July 31, 1969

For Junior Auror Amelia Bones, being called out for public disturbances was relatively normal. Most of the time, it was just a random drunk who'd had a tad too much Firewhiskey and ended up in a bar fight or something similar.

The sight before her, however, told an entirely different story. The interior of Leaky Cauldron was strewn with the bodies of several unconscious wizards, a few of which Amelia could recognize as members of Pureblood families from her time at Hogwarts. In the middle of them all, however, was seated a lone man, who didn't appear to be much older than herself. The man sat at the bar, chin in his hand as he drummed his fingers against the tumbler of butterbeer, seemingly waiting for something.

The Senior Auror with her, Alastor Moody, glanced around the room and strode over to the bar.

"Yeh waitin' for someone, lad?" he grumbled as he approached.

The young man clearly was lost in his own thoughts, jumping a bit at Moody's words. He turned to the two of them and shot them a tired smile.

"You could say that, yeah. Auror Moody, right?" his voice sounded just as tired as his face showed, in her opinion. Amelia kept a wide berth, mostly just to keep an eye on the unconscious men around the tavern.

"Right yeh are, lad. Mind telling me what the bloody hell went down here? Seeing as from where I'm standing, yer looking at the very least to be spending the night in a holding cell for assault?" Moody crossed his arms, looking around the room at the few still conscious patrons and the bartender. "Unless anyone here's got anything t'say otherwise?"

As Amelia looked around the room, several people glanced at one another before the bartender, Tom, spoke up.

"The gentlemen around the place came in not too long ago. They'd clearly been drinkin' already, but came over to the bar an' demanded I served 'em the strongest stuff I had. This lad here had been sitting right where he is now when they went to get testy, then that one-" he took a moment to point at the man draped over the back of a booth "-went for his wand. Man didn't even get it out of his robe before the lad had him over that booth. The rest of them started to get after him, but I don't even know if any of them got the chance. Out cold before any of us really knew what was happenin'."

Amelia listened to Tom's recollection, brow creased in confusion. This guy, who barely looked like he'd graduated school yet, took on the five fully grown men in such quick succession that none of them got a spell off against him? That didn't seem likely. All the while that Tom had been recounting what happened, the mystery man sat at his barstool, looking away from the others in the room as much as he could, trying to look almost sheepish as to what had happened.

"Come on, Tom, it wasn't that impressive… I just didn't want them hurting anyone here. They were clearly digging for a fight, so I gave them one. It wasn't my fault they weren't prepared for the fight they wanted. But either way, if the good Aurors feel the need to take me in, so be it. They're only doing their jobs, after all." The man seemed resigned to being arrested from where she stood; his eyes were dulled and his voice sounded dejected.

"That may be the case, sir," Amelia spoke up, drawing the attention of the others in the room, "as until we have the entire story, either by means of questioning under Veritaserum or examination of untampered memories, we would be unable to allow you out of our custody."

"She's right about that, lad. We'll need to take you in for the night, at least. Best call for a transport team to get this lot off to St. Mungo's." her supervisor grumbled in agreement, pulling his badge from his pocket and stepping away to contact the office. "Bones, take our 'guest' in."

"And if I refuse to come quietly?" His response seemed almost teasing. As if he knew that we all knew he wouldn't do that. He didn't move from the bar stool he was seated on, only turned fully to the Auror and flashed a smile. Cocky, almost arrogant with a glint in his eyes that said he seemed to know more than anyone else in the room.

"Well, then Senior Auror Moody and I would have to show you why we're the ones with the badges." Amelia replied as she flexed her wand hand instinctively, expecting the man to be difficult. He only scoffed and slid off his stool at her reply.

"Red, I don't think you have any idea what you'd be getting yourself into. That aside, though, I don't plan to cause any more problems for either of you. I respect Moody and as for you, I don't want to have to do anything to mess up such a pretty face." He capped off his statement with a wink before turning around and placing his hands behind his back, wrists crossed. "Do what you need to, ma'am."

Amelia moved closer, brow raised, but still kept her hand ready to draw her wand if needed. "Not so fast, Mister Mystery. Hands on the bar, far apart from each other. Wand on the floor and kick it back to me. Don't move otherwise." He complied, much to her appreciation. She really didn't want to try and get involved in such a close-quarters fight, especially with as many civilians as there were just meters away from her. As the man's wand skidded across the tavern floor to her feet, she kneeled to pick it up, keeping her eyes squarely focused on his back to ensure he stayed exactly where she'd asked him to be.

"Good, you can follow basic instructions. More sensible than basically everyone else I've needed to take in so far," she muttered, walking cautiously up behind him before beginning to frisk him, checking all of his pockets and limbs for any oddities to be removed from him for their safety. Much to her own surprise, though, as she moved her way down his person she found nothing. Humming to herself, she moved her way down his back, pinching his sides a bit and smirking at his shocked gasp.

"That was for the pretty face remark, sir. Hands behind your back, feet shoulder width apart." Again, much to her relief, he complied with little fanfare as she drew her wand to bind his hands magically. By then, Moody had come back inside the tavern, grumbling under his breath. Amelia swore she'd heard something about 'useless pencil pushers', but pushed it to the back of her mind as she grabbed the suspect's wrists in one hand and his shoulder with the other, pulling him from the bar and steering him toward the Senior Auror.

"Ah, took yeh long enough, eh Bones? He give yeh any trouble?"

"No, sir." She'd considered saying more, but knew Moody wouldn't pay any unnecessary words any mind. "Any word on the transport teams to St. Mungo's, sir?"

"Aye, they'll be here in a few. I've gotta wait for the damned fools to get here. Some poor sap has to make sure if any of these clowns wake up that they don't hurt themselves before we can get them treated. Who knows what injuries they might've gotten from our mystery man here." Moody's sour demeanor at being relegated to a babysitter for the unconscious wizards strewn about the tavern brought a smile to Amelia's face. "A'right, Bones. Best get Mister Mystery booked. Sooner we can get this damned paperwork started, the better."

"Yes, sir. See you back at HQ. Let's go, Mister Mystery." Amelia pushed him out of the tavern, shaking her head at her supervisor's gruffness. As she pulled her badge from her pocket, preparing to activate it, her suspect grumbled something under his breath.

"What? You got something to say, Mister Mystery? Or you wanna just wait till I can get everything you say recorded?"

The man sighed at that, shaking his head some before he responded. "Could I at least ask for the courtesy of you using my name?"

"And what might that be, Mister Mystery?" Amelia groused out, gripping the man's wrists tightly to her side as she activated her portkey, bringing the two of them into the Auror Headquarters.

"Harry. Just Harry."