Harry Potter and the Skeleton Detective (Prologue)

It had been 5 months since he had started working with Skulduggery. 5 months of research, clues, solving mysteries and chasing down bad guys. Honestly, it had been everything Corvus had dreamed it was. Other than the lack of sleep sometimes. Those really heavy cases were difficult, where there was little time for rest and lives hung in the balance. That fact that something this bad came up within the first 5 months on the job was worrying. Skulduggery explained that anything involved magic was so much more. Either the good was incredibly good or the bad was much worse. Massive tragedies were always close to, or actually happening, just down to how drastic magic could be. Killings from serial killers were much more gruesome and sometimes were part of something bigger. Corvus already knew how bad rituals could get.

The only serial killer they had come across had been fair tame, according to the detective. Each of the victims had been killed fairly humanely and only a single body part was missing. Their first victim had their arm removed, after their death, and it had even been done with near surgical precision. There was little mess, everything had been clean and even wrapped after death, but where the arm had been removed was sloppy at best. The flesh had cut roughly, leaving jagged parts instead of clean cuts. The worst part the muscle and bone, they had clearly gotten impatient after trying to saw through it all and just hacked through the rest. How Corvus assumed he didn’t empty his stomach after seeing all this, was because he had actually done worse. He could only imagine how bad the bad guys could get, if he was seen as a good guy.

Unfortunately, they were only able to catch the suspect after they had killed again. This time taking the victim’s heart in a far more gruesome manor, not massively different to how Corvus had killed Shiftless. Only after this killing, had they been able to track down their suspect to a graveyard out in the Irish countryside. The man was setting up a ritual to try and bring back his deceased wife, after she had been brutally attacked by a vampire, but had survived long enough for daylight to break over the horizon, and transform them back. She had been missing her left leg and arm, and had bled out before help could arrive. The husband had been a fairly weak elemental with no talent in necromancy, but had heard about the ritual and decided, in his grief to try it.

They had arrived just as the ritual had been completed, but the result, were predictably, not what the man assumed. There was nothing left of his wife, just a reanimated corpse, angry and in pain. The man had been injured by the monster, and worse, it had access to some minor necromancy magic, making it a bit harder to get close to. Skulduggery had managed to set it on fire during the fight, but destroying it too slowly, but Corvus finally managed to land a few shadow bullets, from a shadow constructed replica of one of Skulduggery’s guns, into it’s brain, finally ending it.

That had been the worse case he had been a part of, and he was glad for that, after Skulduggery let him read some previous cases he had solved. He ended up sitting at either Gordon’s or China’s a lot after a case, just to unwind. Gordon usually asked for a lot of details, usually writing them down. He assumed they would potentially be used for future books. China usually just got out some calming tea and let Corvus tell her what he wanted, or they just spent time doing their own thing in each others company. He was glad she hadn’t brought up, or teased him, over his parting words 5 months ago.

But now it was a few days Christmas, and Skulduggery had basically ordered him to take a week or 2 to rest. They had been going from case to case for a while now, and while Corvus wasn’t exhausted from them, as they had been fairly minor, he was looking forward to mostly relaxing. That and keeping up with training. He had taken Mr Bliss’ words to heart after their fight and had been working out whenever he had the chance, without over doing it. His body was too young to truly gain a lot of muscle mass, but he knew he was faster, taller and strong for all the work he put in. He also made a point to see Ghastly once or twice a week. While he and Ghastly were definitely past any awkwardness, they were both 2 very different people, and were never going to be close. Ghastly still made him protective clothing though. Even making replicas of his shadow jacket he would make to keep his shadows under control. That was something that just never seemed to improve. He had complete control over his powers, but they still worked a bit too intuitively when at home or with his family. He just assumed it was a subconscious thing around the people he trusted.

Corvus was sat round Gordon’s house, reading over a book transcript he had been working on, that Gordon had practically thrust into his hands. It was weird, the main character’s name and a few others had been left blank and the story was clearly based on Corvus’ worst case. He didn’t know if Gordon was trying something new, where the reading could imagine it was them and their friends in the story, but if it was, it was certainly unique. Just maybe not a good unique. It was still a good read, full of mystique and heart pounding action. Corvus was pulled from the book, when he heard Gordon’s voice, far louder than necessary. He was clearly talking to someone. Panicking slightly, he quickly put the transcript back on the table, losing his place dammit, and sunk into the shadows. He slivered to the only place he wouldn’t be noticed, under the table. He made sure to position himself in a way that he could see Gordon and his unexpected guest, without them seeing his eyes.

When he had first shown China this skill, she told him that his eyes became glowing green orbs where his face was. When he was near the “surface” of his shadow, his eyes glowed very noticeably. It wasn’t that they produced light, they were just very distinct on the black shadow surrounding them. The deeper he dove, the less his eyes glowed. Funnily enough, this didn’t impact his senses to what was happening outside his shadow at all. He had also made the mistake of using this skill once to make her jump one morning, unfortunately, she had been wearing a skirt that day. He never tried to prank China again, ever.

Gordon and his guest finally arrived at the study, only for Gordon to act as if the door kept jamming. Probably to give Corvus more time to hide or leave. The door finally opened to reveal Gordon and a girl no older than 9. She had black hair and dark brown eyes. She was luckily wearing black jeans and a white top and black open jacket. He could totally agree with her style, especially as it didn’t include his greatest enemy, skirts. “I can’t believe you forgot I was coming over today. You promised to save me from having to go to that stupid meal.” The girl said. Corvus assumed this was Gordon’s neice. The only one he liked anyway.

“Come now. I’m sure the food doesn’t mean to be stupid” he said with a stupid grin. Gordon better not try too hard to be funny. Though his voice would come out muffled and warbled, he could still be heard from his shadow.

“You’re not funny. You know how bad Beryl, Fergus and the twins can be.”

“Of course I do. That’s why I’m not going.”

“So, are you going to show me this new book you were excited for yet? Or has your publisher still not read it?.”

“I was going to call them before you got here. If you go downstairs and watch some TV for a bit, I’ll make the call. If they like it, I'll let you read the transcript tonight.”

“Deal” and with that, Gordon’s niece walked out of the room and closed the door.

Gordon sighed and slumped. Clearly, he had actually forgotten his niece was coming round. Still, time to mess with Gordon. Corvus made his voice as low as he could naturally, he wasn’t sure what effect this would have, but he hoped for menacing. “Ring ring, Gordon.”

The man jumped nearly a foot in the air, and looked terrified. Corvus! That better be you. Taking pity, Corvus pulled himself from his shadow, chuckling. “You’re such a bad uncle. Forgetting you would save her from minor inconveniences, like a mediocre knight.”

“Hey, I like to think I’m at least an above average knight!” Gordon said, with fake indignation.

“I’m not inflating your sensitive ego” Corvus replied with a smirk. “Now, I assume you wanted my opinion on the book?”

Suddenly looking apprehensive, Gordon nodded. Not commenting on the mood change, Corvus shared his opinion. “I’m not sure how well the unnamed character thing you have going will do, but the story is just as good as your other work. Having a family work together well in the field and at home, with no conflict is refreshing. Though the main character seemed kind of familiar. I just couldn’t put my finger on why.” Gordon suddenly snorted, and Corvus narrowed his eyes at him. “What have you done Gordon?” He asked.

Gordon suddenly looked a bit less apprehensive, but did start to fidget under the glare he was receiving. “Well, I thought how that maybe- and you can say no, I know I might be overstepping here- but I thought maybe I could do a series based on you. I’d like to use your given name, Harry James Potter, as the main character.”

Corvus thought it over. It was a nice gesture, but there was clearly more to it. He wouldn’t answer without all the facts. “And what about the other three characters. The mother, father and godfather?”

“Oh, I thought that would be obvious by now.” He was looking worried again. “I thought maybe I could name them after your parents. All of them. I’d have to leave out the whole blood adoption thing, because that would be too confusing, but I wanted to give you a way for your parents to live on in some way. I know it won’t be perfect, I didn’t know them. But you’ve told me about them, and I can try and develop, what I hope is as close to what they would have been like. I completely understa-“ Gordon had been rambling so much, he hadn’t seen Corvus’ reaction. It was overwhelming what the man was will to do for him. This though. This was the greatest gift he could ever receive. Corvus slammed into his chest, wrapping him in a tight hug.

“Yes you can use their names” he said through tears. He didn’t care that his voice cracked or that he was crying through Gordon’s shirt. He didn’t care that he felt like a vulnerable little orphan child. He didn’t even care in that moment if Gordon’s niece heard him crying. “You stupid git. You wonderful idiot.”

“Yeah, I guess I am.” He chuckled quietly.

Corvus slowly pulled himself back together. He even somehow remembered to dry Gordon’s shirt with water manipulation. “I better get signed copies of every book you bring out.” He said, not even joking in the slightest.

Gordon saluted ridiculously, “Aye aye, sir! I’ll even make sure there are illustrated covers, if you want.”

Corvus nodded happily at that. “I’ll arrange it with Doctor Grouse for you to see the memories. You deserve it, and if it helps you make them look and act closer to how they were, then that’s a massive bonus.”

“It would be an honour, now, you better get going before Steph wonders what’s taking so long.” As soon as he spoke, Stephanie’s voice sounded from the hall.

“Come on! How long-“. Corvus didn’t hear the rest, as he had opened a portal at his feet and fell through, straight into Doctor Grouse’s office, making the man jump quite harshly. He did not look impressed, but Corvus was too happy to care right now. So instead of apologising, he filled the grumpy old man in on everything that had happened with Gordon. It was safe to say, he was off the hook.

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Christmas day rolled around a few days later. This wasn’t really all that important. The year before no-one had gotten each others gifts. He assumed, after living a few hundred years, the novelty of it would wear of. Gordon had still gotten him something though. A little black crystal figure of a crow with emerald eyes. It was honestly very close to his animal form.

This year, there were a few packages waiting for him at the foot of his bed. There were only two people who could have snuck those in while he slept, Skulduggery, who was the most likely as this was his house after all, and unsurprisingly, China. Skulduggery seemed to be able to sneak around him without waking him, probably due to being a skeleton, he was very light on his feet. China however, was someone his magic wouldn’t wake him for. He had slept at China’s now a few times. Fully unintentionally, he had just been so exhausted, that he had fallen asleep on her sofa a few times. He would always wake up to food being made, and a blanket on him, when there wasn’t before.

Corvus got up and inspected the presents. He had a good idea of what was in a few of these. Opening them, he was mostly right. China had gifted him a book on Signum Linguist magic, the magic symbols she used. He had previously compared them to runes, that were mentioned in Merlin’s book. They were clearly very similar in function, but China’s were completely different to the runes Merlin mentioned. Like they were a different language, but both being used for effects. China was literally covered in almost invisible symbols, that she had carefully carved into his skin. He was honestly thinking of getting a few himself, but nearly everything they could do, he could do something similar with his own magic.

He was lucky he had completed his gift to her in time. It had taken ages, but he had finally transcribed everything in Merlin’s book, minus one or two incredibly dangerous things, into English for her. He was sure she would love having a one of a kind wizard book in her library, even if it was borderline useless to anyone but himself.

Ghastly had given him some homemade fingerless gloves. There was a note to say that they were made out of the same material as any protective clothing he made, and that they would work the same as the boxing tape he used to protect his hands when training. He had also added a form of addition padding to the knuckles, which, while protecting his knuckles further, would increase the damage from his punches. That was good, as even with all the training, Corvus was still only 8, so unless he enhanced himself, which was still far too draining to use regularly, he was far weaker than most adults. He was surprisingly stronger for his age though. Corvus had gotten Ghastly a series of books he knew the man didn’t have but would love. The poor sap was a secret romantic. He probably felt, due to his horrific scarring, he would never be able to find someone. He was wrong, but Corvus had tried and failed to get him to see that it isn’t the outside that matters.

Skulduggery’s present was the most surprising, partially due to the fact there was one. It just wasn’t like the man to do presents really. Still, Corvus was further shocked by the contents of the present. A wallet, with an ID and badge inside. He looked it over and saw it was a genuine issued, assistant detective badge. Making him officially a detective of the Irish Sanctuary and could take on cases from them without Skulduggery if he chose to. That was incredible, and stupid. He was 8, with a paying government sanctioned job. Then again, he wasn’t like most 8 year olds. And he wasn’t bad at his job, truth be told. He had occasionally made connections that Skulduggery didn’t see.

There was a second gift in the box, cloth wrapped and surprisingly heavy. Underneath the cloth wrapped object was some magic suppressing handcuffs. That one made sense, especially if he was going to do occasional solo work. Corvus finally unwrapped the cloth, and couldn’t help shouting out in surprise, “What the actual fuck?!” Skulduggery had gotten him a gun. A real, actual gun. “It’s a modified Colt Python actually. Barely counts as an actual gun anymore.” A smooth voice said from his doorway. Corvus turned to glare at Skulduggery, who was leaning in the doorway. He was sure he would be looking very pleased with himself.

“You couldn’t have put a note in the box?”

“And where would the fun be in that?”

Corvus groaned. He was going to Skulduggery for that.

“So how has this been modified?”

“I took it to China. The gun now works as a sort of focus for some of your spells. The symbol on the handle takes whatever magic you’re about to use and the trigger will activate it, launching the spell like a bullet. I know a few of your wizard spell don’t work without a focus. Your stunning spell, comes to mind.” That last part had been chuckled. Corvus had learnt how to channel the spell, but without a focus, his spell stunned himself. It was embarrassing to be found unconscious in Skulduggery’s living room after his failure. There were a few other ones that didn’t work right. There was an exploding hex that only worked on contact. Luckily, that one didn’t impact him, just the target. A cutting hex was also on the surprisingly short, but still longer than he would have liked. The only one that impacted him was the stunning spell luckily. The others, just didn’t work as intended.

“The gun will be keyed to you after the first use. Only if you give it to someone else with the intent to let them use it, will it work for them.” He continued.

Corvus focused on a spell that would be harmless, but visually impressive. He aimed the gun at the wall, and fired. The spell he had selected with the Patronus charm, and he wasn’t disappointed. There was no recoil, but the spell shot out with an alarming speed, and the ethereal crow flew off to China’s, to thank her for her book. He fired another off to Ghastly to thank him for the gloves. It was really cool to see the gun work almost like a wand. At least he didn’t have to use incantations or movements. That would really throw the aim of the gun off.

Hus phone pinged twice from his bedside table. Getting up to check his messages, he had one from China and one from Ghastly. China’s message read “I’m glad you like your gifts”, while Ghastly had just asked if he ever used his phone like everyone else. He quickly shot another Patronus off, simply saying no. “Thank you, Skul. This is going to help so much.” He said.

“I know it will. That’s why I got it.” And then he walked off.

Corvus shook his head at his guardian’s actions. He then went back over to the pile of presents and opened the last one. He did not expect to the first Harry Potter book. There was a note, explaining how this one was rushed for just him to open today. They wouldn’t hit the shops until next week! The cover was gorgeous. A character, who looked similar to himself, only with glasses and longer, neater hair looked back at him. But he wasn’t focused on that one. His focus went to the slightly cartoony version of his parents, looking at him directly, looking proud. Fuckin’ Gordon. Making him cry like this. The man really had a knack for it. Opening the book, there was a hand signed note. “You’re parents might not be able to tell you this. But I am sure they are proud of the person you have grown to be- Gordon.” Yep, a real knack for making small kids cry. On the next page, was a published note that read “I dedicate this series, to those who have lost family along the way. May they forever rest in peace.” Corvus sent a quick thank you text to Gordon, before settling down to read his first book.

Corvus didn’t feel like his gift to Gordon was nearly as good in comparison. Gordon had dragged him along to choose out a new car for himself, claiming to want Corvus’ opinion on what car to get. They had gone to the flashiest car sale lot in Ireland, which happened to be a classic sports car showroom. They had spent hours looking at the, quite frankly awesome cars. They even test drove a few, before Corvus practically fell in love with an Aston Martin DB5. Gordon had then bought it on the spot, claiming it was the perfect present from Corvus, even if he paid for it from himself.

It was evening by the time he finished the book. It was honestly very close to how his first case had gone, just less gore, and some of the parts that Corvus and Skulduggery had done, had been split between James, Lily and Sirius. It was something he was going to try and keep with him, where ever he went. Maybe shrink them and make some sort of portable storage device that would fit in his pocket, or on a necklace.

Realising he was famished, due to not eating anything all day, he sent a quick text to see if Gordon was free. It would be nice to thank the man in person and maybe share a meal with him. Unfortunately, he was with Stephanie today, so he checked with China, confirming she was free. Luckily he was, so he quickly opened a portal near China’s favourite takeout, which almost never closed, picked up their usual order, and then opened another portal to China’s living room. After saying a quick “Merry Christmas to each other, they settled down with their food, and he pulled out the first Harry Potter book for her to read. There was no way he wasn’t sharing one of the best things that he had ever received with her.

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4 years and 4 months later. It was now the middle of April, 2007. A lot of things had changed for Corvus, and even more had stayed the same. He still had an incredibly close relationship with China and Gordon. Honestly, that was never going to change. Gordon had completed 6 Harry Potter books so far, and he claims he wasn’t even close to finishing the series yet. Corvus had known the sales had begun to drop for the series, as there was never any true conflict to make the reader fully enjoy the stories, but Gordon had announced that the next one will, with Corvus’ permission of course. The series still had an avid fan base, and a few times he had been stopped in public by people telling him how much he looked like the character. He had always laughed it off as a coincidence.

Even though he knew it was all fiction, he felt like he was closer to his parents with every new release. Corvus had done his best, with Doctor Grouse’s help, to unlock any memories he could of his parents. Unfortunately, he had seen all the memories available to him. It was sad, but he had only been barely over a year old when they were murdered, so he wasn’t surprised there wasn’t as much as he would have liked. It would have been nice to give Gordon some material to work with, straight from his parents though.

China had stayed relatively the same. They shared meals together often, and he would usually talk about cases he had completely. She had also become a very reliable informant for him. Apparently, she had quite the network for information gathering. Which, as long as she knew the information would be useful to him, she would share willingly. She wouldn’t share with Skulduggery as easily though. So when they were working together, which was often, she would usually rope small favours out of him. She had a reputation for only being about herself, after all.

All the things that had change, were relatively minor. He had essentially graduated from Ghastly’s boxing lessons, as only experience would help him now. He still went to spar with the scarred man biweekly though.

He had also noticed that Morweena had been unusually distant since the necromancers had gotten curious about him though. She had met with him for tea, to explain they wouldn’t be able to have contact much at all, outside of official meeting, as she had told them that she had only taught him the basics and sent him on his way. It was the truth, but what wasn’t explained, was that he was a natural with his powers. It did take away the mentor/student implication, which had helped to reduce their curiosity further, though it never truly went away.

He didn’t see as much of Doctor Grouse these days. Corvus was often busy with a case or training. He was mostly physically training these days, as he had completely finished Merlin’s book. Its final lesson had been on the importance of “V.I.P” which meant, Visualisation, Intent and Power. With these three things, which he had plenty of, he could essentially create spells, either by willing an effect to happen, or combining magic he already knew, to produce new effects.

He had also learnt some healing magic. A lot of what he could do came from his necromancy, strangely. It was capable of fixing fatal injuries and broken bones, but past that, not so much. He also learnt how to fix minor injuries from Doctor Grouse. He couldn’t stop scars, and semi major injuries were impossible for him, but he could keep a victim from dying, and keep pulling them back from the brink. It was basically torture for them, but they would live. He had also, accidentally learnt that he could revive the recently deceased. As long as he got to them within 5 minutes of so of their death, bring them back, heal them, and they wouldn’t have any serious repercussions. That particular victim had been placed in Doctor Grouse’s care for 4 months. Over that time, the victim hadn’t decayed, wasn’t enthralled or enslaved to Corvus, and the only draw backs they had, were that he enjoyed their meat rarer than before, and their irises had dulled slightly in colour from a bright blue, to a semi dull blue.

They had thanked him profusely, and had gone back to their family. It’s a shame that case never got solved. Corvus had a bad feeling that one might come back and bite him in the arse, but there was nothing he could do. The trail had gone cold and there weren’t any other clues. He wish he had convinced Skulduggery to work with him on this one, but he had his own, unofficial case.

2 Sanctuary hired mages were tasked with keeping an eye on Nefarian Serpine, the man who had murdered Skulduggery and his family in the 300 year war, had gone missing. Skulduggery was certain the man was up to something bad, but needed proof before taking it to the Elders. They both would have loved to charge in an at least arrest the man, but any action from them would break the truce the bastard had made with the Elders and the end of the war. Honestly, Corvus couldn’t blame the skeleton for focusing on that, Corvus had a bad feeling about it too.

Everything came to a halt for Corvus, when he received the worst call of his life. He had been on the trail of a suspect to a string of petty thefts. It wasn’t anything prolific, he just felt like he needed an easy one for once. Just as he felt like he was closing in on the suspect, his phone rang. It was odd, because he made sure that no-one would call him when he was working, unless it was related to the case. Seeing that it was China, he assumed it was information, so answered quickly.

“What have you got for me?” he said in lieu of a greeting. She knew that he appreciated her time and affection, but he had ruled working hours for strictly work.

“You need to come here right now.” There was a tightness in her voice. That, was a horrible sign. Instead of replying, he opened a portal straight to her living room, knowing this one would get away. For now at least.

Walking through the portal, he took in the sight before him. China and Skulduggery were sat in separate arm chairs. Corvus could see the tightness in China’s body, and there was something dangerously close to pity in her eyes. Dread started to pool in his chest, but before it could settle there, Skulduggery spoke and Corvus’ world shattered.

“Gordon’s been found dead in his study. It’s estimated that he died of a heart attack, last night.”

Last night. That was nearly 24 hours too late to save him. Something inside Corvus broke, and then the tears came. He wasn’t loudly sobbing like one might expect, he had too much control for that. But he would not do Gordon the dishonour or disrespect of not grieving over him. So he grieved, and cried and broke for the man who had filled his life with joy and had given him so form of semblance of a childhood. He felt strong, but soft arms slowly wrap around him, giving him time to move if he needed to. But he lent into China’s embrace, soaking in the feelings of love and care. He needed it in that moment.

Roughly 10 minutes later, the tears had stopped flowing and he calmed down his raging emotions. Looking to Skulduggery, who had been silent, in what he assumed was his own form of grief and asked “Where is his body?” while extracting himself from China’s embrace.

“Why? What are you going to do?” Skulduggery asked, his head tilted to the side slightly.

“I doubt this was just a heart attack, and I know you do too. So I’m going to perform my own autopsy.”

“You don’t have that kind of medical knowledge.” Skulduggery said.

Corvus walked to the door, looking back, only to nod in thanks to China. “Who said anything about cutting him open?” And he walked out the door, waiting for Skulduggery to follow.

Skulduggery met Corvus at his Bentley. “So what’s your plan?”

“You drive us to the Coroner’s office and get us in to investigate the body. Make it so I can be alone with the body for at least 10 minutes. Make up bullshit about needing time to say goodbye, I don’t care how you do it. I’ll then scan him for any offensive magic that could have done this.” Corvus explained, almost coldly. He was fighting back some powerful emotions right now. He was sure of his theory, he just needed proof.

“I didn’t know you can do that”

“I don’t even, but Merlin’s last lesson is about to be proven right, hopefully.”

“And what was that?”

Visualisation. Intent. Power. I’m going to visualise a scan, hunting for trace amounts of harmful magic in his body. It’s lucky he didn’t have magic himself. I then need to will the effect into existence while pumping it full of magic. That, in theory, will create the spell. It won’t be proof to any but us. But that’s enough for me to hunt down whoever did this and end them myself if I need to.” No-one harms his family. He would protect them, that is what he swore. He already failed protecting Gordon. He wouldn’t let his killer get away with it.

It only took an hour to drive to the Coroner’s office. The majority of the trip had been in silence. They walked inside and Skulduggery showed his badge, making up something about Corvus needing sometime to say goodbye. He honestly hadn’t expected it to work, but now he was here, with a limited amount of time. Corvus didn’t even think about how Gordon looked, how unnatural it was to see him lifeless when he was normally the life of the room. No. Corvus focused solely on the spell. Imaging a beam of light, leaving him hand and encompassing Gordon’s body. The light in Corvus’ mind, flowed through Gordon, looking for and notifying him of any magic that shouldn’t be there. He focused on that image has clearly as he could, focused his will to make it a reality and pushed his magic to make it happen.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. So he willed it to happen even more. Then, finally the light shot from his had, trailing up and down Gordon’s body. There was something there. Around Gordon’s heart. So he focused on that area, and got the distinct sense of necrotic energy, and something red. He wasn’t able to gather more than that. But it was enough.

Gordon Edgley had been murdered.