CHAPTER THREE

SCORCHED, SLIT & STOLEN

Just like with Muggle Law Enforcement agencies, the Auror Office received notices about crime scenes at any hour of the day. So by this point in their careers, all it took for Harry and Hermione to get rejuvenated at 4:50 in the morning was a strong cup of coffee, one for each, and which they disposed of in a wastebasket to the right after the door of the lift had opened. They both breathed in deeply for preparation of seeing dead bodies and stepped as one out into the underground level of the Magical Artifact Recovery Division.

As they approached two middle-aged men with weary expressions on their faces and official blue Ministry robes adorning their bodies, Harry and Hermione reached into their coat pockets and extracted their Auror badges. The badges were shaped much like police ones, except they depicted what was meant to be a spell explosion over the city of London, though it looked more like a rising sun. The word "Auror" was engraved into the gold item directly in the center of the London skyline. Of course, Harry and Hermione showing identification was pointless, seeing as everybody in the Ministry knew who they were, but protocol was protocol.

The two Ministry officials nodded silently upon seeing the badges and the first used his wand to divide a shimmering red line of energy while the second handed Harry and Hermione two pairs of gloves. Harry and Hermione stopped in their tracks and slipped on the gloves before passing through the crime scene barrier. Once they had, specialized crime scene boots appeared over their sneakers and the red line reconnected by itself.

Harry clipped his badge to the right side of his fleece coat while Hermione did the same with her denim one. By this point, they had reached a second checkpoint, where two more Ministry employees held spraycans in their hands. Harry and Hermione, knowing the drill, held out their wands so they could be sprayed with the sterilizing agent. This was common procedure for magical crime scenes, as Aurors needed their wands to perform their job, but couldn't let outside elements that clung to their wands contaminate the scene. The mist that coated the wands would kill any traces of magic from outside that wouldn't mix well with those left behind at the crime scene.

The mist normally took a minute to come into effect, so as that happened, Harry inclined his head toward the nearest Ministry official.

"Any traces of biological elements in the air?" he asked.

The Ministry official shook his head. "A few quick sweeps turned up nothing."

Harry nodded and waited out the rest of the minute. Once it was over, he and Hermione made their way fully into the crime scene, which started at a seemingly abandoned desk. But a quick glance as they passed showed Harry and Hermione the dead body that was slumped against the wall. However, the thing Harry and Hermione particularly took notice of was the knife sticking out of the guard's chest.

"Overkill, apparently." The sound of Marcus's voice tore Harry's attention away from the body and onto his handler, who was standing in the open doorway in front of Harry and Hermione. "Traces of the Killing Curse were found on the poor bloke. Sorry to barge in on your holiday plans again, but there's a reason I called you down here," he added.

Harry, already in investigative mode, knelt down beside the body and fixed his eyes firmly on the knife and where it penetrated the flesh. "There's blood around the wound," he said, pointing out the dark and blotchy discoloration that encircled the blade.

"Which means the Killing Curse was cast after he was stabbed," concluded Hermione. She, too, crouched down to get a better look. "Someone obviously didn't want to risk him surviving. And judging from the placement of the wound, I'd say that could have been a possibility." The knife was embedded in the guard's stomach, mostly, and stomach wounds bleed out slowly, therefore making death more drawn out for the victim.

"Do we have a name on him?" Harry asked.

"Marty Butler, father of two," Marcus replied.

Harry straightened up and sighed. "Worst time of year for a murder."

"There's more inside," stated Marcus. "Come on."

Marcus guided Harry and Hermione through the large doorway and into the antechamber, where the Navy blue brick walls glowed a bit brighter due to makeshift floodlights shining down from the upper portions of the walls. Other Aurors, six in total, scanned the area for any subtle traces of evidence, their wands held out in front of them like flashlights.

Harry spotted the four bodies at the other end of the chamber, but started glancing around for the living ones he'd been expecting to see. "Where are Ian and Ann?" he inquired of Marcus. "I thought you called in my entire team."

"He did."

The new female voice made Harry and Hermione turn around to be met with the sight of Ian MacGregor and Ann Flynn, the other two members of Harry's Auror team. They were currently crouched on either side of yet another dead body, this one a bald man with red hair wrapped around his head just above his ears.

"I see you got a headstart," said Harry.

"Well, we were closer when the call came in," replied Ann as she tucked a strand of her dirty blonde hair behind her left ear. "Anonymous tip, by the way, in case you were wondering."

"I.D. on this victim?" prompted Harry, kneeling down once more and fully taking charge as Team Leader.

"John Harris," Ian answered bluntly as he put a hand under his chin and stroked the thin collection of facial hair that just barely formed a goatee with the mustache on his lip. "Confirmed to have been a Recoverable working in the Magical Artifact Recovery Division. And only Recoverables can access this area down here. That's the vault where every successfully recovered artifact is kept for safekeeping." Ian pointed towards the open vault door behind the clump of the guards' bodies.

"So you're thinking this was an inside job," suggested Hermione.

"That's our first guess," conceded Ann. "But it's as far as we've gotten." She straightened up, brushed off her green jacket and held out a bag that contained a wand. "His wand."

"Was it used during the break-in?" asked Harry as he took the bag from Ann.

Ann shrugged. "Well, why don't we find out?" She gestured over at the bodies of the guards, and everybody made their way over to them.

Waiting for them there was a man with brown hair and in his mid-30's who wore robes of white and red. The man's name was Herbert, and he was the Auror Office's equivalent of a medical examiner. The only difference was Herbert had access to methods and tools that Muggles did not.

"Harry," Herbert greeted plainly as Harry and his team gathered around him. "This is a messy one." Herbert was on his knees in front of one of the bodies, his gloved hand pressing tenderly against the victim's bloodied neck and the gash that had killed him. "Painful way to go. The others all have the same wound."

Harry could only stomach the sight of a slashed throat for only so long. Even to experienced professionals, that kind of wound is one of the more gag-inducing ones. "Was it the work of a knife or a spell?"

"That's more your area of expertise, Harry. All I can tell you is I've determined all four of these murders to have taken place approximately five hours ago."

"Midnight," piped up Marcus. "That falls in line with when the tip came in."

"You do realize that was probably from one of the criminals themselves?" said Hermione.

Marcus nodded. "Makes sense, because this area has been virtually soundproofed to the levels upstairs."

"So whoever did this wants us on their trail," commented Ian dryly. "That's the most dangerous sort of criminal."

In the midst of all this, Harry had carefully removed Harris's wand from the bag and placed the tip of it against his own. "Priori Incantatem," he muttered.

From between the tips of the two wands emerged misty whisps of bluish smoke that swirled together until they formed a shapeless burst of light. Harry frowned and disconnected the wand tips, which vanquished the smoke.

"The last spell Harris performed was Expelliarmus," he sighed. "And Expelliarmus can't slit throats."

Herbert pulled his own wand from his pocket, ignited it in a neon green light and shone that light down upon the bloody wounds. As a result, the blood took on a black appearance, but there were blotches of white scattered about the stains.

Herbert glanced up at Harry. "And a knife can't leave behind traces of magic on whatever they cut."

Harry looked up from the dead bodies and regarded Marcus curiously. "I still don't see a reason why Hermione and I needed to come down here. What's so special about these murders that they required our team?"

"The answer you're looking for is in here."

Marcus guided Harry's team past the bodies and into the vault, where the light source was more orange due to the candles and torches hanging on the wall and from the ceiling. The light provided a view of a long line of tall shelves that seemed to stretch up all the way to the ceiling and all the way back to wherever the back wall may be. Not five steps away from the vault entrance was another lifeless body. It was a man whose eyes were frozen in a wide open state of shock and his mouth partially open as if he had died in the middle of gasping for air.

"Seven dead in total," Harry stated with aggression in his voice. "Already I'm not too fond of this case."

"Who is he?" asked Hermione.

"George Benfield." The deep male voice came from the right of Harry, and when he turned to discover its owner, Harry saw a tall and thin man with blond hair, blue eyes and an impossibly clean shaven face. "Another Recoverable who was under my employ."

"May I introduce Steven Anderson, the Head of the Magical Artifact Recovery Division," Marcus said cordially.

Harry eyed Anderson neutrally as Anderson stuck out his hand. After a few seconds, Harry shook it rather jerkily. "Usually when someone of importance shows up at a crime scene, it's to either protect certain interests or to cover their ass. So which is it for you?"

Anderson seemed unfazed by the question. "George Benfield was the current Key Master for the vault."

"Meaning?" asked Ann.

"He was the Recoverable tasked with maintaining the vault. Only he had the keys to it, and therefore, only he could access it. You see, the keys to the vault are designed rather curiously. They require a drop of the Key Master's blood in order for them to work. It's a preventive measure to make sure no thieves can get in, because the vault is impenetrable any other way."

"Except, of course, if Dark Wizards were to ever have the Key Master under duress," Ian said sarcastically.

"Sounds like you're in need of a better sense of security, Mr. Anderson," Hermione agreed, though her snide tone was more subdued.

Anderson merely stared levelly back at the Aurors as Harry posed his next question to Marcus.

"Is this the reason you dragged us down here at five in the morning? Because if it is, what makes George Benfield's death stand out?"

Marcus, his face stoic, wordlessly got closer to Benfield's body and bent down beside the head. With his gloved fingers, he partially pulled back the collar of Benfield's cloak, revealing something on Benfield's neck. At first, it appeared to be a black tattoo, but closer inspection proved it to be something else. Rather than a tattoo, it was more of an engraving, or fresh scar. The scar was in the shape of a coiled up snake, its head sticking up as if poised to strike.

Veins bulged in Benfield's neck, communicating that the scar had just recently been made. In addition, those veins and Benfield's lips were the same color as the scar: black.

The sight of the scar made goosebumps pop up along Harry's arms.

"What would you say that is?" Marcus questioned.

"A black serpent," Harry replied, his eyes never leaving the scar. "And a calling card."

Herbert came closer to Benfield's body to get a better look. "The discolored veins and black lips could be signs of poisoning. I'll of course know more once I get the body back to my lab."

Hermione had her head cocked to one side as she observed the scar. "If this really is the work of The Brotherhood, then them claiming responsibility means they're done trying to maintain secrecy."

"Which isn't a good sign," said Harry. He was thinking back to when the Death Eaters had been emerging as a super power, and the idea of another group of Dark Witches and Wizards lashing out in the Magical community made an uneasy feeling lodge itself in his stomach.

"But we should try to keep the secrecy going," intoned Marcus as he stood up. "For all everybody else out there knows, there is no Brotherhood of the Black Serpent. Until the circumstances change, I think it best we keep it that way."

Harry gave a curt nod as he faced Anderson again. "Mr. Anderson, we're standing in the middle of your vault. So unless The Brotherhood needed a less obvious place to hide a body, I'm going to say they stole an artifact."

"And it would make things a whole lot easier for us if you can help us determine exactly what was taken," added Hermione as she gestured towards the long line of shelves.

Anderson nodded as he removed his wand from his robes. He aimed his wand in the general direction of the shelves before a burst of turquoise light flashed from its tip. The light landed on the floor, where it divided into at least ten separate lines to account for each row between shelves. Every one of those lines snaked into those rows, and a few seconds later, four of those lines turned red.

Harry looked back at Anderson, waiting for an explanation.

"Those are the aisles you want to investigate," clarified Anderson, indicating the aisles that had the red lines running through them. "Each artifact has a plaque underneath it with its name. Whatever's missing won't be any mystery."

Harry studied the red lines. "By the looks of it, The Brotherhood took more than one. Lumos." His wand flickered to life with a golden light. He turned around to see that Hermione, Ian and Ann had done the same. "Split up," Harry ordered, "and when you find an empty slot, call out."

The red-marked aisles were spaced evenly: the first on the left, then the third, fifth and seventh. Harry, Hermione, Ian and Ann claimed the aisles in that order.

As Harry walked along the first aisle, he discovered that the candlelight all around the vault wasn't enough to illuminate the rows of artifacts. So, Harry had to rely on the light coming from his wand to see what was sitting on the shelves. The first artifact that Harry's light came across was a glassy orb with an orange hue and a thin black line down its center. When Harry passed the orb, the black line followed his movement. The plaque underneath it read "The Dragon's Eye."

A few feet beyond that, something else caught Harry's eye. It was a wand, but not just any wand. It had circular patterns running all the way down it, but the thing that had made Harry stop to look at it was its nameplate: "The Wand of Gellert Grindelwald." Immediately, Harry knew who contributed to this particular item being stored in this vault and despite it's dark applications, Harry found himself in a temporary state of reverence as he stood in front of Grindelwald's wand. This was one of the few times within the past two years when he had been confronted with a reminder of Dumbledore's accomplishments.

Harry allowed himself a brief smile before moving on.

The red line stretched on just a bit further, and Harry continued to swipe his wand back and forth between the shelves on either side of him. He took notice of a silver statue a bit bigger than an action figure, but with no significant or identifying features. In fact, there was no face at all on the statue and the rest was just smooth, polished silver. Its plaque identified it as "The Imperio Doll." If Harry had looked to the opposite shelf at that time as well, he would've discovered the artifact that he himself had helped put it in the vault a few months ago: Excalibur.

Finally, Harry came to the end of the glowing red line, in what felt to be the dead center of the aisle. Harry concluded that the shelf on his right had nothing missing after a quick scan revealed no empty slots. So it was the left shelf that had an empty spot, and it was directly at Harry's eye level. He held his wand closer to the plaque to read what that slot was reserved for, but found that the nameplate had been blackened over. Harry leaned in close and took a quick sniff of the plaque, and recognized the stench of something that had recently been burnt.

The plaque had been scorched so as to hide the name of the stolen artifact.

"I've got something!" Harry called out, his voice echoing inside the vault.

"Me too!" came the sound of Hermione's voice.

Harry remembered that Hermione was two aisles away from him, and he Apparated there. He was now standing beside Hermione, who was looking at the left shelf, much like he had been earlier. Her wandlight revealed the same image of an empty slot and a burned plaque.

"That's two for two," said Harry. He and Hermione exchanged a worried look. "Ian! Ann!" he called out. "Get over here!"

Three seconds and two loud cracks later, the rest of Harry's team had joined them.

"Is this what you came across?" Harry asked as he nodded bluntly towards the slot and plaque.

"Yes," Ian and Ann replied simultaneously.

"How many?"

"One," Ian and Ann chorused again.

Harry sighed. "That makes four in total."

"Brilliant," Hermione muttered dryly.

Ian stepped closer to the plaque and traced a finger across its scorched surface. "Ironic, isn't it? Even though The Brotherhood has claimed responsibility for the crime, they're still taking the time to cover their tracks."

Harry ran a hand through his hair. "They're taunting us. Let's get back to the front."

They all Apparated back to where Marcus, Anderson and Herbert were and filled them in on what they had discovered.

"Looks like you finally have that lead on The Brotherhood you've been after," commented Marcus after they had finished. "Obviously, since you've been heading up that investigation for the past few months, your team will take point on this one."

Harry nodded and addressed Anderson. "You must have an inventory list of all the artifacts stored in this vault." When Anderson silently confirmed this with a nod of his own, Harry went on. "Okay, then we'll need a copy of that list." He turned to Ian and Ann. "Once we get that, I want the two of you to assist in the search that I'm sure Mr. Anderson's men will perform to make sure nothing else has been tampered with. Crosscheck that list with what's still here. That way, we can find out what's been stolen."

"You got it," acquiesced Ann.

"But there's more," said Harry. "After you've found out what's been stolen, I need you to dig up whatever you can on those artifacts. Histories, capabilities and whatever else that could be deemed vital. If they're capable of anything significant when combined with each other, I need to know. We might be dealing with some kind of super weapon here."

"On it, boss," said Ian.

Harry grinned. "I told you…there's no need for formalities."

A low grumbling sound filled the air. Everybody looked around to discover its source, but Ian placing his hand over his stomach told them it was simply the sound of hunger.

"Before we start work on the case, Harry," Ann smiled as she shot Ian an amused expression, "maybe it'd be best if we get replenished."

Just then, Harry felt his stomach protest hungrily as well. After all, he had been up for at least half an hour now and he'd already drank coffee, so he needed something savory and solid to go with it.

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "We'll get some food, then start in on the case at sunrise." He glanced down at his watch and used his wandlight to read the time: 5:20 a.m.

The four Aurors began making their way back to the lift.

"I'll get Barnes up to speed on the situation," Marcus told Harry as he passed by.

Once Harry and his team had entered the lift and were on their way back up through the Ministry, Harry removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. After he had replaced his glasses, he glanced over at Ian.

"So…," he said conversationally, "did that special mission of yours go all right?"

Ian spread his arms slightly. "I'm standing here in one piece, aren't I?"

"That you are," said Harry as he and the others removed their gloves and crime scene boots.

For the past few weeks, Ian had been away on a special assignment that had been given to him by Liam Barnes himself. The assignment had been so secret, in fact, that not even Ian knew the details of it when he'd first received it. But seeing as how Liam Barnes was the current Head of the Auror Division and a man who didn't take kindly to getting no as an answer, Ian agreed to take the mission. He had only just gotten back a few days ago, but whether or not he'd been successful in whatever he was meant to do still remained a mystery to Harry, much like the purpose of the mission in the first place.

"And I don't suppose you can tell me what you did on that mission of yours?" Harry asked.

Ian shook his head. "Not until Barnes straightens out any loose ends, I'm afraid."

"Barnes," mused Harry airily. "Leave it to him to be particular about things like that."

A lingering silence filled the lift as it continued to take its passengers to the floor that held the Auror Offices. Ann glanced at the indicator as the hand steadily traveled through the floor numbers.

"So if Ian and I are handling the actual theft," she directed at Harry, "what will you and Hermione be doing?"

"Meeting with George Benfield's next of kin," replied Harry. "That way, we'll be able to determine if he was somehow involved with any mysterious people, people who might have benefitted from his death."

The lift came to a halt, the door of the lift slid open, and Harry and his team stepped out into the Offices of the Auror Division with a new case to work…and so close to Christmas.