The sun was reaching its highest point that day as Harry Potter rubbed his eyes in Underground London. Still, the sun shone in his eyes. A view from a room from The Shard was projected on his magical window in his room in one of the corridors of the Auror Office. It wasn't a huge room, but it was good enough for the job. He rubbed his hands and peeked around. Ron was sitting opposite of him on his own desk. When Harry heard from Head Auror Gailbard that they'd be sharing a room, he was skeptical. Okay, he knew Ron very well – he was his best mate – and they had spent a lot of their lives together. But Ron's rambling and nitpicking over every single little stuff became very annoying from time to time. Besides, Harry knew that every Monday Ron was moody again – a reminder that someone who supports the Chudley Cannons doesn't do it for fun.

Harry couldn't stop looking around. He had gotten the briefing this morning, with all important news and information in the wizarding world for Aurors and Magical Law Enforcement officers. He was alarmed. Or, rather, relieved. See, for several weeks the Auror Office had investigated cases of Muggles waking up at places different from where they went to sleep. This wasn't a case of sleepwalking, mind you. The Muggles were found miles, sometimes several or, in a special case, hundreds of miles away from their beds. At first glance it appeared to be to some sort of a joke and sometimes it was treated as such in the Auror Office, but Harry had an odd hunch about it. The cases kept reappearing, generally once a week. It had been ongoing for several months now.

Today, however, marked the seventh day of no disappearance. Harry read his sheet of paper again. It wasn't there. A case of a missing wizard in Northampton was the most important information of the day, but as Harry scanned the less urgent texts he found nothing else than several announcements from the Auror Office itself.

'Ron, have you read the briefing?'

'Hmm?' Ron was stuffing his lunch in his mouth at an alarming rate.

'The briefing,' Harry repeated. 'Have you read it?'

Ron waited several moments for replying, swallowing a big chunk of his tuna sandwich.

'Yes mate, why?'

'Nothing about the Muggles found many miles from the place they last said to go to sleep, right?'

'No … I don't think so.' Ron needed to think. 'Why?'

'It's the seventh day with no news about these disappearances.'

'So?' Ron answered. 'Gives us time to do other things. More days off. I've been really useful to George helping him with the shop in the past few days.'

Harry smiled. Ron liked to work at Weasley Wizard's Wheezes.

'You don't understand, Ron.'

'Of course, I understand! Normally something would've happened, right?'

' … Yes.' Harry's tone was intended to be neutral, but he couldn't hide a little worry in it.

'Well,' said Ron, noticing the uncertainty in Harry's voice. 'We'll see what happens.'

Ron finished eating his lunch in silence. Harry reviewed another case. It wasn't particularly important and the topic of conversation between him and Ron earlier was still on top of his mind when reading.

They both looked up when the door opened. Head Auror Gailbard came in. His voice was monotone and his message short.

'Potter. Office.'

Gailbard left immediately and left the door open. Ron shot a look at Harry, urging him to go. He silently stood up and walked out of his room towards Gailbard's office. It was at the end of the hall, instantly recognisable for employees and visitors alike.

Harry entered Gailbard's office. He was sitting in his chair, his arms folded. Gailbard was staring at a paper in front of him. He looked up when Harry came in and gestured him to sit opposite of him.

'Harry,' he began. 'It seems that your friend Hermione Granger has brought a very … interesting object into the Forensic Office.'

Harry was taken aback. What had Hermione done? He only thought she and Ginny had a fun night out, not going on some field trip.

'Sorry?'

'Hermione Granger,' repeated Gailbard. 'Has taken a very unusual object to our Forensic Office. A gemstone. They're researching it now, but I want you in on the case.'

'Why?' asked Harry. 'I'm not particularly knowledgeable of gemstones.'

Gailbard showed a wry smile.

'I know. However, it'd be good to have you there, since miss Granger is the one who brought the gemstone in. Communicating well with her will be of great importance. I can trust you on that, right?'

'Y-yes.'

'Good,' said Gailbard. 'I know miss Granger is Ron's girlfriend, but I'm gonna put him on the case too. You're gonna work together as a team. He looked far too happy eating his sandwich.'

Harry nodded, unsure if Gailbard was joking, and stood up.

'Thanks.'

'Report when you have anything interesting,' replied Gailbard, waving his door open with his wand. 'And make sure Weasley doesn't do anything stupid.'

Harry nodded again and couldn't help to smile a little. It was peculiar. He had never seen Gailbard happy, or at least this happy. Must've been one of his mood swings. Deep inside Harry knew that Gailbard was under a lot of pressure from time to time. Harry figured that he had to be relieved that there was no disappearance (and reappearance) of Muggles – for the seventh day in a row.

Napkins were the only witnesses of the sandwich massacre Ron had committed when Harry entered their room. He knew he always ate a bunch, four or five, but today Harry believed he had outperformed himself. Ron was sitting in his chair, his head tilted back, rubbing his belly.

'Ron, come with me.'

Ron's hand was still caressing his tummy as he shot at look at Harry.

'Maybe later mate … my stomach is turned upside down at the moment.' He let out a gasp of air.

'We need to see Fray.'

'Forensic Office?' Ron asked, suddenly interested. 'Why?'

'Because your girlfriend has brought in a special object, apparently.'

'No Ron, I'm sure it isn't your engagement ring,' continued Harry laughing. Ron's face was full of horror because of Harry's reply. He tried to assure him.

'It's a gemstone.'

Harry walked away and expected to hear Ron's footsteps as a sign that he was following him. However, he didn't hear any. Harry turned around, paced to their room again and saw Ron still sitting in his chair.

'It was a sign of you to come with me. Now, come.' Harry's tone was firm. Ron understood the message. He stood up, yawned and sulkily walked behind him on their way to the Forensic Office.

Whedella Fray was Head of the Auror Forensic Office. The Forensic Office employed a number of different people, including Healers and Magic Photographers. However, its function varied; from determining the cause of death of a wizard or witch who died under suspicious circumstances (hence the Healers and photographers) to determining, unjinxing and securing old, magical artifacts from unknown origin.

Fray oversaw this all. Harry and Ron knew her well. She was amicable but had mood swings from time to time. This meant that you didn't know whether she'd be happy when you talked to her. Or, if she'd be, she could turn moody in a second. Luckily, she was good at her work. Some even called her excellent. Fray received training as a Healer but was now trained in the various work the Forensic Office did. Harry and Ron found her in the lab, where she was examining the gemstone.

It was still lighting up blue, shining stronger every now and then. The stone was magically preserved in a glass cage and levitating in the air. Fray was up close, almost with her face pressed onto the glass and examining the artifact. She didn't turn her head when Harry and Ron entered.

'Potter … Weasley. Welcome.'

They wanted to approach her, but Fray gestured them to stop.

'Don't approach closely.'

'Why?' blurted Ron out. 'You're practically pressing your face against the glass, surely it'd be safe for us.'

'You'd think,' replied Fray. She turned away from the gemstone and faced the Aurors. 'But it's a very interesting artifact. It doesn't look special at first, but when you put a few diagnostic and research spells over it … oh boy.'

Harry was put off by her last two words. She sounded American, and it was in stark contrast with the happy and overly British witch standing in front of them.

'What did you find?' he said as he tried to regain his focus on the artifact.

'I didn't find anything myself, I was in my office,' she answered as she glanced seductively at Harry. Ron rolled his eyes. 'Bolsius examined it first when it came in.'

'Bolsius?'

'He's our specialist in Magical Artefacts,' Fray explained Harry.

'Right. So, what did he find?'

Fray giggled. 'Nothing.'

Ron glanced uncertainly at Harry. He gave him a questionable look.

'So why is it interesting?' Ron said.

Fray walked around the table on which the glass cage stood. She was eyeing the stone with interest.

'Well, normally a few spells show whether the stone contains magic, be it either dark or non-dark. But this … stone … is special. It doesn't show us anything. It's like a closed book which doesn't want to unveil itself. We tried anything, even the experimental Dark-Magic detectors your brother is working on,' she glanced at Ron, 'but our efforts proved futile. It's … frustrating, but remarkable at the same time.'

'Hold on,' replied Ron. 'This gemstone is closing itself off for anyone who seeks information about it?'

Harry nodded. 'I think so.'

Fray smiled. 'As far as we know, it isn't hurtful. Miss Granger didn't have any wounds whatsoever when she brought it in. We checked her, but she's alright.'

'Where is she?' Ron said. 'I'd like to see my girlfriend.'

'At her place.'

'Best we see her first,' Harry said to Ron. He turned his head back to Fray. 'We can question her exactly where she got it from. Do you know anything about that?'

'Only basic information. She knows the full details herself very well.'

Harry and Ron briefly thanked Fray and walked out of the lab.

'Always a bit uncomfortable seeing her, isn't it?' Ron remarked.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. 'It wasn't that bad today.'

'True,' said Ron. 'Now, let's see where Hermione is.'

He took out his Mirrorphone and said 'Hermione'. A waiting screen appeared and within a few seconds Hermione's face was visible on the screen.

'Hi, Ronald.'

'Hermione. Harry's with me. We're on the case of the blue gemstone you found. We want to inquire about it. Ask you a few questions. Auror business'

'Stop acting like a detective,' snapped Hermione. Harry thought he could hear a smile in Hermione's voice.

'Beg my pardon, madam,' teased Ron. 'Are you at your place?'

'As a fact, I'm not, but I can come for an hour or so. I've almost finished work for today, so I've got time to draft a few new proposals - after we've met.'

'It's not even 2 PM,' Ron countered.

'So? By the way, Ginny's still at my place. We need to meet soon, she needs to go back to Wales tonight.'

Harry glanced at Ron. 'I'll see you soon then. Bye.'

Hermione replied the same and Ron shove his Mirrorphone in his pocket. Harry was glancing at him. Ron got an awkward vibe.

'Is there anything?'

'No,' replied Harry. 'It's just a bit odd that Ginny hasn't told me anything about this, but that'll be unintentional, I'm sure.'

'For sure,' Ron confirmed. They made their way through the corridors and set off to Highbury Cres.

'Boys.'

Ginny Weasley eyed her wine with suspicion. Harry smiled looking at his girlfriend. Ron and he had come to visit for work, but it turned to be chit-chat. Hermione didn't like this, though. She sparsely spoke and, if she did, it was only a few words. It was obvious that Ginny took everything less serious – as did Ron. Something with family.

The chatter about non-important stuff continued for a few minutes when Hermione cleared her throat.

'Harry. Ron. The stone.'

'Right, Hermione,' replied Ron awkwardly. 'Tell me about it.'

Hermione told them the story, from the beginning until the end. It was as only Hermione could tell. Precise, nuanced and never skipping a beat. Ginny thicked the story by mocking Dan's group of friends or the bartender who tried to seduce her. Oh, and of course Dan, who tried to kiss her before holding a wand to her throat.

'But he held it the wrong way!' she said, chuckling.

'Why didn't you tell me anything, Ginny?' said Harry promptly. Ginny was silent.

'I …' Ginny blushed. 'Simply forgot. Fell asleep, read the Quidditch Weekly. It wasn't until Hermione said you two were coming over that I realised that it wasn't a normal happening.'

Ron eyed Harry as Ginny answered Harry's question. Harry briefly glanced back, catching Ron's message that Ginny was sincere. His gut feeling told him something else. Something had been bothering him, something between Ginny and him, and the most frustrating thing was that he couldn't exactly figure out what.

Harry was thrown back into reality as he caught Ginny's glance after she finished her sentence. He nodded. 'It's okay.'

But maybe not.

Hermione was oblivious to Harry's doubts. It looked as if she doubted Harry and Ron. She always thought of them as friends on a trip, rather than a team of Aurors.

'Let me recap this,' said Ron. 'About the stone,' he added quickly to avoid confusion.

'The gemstone's in the car for the entire time. This Dan bloke walks to it … twice?'

Hermione nodded. 'Yes. Although I'm not sure whether he went for it those two times. We only found it with him not nearby. He was already in St. Mungo's when we found the stone.'

'So …' said Harry, as a change of topic. 'That didn't affect him.'

'Not as we know of. You know of.' Hermione glanced at Harry.

Ron levitated more wine in his glass as he, in his turn, shot a look at Ginny. 'Anything else that might be of interest to us?'

Ginny glanced back, smiling. Harry suspected she was about to fall in a train of random stories about their adventure. However, her answer was surprisingly cohesive.

'Yes. Pygmy puffs.'

Ginny looked at Hermione. She understood Ginny's signal.

'Ginny and I thought we saw a pygmy puff.'

'Where?'

'At Dan's keycord.'

'Wha'?' replied Ron as he spat out some of his wine. 'Keycord? Is he bloody mad?!'

'We thought so too. But it was there. After he went to the car for the first time he didn't have the pygmy puff anymore. He only had scratches on his knuckles. We thought that that was a sign that the pygmy puff had escaped.'

Ron grinned. 'Interesting, innit?'

Harry looked at him, unsure whether Ron was actually amused by the story or genuinely interested.

'It's a good story,' he began. 'But what can we do with it?'

'You can find the pygmy puff,' said Hermione.

'Oh, top notch,' Ron declared as he threw his hands in the air. 'We're not zookeepers.'

'It could be a trail!' she replied. Her voice had a trace of anger and Ron sensed it.

'You can find out who bought a pygmy puff. Shops have to keep a list of the persons who've bought one.'

'One of your proposals?' said Ron.

'Yes,' beamed Hermione. 'It could be of use for you two. There's a list of it in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.'

'Oh, and the shape, Hermione,' said Ginny as she touched Hermione's arm.

'How could I forget!'

Hermione turned around and levitated a book from her shelf and opened it. The page showed a diamond shape in different time periods. Ancient, medieval and contemporary, with the title in the bold script above it: "Lozenge shape over the years".

'The man had a lozenge shape carved into his skin.'

'Skin?' said Ron, making an overly aghast face. 'Nasty.'

'Yes. It might be of interest to you.'

Harry glanced at Ron, who smiled.

'We'll look into that,' Harry said. They drank their drinks and made themselves ready to leave. They stood up and walked to the hallway to get their jackets. Just when Harry took his from the coathanger, Ron pat him on the shoulder.

'Mate, before we leave I just want to make sure Hermione's okay. I'll be right back,' he said as he strolled of to Hermione. She was putting the plates in the cupboard using her wand. Harry was alone in the hallway and turned his head around the doorpost. Ginny was still sitting at the table, reading the book Hermione had just taken out. He decided to walk up to her.

'Are you alright, Ginny?' he said as he walked up to her. She glanced at him.

'Sure I'm alright, Harry.'

'I was just wondering why I didn't know you got into this adventure with Hermione.'

'Oh,' she smiled, 'it was just minor, wasn't it? Nobody got hurt.'

'True,' Harry admitted. 'But someone ended up in Saint Mungo's.'

Ginny's face turned somber. 'I just.. it just felt odd. Hermione told the Ministry about it straight away. I wanted to tell you right after, but I left my Mirrorphone in Wales. So I couldn't.'

Harry recognised her expression as genuine.

'I get it. I just thought you acted a bit weird.'

'It wasn't intentional,' countered Ginny.

Harry smiled and nodded. 'I understand.' He bent and gave Ginny a kiss on her forehead.

'I'm afraid this work's gonna take a little more than two days or so,' he continued as he walked around the table to face her, 'and I don't want to make promises I can't keep. I don't think I can attend the game against the Zürich Zappers – but I'll make sure when you play domestic a few days after.'

Ginny put on a smirk. 'It's alright, I get it – I'll make a few points just for you.'

'A few?' countered Harry teasingly. 'You better score a lot of p-'

'Done, you two?' interrupted Ron as he left the kitchen and entered Hermione's living room. His face was orange, or as orange as Ron already was. His left cheek was redder than his other one. Upon closer inspection, Harry recognised the remnants of lipstick. Ron was unaware of it. Harry and Ginny glanced at each other, confirming their suspicions as they affirmed Ron's question.

'Good.'

'Alright. Nothing else?' replied Harry, staring at his cheek. Ron looked at Ginny, who was chuckling. It took him a few moments to realize that the lipstick was still there.

'Funny,' he said as he used his arm to rub it off.

'You were saying?'

'Ehm,' said Ron. 'We're going to check for pygmy puffs then?'

'Yes,' said Harry. 'Someone in the Ministry must've got a list.'

The day went on swiftly and steadily. That couldn't be said of the Ministry. It always reminded Harry of an organised chaos. Even though a person like Hermione Granger was in charge of a lot of things, it still remained at least a bit messy at times. He couldn't imagine what it was before her appointment. Poor Mister Weasley.

The document was easily obtained to the surprise of both Aurors. However, the list was incomplete. The records of two months were missing. It was only received after Harry used himself – being Harry Potter – to insist that the remaining pages of the document came in straightaway. He despised operating like this, but it was just the only way to get them before the end of the day. It worked.

Ron was staring intensely at the pages.

'We have no idea what we're looking for.'

Harry's voiced must've echoed in Ron's head since he only looked up after a few seconds.

'Right ...' he said, concentrated. His index finger slid beside the words.

'I can't see any connection either.'

Harry loosened the tie of his work attire and leaned against Ron's cupboard.

'Let's see. The lifespan of a pygmy puff is – what? Two years?'

'Around that, yeah,' replied Ron. He scruffled the pages of the document with his wand and shot a look at the last page.

'This document goes back three years.'

'So we're good,' answered Harry. 'Or,' he waved with his hand, 'we've at least got some margin. Now, if you were to buy a pygmy puff, Ron, where would you go?'

'Where Hermione bought Crookshanks. The Magical Menagerie.'

Harry rubbed his head. 'Merlin. That place was a mess. I wonder if the lady from the Menagerie remembers her customers.'

'Can't be that bad,' said Ron as he stood up and took his coat. He folded the documents and put it in his inner pocket. 'Bill was there a few months back, he says the place is tidier now.'

Harry smiled.

'Let's hope.'

The north side of Diagon Alley was as busy as any shopping street in Britain. The Magical Menagerie was across the street from where once Fortescue's ice cream shop was. The building was renovated magnificently, Harry noted as he glanced at it, and housed a cosy pub by the name of the "Three Sisters".

Ron and Harry entered the Magical Menagerie. Ron was right. The place was a lot tidier, in a sense that cages with animals weren't cramped up upon each other near the walls, but were now sparsely scattered across the room. The counter was less messy as well. The witch Ron and he had met before their third year of Hogwarts was there, too, albeit older, and her hair began to show some grey strings.

'Hello, can I ...' said the witch as she looked up because of the ringing visitor's bell. She stopped talking when she saw the visitors. Two Aurors, dressed in uniform in an otherwise empty shop. But which Aurors!

'Harry Potter.. hello.'

The witch awkwardly tried to retain her normal composure. Harry brushed it off. People often reacted to him this way. Nonetheless, he couldn't resist feeling a little bit uncomfortable.

'Hello, miss …'

'Cotterill. Winifred Cotterill.'

'.. Cotterill. We have some questions for you regarding an ongoing research.'

Cotterill's eyes became wide.

'Nobody's dead,' assured Ron, gesturing her to calm down with an easy smile.

'We were wondering; our documents state you've sold four pygmy puffs in the last two years.'

'That might be right.'

'Might?' Harry said, examining Cotterill's expression. He hoped she wasn't too old to correctly remember important details.

'Ah, yes, you see, sometimes a pygmy puff escapes. Or gets stolen.'

'Has that been the case in the last two years?'

'No, oh, no,' replied Cotterill bewildered. 'I don't have many things to steal. Magical creatures are a pain to manage without the proper knowledge and equipment. Besides, this place is very secure.'

'Ah.' Harry's tone was neutral. He glanced at Ron, who was eyeing the shop carefully, looking for things which could suggest some infringement of some sorts. He his eyes quickly met Harry's, signing that everything looked normal.

'Has there been anyone suspicious in your shop who was interested in a pygmy puff? Bought a pygmy puff?'

Cotterill needed to think for a second. '.. No. There was a man who bought a pygmy puff for his niece, then there was another eight-year-old who chose it as her birthday gift..'

'Someone older?'

'Well,' she said as she rubbed her temple, 'not really. A woman was interested in a pygmy puff and was here for twenty minutes. The other day a man came in and started to talk about how pygmy puffs were amusing.. none of them bought anything.'

'The woman. Why didn't she buy anything?'

'I don't know, Mr. Potter. Many visitors come here. To take a look at the animals. Sometimes they buy them, sometimes they don't. You don't buy a magical creature as a commodity. It ought to be a well-thought choice.'

'Even though the woman was here for over twenty minutes. If I was in a shop for twenty minutes, I'm pretty sure I'd bought something,' spoke Harry.

'You can't speak for everyone,' said Cotterill. Her tone was all of a sudden firm. Harry and Ron glanced at each other, both taken aback. 'Again, she did do nothing wrong.'

'What did she look like?' said Ron.

'I don't know. She was wearing a hooded jacket-'

'A bit suspicious, innit?' interrupted Ron firmly. 'What else, was she not making eye contact? You surely never saw her face?'

Harry gestured Ron to calm down. He didn't understand why Ron was making such a fuss of Cotterill's statement since she looked genuine and tried to help them – Ron's attitude was worsening their situation.

'Well, excuse me, sir,' replied Cotterill, offended by Ron's outburst. 'But I saw her face. Her skin tone was dark but fair. She had black hair and brown eyes.'

'She took the hoodie off?' Harry was surprised.

'Yes, to ask something.'

'A hooded figure with manners,' muttered Ron. Again, Harry had to silence him with a gesture. Ron was hard to work with when he was irritated.

'What did she ask?'

Cotterill glanced through her shop very quickly. Harry thought that she was staring through them for a brief moment and then returned to her senses.

'I don't know.'

Ron was looking intensely at Harry, urging him silently to press on for answers. Harry, however, decided that he needed none of that.

'That's alright, Ms Cotterill. Thank you for your time.' He smiled, nodded, and left the shop.

Ron paced behind him as they conjoined themselves with the crowd at Diagon Alley. It was just before sunset and most wizards and witches already had made their way home.

'Don't you see it?'

'See what?' replied Ron, bewildered by the situation.

'Her eyes. Staring. Her suddenly answering questions very promptly, as if she rehearsed. But she doesn't know what the woman asked her.'

'Do you think that …?'

'Her memory has been tampered with? Certainly. But how and why, I'm not sure.'

Ron nodded. Harry felt little fury in his stomach.

'But what was with you in there? Don't act like that, Ron. She was trying to help us.'

'Sorry,' said Ron with a low voice, his tone full of regret. 'But why did you not press on for answers?'

'I just explained you..' mumbled Harry.

'Right,' replied Ron, staring at the pavement.

They started walking back, alongside the more busy and well-known shops in the direction of the Gringotts.

'It's just stuff with Hermione. We have disagreements every once in a while,' Ron began.

'That happens,' Harry replied coldly.

'Yeah,' said Ron.

'That's alright. Me and Ginny've got that too.'

'Did you clear things up with her?'

'If there was something to clear up,' Harry snorted. 'She's alright. I was just being .. naïve, I guess?'

Harry's self-reflection was interrupted by the Whedella Fray's voice coming out of his inner pocket. Her voice became louder, a sign that it was urgent. Harry reached into his jacket and took the Mirrorphone out.

'Whedella,' he said as her face appeared on the screen.

'Harry,' she spoke. 'We're having a situation. You two need to come visit me right now. Meanwhile, Aurors Huxley and Carlton are on their way to St. Mungo's, checking up upon Dan Brookes, the man Hermione took there.'

'The man of the gemstone?'

'Yes. We know its purpose.'

'We'll be right there.'

Fray ended the call. Harry put the Mirrorphone back in his pocket. He sighed.

'Looks like we're going to make some progress in this case.'

'Hope it's good progress,' said Ron.

'Her voice didn't sound to positive, did it?'

Ron nodded gravely and they Disapparated to the Ministry.

Fray's face spoke enough to make Harry and Ron silent upon entering her office. She was looking at papers on her desk with the utmost interest and only waved her wand to close the door behind the two Aurors.

Finally, she looked up.

'Sit, please.'

Harry and Ron took place in the stiff seats, facing Fray and her desk. She folded her arms and glanced at the paper.

'We've done tests routinely on the gemstone, but that didn't work out. Diagnostic spells are very ineffective. However, we're quite sure what the stone does. There's a connection between the stone and guy that Ms Granger and Ms Weasley sent to us. Dan Brookes.'

Fray took out her Mirrorphone and shove a paper with a graph into Ron and Harry's direction. The y-axis of the graph showed the intensity of the glow; the x-axis represented the time. She placed the Mirrorphone besides it, showing her conversations today. She had had several calls from Dr. Pranaj, the medic from Saint Mungo's who was head of the department on which Brookes lay.

'Wait a minute …' said Ron as he examined the Mirrorphone and the graph closer. 'There's a connection here. Every time the glow intensity is at a low point you get a call from Doctor Pranaj.'

Fray nodded. 'Sadly.'

'Why?'

'Because then he updates me whenever Brookes' condition is critical. I told him, too. I saw the correlation after the first time by coincidence; the glow's intensity was low when I spoke to him, lightened up after and Brookes' condition became more stable.'

'Merlin's beard..' said Harry, still switching between her Mirrorphone and graph. 'This gemstone controls him, Whedella.'

'Worse,' said Fray. 'I believe it keeps him alive.'

'Is he stable now?' asked Ron. He glanced at the graph, but it was from several hours ago.

'Yes, he is. The stone appears to strengthen him when it's close. Hence why Carlton and Huxley are at Saint Mungo's with the stone. Aurors will take shifts protecting it, ensuring it is in his proximity. In the meanwhile,' she continued, taking the paper and her Mirrorphone back, 'you ought to speed up your research. Gailbard agrees. Any theories what could bring you closer?'

'Yes, so many.' Ron's answer was intended to be sarcastic but was not treated as such by Fray.

'Like?'

'Eh … the shape he has on his arm,' answered Ron hesitatingly. 'A lozenge.'

'A lozenge. Quite a common one. Anything else?'

'No,' said Harry, taking the word from Ron. 'It's what Miss Granger stressed in our conversation.'

'If that's so, you better head to Freya Lawson. She's head of the Magical Library Archive and can help you further on that symbol.'

'The Magical Library Archive? I've never heard of that,' said Ron surprised.

'Its existence is a public secret – but it's in York. I'll let Lawson know you're coming.'

Harry and Ron agreed and set off to York with urgency. As they understood, Brookes was in a stable albeit critical state. The fact that they weren't sure about that either was utterly worrisome in itself. They had all the reason to find out as much as they could about the lozenge – and fast.

Lawson was waiting for them at the entrance of the Magical Library Archive. The building was old, but not ancient. High pillars stood tall as pedestrians without a destination. The air within the library was one of old, forgotten knowledge about a past hidden for Muggles. The magical community had written a lot about certain subjects; magical knowledge was transferred by scripture earlier than their Muggle counterparts did for Muggle knowledge. This meant that there was cohesive and reliable information about as early as Medieval practices and happenings. The legends had it, so Lawson explained, that scriptures of Merlin were also hidden in the Magical Library Archive itself.

Whether that was the truth was unknown to Harry. He couldn't imagine that they had it all figured out, because the shelves were filled with endless rows of books, some twenty shelves high. They were magically enchanted to go on infinitely and were all fully stocked with books.

But Lawson knew where to look. She had received Fray's message that the two Aurors needed information about lozenges and, so she figured, possible connections with ancient rituals and magic.

'I've taken the courtesy of gathering information about the lozenge,' Lawson said as she gestured towards a table filled with volumes. Many looked ancient, with book covers as old and thick as the Muggle bible. Ron sighed upon approaching them.

'We won't go through them page by page,' Lawson assured him, inspecting his expression. 'We're essentially looking through scriptures, which are just a few pages bound together.'

They took a seat in leather armchairs and started going through the works. Their goal was clear: find a mention of the shape lozenge in relation to either magical artifacts or magical events. The books were large and thick and many in number. Harry and Ron were going through them page by page. Lawson, on the other hand, used her wand and was swiftly going through the books. They stared at her for a brief moment. Lawson noticed that she was being watched.

'You'd think that they learn Aurors important spells nowadays,' she sighed while her forehead was covered in wrinkles. 'To search for words in a book, you simply say "Verbo Reperio" and then the word. In this case lozenge.' She waved her wand in the shape of a looking glass.

Ron chuckled when seeing Lawson's wand movement. She raised an eyebrow.

'Try it for yourself, then.'

She pushed a book at Ron. He hesitated, but took his wand out of his pocket, wove it accordingly, and mumbled "Verbo Reperio Lozenge". The book instantly opened and with each page was opened with lightning speed. After a second the book fell on its other side, magically turned around and presented itself to Ron just as it was before he spoke out the spell.

'Are these .. bookmarkers?' Ron said as he fumbled with the small coloured papers sticking out from the side.

Lawson smiled. 'Yes. Open one of them.'

Ron did and the bookmark directed him to the word lozenge.

'Blimey,' he said. He turned to Harry. 'Hermione'll be happy with this.'

Harry smiled. 'Let's try it then and sort this out.'

An hour went by before they went through all the books Lawson had selected for them to read through. They had perfected the spell in that hour, but it didn't provide to be successful. Mentions had been there, of course, but either it was disapproving or proving the non-existent powers of the lozenge. Or, all in all, just assuring its little significance to the reader.

Harry was sighing when he closed the last book.

'No worthy mentions of the lozenge,' he said, stretching and falling back into the comfy chair.

Lawson was still sitting upright. 'Seems that we're not lucky today.'

'Isn't there anything ...' mumbled Ron. He had had his face resting in his hand. His right cheek was now red, in contrast to the left one, which looked funny. He obviously was bored by the literary research, as was Ron through and through, but had a sparkle in his eyes which signified some hope.

'Isn't there any legend of some sort?' he prompted.

'Legends?' Lawson sounded scarily curious. 'We don't trust legend. Books are reliable. Written records.'

Harry shot a look at Ron, who began to smile.

'But you know that there a lot of things that are stories that turn out to be true,' he said. 'The Deathly Hallows is an example, isn't it, Harry?'

Ron glanced at his best friend, who tried to suppress a smile.

'That's an exception, Ron.'

Lawson shuffled through some books while Harry tried to figure out whether Ron was serious or not. True, the Deathly Hallows were always thought to be a myth, children's stories. However, as the world wizarding world knew, it turned out to be true.

Harry found it scary, nonetheless, to rely on undocumented stuff like this. Not only could he vividly portray an image of Hermione eye-rolling when she heard that he and Ron were investigating on the basis of only rumours and legends, but Ginny would be mad too. Harry doubted that that was something he wanted. They needed a written record of... well, something.

'We need a legend that's written down,' Harry said. 'Miss Lawson, do you perhaps have a book that has something about the mythology of symbols?'

Lawson stopped drifting past the pages of the book in her hands and eyed the shelves. 'There's a book by Lugh Bullard, "Mythologies and Symbols of the Past and Present", which might be interesting.' She waved her wand and Ron and Harry saw a book levitating from a shelf and calmly floating towards them. It landed swiftly on her desk.

'Verbo Reperio Lozenge,' spoke Lawson carefully whilst she wove her wand accordingly. The book opened itself with rapid speed, from one side to another, and put itself back in the same position. Ron and Harry saw that there was only one bookmark applied in the book. Lawson opened it and began to read. The page was filled with text for the most part, but at the end of the page a lozenge was drawn, albeit a bit more curvy than what they had been told Hermione saw on Brookes' arm.

'What does it say?' asked Ron nervously. He examined Lawson's face, hoping to receive a sign whether the page contained useful information.

'It is certainly interesting..' Lawson remarked after a few seconds of silence.

Ron wanted to repeat the question but was unable to, since she gestured him to be quiet.

'It says here that in the Netherlands certain "wise women", spirits of ancient herbalists who tend to revolve around gravesites and other sacred places. Muggles also knew of these legends and thought mist was associated with these beings.'

'So they do exist?' Harry asked.

'Yes, they do, but apparently they're just spirits. They do have a certain temper, though. Bullard notes that these "wise women" can either be kind or foul-hearted. Present witches and wizards usually don't interact with them, since they have a tendency to foresee the future.'

'Charming,' said Ron. 'But what does the shape of the lozenge have to do with them?'

'It is their symbol,' Lawson said. 'Of their fertility. They use it for …' she narrowed her eyes. 'Safekeeping.'

'Of what?' Harry eyed the page with interest. 'Brookes is being safeguarded by a stone? This doesn't make any sense.'

'It got to make sense,' Ron said. 'The stone … is keeping him hostage, right? He's sort of assigned to that stone, connected, through that symbol.'

Lawson nodded. 'It sounds logical.'

Harry folded his arms. 'So what's next? A trip?'

'You need some help approaching these spirits,' replied Lawson. 'You don't want them against, you apparently.'

Harry glanced at Ron. 'I'll call Gailbard. Seems we have to make our way to Amsterdam.'

They thanked Lawson, levitated the books into their rightful place and walked out of the Library. The air was chilly in York. Darkness surrounded them, only blinded by the lights of lantern poles. Harry took out his Mirrorphone and contacted Gailbard.

'We have a lead that takes us to the Netherlands.'

'The Netherlands?' Gailbard's voice was one of disbelief.

'Yes. Their Ministry of Magic is in Amsterdam, right?'

'I … believe so. What do you need to do?'

'Talk to some spirits.'

'How certain are you about this?' asked Gailbard. Staring intently at Harry.

The latter eyed Ron, who nodded carefully.

'Certain.'

'I trust your decision making, Harry. But I don't want you to wander around.''

'Yes, sir.'

'Then I'll notify the Dutch. I want you both in the Portkey Office at 8 am for departure.'

Harry thanked Gailbard and broke the connection. Together with Ron he Disapparated, leaving York darker in the night.