A/N - Hello all. First, I like to say how sorry I am for taking sooooo long to update this. My life has been pretty chaotic for the last few months with my course, exams, switching jobs, getting food poisoning and a bunch of other stuff. Just a little chapter this time but I promise more in on the way. Thanks for being patient with me. :)

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Although the ministry had no actual windows, a bunch of fake ones were littered about the place that had been bewitched into showing different types of weather. They were currently showing bright sunshine and a few fluffy white clouds which couldn't be further from the real weather outside.

The imposing rain storms that the muggle news had been predicting for the last day or so had arrived. London was in the middle of a torrential downpour, complete with thunder and lightning. They were actually predicting hail stones later in the evening which seemed very far away.

In fact, if Albus wasn't a subscriber to relativistic physics, he would have thought that time was hungover or something. Every minute seemed to last about ten. Every hour felt like it needed half a day to tick past.

The waiting was killing him. Why hadn't she called?

It was one of those odd human behavioural things. No matter how different he was from others, Albus still experienced emotions the same has everyone else and even though he was dreading what was coming, most of him was just plain anxious. He knew what Morgana was planning, he knew what he had to do and now he just wanted to get on with it.

It was the equivalent of pulling off a plaster. You know it's going to hurt so instead of prolonging the pain, just push through it in one quick moment. Of course, it didn't always work out that way.

Around him, Hermione and the others were still digging through books, looking for information on Morgana. Mostly they were just finding all the crap that had been written about her centuries after the fact. Merlin had done his job well of hiding the truth about her.

"I'm guessing she never actually had a kid named Yvain?" Harry asked, looking up from the book he was currently going through.

"What, while she was a disembodied soul locked up in the land of the dead? Somehow, I don't think purgatory has Tinder," Albus grunted.

"So, in other words, this stuff is all useless," Ron groaned, throwing his book on the table.

"We don't know that Ron," Hermione chastised. "I know you say that Merlin purposely erased all historical documents about her but he still might have missed something."

"Merlin, legendary genius and the most powerful wizard that ever lived? Missed something?" Ron asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, he might have!" she insisted. "Dumbledore made mistakes."

"Dumbledore looked after a school. Merlin looked after the king and the whole bloody country!"

"It's not a competition, Ronald!"

There was a knock at the door and a flustered young witch pocked her head through.

"I'm sorry, Minister. We're getting complaints about disapparation in Diagon Alley. Somethings wrong with the wards," she said.

Hermione sighed and turned to Harry. He raised his eyebrows and held up his hands.

"Not my division. That's magical maintenance," he said looking like she was trying to give him extra homework.

The new warding had been put up in an attempt to prevent the smuggling of items in and out of Knockturn Alley. Mostly people just found them annoying since you had to register for a pass to disapparate in and out of the Alley now or the wards would stop you.

"Your division put up the wards," she reminded.

"We have slightly bigger issues right now!"

"Fine!" she groaned and turned back to the witch. "Just tell them to take the wards down for the moment, well send someone over to put up new ones as soon as possible."

The rest of the wizarding world didn't stop just because the ministry was dealing with a crisis. The second war was proof of that given how popular and profitable Weasley Wizard Wheezes had become even after Voldemort came back into the open.

"I don't see why they don't just use the floo network, there's more than enough grates," Hermione said shaking her head.

"Depends how much shopping they've got with them I spos," Harry shrugged.

"People are panicked after what happened with the train. I think they just want to get in and get out as soon as possible," Ron said.

"How much do the public know?" Scorpius asked.

"Well, there's the usual amount of speculation. Most seem to think that it is some kind of wizarding terrorist group," Harry said without looking up from the book in front of him.

"No one has made the connection to Alex…er…Morgan," Hermione said grimly.

"Morgana," Albus corrected.

"Excuse me?"

"Apparently, Merlin used to call her Morgana," he said. "Thought Morgan sounded like a boy's name. It seems Merlin was a bit of a misogynist. Which isn't really a surprise, given the era he lived in. All women were second-class citizens back then."

Hermione in particular seemed to find that information disquieting. Like most others, she had an image of Merlin that was influenced by a bias history. He was a beacon of freedom and justice and equality. In reality, he was just a very smart, powerful wizard that was struggling to keep a handle on a radically changing kingdom.

Albus looked down at the phone again. Still nothing.

A few miles away, Joe and his squib army were also doing research but of a different kind.

He was sitting behind his desk, typing away on a computer. Behind him, screens with various CCTV feeds from different parts of London switched between images. They were strategically placed in wizarding areas. One was pointed directly at the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron, while others surveyed platforms nine and ten of Kings Cross station.

Eve entered his office with a tablet in her hand. She presented it to him.

"Jodie's finished the analysis of Potter's bloodwork," she said.

"Anything mind-blowing in there?"

"Not really, one interesting thing though. He's a double-Y."

Joe's eyebrows raised. "Is he?"

"It could explain a few things," she shrugged. "Most double-Y's are perfectly normal but it does usually lead to a growth spurt. Albus's is slightly taller than his dad. Sometimes they show anti-social behaviour-"

"True, but double-Y chromosomes also have a tendency to have learning difficulties, Albus is the complete opposite of that," Joe stated.

"I know. It's just strange to think that one microscopic difference in his DNA could be responsible for the way he is," she remarked.

"We've never found any link between chromosomes and magical ability. A lot of things are responsible for the way Albus is, I don't think this is one of them."

"Fair enough. Jodie's asked if we can get a brain scan off him the next time he comes in."

"I think he might be a little too busy for that, but I'll ask," Joe smiled.

Eve nodded and took the tablet back. Just before she exited the office she turned to Joe.

"Oh, boss?"

"Yeah?"

"You know, double-Y's sometimes show heightened aggression too?" she warned.

"I'm aware. I don't think he needs any help with that either."