There are very few problems which can't be solved by ripping a hole in reality
The Ten of Clubs sighed as he pulled the clipboard off the door he was about to enter and began to skim the information on the few pieces of paper there. "What's the flavor behind this door then?" he wearily posed to the Ace standing guard. The Oysters being held in this room would be his tenth batch of the day and he could only hope they were more pleasant then the last few he'd met, but knew his odds were slim.
It was only the first day of re-transitioning the abducted Oysters back through the Looking Glass and the King had ordered that the more volatile ones be sent back first. Mathews' position as the Ten of Clubs meant he immediately understood why such a decision was wise, and why he was chosen to deal with the irate ones given his history in the Royal Court…but that didn't mean he enjoyed it anymore than when it had only been one hysterical Queen instead of hundreds of irate Oysters. He had the sinking feeling he'd be making a trip to the Hospital of Dreams for a bottle of headache reliever by the end of the day.
"'S not so bad now sir," the Ace shrugged, "First group already came by and left with a lad who'd decided to become a Convert like a fair amount of the younger ones. Parents were quite a sight at that so we sprayed them with a bit of Calm." He waved his spray botle with a satisfied smirk there and Mathew was sure the Ace had enjoyed that part personally. "Been very cooperative since then, but just give a shout if they're turnin' violent or anything and I'll be right in."
"Yes, well," Mathew sighed though he felt a renewed sense of energy knowing these ones wouldn't start with yelling at him, "Let's not over do it. We've no idea how an Oyster turned Tea-head might react, and I'm not keen on finding out today thank you." With that said he quickly entered the room to greet the waiting couple with a well practiced smile in place, "Good afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Dursley. Sorry for the wait, but I'm sure you understand we're a tad backlogged today."
"They took my little Duddikins," a thin horse faced woman, whom he easily deduced was Mrs. Dursley, blandly intoned.
Mathew checked his information sheets again and could only assume she meant one Dudley Dursley, whom the Ace had confirmed had been taken off to join the Converts not a moment ago. "Actually, your son requested to stay ma'am," the Ten of Clubs replied, "And given his display of talent, the King felt it fell within the parameters of our Reasonable Request option."
"We didn't mind it when the freak wanted to stay," the large man protested in a drugged stupor, "But you can't take my boy. We're his parents. It's not allowed."
Confused, the Ten of Clubs flipped through his paperwork for any mentions of another child, but found none. Could the Emotion Tea be causing this Oyster to become susceptible to madness with his lack of magic? Or was he just looking at another incomplete file? "I'm sorry, but are we still talking about Dudley Dursley deciding to stay here?" he inquired, "Any one person displaying a magical ability that cannot be controlled is considered a matter national security and, if over the age of ten, is to be treated as and adult and therefore able to make their own decisions. Now, I wouldn't go so far as to call him a freak. Many people in Wonderland share a similar ability and-"
"No," Mr. Dursley interrupted strongly, though perfectly docile at the same time while Mrs. Dursley calmly sniffled as she stared off into space, "I mean the Potter brat. The freak. Our coming to this dreadful place is all of his fault anyway. Saw him hanging about with more of your ilk after that casino crumbled. One of them, the fellow with the normal looking hat, up and punched me for no reason at all."
Resigned that he was dealing with another incomplete file, Mathew settled into the chair near the wall and pulled out a table ledge from the hidden notch in the wall; picking up the pen that rolled out with it. Thankfully the paperwork had a small section about the altercation Mr. Dursley mentioned as he read the scribbled notes left by another Club and one of the Doctors who'd applied a salve for the bruise. The doctor's note was brief and uninformative, but the Club had noted that it was a man named Hatter who'd punched Mr. Dursley (the frantic scribbling insisted it was in defense of Hatter's young cousin, who Mr. Dursley was about to assault and was in no way the fault of the native Wonderlanders) and something about the name tingled at the back of the Ten of Club's mind. Where had he heard that name before? It took only a moment's pondering before the answer quite suddenly came to him and he paled dramatically.
Hatter.
The Tea Shop owner who'd helped the Alice of Legend was named Hatter wasn't he? Yes, yes that was the man they'd captured trying to rescue her on horseback. He couldn't visualize everything from the scuffle but he did vaguely recall a young boy wearing a hat who'd been there as well bearing some resemblance. But wait…if this Hatter's young cousin was also the Potter boy Mr. Dursley mentioned, wouldn't that make him an Oyster as well? No Oyster he knew could cause spouts of fire to jet out of their hands. Not even the Converts. Possibly a case of mistaken identity then? Mathew groaned as he rubbed his temples to alleviate the pain there caused by this over analyzing. Suddenly a case of headache reliever was beginning to look like a more likely end to his day.
Maybe a misting of some Calm from that Ace outside as well if he could persuade it away from the Ace…
"Watch it would you?!" The red haired Suit scolded his partner as he followed him inside the small darkened house, "Give that one a concussion you will if ya keep bangin' him into everything. Not gonna help anything if he can't explain how that got there now is it?"
The other Suit, a brown haired fellow, grunted as hefted the considerably larger man he was attempting to lift past the foyer entrance and breathed a sigh of relief once he settled his burden on the couch there. "I still say you're a cheat for drawing the short straw and getting to carry the broad in," he grumbled, "This man makes old Walrus look like a dainty little bread and butterfly. Doubt he'd notice a few lumps under all that bulk really, and you watch your voice! Unless you'd like to tell the King why the whole block woke up on a simple return job yeah?"
"I didn't cheat," the red head whispered fiercely as he set the woman he'd been carrying over his shoulder gently in the wingback chair, "You luck is just that horrid. Now, is there anything else we need to set up here then?"
"Nah. Quacks already dosed'em up on Forgetfulness and implanted the suggestions. All we have to do now is hit up their enforcer building and pass the files for the missing child request on to that Resistance plant. He'll take it from there," the brunette stated as he looked about the place in distaste. "You know, I used to be jealous of those White Rabbit blokes getting to pop through the Looking Glass and see how these Oysters lived, but now I'll he happy when I can wash my hands of this business."
His red haired companion scoffed as he walked back into the hall, "You got that right. I mean, look at this place! It's unnatural it is. Not a single plant to be found anywhere and I bet even the barmy ol' Queen would eat off these floors; they're so clean."
The brunette chuckled, "Don't think she gets much of a say in the cleanliness of the floor she eats off of anymore Mic."
Mic barked out a hushed laugh, "Got that right Sands. No more fancy Tea Services for her I reckon yeah?"
The pair continued to trade quiet jabs at the former Queen of Hearts as they left the house and locked the door behind them. Unfortunately, their appearance to the home in Little Whinging had not gone as unnoticed as they'd have liked.
Before they could make it to their car and the next stop, an elderly woman hobbled up to them with concern in her voice, "Excuse me. I was just out walking my cats when I couldn't help but notice you were assisting the Dursleys in coming home quite early this morning and I was wondering if there was something amiss? I didn't see little Dudley or Harry with them, and I know they never came home last night from their trip to London. Are they alright as well?"
The Suits exchanged a look and a nod before Mic opened the door to their black sedan with a smile, "Everything'll be fine ma'am. Why don't we drive you and your," he looked uneasy for a moment," cats, back by your home and fill you in on the details on the way yeah?"
The elderly woman seemed unsure and kept glancing back at the house, but eventually acquiesced and slid into the front seat. Her two cats stared at the Suits in an intense manner that made them squirm slightly, before deciding to follow their mistress' lead.
They promptly took the old woman home and doused her (and the cats as well Mic, just in case of course) with their sprays of Forgetfulness. Leaving no one to wonder about the two Oysters they'd deposited in a home they hadn't lived in for almost three years. Surrounded by pictures of a son they'd never see again, and the few broken belongings of a boy they would never remember; tucked away in a cupboard under the stairs.
An elderly man watched as the small silver spinning top gave another slow gray puff. He counted the seconds between their appearances one last time, just to be sure, and once he passed the minute mark, his face lost any trace of grandfatherly joy as he frowned.
Something was definitely wrong with the wards around number 4 Privet Drive.
Over the last week, Albus Dumbledore had noticed his ward monitors around number 4 had been acting strangely and while he tried to reason that maybe the family was just taking a long holiday, now he was beginning to become paranoid that the family had relocated altogether as there could be no explanation for why the blood wards around the property were beginning to unwind. Unless…Albus stamped that thought out before it could grow. The Dursleys' showed every sign of being a perfectly normal muggle family when he'd last spoken to Ms. Figg almost a year ago. There was no reason to suspect they'd get rid of young Harry. She'd not even floo'ed with her exaggerated stories of the young boys rough housing since then, and he had no reason to suspect anything could be awry there.
Still, it would be prudent to investigate things and see if his devices just needed some fine tuning. With the new school term just starting up and his attempts to work against the legislation the Wizenmagot was trying to push through, there would be no way for him to visit the property himself of course, so who to send in his stead? Someone trusted who could blend in with the muggles…
Albus Dumbledore smiled as the perfect candidate came to him after just a minute's musing. He trusted the man implicitly, and he was also skilled at reading people and extracting necessary information. Not to mention he'd been an acquaintance of Petunia's during their childhood, so she would be more likely to confide in him as well. Yes, he'd send Severus to Privet Drive this weekend and come Sunday evening, be assured of young Harry Potter's safety once more.
Unfortunately for the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, that was not to be the case.
A clearly frustrated potions master was seated across from Albus' desk that Sunday evening as he relayed his findings to the Headmaster.
"-can't find any sort of magical deception Albus, but it's as if they've been obliviated. They claim to have never seen, let alone met, a Harry Potter, only heard about him from Lily's letters possibly. Petunia couldn't even drudge up that connection until I made it for her," Snape fumed as he scowled at a spot on the desk, no doubt remembering his earlier conversation.
"And you're certain there was no foul play?" Albus pressed, "You mentioned that their boy had been kidnapped almost a year ago. Could Harry not have been taken then as well?"
Snape shook his head, "If the boy was ever in that house there is almost no record of it Albus and the Dursley's minds show no tampering by any magical means I can detect. The best I could obtain from them were a few brief glimpses of what could have possibly been the Potter boy, or just some neighborhood child bearing a passing resemblance to James Potter, buried within their naturally suppressed memories, but there was no way of knowing for sure without breaking their minds. Even then it's not a guarantee."
Dumbledore sighed as he felt every one of his almost one hundred fifty years of life at that moment before he grasped at a glimmer of hope in something Snape had said. "Almost, Severus? You did find some proof of the boy living there then?"
Snape inclined his head slightly as he weighed his next words, "Obviously when nothing could be gathered from their minds I began to search the house for any trace of Potter." He sneered, "Their missing child's room and one other had been kept as a shrine of sorts with mess everywhere and the second room filled with nothing but broken toys and furniture. The only clue I could find of Potter staying there at some point was summoned out of the downstairs hall cupboard." The potions master pulled a worn out and faded item from his robes and laid it out on the Headmaster's desk.
Albus allowed the item to unroll and quickly deduced that it was a muggle child's coloring book, though many of the pages seemed to be missing or torn. Opening up the front cover though revealed the only proof their missing savior had ever been in that home Severus had mentioned. He traced his hands over the neatly written name in a bright green wax of some sort and gave a sigh as his heart bottomed out. "Oh Harry…what has happened to you? Where could you be?"
Albus' only hope now was in the last of his monitoring tops for young Harry. The center one continued to spin, albeit sluggishly, and emit a steady yellow smoke. It was of little comfort to the old wizard to know that wherever Harry was, he was alive and happy, but it was a comfort he took nonetheless.
He had two years until Harry would be old enough to attend Hogwarts. Supposing no new leads presented themselves, he would be joining Minerva for the mailing of the new student letters and see where the quill would lead them.
A/N: Takes place after Tumbling into Madness, but also at the start due to timey wimey use of the Looking Glass. The Dursleys get sent home, and Dumbledore learns Harry is gone.
Just to clear something up that I thought could be inferred but saw brought up in reviews, in my world building for this, I view the Emotion Teas made in Wonderland as not necessarily stronger magic than the wizarding world has, but simply more natural. They are distilled emotions and not magically altered ones so that is why Snape can't find a trace of Harry. They used Forgetfulness to target any memories of Harry and blanket wipe Wonderland from their minds as well. That's why Snape comments about them being 'buried within their naturally suppressed memories'. As the Tea is more natural and concentrated, they don't leave the same footprint as a spell. So while they know there has been foul play as their memories are accurate, they have no proof. I'll likely go into this when it comes up during Sirius's treatment but I just wanted to add it here as well