Chapter 5 – The Suspects

They decided to approach Portia Johnson directly with their new information of instigators from Diagon Alley. They hoped that by bringing it up to their boss one-on-one rather than at a staff meeting, they could make their case before getting laughed at again. They were pleased to find her willing to listen to all the evidence before making a decision. At the end of their report, she looked up at the ceiling for a minute before focusing back on them. "So to summarize, the witches and wizards of Knockturn are blaming youths from Diagon for instigating fights."

"Yes, ma'am," Harry replied for the two of them. He was uncomfortably twisted in the chair, trying to minimize the pressure on his left side. He made a mental note to apply more potion on the inflamed area. Though it didn't eliminate the pain, the lotion at least made it tolerable. He hoped he wasn't developing a tolerance to the potion; he'd applied it that morning and earlier the soothing relief had lasted longer than just a few hours.

"I've heard no reports from anyone in Diagon Alley reporting problems with kids," Johnson said thoughtfully, drumming her fingers on her desk.

"We haven't either, but it's possible they just limit their activities to Knockturn Alley," Ron pointed out.

Johnson shook her head. "Anything's possible. I know Snape has been claiming something of the sort, but I hadn't really considered it likely as none of those who interviewed him did." She stood up. "I can't spare enough people to stake out the entrance to Knockturn Alley fulltime, but tell you what I'll authorize. You two can stake out the area for an hour or two around sunset each day – that's when the alarms happened this summer. Keep it up for a month or two and then we'll reassess whether it's worthwhile to continue."

As the door shut behind them, Harry's satisfaction about getting the authority to take more action quickly faded. "Ron, remind me – isn't sunset about, oh, seven fifteen this time of year? Were we just told that we can spend our off-duty hours standing surveillance? Ginny and Hermione are going to be annoyed."

"Aye, mate." Ron shrugged. "Look at the bright side. Selena's is in the right area. We can get a window seat, have a nice dinner, and relax every night for a month."

Harry elbowed him. "We can't relax too much, remember – we need to keep our eyes peeled!"

IKAIKAIKA

By the end of the first week they had decided to skip the dinner and go straight for dessert at Selena's. The main fare was very good, but repetitive. Broiled plimpy, dirigible plum-glazed Cornish hen, and pumpkin pasta alternated on a regular basis as the main course. Desserts, on the other hand were wonderful, and they had yet to see the same options offered twice. The Aurors began to recognize many of the wizards and witches walking by what they considered their window by sight, if not by name.

Harry also found that he needed to take a sip of the Invigoration Draught and apply the potion to his skin just before heading to Selena's in order to be able to both stay awake and tolerate the pain from the pressure of the chair on the left side of his back. He'd gotten into the habit of wearing very loose robes. By the end of the third week, by the time twilight ended he found his attention wandering to the joy of being able to get back home to Grimmauld Place so he could slip out of his robes and remove even that minimal pressure when Ron suddenly sat up.

"There – do you see them?" Ron asked as he motioned with his head. "Three of them, heading right into Knockturn. We haven't seen them before."

The two Aurors stood up, left some galleons on the table and slipped out the door, with Ron casting one last look at his only half eaten triple chocolate cauldron surprise, smoke still spiraling from the center.

Harry cursed as he realized he'd gotten complacent over the past three weeks and had left his Invisibility Cloak at home. With no time to go back to get it, Harry and Ron trailed the cloaked shapes into Knockturn. Pulling up their own hoods, they Disillusioned themselves but even so kept to the shadows. They'd only gone past a few stores when one of the shapes pulled out their wand. They got as close as they dared before casting a Listening Spell.

"Yah ready?" the tallest of the three whispered. One of the others could be heard inhaling loudly as the other two nodded. "Great. Be prepared to run, though. Last time the Aurors got here pretty quickly. Ultricies!"

Ron cast a Protego at the store window they were aiming at while Harry cancelled the Disillusion charm and called out "Aurors! Lower your wands!" The three suspects looked around trying to find the source of the shield. "Stupefy!" one yelled out but Harry was ready and cast Protego. "Last warning – we're Aurors! Lower your wands. Now!"

The three figures hesitated. With the Listening Spell still active, Harry heard one whisper, "Do you think they really are? It could be a trap."

Taking turns keeping wand on the group, Harry and Ron lowered their hoods. "I'm Auror Potter and this is Auror Weasley. Keeping your wands pointed down, slowly place them on the ground." The three figures hesitated just a moment before doing so. "Now with your right hands, palms open, lower your hoods."

With their faces exposed, the three looked to be about seventeen or eighteen. The tallest of the three had auburn hair down to his shoulders. The shortest of the three was a witch with dark brown skin and black hair. The third person in the group was stout, with brown hair tied behind his neck. Harry thought they looked like nice kids.

With the immediate danger over, the Aurors relaxed slightly. "Now that we have taken care of that, tell us what you're doing here. And keep your hands clearly visible," Ron ordered.

Ignoring Ron's question, the witch looked at Harry. "Are you really Potter?" she asked in a voice that sounded innocent of any wrongdoing.

"I am. Again, what are you doing here?"

The witch glanced at the other two and then stepped forward. She looked familiar. "We're so glad you're here. Thank Merlin you arrived just in time. We were just about to do some shopping when we heard something menacing and naturally we took our wands out to defend ourselves," she said sweetly. She looked around. "They must have run away as soon as you appeared."

The tall wizard pointed over Ron's shoulder. "Yeah. They were over there."

Ron kept his wand steady. "That's interesting. You said you were shopping? What were you planning to buy?"

Looking at the sign over Harry's head, the witch hesitantly replied, "Hats, of course … we have a party to go to."

"It's too bad the shop is closed for the night, then," replied Harry dryly.

"Oh, so it is," she replied. "Well, we'll just come back when it's open. Thanks again for your protection. We really admire everything you did for the good of our world and appreciate the tough job you have. C'mon, mates." She began to take a step towards Diagon Alley.

"Whoa. Hold on, please," said Ron firmly. "What are your names?"

The three shared glances again. "I'm Maia," the witch replied. Harry looked at the other two pointedly. "I'm Lorcan," the tall one said.

"Halden," said the stout one reluctantly. "Nice to have met you, but we really need to be going," he added anxiously.

"Not so fast," said Harry pleasantly. "I'd like to get to know you a bit better. You'll need to come down to M.L.E. with us."

"M.L.E.?! We were just peaceably minding our own business!" Maia burst out. "C'mon, guys!"

Ron held out a hand to stop them. "I didn't know you could peaceably cast Ultricies," he pointed out dryly. "That doesn't sound like a spell you'd use for protection."

"Uh, just like we said, we thought the threat came from that shop," said Halden.

"Why are you hassling us? Everyone knows that the wizards here are evil. You should be going after them!" Lorcan burst out.

Harry was losing his temper. It had been a long day and his side was aching despite the potion. "Enough. You're coming to M.L.E. with us. You can tell us your excuses there. Do we need to Petrify you first or are you going to grab the portkey I'm about to hold out?"

"Look," said Halden desperately. "Our folks will get really worried if they hear we're at M.L.E.. We made a mistake and we're sorry. Can't you just let us go with a warning?"

Harry took out the shrunken cane he'd come with and cast Engorgio on it. He held it out implacably to the three youths.

Just before activating the portkey, he saw movement behind the three. An audience of shopkeepers and their families were watching, some nodding with satisfaction and others looking thoughtful.

The portkey brought them to a windowless room with a single table and three chairs. Harry immediately conjured up two more chairs, making sure they were as uncomfortable as the original suspect chair. After a moment, he called for one of the house elves serving the M.L.E. and ordered a pitcher of water. He had no desire to treat the kids as hardened criminals. With a casual twist of his wrist, Harry indicated to Ron that he would take the lead as the good cop. "First of all, what are your full names?"

The witch rung her hands together. "Maia Jordan," she said softly.

"Are you Lee Jordan's cousin?" Harry asked as he poured himself some water. "I think he pointed you out one time."

Maia nodded vigorously. "Yeah, I graduated last spring, like Lorcan and Halden."

Harry put down his glass. "So you were a Fourth Year during our Sixth Year. I'm sorry I didn't recall your name right away. What are you up to now?"

Maia gave him a brilliant smile. "That's all right. I was always proud to be a Lion like you. I'm working in my parent's shop, Broomstix."

Ron's sat up straight. "It must be great to be around …" he muffled a sound of pain from where Harry had kicked up under the table and slouched back down.

Maia didn't catch the interplay. "Well, fun during the day, but after we close for the night it's pretty boring."

Harry turned to the taller of the two wizards, "Lorcan Abbot. Hufflepuff, and proud of it."

"You've good reason to be. Tell me your story."

Lorcan shrugged. "Not much to say. I'm going to apprentice to be a Healer, but won't start until the new year."

"We always need those. You, Halden?"

"Halden Boot." The stout boy paused. "Ravenclaw. I'm working at Flourish and Blotts."

"We've a friend who would love that. Now, can you tell me what you were really doing in Knockturn Alley?"

"It's just as we told you earlier," replied Maia, sounding a bit desperate. We were just looking for some hats to wear to a party."

"At," Ron cast a Tempus, "almost nine at night?"

"We, uh, got caught up in other things and didn't realize the time," replied Halden.

Ron put his forearms on the table. "What other things?"

The three looked at each other. Lorcan was the one who spoke up. "We up at the quidditch grounds watching them prep the field for a local tournament next week."

Harry gave a slight cough. "You must have been pretty bored if that's what you do this time of night."

Maia turned to him. "You can say that again! There's nothing to do around here."

"So you decided to go into Knockturn Alley for a bit of excitement?" Ron asked.

Maia's face fell. "I want to call my parents," the witch said.

"You realize that you're adults, right?" At the look of fear in their faces, Harry changed his mind. "But tell you what – we'll notify them that you're here and they can come get you. I assume you two as well?"

Halden and Lorcan nodded

The three students looked at him as he cast his Patronus three times. Ron left to meet the incoming adults.

"It's nice to see inter-house friendships," Harry remarked idly as they waited.

Halden gave a tentative smile. "It's nice to have friends. I was pretty lonely when I first started Hogwarts, but Maia, Lorcan and I met in the gobstones club our first year and have been chums ever since. Last year we were the club's officers. We do almost everything together."

"Including getting into trouble?"

"No, sir!" interjected Lorcan. "We just like to have fun. We don't mean anything by it."

"Funny way of having fun, casting spells in Knockturn Alley at night," Harry pointed out. He motioned to his face. "Someone got me a few weeks ago. The Healers have used a counter-curse spell but it doesn't seem to be working. It still hurts like a dragon wanted to cook me for dinner. I don't suppose you know the spell that was used?"

"We would never aim at an Auror!" said Maia indignantly. "And not with anything truly bad! We just cast harmless spells at their shops."

"We only aim at sympathizers who aim their own wands at us," confirmed Lorcan. "That's just self-defense."

Harry counted to ten in Parseltongue. "What do you mean by sympathizers?"

"Well, you know," replied Lorcan. "Those people are all related to Death Eaters. Everyone knows that."

They were interrupted as Ron returned to the room followed by an assortment of adults who did not look happy.

Harry stood up. "I'm Harry Potter, yes, that one" he added at the expressions on their faces. He held up his hand before they could say anything. "Your children were caught vandalizing Knockturn Alley tonight."

A tall woman with Lorcan's auburn hair waved her hand in the air. "I'm sure it was nothing. Lorcan and his sister know to keep their distance from those people. My own brother was killed during a firefight between Death Eaters and Aurors during the war."

Harry sighed. "Do you honestly believed everyone in Knockturn Alley supported Voldemort?" He looked up at the ceiling when he saw the everyone except Ron shudder at the name. "If you can give me evidence against anyone, there or elsewhere, who provided support to the Death Eaters, I will personally arrest them. Do you really think Ron and I would be defending the witches and wizards there if we thought they deserved to be punished?"

After a few moments of silence, a well-dressed wizard who had walked over to Maia and put his hand on her shoulder, spoke up. "What do you plan to do?"

Ron put his hands in his pockets. "Your kids are adults. They don't seem to be malicious – only ill informed, bored, or just supporting their friends. We caught them before they could cause any damage tonight. Harry, you were the one injured in the last go round. What do you think?"

"You injured an Auror? You hurt Harry Potter?" shrieked the tall witch at Lorcan.

"Who's responsible for cursing me is yet to be determined, ma'am," Harry quickly interrupted her. "Your children were pulled in for questioning for attempting to destroy some windows. Luckily for them, they were stopped before any damage was done."

A stout wizard who looked very much how Ron imagined Halden would look like in twenty years put his hands on his waist. He glared at his son but addressed his remark to Harry. "So what happens now?"

Harry put his hands on the table and looked hard at the three teenagers. "You seem like good kids. I don't want to ruin your future before it's begun. We'll give you a break this time, but with a caveat. I want each of you to write a two foot long essay on the dangers of stereotyping. I think it would be a good idea to mention Slytherins who resisted Voldemort." He ignored their shudders. "Just to make sure you fully understand that what you attempted to do was wrong, I want another report of equal length on why it's wrong to vandalize Knockturn Alley in particular. I'll give you a week. If I'm satisfied that you've learned your lesson and you stay away from trouble in the future, that should be the end of the matter. Are we agreed?"

The children nodded reluctantly, but the parents seemed satisfied with Harry's proposal.

Returning from bringing everyone back to the floo, Ron found Harry slumped down in one of the chairs. "You look done in, mate. Doing all right?"

"Just exhausted and discouraged. Do you think we made a difference?"

Ron shrugged. "We can hope so." He leaned back in a chair of his own. "So what now?"

"Besides the dreaded paperwork? We return to Noggin and Bonce tomorrow and talk to the family again. If nothing else, I'd like to keep the kids there from ruining their own future by getting into wandfights. If I'm lucky, they'll know who cursed me. Until the culprits are caught, the Healers won't be able to determine why the counter-curse isn't working." Harry painfully stood up, holding back a grimace. "For now, I'm heading home for much needed rest."