"What do you mean Albus murdered his fiancé? How come I don't remember any of this—"
"Cynthia, I didn't either, but that scroll — as soon as I read what was in it, all the memories came flooding back! It's like— I remembered that night, two dead bodies were found near the veil— Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter's fiancé. I— that's what the Ministry is hiding from everyone— I can't quite— remember what they told the public? Albus Potter murdered over 20 people — mostly neo-Death Eaters —in the Department of Mysteries, broke the Auror code, hid from the authorities and was to be brought to trial in Azkaban? I—" Isadora was stumbling through words, muddling through her newly elucidated memories.
"Hang on a minute Isadora," Cynthia remarked, frowning, feeling rather caught off-guard. "Are you implying that the Ministry erased our memories? What about Thomas and Don? What about—"
"I don't know. In fact, I— look — I'm sorry, Cynthia. I'm sorry I haven't been in contact with all of you guys I— I just couldn't do it anymore, being an Auror and all that. I needed a permanent break so I became a researcher instead but — but I think it could also have something to do with the fact that I stopped remembered a LOT of things about you guys — it's like this giant gaping hole. I—"
"You're not the only one," Cynthia snorted, then appeared rather apologetic for being uncouth, "I don't mean it that way. Thomas has been consistently avoiding human conversation with me... always addressed Neil instead and pretended I didn't exist."
"Wow that sucks."
"A jerk indeed."
"Do you think he remembers anything?"
"Who knows?" She shrugged.
~X~
"A Horcrux!" Neil beamed as he addressed his team. "The head of the Sons of Walpurgis was trying to make a Horcrux! I think—"
"Neil I would appreciate it if you did not belt out names of Dark Wizards and Dark Objects in such an excited manner within the premise of my home," Morrison complained, trying to hush everyone up. "My twin brother is still napping and my other roommate is doing Merlin knows what in his bedroom with another woman."
"No you guys don't understand — whoever the head of the Sons of Walpurgis is, and the identity is unknown so far, but I think — never mind — we now know what they wanted. We now—"
"Okay, first things first, what is a Horcrux?" Lily questioned.
"Yeah what's a Horcrux?" Morrison repeated. "I only figured it was something bad because it sounded evil."
"It's when you kill someone, split your soul, put it in an object and become immortal," Neil explained briskly to skeptical faces. "Well, that's what my great-great-great gran says…"
"Hang on, was she the one who told you this new former new — whatever, Dark Lord was trying to make a Horcrux?" Morrison frowned.
"Correct."
"And you believe her…?"
"I don't see why not, but I cross-referenced that with a few books I brought from Knockturn Alley just to be sure and —"
"Neil, you did what?!"
"Yes, I had to be certain and I tried asking around the Department of Mysteries but no one I knew had that kind of access. I even tried asking Isadora but she was way below clearance level for that kind of stuff so I had to take my chances—"
"You asked her —"
"No I didn't specifically ask her about Horcruxes. Never mind. Point is, it made sense. And for your information, the books I got didn't have anything to do with the instructions needed to make one. It was an alternative history book about the 'secrets' of the Second Wizarding War. It supposedly contains a lot of information classified by the Ministry and was written by an anonymous source within the Department of Secrets," Neil explained patiently.
"And you call me a conspiracy theorist!" Morrison protested. "Okay, okay, I'll take you at your word. So far you seem sane."
"And what were the 'secrets' about the Second Wizarding War?" Lily frowned, probably wondering if her parents had anything to hide.
"Well, Voldemort made about seven Horcruxes and your dad had to destroy, well, every one of them in order to actually kill him," Neil said.
"Seven! Blimey!" Morrison gasped.
"That's horrible!"
"Too much even for gran— and that's saying something. Though there was no evidence or indication so far that the unknown aspiring Dark Lord succeeded in making one."
"What if... Albus Potter was trying to make ..." Cynthia seemed hesitant to even finish the sentence.
"My brother wouldn't do that! Also, you're not implying he's behind the Sons of Walpurgis are you?!" Lily was suddenly indignant.
"No, of course not!" Cynthia protested. "But some parts of the evidence do add up. Albus Potter killed his fiancé and Scorpius Malfoy. In front of the veil. On top of a bunch of other people—"
"There's no evidence he killed Scorpius Malfoy— or his fiancé," Neil was about to say.
"Oh but there is, that's what Isadora told me when we met up," Cynthia insisted. "More than that, I was there that night — and so was the rest of the team. But our memories were obscured. I— I saw the dead bodies. All 19 of them, which included his fiancé and Scorpius Malfoy."
"Oh Merlin..." Lily's face acquired a sudden pallour. "I..."
"It's okay... it's okay... This is all just, speculation," Morrison tried to comfort her.
"Is there a bin somewhere? I think I'm going to puke."
~X~
"Your teammate Tobias is still incapacitated. In the meantime, I'll be his replacement," Thomas announced (possibly through gritted teeth) to the group. Not all of them were pleased, Neil noticed, particularly Cynthia.
"Welcome abroad," Neil responded curtly before going up to shake the Director's hand. It was the most polite thing to do. There was a quick glimpse between him and Cynthia and Morrison.
"Does this mean you'll be in charge instead of him?" Morrison blurted out, curious. He received a covert kick from one of his teammates— as to which one, he wasn't paying enough attention to determine that, but the suspects are numerous...
"Oh of course not! I have full faith in Neil Nott's … leadership qualities. Just treat me like one of you guys," Thomas said with a slightly contrived grin.
"Well, thanks. That's more than I do," Neil said with a snort.
"Only because he's had none in the first place," Cynthia couldn't resist a joke.
"Ah, I see, she's as insubordinate as usual."
Somehow that made everyone laugh.
~X~
"Why in Merlin's pants is he here?! He's going to ruin everything! Our plans to investigate Darius and Duke Greengrass, Douglas Bulstrode, Lucas Lowe, Cornelius Mulciber and Hector McDougall — and your brother —"
"Will still be in place," Neil assured her. "We'll just have to be more discreet about it. We've already enlisted the help of your ex-teammate Isadora. She'll be able to do things we can't under the watch of the Aurors. Don't worry."
"All that is easier said than done."
"I'm meeting up with Douglas Bulstrode tomorrow, just a short chat. We know each other through Quidditch — I have friends on his team and play with each other during Alumni Days. He won't suspect it's not about Quidditch," Neil explained. "Then I'm going to see Darius and ask about, well, medicinal herbs and whether anything can be done about the Maladicti. No I didn't tell him anything about Tobias, don't worry. It'll be a chill conversation. After that, I'm going to bring flowers, chocolates and Amazon gift cards to my brother as a way of apologizing for out previous argument. But for that I'll be in America so probably a weekend."
"Sounds, thought-out. So far."
"Well, it better be. I'm trying to not make it all seem like an obvious interrogation because these people are good at hiding stuff."
"Mhmm..."
"But I'd like to think that I'm pretty good at grasping hints and unearthing secrets."
"And in the meantime Lily's going to be interviewed by Lucas Lowe for the Wizarding Weekly, she's just gotten a confirmation from him. All that stuff about being Harry Potter's daughter at the Aurors, family legacy, favorite biscuit, romantic life etc. Typical shit the public are interested in and what Albus Potter never gave them," Cynthia nodded thoughtfully. "Then she's being interviewed by the Daily Prophet's Hector McDougall on her opinion about the recent developments in the Ministry. Given how glad both were to gain interview opportunities, none of them would suspect anything.. She's got it all planned."
"While Morrison has somehow wrangled a shadowing opportunity for his brother's legal team, who are working on a copyright case with Cornelius Mulciber's band. They said they wanted an Auror staying for a couple of days with them anyway for Merlin knows what. And I matched with Duke Greengrass on Tinder. We are going to a romantic dinner this Friday," Cynthia noted wryly, not exactly amused at her end of the deal. "This better work."
A/N: Is it all coming together? Are they finally coming close to figuring out what's happened? Fun fact: no one but Albus really knows what truly happened. And can they really keep it all away from Thomas?
