AN!: This was an idea I had awhile back when I started getting into Investigator Potter. The idea was there are a lot of stories of Harry being a cool bad ass but i wanted to make a story from an OC's perspective as they watch Harry work. This story follows Detective John Stills an old school NYPD detective and the case he's assigned to work with ICW agents Potter and Potter.
Detective Stills, walked into the 10th precinct and waved to the old desk sergeant. "Stills! The captain wants to see you in his office!"
"What did I do this time?! I just walked in." He said smiling.
"I don't know, but he called the rookie Carson in too. He's sitting in there waiting for you right now." The old man said.
"Carson? Now this is getting even stranger. What does the Captain want with a fresh faced kid right out of the academy? He's been on the job what? Two, three months?" John Stills asked leaning on the desk. "What could the old man want with the kid?"
"Who you calling old man Stills? You're getting up there too you know. And the kid ain't so bad. He's made some good plays in the last few months. Maybe the Captain wants to make him your new partner?" The old desk sergeant said laughing.
"I ain't that old. I'm only forty. And I work alone. If I wanted to teach some little kid how to walk a crime scene then I would have become a teacher." Stills said looking down at his barrel chest encased in a dark gray suit.
"You better go before the Captain rips you a new one." The desk sergeant said laughing.
"Good point, Carter. I'll see you around." Stills said walking into the elevator. On the third floor he dropped his things off at his desk before knocking on his boss's door. "You called for me?" He asked looking at the rookie.
"I did, where are we at on the triple homicide you caught yesterday?" Captain Ray Stevenson asked.
"The same as I was last night. We have nothing to go on other than the fact that a pro did it. We have no prints. We have no fibers. We have nothing. To top it all off the killer used a knife so we don't have ballistics to work with. I still think it was a hit. Steven Conway owns a tech company that is working on the next generation of smarty phones. If his company had something new, his big name competitor would kill to get there hands on it. You know how much those little smart phones are." Still said taking a seat next to the rookie. The Kid looked young even by rookie standards and in his pressed fresh blues he looked about as green as can be.
"That's what I thought. What do you think the likelihood of you making a solve on this case is? Can you do it?" Ray asked leaning back in his chair.
"You want the bullshit 110 percent speech or do you want my honest answer?" Stills asked taking a drink from his coffee cup.
"The truth. Can you do it?" Ray asked.
"Not a chance in hell. I've worked homicide for a long time and I can tell you the likelihood we catch this guy is slim to none. He's too good. I've seen pros before and this guy is better. Colder too. He tortured and killed the daughter for no reason. He came in the back door. Went up the back staircase and killed the husband and wife without a sound. He could have turned around and walked out but he went down the front stairs and took out the 22 year old daughter just because." Stills said looking tired.
"That's what I thought. This morning I got a call from The Mayor's office. It seams this case might be connected to an Interpol case. Interpol is sending two agents out to take over the case. They requested you stay on to assist and they also requested Richard Carson here by name. You're not going to be a pain in my ass right Stills?" Ray asked.
"Not at all. My ego extends right up to the point of letting a killer walk. I'll be happy to work with these two agents. My only question is why the kid? No offence Kid but you're not a detective, and you're fresh out of academy." Stills said looking at the young officer sitting rigid in the seat next to him.
"None taken Grandpa." The rookie spoke up for the first time. His accent was thick Chicago and Stills smiled at the way he said Grandpa.
"I take it back I like this kid. But I would still like to know why they picked him." Stills said smiling.
"I don't know. No offence Carson. Maybe this will help, they said to meet them at a pub called the Dragon's Head. I had Rosa look it up and she couldn't find it. I hope you two know it because that was the only information they left for you." Ray said but he might as well have been talking to a wall as the two men were staring at each other now.
"I know the place. It's a private club for a secret society on the lower East side. I'm not surprised you didn't find it. You have to be a member to get in, and they don't advertise." Stills said looking back at his boss.
"You're a member of a Secret Society?" Roy asked his long time friend.
"No, my father and mother were. My brother is too. What about you Kid? You a member?" Stills asked.
"My mother and sister are." Carson said looking at Stills.
"Well good. You two should head over there now. The two agents you're meeting should be there in an hour. The Agent's are both named Potter." Ray said dismissing the two.
Outside of the office Carson pinned Stills with a calculating eye. "Squib?" He asked.
"Yes, you?" Stills asked.
"Yes." Carson said looking around to make sure no one heard.
"Go change into your street clothes and meet me out front by my car." Stills said.
"I'll be out in five." Carson said shaking his head as he walked down the stairs.
Ten minutes later they were sitting in Stills' dark blue Crown vic. Carson was now wearing dark jeans, a blue button up shirt and a black leather jacket. "How old are you if you don't mind me asking?" Stills asked glancing at Carson.
"Why, how old do I look?" Carson asked looking offended.
"You're face says 22 but your crew cut, and your battered Sig 226 NAVY tall me you're older. Late twenties?" Stills asked.
"28, not bad." Carson said smirking.
"How long did you server?"
"I served six years in NAVY intelligence." Carson said calmly.
"NAVY intelligence, that's like spy stuff right?" Stills asked.
"You can call it that I guess." Carson said looking out the window.
"So if you served six years in Navy intel, why didn't you become an NCIS agent?" Stills asked.
"Because I'm a third generation cop. I was all set to join the CPD but my Girl got into NYU law so I joined the NYPD. It's not the Chicago PD, but it beats doing some bullshit job I'll hate for the rest of my life, and my Academy training transferred over so I didn't need to go to the academy here." Carson said smirking.
"You moved to New York for a girl?" Stills asked.
"No, I moved out here for Jenny. I would have moved to Alaska for her, and she not just some girl. Now are we going to sit here and play twenty questions about my life or are we going to talk about where we're going?" Carson asked.
"What's there to say? We are meeting two ICW agents, and they are going to help solve a case. At least I think they're ICW agents. They could be Aurors." Still said.
"You don't read the Wizard news do you?" Carson asked looking shocked.
"No, in fact I try to avoid that world like the plague. Growing up a squib in a magical house was not fun as a kid and my family didn't help matters. Now what's going on?" Stills asked.
"Potter, the boy who lived? The man who defeated a Dark Lord? You've never heard of the name Potter?" Carson asked.
"No. What's the story?" Stills asked.
"Back in the late 70's early 80's a dark lord was causing havoc in Britain until he tried to off this little kid. The curse backfired and took him out. Everything was good until the 90's. The dark lord came back and started killing and causing a panic. Potter killed him. This time in a battle. He's supposed to be the best wizard in the world." Carson said.
"Nice story, how do you know this is the same guy? Maybe it's another guy named Potter?" Stills asked.
"Can't be, Harry Potter is the last Potter left. It was in the article. The other Potter must be his wife."
"Great, we have to deal with a married couple, and a celebrity on top of it." Stills said shaking his head.
"There's an easy way to find out more." Carson said pulling out his iPhone.
"Who are you calling?"
"My sister. She's an Auror in Chicago." He said.
"Went into the family business?" Stills asked.
"It's a calling for the Carson clan… Hey sis… can you talk right now?… good, I'm going to put you on speaker. You're on with Detective John Stills."
"Hello John. Now what can I do for you big brother?" A strong female voice came out through the speaker.
"We were assigned to work with a team of ICW agents named Potter, what can you tell us?" Rick asked.
"Potter! Are you kidding me right now?! They're coming to the states? I'm coming to meet them!" She screamed excitedly.
"Vicky! Calm down! What's the big deal?" Rick asked.
"What's the big Deal!? You don't know?" She asked excitedly.
"If I knew anything I wouldn't be calling right now Vicky. We're meeting these two in twenty minutes. Give us the run down and I'll let you stay at our place this weekend so you can meet them." Rick said smirking.
"The Potters are the team to call when you want to get shit done. Harry and Hermione Potter have a flawless arrest record a mile long. I've heard stories about the way they pick apart a crime scene. They work fast too. They solved a huge kidnapping ring in South America in six hours. I'm coming now. I'm getting a portkey after lunch. They won't be there for the weekend in three days. Unless you're working a magical organized crime case they will be gone in a day or two." She said excitedly.
"What else can you tell us?" Stills asked. "What are they like? Can they walk around without being freaked out by cars? I've heard stories of European magical people and they all sound dumber than a box of rocks. The last thing I need is to have to explain to these two that my car is not some kind of metal beast." Stills said.
"You've never met ICW Agents have you?" She asked with a smirk clear in her voice.
"No, I can't say that I have." Stills said.
"ICW Agents need to be able to walk into any situation and be able to handle themselves. They dress and act like muggles, they carry guns, and they act like feds. In fact aside from you two the rest of the cops you meet will think they are feds. You have nothing to worry about. They can handle themselves just fine. The only reason you two are working with them is because ICW Agents don't like to step on any toes. You're the lead investigator and my brother is probably the only squib in your station. If you weren't a squib John they would have never told you they were from the ICW. They would have used a local Fed ID. You are dealing with the best. There are less than a hundred Wizards good enough to be ICW agents. They work in teams of two or three. That means there are between thirty to fifty teams, for the whole world. Think about that. To get to that level you have to be damn good at what you do. I've only ever met one team of ICW agents. They looked like FBI. They talked like FBI. But when they went after a group of magical terrorists plotting to hit the federal reserve here in Chicago they pulled out two sick looking guns and killed everyone. They are licensed to kill and they use it." She said excitedly.
"A bit of a fan I see?" Stills said.
"It's every Auror's dream to get good enough to be ICW Agents. It's the reason I still train every day even though it's not required. To carry an ICW shield is one of the greatest honors in the world. I'm so coming over there tonight!"
"I don't know if that's such a good idea sis. Maybe you should wait and see how these two…"
"HELL NO! You are not going to block me on this! These two are the best ICW Agents in the world! I want to meet them. I'm willing to do anything to meet these two. Including take the few sick days I have, cash them in, and buy a portkey to get there! This Meeting could be the in I need to get an interview!" She said in a voice that said this was not up for debate.
"Okay Vicky, but catch a flight. It'll be cheaper. From everything I've heard from Stills this is a triple homicide with no evidence and it looks like it's connected to some other case. Take your time and we'll do dinner tonight. It will be good to see you again sis." Rick said smiling.
"It's only been a few months." She said.
"And I miss my little sister. Fly out, and I'll put you up for the night. Jenny will be happy to see you too." He said with a soft smile.
"See you soon." She said hanging up.
"So we're meeting super Feds. This should be good." Stills said as he parked on the corner across the street from the Dragon's Head.
"When was the last time you walked into the Magical world?" Carson asked as they walked to the pub.
"Six years. I try to avoid Magic like the plague. Growing up in a house where I was the only one that didn't have it was not fun I can tell you." Stills said looking haunted.
"It was the opposite in my family. Mom is a witch, but not very powerful. Muggle born. But my sister is very powerful. We lived a normal life in the Chicago suburbs until Vicky got her letter to Salem. Then we needed to have a talk about things. Jenny, my girlfriend is a witch, but she's going to Law school." Rick said as they walked in and found a table. A waitress came over in an old dinner style dress and apron she was in her late thirties with good curves, short brown hair cut in a bob and kind brown eyes.
"What can I get you?" She asked with a very friendly smile.
"Two coffees, in togo cups. Do you take muggle cash here? I don't have any gold coins on me." Stills said with an easy smile but Rick could see the uneasiness behind his eyes.
"We don't take gold here. This place caters to a Muggle friendly crowd." She said patting him on the shoulder. Her hand stayed just a little while longer on his shoulder then a friendly pat would call for.
"It's been awhile, sorry." He said sitting back in his chair.
"No problem. Would you like to try our glazed donuts? They're really fresh and soft." She asked with flirtatious edge to her voice as she looked John Stills over.
"I'll take one if you don't mind." Carson said looking to Stills.
"We have time, I'll take one too." He said looking at his watch.
"Be right back." She said winking at Stills.
"I think she likes you Stills. You should get her number." Rick said with a smirk.
"No offence kid, but I'd rather stick my dick in a beehive than a witch." Stills said looking repulsed.
"First off, anytime someone says no offences it's always followed by the most offensive thing they could possibly say, and second, she could be a squib you old fool. I know you hate yourself but she's a fine looking woman. If she finds you attractive you should latch on to her. Because, no offence, but you have a face only a mother could love John." Rick said with a smirk.
"First off, go fuck yourself kid. Secondly, I never thought about that, you're right, she could be a squib." John said as she came back with their donuts and coffee.
"Here you go, there still warm." She said reaching over John to hand Rick his donut.
"Thank you… Gina." John said with an easy smile.
"Not at all sugar. Just call if you want me." She said with a sexy smile.
"Way to go Grandpa." Rick said laughing.
"Shut your trap kid." John said with a smirk.
"Just call me if you want me." Rick said in a over the top sexy whisper.
"I have a gun you know?" John said but his smile gave him away.
"Take the stick outta your ass, and laugh already. If you can't reach the stick I'm sure Gina would help." Rick said laughing.
"Fuck you. Just, fuck you kid." John said breaking, and laughing.
"There you go, you've been a hard ass ever since you've been partnered with me. I know you thought you were going to have to deal with a green rookie. I'm third generation cop John. I'm on the fast track to taking the detective's exam, I have six years working NAVY intel, and I have a degree in criminal justice. This time next year I'll have a gold shield. I'm going to take this case to prove to you that I have what it takes to be a good detective. Because you have seniority in the department, if you say I'm good the rest of the guys with gold shields will stop giving me shit." Rick said eating his donut.
"I was worried I'd hate every minute of working with you. So far it's not so bad." John said. "This coffee on the other hand taste like crap. I'd kill for a caramel cappuccino."
"A cop complaining about bad coffee? I thought I'd never see the day." Rick said laughing. "I was always taught to enjoy dirty sludge water. The frilly shit tastes like crap to me."
"What time do you have?" John asked looking at his watch.
"Five minutes to ten. Our ICW Agents should be here any minute." Rick said.
"I wonder if they'll stick out like this lot. Look at these social rejects. This one looks like a bum. That old lady has a stuffed crow on her hat, and that old man is wearing a top hat. If this is what they look like here can you imagine what the freaks look like in Europe?" John asked.
"About the same, just more colors. The wizards over there act like they're color blind for the most part." Said a voice from behind him.
John spun around and saw a man and woman dressed in black suits and black raincoats. The man had short cut black hair, and a well kept five o'clock shadow on his square jaw. The woman standing next to him had brown hair pulled back into a tight bun at the back of her head and a light smattering of makeup on her very pretty face. "John Stills, this is Rick Carson. You must be the Potters?" John said holding out his hand as he stood up.
"Call us Harry and Hermione. We were hoping to take a look at the crime scene. And see what we're working with from there." Harry said as they shook hands.
"We're finished here, we can head out now. I have my car out front." John said calling over Gina. "What's the damage?" He asked.
She walked over and handed him a receipt, and two to-go cups. "Six bucks and these two are on the house. My number is on the back of the receipt." She said.
"Here's a twenty. I've been avoiding the wizarding world for a long time and I think I've got a reason to come back now." John said with an easy smile.
"I'm here Monday through Friday 9-6." She said as she walked away.
"Way to go Grandpa. Let's go before you run out of smooth." Rick said taking the two cups from him and walking out. The two Potter shared a smirk and followed the younger man out. John was the last one out.
"I'm parked on the corner. The blue Crown Vic." John said pointing to his old beat up cop car.
"If you don't mind detective, I'll drive. There should be an alley around here. This way I think, if I remember the map right." Harry said turning left and walking away with his wife following him.
"What's wrong with my car?" John asked Rick as they followed the husband and wife in Black.
"You mean besides the fact that it's a piece of shit?" Rick asked as they walked into the alley and saw Harry set something small on the ground.
It beeped twice and a new black BMW M5 was sitting there. When they got in Harry started up the twin turbocharged V10 and peeled out shooting up the street at high speed as he weaved in and out of traffic. It was strange how the car moved through traffic. It was like no one could see the car.
"I hope you're not offended Detective Stills, but I prefer to drive my own car. It's faster, and safer." Harry said with a smile.
"This car is shielded against anything up to a nuclear bomb. Harry is really quite proud of it. Our last car was blown up in a firefight with some Brazilian drug cartel guys." Hermione said smirking.
"I was sad to see her go, she was perfect. I still miss that car." Harry lamented.
"It was totally impractical. It had two doors, and barely four seats. ICW gridlines for Agent cars…"
"I know, but it was such a nice car." Harry said cutting her off.
"What was it if you don't mind me asking?" John asked loving the by play.
"2012 Bentley Continental GT, black on black on black. Twin turbo W12." Harry said.
"Nice!" Rick said smiling.
"You're telling me! I loved that car. I should have killed all of those cartel guys but we needed to make arrests." Harry said as he pulled up out front of the house.
"Oh pack it in Harry." Hermione said batting him on the arm.
"You're right, we're here to work. Detective would you mind working with me as my wife runs some scans? Officer You can watch her work, if you like but it tends to be a bit boring." Harry said getting out of the car.
"I don't mind watching her work." Rick said smiling.
"Are you hitting on my wife?" Harry asked in a deadly voice.
"I was until you asked. Sorry about that." Rick said.
"Good answer kid, you can watch her work, but if you bug her with a bunch of questions she will shoot you." Harry said pulling a match book out of his pocket and expanding it into a big black metal case. "Come detective, let us detect." Harry said walking off with John.
"Don't pay him too much attention Richard, he was blasted in the head with dark magic as a child. Here, you can carry my things. It will help." She said as she pulled two small black cases out of her bag, expanding them, and walked away.
Rick picked up the two heavy cases and chased after her. "I would be happy to play your pack mule Agent Potter." he said following her up the stairs to the front door.
"Call me Hermione, now open the case in your left hand and give me the tablet computer and the red gem on a long USB cable." She said casting some spells with a short black wand. "Now we have some privacy." She said nodding as she watched Rick open the case and look at all the gadgets and things in her case. "The tablet is in that black leather case and the gem is in the small compartment next to it."
"Right Sorry, I got lost looking at all this stuff, what is all this stuff?" He said handing her the things she asked for.
"Most of it is what it looks like. This tablet started as a standard tablet. The boys in R and D made it run on Magic. This gem is a magical scanning tool. It detects magic. I'm going to use it to scan the door and the rest of the house. Anyone that used magic in this house over the last two weeks will show up on the scan. Then we cross check the magical signature with the wand database, and bob's your uncle we have our suspect." She said running the gem over the door.
"That's so cool." Rick said looking shocked.
"This door is clear. Let's move on to the rest of the house." She said.
On the back porch Harry was looking at the back door with a Gold magnifying glass. "This was the killer's access point?" Harry asked looking at the broken door lock and crack door frame.
"It was, the killer jimmied the lock with a crowbar between 3 and 4 AM. That's our time of death window for the first victim." John said watching Harry work.
"Well I agree this was the door the killer came into the house through, but they jimmied the lock and cracked the frame after they were all done to hide the fact that they open the door with a spell. See this small reddish brown speck right here?" He asked pointing to a dot John could barely see.
"What about it?"
"That's blood. Most likely from the killers shirt cuff." Harry said swabbing the speck with a long cotton swab and sticking it into a small black pencil sharpener looking cylinder with a read out screen on the side.
"Why is it from the cuff?" John asked.
"The killer wore gloves." Harry said opening the door, and walking into the kitchen. "See the collection of blood right here. The killer was covered in blood. They pulled off the bloody gloves and went to work on the door with clean hands. If we test the blood on the floor it will match the third victim and the speck of blood on the door." Harry said as he tested the blood on the floor.
"So if they used magic to open the door can't you figure out who did it?" John asked.
"In theory, yes, but if this killer is the same one we've been tracking then we might not get anything from the door. My wife will come by to do Magical signature testing in a few minutes. Right now I want to look at the master bedroom." Harry said walking slowly up the back stairs.
"You have a suspect?" John asked.
"We do. It's why we came here. But before we say it's definitely them we want to be sure. And here's one way we can put another check mark in the sure column. We have a bloody footprint about a size 8 and it's super narrow." Harry said dropping an evidence tag on the top stair next to a collection odd drops of blood.
"Footprint? All I see are a few drops of blood." John said looking closer.
"I can see how it looks like that, but if you look at the depression of the carpet fibers and the dept of the stains you can see these drops of blood were ground into the carpet. Also look across hallway from the third victim's room to this top step. This seven drop pattern repeat across the hall and down the first two carpeted stairs. Your CSI team overlooked it because they were looking for a bigger print." Harry said.
"Now that you pointed it out. I can see it. Shit. How did I miss it? It's like it's staring at me." John said.
"Don't worry about it, unless you're looking for it you would have overlooked it. Now let's head into the master bedroom." Harry said hopping up the stairs trying to avoid the blood drops.
"So, is this looking like your killer?" John asked.
"You tried really hard to make that sound casual John. Good job with that, but until we have every box checked I'm not calling this one. There are too many souls riding on this one to call it wrong." Harry said looking at the blood stains on the king sized bed.
"How many times has your guy struck?" John asked watching Harry move around the room.
"Three so far. Ten dead, including a twelve year old little boy." Harry said not looking up from the bed.
"My God." John said softly.
"I've seen a lot of dead bodies John. Hell I've made quite a few over the years, but every time you get called in to look at a kid… you know what I'm talking about John. So you understand why I'm acting like this. Nine adults is bad. Hell it's horrible. But a twelve year old? The small conciliation I can take is he never even knew. One second he was asleep, the next…" Harry trailed off as he crouched low to the ground and ran a flashlight under the bed.
"Six years ago a cleaning lady in a cheap hotel found a three year old under the bed. He was… it was bad." John said looking green.
"Did you catch the killers?" Harry asked looking up at the detective.
"DNA turned up two junkies. We caught up with them in a vice sting. The boyfriend was pimping his girlfriend out for smack. They mugged a rich guy and scored a bunch of dope. They went on a three day bender and left the hotel to find more smack. By the time they remembered they had a kid it was too late. So they left him there. They just left their dead baby under the bed." John said through clenched teeth.
"John, I'm almost done in here. Why don't you go outside for a bit. Ask my wife if she tested the back door yet." Harry said standing up and patting the detective on the back.
"Yeah, thanks Harry. I'll go find out for you. Should I send her up here?" John asked.
"If she's not too busy. We're almost done here. We will need to see the bodies to make a full positive ID. Can you set that up while you're at it?" Harry asked looking at the floor in the corner.
"I'll do that." John said walking out of the room.
Hermione walked into the room a few minutes later and found Harry looking at the corner. "So, are you willing to call it yet?" She asked.
"I told you this morning. We see the bodies first. If the blade work matches then we have our killer. But it's looking very familiar. Test that corner of the room and I'll look at the daughter's room." Harry said.
"Harry, the magic signature on the back door, Julio Marcucci." She said.
"We see the bodies first. No mistakes. We have time on this one, it's not like the last three. It's still October. We have two months still if we play this one right." Harry said.
Outside John stood in the small back garden smoking. "So what do you think of these two?" Rick asked standing next to him.
"He's good. Sharp eye for detail and a good head on his shoulders. He's also not willing to make mistakes, and that says a lot about the man. Most detectives want the win. The faster they get it, the better. This guy wants justice. I respect the hell out of him for that." John said.
"She's good too. She has cool toys and she know how to use them. She's calm, and methodical. Good head on her shoulders. She explains things easy, and simple too. Teacher's personality." Rick said.
Harry and Hermione came out. "We're done here. Let's go see the victims. Then we'll have lunch and we can brief you on our killer." Harry said as they walked to the car.
A half hour later they were standing over the Conways. "Thank you for meeting with us Dr. Hoper. We read you report. It was very detailed. It's why we came here." Hermione said looking over the file in her hand.
"Thank you Agent Potter. I try very hard to treat each body with as much care and time as I can. I understand the importance of my work." The elderly man in scrubs said looking tired.
"It shows Doctor. Your X-rays and photos are just what we needed to make a positive ID of our killer. I just have a few questions for you and we will be on our way." Hermione said laying out the photos on an empty table.
"Anything I can do to help." The doctor said smiling.
"Good. The first question I had was about your timeline. How sure are you on the times of death for the three victims?" She asked as Harry looked closely at the knife wounds.
"Very confident. I was able to do an on site liver temperature test only hours after death giving me a very good time of death. Also the house's thermostat was set to a perfect 74 degrees giving me a good base for all three times of death based on levity."
"Very good Doctor. So we're looking at an hour difference between the elder Conway's and the daughter." She said going over the report.
"That is correct."
"And you found nothing in the stomach content of any of the victims besides dinner? No alcohol, or drugs?" She asked as Harry waved his smart phone over the bucket containing the stomach contents of each victim.
"Just partially digested beef roast, vegetables, and a small amount of red wine in all three. Nothing that stood out at all." The doctor said.
"Doctor. Your description of the knife that killed all three is a Kitchen knife, about 8 inches long with a two inch taper to a point and made of silver. Why silver if you don't mind me asking?" Harry asked.
"I found traces of silver in the wounds including a small silver sliver in the rib bone of Mr. Conway. At first I thought is was steel but the tests came back silver."
"Thank you doctor. One last question. In your opinion, who was the target? Who was the killer coming for?" Harry asked as Hermione put the file back together.
"The daughter. These two were killed quickly, and carelessly. One stab to the heart. The killer placed his hand over the victim's mouth and stabbed the victim once in the chest. On that big king sized bed the wife never even felt her husband struggle as he died. Once he stopped moving, the wife got the same treatment. But the daughter on the other hand, she was made to suffer. She was tied to her bed using nylon rope and sexually assaulted with different objects in the room while the killer cut her up. Finally her throat was slit. These two were killed in seconds and carelessly. This girl experienced true horror for over an hour before her throat was cut. She was awake the whole time and she felt everything until the very end. She even knew she was dead before she bleed out. This was a crime of passion. Someone wanted this girl to suffer." The doctor said in a thick voice.
"Thank you for your time Doctor. We are defiantly look at the same killer." Harry said.
When they walked out of the morgue Rick got a call. "Hay sis… this case is… no I'm not chickening out! I'm just saying this case is not a joke and I don't think… what do you mean you're here? It's barely noon… you're at the Dragon's Head? Fine I'll ask." He said holding the phone.
"Is there a problem Rick?" Hermione asked.
"Kind of, I called my sister earlier to ask about you two. She's an Auror from Chicago. She would like to meet you guys." Rick said blushing around the ears.
"She's not going to fangirl on us right? Because we like to keep things low key and the last thing we need is a big commotion." Harry said.
"No, it's not like that. She really want's to be a ICW agent one day." Rick said.
"What's her name?" Hermione asked.
"Victoria Carson."
Hermione punched it into her smartphone and nodded before handing the phone to Harry. "High test scores, muggle background, and her arrest record is damn good for a second year Auror." She said.
"Yes she's perfect for undercover work, tell her we will meet her at the Dragon's Head in ten minutes." Harry said getting in the car.
"Vicky, we're coming there in ten minutes, they want to meet you." Rick said with a smirk before pulling the phone away to avoid the squeal.
"She's an excitable girl." John said smiling.
"She's 22. They're all excitable at that age." Rick said as they blasted through traffic back to the magical pub that served as one of the entrances to the magical shopping district.
"As a woman I take offence to that. I was never that excitable." Hermione said with a smirk.
"True luv, but you were stunted by hanging out with guys." Harry said.
"I also take offence to that as well. You will be sleeping on the couch tonight." She said hotly.
"Hey Harry, do you really think my sister could make it as an ICW Agent?" Rick asked.
"I do. The selection process is hard. Many applicants apply every year just to make it into the academy. We take just ten. Half of them wash out in under a month. Of the five that do make it out of the three month boot camp. One usually messes up the final test. The four go on to train with a veteran team in the field. The hours and travel get to about half of them and they drop out. On average only five new agents make it to full active status every year. And three veterans retire, quit, or end up dead so our numbers stay the same. Your sister however is starting from a good place. Most applicants are fresh from magic school. They don't make the cut. Applicants who are Aurors do make the cut but fail out because they are Magical born and raised and have no idea how to make it in the muggle world. 90 percent of this job is dealing with muggles and the muggle world. Because muggles out number wizards 100 to 1 most of our cases are like the one we're working now. The ones that do make it get pressured by family to quit when they see how dangerous the work can be. You were both raised in a police family with most of you serving in the military. Victoria has a really good chance to make it." Hermione said.
"Wow. I had no idea things were that crazy. How does the ICW keep up with the work load with so few agents?" Rick asked.
"We don't. That's why we're not called to solve every case. Local law enforcement and Aurors handle most of the crimes that happen in a country. We are only called in for cases like this one. A four time serial killer that no local cop or Auror would have been able to handle. We're not cops. Were more like your muggle FBI. We get called when no one else can get the job done." Harry said pulling into a spot by the Dragon's Head.
When they walked into the pub a perky blond girl practically tackled Rick. "Ricky!" She said hugging him hard.
"Vicky. You're crushing me." Rick said laughing.
"Detective, already back for more?" Gina asked with a smile.
"What can I say? The lunch special on the window looked enticing." John said with an easy smile.
"Is that the only thing you found enticing?" She asked.
"The only thing I'm willing to admit to right now." He said.
"I can work with that Detective. Can I get you all a table?" She asked looking at the group.
"A private room if you don't mind?" Harry asked looking around the room.
"Not at all. We have a room down the hall. If you will all follow me?" she said leading them down a hall and into a back room. When everyone was seated with menus she left.
"I think introductions are in order and then we need to get down to business." Harry said.
"Vicky this is Harry and Hermione Potter. Guys this is my sister." Rick said.
"Hey! What am I? chopped liver?" John asked.
"Right, this geriatric jerk to my left is John Stills. But don't mind him it's almost time for his nap." Rick said smirking.
"HEY!" John said laughing.
"You wanted an introduction so I gave you one." Rick said smirking.
"Right, This is fun but we need to have a real talk about the case." Harry said looking on edge.
"Harry, don't be rude. Let's order some lunch and talk about the case. No one has a weak stomach right? Because we need to read you two in on the other cases." Hermione said.
"No I think that should be fine. I want to know the details so we can help you work. This was my case and I want to see it closed." John said sitting back.
"Good let's order and then seal the room. Victoria, the reason we wanted to meet you was because we might need you for some undercover work. Are you up for that?" Harry asked.
"If it's a way to prove myself then I'm up for anything." Vicky said.
"Good. We'll call your boss and put in the paperwork so you can work with us officially." Hermione said smiling.
When they all got their orders Harry dropped a glowing blue gem in the corner of the room and a wave shot out of the gem and covered the room in blue light before dieing down.
"Now we can talk. The killer we are looking for is named Violet Parkinson. She's 24 years old." Hermione said tossing a file on the table from her bag.
"We're looking for a woman?" John asked shocked.
"Not just any women. A severely disturbed squib with access to funds and a good working knowledge of class two magic." Harry said coldly.
"Class two?" John asked.
"Class two is a Auror term." Vicky said before she caught herself and looked at the two Potters and they both had smirks on their faces.
"By all means Auror." Harry said.
"Right, class two refers to magic that doesn't need a magical user. Also called unpowered magic. Things like Runes, and Potions. Also things like brooms and portkeys. This Parkinson is a Squib from a wealthy magical family I take it?" Vicky asked picking up the file and thumbing through it.
"She was the younger sister of a classmate of ours. Pansy Parkinson." Hermione said.
"So we're looking for a Squib girl. Why the hell is she killing people?" John asked.
"To understand her crimes you have to understand her. She was raised in a dark house under Death Eater parents. Her sister was a pureblood princess and treated like it by both of her parents. Her sister Violet on the other hand was treated like a leper when they found out she was a squib. Her mother sent her off to a magical boarding school that taught squibs and they forgot about her for ten months out of the year. When she came home for break she was kept in her room away from guest and company to hide their shame and treated like dirt. Her father however, he did things to her. I don't have to elaborate on that as we all know where I'm going with this story. One day, when she came back from school they threw her sister a big engagement party. That night, after the guest left, her father came upstairs and tried to do what he did so many times before. Only this time, she was waiting for him with her silver potions knife. She killed him, her mother, and then she took her time on her sister. A pattern you know well from the case we're working on now." Harry said.
"I get all that but why did she do it again? Killing her family is one thing, but why do it again?" John asked.
"We don't know. The day after she killed her family she emptied out her family vault and hopped a portkey to France. Using her money and her skills with potions she started a new life. She attended a Muggle university, she bought a little town house, she even made friends. One of her new friends was Sophia Reno. Daughter of Sebastian and Ava Reno. She was a Squib too, just like Violet. She even went to a private school for squibs like Violet did growing up. This is what she did to the Reno Family." Harry said passing John the file.
"My God." John said.
"The local cops investigated, but like with your case there was no evidence so the case sputtered and died. The Aurors never got involved because only the mother was magical and they were never contacted. She finished out her semester in school like she never killed anyone, she packed her things, and moved to Germany. This is what she did to the Scheck family." Harry said handing John a another file.
"Jesus."
"That about sums it up. She went a whole year between killings that time and even longer this time. That was a year and a half ago. Then two nights ago she hit the Conway's. We don't know why she kills, we just know the pattern and what she'll do next. Each time she's struck she stays long enough for the heat to die down before disappearing. She keeps her routine, she goes to class, she meets up with friends, she does her laundry. We don't know what she looks like, but we do know she goes to NYU. She probably has a class with the victim but she might not. What we do know is that about 44,000 students attend NYU. 32,000 are undergraduates. And of that 32,000 about half are female. We're looking at 16,000 students. We have to find our killer in that group of students before the semester lets out in two months." Hermione said.
"How are you going to track your killer if you don't know what she looks like. My girl goes to NYU, I've walked around that campus before. All 22 year old white girls look the same when they're standing in a big group." Rick said.
"Well we can narrow it down even more then that. Muggles out number magicals by a 10 to 1. That cuts our number of possible down to 1,600 women. We can also track down registered wands once we have ID's on all 1,600 or so women. Our killer won't have a wand. To get ID's on the magical women we need to send in a student with a magical detector and ping as many magical signatures as we can so we can start cutting names off the list. We were going to send Rick in to do this. We were also hoping to get his fiancée to carry around a detector too, but now we have Victoria instead. All she has to do is walk around the campus with a tablet computer and it will ping the signatures. While you two are doing that we have a few other leads to run down. There's a guy in New Jersey that cuts fake papers. If he didn't do the job for our killer then he knows who did." Harry said.
"We also have a back list of cases that can be taken care of here in the states while the information gathering takes place. We are dedicated to this case for as long as it takes. It's mid October, the semester lets out in mid December. Parkinson has killed too many people for her to get away again. She's coming back to ICW headquarters in Switzerland dead or alive." Harry said.
"Well, I would be happy to offer you guys back up while you handle case work." John said.
"Thank you John. Sometimes things go easier if we have a local cop willing to take credit for some of the collars we make. It's always better to keep local criminals in local jails." Hermione said.
"I think we should start tracking magical students after lunch. The faster we get started the better." Harry said.
"And I'll look up the hot zones." Hermione said.
"Hot zones?" John asked.
"Places the ICW thinks magicals are causing trouble. We have annalists all over the world working for the ICW looking for patterns and taking witness statements. They find hot zones. Places like apartment buildings control by street gangs that can't be spied on by local cops or turn up clean when raided. Sometimes it a magical being held against their will and being forced to work for the gang, but sometimes it's a magical gang. We go in and flush out the gangs and rescue or capture the magical. It has the added benefit of cleaning up the gang. Because we don't need warrants it clears up red tape and helps us get things done faster. New York always has a few hot zones or bounties floating around. We like to clean up a city before we leave if we have the time." Hermione said.
"Plus we don't have to fill out weapon discharge forms or clean shoot statements. The ICW takes a Dead is better than alive view on things. It makes things easier that way. ICW agents are more like old school Texas Rangers in that regard. Which is something you should think about Victoria. We end up killing a lot of people every year. All agents do." Harry added as he finished his lunch.
"It was something I had trouble dealing with in the beginning." Hermione said looking at Victoria across the table.
"What's a lot?" Vicky asked.
"The number would be shocking, but the fact is we go after the very worst people you could imagine." Harry said as Gina came by with the bill.
"Let's get out of here and start working on the scans. It's just after one on a Tuesday, and I know they have live music in the cafeteria on Tuesday. People show up just to listen to the bands and it's usually a packed house. They do this on Friday and Saturday too. I can call Jenny and have her meet us in the parking lot. She knows the campus very well and she can show us around." Rick said leading them out of the back room.
"Good thinking. Do you think she would help us with the scanning?" Hermione asked.
"I'm sure she would if we tell her who we're looking for. She could also help us get scans of the grad students." Rick said as the left the restaurant.
A short drive later and they spotted Jenny waiting for them off to the side in the back lot. "Jenny! It's so good to see you!" Vicky said hugging her future sister-in-law.
"It's good to see you too." She said hugging the bigger girl.
"Hey Jen, meet Harry and Hermione Potter and John Stills." Rick said introducing them to his girl.
"Nice to meet you Jenny, I'm glad you agreed to help us out with this." Hermione said shaking her hand.
"Of course I'll help, from what Rick said on the phone this woman sounds horrible. Now what do you need me to do?" Jenny asked looking ready for action.
"We just need you to work with Rick and his sister do the magical scans." Hermione said pulling a black case out of the trunk and opening it.
Inside the case was full of gadgets and tech equipment. She handed out three tablet computers in black leather cases and three pairs of black framed glasses. After some calibrating and adjusting they were all set.
"These Glasses are set to pick up magical signatures. I've calibrated them to only highlight women. As you can see I'm glowing as are Jenny and Vicky. Once you spot someone that's highlighted you just get within five feet of them and hit scan on the tablet. It will scan the signature into the tablet and search the database of wands and match them. If a match is found then the suspect is taken off the list and she will stop glowing. If no match is found the person's name and picture will be put on a short list of suspects." Hermione said before Harry took over.
"At first you will get a lot of names by just walking through crowds with the scan function active. Every tenth person in this place is magical enough to show up in the glasses. But it's the last hundred or so people that are going to be the hardest to get. The loners and stragglers. People that avoid crowds. We need every person you can find. We have no idea what she looks like and she's very good with class two objects. The last time she pretended to be someone she wore the face of a tall black girl with light eyes and had a powerful magical signature thanks to a few pieces of enchanted jewelry. Don't let faces fool you. She could be anyone. When possible stick together and Jenny never go searching without one of them with you. I have no doubt you are a capable witch but Violet Parkinson is a psychotic killer with a bag full of tricks." Harry said looking at the three of them.
"We'll watch out for each other." Rick said.
"I know Rick has his gun but you both have your wands right?" Harry asked the two women.
"I do, I always have it." Jenny said pulling a thin wand out of a hidden sheath on the side of her bag.
"Auror, remember?" Vicky said flicking her wrist making her black wand shoot into her hand from it's hidden holster.
"I want all of you to take one of these." Harry said handing them each a small black disk. It looked like a button but you could feel the power rolling off it. "if you think your life's in danger touch this button to your attacker. It will shock them with 50,000 volts, incapacitating them. It will also alert us to your location and create an apparition jump point. We will pop in next to you no matter where you are."
"Thanks Harry. We better start hunting. We'll see you back at our apartment later for an update." Rick said.
"Stay safe and good luck." Hermione said as they turned and walked back to campus.
"Now what are we doing?" Stills asked looking at the three of them walking away.
"Now we take down a crack den." Hermione said looking at her smartphone.