Harry ran his hands through his hair and stared at the report on his desk. They had lost an agent, nearly two. They had lost Tempest, and they were no closer to knowing who was behind the things that were going on. Without that knowledge, how could they stop them?
Just as Harry looked up in a vain attempt to latch on to some inspiration, a figure appeared in front of him without a sound. His hand was on his wand before it registered who he was looking at.
"Lydia?" he whispered. "What are you doing here? Are you okay?"
The girl's face was stern and resolved. It reminded him of Ginny, and a surge of panic and guilt shot through him out of habit. Even the cat, Xander, in her arms looked stern.
"I've come to ask you if you would like to join me in interviewing Alorea Rakissen," she said. Her voice was quiet and even, betraying the control she was trying to keep over her emotions.
"Well, yes, of course," he answered. "If you feel ready, that would be great. This might be the break we need to crack this case. I'll tell Sarson to get ready and I'll arrange to have a word with the Minister."
"No," she told him. "We're going now. No passengers, no warnings, no talking. Oh, and no Uncle Ambrose."
"Does he..." Harry attempted.
"Probably. Who knows?"
"I really need to let Kostas know we're coming," Harry insisted.
"He's in his office, alone," Lydia sounded confident. "He'll know in a couple of seconds when we arrive."
Harry had just managed to get to his feet when the office around them changed.
Director Harizanis looked up from his desk. He was already holding his wand by the time Harry realised they had swapped offices.
"This is a little irregular, Head Auror," he pronounced.
"Not his fault, Director," Lydia informed him. "I'm in charge. I'm going to open that egg and talk to Alorea Rakissen. I'm inviting you and Harry to join me, in case you have any questions for her yourselves."
"This is still irregular," Harizanis persisted. "But I can get the Dexters and a few others to..."
They were now in the room where the egg hovered over a raised plinth. Tally spilled her cup of coffee over Harizanis's foot.
"Agent Dexter," the Director growled.
The coffee and the cup it had been in were no longer there.
"Sorry, Tally," Lydia said. "I thought it would be unfair to leave you out. We're going to talk to Alorea. It seemed like a good idea to have another girl here."
Harry was not quite sure how to take that. He wanted to think it was for Lydia's moral support, but she did not seem to need anyone else in her current mood.
"All of you I am sure I can trust," Lydia told them. "I thought it was a good idea to keep the numbers down – speed and secrecy, you know. Anyway, let's get on with it. You can hold on to your wands, if it makes you feel safe."
They all turned to see the egg disappear and the slender form of Alorea Rakissen descend smoothly to the plinth. The woman was partly crouching but straightened and looked down at her captors.
"What just happened?" she commanded.
"I captured you, fixed all the problems you had caused us and brought you here to the MBI."
"And who are you?" Alorea demanded to know.
"I am a very unusual little girl," Lydia smiled. "And this is an extremely unusual chicken," she added, looking down at Xander, quietly cradled in her arms.
Alorea swallowed and went paler even than her normal Nordic complexion.
Lydia nodded. "It has been a good four years, specially without you being around to cause hassle."
Alorea swayed and took a half step backwards. Harry felt a strange urge to help her, but resisted.
"No, Miss Rakissen, you will not be leaving," Lydia told her. "I can feel you trying. I know the extent of your power, but you don't know mine. I will tell you that you never want to test it, though."
Harry was trained to pick up on the slightest facial signs. He could tell that Alorea was afraid but trying not to let it be known. He was beginning to feel sorry for her. She looked fragile, now. A young woman who had, they had decided, been manipulated into being what she had become.
"And don't try to influence Harry into helping you," Lydia sighed. "He's just a helpful man and you're a pretty woman but you were ready to tear him to pieces, I would remind you all. And by the way, his Ginny is a thousand times the woman you will ever be."
Harry shook off the pity he had been starting to feel. It was true, she had been twisting his mind in her favour. It was also true that Ginny was more than he had ever deserved. Pity gave way to indignant anger.
"Wow, she's good. Lydia, I mean," he whispered to Tally.
Tally nodded and flashed him a smile.
"What is going on?" Lydia continued, taking a step towards Alorea. "How did you become magical? Why did you start these crazy schemes with the Death Eaters?"
Alorea drew herself up and jutted her jaw at Lydia. "I told the old man – I'm glad you got rid of him – I was given a grimoire and a token."
"Where did they come from?" Lydia demanded.
"I inherited them when an uncle of mine, who I'd never met, died and left them to me in his will."
"Uncles have a lot to answer for," Lydia muttered to herself. "Who was he? How was he related to you?"
"He was my mother's half-brother. She had never met him, she said."
"Had she ever told you about him?" Lydia snapped.
Alorea stopped for a few moments to think about that. "No, not before I heard about the will, I don't think. It was a long time ago."
Lydia paced from side to side across the front of the raised stage. She kept her face turned towards Alorea at all times.
After a pause Lydia continued, "What happened after you read the grimoire and made yourself magical?"
"I practised, and I began to find out about the magical community. I was still a teenager at this time. I found out about the school, Ilvermorny, but I was too old to start there. There was nothing they could have taught me, but I got hold of their booklists. I found magical bookshops and bought the whole syllabus. I read everything and practised it. It was easy. I could do it all, without wands and silly words, but I think you know all about that."
"None of your business," Lydia snarled. "Just get on with it."
"I heard about Voldemort and his ideas, over the ocean in your country. It sounded interesting. I thought I'd wait for him to do all the hard work then take over his empire. But that idiot spoiled it all," she spat, nodding towards Harry.
"He was a bit rubbish, that Voldemort," Harry grimaced. "I didn't like his ideas, so I took him down."
"England seemed like an easy place to take over, weakened by the war and too lenient with the Death Eaters. I created a position for myself at our university in Salem. It is easy to do that in a university. Nobody cares what anyone else is doing, they're so wrapped up in their own subjects. Plant a few thoughts in the minds of the administrators, it's not like they are using their minds for anything else, and you can jump straight in. Nobody even looks up from their books to see who you are.
"Once I was there and had created a reputation for myself, I then applied to take McGonagall's job at Hogwarts. That was the hardest part of the plan: getting the old goat to decide to retire. From there I could gain all the information and make all the connections I needed. It is very easy when people are so willing to let you into their empty little minds," she smirked.
Lydia nodded. "I know. Look at how you're telling me everything without even having to be prompted."
Alorea looked horrified as she realised the truth in Lydia's words.
"Go on." Lydia's words were an irresistible command. Even her friends could feel their power.
"I, I started getting, getting the Death Eaters released," Alorea stammered, trying to hold back the flow of words. "You were foolish not to execute even the most influential. After the old fools in the Wizengamot released their ringleaders, at my command, I approached a few of them with a proposal. They were eager to follow a new leader, especially after I demonstrated my power to them. I had our people worm their ways into the ministry, where we could find young witches and wizards through the 'Trace'. I knew we had to get rid of Potter so I set up the whole thing with the boy Granville to capture and kill Potter."
"How's that working out for you?" Tally asked with a grin.
Alorea gave her a look of utter distaste.
"The boy, Granville," she continued, "got carried away with his stupid experiments, but he got them to work. His circle of power to hold Potter was true Old Magic. His stupid trick to make himself magical was doomed from the start. He was one of the young wizards we had separated out, one we were going to hold up as proof that the Muggles were using magic. I knew that a wizard using the ritual to become magical would die, but once he caught Potter he had served his purpose."
Lydia hissed at this.
"Somehow you all escaped the mine," Alorea went on. "I heard Potter had crashed the party at a ritual to turn a muggle into a wizard. I don't know what annoyed me more, Potter being alive or Lestrange thinking he could play his own game without my permission!
"Anyway, you all came to Hogwarts. I thought I had got away with it, controlling Potter and his idiot friend. They were happy enough to tie up Professor Hughes, or Professor Hughesless as I used to call him. I had to come home and wait for Potter and his cronies to arrive so that I could play with them before I finished him off."
She glared at Lydia. "Then you got in the way," she spat with venom.
"Yes, I did," Lydia agreed with a smile.
"I had you," Alorea hissed. "I had you grovelling at my feet but you broke my control. How did you do that?"
"Never overlook someone, even if they are a chicken," Lydia said, realising with a surge inside that she was quoting her uncle. "Or an interfering old man," she muttered to herself.
"I assume you caged me as that Granville had caged Potter," Alorea mused. "That shows a real control of Old Magic."
Lydia said nothing. Alorea had sounded impressed. Lydia was no longer sure which magic had been hers, which her familiar's, and which her uncle's. This was not something to discuss with anyone but Uncle Ambrose.
Lydia turned to the others. Alorea started to raise her hand but shrieked in pain.
Lydia turned back around to her. "Do you really think I would turn my back on you if I couldn't protect myself? Please."
Alorea touched her fingertips to the arm she had raised, investigating with extreme care.
"No damage done," Lydia reassured her. "The feeling of burning flesh, without the damage. This time, at least."
Lydia turned again. "If anyone else has any questions, I'll make sure she answers them."
The agents and the auror quizzed Alorea for some time. Lydia kept a power focused on the prisoner which made her keep talking no matter how hard she tried to conceal information. There was a small network in the US, comprising only seven people, three of whom they had already arrested. Harry fared little better. There were more names, but Harry had already suspected most of them and they had all gone to ground and reformed into new groups with new plans. Alorea's information about plans and events was woefully out of date. A few items sounded as though they might prove useful, but it was not the great breakthrough Harry had hoped it would be.
In the end, the law enforcers were disappointed and the prisoner was exhausted with the effort of trying to fight Lydia's influence. Lydia's anger had abated but she was still as fresh as ever. They turned to leave and Lydia prepared to imprison Alorea once again.
"No!" Alorea cried. "No! Please! I have failed. He will come for me! The Grey Watcher will come for me. I would rather be dead! Please don't leave me here for him. I have seen him in my dreams and he told me he would come for me if I failed. Kill me or set me free. I promise I will go away. You will never see or hear from me again. I promise!"
At the mention of a 'Grey Watcher' Lydia's pulse had started to pound in her head. She walked towards Alorea once more.
"The Grey Watcher?" she whispered.
Alorea was hunched, shivering and rocking with her arms close about her chest as if she had been doused with iced water.
"You have seen him!" Alorea croaked. "I see it in your eyes. He has come to you in your nightmares. He looks into your soul. He watches. He is the Watcher and the Ender. Give me the chance to escape him! Release me! Hide me! Kill me! Send me to the Moon, but don't leave me here where he can find me!"
"This is the safest place you could be," Director Harizanis told her. "No one can get out, no one can get in without one of the directors opening the way."
She crouched down even further, shaking more than shivering. With horror, Lydia saw that she was shaking with silent laughter. She seemed to have lost her sanity.
"YOU FOOL!" she shrieked. "I could leave here right now if SHE wasn't holding me here."
Alorea flung an arm out pointing at Lydia. Lydia almost took a step back but decided to stand firm.
"She," Alorea spat. "She could come and go whenever she wanted. She could tear apart your spells and charms and curses and leave this building in ruins."
"Possibly so," Kostas replied levelly. "I have wondered. However, she's not an evil lunatic like you. She is on our side."
Alorea was huddled on the floor on her knees by now. She rocked back and forth like a terrified child. "I will be on your side. I will be good. Just let me go away. I will be good. You will never see or hear of me again. Vær venlig!"
"If only I could trust you." Lydia cast the imprisoning egg once more around the abject crouching form of Alorea.
She turned to the others. "I hope you got everything you wanted. Time to go."
6