''At the very least, it made him seem like a slapper,'' Ron concluded.
Professor Croaker had taken the two aurors to his office within the department of mysteries. Not usual procedure, but he felt the delicacy of this particular case warranted an exception. Croaker also knew the young wizards' upstanding characters, that they'd pose no direct harm, and would handle matters with caution.
While the unspeakable had been emptying the contents of his briefcase again, Harry and Ron had begun conversing about the meeting. Harry started by mentioning Gerald's scars. Oliver explained the one on his stomach he had apparently gained getting drunk and losing his temper, but it was really the ones on his chest and under his tattoo that interested the auror.
One of Harry's first cases involved a young squib who had been beaten by her father after her mother's passing. The wizard had always rejected his daughter due to her lack of magical ability. However after her mother's death, when the girl was only eleven, the man became abusive. That time would have been when she'd be getting ready to attend her first year at Hogwarts had she been born a witch. Her father used magic to torture the poor girl in order to highlight in her mind how pathetic she was for not wielding magic.
This had gone on for almost three years before the Ministry was able to save her and prosecute the evil wizard. She was fourteen when Harry first talked to her. Like many mistreated muggle teenagers, she had taken to self-harm. It was a heart breaking case, but fortunately she was placed with a loving magical family and from what Harry had been told, she was adjusting well.
The numerous, smaller scars Harry had witnessed on the girl looked exactly like the ones on Gerald's chest. It made him ponder when and why the wizard had cut himself as he could think of nothing else that would make so many wounds like that other than Gerald's own hands.
''I guess it does if he didn't mean anything more by it,'' Harry responded, ''But just saying that he's up for anything the way he did made me feel he was talking about more than his sexual ventures.''
''Maybe,'' the redhead relented. ''Either way, it's odd an odd time for him to worry about his, you know, personal needs. What with the investigation, things with Malfoy, and whatever else we don't know about yet.''
''I know part of your job is to investigate all details, but would you to rather talk about what I've found now rather than that miscreant's libido?'' Croaker interrupted the conversation when he'd finished with his things.
''Of course,'' Harry spoke quickly coming to the realization that how the unspeakable described it was exactly what the aurors' discussion boiled down to.
''What did you learn besides the necromancy?'' Ron asked, leaning forward onto the long table where he and Harry sat.
''His blood is very strange, indeed,'' Croaker carried on. ''I can't quite put my finger on it. But it's...it's just different than any other wizard I've ever seen.''
Harry leaned forward as well to put greater focus on the unspeakable who was holding the vial of Gerald's blood. ''Different like stronger or?''
The man shook his head, ''No...more like...inhuman. But I am at a loss for anything else it could be. The differences that make it seem to belong to another species don't match any other race that we know.''
Harry found the discovery unsettling yet somehow fitting. ''His parents were human though, right?''
''Gellert Grindelwald,'' the unspeakable's tone became more grave, ''was definitely a human, yes. The mother? I couldn't say with absolute certainty anything other than she obviously appeared human... Proper aging and all.''
''That doesn't really even matter then if she is,'' Ron surmised. ''I mean, if she appeared as human as any other, finding out she wasn't wouldn't help you discover what the species was, right?''
''Hm...'' Croaker seemed annoyed by the conjecture. ''No, it wouldn't. At this point, I'm going to work under the assumption of his humanity. Try to identify these properties through varying criteria to see if perhaps they relate to something else entirely and are just presenting oddly.''
''Ron and I will carry on with the possibility in mind, then,'' Harry nodded. ''What else?''
''He has a definite dark leaning. A strong one,'' Croaker said, ''No surprise there. He's also a very, very angry person. His emotion was the first thing I saw. I couldn't help to...'' the man seemed discomforted by the memory of what he saw in the dark wizard's blood.
''We've already learned about the problem with his temper,'' Harry interjected. ''He has a drinking problem as well and I think...those scars on his chest... I think he did that to himself.''
Croaker stared at the auror for a moment, taking the information in. Harry didn't understand why the wizard's emotional problem was bothering the unspeakable so badly. But something was clicking in the old man's mind.
Croaker looked away from him then and grunted, ''At any rate, he's unstable and that is extremely dangerous in a wizard with his darkness and capabilities. Although...'' he looked back at the aurors, rubbing his chin with one hand, ''His blood also shows that he's not very active with magic. Actually, the exact opposite.''
Ron glanced at Harry before speaking, ''You're saying that he hardly uses magic?''
Croaker nodded.
''Well could that be contributing to his powers?'' a theory suddenly hit the dark-haired auror. ''Keeping his magic from being stressed...could it be-''
''Like stockpiling?'' the unspeakable stopped him mid-thought. ''Magic is a skill that needs to be practiced, not an item that will wear out from too much use,'' he debunked. ''If anything, not staying active with it would make a wizard less capable.''
''That makes sense,'' Ron mulled.
Harry sighed, ''Yeah,''
''Now I don't have time to explain the math exactly,'' Croaker furthered, ''but studying the magical energies around the dates I gathered from him and other prominent dates involving Voldemort, specifically as they relate to Gerald, I detected heavy and sparatic fluctuations.''
The aurors exchanged glances and then rested their eyes on the unspeakable again.''And those mean?''
''Just that his use of magic has been few and far between, but exceedingly powerful when used. The largest spikes in his magical time line have occurred between the year of his mother's death...and 1981.''
The man paused, allowing the date to settle into Harry's mind. It didn't take long. Gerald had lied to them again? He told them straight out that he'd left the dark lord's side in 1973. Why would he lie about those 8 years? What was the point?
''The year Voldemort killed my parents,'' the auror spoke in a hushed voice.
''Wait a minute, though,'' the red head thought aloud, ''Are you assuming that Gerald's only ever used his full strength when with Voldemort and never for anything else?''
''All I'm saying, Mr. Weasely,'' Croaker barked, ''is that before he learned magic from Voldemort, there aren't any spikes. And there have been next to none after the dark lord's body died attempting to murder Harry. Infer what you like.''
''Blimey, the bastard lied again,'' Ron complained.
''But why?'' Harry spat with frustration. ''There is literally no point. Being absent those few years doesn't make him seem any less guilty. So why?''
Croaker pursed his lips, giving the boy a few moments to relax before he spoke again. ''That's on you to find out,'' he said. ''But there was one more thing I wanted to let you in on before we part ways today.''
''What is it?'' Ron asked curiously.
''It's regarding the necromancy. Judging from your lack of understanding on the subject, I'm sure you aren't aware of this either, but...horcuxes were originally created by necromancers.''
Both the aurors' eyes grew wide. That...that was insane. Gerald Davis... He was the reason Voldemort had become immortal?
''You think Gerald made the horcruxes for Voldemort?'' Harry exclaimed, looking from the unspeakable to his partner who literally couldn't speak at the moment.
''I do. Horcrux require a great amount of skill to create, which of course, the dark lord had. However, knowing that no-one other than necromancers centuries in the past have ever successfully produced them, knowing that Gerald was involved with Voldemort, and now aware that his most suited study is necromancy... I can't deduce anything other. There are too many contributing factors.''
Harry's mind was flooded with different thoughts and visions. He'd already learned not to take anything Gerald said as fact so now he wondered if his appearance was due to necromancy magic. Had the strange wizard even made his own horcruxes to achieve it? Was he planning some horrible genocide? Possibly of the wizards and witches who had forsaken him? Or even just to merge their two worlds? Following in the footsteps of his teacher, Tom Riddle?
Harry's train of thought changed as he repeated Voldemort's original name out loud, ''Tom Riddle.''
The unspeakable raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms and watching the frazzled auror.
''What?'' Ron asked quietly.
''Voldemort learned about the existence of horcrux magic when he was still in school...several years before he disappeared to America,'' Harry explained the train in his head. ''Isn't it odd that after learning about them, he just happens to go to America looking Gellert Grindelwald's son who is a natural necromancer? Especially with it being such a rare study?''
''You're thinking Voldemort had this information on Gerald beforehand ?'' Croaker summarized the theory.
Harry nodded, ''It would seem so. But how? Outside of speaking with Grindelwald himself perhaps?''
''I don't know how possible it would have been for such a young, unaffiliated Tom Riddle to gain access to Grindelwald's prison,'' the unspeakable mused, not ruling the chance out.
''Or Dumbledore,'' Ron's addition to the current discussion seemed misplaced and he quickly gathered the feeling from the baffled looks on his partner's and the unspeakable's faces. ''Well, he was close friends with Grindelwald long before he was locked away, right? He might have known something.''
The other two men felt a bit daft for not remembering the detail.
''I really don't think Albus Dumbledore would have shared that sort of information just to satisfy a student's interest,'' Harry pointed.
''Well, no,'' the redhead agreed, ''but he still may have known something. Voldemort was smart...he could have stolen a memory or something. Too bad all three of them are dead now though. If anything like that still existed, it'd be much harder to find.''
''Yeah, and there have been very few personal items of Voldemort's recovered,'' Harry thought. ''We could contact MACUSA though I'm sure they would have shared anything pertinent with us.''
''Then I guess that leaves you to call on Aberforth since I don't see Gerald sharing anything of his father's if he happens to have anything,'' Croaker concluded.
''Right,'' Harry nodded. ''Looks like a trip to Godric's Hollow is in order then.''
AUTHOR'S NOTE:: 'Slapper' is a derogatory term used in the UK to identify a person as promiscuous (Americans would say 'slut,' 'hoe,' 'whore,' 'cum dumpster').