Chapter 29: I'm Not Your Enemy

Credence and Mr. Graves

Mr. Graves had come out of nowhere; he had stepped out of the fog. Credence fought the urge to run. Which was worse, MACUSA or Ma knowing that he was here? When put that way, the answer was grimly simple.

Stepping with reluctant feet, he followed his sister's path until he was within speaking distance of the man. Mr. Graves was holding a wand to Chastity's head with one hand, and her shoulder with the other. Percy appeared from behind him and edged over to Credence, murmuring, "I tried to stop him, but I think he knows everythin' already. It's weird."

Graves' dark eyes met Credence's briefly. There wasn't even a hint of surprise in them. Assiduously, he moved around so he was standing behind the girl who was staring forward with a blank expression. Then he released his wand from her head.

Chastity blinked and stared at the rain. She looked down at her hands, as if expecting to find the leaflets there that she had dropped upon seeing Credence. For a second, he was frightened that she would turn around to go and look for them, but the girl who had once been his sister pulled her coat up to her ears and continued in the direction of Mary Lou Barebone.

Graves turned back to the boys, "Hello Credence."

It was the Auror's idea that they shouldn't linger so close to where the NSPS was holding a meeting, and Percy couldn't talk him out of walking them back to Mortimer's Mansion. "How did you know?" he questioned as soon as they were walking.

Mr. Graves smiled at them - just the perfect mixture of friendliness and condescension. Credence remembered that smile from his other meeting with this man last summer, not long after the trial. "Aurors are trained to notice when someone is lying to us. And every one of us has some skill in legilimency. Your Obscurial friend was at the front of your mind when you tried to distract me, Percy Boyd."

Percy's face crinkled, "Darn legilimans."

Mr. Graves turned his attention to Credence, "I never thought I'd see you again in New York. Do you know what could have just happened?"

Credence couldn't think of a good excuse, so he stayed silent. Percy piped up for him, "He's stayin' at my place."

Graves studied Percy for a few seconds. "Were you telling the truth about more attacks at the school?"

The boys looked at each other with questioning eyes behind his back. He could obviously find out anything he wanted with or without their help. Credence once again wondered why he had ever agreed to go voluntarily to the Auror capitol of the United States. Why had he ever come to New York at all?

"Nobody got hurt," he mumbled.

"'Sept me," Percy said, then added quickly, "But that wasn't his fault. This other fella made him do it. Cast a spell on him."

"The wizarding world is a dangerous place," Graves said. He wasn't looking at either of them, but couldn't have been speaking to anyone else. "Dark wizards are coming... They're using the instability of the war for their own nefarious purposes. And the war will probably come here too. They'll take notice of us soon enough." He finally looked at Credence, who was lagging behind on his left. "They'll find you if you're not careful, if you draw too much attention to yourself. They'll want to use the darkness inside of you. America never should have had a weapon like an Obscurus."

"I'm not a weapon," Credence said softly.

Graves' gaze was now condescending without the smile, the look of someone who wishes he could have another's outlook, but knows too much to hope like that. "You haven't found a cure for your condition yet, have you?"

"No," Credence admitted.

"Then I'm sorry, but I will have to report these things to my superiors."

They had reached the shabby block where Percy's house was hidden, invisible to No-Majes. Mr. Graves stopped walking when they hesitated near the entrance.

"They ain't gonna… lock him up or nothin', are they?" Percy asked, "I mean, this was last year!"

"Then I should have been informed about it, last year," Graves said sternly. He turned his gaze to the Obscurial and spoke low, "I am required to look out for the good of this nation. MACUSA is not your enemy, Credence. Remember that."

He was gone with a whoosh and a whirl.

A/N: Though it is not said in the Potterverse, I think it would be very logical to assume that all Aurors are trained in legilimancy to some degree. Even though we don't see Tina using this ability, only Queenie, it is very likely that they would only receive basic training as a requirement and continue only if they are shown to have a gift in it. To me, Graves seems like the type who would have a gift in it. This was why he looked at Percy for that long stretch of time a few chapters ago. I described Percy's neighborhood as being 'shabby' because I thought it would be very like wizards to hide a mansion in a lower-class neighborhood of No-Majes. The last sentence of this chapter was meant to signify that Graves apparated away, but I am perfectly accepting the interpretation that he just turned and walked out with a beautiful flourish of the coat. As always, please review!