I'm home for about a week before classes start (just got home from summer research), so hopefully I can get a couple more chapters out. I also have an idea for an extended Harry Potter oneshot kinda thing (it would all be one post, but a long post. It would involve the mysterious curtain that Sirius fell through and stuff), but I owe it to you guys to finish this story first. Thank you so much for continuing to read it! 3

When the Gryffindor boys walked down to the common room in the morning, they noticed that Rom was already gone. They weren't too concerned, though; there were many mornings where Rom would wake up early to read in the library before other students woke. They paused, waiting for Lucy, and once she joined them they ventured to the Great Hall for breakfast. Jack couldn't help but give her a fleeting, shy glance every few moments as they walked.

"I have some good news," Jack said, when they were half way there; "But I'm going to wait until the others are here to share." The others looked at him curiously, and Serafin whispered in his ear,

"The dream, maybe?"

"Yeah, maybe," Jack said with a laugh, "I don't want to spoil the surprise! We need Sev and Tavish and Rom first."

They walked into the Great Hall but, to their surprise, their friends weren't there. The three boys were no where to be seen.

"Perhaps they're in the library still?" Flynn said, "They might not realize the hour."

"Aye," Teddy agreed, "Alright, Jack, out with it – what's up? If they aren't here, no need to wait!"

"I want to tell everyone." Jack shook his head stubbornly. "Let's just grab some food and go find them, yeah?"

"Alright, fine," Teddy sighed dramatically, and then scooped some bacon and toast from a nearby table. "Let's find them, shall we?" The others followed his example, scooping up whatever food was easy to carry – apples, bacon, a hard boiled egg, and so on – and then turning and leaving the hall without ever sitting down. They bee-lined for the library but, to their surprise, their friends were not there either. And so they began a hunt throughout Hogwarts and the grounds. Their friends were no where to be seen; they were not in the infirmary, or in Hagrid's hut, or in one of the spare classrooms, or in the Defense Against the Dark Arts room.

Finally, they went to the only other place they could think of; they went to the owlery. As they climbed the tower the smell of owls and bird droppings filled their nose. The likelihood of their friends being here was slim to none. After all, who would have spent an hour or more in a place that smelled this bad?

When they reached the top and peered into the room, they were surprised to see their friends were indeed there and sitting on a bench facing away from them.

"Sev, Tavish, Rom! I have great news -" Jack started, but Rom whipped around to face them and quickly held his finger up to shush them. They all froze, confused.

"Now isn't the time," Rom said, shaking his head. He turned back around, looking out one of the huge windows, and rested his hand on Tavish's shoulder. Sev had his arm wrapped around Tavish's shoulders and was hugging him tight.

"What's the matter…?" Teddy asked, and was the first to step forward. Teddy walked around to the other side of the bench so he could see his friends' faces. The others followed. Tavish was leaning against Sev and he glanced downwards, so no one could make eye contact with him. His face was red and puffy from crying, and he was shaking slightly. His hand was clasped tightly around a somewhat crumpled letter.

"It's..." Tavish started, his voice shaking. He coughed to clear his throat and straightened up, taking a deep breath to try to calm himself. "It's my mum. S-She died." With a shuddering breath, Tavish let out a broken sob before regaining his composure.

"What?" Jack asked, feeling like the air had been kicked out of him. They froze, looking at Tavish. Lucy quickly stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace, which only made him break down into sobs again.

"S-She was murdered," Tavish said, his voice muffled as he talked into Lucy's shoulder, "Stabbed in the stomach… Left to d-die… In an alley… Th-They found her too late… Nothing they c-could do." Tavish reached one shaking hand around Lucy and handed Teddy the slip of parchment in his hand. Teddy held it so that everyone behind him could read the paper. It was covered in a shaking, scrawling hand, and there were spots where water had smeared the ink; probably tears. There was a faint thumb print in the corner that was the rusty red color of dried blood.

My dear Tavish,

I really wish I could tell you this in person… but I knew you'd want to know sooner rather than later. I'm afraid I write bringing you terrible news. It's your mother; she died tonight. I know you must have a lot of questions, so I will do my best to answer them: It was very unexpected. There was nothing I could do, no matter how much I wished it otherwise. She left earlier to go get food for dinner. It was just around the corner, I thought she would be fine, that she would be back in fifteen minutes, and then the two of us would have dinner as we always do… But then twenty minutes passed. And thirty. And forty five. I was worried, and so I walked to the shop. I only got half way there before I found her. She wasn't breathing. She was stabbed in the stomach. She was still warm. There was blood everywhere. I called the Ministry to investigate, and they took her away in a white sheet. They wanted me to inform the family and set a date for a funeral…

The funeral will be near the end of June so that you and your brother don't have to miss school, and your older sister will be able to travel home. I have written to McGonagall so you can talk to her if you need to. Please stay safe. I will write you with updates.

All of my love,

Dad

P.S. I am so, so sorry.

"It doesn't make any sense," Tavish said, his voice a little more even, "Who would want to kill my mum?"

"I don't know," Teddy answered, at a loss. "Who is investigating it? We're going to get to the bottom of this, Tav. We'll get the best detectives from the Ministry. We'll get… We'll get Harry to look in on it."

"Yeah?" Tavish asked, perking up somewhat at the mention of Harry Potter. "You think he'd do that?"

"Of course! I mean, strictly speaking magic wasn't used… but who else is gonna investigate this? The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office?" Teddy snorted. "Nah, mate, this is going to have to be the Aurors. Whoever did this had to be a wizard, and if they are a murderer, they had to be dark."

"You're right," Tavish agreed, his face crumpling. "I think I'm gonna be sick. Why would anyone…? She didn't do anything to anyone."

"Here, Tav, I tell you what," Sev said, giving Tavish a squeeze before letting go, "Let's write to your dad and to Harry right now. You'll feel better to be doing something, I'm sure of it." Severin stood up and grabbed a couple spare sheets of parchment from a cubby on the wall, and returned to the bench. He spread the two pieces of parchment out on the bench between him and Tavish, and then reached into his robe and pulled out a pen and handed it to Tavish.

Tavish just sat there blankly, not saying a word.

"If you don't want to write now, that's fine, we can wait – we can do something else to get your mind off of it, if you want -"

"No, no," Tavish said, "Writing is a good idea. It's just…. What is this?"

"What is what?" Severin asked, confused.

"This." Tavish held up the pen, and Severin looked at Tavish for a moment before starting to laugh.

"Oh! It's a pen. It's like a quill, except you don't have to dip it in ink every five seconds. It's a muggle thing."

"It's a pen," Tavish repeated, "That you don't have to dip in ink? It just keeps writing forever by itself? Muggle, you say?" He studied the pen. "Where does the ink come out?"

Severin reached over and clicked the button on the back of the pen, causing the tip to slide out. "There. See?"

"Aye," Tavish agreed, squinting at it.

"What black magic is this?" Serafin asked, gawking, and eliciting a small, uncomfortable laugh from some of the others.

"Just try it," Sev said with an exasperated sigh. Tavish obediently pressed the pen to the parchment and scrawled,

Dear Harry Potter

across the top of the parchment.

"It writes so smoothly," Tavish observed, looking down at the pen. "Delightful."

"It's a lot easier," Sev said with a shrug, "I don't know why wizards don't tend to use them. I keep one in my sleeve because I never know when I'm going to need to make a note of something, and I can't exactly carry a jar of ink and a quill around in my sleeves."

Lucy looked at Sev and promptly pulled a bottle of ink and a quill from her pockets.

"Well… I mean… I guess you can," Sev said, "But also, if I just want to write a note on my hand, a quill kinda hurts. Ball point pens are much nicer."

"Fair enough," Lucy said with a shrug, and returned the ink and quill to the folds of her robe.

Severin returned his attention to Tavish, who had begun to write his letters. He noticed that their conversation – and the pen – had distracted Tavish just enough that he was no longer shaking. They stood, quiet for a while, and allowed Tavish to finish writing his letters.

"So, what was the good news?" Tavish asked, sitting up and folding the parchment.

"Good news?" Severin asked, slightly confused.

"Yeah. Good news," Tavish said. "When they came in, they said they had good news. What's the good news?"

"Oh," Jack said, embarrassed now. His news paled in comparison to Tavish's. "It's not actually a big deal… I had my dream is all. It's not important."

"Oh, that's great news," Tavish said, offering a weak smile, "Three down, five to go, right?"

"Right," Rom said, offering Tavish a reassuring smile. "And I'm sure we'll get the other five in no time."

Harry was sitting at his desk sorting through papers when an owl landed on the corner of it. He recognized the owl at once, because it was Teddy's owl, and he cracked a smile. The owl dropped two letters on the desk and then hooted softly, burrowing itself down into Harry's folders and making itself comfortable.

He always looked forward to Teddy's letters; they almost always included jokes and tales of whatever prank Jack and Serafin and Flynn had pulled most recently. They were the highlight of Harry's day. This time, though, when he opened Teddy's letter his heart sunk.

Harry,

I have to ask a favor. Something terrible has happened, and we need your help. Attached is a letter written by my friend Tavish (you remember Tavish, don't you?) and he needs you to investigate something.

Sorry for the short letter, I'll write soon! Please, just do what you can for him.

Love,

Teddy

Harry frowned and then opened the second letter. This letter was in a different handwriting, and much longer than Teddy's letter.

Dear Harry Potter,

I hope you are doing well. It has been a long time since we have seen each other, but I hope you remember me. I am afraid I am not doing so well. I received news today that my mother passed away. Passed away is a gentle term for a murder.

My dad wrote saying he found her body last night. She was stabbed. I know that this may not be a perfect fit for your department, considering you're supposed to investigate murders and crimes and whatnot by dark wizards… But whoever killed my mum is certainly a wizard, and if they kill, they have to be dark, right? Please, I need your help. I need to find out who killed her, and why they would kill her. It's so hard to breathe and to think and I just really need help. I don't know who else to turn to, but I know you and I know you're good at your job, and I trust you. Please, will you investigate the crime? Or just check in on the investigation. Something. Make sure that they find something. I need answers. I know you're probably very busy, and I'm asking for you to take on a lot, but it would mean the world to me. Please.

Best wishes,

Tavish Ryder

Harry sat back in his chair with a heavy sigh and rubbed at the five o'clock shadow coming in along his jawline. He had seen the folder on his desk this morning, covering the basics of the deaths of one Marlene Ryder, but he had not realized who she was at the time. One of the kids working the nightshift had taken the call and brought the body in for preservation and investigation. He hadn't even assigned the case yet; he hadn't even determined if it was his department's job yet.

Harry's mind was racing. When considering the fact that dark wizards had targeted Tavish before – specifically because he is Tom Riddle reincarnated – there was no way this murder was random. Sure, it may have come across as some weird mugging gone wrong, but what kind of wizard uses a knife?

A wizard who doesn't want to be traced. A wizard who doesn't want to leave any traces of magic behind. A wizard who wants to stir the pot. Perhaps even a wizard who wants to traumatize Tavish enough that Lord Voldemort reawakens.

Or maybe it was nothing; maybe a muggle had gotten into wizard community and tried to mug Marlene Ryder. Maybe the mugging had gone wrong and left Marlene dead in the street. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

But probably? Probably not. Probably a dark wizard. Either way, with Tavish involved, this case definitely fell to the Auror department.

Harry had to get to the bottom of this.