Chapter 11: A True Gryffindor

Harry was used to feeling like a fool. Quite often back at Hogwarts he was subjected to ridicule by either Snape, Malfoy, or any other Slytherin.

This was one such time.

He stood in the dark room, forcing his breathing to slow as he heard Atherton lock the door behind him. Slow but heavy footsteps sounded faintly, approaching his room. Harry held his breath as Atherton passed his hiding spot and continued onward. He slipped his wand out of his pocket and held it ready. Where did Neal disappear to? He thought. And why?

Harry pondered his options. One, he could slip out of the door and back around the pavement. Two, he could sneak around trying to avoid Atherton without the use of his Invisibility Cloak and look for Neal. Or three, he could use magic and escape.

Neal abandoned me to face Atherton. He betrayed me and stole the horn. With those thoughts on his mind, Harry lifted his wand, turned in a half-circle, and vanished with a sharp crack.

He Apparated onto the pavement a block away from the house. He hurried back, hoping to perhaps intercept Neal as he came out. Instead, he ran into Mozzie.

"Where's Neal?" Mozzie asked, sporting a suit jacket and one of Neal's outrageous hats.

"I could ask you the same," Harry began angrily. "Aren't you his friend?"

"He was with you."

"Key word: was."

Mozzie rounded on Harry. "You left him in there?"

Harry angrily swatted Mozzie away. "He left me first."

"What?"

Harry continued down the pavement, though he wasn't sure why because the house was in front of him and there was no way for him to get inside. "He left me standing in the hallway, facing Atherton."

This time Mozzie did grab Harry. "Atherton saw you?"

Harry stared at the man, confused by the sudden wariness. "No," he said at last. "I ducked into a room and slipped out after he went by."

Mozzie visibly sagged, releasing his hold upon Harry. "But Neal's still in there," he remarked, staring accusingly at Harry.

"After leaving me to get caught by Atherton."

"I'm sure it's all a misunderstanding."

"Possibly," Harry said darkly, though his tone implied he didn't think so.

"We won't find anything out until we get Neal out of that house," Mozzie said.

"Done," a cheerful voice called out from behind them. Both men turned to see Neal sauntering over with his usual flair.

"Neal!" Mozzie exclaimed happily.

"Where's the horn?" Harry demanded.

Neal raised one eyebrow at Harry's anger. "It's right here," he said, pulling it out of his jacket. Mozzie let out something suspiciously akin to a squeak and Neal smirked, handing the horn to his friend. "What's up?"

"You left me back there," Harry accused.

Mozzie sputtered a bit, coming to Neal's defense. But to Harry's surprise, Neal flushed.

"Sorry," he apologized, looking very contrite. "I had to follow through with a hunch. I figured I could meet up with you out here."

"Before or after Atherton caught me?" Harry shot back.

Surprise flitted across his features. "Atherton caught you?"

"No, but no thanks to you. I had to hide in a room and sneak out behind him."

Neal flushed darker. "I'm sorry," he said again, "I didn't figure on him using the back door. It was my fault. I didn't intend to get you caught."

Harry studied the man before him, deciding whether or not to take his word. He recalled Peter saying that he trusted Neal but he could rarely ever pin down a straight answer on him.

"So what were you doing?" Harry asked.

In reply, Neal pulled out his phone and showed Harry and Mozzie a picture of a shoe. Mozzie still cradled the horn, occasionally shooting loving glances at it like all his biggest conspiracy theories had just come true.

"What's that?" Mozzie asked, peering at the screen.

"Atherton's shoe."

Harry nearly rolled his eyes.

At their confusion, Neal did roll his eyes. "Perhaps Malfoy was right. Hermione must be the brains behind your group."

Harry glared at Neal but didn't really object. He would be first to admit Hermione usually figured things out faster than either him or Ron.

"So why don't you just tell me?" he snapped in irritation. Neal smiled.

"Look at the tread," he said, pointing to the screen. Harry squinted but failed to see what captivated Neal's attention. "It's the same pattern as the one Peter found underneath Darius' body."

Harry gasped. "Atherton killed Darius?"

Neal shrugged. "Wouldn't put it past the slimy dirtbag. But we need more proof if we're going to convict him. This might be enough to convince Peter to release your friend but not to bring in Atherton for murder."

"You left me just to get a picture of his shoe?" Harry asked in disbelief.

Neal shrugged again in an overly casual manner. "I wanted to snoop around for evidence to convict him. The shoe was the first thing I found. I had to hustle out of there rather quickly because I heard Atherton coming up the stairs."

Harry was floored. Here, he had just thought Neal had abandoned him, but the man risked capture so he could find evidence to release Malfoy. "I'm sorry," Harry said. "I thought you had betrayed me."

Neal waved his hand. "Think nothing of it. Oh, that reminds me," he said as Mozzie handed the horn back to him. "I believe this belongs to you." He held out the horn to Harry.

"Are you sure?" Harry said doubtfully, not too eager to touch the horn.

Neal swallowed once before nodding. "It's the right thing to do. Your client deserves it more than me. And definitely more than Atherton."

Harry held his breath as he accepted the horn. As soon as the horn touched his hands, Harry nearly sagged with relief. He had it. The Horn of Amalthea! Mission accomplished.

Now all they had to do was destroy it.

Easier said than done. They needed a large space. Perhaps Justin would know of an area.

"Let's head back to headquarters," Neal suggested, tucking his phone away. "Thanks for all of your help, Mozzie. Tell Alex I said thanks as well." He snatched the hat atop Mozzie's head and dropped it on his own.

Mozzie smiled. "Nail Atherton for us," he said. "Put him away for good and that will be thanks enough for Alex. You know we go back too far to owe each other anything."

And with a final nod at Neal, Mozzie headed down the pavement in the opposite direction. Neal turned to Harry. "I'm going to head back and talk with Peter. Do you want to come?"

Mindful of the horn in his hands, Harry tucked it away under his jacket. "Er, I better not. I need to report to my client on our success."

Neal nodded in understanding. "We'll be in touch when we find out more."

With that, Neal headed on down the pavement to the FBI headquarters. Harry ducked into an alley and glanced around, checking to make sure no one was nearby. Finding the alley to be empty of any prying eyes and ears, he raised his wand and disappeared.

"Yes, Justin, we got the horn. No, we really need to destroy it. Yes, we're looking for a large deserted area." Harry grinned as Justin kept asking him over the phone if it was really true they had the horn.

After Apparating into the hotel, Harry showed the horn to Ron and Hermione with a brief synopsis of his adventure, and then sent an owl to Justin detailing the situation. Not fifteen minutes after the owl departed, the phone rang. Justin, being overly familiar with Muggle items, rang the hotel room immediately to discuss this turn of events with them.

"Why are you calling on a Muggle phone?" Harry asked at last. "Why not just Apparate here?" There was a long pause. "Oh. I see."

Justin explained that a highly influential wizard had come into the office, raising a fuss. He couldn't Apparate away until the furor had died.

"I think I can put in a request to cordon off an area for you, though," he said. "It will be by the docks. That's our usual destruction area. It's far enough away from Muggle interference that they won't notice anything out of the ordinary, and we've warded the place pretty secure now after a rather embarrassing incident involving some homeless Muggles and a rampaging unicorn."

"Unicorns rampage?" Harry asked before he could stop himself.

"Only when they're frightened. They don't take too kindly to Muggles in the first place and when they're cornered it has led to some nasty unexplained stabbings in the Muggle world."

"Don't the Muggles start to notice a pattern to the stabbings?"

Justin laughed. "In New York City? You must be joking. Anyway, give me a couple of hours to put in the request with my superiors, okay?"

"What do we do in the meantime?" Harry asked.

"Enjoy some tea? You've earned a chance to relax."

Harry sighed as he replaced the phone and informed Hermione and Ron what Justin said.

"We could always play some chess," Ron suggested.

Harry grimaced. "I'd rather play Exploding Snap, but I left my cards at home."

"Our brooms, too, else maybe we could have gone somewhere and practiced Quidditch."

Hermione took out a book and sat in the cushy chair by the window. "I really don't care what you two decide, but I'm going to read for a bit." Ron rolled his eyes as if to say as usual but Hermione didn't see. "Maybe you could go downstairs and have some tea like Justin suggested."

Harry shrugged. That sounded as good as anything they had come up with so far. He was looking forward to a few hours of relaxation.

"Peter!"

Peter turned from where he had just about to enter his office as Neal bounded into the floor. He darted up the stairs leading to Peter's office two at a time. He beamed as he practically quivered with excitement.

"What?"

"Mission accomplished."

"You come running in here like a deranged ape just to inform me of that?"

Neal pulled out his cell phone and herded Peter into his office before shutting the door. "I got a lead."

Peter perked up. "That's better." He accepted Neal's phone. His face blanched. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Depends on what you think it is."

"Neal..."

"Yes, it's a shoe I found in Atherton's bedroom."

Biting back the urge to ask what he was doing in Atherton's bedroom, Peter instead sighed. "I can't use this as evidence."

"But it should be enough to release Mr. Malfoy, right?"

Peter thought on that. On one hand, he wouldn't mind holding the arrogant jerk in his cells a bit longer. On the other hand, they really didn't have any solid evidence to hold him. If he wasn't going to press charges, he should release him. In fact, he was surprised Malfoy hadn't brought up that point to him already. It was obvious the man was extremely wealthy, he should easily be able to afford one of those expensive attorneys normally used to make Peter's life miserable. Perhaps it was because he was British. He might not know the American customs.

"I suppose," Peter reluctantly agreed. He opened the door to his office. "Jones!" he barked. "Retrieve Lucius Malfoy's personal belongings. I'm releasing him."

Neal smiled. "You'll get in on good terms with those three from England."

Peter ignored him. "Want to come with me to be the bearer of good news?"

"Nah, I think I'll sit here and ponder how we can get a warrant for Atherton's home."

Peter smiled at him. "For once I'm ahead of you. Diana said that some cameras from across the street were pointed at the museum. They caught the whole incident. We're just waiting for forensics to confirm the facial recognition match. Then we'll go to a judge for a warrant."

Neal smiled back. "Then it sounds like I might enjoy giving Mr. Malfoy some good news." He stood and buttoned his jacket. "Lead on."

Jones met Peter outside of the interrogation room and handed the cane to him. "This was the only thing they confiscated from him."

"Thanks. Let me know what Diana discovers. The sooner the better," Peter said. Jones nodded and disappeared down the hall. Peter opened the door and wasn't surprised to see Malfoy's cool gray eyes locked onto him.

"Neal and your friend Harry uncovered some evidence during the course of their investigation that, while I cannot use in court, have nonetheless swayed me to believe in your innocence," Peter said. He set the cane down on the table and unlocked Malfoy's cuffs. "You're free to go."

"Just like that?" Malfoy sneered.

Peter smirked. "We would advise you not leaving the country. In fact, we advise you staying in the same hotel as your British friends." He nearly laughed aloud at the incredulous look of chagrin that appeared on Malfoy's face.

"You cannot possibly think that I would stay in such a place." he exclaimed.

Peter shrugged. "It's either there or here. Your choice."

Malfoy picked up his cane and clutched it for a long moment, glaring at the senior agent. Peter calmly returned the stare. Malfoy relented at last. "Take me to it," he ordered.

"An agent will escort you. Good day, Mr. Malfoy."

Malfoy wordlessly swept past them with his aristocratic flair. Neal sighed as he left the room.

"Can you really imagine Harry and them being friends?"

Peter chuckled and shook his head. "Nope. But that's their business. We have a murderer to catch."

"Talmon?"

Peter frowned. Neal touched a sore point. "Talmon's whereabouts are currently unknown. No, I was referring to Atherton."

Neal shoved his hands into his pockets. "Let's hope we get that warrant soon."

As if he said the magic words, Diana rushed over with Jones on her heels. "We got it!" she exclaimed, waving a thin pamphlet of paper high in the air. "The facial recognition software matched, which was enough for the judge to grant us a warrant."

Peter smiled. "Let's go then."

"This is the place?" Ron exclaimed as they approached the warehouse. It was well into evening, and after the sun set, a chilling wind swept across the bay. Harry buttoned his cloak.

Hermione double checked her paper. "This matched the description Justin sent us."

They stood on the edge of a run-down district. Rusted chain-link fence bore battered No Trespassing signs. Beyond the fence, several desolate building stood against the darkness. Most appeared to be in various states of disarray. One or two had red Condemned stickers plastered onto the sides. Bits of rubbish drifted about in the sharp breeze. Harry suspected the slightest bit of magic would send the whole place crumbling to the ground like a house of cards. Exploding Snap cards.

"Well, let's get this over with. The sooner we rid ourselves of this artifact, the sooner we can return home," Hermione said. She withdrew her wand and with a graceful swish, unlocked the rusty padlock on the fence. She pushed at the fence. It opened with a slow grinding creak. She slipped inside and headed to one of the vacant warehouses. "We're looking for Building 8."

As they got farther into the derelict lot, the buildings looked even more ominous up close. Harry peered at the boarded up windows and the smashed glass peeking through. Then, abruptly, everything changed.

Harry thought for a moment he walked under a cold stream of water. He shivered as an intense feeling of foreboding nearly overwhelmed him. He wanted to flee. Setting his jaw stubbornly, he ignored the fear flooding inside him and stepped forward once more. Just as suddenly as the trepidation appeared, it vanished. And with it, so did the dingy structures. He was now facing a row of pristine stone facilities with clean numbering near the doors.

"A ward!" Hermione exclaimed gleefully. "I should have known."

Feeling foolish that he hadn't thought of that either, Harry concentrated on finding building 8. He did feel a bit better that Hermione didn't pick up on wards. He shared a look with Ron and the redhead clearly shared his sentiments.

"There," he announced, pointing to a building resting near the waterfront. A gleaming bronze 8 announced that they had indeed arrived at the proper building.

"Do you have the dagger?" Hermione asked.

Ron patted his pocket. "Right here."

"And the horn?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Hermione, we have it."

"Right. Just checking."

"Oh no," Ron exclaimed in mock astonishment, "I think we forgot the directions!"

Hermione retorted with a playful swat to his shoulder and Ron laughed.

As they approached the door, Harry noticed it was already cracked open and light streamed from inside. Frowning, he withdrew his wand and motioned to the others to stop. They did. Harry pointed to the light.

"Wands ready," he whispered. The others drew their wands as well. Harry leaned forward and peeked through the door. Spying no one in sight, he opened it a bit and slipped inside.

Inside, multiple crates lined crudely structured metal shelves. Looking at the layout and remembering the pristine order of the Department of Mysteries brought a smile to Harry's face at the comparison. This place was clearly held together only by magic. And even that was stretching it. One shelf levitated in mid-air.

Loud voices returned Harry back to the situation at hand. He crept forward, mindful of his friends beside him. He crouched behind one box and peered around the corner. And nearly gasped in shock.

"Where are they?" Wade Talmon demanded, pacing the floor in an erratic pattern.

Beside him, sitting on a table with his legs dangling casually off the edge and his hands folded calmly in his lap, was Justin Moretti.

"Relax," Justin replied, a bit too loudly for Talmon's liking, "they'll be here."

"Shh," Talmon hissed. "They'll hear you."

Justin shrugged. "You have the advantage on them here," he said, making no effort to lower his voice.

Talmon rounded on him then, thrusting his wand into Justin's face. "If you set the wards properly."

Justin smiled. "You were watching me. You know what the wards do. They'll alert you the moment the horn arrives."

"Good." Talmon resumed his pacing.

Harry was floored. Justin was the wizard who betrayed them? Harry didn't want to believe it. Justin had stuck up for them at the ministry, backed them up at the ball, and offered valuable advice when they needed it most. He looked at Hermione and Ron, both of whom bore equally dumbfounded expressions.

"Justin led us here, planning to trap us," Ron whispered. "He never intended for us to destroy the horn."

Too late, Harry recalled how Justin always insisted they not destroy the horn. White hot fury coursed through him and he stood, clenching his wand.

He shook off Hermione, who hissed at him and grabbed at his robe, and strode out from behind the crates. He stalked forward, leveling his wand angrily at the two wizards in front of him.

Talmon heard him coming and turned around, pointing his wand at Harry in kind. Justin remained sitting with a stunned expression.

"Surprised to see me?" Harry snarled to the American Auror.

"You're an idiot," Justin said softly. Harry ignored what he thought to be sadness in his voice. "A true idiot, and that's something."

"Mr. Harry Potter, if I am not mistaken?" Talmon asked. "I recall you from when you and your FBI friend came to interrogate me. Tell me, is he lurking about in the shadows as well? I pegged him as a Muggle, but you surprised me."

"He is a Muggle," Harry said.

"Ah. Then where are your other friends?" At Harry's silence, Talmon gave a thin smile. "Come out come out wherever you are," he taunted in a sing-song voice. "Or I shall be forced to kill your friend. Really, all I want is the horn."

"It's right here," Harry said, pulling it from his robes. Talmon gaped at it, a hungry glint in his eyes. Justin closed his eyes in defeat and hung his head. Harry tossed it on the table. "Go ahead."

Talmon reached for it, then hesitated. "It's a trap."

"Maybe," Harry replied. "But I can touch it. Maybe you can now, as well."

Talmon sent another longing look at the horn, then flicked his wand over to Justin. "You get it."

"Me?"

"Do it!"

Justin reluctantly pushed himself off of the table. He studied the horn for a moment before Talmon impatiently motioned with his wand. "Go on, then."

Justin circled the horn and approached it opposite to where Talmon was staring at it. He glanced to Harry, and his eyes seemed to be telling Harry something. Just as quick, Justin returned his gaze to the horn. He slowly reached out with a tentative hand.

"Reducto!" a voice shouted.

Harry instinctively dove to one side as a streak of light blazed past him. The table in front of him exploded into hundreds of splinters. The horn flew upwards and clattered on top of some crates.

Harry covered his eyes as shards of wood rained down on him. A hand encircled his wrist and yanked him behind some crates. Talmon had been thrown back by the explosion and he staggered behind some crates on the opposite side of the warehouse.

Harry looked up into the blazing eyes of Justin Moretti. "You stupid idiotic numbskull!" the young American seethed at him. Numbskull? Harry thought dully. "What were you thinking?" Justin dragged Harry farther back behind the crates, where Ron and Hermione joined them. He ignored them both, focusing on berating Harry.

"You didn't stop to think for just one moment that my wards were designed to scare you away? Did you listen to reason? No! You just had to come in here, completely disregarding my not-very-subtle hints to stay away."

Harry just sat there, stunned, as the American continued to rant at him. He said the first thing that came to mind. "You betrayed us. You wanted the horn for yourself."

Justin snorted at him in utter contempt. "You really are a stupid blind fool, aren't you?" he said, the ice in his voice only matching the cold fury etched in his face. "I was trying to warn you against coming in! Talmon discovered what you were going to do here and attacked me outside of the Ministry. I can't believe you actually thought I would betray you. After everything I did to stick up for you in the Ministry and all the help I've given you. Some friend you turned out to be."

Hurt replaced the anger in Justin's face as he turned from the three and glared out into the room. The dust had settled somewhat, and Harry could see the horn gleaming in the faint lighting. He wondered where Talmon was. He caught a look at Justin. He spoke extra loud so we would be sure to spot him. All at once, immense guilt swept through him. "I'm sorry," he said.

"Harry's a real dolt, if you couldn't tell," Hermione said. "We tried to stop him from jumping out so stupidly, but as you can tell he tends to have a mind of his own."

"What?" Harry exclaimed.

"Harry, Justin was clearly Talmon's prisoner. It was obvious based on the way Talmon kept his wand trained on him. I tried to tell you that before you attacked blindly, but you wouldn't listen." Hermione turned to Justin. "For the record, he does this often enough to have a betting pool going among the Aurors at home."

Justin smirked slightly. Harry flushed. "They do not have a betting pool going on."

Ron chuckled. "Actually, mate, I won the last two rounds."

Harry gaped at his two friends. Justin smiled at last. "I believe you. We have better things to do, though. Where's Talmon? How are we going to get the horn?"

"And who fired that Reducto spell?" Hermione added.

Justin turned to them in surprise. "But I thought you did."

Hermione shook her head. "We weren't in the right angle. We might have hit Harry instead."

"How fortunate for you," a low voice drawled from behind them, "that I have no such reservations."

They turned. Lucius Malfoy smiled smugly at them, holding his wand aloft in one hand and his cane in the other.

Author's Note: My poor, maligned Justin. Fun author fact: I place several homages to various friends and characters from other media in my stories, and this one is no exception. Justin (looks, characteristics, personality, and a slight background history) is based on my favorite character from another series (since I'm not getting paid for any of this because it's fanfiction, I thought "why not?"). Kudos to whomever guesses correctly.

Also, if you couldn't tell, this story is reaching the climax and will be wrapping up shortly. Thanks for all the hits, reviews (especially reviews), favorites and alerts!