Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

Warning: Further reference to underage sex, but nothing graphic.

Chapter 15: A Break in the Case

Terry Boot met Harry at the Cardiff auror office when he arrived. They nodded briefly as Harry brushed the ash from the floo off his robes. "How is the case?" Harry asked.

"It's as expected, I guess. The local aurors have narrowed down the search to three locations and desperately want to know where the hell you got your information. If we assume everything Albus said is true, only one location fits, but since they have no bloody clue who the informant is and only our word that he can be trusted ... They want to keep their options open."

"Understandably. Any word on the missing muggles?"

"Yeah, their names are Blair Alban and Glenna Anwyl, both from Pontaeron, a small dairy and fishing village in central Wales. Both went missing two weeks ago and have not been found. The general consensus in the village is that they eloped together and moved to Holyhead, where Mr Alban has distant relatives. The aurors who questioned them encouraged that rumour."

"Have aurors been to ... Pontaeron, you said?"

"Yeah, they've searched the whole area, but have found nothing aside from a few muggle repelling charms, but can't figure what the muggles were being repelled from. We did get a break this morning, though, which is why I asked you to come."

"Oh?"

"They caught one of the kidnappers. I have no idea who he is and he does not fit the description of any known death eaters, but when someone mentioned casually that Narcissa Malfoy's out of Azkaban, he got really angry. Said the Malfoys should all rot in hell after the way they failed the Dark Lord. We assume he meant Voldemort, but he wouldn't confirm it and he doesn't have the dark mark. Anyway, maybe you can get something out of him."

"I can try. Lead the way." Harry always got lost in the Cardiff Ministry offices, which seemed to him to have only a rudimentary grasp of the concept of lifts, resulting in nearly the whole place being sprawled out horizontally. He was glad that Terry could guide him without mishap.

They descended a stairwell and turned to walk down a nondescript concrete corridor. Harry could hear screams at the end. "Prisoners," Terry explained, "some as crazy as those in Azkaban. They're kept here because ever since the dementors guarded it, the Welsh don't trust Azkaban."

They turned a few more corners and passed cages with filthy men and women cowering inside. Some lay on their thin cots and others hunched over bowls of soup without utensils. One woman, the sanest, Harry guessed, cried silently as she read a letter. This place made his skin crawl just as much as Azkaban did, he decided uncomfortably. For a moment, he admired Draco's fortitude in visiting his parents every month in such a place for nearly twenty years.

At last, they reached a cell where two aurors waited outside. "Mr Potter," one said as he inclined his head.

"Gentlemen," Harry replied after casting a muffliato charm, "Please tell me about your guest."

The man who had greeted Harry introduced himself as Auror Aberweith and held out a folder. As Harry took it, he explained, "His name is Roland Willison. He was arrested in the market in Pontaeron while buying fish from the local lake. He has no criminal record with the Ministry of Magic, but we did discover two interesting things. First, his father was sent to Azkaban as a death eater - he died there - and his brother was a known Voldemort sympathizer, though he seems not to have participated in death eater activities. Second, while Willison's wizarding record is clean, the muggle police want him for raping at least two muggle underage boys. They arrested and convicted him, but he escaped after three weeks in prison."

Harry pushed aside the nausea those words caused. "What have Roland and his brother been doing since the war?"

"His brother, Arnold, did a short stint in Azkaban just after the war, then took a job in Knockturn Alley for a bit working at one of the apothecaries. He left his job and the wizarding world seven years ago. Roland worked at Flourish and Blotts, where he was well liked by his employers, until about five years ago, when he quit for 'personal reasons.' His quitting coincides with his arrest by muggle police. After escaping prison, the muggle police lost track of him and there is no evidence that he returned to the wizarding world either."

Harry perused the file silently and ignored Terry's muttered, "Roland and Arnold. Parents must have been sadists, or anagram nuts." He would never understand Ravenclaws. The file provided the details of the arrests and information about the victims, but little else of interest.

He closed the folder and returned it to Auror Aberweith. "What has he told you about the camp?"

"Not much, even under veritaserum. He confirmed its existence and said he was buying the fish for the camp. He also said he had walked from the camp to the village. There are currently eighteen children and young adults at the camp, but he would not identify or describe any of them. We think he has raped at least three, all boys under age fifteen. The children are being trained as warriors, probably brainwashed as well, the way the man went on about the 'glory of the Dark Lord, who will rise again.' A mediwitch who visited him this morning declared him completely insane."

"That's sick," Terry said quietly. "So, no word on Scorpius Malfoy?"

"None so far, but he responded very negatively to the name Malfoy, as I said, and described in vivid detail how he wanted to sexually humiliate Scorpius' father. I was present at the time and wanted to vomit by the end, it was so revolting. If he has seen Scorpius, I can't imagine what he must have done to the boy."

Harry looked at Terry, then at the door. "Right, I'm going in. Terry, back me up."

"What are you planning?" Terry asked, but Harry shook his head and entered the cell the moment the door opened. Terry followed close behind, his wand drawn.

Harry approached the prisoner. "Hello, Roland." Roland regarded him silently. "Roland," Harry said conversationally, "if you don't cooperate, then I will have to coerce you, and that would look bad at your trial."

Roland spit in his face.

Harry wiped away the spit and pointed his wand at Roland. Meeting Roland's eyes, he said, "Legilimens!"

The moment Harry entered Roland's mind, he felt repulsion. The man's hatred and desire to harm him were strong, but he pushed past them into the first memory he found.

Harry stood in a dirt courtyard. Four low wood buildings surrounded him and beyond them, a high wood fence. All he could see beyond the fence were mountains. Roland and a woman he did not recognize stood before him, talking. "He had better be," the woman was saying. Her voice was cold and angry and she tapped her wand against her arm in agitation.

Roland cowered slightly under her gaze. "And what of me? Have I not done as you bade me?"

She looked down her nose at him. "You have, and the Dark Lord would be very pleased. If you are as successful with this one, when he is broken, you may bed him as well." Roland's answering smile made Harry feel very uncomfortable. They heard a disturbance beyond one of the buildings and the woman continued, "Good, they have arrived."

An old man whom Harry had seen only in pictures stepped between the buildings, leading a docile Scorpius Malfoy by the wrist. He stopped before the woman and thrust the boy forward to land at her feet. Pointing his wand at the boy, he snapped, "Finite!"

Scorpius' arms gave out beneath him and he collapsed to lie unmoving in the dirt. The woman sneered at the sight. "Lucius must be so proud to have such pathetic descendants. Get up, boy."

Scorpius did not seem to hear her. She kicked him hard in the ribs, but he only rolled onto his side and lay still. Roland gave the man a worried look. "What did you do to him?"

"Imperius, just like she said. He tried to resist, bit fiery, that one, but he gave up in the end."

"No one saw you with him?" the woman asked. "No one noticed his absence?"

"Not that I saw. He arrived with a few of his classmates, but they took off quick enough."

"And his luggage?"

"Never saw it. Maybe he had none. You sent Draco the letter?"

"It is done. The coward will not cause trouble," Roland said.

The woman grabbed Scorpius' arm and hauled him to his feet. He neither aided nor resisted her and at first, Harry thought he was unconscious. Then his head rolled and he opened his eyes to focus unsteadily on the woman. She shook him. "Speak, boy!" Scorpius closed his eyes and shifted his feet to find his balance. When his eyes opened again, he was glaring at the woman with a sneer that Harry was sure would make his grandfather proud. His eyes narrowed and he tilted his head to give the illusion of looking down at the woman. Harry was surprised by the complete lack of fear and wondered if the boy was simply in shock.

The man who had brought Scorpius said, "When Arnold returns, he'll break the boy proper, you'll see."

"I have no doubt he will," she spat. "Get him out of my sight."

The man hauled Scorpius away and as the memory faded into another, Harry saw Scorpius toss a coin into the weeds beside one of the buildings. It was too far away to see clearly, but its bronze color was the same as a muggle one pound coin.

Harry stood in the same courtyard, but this time over a dozen children stood around him, practicing spells that bordered on dark magic. A new man stood beside Roland, Arnold Harry guessed, barking orders and hexing the children who did not respond quickly enough. Harry sought out Scorpius and found him to the side, dueling a boy about his age.

"Halt," Arnold called and all of the children froze. On his command, they lined up and sat crosslegged facing him. He looked them over, then snarled, "Michael, Jeremy, step forward." Scorpius and another boy stood. When Scorpius raised his wand, Harry realized that it was not the yew that Draco and Albus had described, but a shorter possibly mahogany wand.

On the command to begin, Jeremy shouted a hex, diffindo, Harry thought. Scorpius responded with a shield charm, which he held through three more hexes. When it dropped, he hit Jeremy with a retardo hex, which caused the boy to start moving in slow motion. He could not even raise his wand before Scorpius hit him with a barrage of hexes, none fatal, but most extremely uncomfortable or painful. Jeremy collapsed, writhing in pain, and Scorpius stepped up to him, wand pointed at his throat.

"Finish him," Arnold said. Scorpius did not move. "Finish him!" The command was harsher this time, angrier, and Harry could hear the blood lust in it. Scorpius and Jeremy caught and held each other's gaze. Scorpius hid his emotions completely as he watched Jeremy, his chest heaving in pain. "Michael, cast the cruciatus! You know the rules!"

Abruptly, Scorpius threw down his wand and turned on his heel. He had not taken three steps before Arnold shouted, "Crucio," and he dropped with a scream. Arnold held the curse until he reached the prone boy. "You have always been too willful for your own good, Michael. No wonder your family deserted you, you worthless piece of shit. Do you want your new family to desert you as well? Is that why you disobey?"

Scorpius met his gaze. "I have Al," he whispered. "He loves me."

"Ah, yes. Your pathetic imaginary friend. Wouldn't you rather have real friends, or are you too good for them?"

"Al," Scorpius breathed again. Then before Harry realized what had happened, Scorpius grabbed the fallen mahogany wand, aimed it at Arnold, and cried, "Crucio!"

Harry was not the only one stunned by his move. When Roland tried belatedly to intervene, Jeremy raised a shield charm to protect both boys. Everyone else just watched in fascinated horror. Scorpius held the curse for well over a minute, then climbed to his feet and sneered, "No one insults Al, not even you, Arnold." The last word was said with such malice that Roland winced. Arnold just lay there, catching his breath as Scorpius walked away.

The memory faded and Harry blinked in the darkness of the cell. Roland sneered at him. "Like what you saw, Potter?"

Hundreds of questions tumbled through Harry's mind, but he settled on a simple one. "Did you rape him?"

"Who?"

"Scorpius, or any of the other children."

"I never raped anyone, Potter. The Dark Lord would not approve of such crude behavior."

"But you had sex with them."

"I took those who were willing to my bed. Michael was never willing. Little brat caused trouble every chance he got and it's a pity he's still alive. You may be happy to know, Potter, that little Michael is very good at the cruciatus, and he has aptitude with the imperius as well, and nearly every other curse we taught him. Pity he is so willful, though. He makes a poor soldier and would be an utter disgrace to the Dark Lord, just like his worthless father was."

Harry adjusted his glasses as he thought. "I will leave the assessment of children's abilities to Hogwarts and the judgment of crimes to the Wizengamot. What other children made trouble for you?"

"None like him and his bloody imaginary friend. Every night, he stands by the window, looking out at the stars, and whispers to his imaginary friend all about his day. It's a bloody relief when he heads to the loo, because that means his monologue is finally finished. The kid's crazy."

Harry thought of Albus for a moment, writing every day to Scorpius. Albus would be happy to know that Scorpius was thinking of him every day as well. Harry chose not to dwell on the claim that Albus' best friend could perform at least two of the unforgiveable curses proficiently at the age of twelve and had experienced them both as well.

He looked at Terry. "Mountains, like we suspected. Small camp, maybe a quarter the size of a quidditch pitch, with four small one-story wood buildings. There's a wood fence around the perimeter and few plants besides grass. I've got visuals of three other adults and most or all of the children." He turned to Roland again. "Who were the adults?"

"What do you care?"

"Is the old man the secret keeper?"

Roland snarled wordlessly and Terry said, "He's nervous. He knows we know too much."

"Who's the rat?" Roland asked. "Arnold'll kill him."

"That is not your concern," Harry said tersely. "Let's go."

As they were walking away, Terry murmured, "Muffliato," then asked, "So he confirmed what Albus said?"

"Yes."

When Harry said nothing further, Terry prompted, "Are you okay?"

"No, I feel really ill." Harry took a deep breath. "I watched ... in those memories ... Scorpius held a grown man under the cruciatus curse for over a minute. No child should be able to do that."

"He is a Malfoy."

"Still, it didn't feel right. There was no fear at all, Terry. At first I thought he was in shock, but everything he did was too deliberate, too calculated. He's much more like his grandfather than his father, and he's my son's best friend."

"Are you worried that he'll hurt Albus?"

"No, I think he draws his strength from Albus. They all think Al is his imaginary friend and I suspect Scorpius has cultivated that." Harry shook his head. "I want to think about something else for a little while."

Terry laughed weakly and asked if Ginny had any thoughts on the upcoming Holyhead Harpies game.

~O~

16 September 2018

School is boring. I'm enjoying being with my muggle friends again, but it's hard to describe Hogwarts to muggles when they ask where I was all of last year. Chemistry is a lot easier than it used to be, though, now that I've got bloody awful Potions to compare it to. I'm enjoying Maths more than I expected and I think I might take Arithmancy next year. My parents avoided it, but Aunt Hermione really liked it in school; she said your dad was in her class.

I have to take sports in school and right now we're learning cricket, which is even harder than quidditch, and you know how rubbish I am on a broom. We have art and music classes too, which are okay, but I miss transfiguration and herbology. I have permission to use my wand at home, but only when one of my parents is there to supervise me. Mum teaches me a bit every evening so I don't fall too far behind and Lily likes to sit and listen, even though she isn't allowed to do magic yet.

Dad said they're close to finding you, but he won't tell me anything specific except that you are Michael. I knew it! He says when they first find you, you won't remember who you are and you might not remember me, but you will, won't you? I love you, Scorpius. You have to remember me.

Love, Albus

Author's Note: You lucked out; two updates at once. Please tell me what you think. Am I leaving out any important warnings and/or should I raise the rating?