July 1987

The air compressed and expanded with a loud crack as Alastor Moody appeared at The Ministry of Magic. He walked through the empty arrivals lobby and took a staircase to the second floor. With the majority of the Aurors in the field, the rows of cubicles were empty and the desks were too clean. Moody didn't see any evidence that they had been working to solve the muggle-born murders, apart from a wall covered with the details of the four that had been killed in the Wizengamot dungeon. One corner of the room was devoted to the attack on the train. A layer of dust covered the photographs and handwritten notes.

Useless fucking bastards.

When he reached Adelaide Burke's office, he shoved the door open and tossed the summons she had sent him on her desk.

"What's so fucking urgent?"

"Nice to see you, too, Alastor," she said.

"Don't waste my time," Moody said. "You wanted me, so here I am."

Adelaide stood. She raised her wand and a map of the United Kingdom lifted off her desk and floated in the air between them. She rotated the map so it faced Moody. Red lights spread across the country like a virus.

"If you made me come all the way here to talk about a bunch of underage wizarding law violators-"

"It isn't that simple," Adelaide said.

"Yes, it is," Moody said. "Send out the fucking owls, expel them, and summon them all before the Wizengamot. It's the same every fucking summer. More instances doesn't change that."

"These aren't instances from multiple underage wizards over the summer," Adelaide said. "They are all from the same trace signature this morning over a period of less than thirty minutes."

Moody raised his wand. "Tunc Marcam."

Time stamps appeared next to each of the red lights. Some were blurred and he couldn't read them. His blue eye swiveled, focused, and looked closer.

No, not blurred. Multiple instances layered over each other. Whoever it was used magic in the same places multiple times within microseconds.

They had appariated. It was the only way to cover the map that fast.

Hundreds of times. In front of muggles. Fucking Christ.

"Whoever this is," Moody said, "they are begging for expulsion."

"The trace signature belongs to Aaron Stone," Adelaide said. "He just finished his third year at Hogwarts. I'm past the point of expelling him and sending an owl. I want him arrested. I've sent Cassio and Nicholas to check the locations and wipe memories. It will take all day."

"So, go arrest him."

"We tried," Adelaide said. "All of his jumping around interfered with his trace. We don't know where he is. And I'm not pulling any more Aurors off their assignments to find a kid."

"What exactly do you think I do all day?"

"Maybe if you reported to me with any regularity, I would know," Adelaide said.

"Have you told Dumbledore about this? It's one of his fucking students."

Adelaide laughed. "No one knows where Dumbledore is. He hasn't been at Hogwarts since May. He hasn't shown up at the Wizengamot since long before that."

Moody looked at the map. The trace was flawed. It had been since they started using it on students centuries ago. It didn't detect instances when an underage witch or wizard used magic in a magical home or within the limits of a registered magical town. It only activated when magic was used in muggle areas. It made it harder to track the use of underage magic than The Ministry wanted to let on.

Especially if this kid is appariting. He could be anywhere.

He scanned over the locations, waved his wand, and sorted them by time. The first one was a park in Glasgow. The last was what looked like an Underground station in London.

He covered a lot of distance.

"How far have Nicholas and Cassio gotten on this list?"

"By now, they are probably in Manchester."

"I'll start with the last location and work backwards," Moody said.

"I appreciate your help," Adelaide said. "Bring him in when you find him. If he can apparate like this without killing himself, I don't want to take any chances and lose him again."

Moody pushed the map back at her face. "I'll tell Cassio to come collect him. I'm not your fucking retriever."

"Fair enough," Adelaide said.

Moody left Adelaide's office. He walked down the hall to the armory and bypassed the wards. He walked past the battle cloaks, a cabinet filled with potions, and grabbed a pair of heavy iron shackles and a chain from a shelf.


The abandoned Underground station had been closed off for years. Both sides of the tunnel were encased in concrete. Moody had to break into a utility tunnel and walk a quarter mile underground to get to the right access door.

How the hell did he get down here?

The smell of decay hit Moody as soon as he walked onto the platform. He covered his mouth and nose with his arm.

"Lumos."

It didn't take him long to find Carrow's body.