Author's Note: Merry Christmas and a happy New Year! My gift to you is this chapter :) Sorry it's taken so long to update! Thanks for sticking around.

Chapter 16

"She's an Animagus," Poppy explained to the confused group of Muggles before her.

After the sudden transformation of the woman on the table, Morgan had called Hotch and got the BAU team down to the morgue to see it for themselves, with the exception of Garcia who stayed to continue searching. Reid had found it extremely fascinating, but the rest were all a bit bewildered.

"And what is an Ani-whatever it is?" Rossi sighed, not even attempting to hide his confusion.

He had been roused from about fifteen minutes of sleep to come down here and the lack of coffee in his system was beginning to show.

"An Animagus," Reid said, "is a witch or wizard who can morph themselves at will into an animal form. It requires a lot of training and only extremely skilled and powerful wizards can do it."

"Like Minerva," Poppy nodded, "She's a cat. And this woman is a wolf."

"Right," Hotch said, walking forward, his face in a frown.

He had been silent since their arrival, his eyes scanning the scene, processing all the new information. What he had thought was the unsub had in actuality been unsubs. Now he was back to dealing with one and this person was dangerous. They had killed three times and one of their victims had probably been working with them; there was no loyalty.

"Where does this put us?" JJ asked, bringing Hotch back to the present situation.

"Well, if this woman was a partner, which seems likely, why was she killed? Why were they working together? Who is she?" Hotch said, "And why was Lucy Whithers killed? Is she connected to Amber or were the attacks random? And, either way, who's next on the hit list?"

"So, just more questions," Prentiss sighed, "with no foreseeable answers."

"Not necessarily," Morgan said, "We have another link in the chain, something to look into. This women could give the information we need in order to find the unsub."

"If we ever work out who she is," Rossi replied.

At that moment the doors to the morgue were pushed open and Rolanda bounced in, balancing several take-away drink trays full of coffee cups.

"Muggle coffee-shops are fascinating!" she trilled, as she began distributing her wares, oblivious to the stares from all the others, "I didn't know it was so complicated! I've signed up for a barrister course!"

"Barista, darling," Poppy corrected, "A barrister is a lawyer."

"Oh, I've signed up for one of those too!" Rolanda beamed enthusiastically, "Did you know I could be practicing in only seven years?"

"A delightful thought," Poppy muttered, taking a cup from her friend.

"But, I locked the door," Dr Crawley muttered, as Poppy passed him a coffee.

"My dear," Poppy replied dryly, "she is a witch with a wand and no sense of boundaries. You could have guarded the entrance with Bengali Tigers and she still would've found a way in."

"Yep, absolutely no sense of boundaries," Rolanda agreed with a smile, taking a gulp from her own coffee cup.

Her hands were slightly shaky, which prompted Poppy to ask the question, "Rolanda, how many of those have you had?"

"Oh, just a few," Rolanda shrugged, "a mocha, latte, cappuccino. Oh, you must try a cappuccino! It's like drinking Christmas!"

"I bet it is," Poppy said, taking the drink away from the other witch's hand.

Rolanda calmed down a bit when she turned around and caught sight of the bodies. Her grin melted away and her whole body tensed. Poppy went to her and placed an arm gently around her shoulder. Rolanda had this reputation for joking and not really taking anything seriously, but Poppy had stood beside her during the Second Wizarding War. She had seen the way her friend had changed; how Rolanda had reacted to the news of their comrades becoming casualties, how she had stayed silent for days on end, how her eyes had hardened with righteous anger. Of all the people that weren't qualified to deal with death, Poppy knew Rolanda would take it the hardest.

"So Lucy was always the intended target," Rolanda said quietly, after a while staring at the forms on the table.

"What makes you say that?" Hotch asked quickly.

"She was stabbed more than she was bitten," Rolanda replied, speaking as though she wasn't entirely sure of herself, "which means the one with the knife did the most work, making it seem as though the attack was personal. The wolf woman was an accomplice, correct? Then after Lucy's death, she was disposed of, which seems to indicate she was no longer necessary. The killer had achieved their goal."

There was stunned silence.

"What?" Rolanda said indignantly, "I passed my O.W.L.s! Despite popular belief, I do display basic intelligence from time to time."

"It's a feasible theory," Rossi said, "Amber could have been a trial run, to make sure it was going to work."

"Maybe," Hotch said, his voice distant, lost in thought, "maybe. We should get back to the school and fill in everyone else. Maybe Garcia has got something from security cameras."

The sun had risen when the team left the morgue. Morgan, Rolanda and Poppy were the last ones to leave and the latter seemed reluctant to do so.

"What about Dr Crawley?" Poppy said, stopping before she got in to the car, "I mean, his memory, do I need to erase it?"

"Oh, I forgot!" Rolanda said, "Indira says to leave him. She thinks it would be good to have a contact in Muggle law enforcement, in case anything else happens."

"I think I should stay with him," Poppy said.

"Alright," Morgan said with a smirk, "Has your feminine charm woken up then?"

Poppy gave him a mean look.

"I just feel sorry for him. He still seems like he's in shock."

"I'll try to believe you," Morgan said, "See you later."