Saul Croaker's specialty within the Department of Mysteries was time magic. Time travel, skipping timelines, anything to do with the alteration of time. In a vague theory, Ron had surmised that he was working with them on Gerald's case because the dark wizard's youthful appearance could be due to some sort of time disturbance.

Harry didn't mean to dismiss his partner's idea because for all he knew it was correct. However, he had told the redhead that it was probably simply because they had known Croaker prior to everything.

And it came out a little more harshly than he meant too. The discovery that Gerald was indeed wicked had Harry quite on edge. Perhaps not as uptight as dealing with Voldemort himself during the auror's school years, as he'd had time to mature and grow more used to handling dark wizards, but on edge nonetheless.

''Yes, I don't see why not,'' Oliver replied through the telephone. ''If you will, give us an hour before you show? My friend's not quite used to early rising.''

''Sure,'' Harry agreed. ''We will see you at ten. Thanks.''

''Of course,'' the man on the other end said politely before hanging up.

Harry sighed as he put down the phone and turned to the unspeakable who had entered the office during his conversation. Croaker was carrying a brown leather briefcase and wearing a hat and coat to match. The auror found himself intrigued to see how the man would go about learning the workings of Gerald's gifts. He wasn't alone either.

''So, uh, what exactly are you going to do?'' Ron asked the unspeakable as soon as Harry had turned their way.

''Different things,'' Croaker cleared his throat. ''Tests of any physical factors he may have contributing to his abilities. Some arithmancy, some divination...''

''Arithmancy?'' Harry repeated looking at Ron, ''Didn't Hermione study that?''

''Well yeah,'' the redhead responded sarcastically, ''but what hasn't she studied?''

Harry laughed, ''True.''

''It's a very specific form of wizardry with a very broad range of uses,'' Croaker cut back in, ''A lot of magical folk put it down, saying it's focus is on a more muggle subject of knowledge, but there is a lot of power to be gained from studying numbers and sequences. It's especially helpful when constructing original spells."

"Huh," Ron responded in an almost apathetic tone, gaining a raised eyebrow from the unspeakable.

"I'll admit I don't understand how that works," Harry said, "but I'll be interested to see what happens."

Croaker smiled at the dark-haired auror.

"What of divination, though?" Harry continued. "From what I've been taught, there's not an exact science to it. Pardon that wording."

"No, there isn't," the unspeakable agreed. "However, my department will want to try and read Gerald anyway. No stone unturned, you know."

Harry and Ron both nodded as Harry's eyes trailed off to the clock. A quarter hour had passed since speaking with Oliver. Croaker's eyes had followed the auror's. Clearing his throat again, he grinned and went on.

"Well, you have ten minutes or so before we'll have to head out. Better get all the questions out of your head now. Don't want you appearing ignorant," the unspeakable chuckled.

He didn't say it as an insult and the aurors knew precisely what he meant. If they came off as unknowledgable of what he was going to do, it would present as a weakness and of course no, none of them wanted that. Obviously, they couldn't go into much elaboration right then, but going in completely blind was not preferable. They at least had to hold an idea of the proceedings beforehand.

"You said you were going to test his physical attributes?" Harry inquired next, "Like studying his blood or something?" Harry was aware that there were spells to identify things such as family members and magical leanings through blood. Even muggles knew the value of studying the liquid although their approach was much different. He had just never witnessed it or delved into it more.

"Good guess," Croaker smiled. His joy of teaching was showing from the years he had been a professor. "I'm sure you are aware of revelio charms, yes?" the man paused until he received nods from both aurors and then he continued, "Just as you can find concealed objects with the spell or even with 'homenum revelio,' people can be revealed, there is a similar charm that my department is quite fond of. 'Sanguis Revelio,'" the unspeakable paused again, this time with only the aurors' confused glances as a response. "It detects properties in the blood that we cannot easily see or even that have been purposely hidden."

"What sort of properties?" Harry furthered.

"All sorts of things. A generalized, basic study of blood can tell if a person is a wizard or muggle. Can tell us about their family and even their species. However the sanguis revelio charm digs deeper. It shows what field of magic the wizard or witch is most suited for, if they have a leaning toward the use of light or dark magic, how magically active they are... It can sometimes even reveal their true mood."

"Blimey," Ron blurted. "How come we've never known about this?"

"Well, Mr. Weasely," Croaker said matter-of-factly, turning toward the redhead, "The department of Mysteries is very mysterious itself. A lot of what we do and what we know never leaves from within its walls. At any rate," the unspeakable glanced at the clock again before spinning on his heels and beginning their trek, "It's time to go."

The trio of Ministry employees arrived at the residence on Salt Box Road several minutes before the hour, but they didn't wait to approach the home and knock on the door. Oliver, of course, was the one to answer again.

"Good morning, Harry, Ron...uh Mr. Croaker?" he greeted politely, though not cheerfully. The unspeakable nodded. "Come right in, please," Oliver added, stepping to the side to let the three through the door and then closing it behind them.

"Your friend's not an early riser, then?" Croaker smirked as they walked down the hall.

"Uh, no. Most concerts go on during the evening. Ours almost always have," Oliver explained. "He's too used to the schedule."

"But you're not?" Harry asked as they came to the main room where they first met Gerald. The wizard was not in sight.

"I spent a lot of time on my grandparents' farm growing up," Oliver smiled. "I suppose I never broke from that schedule myself." He motioned broadly to the room, "Please, uh, make yourselves comfortable. Wherever will be best for..." the man trailed off awkwardly.

"Thank you," Croaker didn't skip a beat as he made his way to the the bundle of chairs in the middle of the room, dropping his briefcase in the air to float beside him and then opening it to pull out a square table approximately four feet in diameter.

Harry and Ron looked around the room and even back down both ends of the hallway.

"Is he still sleeping?" Ron piped.

"GERALD! GET YOUR ASS IN HERE!" Oliver suddenly yelled after sticking his head into the hall. He then faced the aurors again. "No, he's awake. Sorry about that."

Oliver's character seemed off. Not entirely different from previous encounters. He still came off as a calm, intelligent individual, but it seemed that something was bothering him...something more than just the investigation into his bandmate that they had picked up on before. Harry's best guess was that Gerald was aggravating his poor, loyal friend.

"I'm here," Gerald's voice came down the corridor as he descended the stairs at its end. He spoke in the same complacent tone as he had when he'd said the exact same words to greet the aurors and Mr. Croaker back at the ministry. He walked in with his hands intertwining by the fingers sitting atop his head, elbows at points to the sides. He stopped moving when he stood directly between Oliver and the two aurors, without obstructing their view of each other.

"Mr. Davis, good to see you again," Croaker spoke to the new arrival, but his gaze was still upon a the vials and a couple other instruments that Harry didn't recognize that he had just produced from his briefcase which was now resting on the table.

"It's Gerald," the dark wizard sounded annoyed with the formal use of his surname. "Just Gerald."

"Well, Jerry," the unspeakable straightened his stance, finally looking at the wizard. Harry barely kept from shaking his head at the friendly shorthand because he knew Croaker had only used the nickname to annoy the blue-eyed man. "Come over and we will get started."

Harry heard Gerald emit a growl under his breath as arms dropped to his sides and he walked toward the unspeakable. "What do I do?" he asked.

"You just sit," Croaker commanded, staring almost cruelly at him.

The dark wizard ignored the gaze except for raising his brow before he sat in one of the tall chairs next to where his adversary had set up his table and equipment. He sat back in a relaxed pose, legs comfortably apart, with hands resting on his lap, and watched as Croaker pulled his wand from his robe.

"Wait," Oliver spoke abruptly, gaining the ministry workers' attention before turning to his friend, "Is that guy still here?"

The aurors and Croaker removed eyes from Oliver and placed them back onto Gerald, whose demeanor was unwavering.

"What guy?" Harry asked.

Almost in response, loud, quick footsteps sounded from behind them. Someone was coming down the stairs. Harry and Ron were the only ones still with an easy view into the hallway. A medium-skinned and shirtless man at the very most in his thirties thudded his way toward them, his head down as he began to speak, "Hey sweetheart, I-" he cut himself off mid-sentence as his head rose and he saw the group of men in the den. "Oh. I-uh..." he looked around at everyone before awkwardly making his way through them to Gerald. The unspeakable smoothly lowered his wand to his side, assuming that the man was, in fact, a muggle.

He stopped at in front of the makeup-clad man and leaned down to hug him. Surprisingly, the dark wizard reciprocated the embrace. The scenario had the aurors puzzled, but Croaker seemed to be following along well with the dynamic judging by the smirk on his face. Oliver, again, looked frustrated.

After their hug, the shirtless man stood straight and continued his original thought in a more hushed and awkward voice, "I can't find my top," he brought his arms to his chest, curling them into it as if suddenly he was ashamed of being half-naked.

"Here," Gerald stood, lips widening into a grin as he took off his own black shirt. "Just take this one."

"Aw," the other man tilted his head to the side as he took the shirt. "Thanks, hun." He quickly dressed himself and spun back to face the three wizards at the hallway. "I, uh...well, bye!" he gave one last, cute look at Gerald before leaving the room again, this time going out the front door.

Harry caught a glimpse of Oliver with his palm over his eyes as the auror looked back at Gerald. The dark wizard was still beaming then, but his expression became solemn again as he sat back down.

"Have a good night, did you?" Croaker still wore a smirk.

"I did, thank you," Gerald replied thickly, coming to the full realization of the unspeakable's subtly combative attitude when dealing with him.

Oliver sighed loudly beside the aurors, "I'm going to get the coffee..." he muttered as he left them to go to the kitchen Harry could barely see at the opposite end of the living space.

Ron shot a look at his partner then, mouthing the rhetorical question 'he's gay?' without realizing that Gerald's eyes had settled back upon them from his chair beside Croaker.

"No, he is not gay," the dark wizard smirked, "I'm up for anything." Gerald stressed the last word, making the aurors feel as if he was hinting about 'anything' the ministry had to throw at him.

The response left Harry and Ron without knowing how to react. Fortunately, Croaker stepped in for them, his wand raised once more. "Then lift your arm," he ordered, "Whichever one is most prominent," he added.

Gerald turned to the unspeakable again, squinting his eyes as if contemplating his next move. After a short moment, he lifted his right arm. Croaker took a step back, aiming the tip of his wand at the inner bend of the wizard's elbow. 'Diffindo!' he said with an almost imperceptible flick of his wand.

A small cut, maybe the length of a bottle cap appeared on Gerald's arm. Once again, Harry detected the wizard's breathing change into a more rapid pace. The charm Croaker had used was a simple one, taught early to Hogwarts students, but it could also easily become a severe, even fatal attack. It was known as the 'severing charm' and could do just that to a body's limb or head...granted the caster was experienced enough to put the proper amount of power behind it.

"Didn't hurt at'all," the unspeakable took a moment to look directly into the seated wizard's eyes and smirk again. Harry saw a flash of anger cross Gerald's face before he turned it abruptly to the side, silently attempting to calm himself.

Croaker then returned to his task, aiming the wand at the cut he had made.

'Sanguis Revelio.'