They must have fallen into some kind of basement storeroom. Matt stepped around a mountain of crates and sneered angrily at Dann. He raised his wand, and James waited for her to defend herself. When he saw the horror in her eyes, he grabbed the Basilisk Tooth and leapt to his feet.

"Oi! Over here!"

Matt's head swiveled around. The red glow from his wand pointed straight at James.

Red meant dead, his father had drilled into him. James threw the relic straight at Matt's heart. He wasn't going to die here. This was not how it was going to end.

The Basilisk Tooth hit Matt straight in the chest. He stumbled back and fixed James with a piercing stare. Then he reached up and peeled his face off from the neck up, as if he was taking off a mask.

Suddenly, James was staring into the green, judgmental eyes of his father.

"D-dad?" James stuttered. "What are you..."

Then his world tilted. He'd just stabbed his father through the heart with a poisoned weapon that leaves its victims dead within minutes. James fell to his knees in despair.

His father stumbled forward. "I thought you were my son," he rasped through his spittle. "I thought you would make me proud one day, but you've turned into... this!"

Motionless, James stared at the Basilisk Tooth horrifically stuck in his father's chest. In the middle of Muggle England, there was no antidote to Basilisk Venom. Not any that he could get in three minutes.

He looked pleadingly into his father's eyes. "I was going to quit," he said. "I was going to turn my life around after this, I swear. I'm sorry I let you down! I'm sorry I..."

His father had dropped to his knees too, hatred rising off of him like a heat wave.

And then Dann spoke. "You're James Potter?"

Who else would he be? The rest of his family was well-known for their respective positions. And here, his father, the great Head Auror, Harry Potter, was dying in front of him.

Dann's voice grew incredulous. "You're the Silent Thief! The one we've been tracking for ages!"

James wept openly. He didn't care anymore that she knew, that anyone knew, because his life was truly over. He watched his father's eyes slide shut, and he wanted more than anything to cradle his father's body in his arms and beg for forgiveness. But when he made a move, his father's eyes shot back open, the hatred burning just as strong.

And then it hit him. His father hadn't reacted to Dann's revelation about his secret identity. All the blood should have him lying on his back by now. What was going on?

He looked at Dann, still shell-shocked over the whole exchange. "I thought he was Matt," she said weakly. "When he looked at you, he changed."

He changed!

Dann tossed the spare wand to him, and they both aimed at the dying man in front of them.

"Riddikulus!"