Please note that this story is canon complaint up to the epilogue. However, as this story takes place seven years after the epilogue, there have been a few changes.

Anyway, enjoy!


Auror Potter and the Creepy Case of Jack O'Lantern

Chapter 2: The Investigation Begins

Harry and Teddy were seated at Harry's desk in the office going over the reports that had come in as a result of the events of the previous night.

"According to what witnesses told Burke, Patterson and Michaels" said Teddy as he looked through the notes "the attacker fled the scene by climbing up and over a vertical wall."

Harry rubbed a hand over his face wearily and asked "A vertical wall? I assume there was a drainpipe involved?"

"There was one there," replied Teddy "But it's in need of repair and couldn't possibly support the weight of a full grown man."

"Appearances can be deceiving. Are they sure there weren't any charms on it?"

"They checked and found nothing."

"Then he must have cast something on himself." replied Harry.

"I suppose." agreed Teddy "There's another thing though, witnesses reported seeing what looked like two glowing orange eyes under the hat."

Harry frowned. That was an odd occurrence, and one that he could think of no answer for.

At that moment Susan Bones came over to join them. Before attaining the position of Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, she had been Harry's partner amongst the Aurors; they had trained together, worked together and risen through the ranks together. In fact the days of Potter and Bones were quite legendary, and for good reason. Together they were effective and ruthless, though rarely killers. They always brought the bad guys in alive if they could, as you got more answers that way. Through the years many others gravitated towards them and they had become natural leaders, often taking over the running of things when their own superiors failed to perform up to standard. They seemed to almost develop their own unit within the ranks of the Aurors, with many, such as Laura Medley, Rose Zeller and Teddy Lupin becoming their protégés. And it wasn't just Aurors that came under their effective influence. People from all parts of the DMLE, from forensics experts through specialist healers to hit wizards, became part of the highly effective inner-circle of Potter and Bones. A small yet widely sourced team made for an effective team that was made up of people that knew that they were able to trust one another and work perfectly together.

And that made them terrifying to criminals.

Nowadays Potter and Bones were in charge (although they had arguably been in charge for a lot longer than they had officially held the positions) and that had meant trouble for a lot of people. If there was one thing that Potter and Bones hated more than a criminal, it was someone who held a job just because of who their Daddy happened to be friendly with. These Aurors were the least effective ones, often hugely overestimating their battle prowess. They also tended to think that criminals would surrender to them upon learning who their family name, and would often assume (or at least seem to assume) that the name of the arresting officer somehow added credence to a captured criminal's guilt and would thus sway the court in favour of conviction.

It didn't work like that, but these numpties always failed to accept that. And it was these that Potter and Bones had work quickly and effectively to get rid of once they were in charge.

Susan set some documents down on Harry's desk. "I've increased the number of Law Enforcement Officers in Knockturn Alley. I'm going to add an extra two Aurors there as well until we catch the culprit."

"That's fine." replied Harry, picking up the documents and beginning to flick through them "Did you manage to get in contact with the Weasley family yet?"

Susan nodded in reply "Yes. They were understandably distressed, in spite of recent tensions in the family, but were glad she was found before too much damage could be done. I believe Molly and Arthur have headed over to see her already. Oh, and I've just sent dear Ronald home. I told him to take the week off."

Harry gave a nod and smiled weakly. He knew that this action was just Susan jumping at the opportunity to get Ron out of the way. He couldn't really blame her for it either

In spite of everything, Ronald Weasley had managed to escape the purge of the ranks of the DMLE. Harry just couldn't bring himself to do it, no matter how much others insisted that Ron as a branch that needed pruning.

There was no two ways about it; Ronald Weasley was a crap Auror. Not in that he took bribes or anything (well, there was the occasional rumour, but nothing concrete on that front) but more just a bumbling buffoon who usually just caused more paperwork than anything.

After the downfall of Lord Voldemort, Harry had entered into the Auror training program as soon as he was able. There he had begun to work with Susan and together they had qualified after just two years (a whole year earlier than the recommended training period). Ron, however, had mucked about a bit and wasted two whole years turning down every job offer that came his way, first trying to get onto the Chudley Cannons Quidditch team, and when that failed he kept trying to get a coaching role (something that he was entirely unfit for). In the end he was taken on as "Assistant to the Assistant Coach" more to stop him pestering the higher-ups than anything.

The job had lasted just two weeks.

Following that, Ron's brother George roped him in into helping out at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, the joke shop step up by George and his late twin Fred, who had died in the war. According to some sources, Ron had been instrumental in turning the joke shop into a real money-spinner (though other sources pointed out that George's then girlfriend – now wife- Angelina might have had given George a few good pointers, and also former shop assistant Verity took on a more managerial role at around this time as well.)

Four years after starting there, Ron had left the joke shop and took up Auror training. He seemed to be operating under the impression that Harry and Susan had been allowed to glide through the course in order to finish early (it never once occurred to him that they completed their course early through talent), and was a bit miffed at such a thing not being awarded to him. In fact, overall it took Ron an extra two years than was normal to complete the course, barely passing first year, and having to repeat both second and third (only being able to do so because Harry stepped in and persuaded his superiors to allow it. Using his fame like that was something he hated, but did so as a favour to Hermione who was, by now married to Ron).

Harry had had the misfortune to teach some classes that Ron had attended, as well as having to observe several others. Ron's tactical mind seemed only to stretch as far as the chess board, and the Stealth and Concealment classes had been painful to watch. Unfortunately Ron's repeating of two years meant that he finally graduated his training at around the same time it was expected for Harry and Susan to take on their forth protégés. It generally worked like that: you're an Auror for four years and then you could take on a protégé who was just finishing training. The protégé then worked with you for between one and two years, then you could take another. By this point Harry and Susan were starting their tenth year as fully qualified Aurors and had each taken a protégé at the beginning of their fifth, sixth and eighth years, and were now looking for their next ones. Fortunately both of them had been able to nab two other trainees before Ron figured out that he could potentially become Harry's protégé.

Unfortunately the Auror who did take Ron as his protégé suddenly decided to retire just three months later and, with no one to take over his role, and everyone looking to avoid getting stuck with Auror Weasley as a partner, Ron was suddenly unleashed upon the office on his own.

Cue his constant badgering of Harry.

In short Ron made an awful Auror and remained at low rank. When she was still married to Ron, Hermione had once asked Harry why he'd never used his name to help Ron out. Unfortunately Harry was forced to admit to her that it was using his name to prevent Ron from being fired, let alone get him promoted.

Understandably, Hermione had been quite angry and upset to hear her friend Harry talking like that about her husband. Her mind changed just two months later when Ron made a colossal cock-up when he provided the press with secret information about the infamous floo-hacking scandal, perpetrated by the Daily Prophet. Hermione had sincerely apologised and told Harry he had her complete understanding should he choose to ever fire Ron.

Of course, now that Hermione was divorced from Ron (after he was arrested in a brothel), Harry didn't have the excuse of it making her life easier if he just kept Ron employed. Nowadays he told himself that he kept Ron employed because he couldn't fire a man whilst shagging said man's ex-wife. It was just bad form.

Susan, on the other hand, claimed that Harry had some strange sense of (highly undeserved) loyalty to Ron that forced him to forgive every single one of the idiot's faults, no matter how severe. She frequently noted that she had observed the exact same thing in school and Hermione, once her eyes were well and truly opened, whole-heartedly agreed with this sentiment. And she wasn't the only one.

Harry sighed and shook his head in an attempt to push his thoughts regarding Ron aside.

"Have we heard from Tracey over at St Mungo's yet?" Teddy asked "She said she'd contact us if she found anything more."

Susan shook her head "Sorry, no."

Harry took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes again. Despite the injuries sustained by Ginny, and the handful of witnesses, who admittedly didn't get to see much, they really did not have all that much to go on.

"Ginny might be able to tell us more when she wakes up." said Susan "Until then we'll just have to hope that the extra patrols in Knockturn Alley turn up something."

Harry nodded and shut the folder. With the area thoroughly searched, all witnesses questioned and the victim heavily sedated for her own good, there were no more lines of inquiry to them to follow up on at the moment.


George and Angelina Weasley stood behind the counter, totalling up the day's takings. After a successful post-Hogwarts Quidditch career playing for first the Wimbourne Wasps and later the Abbleby Arrows, Angelina had joined George in the running of the successful joke shop at a time when it was looking to expand by opening a branch in Hogsmeade (thankfully George's dear younger brother had left by that point). Now Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was an international business having managed to open a branch in the magical shopping district of France (thanks to the aid of their sister-in law Fleur).

Tonight Angelina could tell that George's heart wasn't really in his work like it usually was, but he could hardly be blamed for that, what with his sister having been attacked in Knockturn Alley the previous evening.

Only a bit longer, however, and she could get him upstairs to their flat for a bit of TLC.

"Night, guys."

They both looked up to see Verity walking across the shop floor, weaving between the boxes of Wildfire Whiz-Bang fireworks and the Anti-Gravity Hats.

"Good night, Verity." the both replied.

"Tell Lee to get better soon." Angelina added.

"I will." replied Verity as she approached and opened the door. She then stepped out into the dark street outside and then closed it behind.

All in all, Verity Jordan was happy with her lot in life. When, fresh out of Hogwarts, she had taken a job at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, it was only intended as a temporary thing until she could find something a bit more permanent. Unfortunately the odds of getting a decent job that paid a good wage were stacked against her. Being a Muggleborn really seemed to count against her in the big, wide world, just as those bullying, arrogant Slytherins had always claimed.

Then one day, about a year after the war had ended, George had presented her with the opportunity to take on a more managerial position in the shop, a position that paid much better some of the jobs she had gone for elsewhere, so she had instantly snatched it up. The only problem had been that her old job was taken over by George's pain in the arse brother Ron. Thankfully George took it upon himself the have a couple of words with Ron one afternoon, and the git quickly learnt to behave himself.

More recently, the overall running of the shop had been turned over to Verity and Angelina, thus allowing George more time to get creating. Usually he did this with Lee, Verity's husband, but Lee had been off from work for the past week with Black Cat Flu.

Diagon Alley was mostly empty, except from what looked like half a dozen Law Enforcement Officers loitering near the entrance to Knockturn Alley, most likely hoping for a chance to capture Ginny Weasley's attacker.

Every shop was shut, though lights still shone through the front windows of a couple as the owners tidied up after a day of business.

She made her way past the Law Officers and headed on towards the Leaky Cauldron as she didn't feel much like cooking dinner tonight and hoped Hannah would be gracious enough to rustle up a couple of her famous cottage pies to go.

Just as she was passing Flourish and Blott's, a man stepped out of the darkened doorway of Quality Quidditch supplies. She didn't really pay him much mind as he began to walk towards her, though she did note that his hat was pulled low over his forehead and the collar of his coat was pulled up around his neck.

She stepped to the side slightly to walk around him when he suddenly reached out and grabbed her left arm. She shouted out in surprise and went for her wand, but in one powerful movement he twisted her arm and flung her to the ground, her wand slipping from her grasp. She was winded by the force with which she hit the ground, and hit her head pretty hard on the cobbles.

Her initial shout, however, drew the attention of the Law Officers. Seeing what was happening, most began to run over to offer assistance, whilst one other began calling for Auror backup.

As a stunning spell whizzed by the attacker's head, he let go of Verity's arm and sprang towards the wall. As the Law Officers fired spells frantically towards him, he scaled the wall and vanished from sight.

Moments later light was coming through every shop-front window and the owners were filling the streets to see what had happened.


"Attacker disturbed before he could do more than knock her to the ground, escaped in the same way as before." stated Law Enforcement Officer Alex Munroe.

Harry tapped his fingers on the surface of the desk as he thought; his face an expression of frustration.

"Are we sure the attacker was the same?" he asked.

"Homburg hat pulled low over the face, long trench coat with the collar pulled up. Same attire as yesterday's attacker." stated Teddy.

"Well, at least the victim is conscious this time." said Harry "Hopefully she'll be able to tell us more when we question her. Have the searchers found anything at all?"

Susan shook her head "Not yet. It's almost as if he apparated away after getting onto the roof. Though thankfully that is impossible nowadays."

Harry nodded in agreement. One of the first changes made following the war was the ease of access to Diagon Alley. Anti-apparition wards over most of the alley made it so that you could only arrive at certain points. Although as many as ten people could arrive in one of these points at a time (your arrival destination was automatically adjusted by the wards to prevent collisions), their arrival could be monitored. This meant that it was much more difficult for people to attack the alley in large numbers, much like the Death Eaters had done during the war. Ten people arriving in the same spot were much easier to corner than ten people arriving scattered throughout the alley. It also made it harder for would-be thieves to make a quick getaway.

Harry got to his feet and pulled on his jacket "Right, let's go talk to Verity."

Teddy nodded and he and Laura followed him from the office.


With all the attention now being given to Diagon Alley, Knockturn Alley was once more left mostly unwatched. Two Law Officers and an Auror were keeping an eye on things near the point where the two streets met, but other than that the dark street was not being watched.

Willy Widdershins, a foul man fond of a bit of Muggle-baiting every now and again, staggered drunkenly out of The Spiny Serpent, his bag of gold now empty. He managed to make it halfway across to the other side of the narrow alley before tripping over his own feet and landing in the gutter. Grumbling he rolled over onto his back before deciding that this was the perfect place to spend the night getting a good, restful sleep.

Soon his snores filled the air.

A couple of doors away Silas Borgin, proprietor of Borgin and Burke's, pulled back an heavy black curtain and gazed out into the street below. He could just make out Widdershins in the gutter. He sneered, shut the curtain again and put up a spell to block out the man's monstrous snores that echoed in the narrow street.

What Borgin did not notice was the man making his way along the street towards Widdershins. The man wore a long trench coat with the collar pulled up, and a Homburg hat pulled low over his face.

He reached the snoring drunk and reached down to grab him.

Moments later, Willy Widdershins woke up in a world of pain.

He screamed a blood-curdling scream.


A/N: And there's Chapter 2. Not really too much focus on the bad guy in this chapter, more just letting you know where people are at. There's more Hermione coming soon, as she's going to have her own theory on who this mysterious attacker is. Also there will be a bit on how she and Harry got together. Chapter 3 should delve into the case a bit more giving Harry and company a bit more to go on, so they can actually start investigating things at a more in-depth level. And yes, Harry will be pissed that Knockturn Alley wasn't being watched properly.

Anyway, see you soon for Chapter 3.