagail's suite.
"Hello?" he said as he stepped inside.
"Is that you, little man?" Abagail called out from her studio. "Get yourself in here."
James groaned at the 'little man' but he was happy to know his big sister was back in the house. He hurried in and right into a small but still strong pair of arms.
"Welcome home, little brother. How was the rest of the term?" she asked, her voice just by his ear.
"Pretty good, Abs. Good grades, I almost stayed out of trouble and did some more work with Ronin."
Abagail pushed him back and held him at arms length.
"What about your friend, Kai?"
She couldn't help but smile as he started to get a little rosy around the cheeks.
"I thought so, well, I won't push."
James smiled back and then for the first time took a close look at his sister and he didn't like what he saw, and said so.
"Bloody hell, Abs, you look like crap. What have you been doing?"
"Hey, watch that mouth, little man. And you know I was helping Harry, right?" she asked as she sat back at her table.
"Yeah, sort of, but no details. What were you trying to do, read everyone in Europe?" he asked back.
"No, but sometimes it sure felt that way. James, I have to tell you it was the oddest experience of my life. I've read a lot of people in my life but the ones that must have had something to do with these old ones as Harry calls them are a real mess. I only came across three but I couldn't get a coherent picture from any of them."
"Do you think it was something done to them on purpose? Or just from being around these things?" James asked, genuinely interested.
"No idea, young fellow, but I tried really hard to get something out of someone, and it took a lot out of me," she said, giving him a bit of a tired smile.
"Abs, you look like you need a lot more rest. What are you doing here?" James asked.
Abs chuckled a bit.
"I had a bit of a row with your father who then turned your mother loose on me. I agreed to spend a couple of days at the house so she can look after me. Angus took their side, so here I am. You're stuck with me for the first few days of your summer."
"I don't mind. You know I didn't like it when you moved out. And no one is taking side, Abs. We worry about you because we love you. And now it's my turn to show you. Get up off that stool, please."
Abagail slid off the stool and stood in front of James and was a bit surprised to see that he was now a touch taller than she was. But 'little man' it will always be. He reached out and took her hand and pulled her out of the studio.
At the side of her bed he said,
"In you go for a kip, big sister. I felt how weak that hug was. Don't think about getting up until noon. I'll tell you all about school after lunch while you get some sun."
Abagail gave her brother an odd look but shrugged and climbed onto the bed, as she was indeed tired already. As he left the room he said,
"See ya later, sis."
James knew full well that he lied to his sister about the hug. It was every bit as strong as it had ever been but he felt it was in a good cause as she still looked pretty worn out. As promised he spent the better part of the afternoon sitting out in the front garden with him and Abagail in chairs side by side and Snuffles lying on the grass at their feet, his snoring sounding like the Hogwarts Express locomotive idling at the Hogmeade's station.
Late in the afternoon they were interrupted by Harry who walked up and seeing no chair was available made a rare use of magic to 'accio' a chair off the front portico. When he was seated across from his two children he said,
"I'm giving you two notice that tomorrow night we'll be having a visit from both the dragon and Anthony Goldstein and some of his people. Neither of you are to involve yourselves."
"Again, Harry? I thought we had this out the other day?" Abagail began.
"Yes, we did. But you already had your shot at this one. It's those two broken up dead wizards. I understand you weren't able to get anything out of them."
"Well, yes, that's true. I remember when I was a kid, I had one of those toy what you call 'em, kaleidoscopes. What I saw when I tried to read those dead wizards was like that, only the parts of the pictures didn't look anything alike. I had a headache for a full day after that."
"Exactly, so there is no need for you to poke your nose into this."
"And what about me? Why are you telling me this?" James asked.
"Oh, I don't know, son. Let's see, we'll have a huge intelligent reptile out in the meadow as well as two broken wizard bodies plus two or more Auror investigators. What could there possibly be that would be of interest to a young fellow who intends to make being a professional poker and prodder his life work?"
James met his father stare for stare and held it for all of half a minute before he cracked a smile and shook his head.
"Completely unfair, you know," he said to his father.
"Who knows? If you're lucky maybe the big fellow will want to say hello, but I can't make any promises. So are we clear?"
"Yes, Harry."
"Yes, sir."
"Good, now, more important business. It's almost dinner time and your mother wants you inside and washed up. So up we go," Harry said as he rose.
"You know, Harry," Abagail said with a sly grin and she stood up, "I think the most powerful wizard of the age is actually afraid of a certain short, red haired witch."
"Too bloody right I am. So move it."
The sound of chuckles followed Harry all the way into the house.