Chapter Three

The Unexpected Team Up

Arnold Jeffers sighed in frustration when he saw the newspaper the next morning, glaring at it fiercely.

"What's wrong?" Connie asked. She came up behind him to get a peek.

"The modern press, that's what's wrong. The entire front page is about the fact that Apollo Grey is planning to retire at the end of the season, while my plea to the public for information about Roy Lockhart has been pushed to the crime page," Arnold complained.

"To be fair, this isn't the first time Lockhart has gone missing, you know. He drops out of contact any time he goes on one of those 'make things right' missions of his," Connie pointed out.

"Never for this long, and on every other occasion he's hired an Auror or some other defense instructor to go with him. Everyone's been accounted for," Arnold explained.

"But didn't you tell me he spent a lot of time in Canada last year, training or something? Maybe someone he met over there went with him instead," Connie suggested.

"I'll ask Harry the moment I get to the Ministry. He has connections in Canada that I don't," Arnold decided, putting the paper aside to have his breakfast.

Harry knew better than to bother Flyer Wright while he was training, especially when it wasn't an emergency. But he also knew it was better not to wait too long afterwards to try and get a word in. Flyer Wright stepped into the tavern to find Harry sitting at the bar waiting for him. Other members of the training team filed in, including Mike and Charles. Harry gestured at them to go ahead and sit with their friends, letting them know right away that he wasn't there to call either of them home.

"Here's Harry. Came for a check in, eh? More to do, you know," Flyer Wright said, sitting down. "Are you buying?"

"Just one," Harry said. Wright gave him an expression of both disappointment and disapproval at the same time. "This is about a case, actually..."

"If it's about a case, you owe me two beers," he interrupted.

"Fine," Harry agreed with a sigh, and Wright signaled the bartender. "Roy Lockhart is missing."

"He's gotten lost on one of his adventures again, eh?" Wright conjectured.

"That's what we've been wondering. When did you see him last?" Harry asked.

"Oh, just a few weeks ago during open training... that one we host once a month for recruitment," Wright said, Harry nodding at that. "After he trained with us last summer, I told him that at his age, it was going to take longer just to get in shape, and he could do with coming back for regular sessions, you see. He shows up every month when he can. Not a talented caster, barely passable on a broom, and definitely passed his prime... but he's got determination, I'll give him that. We call him Gorgeous George because he worries too much about his appearance and will stop in front of every mirror."

"That's Lockhart all right," Harry agreed. "I don't suppose he hired a Flyer to go with him?"

"No, not even possible. Flyers aren't allowed to moonlight in that way. We're allowed to teach, train, give public safety lectures, attend parades and perform flying demonstrations, but the government here frowns on mercenary and bodyguard work," Wright explained.

"We're allowed to as long as we're off duty, but none of my Aurors went either," Harry said. "Still, I just can't believe he would take off somewhere all on his own. He's always hired someone to go with him to keep him out of harm's way."

Wright put down his beer long enough to snap his fingers.

"I've got it. I think I know the very fellow," Wright said with a sparkle in his eyes. "On our last open day, we had Defense majors from Fishinwish Academy. Their teacher and Lockhart had a few beers together that night exchange stories about Hogwarts. His name was... Heron. Rhett Heron."

"I remember him... he taught at Hogwarts once... probably a good ten years ago. He was doing some sort of undercover work for the Flyers or something," Harry murmured.

"I wasn't here at HQ then. I did my first tour in B.C.," Wright explained. "But he's well known by a lot of people at headquarters. He brings his students twice a year at the end of the semester."

"Then I'd better check in on him. Do you have an address or maybe directions to the school?" Harry asked.

"I'll take you there myself," Wright said. "But since it'll delay my drinking, you'll owe me another beer."

"Yes, fine," Harry said, and the two of them grabbed their brooms on the way out the door.

It took some time to get to the coast by broom, but Harry couldn't help but admit the views were breathtaking. Wright lead them down to a rugged coastline with dense forest, broken up by a ribbon of paved road weaving back and forth. At first, it seemed practically devoid of any houses or buildings, but Harry knew that meant there was a hidden wizard village out of view of those who weren't actively looking for it. As they dropped closer to the treeline, Harry finally saw it... an enormous complex made of logs and stained wood. It looked more like an enormous lodge than a school, and it was surrounded by cabins and a tall fort-like enclosure with a couple of small buildings shops just outside of the gates. Across the highway and along the shoreline, Harry noticed a fishing village with an impressive fishing dock. It was surrounded by cobbled stone cottages that looked similar in design of those in small villages in Ireland and off the coast, rather than anything built further south in the States. A heavy mist drifted over the docks; apparently part of the charm that protected the village from Muggle interference.

"What do you think? My Alma Mater," Wright shouted cheerfully as they began to descend towards the gates.

"Fantastic," Harry replied. Wright grinned at that, and the two of them landed in front of a two-story building built into the enclosure itself.

"We'll need to check in here since school isn't in session... the administration building is accessible even in the summer," Wright said. A bit disappointed that he wasn't going to have a chance to look inside, Harry followed him to an exterior door and stepped inside.

It was a typical yet rather old fashioned school office, with a heavy rotary phone on the counter. A curly grey-haired witch with large glasses looked up from where she sat behind a desk, brightening immediately.

"Oh, hello, Willy!" she greeted Wright.

"Willy?" Harry repeated quietly, and Wright elbowed him.

"Good afternoon, Miss Cassie. This is my comrade, Mr. Harry Potter," he introduced.

"Oh, I know you! You're that famous Auror who does things sometimes," she said brightly.

"Sure," Harry said flatly.

"We're on an investigation of a missing person, and we were wondering if you've heard from Mr. Heron recently. If not, could we please get his address," Wright requested.

"Oh, Rhett! You know, it's funny you mention that," Miss Cassie replied. "You see, he hasn't picked up his last paycheck and it's very strange for him not to, especially since it's his last check before summer and he won't get another until fall."

"Why wouldn't he get it direct deposited?" Wright inquired.

"Oh, we stopped doing that the year the Wiznet broke. Things tend to take longer to get done around here just in general, you know, but when that happened, there was nearly a riot. So, we went back to the old system to be safe," she explained. "I can give you his address, but I don't think he's home. The school may be large, but the community that lives here year round is actually very small. Everybody knows everybody, and everybody knows everybody's business."

"If that's the case, maybe the neighbors have some idea where he is," Harry suggested.

"Oh yes, that's quite possible," Miss Cassie agreed, handing Wright the address. "Good luck!"

"Thank you, Miss Cassie," Wright said, glancing at it as they left. "This is on the dock side of town. There's a tunnel under the road to get there."

"Alright," Harry said, following him down the road towards a limestone tunnel. "You know, Miss Cassie was really accommodating."

"Yes, she's been secretary at the school ever since I was a boy and long before. She knows everyone about, and unfortunately still calls them by their childhood names," he said dryly. Harry grinned at that. "However, she is also right about her other point; this is a very small community. A lot of the staff choose to live further inland just to avoid the gossip. I would be very surprised if the neighbors hadn't heard something."

The sky brightened and the sea winds greeted them as they arrived at the other end of the tunnel. Harry followed Flyer Wright through the long narrow streets until they came to a section of cottages that definitely looked lived in. Brooms and bikes were tossed on porches next to weather-bleached chairs, and nearly everyone had open windows to let in the breeze. Kids ran through the streets and tossed Quaffles around, and a couple of boys were running broom races down the street.

"That must be the house," Flyer Wright said, pointing out the only house on the block with shuttered windows.

"Looks like it from the postbox number... and the postbox is empty," Harry noted. "Which means someone around here is picking it up."

"Right! Fortunately, we're already attracting local attention," Wright said with a wink, glancing around. Sure enough, the two boys had stopped their race, staring at the man in the Flyer cloak with open awe. "Hello, b'y! Can you help out a fellow Flyer?" he called out to one of the boys.

"Are you here to arrest us? We're not flying over the height limit," said one of the boys.

"It's alright, we're just looking for a friend, you see, Professor Heron," Wright explained.

"I heard he's gone on a trip somewhere," the boy explained.

"Eh? You wouldn't know who happens to be picking up his mail for him?" Wright asked.

"I think my aunt has been. She lives next door," said the other boy. "I'll go check."

"True," Wright said.

The boy hovered up to the next house, which happened to be on heavy wooden poles to protect it from flooding. He ran straight in, coming out a few minutes later with a witch. She was carrying a broom who was actually using it to clean, her hair pulled up in a scarf.

"See, Aunt Louise? Real Flyers!" the boy declared as if his aunt hadn't believed him at first.

"Flyer Wright, ma'am, and this is my friend from over the pond, Auror Potter," Wright introduced. "We're looking for news about when Professor Heron will be back. I had some things to sort out concerning his next visit to headquarters," he improvised.

"Any day, I'd say. He said he'd be gone two weeks nearly three weeks ago, but he said he might run late because he was heading abroad with that friend of his," Louise said.

"Ah, I see, he had a friend with him! Do you remember the name?" Wright asked.

"No. I only saw him that one time," she said. "Older gentleman with silver hair in a tail... skin like he used too much Wrinkles-Away Balm, and very white teeth."

"That sounds like Lockhart, all right," Harry said.

"That's the name!" Louise said brightly. "They went on a trip to India to meet up with a Wizard Archaeologist that was studying some famous caves over there... that's right, the older guy said he was a writer and was doing a book about him or something."

"Did he say where in India he was going?" Harry asked.

"Sorry, that's all I know," Louise admitted. "I can tell you that I haven't gotten any postcards from India telling me how he was doing, nor has there been anything from there in his mail either. Of course, things take a while to get here from the mainland sometimes, you know, even for us magic types."

"How well I know it," Wright agreed. "Thank you, ma'am!"

"I'll let him know you called when he comes back," she promised.

"Yes, thank you. Flyer Wright... if you don't remember my name, just tell him I'm from Flyer Headquarters, and he'll likely check in."

"Will do," she promised, and then two of them turned to walk back towards the tunnel.

"So it seems you were right. They do appear to be traveling together," Harry said.

"Yes, so they are. There's probably something in his house that might give us a clue to which direction they went, but I would have to go through the local wizard magistrate and need just cause to do that. So far we have only suspicions," Flyer Wright pointed out.

"It's fine. Lockhart's counselor has power of attorney and access to his house, so I'll see what I can find out there," Harry said. "Do you think you can file a report saying there's a possibility Heron is missing and send me a copy of his history with the Flyers?"

"Likely, but it'd be easier to file a report if we had more proof other than him being a little late from vacation," Wright admitted.

"I hate when I get into these sorts of situations," Harry grumbled. "The more time passes, the easier it is to prove that something is wrong, but at the same time, the more time passes, the worse it might get for whoever is missing."

"Yeah, no. I know the problem well," Flyer Wright said. "I'll find out as much as I can. Until this case is solved, consider me your man on the ground here in Canada."

"Thanks," Harry replied sincerely. The two of them headed back to Headquarters for a while before Harry finally made his way back home again.