26. The Prophecy.
Adam stepped into the pub, and walked towards the bar, receiving several nods of recognition, which he passed back. He smiled to himself, realising that nobody questioned him being there. He saw Holly with another girl in the corner, whose explosion of curly brown hair bounced as she laughed.
The barman placed a drink in front of him as he leaned against the bar.
"Young Garrett with you?" The barman asked.
"He's gone to his office. He'll be here soon."
"You meeting anyone?"
Adam was puzzled why the barman wanted to know this. "The two young ladies in the corner."
"Thought so, watch your step with the blond one. You'll want food then. I'll drop a menu on the table."
"Do you mean Fairweather?"
"Yes, she's a bad un."
"That's Holly, not Stormy." A look of confusion crossed the man's face.
"Who's Holly?"
"Stormy's daughter."
"She ain't got a daughter." He looked shocked.
"She has, and that is her." Adam smiled and turned away.
"Before you go." He asked stopping Adam in mid-stride. "Why is she dressed so strangely?"
"She's in police uniform." Adam chuckled to himself at the strange dress comment when most of the patrons were wearing embroidered gowns and pointed hats.
"Is she really. Never seen the like before." He nodded knowingly. Adam could tell the man was not finished. "What's a police uniform?" He asked after a moment's hesitation.
Adam paused for a moment, trying to assimilate this comment. "Something that nobody down here needs to worry about."
"That's good to know. As long as she doesn't bring her mother in." The barman said happily as he moved away to help another customer.
He walked over to the table, tankard in hand, and stopped before them. Holly leapt up, almost standing to attention.
"Sir."
"Holly, this is your world and I'm only a Muggle, call me Adam." He said sitting himself down opposite the new girl. Holly sat down, looking pensively at her friend.
"This isn't my world either, where's Tony." She asked looking at the door.
"He's on his way."
"Oh, crap." Exclaimed the new girl, standing up as the door to the pub opened.
"I'm not an ogre, honestly," Adam said, confused by her sudden movement and comment.
"It's not you, it's her." He looked around and saw Botilda striding towards them.
"Hello Botilda, good to see you." He said smiling at her, receiving a big smile back.
"What are you doing here?" She spat the moment she saw Holly. Her demeanour had changed, her face scowling. Adam noticed her hand was in her bag, he assumed she was grabbing for her wand.
Holly almost jumped up, her stance ready to fight. "I'm Holly, not Stormy." She almost shouted. Adam Watched Botilda's shoulders drop as she calmed down.
"Of course you are. I am so sorry, but you look so like your Mother. I'm Botilda." She apologised, clasping her hand.
"I know you, my Mother has said some very unpleasant things about you," Holly replied, retaking her seat as Botilda released her hand and sat in Adam's seat. He reached over and pulled another one up and sat down between them.
"Your mother has said many hurtful things about me, some of them are, admittedly true, and some of them are definitely not."
"How can I help you?" Asked Adam of Botilda, moving them away from the conversation they were about to have.
"It's not to see you, it's Tony I want, he has taken memories and I want them." She turned her head and looked at Megan. "And you, Megan Trelawney, and I are going to have a chat."
"No," said the girl who he now knew was called Megan.
"My dear, one person you do not argue with, is me, understand." Adam was looking at Botilda, there was a hardness in her voice that told Adam she would not be messed with. For a moment she was a different person as he remembered Luthor's comments. Like everyone he met in this world, they all had two sides to them. Then again he thought, so does everyone.
After a moment of silence, while the two women stared at each other, hostility in Megan's, calmness in Botilda's, Holly spoke.
"Megan, this is DCI Adam Croft, he's the one working with the Auror Tony Garrett. Adam this is Megan Trelawney." She was gazing at him with huge eyes, almost as if she knew him.
"Nice to meet you Megan, are you a-wand waverer?" He asked as he held her hand for a moment, feeling it tremble.
"Wand waverer Adam, she's a bloody witch, like I am." Replied Botilda humour in her voice.
"I am a witch," Megan replied her voice had an odd quivering quality to it, almost as if she were singing or nervous.
"I mean witch, but I'm not keen on calling nice young ladies, witches."
"It is the correct term and you won't offend anyone here, although I'm not like the others, I don't use a wand that much."
They stopped for a moment as a small piece of paper flicked around their heads before sliding onto the table between them all.
Botilda stood. "I'd better be going. There are several confused Muggles chasing their children around the shops. Adam, tell Mr Garrett I want those memories, Megan, come and see me, do not make me come and find you." She turned out waiting for a reply, flouncing towards the door. "Goodbye Adam," she called as she left.
"Bloody memory thief." Spat Megan.
Adam ignored the comment until later. "I assume this is the menu." Adam picked it up, staring at the brown parchment with its neat handwritten menu. "Nature of the job is we eat when we get the chance, would you care to join us?"
They both nodded and Adam handed over the menu.
"I can tell by your demeanour that one of you has something important to tell me?" He asked, looking at Megan, noticing the look of worry on her face. She paled under his scrutiny before steeling herself. The door opened, and Tony entered the inn, stopping at the bar and picking up a drink.
"What have I missed?" He asked sitting down.
"Botilda just came in and got all up in people's faces." Said Adam looking towards Megan.
"She caught me outside. She wants copies of the memories we have."
"Why would she want them?" Asked Adam, more confused than normal.
"She's the memory thief." Said Megan still unhappy.
"That's right." Said Tony happily. "I knew I'd met her before, she used to come to Hogwarts each year and take everyone's memories."
"Why?" Asked Adam, the menu on the table forgotten.
"She set up some memory thing."
"The Hall of memories." Finished Megan.
"Never heard of it." He replied.
"It's down on level nine." Tony's eyebrows lifted.
"What's wrong with level nine?" Adam asked, spotting Tony's surprise.
"No time to explain, that's if I even knew what went on down there, I just know enough to keep away." He looked over at the bar. "Lean back everyone, elbows off the table." He said pushing all the drinks to one side and then leaning back, the others followed suit. Four plates with the Leaky Cauldrons' huge hot sandwiches appeared before them. Adam looked across the room at the barman, who smiled and gave him a thumbs-up. He shook his head again, as usual, the choice he had made in his mind, was now sitting in front of him.
"Megan, this is Tony, you were about to tell us something?" Adam asked between mouthfuls.
"Hello, Megan." He dropped his sandwich, reached across, and shook her hand.
"Hi, my great aunt was Sybil Trelawney." She said pausing, expecting them to know who she was.
"I know that name." Said Tony stopping in mid-bite, eyes gazing into space, both Adam and Holly shook their heads. "Don't know why though." He continued after a moment.
"She was a Hogwarts Professor of divination for many years. She was known for some prophecies." Megan said, looking down at the table.
Adam looked up at her for a moment. "You're not here for a free meal are you?"
"No." She seemed to shrink back.
"Somehow I've avoided divination all my life, why do I feel that's about to change," Tony replied with resignation.
"Aunty Sybil made some important prophecies that came true. She made quite a few, but most people only know about the major ones."
"What were they?" Asked Adam, his interest piqued.
"It was a long time ago, but she correctly prophesied the wizarding war and the rise and fall of Voldemort." Tony's eyes grew wide as he dropped his sandwich down on the plate.
"Now that's a name I have heard." Adam noticed the humour had gone from his face.
"My family's ability to prophesize has been diminishing for generations." Megan continued. "For instance, my father has never made a prophecy, his sister has. I have never produced a prophecy. In fact, my ability with magic is poor. I almost didn't get into Hogwarts and only just passed my owls, some of them anyway."
Adams' head swung from person to person.
"End of school exams," Tony said, noticing his head swivel.
"The important thing is that not long before my Aunt died, she made a prophecy. She had the same one three times while we were together."
"Do you mean fortune-telling?" Adam asked. They all looked at him for a moment before looking back at Megan. Adam's eyebrows raised at the obvious disdain he had received, unhappy at the dismissal.
"What was the prophecy?" Asked Tony. Megan looked at Tony, saying nothing.
Adam took a large bite out of the sandwich, bored with the conversation, and feeling left out to a degree.
"The prophecy starts with two men."
"You think this could have something to do with us," Tony asked before adding. "Prophecy is a very inexact subject." Adam was sitting looking at them, his jaw working on a mouthful of his sandwich.
She pulled a slim roll of parchment out of her jacket and handed it to Tony. He dropped his sandwich, wiped his hands and took it, pulling the red ribbon from it. He placed it on the table and used their mugs to hold it flat. The parchment was old and stained, the edges frayed. In neat, handwritten script was line after line of writing.
"I wrote this parchment when I was eight years old, dictated to me by my Aunt three days before she died."
'A Muggle-born wizard and a Muggle law enforcer shall come together upon a quest that has no answer.
The Garrett is new to his work and keen to progress but will be unhappy with his lot.
The Croft, who is not new to our world, has things to hide that are unknown even to himself.
Many years will pass before the quest finds an answer, but too late this will be.
In the year of sixty-two, the Garrett shall lead the few, as the many go to war.
The world will burn for seven days until the many are consumed in fire.
The Garrett shall take the few to safety.
Hidden, the few will be and this way they will remain.'
She pulled another parchment, this one in a worse condition than the first. She unrolled it and placed it on top of the first. It was identical, the writing, childlike, with spelling mistakes scattered through it.
"I wrote this down for my Aunt two years before that one. Twenty years ago."
Tony looked at Adam, opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it again.
"Do you lot put any importance on this sort of thing," Adam asked his amusement on the subject slipping.
Tony looked at him. "We have an entire Ministry department that looks after prophecies and stores them in the Hall of Prophecy for the future. Yes, the Ministry takes them very seriously."
"This one was never put in the hall," Megan added.
"Why not?" Tony asked, his voice raised with surprise.
"She was terrified of the contents. She had already foretold a wizarding war, this one foretold something far worse."
"How many of these prophecies come true?" Adam asked, starting to take an interest in the conversation again.
"It's very hard to tell. Some are so vague about what they are saying, it could be right, whatever happens, some are so correct, it's very frightening."
"What level of vagueness does this one suggest?" He asked already knowing the answer.
"Not very vague." Tony turned to Megan. "I have to take this seriously and take it to the Ministry."
"I know." She almost whispered, her head down, refusing to look at anyone.
"You know they'll want to interview you?"
"Yes. They'll want to interview you two as well." She replied.
"Only if I give them the chance. Anyway, it's an old prophecy that's not supposed to happen for another twenty-two years."
"But it specifically mentions both of your names. Considering one of you is a Muggle, and the other has no family in the Wizarding World, it's more than a little strange." Holly said as she finished her sandwich.
Adam leant across the table towards Tony.
"Was Botilda onto something, because I'm thinking Luthor Crabbe knows all about this prophecy and a hell of a lot more."
"And the Ministry. Let's keep that information to ourselves for now." Tony replied.
Adam grinned at him. "You're learning fast my young Paduan.
"I don't know what that means, but I believe you're right and we are being led around by at least two parties." He looked down at his unfinished meal, his appetite gone. "Paduan got it." He exclaimed.
To be continued in part two of
The Muggle and the Auror.
The Aurors Lament.
