Harry Potter flipped through the pages of the Secrets of the Darkest arts. He couldn't find a single spell that sounded like it could be whatever was pulling at the edge of his mind. He knew that if he could find that missing piece, he could unravel this whole mystery. He just couldn't figure out that piece. He flipped through the book once again.
"Maybe it's not in there," Lyra said
"It has to be," Harry said "I don't know where else it could be."
"Do you have another book of dark spells?" Lyra asked
"No, this is it" Harry said
"Maybe you could try looking it up? See if that jogs your memory?" They suggest
"Maybe," Harry said. He typed wych elm into a google search bar. He scrolled through the various articles until he got to one that stood out. He read the article quickly as a realization hit him.
"I got it," he said, excitedly
"What did you get?" They asked. They leaned over his shoulder and looked at the screen. "Who put Bella in the wych elm?" They asked
"Yes!" He said
"I feel like I'm missing something," Lyra said.
"This is it, this was what I was trying to remember." Lyra still was not following "I remember this case from when I was a me and Dudley were kids there was this moral panic,the satanic panic. One of my Aunt's friends came around. She met me by accident, it's a long story but it doesn't matter. She claimed that the only thing that could explain my 'awful' behavior was satanic ritual abuse. I think she thought that my aunt implied that my mum was a satan worshiper to make her look back. This woman grilled me about if my parents ever used me in a satanic ritual or something like that. That's where I remembered the candles from. She kept drilling me about them. My Uncle said it was all hogwash but then she told him about 'real' cases of devil worship and this case was one of her examples. She wasn't welcomed back after that. I think my aunt and uncle were scared she would give me dangerous ideas or something."
"Ok, but what does this have to do with the case?" Lyra asked
"Think about it for a second, if you were not a witch or wizard, what would you think this case was?" Harry asked them
"Honestly, it looks like a satanic sacrifice" they said
"What makes you think it isn't?" Harry asked
"Is that a rhetorical question?" Lyra asked
"Look at the dark mark next to other satanic symbols. If you knew almost nothing about Satanism it looks like it would fit right in."
"You're implying that someone who, let's say grew up in a strictly religious town and saw the dark mark, would just assume that it was a satanic symbol and perhaps use it to stage a Satanic killing." Lyra said
"And that someone would want us to believe that there were satanists killing people in the area. It's a cover up for whoever really did this." Harry said.
"Good work Harry, I'll call it in," Lyra said. They flipped open their mobile. Just as they did, Zaima's name popped up on the screen. "Perfect timing Zaima" Lyra answered the phone. "Hey, Zaima"
"Hey Lyra, I just got some info from one of the locals. She says that most of the local teens knew about the skeleton in the woods. She said that the candles and the dark mark were new. I think they might have been planted." Lyra grinned at Harry.
"Funny you should be calling us about that, Harry just suggested that they might have been planted."
"Really? What makes him say that?" Zaima asked. Lyra nudged him
"Er, right, well, something about it sounded really familiar so I thought it would be a good idea to research and it hit me. Everything from the wych elm to the candles are all strictly satanist. I thought that it might be possible for someone with limited access to information about magic and satanism to mistake the dark mark for a satanic symbol." Harry said
"Why the dark mark? Who would have access to information about the death eaters?" Zaima asked
"We haven't figured that out yet." Harry admitted
"It's a good theory though, Lyra, can you look into anyone in town with connection to magic. Help us limit the suspect pool?"
"On it" Lyra said
"I need to go speak to Grey, call me when you get something" Lyra quickly typed something into their computer. Harry watched with intrigue. He watched them add in every possible magical connection they could think of. Ministry registries, land deeds in hogsmeade, and diagon alley, even Azkaban reports.
"You forgot hogwarts class lists" Harry said
"Good thinking," Lyra said. They added the last 60 year's Hogwarts records as well. They quickly added the entire Higham population to cross-reference with. Only one name popped up.
"Only one?" Harry asked
"Not surprising. Would you want to live in a town where you would be hated for being magic?"
"Definitely not," Harry said. Lyra pulled up everything she could about the name they had found
"Good thinking with the Hogwarts records. We would have totally missed her otherwise. Delilah Hubbards, 12. She's in her sencond year at hogwarts."
"I don't think our mystery killer is a 12 year old" Harry said
"Definitely not, especially considering she's currently at Hogwarts. My guess is that it's someone who would have access to her school books and be able to see the dark mark."
"Do you think we should call Grey?" Harry asked
"Yeah, I think we should"
Higham Police Station, Higham EnglandZaima Nabih flipped her phone. She shoved it back into her purse as she walked. She saw the police station in the distance. She walked towards it. She pushed open the door. Standing in the doorway was Grey, leaning against the post.
"Hey, I need to talk to you" Zaima said
"Harry and Lyra already filled me in"
"Where are Ron and Neville?"
"Back at the eater's cabin. They're looking to see if there is anything we missed" Grey said "I need your help with the sheriff"
"Why? What happened?" Zaima asked
"His 12 year old daughter is the only witch in the entire town"
"So therefore the only one who would have any images of the dark mark?"
"Exactly"
"So, who in the family do you think did it?"
"That's what we need to figure out"
"On it" Zaima followed closely behind Grey. They reached the Sheriff's office. Grey walked in first, with Zaima right behind her. The sheriff looked up from his desk, confused. Zaima closed the door behind them.
"Agents, what can I help you with?" He asked. Grey stood firmly behind his desk, her eyes were suspicious but her composure was stance would look relaxed to a stranger, but Zaima knew she was ready to attack at any second.
"Why didn't you tell us your daughter was a witch?" Grey said, her voice perfectly even. She leaned on the desk.
"I'm sorry?" He asked Zaima took out her wand and cast a muffilo charm over the door. The Sheriff went pale as he saw the wand in Zaima's hand. Grey kept her eyes on him. A small smirk tugged at her face. Besides that, her expression was a near poker face. Zaima turned to face the Sheriff, her wand firmly in her hand, rather than back in her pocket.
"So, when were you going to tell us?" Zaima asked
"Your-"
"Witches?" Grey said. The Sheriff had gone near white.
"Well? Do you have an answer?" Zaima asked
"I didn't know you-"
"Well that's all well and good but we just lost nearly a full day looking for dark wizards that have nothing to do with this case. A full day we could have been focusing on finding Mary Summerland" Grey said
"I didn't know," the Sheriff said forcefully.
"Look, I'm going to cut this short." Zaima said "We need to know if you recognize this image" Zaima pulled up a photo of the dark mark. It was the same one from the Yaxley crime scene. The Sheriff looked at it, first confused and then revolted.
"Why are you showing me this?" He asked
"Look closer" Grey said
"That's the same painting from the tree in the woods."
"Yeah, but what is it?" Zaima said
"I don't know, some satanic symbol or something." He said. Grey rolled her eyes and paced. "What? am I supposed to know what this is?" He spat
"Well, given that your daughter is the only person in the entire town with access to magical texts, I would think it might be familiar." Grey spat back
"Why? My kids don't share every little thing they learn with me" he said
"Yeah, but this, it's not that symbol caused the death of thousands, specifically muggleborns, like me and your daughter. You know, the first time she would have seen it was once she got to the 1970s in History of Magic, which just so happens to coincide with the second year winter holiday homework load in the new curriculum. Which for your daughter would have been this winter holiday. They do this on purpose you see, because they want children to be able to learn it with their parents. I remember that I was quite a bit older when we studied it. I would have had to be 15, I think. I still went up to my dad, terrified that those people were going to kill me too. I have a hard time believing that she would not go up to you and have you tell her it was all going to be ok." The sheriff turned a shade of deep red.
"My daughter is smart enough to know not to come to me with her devilness"
"Devilness?" Grey growled. The sheriff turned from deep red to ghostly white
"That's what the minister called it. He said the best way to handle it was to make it clear to her that she would not be accepted if she-"
"If she what?" Grey snapped. The Sheriff fell silent
"If she wouldn't go to you, who would she go to?" Zaima said forcefully
"Her brother, David. They've always been close. He wouldn't listen to me or the pastor. Not even Matthew"
"Matthew tried to talk your son out of supporting his sister?" Zaima asked
"Matthew was trying to help David" the Sheriff said
"Yeah, I'm sure that David saw it that way" Grey said
"What's that supposed to mean?" The Sheriff snapped. Grey ignored him and turned to Zaima.
"Call Ron and Neville. Tell them we have a prime suspect." Grey said. Zaima nodded at her boss. She took out her mobile and stepped out of the room. She closed the door behind her. She could hear Grey screaming as the dial tone rang in her ear.
Cabin in the WoodsNeville Longbottom leaned against the officer's car. He was mildly annoyed that Grey had stationed them all the way out here, but there was nothing they could do about it. Ron was nearby, chatting with the deputy stationed there with them. Neville looked up at the sky above him. It was well past night fall. The full moon was about a 4th of the way through the sky. Neville guessed that it had to be close to 9 pm. He checked his phone for messages from Grey or Zaima. He had nothing. His ears perked up when he heard something behind him. He listened closely, realizing it was a car. He turned in that direction. He saw the car drive up the tree lined road. His first thought was that it would probably be a police car, but as it got closer, he realized how incorrect he was.
"Hey, Ron" he called , jerking his head in the direction of the car. Ron nodded when he saw it.
"Ain't that the Sheriff's car?" The deputy asked
"Is it?" Ron asked. The car pulled up closer. The car slowed to a stop. Neville slowly reached for his wand, just in case. He watched Ron do the same. A figure stepped out of the car. As he approached, Neville recognized him.
"Did you find her? Mary?" David said
"No, son" the deputy said
"Did Sutton say anything?"
"We don't know, we've been here the whole time" Ron said. David looked around frantically.
"David, calm down," Neville said
"How am I supposed to calm down? Mary is missing. Did you check all over?"
"We searched the whole cabin" Neville said
"What about the out building?"
"What outbuildings?" Ron asked
"It's a little deeper into the woods. It's like a shed or something. Sutton took me out there once. It's this way" David said. He led Neville, Ron and the Deputy through the woods. They came into a clearing. The outbuilding could hardly be called a building. It was the size of a small tool shed.
"Keep him back," Neville said to the deputy. He nodded. Ron and Neville stepped inside. Ron closed the door behind them. The first thing that hit them was the smell. Something in the shed was rotting, no, decomposing. Neville quickly took out his wand. He cast lumos. He pointed his wand at the source of the smell. On the large work bench lied Mary Summerland. Blood pooled around her head. Neville closed his eyes and shook his head.
"How long?" Ron asked
"It's hard to tell but rigor mortis set in, so at least a few hours," Neville said.
"Merlin," Ron muttered. "I need to call this in" he said
"Yeah, probably a good idea" Neville said
"You feeling ok?" Ron asked
"Are you?"
"Fair enough" Ron reached for his mobile, but both of theirs rang. They looked at each other in confusion.
"Who's calling you?" Neville asked
"Zaima, You?"
"Grey,"
"I guess one of us should answer."
"Yeah" Neville held his phone up to his ear. "Hey Grey,"
"Hey Zaima," Ron said. Neville's face contorted into a grimace as he listened to Grey's information. He watched Ron's face change to a similar expression. They both raced out of the shed. David and the deputy were both still standing outside of the shed. They both exhaled as they saw them.
"Did you find her? Mary?" David asked
"Yeah, we found her," Ron said
"Is she ok?"
"I think you already know that answer" Ron said
"Deputy, why don't you go call a crime team" Neville asked, trying to keep his voice even.
"Yeah, of course," the deputy said. He turned to race up the hill. As he disappeared into the brush, Ron nodded to Neville. Neville and Ron did not move from their spot on the cabin's porch. David sat down on one of the rocks, his head in his hands
"Are you ok kid?" Neville asked, not moving closer
"I can't believe-, I can't believe, Mary,"
"I'm sorry about your friend" Neville said
"I saw her the other day, after practice."
"I'm sorry kid," Ron said
"Do you see stuff like this everyday?" He asked
"A fair number of them" Neville said
"Geez, and to think I wanted to be one of you guys"
"It's a part of the job. But it's not the only part. We also have to help local authorities work through difficult cases like this. You know, you seem awfully good at that part" Neville said, trying to keep his tone from revealing anything.
"Really?" David asked
"Really, you gave us Sutton's group, showed us where this place was," Neville said
"Yeah, I guess," David said
"We probably would never have been able to find all of that without you." Neville said
"I guess it was pretty perfect that I was here, huh?" David said
"Yeah a little too perfect" Ron said, he was quiet, but purposely loud enough for David to hear.
"Excuse me?" David asked
"C'mon David, you really thought you could pull one over on us?" Neville asked "you do know that we do this for a living, right?" David's entire expression changed. Neville quickly gripped his wand in his pocket.
"I didn't kill Mary" David gritted his teeth as he spoke
"We both know that's a lie. Let me guess, you killed the jock because you wanted his girlfriend? Trust me kid, we've seen this case before" Ron lied
"Shut up, you don't know what you're talking about" David said
"I think we do, kid," Neville said. Neville heard some movement in the brush
"I called the Sheriff, said he would be here in a couple of minutes." The deputy said. In a blink of an eye, David grabbed the deputy and pulled out a revolver. He pointed it firmly at the deputy's head. Ron and Neville whipped out their wands. They both aimed for David.
"So, you two are wizards?" David asked
"Put down the gun, kid"
"Stop calling me kid before I blow his brains out" David growled
"Ok, David, you need to listen to me-" Neville said
"Why? So two can torture me or something? Yeah, I read about how you guys do that. Torture people into insanity before murdering them" David snapped
"That wasn't us" Ron said
"Then who was it?" Neville's face went slightly paler than it already was.
"Look, David, we made up that stuff about you just wanting to kill Matthew to get his girl. We understand why you really killed him and Mary."
"Oh yeah, why did I do it then?"
"Because you were angry. You were angry at both of our worlds for how they treated your sister. You saw how your parents reacted to the news, and then you saw how the pastor reacted. On top of that, your best friend, the person you relied on, told you to react the same way your parents did. You thought our world would be more accepting, but then you saw that side of our world. You couldn't take out your anger on them, so you took it out on who you could. You killed Matthew directly, but you really wanted to hurt the pastor. You took his daughter from him" Neville said. David faltered slightly.
"You don't know me" David hissed
"Yeah, I think I might know what it's like to want revenge on the people who hurt my family" Neville said
"He's not the only one," Ron growled. There was a crunch of gravel up ahead. David spun around to face it. He pulled the revolver away from the deputy to point it at the oncoming vehicle.
Stupefy Neville yelled. David turned to face Neville, but it was too late. The spell hit him in the chest, sending him flying backwards. The deputy fell to ground scrabbling away from both David's unconscious body and Ron and Neville. The car came to a sudden stop. The drive raced out, with the passenger and back right door flying open.
"What did you do to my son?" The Sheriff roared
"He's just stunned, knocked out. He's fine" Grey said, pulling the sheriff back. "Zaima, get some cuffs on him, will you?"
"On it," she said. She walked over and took out one pair of her magic proof cuffs on David. She then took out her wand
"No, wait, don't let her use that stick anywhere around my son!" The sheriff yelled
Renérvate Zaima cast. David blinked his eyes open.
"First you complain that we knocked your son out and now you're complaining cause we woke him up." Grey said with an eye roll. Ron and Neville roughly pulled up David
"Dad? Please don't let them take me" David asked.
"Let go of my son!"
"David Hubbards, you are under arrest for two counts of murder." Zaima said
"And wasting our time" Grey added
"Can we actually charge him with that?" Zaima asked
"I want to," Grey said
"Wait, you can't just-"
"Actually we can, your son is under arrest. You are lucky I don't charge you with aiding him right now" Grey growled
"Can she actually charge me with that?" He asked
"No idea, she'll try though" Zaima said, cuffing the Sheriff
"Right, we just wasted a full day looking into a case that had nothing to do with the risen followers. Neville and Ron, you take David to the holding cell. Zaima you have the sheriff. Then I want you all to get a good night's sleep. We'll be up bright and early tomorrow." They all groaned "What? We need to make up the 24 hours we lost and besides, we'll have an extra set of hands in the field."