Old habits never fade. Not when they've been all you've ever known in a world you didn't grow up in.
Well, this is what Harry James Potter tried to tell himself.
When he was eleven, he found out the truth. He was a wizard and his parents had died trying to save him from the clutches of an evil wizard, Lord Voldemort. Soon he was whisked away by a half-giant Hagrid to a wizarding school where he learnt magic and potions and magical creatures. It could've been a fairytale, if not for the small consideration of Voldemort returning to power and he, Harry, having to face him alone.
Ever since he was introduced to the world in which he now lived, he had had to deal with nightmares people couldn't conjure up from the raw depths of their imagination. Since his first year at Hogwarts, he was involved in mystery and investigation.
Only one month ago, Harry finished Lord Voldemort and he still hadn't fully adjusted to the fact he was perfectly safe and no one was trying to murder him. He could tell that his two best friends, Ron and Hermione who had been with him through anything, were trying to adjust to the change of not having to camp everywhere and find food on their own.
All of the three friends had sustained scars over the past year, mentally and physically, but they were fighters and could almost feel the new safe world beginning to build itself around them.
That was until curiosity took over the three friends and they decided upon having one last adventure.
Many Death Eaters had escaped being rounded up and sent to Azkaban Prison. This made Harry anxious for justice and wanted to send half of them behind bars himself. However, there was one individual that really needled him.
Sebastian Calix wasn't a very popular Death Eater. He was always lurking in the shadows of those more powerful than he and only following Voldemort so that he wasn't against the most powerful evil force in existence. He quietly surrendered and was put on trial, and later cleared of all charges because he insisted that the Imperius Curse was placed upon him.
So as Harry leaned against the corner of Knockturn Alley, staring at a shuffling Calix and the small leather box he was holding, why did he feel so much doubt?
"Harry! Don't disappear like that, you nearly gave Ron and me a-"
"Hermione, come here a second."
He heard her sigh in annoyance and she traipsed over to where he was standing. Her brown eyes were wide with worry as she clutched to the little beaded bag she still kept with her everywhere.
"What is it?"
"Look down there. That's Calix, isn't it?"
She peered her head around the corner, her eyebrows crossed, "Yes. Yes, he was cleared of all charges wasn't he? Put under the Imperius Curse."
Harry looked at her incredulously, "You believe that?"
Hermione struggled with herself for a moment before genuinely looking worried and shaking her head, "No. I don't believe it at all. If anything, I'd say he looks rather suspicious."
A wide grin broke over Harry's face and he tried not to laugh at her.
"What are you smiling at?" she snapped.
"There was a time, not long ago Hermione, that you would've contradicted me," Harry said, smirking.
"Oh, shut up," Hermione sighed, her brown eyes twinkling mischievously. "I think I'd believe most things now, after what we've went through this year. Except Nargles and Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, that is."
Loud footsteps echoed behind the pair of onlookers, ungraceful and hurried. It wasn't long after that they heard Ron bellow, "And what the hell are you two doing?"
Ron was holding a large ice-cream in one hand and a bag of shopping in the other. His mouth was open comically as he took in Harry and Hermione crouched at the corner, spying on Calix.
"Shush Ron! You're going to spoil our cover!" Hermione hissed.
"What are we hiding from now?" asked Ron, apparently bored.
Harry beckoned him over, and rather slowly and reluctantly Ron crouched beside Harry, scrutinising Calix and the little leather box just around the corner. It appeared as if he was waiting for someone, judging by his behaviour and constant nervous glances around him.
"I don't like the look of him," muttered Ron, his ice-cream starting to drip onto the pavement. "If that doesn't look like a bowtruckle on holiday, I don't know what does."
"A bowtruckle on holiday?" Hermione bit her lip, looking amusedly at Ron. "Where did you learn that one?"
"It's an expression, you know, if someone looks awkward and up to no good. My mum says it all the time!"
But no one argued with each other, for something had quickly caught Calix's attention. He was staring in the distance, a worried look on his frowning face. Harry tensed, getting ready to follow him if he wandered away from his waiting position.
A cloaked figure started to move between the crowds in Knockturn Alley. He was tall, and his features unknown because of his low hood. He was walking purposefully towards Calix, who had started to wear a brave face as he seen his companion stride towards him.
The two men shook hands. Calix turned his back on Harry, Ron and Hermione and looked as if he was opening the little leather box. The hooded man bent low over it before clapping Calix on the back and chuckling loudly. Calix shut the lid and slipped the package into his pocket, leaning against the wall and looked mildly relieved and happy.
Ron gently slipped Harry and Hermione an Extendable ear into their palms. Hermione seemed taken aback by Ron's quick thinking as they shared a long glance at each other. Harry shifted uncomfortably and placed on end of the flesh coloured string into his ear, as the other scurried along the brick wall, towards the suspicious conversation.
"Well done, my friend. Well done indeed!" exclaimed the hooded figure in a hushed husky voice.
"Tomorrow, same time and place?" asked Calix.
"Yes, and then we will go through stage two. Good man, Calix. Good man."
Without another word, the hooded man walked away, his black cloak flapping behind him.
Calix didn't wait any longer, but instead turned and briskly sped around the corner from Knockturn Alley, barely skimming the place where the three friends looked on.
Ron stared from Harry and Hermione, his blue eyes wide and sceptical, "What do you think that was all about?"
Harry paused, glancing at Hermione as he could hear her brain whizzing beside him, "I say we'll be here tomorrow, same time and place to find out. What do you two say to one last adventure?"
