Did Harry mention how much he despised Bernard Hodges?

Because he really did.

A lot.

It was Sunday morning, his supposed day off but as usual luck didn't run Harry's way and during breakfast in which he tried to get Teddy to eat a single pancake, a patronus in the form of a beaver came in through the window. He was informed there was a Death Eater cursing muggles at random in the middle of London and his presence was needed immediately while they began to sort out the damage and get the reverse squad out there.

And so, Harry had to quickly, without a warning beforehand, drop Teddy off at Mrs. Weasley's, blurting out if he could watch him because he needed to be at the ministry now.

"Harry, dear," Mrs. Weasley came to the living room with an apron over her dress. Her face positively lit up at the sight of Teddy. "Oh, you've brought Teddy. How marvelous. Did you want a spot of tea?"

"No, thank you," Harry shook his head. "Mrs. Weasley-"

"Molly, Harry," Mrs. Weasley scolded him lightly. "You've known me long enough."

"Molly," Harry said to placate her. "Can you watch Teddy for a bit, please? I've really got to go. There's a Death Eater cursing muggles in London and I have to get out there and-"

"Of course, Harry," Mrs. Weasley cut him off. "I'd be glad to watch him. You go on ahead."

Harry was greatly relieved. It was one less worry on his mind now that Teddy was safe and in good hands. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"It's no trouble," Mrs. Weasley said after she accepted Teddy into her arms. "Now, go on. You needn't waste anymore time."

Harry didn't need to be told twice.

"Potter!" Hodges barked at him.

"Sir." The word felt like acid on his tongue. The same kind of acid he wished he could throw in the man's face.

"Where've you been? Didn't you get my Patronus?"

"I did, Sir," Harry responded. "I had to drop my godson off, you see. He's staying with me for the weekend."

Hodges was unimpressed with his explanation. "Your personal problems are of no interest to me, Potter. When I say you're to come immediately, I mean it."

"I understand," Harry said slowly. "But I had a one year old with me. And I don't think the field is a very good option for him, now is it?"

He was met with an icy glare. "You think you're funny, do you? I'll not tolerate disrespect. You may be the Boy-Who-Lived to most but to me you're just a kid that needs straightening up."

Harry bristled at this. His age was brought up often, namely with contempt by Hodges. That and him not returning to Hogwarts for his N.E.W.T.s like Hermione had done. "It's not disrespect, Sir, I'm just saying I had other responsibilities to attend to. And besides, I'm here now, aren't I?"

He was met with a fat finger in his face, wagging disapprovingly. "I'll tell you what, Potter," The man was muttering. "You just wait."

Harry gave him a steely glare of his own. Oh, what he'd give to tell Hodges what he really thought of him. But he didn't, as he wished to remain in the auror training program. He didn't want to give the man any more ammunition to use against him, something to insist that Harry was not equipped to handle being an auror.

"Sir?"

To their left was a man in deep red robes. He was a full fledged auror. Harry had seen him around a few times but didn't know much about him.

Hodges breathed out sharply through his nose, turning to face the man. "What Mathis?"

The man, Mathis, stood up straighter. He reminded Harry of someone in the army, like he'd caught glimpses of on the telly when Dudley went through a phase of watching anything and everything to do with war. "Sir, we have numerous reports coming in of muggles that were killed or put under the imperius and cruciatus curse."

Hodges closed his eyes for a brief moment. "I see. And what's being done as of right now?"

"We're attempting to get some damage control. We have the suspect apprehended and we'll be asking him to Azkaban where he'll remain in a holding cell until we can get him into questioning and a trial set up. We have the reverse squad going around obliviating those who saw, which was unfortunately more than we anticipated on."

"Of course," Hodges grumbled. "Were there any key witnesses?"

"Yes. One man saw it all. We still need to get a statement from him."

"Potter," Hodges abruptly said. Harry wasn't sure if he had a good feeling about this or not. "How about a chance to prove yourself, aye? Get the man's statement then obliviate him. I want you back here by this evening at the latest."

This evening? "Err," Harry said, being under the impression Hodges obviously thought so low of him. "I don't think it'll take that long."

A nasty smile came onto Hodge's face. "You're in for a rude awakening, aren't you, Potter?"

/

The clock dinged, signaling to Tom it was now his breaktime. He stretched his legs, mulling over his options. There was still plenty of work to be done, nothing that was to be completed quickly. It wasn't unusual for him to work straight through his break. He'd done that many times before, sacrificing the time he could be eating to get through documents or send emails or get through seemingly never ending mounds of paperwork. It wasn't difficult, really. Living at the orphanage where food was rationed made it easy to wait. Even now, years later when he was able to eat as he pleased, as much as he wanted and whatever he wanted.

But he didn't do that today.

His stomach growled hungrily, the granola bar he'd eaten for breakfast with a steaming mug of coffee was long gone now. He'd never be able to concentrate at this rate. Coming out of his office, he saw how empty the cubicles were. People had left their stations to head down to the breakroom where they could chat amongst each other and eat what they could on their half an hour break. Tom didn't like going in there. He didn't want to be around all those people, having to pretend he was entirely fine with their pathetic attempts at small talk. It was always the same with those people. They exchanged pleasantries because it was the polite thing to do, feigning an interest but having none at all. Some were still miffed at having to be under him when nearly all of them were decades older than he was.

And so, Tom took the lift down to the ground level with the intention of taking a stroll to the bakery where he could get a muffin and perhaps another coffee. It was nice out; the temperature was fair, the sky was sunny with only a few notable clouds hanging overhead. He went down the sidewalk, hands in his trouser pockets. His suit jacket was beginning to feel warm with the sun on his back. Once he got to the bakery he'd take it off and hang it over his arm until he got back to Eureka.

It might not have been the best decision to wear black that day, he thought wryly.

Once he arrived, he was relieved to note that it wasn't busy. A few customers were sitting at the tables, enjoying themselves. One elder lady was with her grandchild, he assumed. Another was clearly a university student, working diligently on a paper from the looks of it. In the back corner was a businesswoman if her fitting blouse and black pencil skirt were anything to go by; she was on her cell phone and he almost pitied the person on the other line. She was talking roughly with her face screwed up in anger.

The barista annoyed him. She was obviously just out of secondary school. A giddy smile came on her face, a blush on her cheeks when Tom approached the counter. Ah, one of those. How he dested that kind of behavior.

"Hello," She was trying to pull off a look that would have looked more appropriate on an older woman. On her own rather childlike face, it was disturbing. "What can I get you?"

He did not let his true feelings be detectable. He didn't sneer or scoff or tell her how out of her league he was. No, no. He put on a charming smile that didn't reach his eyes, not that she noticed. Her attention was elsewhere. "Just a bran muffin and black coffee, darling," He said.

He refrained from glaring when she giggled obnoxiously, her cheeks reddening further. She accepted his payment, promising it would be out shortly.

As soon as she turned away, his smile dropped.

He left with a cup in one hand, a small bag containing his muffin in the other. That hadn't taken long. He still had fifteen minutes left to do as he pleased before he needed to return to his office. Even so, he doubted he would spend any longer out here than he had to. No, he was not the type to sit outside with birds at his feet, basking in the 'wonder of nature.' Tom preferred an air conditioned building with blinds to block out the sun. No he didn't want to 'feel the wind in his hair' in any way or be like those adventurous people that found places to hike or camp.

Foolish people, more like it, opening up the opportunity for them to get bitten by something poisonous or fall to their death or get seriously injured.

Tom was perfectly content with being boring, according to some.

He suddenly jerked, coffee dropping the ground and splattering when a blood curdling scream rang through the air. It wasn't-this was different than a typical scream. It didn't sound like the person was scared, it was as if-

They were in pain?

/

"Percy!" Harry saw the older red-head and rushed over. He looked quite stressed, repeatedly running a hand through his hair, making the curls stand every which way. It was different than how they looked before the war ended, all slicked back with gel.

"Harry," Percy sighed with relief. "I'm glad you're here." He eyed him. "Though I suppose it's not by your own accord?"

"Never is," Harry muttered with an eye roll. "Hodges told me to come. Didn't have much of a choice."

"I figured as much," Percy nodded. He'd done a complete career change and was now assisting in the magical law enforcement department. Unlike Harry, he didn't need to go through the same training. Kingsley believed him to be totally qualified, promoting him right away. Although he was not an auror, he was some other title that Harry, for the life of him, couldn't recall at the moment. "Regardless, I'm thankful for your help. This has been a right mess."

"What even happened?" Harry asked for clarification. "All I know is some Death Eater cursed a bunch of muggles."

"That's the basic idea, yes," Percy said. "We're not sure of his name, yet. He was a lower level Death Eater during the war. Apparently he set out to avenge You-Know-Voldemort," He corrected when Harry gave him a look.

"It's just a name, Percy."

"Yes, well. The Boy-Who-Lived would say that," Percy snarked back with a grin. "Or is it the Man-Who-Conquered now?"

Harry grimaced. "Neither."

The older man snorted. Then he sobered up. "This is going to take some time to fix. Not many saw everything that happened, much less understood what it was. We do have one sole witness. He saw everything."

"I heard," Harry said. "That's why I'm here. Hodges wants me to get his statement." Something crossed Percy's face, something akin to sympathy. Harry immediately questioned, "What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Percy said too quickly. "Nothing, technically."

"Percy!"

Said man looked like he was inwardly debating on what to say. "It's nothing. It's just...he's being a bit difficult right now. He wants to leave but we've not let him go and he's demanding to know what it was that he saw. As we've not said anything, he's grown quite...testy."

Brilliant.

No wonder Hodges told Harry to go. The man had it out for him. Plain and simple.

"Great," Harry said dryly. "Just what I wanted to deal with."

"I'm sorry," Percy, to his credit, did look apologetic. "Did you want me to accompany you? Perhaps he'd be calmer if we both went."

"No, no," Harry shook his head. "It's fine. I can handle him."

"You're sure?" Percy was doubtful.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it," Harry gave him a smile.

"Alright. Come to me before you leave, okay? I'll need to ask you a few questions."

/

He was hallucinating.

He had to be.

Yes, that was it.

Tom was clearly suffering the side effects from a lack of food. Dehydration, even. They were making his brain spazz out and now he was seeing things, hearing things. It was the only explanation for it. The only reason why he was seeing sparks fly out of a stick and...do things to people.

One such thing was a green light hitting one person in the back, they collapsed in a heap on the sidewalk. Another didn't have a light come out but the effect was instantaneous; the person writhed on the ground in apparent agony, screaming.

Tom was frozen where he stood, mouth gone dry. He didn't know what was going on and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. He wasn't normally frightened but right now it was like he was doused with icy water, heart beating rapidly in his chest.

At some point the man with the stick, clad in black robes with a hood that covered his face, turned to Tom, raising his stick and pointing at him.

He braced for what was to come, whatever that may be.

He didn't have to. Because at that moment, people came out of nowhere, literally and apprehended the man by yelling out something and he fell unconscious.

/

"Hi," Harry gave the man a friendly smile. He was tall and thin, wearing an expensive looking business suit, complete with a fancy phone that was clenched in his hand. He was nice to look at, he could admit. Ebony black hair that was swept neatly to the side, piercing blue eyes. He had to have been older than Harry by a few years.

The man did not reciprocate his smile. "I demand to be let go," he snarled. Beside him were two aurors that Harry had seen before at the ministry. "This is unlawful! Surely, I have rights!"

Harry bit back a sigh. Great. One of those people. "Look, I understand, it's just that-"

"Clearly you don't understand. Do you have any idea how late I am? I was supposed to be back at my office nearly an hour ago!"

"I understand that," Harry repeated and tried again. "If you'll just let me-"

"And what was all that? All those...sparks? Is this some kind of joke? Some kind of shooting for a movie?"

"No," Harry said carefully. "It's not for a movie."

Some of the muggles had crowded around the tape that was put up. Muggle policemen came out to investigate. People were whispering and likely coming up with theories. This was most definitely going to make the muggle news unless they got it under control.

"Then what else is it?" The man demanded to know.

Great, what am I supposed to tell him?

Harry tried taking the easy way. "Listen, I'll let you go once I get a statement."

The man scoffed. "You think I'm giving you anything? Absolutely not. Not until someone tells me what's going on."

Harry tried not to groan. "I get it, you're agitated, but let's not be difficult."

"I haven't begun to get difficult yet," the man glared at him.

And that's something to be proud of

Maybe I should get Percy over here

But then Hodges might find out and I'll never hear the end of it

"Can you give us a few minutes?" Harry said to the two aurors.

The first one spoke up. "We were told to stand here until the witness was obviated."

"Obliviated? What is that supposed to mean?"

Harry ignored him. "Right, but no offense, I don't think you're helping any. I might have better results if it's just the two of us."

The two aurors exchanged a look. In the end, they passed by Harry and he got the distinct feeling they were going to badmouth him when they were gone.

"What did they mean by obliviate?" The man said roughly.

"Err, well-"

"Are you even old enough to be a policeman? You look like you've just gotten out of school," the man said snidely.

He had, technically.

"My age is none of your concern," Harry said sharply. "What I need you to do is give me a statement and we'll both be on our way."

The man was giving him a bloody headache.

"Name then."

"Excuse me?"

"Your name," The man was annoyed. "What is it? I'd like to know whom I'm speaking to."

"Oh," Harry blinked. "Harry. Harry Potter. And yours?"

"Tom Riddle."

"Pleasure," Harry said even though he didn't mean it.

"Right," Tom said dryly.

Two seconds passed by.

"Sooo," Harry gestured with his hands, "your statement? I need to know everything you saw."

"And I want to have my own questions answered," Tom crossed his arms defiantly.

"Maybe."

"Oh, no," Tom said nastily, "we're not playing that. Either you give me the information I want, or I won't give you what you want."

Harry spluttered. "You can't do that!"

"Actually, it's within my rights which I would expect a policeman to know."

"I'm not a policeman," Harry said before he could stop himself.

Tom raised a single eyebrow. "What are you then? You'd have to be some type of law enforcement."

"I am...it's just-" Harry saw reporter cameras out of the corner of his eye. That wasn't good. He had to think up something quick. He's going to get obliviated anyway. It won't hurt. "Come with me."

He yanked on Tom's wrist, pulling him forward. The man yelped in alarm.

"Where are we-"

"This is going to feel strange," Harry blurted out. "Just...just try not to freak out okay?"

"What do mean-" Tom trailed off, letting out a cry when they apparated away.