Last time Harry and the others attended the Halloween Party at the AMA headquarters. There they meet up with some old friends and learning who wound up with who in some cases; Neville wound up with Hanna Abbot, Luna with Rolf Scamander…etc.
The Director General of the American Magic Administration, Phillip Rothheimer, then announced the reason for such an extra special celebration; The Harmony Project, a venture to prove that wizards and Muggles can live in peace.
Yet all is not well. Several wizards who were involved in the project have been murdered, and now Harry and his family are being drawn into what is sure to amount to a Halloween they'll never forget. On with the show!
Chapter 3: The Plot Thickens
After Appariting to their hotel to change into more field-worthy attire, Harry and his family then went back to the AMA headquarters with Chris and Samantha, who had also changed back into their work robes.
"How serious is this?" Ginny asked, "I know any murder is terrible, but…"
"It is serious," said Chris as they entered the elevator that would take them down to the Auror office, "a lot of time and resources has been spent on The Harmony Project. While the city where it'll be carried out, Synchronicity, has already been built, there's still plenty of opportunities for the project to be canceled, or in this case, sabotaged."
"Rothheimer said that all the murder victims were connected with the project," said Hermione, "if enough people involved were to die…"
"…then the project would be in serious jeopardy," said Harry.
"Just what kind of sick, twisted, bloody bastard would sabotage a chance for muggles and wizards to live together?" Ron asked.
"There's still a lot of wizards who don't like muggles," said Harry.
"If you're talking about the Malfoy's," said Hermione in an accusing tone.
"Actually," said Harry, "I'm not. I haven't heard a thing from Draco or his parents since the death of Voldemort, so I doubt they're responsible."
"Are we sure we got every Death Eater?" Ron asked, "Because there were a lot of them."
"That's a very good question," said Harry.
The Auror office for the AMA wasn't all that different from the one back in London, or so it seemed at first to Harry. Sure, there were offices and rooms full of case files, as well as large meeting rooms and other rooms one would find in such a place. But as Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were escorted to one of these meeting rooms, they notices several doors that were marked with different colors.
"Those doors lead to different parts of our headquarters," said Chris as he and Samantha showed Harry and co to the room where they would meet up with Rothheimer, "behind the blue door is our fitness wing. In this business you need to be in top shape, and stay that way, if you're going to combat the forces of evil."
"I'm with you on that, mate," said Ron. Harry and Hermione also had to agree, for part of their training as Aurors involved a lot of cardio exorcises and weight lifting to increase stamina and other physical prowess, resulting in their being in the best form in their lives.
"And behind the yellow door," said Samantha, "is the Forensics and Evidence wing, where we analyze the magical aspects of each case and determine what magic was used. All evidence is documented and stored for later use in identifying criminals and as exhibits in trials."
"We have a similar system back home," said Hermione, "but our way is a bit more complicated, I admit."
Again, Harry had to agree, for with each case he'd been on, there went with it a tone of paperwork. Harry was amazed that he hadn't been afflicted with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome yet with all the writing he had to do.
"The green doors are where we keep supplies," said Chris, "as well as Special Research and Development. Sometimes we have to come up with our own counter spells and enchantments."
"How often do you have to think of something new?" Harry asked, for he, Ron and Hermione once witnessed the creation of a new counter spell a few times.
"More often than we'd like," said Samantha, "with a new millennium comes new magical crimes. I remember hearing that they had to contain a lot of irresponsible behavior around the end of 1999. We had to come up fast with a means of modifying the memories of every muggle in New York City at once because some idiot thought it would be fun to release half a dozen dragons during the New Years Eve celebrations."
"I remember hearing about that," said Ginny, "but what happened to the dragons afterwards?"
"We had a horrible time rounding them up without attracting more attention," said Chris, "but it got done alright. Five of the dragons were real easy once they were cornered, but that Hungarian Horntail, that was the real trouble."
"You can say that again," said Harry. At this he, Ron, Hermione and Ginny laughed.
"What?" Chris asked, "did I say something funny?"
"Let's just say that our 4th year at Hogwarts wasn't exactly what we'd call 'normal,'" said Ron.
"Since when was any moment we were at Hogwarts normal?" Hermione asked.
"Since when has anything we've done been normal?" Harry asked.
"Normal, like beauty," said Ginny, "is in the eye of the beholder."
"Oh, don't get me started on Beholders," said Samantha.
"I thought those horrible things were extinct!" said a shocked Hermione.
"Umm…" said Samantha in a sheepish tone, "I guess I shouldn't have said that."
At this Harry swallowed nervously. One of the few times he did well in History of Magic was when Professor Bins had everyone (5th year by the way) choose an independent topic to write an essay on. But when a ghost of a teacher means 'choose,' he meant draw lots from a bowl.
The topic that Harry was given was on extinct monsters, and one of the monsters Harry looked up was the Beholder; a vile, xenophobic, subterranean creature that was mostly a giant floating head with one big eye and nine smaller eyes on stalks. One of the aspects that made Beholders so dangerous was their ability to cast multiple spells at once; each eyestalk could use magic independently from each other.
Fortunately for the world, Beholders were as rare as most dangerous monsters, even more so since they were thought to have died out in the 19th century, or so Harry thought, until tonight that is.
"Then it's true?" Hermione asked, "there are still Beholders in the world?"
"We're not at liberty to discuss that information," said Chris in the same practiced tone as from yesterday when Ginny asked Chris and Samantha what their first case as Aurors was.
"You're going to say that a lot while we're here," said Ron, "Aren't you?"
"Only if you ask the wrong questions," said Samantha.
"And what are the wrong questions?" Harry asked.
"I'm afraid we're not at liberty to discuss that either," said Samantha.
"This is awkward," said Ginny, while Hermione nodded in agreement.
"It is," said Chris, "but enough awkwardness. Moving on," they continued to the meeting room, but then they passed a red door, "here we have…umm…what is behind the red doors, Samantha?"
"You know what," said Samantha, "I really don't know." Harry didn't need to use Legimimency or Veritaserum to know that Samantha was telling the truth.
"Nobody told us what's in there," said Chris, "not yet anyway. I guess it's reserved for the higher levels."
"You're probably right," said Hermione. Harry had to agree with this; back home there were plenty of areas in the Ministry of Magic that were off limits to junior members, or 'newbies' as the muggles would say, despite the reputation of said members.
While pondering this, Harry and his family soon found themselves in the meeting room where Rothheimer waited with several other Aurors.
Harry saw Rothheimer talking with two wizards and a witch. The first wizard was tall, about 6'1" with dark brown hair and light orange eyes. He looked to be about 45 and wore blue and white robes. The second wizard was much younger, about 26 or so, standing at 5'11" and had dark blue eyes and wore green and brown robes. The witch was somewhat shorter, about 5'4" and looked to be about 35. She had shoulder-length brown hair and indigo eyes. She wore red and orange robes.
"Glad you could make it," said Rothheimer to Harry and the others, "I'd like to introduce you to Hadrian Irvine, head American Auror," he indicated the wizard in blue and white, "as well as Linda Keith, assistant Director of American Magical Law Enforcement," the witch in red and orange, "and Investigator John Baxter, level 5 Auror who is in charge of the case," the wizard in green and brown.
"I've heard a lot about you, Mr. Potter," said Hadrian Irvine in a mind Southern accent, "and your friends, and family of course."
"You kids have done some fantastic stuff in such a short time," said Linda Keith in a medium New England drawl, "Especially against that Homunculus."
"And the Sorg murders," said John Baxter in an accent that drew its origins from New York City, "that messed up wizard who forced all those innocent people into killing themselves, you did the world a favor by putting that lunatic behind bars."
"I wouldn't exactly call being forced to expose my hands to a neurotoxin in order to save my life fantastic," said Hermione in a slightly disapproving tone. True enough, Hermione's hands would tremble every now and then as a lingering effect of the poisoned books she had to leaf through in order to escape being entombed. Ron said that she had nightmares of the horrific event sometimes, but Hermione would deny it.
"And don't get me started on that Homunculus mess," said Ginny in a tone that threatened to turn into a rant that would do her mother proud.
"Well…" said John Baxter in a slightly sheepish tone, "to each their own then."
"What do you mean to each their own!?" Ginny asked, "that thing that looked like Cedric Diggery had me kidnapped in order to lure my husband, my brother and my sister-in-law into a trap! The fact that at the time I thought I was going to have a baby didn't help things."
"And don't get me started on that!" said Ron, "those gits at St. Mungos really made a bloody mess of things!"
"I thought we agreed that we wouldn't be talking about that," said Hermione in a stern tone.
"I know," said Ron, "but…"
"But nothing!" said Hermione, "you promised that you'd let it go. Now I'm telling you; let it go!"
"But…" said Ron.
"Let it go!!" said Hermione.
"Yes, dear," said Ron in a defeated tone.
"I'll admit it," said Ginny, impressed at the way Hermione was handling her bother, "she's tamed him."
But then Harry saw Ron mouth to him, 'we'll talk about it later.' Harry smiled at this, that his best friend and brother-in-law was still the same old Ron.
"I'm guessing that this is a bad time to discuss serious matters," said Hadrian Irvine, "especially since four wizards have been brutally murdered and the fate of the what is surely to be one of the greatest magical projects of the 21st centaury is on the line."
"You're right," said Harry, "I apologize."
"No need," said Linda Keith, "the things I could tell you about my family, now that's dysfunctional."
"We're not dysfunctional," said Ron.
"We're perfectly normal," said Hermione.
"Of course," said Rothheimer, "now, to business. John, the details, if you would."
"Here's what we know so far," said John Baxter, "each victim was killed by the same unknown force. Something, some curse that we've yet to identify, but it wasn't the killing curse, that much we're certain."
"Well if it wasn't the Advada Kedavra curse," said Hermione, "then what was it?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out," said Irvine.
"I can tell you this much," said Baxter, "They didn't die quietly. It was loud and excessively messy."
"How can it be loud and messy?" Ron asked reluctantly, already regretting asking such a question for the sake of his stomach.
"Their heads exploded," said Baxter.
"Their heads exploded?" a rather disgusted sounding Ron asked. Harry and Ginny were also disgusted at the mention of such graphic deaths.
"That would be loud and messy," said a definitely disgusted sounding Hermione.
"Exactly," said Baxter, "one minute they were fine as rain, the next thing…ka-sploosh! Their brains were splattered all over the place, blood and skull fragments up to a radius of 10 meters."
"Thank you for the gory details, John," said Irvine.
"Just doing my job, sir," said Baxter.
"What kind of curse can make a man's head explode?" Harry asked, "and who would use it?"
"That's the mystery," said Baxter, " It may not even be a curse or any other kind of dark magic. This is the fourth case of similar deaths in the past two weeks, but we haven't been able to figure out how it was done. No spells, hexes, jinxes or curses were detected, nor were any potions or magical substances found on the bodies that could have caused such deaths. No, some force, other than magic, caused an incredible pressure to build up inside the heads of those poor people, a pressure great enough to break their heads open like a watermelon."
"Sounds gruesome," said Ginny.
"You have no idea," said Baxter, "There were at least a dozen muggle witnesses at each murder, it two hours to track them down and modify their memories. And before you ask, no, nobody saw anyone do anything to the victims. They just clutched at their heads and screamed in agony before…ka-boom."
"If no magic was involved," said Harry, "none that we know of, then what could have done this?"
"That is indeed a mystery," said Irvine, "Something I hope to figure out before anyone else is killed."
"Sir? I may have a theory," said one of the other Aurors in the room, a witch with waist length blond hair, hazel eyes and wearing yellow and blue robes. She was of medium height and looked to be about the same age as Baxter.
"Oh please," said one of the other Aurors, "Not Becky again."
"Never mind her, sir," said another Auror, "Becky is a few French Fries short of a Happy Meal."
"My name is Rebecca!" shouted the witch who spoke, "Rebecca Covington, and don't you insensitive bastards forget it! And I'm not crazy!"
"Sure you're not!" teased a third Auror.
"All of you shut up!" snapped Irvine, "Or I'll have you stuffing envelopes for the next five years!" he then turned to Rebecca Covington and spoke in a softer tone, "Do continue, Ms. Covington."
"As I was saying, sir," said Rebecca Covington, "I think I know how these murders are occurring. The evidence suggests that no magical force was used, but what if a completely different power is the culprit? The power of the human mind."
"Where are you going, Ms. Covington?" Linda Keith asked.
"I'm speaking of someone with psychic abilities," said Rebecca Covington, "That's were I'm going."
"You mean telepathy and telekinesis," said Hermione.
"I thought that was all tricks and mirrors," said Ron.
"Oh it's very real, Mr. Weasley," said Rothheimer, "I've seen it myself. There are muggles who are capable of exerting their minds over mater."
"Exactly," said Rebecca, "What if someone out there, someone with the ability to exert force over a person or object, just by concentration, what if this person is responsible for the murders?"
"It would account for the lack of magical evidence," said Baxter.
"True," said Irvine, "But this person would have to be a rather powerful telepath to be able to kill someone."
"So this person," said Ron, "This telepath, if he's not a wizard but a muggle, then the bloke could be anyone."
"Who says the killer is a man?" Hermione asked, "A woman is equally capable of murder if properly provoked."
"Then that'd make it harder for us to find the killer," said Ron, "Be only half as hard if it were just a bloke."
"It may be easier than you think, Mr. Weasley," said Rebecca, "In many cases, people with psychic abilities are often social outcasts and tend to act oddly in public.
"How oddly?" Harry asked.
"Well," said Rebecca, "sometimes they would talk to themselves, and sometimes they would talk back, like the person was carrying on both sides of a conversation. Other times this person would perform bizarre personal rituals, like avoiding every single crack on a sidewalk, or counting every window on a building."
"Obsessive Compulsive Disorder," said Hermione, "where anxiety forces someone to do something to alleviate that anxiety."
"You really think whoever is responsible for these murders is a muggle with psychic abilities, and has OCD?" Linda Keith asked.
"Well whoever is responsible is obviously a dangerous and disturbed person," said Baxter. "And the evidence is pointing away from anyone with magic, so yes, until proven otherwise, I believe a muggle, or muggles, are responsible."
"Great," said Ron, "now all we have to do is find out which muggle in the city did it."
Just then Rothheimer, Irvine and Linda Keith all received the same message, and it was bad news; "There's been another murder, two deaths this time."
"The crime scene is less than four blocks north of The Washington Monument," said Baxter as he read the message, "the killer couldn't have gotten to far."
"Just how many wizards is this maniac going to kill?" Hermione asked
"It's worse than that," said Rothheimer, "this time the victims were muggles."
"No way!" said Ron.
"I'm afraid so," said Irvine.
"Now muggles are being killed," said Harry, "did they die the same way?" he asked in a tone that hoped to be proven wrong.
"The same way," said Irvine, "their heads exploded."
"Were these muggles connected with the project?" Hermione asked as they exited the meeting room and headed for the elevators.
"They were," said Linda Keith, "It's clear that the killer is escalating, now involving muggles."
"This is looking to be bigger than we thought," said Irvine, "I'm making this case top priority. John, you'll get whatever help and resources you'll need."
"Thank you, sir," said John Baxter, "but at this time, I can only think of two things that I need to help find the killer, rather, two people. First, I'd like Ms. Covington to be transferred to my team."
"Done," said Irvine, "unless Ms. Covington has any objections."
"No objections here, sir," said Rebecca as she smiled happily, much to the displeasure of the other Aurors, the ones who mocked her earlier.
"And the other person," said Baxter, "assuming Mr. Potter is available."
"I am," said Harry, "assuming my family is welcome to come along."
"I wouldn't be so eager to get your family involved in this," said Irvine, "especially your wife. I mean no disrespect, Mrs. Potter, but you're a civilian in this matter. It wouldn't look good if you and your family were to visit the crime scene."
"Where Harry goes, I go," said Ginny in a tone that implied that her foot was down.
"Don't try to argue with her, mate," said Ron, "it's like arguing with mum; you just can't win."
"I don't see any harm with Mrs. Potter going with her husband," said Rothheimer.
"Me neither," said Linda Keith, "provided that Ms. Getty and Mr. Hunter are willing to continue their assignment as liaison to our guests from across the ocean."
"We're more than ready to do our part, madam," said Chris in an eager tone, while Samantha grinned eagerly.
"Alright," said Irvine in a reluctant tone, "but if the time comes when we're presenting evidence that could put the murderer behind bars, and said evidence is rendered non-admissible because a civilian was at the crime scene, just remember, I told you so."
"I won't touch a thing," said Ginny, "witches honor."
"I'll hold you to that," said Irvine. There was an awkward moment as everyone just stood there, "Well…? Get going already! That crime scene isn't getting any fresher."
"We won't let you down, sir," said Baxter, while Rebecca, Chris and Samantha nodded in agreement.
"Neither will we," said Harry, while Ron, Hermione and Ginny nodded in agreement as well.
The end of chapter 3.
Next chapter Harry and his family encounter someone else investigating the bizarre murders, someone different in many ways. Reviews will be rewarded with Skiving Snackboxes and Portable Swamps. See you next time!