Chapter 12: An Education

The Laveau School looked the same as it did when Melody and I visited it on our honeymoon, or at least the front gate did. The AAB agent who brought me there did some sort of spell that communicated to the groundskeeper that we had arrived and shortly thereafter the gate was opened. The agent told me to send an owl to Lt. Davis when I was ready to leave and left me standing there at the opened gate all by myself. I shouldered the strap to my messenger bag, adjusted my blazer so I would look somewhat respectable and once again stepped foot on the campus of Laveau School.

The long lane that led directly to the Administration building was lined with trees; several students could be seen lounging around and playing with a fanged Frisbee, evidence of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes worldwide reach. Unlike the Hogwarts students the Laveau students didn't wear uniforms and robes, just normal Muggle clothing, making them indistinguishable from their Muggle counterparts except for their choice of educational institution. As I walked towards the Administration building I was once again struck by the differences between Laveau and Hogwarts; Hogwarts was mostly a self-contained unit, as everything was in the castle for the most part, but Laveau was situated like a college campus. There were separate buildings for certain disciplines, like Transfiguration and Potions, but most interesting part for me was how the Defense Against the Dark Arts building was separated from the rest of the campus by a small stream that ran through the grounds. To access the DADA building students had to walk over a small footbridge and the bridge was known as either the Cursed Bridge or the Kissing Bridge, depending on who you talked to. The more agrarian disciplines, Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures, were set some ways off from the main group of buildings which centered around the Administration building.

I received a few curious glances as I made my way to the Administration Building, but I expected that. If somebody had shown up unexpectedly at Hogwarts I would certainly have heard about it from my students. After entering the building and following the signs I made my way to the Superintendant's office and sat in one of the visitor's chairs by the Superintendant's assistant, who was not surprised to see me. I guessed the AAB must have made them aware that I would be visiting. Thankfully I didn't have to wait too long when the Superintendant's door opened after a couple of minutes and the assistant nodded at me. I picked up my bag and walked in to the office, which surprisingly looked very similar to any other academic office, wizarding or Muggle.

"Professor Boyd, so good to see you again." The silver-haired woman walked around the corner of her desk and shook my hand. "And how is your wife?"

"Very well, thank you Superintendant Cormier." She motioned towards a chair in front of her desk and I sat down. "We're expecting our first in June."

"Congratulations, Professor. That is good news." She took out her wand, closed the door and made several movements with her wand. Her face grew serious almost instantly after completing the spells. She sat down quickly and looked at me very seriously. "Professor, has there been any progress on Mrs. Johnson's whereabouts?"

I shook my head. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Cormier. I don't have any new information, but I know everyone is working their hardest."

"It's just us in here, Professor, please just call me Franny." She sighed and reached for a cup of coffee on her desk. "I am really worried about Susan. Her poor husband is beside himself."

"I can't imagine. Franny, the AAB would like me to spend some time at Laveau; they want me to go through Susan Johnson's things again, just to see if there's anything we missed, and talk to some people. I hope that's ok."

Franny nodded. "We've left her office as it was when she disappeared, as the AAB requested. I'll have to add you to the list of those allowed inside." Suddenly her face brightened. "Professor, since you're here, after you've spoken to some of the staff would you mind stopping by the Muggle Studies building? I'm sure the students would enjoy meeting the person who wrote their textbook. Oh, after you've completed your investigation, of course."

"Hank, please. Sure, that'd be fine. I'd like to start in Mrs. Johnson's office first."

"Of course. I'll have my assistant take you by there. Please stop by afterwards."

Susan Johnson's office reminded me of Harry Potter's; papers everywhere and a sense of organization and filing that could be called 'chaotic' at best. There were magical pictures on her desk showing her standing next to an older man and waving at the camera, several pictures of dogs and a little house in the country where if you stared at the picture long enough you could see the seasons change and flowers sprout out of the ground and then bloom. For the most part the office was like any academic's office as it was full of lesson plans, quiz and test materials as well as reference books. I was happy to see that all of my books sat on the bookshelf, and when I took down the copy of My Wand is Useless I was surprised to see my signature on the title page. Apparently I'd met Susan Johnson or someone had given her a copy of my book from my book signing in New Orleans on my honeymoon trip.

That was the most interesting thing in the office; I couldn't find anything even remotely resembling a clue. There were no references to the WLF, Knights of the Wand or any other anti-Muggle groups and after looking at my textbook it was obvious from her notes that she'd done something different in regards to the land redistribution portion of the chapter on World War 2. That made sense, as the war in Europe was much different than it was in America, and it gave me an idea in regards to updating the text for a more international edition. I made a note of that in my little notebook and sadly that was the only note I made while in the office.

The staff members that I visited with were uniform in their responses, just not the wording. Everyone was shocked that Mrs. Johnson was missing, nobody had noticed anything different or suspicious, and nobody had received any information. She had been planning her classes when she went missing, and the Potions professor had even had breakfast with her the day she disappeared. All in all it was nice to meet the staff members, but I knew there was absolutely nothing that they could tell me that they hadn't already told the AAB.

It was a little past lunch time when I made my way over to Superintendant Cormier's office, so I joined her in walking to the Student Union building for a bite to eat. We didn't have time to actually discuss my findings, or lack of finding anything useful in Susan Johnson's office or in the interviews as we were interrupted by students several times, asking about Quidditch or the upcoming concert, so by the time we ended up at a small table in a secluded area of the dining hall I had pretty much forgotten the real reason why I was there. After being so used to Hogwarts the differences in my school and Laveau were startling; there were no house tables, it was a cafeteria-style dining hall…pretty much the same setup as my undergraduate college.

Right as I took a bite of my chicken sandwich Superintendant Cormier asked me what I thought of Laveau. I held up my hand for a second, finished chewing and smiled. "Sorry. I can't get over how different it is than Hogwarts. No houses, you've got a campus instead of a castle, no uniforms…I'm sure my students would love it."

Franny laughed. "The grass is always greener…we've had a few students do some research on the other wizarding schools, and they think that Hogwarts sounds much better than Laveau. I'm sure you'll hear something about that when you stop by the Muggle Studies classroom."

"How has that gone so far? I mean, I know what's in the reports and everything, but how has Mrs. Johnson's absence…um, what's been the reaction?"

"A few students were withdrawn from the class by their parents, we had to send out a letter to all parents informing them of the situation and we've had a bit of bad press in the local papers. Besides that the AAB has been around a little more frequently than I'd like. Don't get me wrong; I'm glad they're here, but it really disrupts the students." Suddenly her face brightened. "Speaking of students, would you like to make the Muggle Studies class your next stop?"

"Sounds good to me." I took a drink of sweet tea. "Oh, you have no idea how much I've missed that. Hey, you wouldn't happen to have any boudin balls, would you? Oooh, and fried alligator? Chicory coffee? And beignets…"

Franny laughed. "Tired of black pudding and bangers and mash?"

I shook my head. "No, I like those a lot, it's just…I really miss boudin balls. I can't help it; I'm a slave to my stomach."

After savoring the last of the boudin balls that were brought from the kitchen I walked across campus to the North Wing Annex building which housed not only the Muggle Studies classes but the Divination and History of Magic classes. Franny told me that the students called the building the "no wands allowed" building since most of the subjects covered in that facility did not require wands. We entered the building along with a steady stream of students and after walking up a flight of stairs we arrived at the classroom. The instructor was at her desk, a very elderly woman with grey hair piled upon her head and she was shuffling through notes when we arrived. Upon seeing us she rose from her desk and greeted us warmly.

"Professor Muggle, I can't believe you're here. Superintendant, this is a great surprise. Oh, I apologize. Pleased to meet you, Professor. I'm Nadine, Nadine Leon."

"Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Leon. I hope I won't disrupt your lesson plans with my impromptu visit?"

She patted me on the arm, reminding me of the older women from church back in Virginia. "Don't you fret, dearie. I know the students would love to visit with you. I have to say your textbook is so much better than when I taught full time."

"You used to teach Muggle Studies?"

She nodded. "I retired several years ago, but after…the incident, Superintendant Cormier asked me if I could help her out, and here I am."

A bell rang out in the hallway and soon the classroom began to fill up with students. Initially they were quite noisy, but after seeing their Superintendant, as well as some strange man talking to their instructor they were fairly quiet, whispering back and forth.

Franny looked at her watch. "Please excuse me; I have a meeting that I must prepare for. Professor, I leave you in Mrs. Leon's capable hands. Please stop by my office before you leave."

I nodded; after she left Mrs. Leon directed me towards the front of the classroom where she conjured a very comfortable chair for me to sit in. The class' attention was focused on me as Mrs. Leon walked towards the front of the classroom.

"We have a very special treat today, class. As you can see we have a visitor, all the way from England. I'll allow him to do the rest of the introduction. Professor?" She looked towards me and I nodded.

After Mrs. Leon sat in the chair I recently vacated I assumed my normal position, sitting on the front edge of the desk. "Thank you, Mrs. Leon. I do have one correction; I live in Scotland, but no worries. Ok. Before I begin I'd like to ask y'all a question; what do you think about your Muggle Studies textbook, With the Wandless?"

I watched the students look back and forth at each other but nobody said a word.

"There is no right or wrong answer; I asked you what you thought of the textbook." I adjusted my glasses. The class looked as if they would be about fourth year students. "Come on, nobody has any comments?" Out of the corner of my eye I saw a hand go up in the back of the classroom. "Yes, you have a comment?"

The classroom filled with the sound of everyone shifting in their individual desks as they turned to look at the owner of the raised hand. A girl with light-coffee colored skin looked at me worriedly. "Are you from the textbook company?"

I bit my lip to stop a smile. "You could say that. I'm looking for ways to improve the textbook, to see what works and what doesn't. The textbook was written in Britain, so I'm wondering if there are some things that might not specifically apply to Laveau. Y'all feel free to jump in; don't worry about raising your hands."

"You don't sound like someone from England. They don't say 'y'all' over there, do they?"

The commenter was a chubby blonde boy in the opposite side of the room from the girl who had raised her hand. "Well done. Yes, I'm not from England. I grew up in Virginia, I only moved over to the UK a few years ago."

"Well the whole thing about World War 2 needs to be updated. We skip most of that chapter. Well, the stuff where the Muggles took away land an' stuff."

This time it was a thin, tall, dark haired girl. I nodded at her. "That's one area I want to fix. You'd think that since I grew up America I'd give that part a US slant, but it's one of the drawbacks of being a dual-citizen, I suppose."

A sharp, loud intake of air got everyone's attention, and the girl who'd asked the first question clapped her hand over her mouth. When she realized everyone was looking at her she shook her head. "Don't y'all realize who this is? You're Professor Muggle, aren't you?"

I nodded. "That's right, five points to…wait, you don't have houses, do you?"

That was the signal for everybody to begin talking at once. I held up my hands and motioned for everyone to quiet down and after about a good minute and a half they finally did. "Yes, I wrote your textbook. Hopefully it's not too boring. I know in my classroom we…"

"Do you really know Harry Potter? And George Weasley?"

I looked over and saw the chubby boy's face, which was wide with surprise. "Um, yeah. I do. They're nice guys."

"What about the Snakeslayer?" This time it was a short little redheaded girl in the front row. "Him too?"

Snakeslayer? Who the heck was she talking…oh. "Neville Longbottom? Yes, he's the Herbology professor at Hogwarts and a good friend. Best man at my wedding, actually." I took a look over at Mrs. Leon and she simply smiled at me. I turned back to the class. "You don't really care about the textbook now, do you?" Every head shook in agreement. "Yeah, that's what I though. Shit, so much for my textbook." That caused a lot of laughter and I glanced back at Mrs. Leon, who had a stern look upon her face. "Sorry. That's one of my bad habits. Ok, how about this; I'll tell you what Hogwarts is like if you tell me about Muggle Studies here at Laveau, deal?"

When I arrived in Superintendant Cormier's office I didn't say a word; instead I sat down in the chair across from her desk, put my head on the back of the chair and dropped my arms straight down instead of using the armrests. She laughed for a few minutes, and when I finally lifted my head back up to a normal human-type position I found her smiling.

"Well, Professor? I take it the students had some questions for you?"

"Oh yeah, they had questions. Absolutely nothing about the textbook. I think Mrs. Leon wants to hex me now, I'm sure I've thrown off her classes for the next week or so. After a while I thought they were just trying to make shit up. 'Yes, Harry Potter has the strength of ten men, actually has four wives and dispatched Voldemort by throwing pixies at him while riding a hippogriff.' Good grief."

"You're obviously not aware of the Potter Adventure series of books, are you?"

"The what?"

Superintendant Cormier leaned back in her chair. "They're supposed to be illegal; they don't follow the normal publishing path and aren't sold in proper bookstores so of course they're the most popular things ever. From what I understand they're fictional accounts of the life of Harry Potter and his friends up to the defeat of Voldemort and they tend to either embellish or outright fabricate events. I was sure that you'd heard of them, as you know Mr. Potter."

I laughed. "No, no clue. I have to get a hold of a set of them before I leave. Any idea where I could do that?"

Franny Cormier pursed her lips. "I suppose you might try Rue Avenue, one of the shops. It's not a very respectable area of New Orleans."

Rue Avenue? "Ok, I'm barely literate with English some days and even worse at French, but doesn't that mean Avenue Street?"

"Precisely. It's an avenue in New Orleans that runs underneath a normal Muggle street. I have an idea where it might be located. Let me draw you out some directions."

As I left Laveau with my AAB escort to head back to the Vanishing Spectre I wondered what Draco would think as well as how Draco would be depicted in the Harry Potter Adventure books. Besides increasing awareness of Hogwarts, the rest of my day had been a complete waste in regards to finding out anything about the missing Muggle Studies instructor. Hopefully Draco had a better day.

When I arrived back at the Vanishing Spectre I was met by Virgil, who after meowing at me quite insistently took my unwillingness to pick him up as an invitation to try to climb up my leg. I'd forgotten how sharp kitten claws can be, so he only made it past my knee before I picked him up. He began to purr almost instantly, and it was while carrying Virgil in my arm that I saw the letter on the table between the two chairs. I picked up the letter, sat down and after Virgil moved to my lap I opened up the letter.

Hank,

The meeting in Canada will stretch on another day. I apologize for not providing you of additional information, but Lt. Davis believes in minimizing potential exposure. Look for my return tomorrow afternoon at the latest. If my return is delayed again I will send word, but if you receive no communication from me do not hesitate to contact our associates in this endeavor.

Draco

"Shit, Virgil. Looks like it's just us. Draco's doing his thing, I can't contact Nate or Lavender, I don't know anybody else and this place definitely doesn't have a TV. What do you think?"

I scratched him under his chin and he purred away, pausing only to meow at me briefly.

"You're right, Virgil. Guess it's time to go see if I can find Rue Avenue and get a good book."

It was obvious that Franny Cormier had more than a passing skill at art but a completely shitty sense of direction and only a passing understanding of how to actually get to Rue Avenue because I had to try six times to finally find the entrance. Yes, her map was exceedingly well drawn but she lacked some of the more crucial details on how to actually enter the place. I figured it meant that she was one of those people who never really went where she wasn't supposed to, unlike me, as I'd found my way accidentally in Knockturn Alley more than once. It was slightly disorienting to find the entrance to Rue Avenue, as when I completed the process of making the stairs display in the middle of the street I was amazed that I could actually do it, it was so complicated. The brick tapping required to enter Diagon Alley was the equivalent of stepping over a line in the sand; Rue Avenue was more like being required to calculate how fast a Quidditch player could go if they'd eaten fish and chips as opposed to seven helpings of treacle tart , but only after you figured in the air speed and what type of broom they were flying.

Regardless of the murky, semi-lit environment I walked into I felt relieved; I was smart enough to get in! Yeah, I did give one smelly wizard a Gnut to help me figure out the trick, but I was smart enough to figure out he was a wizard, so that was good enough in my book. The little street carts selling food of sorts dotted the street every so often, hiding some of the storefronts in plumes of steam and smoke, and while some things smelled interesting I knew better than to try anything. I did attract a few stares, mostly because I was still dressed in my jeans and blazer while everybody else had on wizarding robes in varying shades of shabbiness. I closed my blazer and marveled at the fact that my guns were strapped in tight but yet I couldn't feel them; more than anything I hoped I wouldn't need them.

After passing multiple shops of dubious legality I finally found what I was looking for at the far end of Rue Avenue, almost at the very back of the dead-end street. Woodwose Books & Antiques advertised its wares by having a small book-shaped sign with no words on it displayed over the door. The window, which bore the name of the shop in fading green letters, only showed a small open area as the rest of the window was full of books piled one on top of the other, preventing anyone from seeing inside the shop more than a few feet. I opened the door and immediately heard the creaking of the door hinges combined with a small bell that seemed to ring somewhere off in the distance. Once inside I had to take two immediate steps up to the main floor which contained the cash register and a small chair, but beside that books were everywhere, spilling out of the shelves, piled on the floor blocking entry to some areas, it was like a maze. I walked towards the first bookcase but stopped as a small, wiry man with giant spectacles appeared.

"Can I help you, sir?"

"Um, yeah, I hope so. I'm doing some research, looking for some books on the New Orleans wizarding families. Oh, and I'm looking for the Harry Potter Adventures series." I watched him eye me closely. "Um, they're for my nephew."

"Roll up your sleeves."

"What?" What the hell?

He took out his wand quickly. "You heard me, boy, roll up your sleeves."

I unbuttoned the cuffs of my shirt and pushed my jacket and my shirt up to my elbows on both arms. The little man waved his wand across my wrists and peered closely with his giant glasses, his face close to my skin.

"Ok, yer not AAB. Who are you? Ain't seen you in Rue Avenue before."

Shit, what to say? I didn't want to tell him my real name, just in case. I quickly blurted out the first name I could think of. "Greene, Emory Greene. I've been in Scotland for a few years and I'm visiting New Orleans. Couldn't find what I was looking for in the other shops, their selection was awful."

That got the old man cackling. "Boring old places, they don't have my selection, no they don't. I have almost everything and then some. Harry Potter Adventures, you say? Got the whole series. Follow me."

We wandered through the stacks, up a staircase and then through another winding path to another staircase. After finally reaching the third floor I was too busy trying to figure out how a third floor existed on a street that seemed only tall enough for a single story when the man stopped abruptly, causing me to almost run him over.

"Sorry. Just amazed at this place."

He nodded, obviously proud of his shop. "Woodwose has been on Rue Avenue for centuries. Largest selection in the South. Let's see…yes, here we are." He pulled ten small volumes from the shelf, each book half the size of a regular paperback and shoved them into my arms. "Enchanted to display at the optimal size for the reader. Always hated that, one book tried to crush me once. Didn't have on my glasses." He adjusted his eyewear and I almost laughed imagining how large that book must have been. "What else were ya looking for, boy? Old family histories?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that's it."

He smacked his lips together slightly, making a somewhat disturbing noise. "Don't have anything on the Greene family, Virginia, you say?"

I nodded. "Yeah, Virginia. But I'm not looking for the Greene family, got a lot of stuff on them." I remembered the response Draco and I had received at Bonsang House when I mentioned the Malfois and wondered how I was going to bring it up without getting attacked. "You know, I heard about this place out in the swamp, it's a hotel now. The Bon Charme, I think. I'm looking for something on the history of that place, the family that used to own it."

The little man squinted at me and for a brief moment I thought he was going to get his wand out, but instead he took out a small notebook from his vest. He flipped through it for a few seconds before he stopped, turned the page back over and ran his finger down the paper. "You're looking for Tales and Truths of Louisiana Magical Families. Funny, you're the second person asking about that in the last few months. Sold my only copy about a year ago and never thought twice about it. Might have a new arrival downstairs, bought a lot of books at an auction. Follow me." He took a look at a pocket watch that he pulled from his vest. "Got ta hurry, boy, almost time for painful poker."

As I followed him I felt my spirits fall; I find out about the one book that might have told me more about the Bon Charme and Aunt Charlotte, and the one place that might actually have it was sold out. We were going down the steps to the first floor when his last comment came back to me. "Sorry, painful poker; what's that?"

He stopped suddenly and once again I almost ran him over. "Virginia must be a sad place to be a wizard these days. Painful poker, boy. Don't bet with those Muggle chips I hear about, its spells." He rolled up his sleeve and I saw the remains of what must have been some painful injuries, as the welts were fading but were still slightly raised on his skin. "Had some bad hands last week."

"Guess so." I watched him roll down his sleeve and we continued towards his desk. Once we finally arrived he took out a large book, opened it to the last third of the pages and flipped for a moment before stopping. "Ah, Georges actually wrote down the new inventory. It's in the back, won't have it on the shelf until tomorrow. Oh." He looked over at me apologetically, but there was something else in his eyes that troubled me. "Looks like da woman who asked about it paid in advance in case we got a copy. Sorry."

Shit. I couldn't let that book get away. "Whatever she offered to pay I'll double it."

His face lit up. "For that amount of money I think I might be able to get it out of the back room. Say that we misplaced it or sumthing." He took out a quill and made a mark in the book. "You wait right here, boy, be right back."

I stood at the counter and watched the man disappear towards the back of the shop; as soon as he was well out of sight I took a look at the book on his counter, the one he'd made a note in with the quill. Next to the title of the book was a name, and as soon as I saw it I dropped all of the Harry Potter Adventure books. There, in an unmistakably clear hand was the name Miss Gradenko. Holy shit. I quickly picked up my books from the floor and hurriedly began scanning through the first one, pretending to read. The woman from the personal ads was looking for this book for some reason; what the hell was so important about this book? I stopped pretending to look at the Harry Potter Adventures and sat the books on the counter; my mind was spinning. Did the AAB know about this? Did they even come down here? I saw a sign on a table nearby that said "Sale" and wandered over there and began looking half-heartedly at the books. No matter what that book cost I was going to buy it. Maybe Draco could help me piece it together when he came back, he knew a lot about old wizarding books. But this was an American book, would that matter? Shit, it had details on Aunt Charlotte; it might have more about the Malfois.

Suddenly something on the table caught my eye, motion that I wasn't expecting. I glanced at the book and felt my heart leap into my throat. There, on the middle of the table, a wizarding picture of me sat on my Hogwarts desk, took off my glasses and nodded at the camera. Sonovabitch, they have a copy of My Wand is Useless! I picked up another book and sat it on top of my book, hoping that the little man with the dinner-plate sized glasses wouldn't recognize me. I hurried over to the cash register and got out my bag of money, and in the process of doing that I unlatched the straps on my side holster, just in case something happened and I needed my gun.

I felt the sweat run down my back as I looked at my watch; how long would it take to find that book? I tried to look nonchalant by juggling my money bag in my left hand but I hedged my bet by keeping my right hand firmly planted on the grip of my Beretta. I felt a slight sense of relief when the little man walked towards me carrying a large book with a green leather cover.

"Here it is. Now, let me total things up for you…yes. That'll be thirty Galleons."

Thirty Galleons? As long as I could get out of there I didn't care if it was a hundred. I moved my right hand out of my jacket, opened up my bag and counted out thirty Galleons and handed it to the man. He tapped the cash register with his wand, dropped in my money and put my books in a grimy looking canvas bag. "Thank you, I appreciate your willingness to negotiate." I wanted to run out of there immediately, but that would not have been good at all. "You definitely have an amazing store."

The little man smiled, and it wasn't a pleasant sight. "You're quite welcome, stop back again."

I nodded and headed towards the door. Half-way out the door I stopped and looked back. "Thanks, I will. Good luck tonight, hope you get some good cards."

The little old man walked towards the window, turned over the sign so it indicated that the shop was closed and looked at me. "So do I, Professor."

I felt the door slam behind me and heard a series of locks turning. Holy fucking shit, he recognized me! My heart began beating faster than I thought was possible and I began walking down the street as quickly as I could without drawing attention to myself. I pretended to stop and look in a shop window at something, but I was listening as hard as I could to hear if anyone was following me. When it seemed an appropriate time I moved on, the exit of Rue Avenue was almost in sight. A drunken couple of witches veered across my path, causing me to stop momentarily, but I sidestepped them and continued on my way. My head was pounding, my pulse echoing in my head as I felt the first step of the exit underneath my foot. At that point I abandoned all pretense of acting casual and took the steps two at a time and finally, thankfully appeared in the cool environs of Muggle New Orleans.

I walked rapidly through the streets of New Orleans, not caring exactly where I was or where I was going, I only knew that I needed to find someplace with a lot of Muggles. Eventually I found myself on Bourbon Street again so I ducked into a bar. After finally catching the attention of the bartender I ordered a triple shot of whiskey, downed it and ordered another. After the second one I felt my heart begin to return to its normal pace. I wanted to open that grimy canvas bag and look at the green book but I knew I was definitely in the wrong place and it was the wrong time. I paid my bill and tipped a little larger than I meant to, but at that point I didn't care; I wasn't dead or waking up someplace nasty.

After stepping outside of the bar I lit a cigarette and leaned against the lamppost. All I had to do was to make it back to the Vanishing Spectre and it would be ok. That was it; make it back to the Vanishing Spectre. I started walking towards the hotel when I heard someone calling my name. Shit. I turned around to see Lt. Davis of the AAB, dressed as a Muggle, walking towards me from across the street. When he made it over next to me I thought he would be angry, but he seemed relieved.

"Gave us quite a scare. Stopped by your hotel room and we couldn't find you. Front desk said you'd left about an hour before that, but I'm glad to know you just stepped out for a drink. Next time let one of us know, ok?"

"Glad to see you, too. Um, can we go back to the hotel? I'd rather not talk about it right now."

Lt. Davis' expression changed rapidly. Instead of the concerned American he was an alert AAB agent. "Let's go."

The trip was silent until we reached my hotel room. The minute the door was closed, however, Lt. Davis lit into me, telling me how completely irresponsible I was not to contact the AAB that I was leaving, telling me that Rue Avenue was one of, if not the worst section of wizarding New Orleans, that even my precious guns wouldn't protect me against a wizard or a witch that truly meant me harm and generally called me dumber than a troll.

After he finished I nodded. "Think I found something, though. I went to a bookstore and bought a book on old Wizarding families in New Orleans. That's not anything special in and of itself, but the owner had already sold it to a customer. I paid double what the other customer paid for it. When the owner or whatever he was left to go get it I took a look at the name of the person who wanted it: Miss Gradenko."

That got Lt. Davis' attention immediately. I pulled out the book from the bag and began searching through it until I finally found the chapter on the Malfoi family. I flipped through and realized that it was a very, very long chapter.

"How long until you can read that and give us a report?" Lt. Davis tapped his finger on the book. "An hour?"

"I'm a fast reader but not that fast. How about tomorrow morning?"

He nodded. "Sounds good. I'll be by around 9."

As he started to leave I remembered something. "I do have one question for you, though. When I was at the bookstore the man made me pull up my sleeves and waved his wand over my wrist, it seemed like he was looking for something. What was that about?"

He walked over to my chair, rolled up one of his sleeves and waved his wand over his wrist. Moments later the distinct shape of a blue eagle tattoo surfaced, a wand held in its talons as it seemed to take flight. "It's the mark of the AAB. They aren't revealed by normal spells. Sounds like we might have to make a visit to that bookstore, see what the old man knows."

I spent the rest of the night reading. I ordered supper from room service along with a pot of their strongest coffee, and after finishing my food I sat in one of the brocade chairs and set out a notebook on the little table, determined to find out why exactly this book was so important to Miss Gradenko. Fortunately it didn't take too long, as I knew most of what was in the book from the previous reports on the Malfoi family, the mistreatment of Muggles, the transfer of the Bon Charme, the curse on the family to only have girls and not carry on the Malfoi name as well as the Bonsang house massacre. That wasn't new, but the final page of the chapter? That was interesting. The final page folded out and displayed a family tree, small spindling lines traced the evolution of the Malfoi family, how it intertwined with other wizarding families, names and dates in very small writing. I started making notes of the specific family names that had intermarried, writing down the dates alongside the names, but when I started following one specific branch I stopped suddenly. I flipped open the front of the book and looked at the publishing date, 1902, but I knew that couldn't be right. I flipped back to the Malfoi family tree and there it was, plain as the nose on my face. The names and dates of all the Malfoi descendants, all the way up to the current date. The family tree was enchanted!

That was it; that was the reason Miss Gradenko wanted this book, it would give her all of the names of the Malfoi descendants. I felt as if a puzzle piece was finally found after weeks of looking for it, and after finally giving up and trying to complete the puzzle without that missing piece someone found it in the fridge for some reason. I quickly made up my notes and figured I would call it a night; after all, I'd stumbled across a real, tangible clue. I felt like a damn detective, and when my head hit the pillow I closed my eyes. I'd actually helped.

Of course, due to the combination of excitement and very strong coffee I was wide awake. Brilliantly wide awake. Without a sleeping draught there was no way I was going to fall asleep, and even if I did have one I worried what the combination of the coffee and the sleeping draught would do to my system, so I did what came naturally. I stayed up and read the Harry Potter Adventure series, Virgil snoozing between my feet.

I grabbed the first volume, Destined for Greatness, off of the counter and fell back into bed, propped myself up against the pillows and settled in for some entertainment after Virgil tired of me not letting him swat at the pages. Thankfully the book was written for a young audience, so it wasn't hard to read, but I did find myself stopping from time to time, mostly to shake my head and laugh. Young Harry Potter was raised by his loving Muggle Aunt and Uncle Blurpsley, who knew from almost the instant they laid eyes on him that he was going to be the greatest wizard of all time. The story proceeded to detail his youth, how the family doted on him, spoiled him but noble Harry resisted their overtures. Even at a young age he dedicated himself to a severe regimen of physical training, molded his mind so that he could, at age six, move the family car simply by thinking about it. The book continued on in that fashion, combining the origin stories of superheroes, pulp fiction characters to end with Harry waiting at the door for Hagrid to arrive and take him to Hogwarts while his Aunt and Uncle wailed in the background, bereft that he was leaving them.

The rest of the series continued on in that fashion, blending the most absurd scenarios together, fashioning a romance between him and Hermione, showing at every step that he was if not the equal then only slightly less intelligent and steeped in magical lore than the Hogwarts professors, crap like that. Neville was referred to as The Snakeslayer almost immediately upon his introduction as there was apparently some prophecy that said Neville was the born enemy of snakes, that they would tremble and flee at his approach, so the fact that the Laveau student referred to him as The Snakeslayer wasn't hard to believe. And Draco? Holy shit, Draco came off as the absolute worst character in the world. Besides the fact that he was described as a short, pimply little fat kid he seemed to have inherited the worst traits of every villain in literature. Draco swore, he stole, he maimed animals, he had an unrequited love for Hermione, and most of all he actually was the heir of Salazar Slytherin. Ron and the rest of the Weasleys got off relatively lightly, as they were mostly comic relief, especially Ron who seemed to screw up everything, fart a lot and say certain repetitive phrases extolling the virtues of Harry. I didn't know whether to laugh or be offended at how the author had portrayed my friends.

The best book was the last one, the one where Harry dispatched Voldemort. That one made me laugh so hard I thought I was either going to cry or soil myself. The final fight did take place at Hogwarts, they got that right, but instead of how it happened as I'd been told and read it was like a giant Hollywood blockbuster, massive armies of thousands descending on Hogwarts, both Voldemort and Harry in magical armor, their wands turned into lances as they jousted for the future of the wizarding world on dragons. Of course during their fight they stopped and insulted each other regularly, with Harry always taking the high road, but eventually what got Voldemort in the end was that he tried to attack Ginny, Hermione, Luna, Cho and Romilda Vane. Apparently Harry had claimed each of the girls for himself, and the fact that Voldemort was planning on offing all of Harry's potential brides was simply too much as Harry conjured up the spell of all spells. Harry's anger was so great that he went back in time and broke up Voldemort's parents, preventing Tom Riddle from ever being born. The fact that this would completely alter the timeline was not a problem for the author, apparently, as the book ended with Harry walking off in the Hogwarts sunset with his harem of women.

I had just finished the last book as the sun began to rise. I got up, stretched, and walked out of my bedroom, intent on taking a shower and figuring out how I'd make it through the day with no sleep. I had just reached the brocade chairs when the door opened and Draco walked in the room. He looked at me oddly when I began to laugh.

"I take it you had an interesting time while I was away?"

"Draco, you have no idea."