Reunions

Another odd thing he had noticed was that Captain Storr was out in the field surveying the scene too. From past experience he had never seen a Captain do much more than paper pushing and bureaucracy shit from the office so it was almost refreshing to see him willing to push pavement with the field crowd but it also meant he hadn’t escaped the looming man. The ride over had also been tense. Anita had spent a few minutes looking at him with her classic disapproving frown, he could remember when that look was reserved solely for her dad, before setting off without saying a word.

A sane man would have been concerned by the silent treatment but that meant Anita was thinking about something. What little he recalled from those short short summers spent together this wasn’t necessarily a bad sign but it also meant she was compartmentalizing. Preparing to ask just the right amount of questions to get the information she wanted. He didn’t have to fight to keep his emotions to himself, too many years of training naturally kept it all under wraps. Which he was sure was another thing she had noticed, if the glances he caught out the corner of his eye held any meaning. Once upon a time he was incredibly emotive in everything he did despite the Dursleys attempts to crush those mannerisms.

Prioritizing the case he slipped out of the car and into a professional gait. He found that walking with a purpose let others know he was taking this matter seriously but also allowed him to think on a matter with less interruptions. Cases with children required a certain level of proactiveness if they wanted anymore to come out alive, and relatively untraumatized. He would offer this case the entirety of his skill set. Besides there was something niggling about this case that he had a feeling he had seen before, though he couldn’t place where or even when. His years as a field investigator were short and filled with numerous cases as well as being over ten years prior. He made a mental note to go over his journals from that time period but in the meantime he immediately started taking in the area. Comparing and separating things of note between this house and the last.

One house was in upper class suburbia and this one was out on the edge of the rural area leading into houses separated but hectares of land. He glanced over the address but it didn’t contain any so-called magical numbers associated with any superstitions or words that jumped out at him so that was a dead end. The front of the house was largely undisturbed if unkempt, the lawn could use a trim and the garden had a few weeds. That was the only similarity to the previous site. 

Harry turned to watch the squadron of people marching to and fro about the place. He noted the crime scene was still being documented, meaning they were early for this one. Interesting. Harry reached out with barely a finger of magic. Mentally picturing the house and the mundane aura it should hold, with practiced precision he tasted, for lack of a better word, the property. This was something they trained in with the Hit Wizards. It was a method rarely used to find traces or residue of magic. The skill itself is not difficult but only those with experience and training could read the varying results. Despite only using a tiny mote of magic Anita’s power still rose up to meet him as he scanned the house. His familiarity with her and the years of training doing exactly this were probably the only things preventing this from being a complete failure.

Her magic was hot and cold in a balance he had seen before. It was distracting in the best way. She felt like coming home, like cool lemonade on a hot porch watching the sun set, like romance in the spring. Deep breathes Potter, he told himself. Now was not the time. Focusing on the feel of the house and the area around it he was unsurprised it felt similar to the last site they’d seen. The weight of what had transpired in the house of the magic over the area was depreciating the longer he watched but the signature wasn’t one he recognized. Dark, slimy, desolate. There was also a hint of a curious magic that brushes against his-

A small punishing hand grabbed his wrist where it hung limp at his side jerking him out of his concentration. He knew before he even opened his eyes it was Anita and she was furious with him. 

“What do you think you are getting at?” She hissed at him, eyes flashing over his face. Behind her stood an unassuming brunette in a skirt suit wearing her badge on her hip and clutching at her necklace. Just from what he could gleam from the RPIT team he was willing to bet it was a cross. Paired with the knowing look on her face and the judgment in her eyes she was that curious magic. Fuck.

“The magic from the last site was nearly gone by the time we got to it so I was reading what I could before it… faded too much.” Harry made no move to free his wrist from her clenched grasp, in fact he didn’t move at all. His magic was no longer pressing over the entire plot, snaking its way back to him while he took in the two women back by Zerbrowski. Barely a tendril he curved his magic over this house like a cupped hand. One last taste of the property for the road. It was stronger than the last site but it didn’t tell him anything he didn’t already know.

“You’re contaminating the scene with your magic.” The brunette behind Anita sneered. 

Ah she was a sensitive. She must have been the curious magic he’d felt in the house. Damn that killed the theory that the potential child was one alive and two magical. It also killed the idea of asking MACUSA to spare some Aurors to look over this case. He already thought asking for the assistance would have been just a waste of time but if a magical citizen, a magical child, had been at risk he was willing to take that chance but now? No someone preternatural was hunting or rather using children, the major question to ask though was for what?

Harry made direct eye contact with the little witch behind Anita and reigned in his magic with expertise. “My magic?” He asked lightly, quivering an eyebrow up at her. “Tainting the scene is it?”

She stiffened and he felt her curious little aura push out around them but he didn’t rise to the playful brush she was trying to do. Answering her magic was a trick even he had used before. It would have been used against him for having “uncontrolled” magic. He allowed himself a moment to ponder on who had taught her that little trick because it was one he had invented himself back in his newbie days. She glared at him and crossed her arms in frustration.

Anita at his side let his wrist go. She let her own magic out to taste the scene as well. Harry looked past them to Zerbrowski who was watching with far too much amusement. Sending him a look Harry waited. None of these procedures made any sense to him. “Why had they waited until now to send in the little witch if she was supposed to get a feel for the magic used at the site?”

“Having a Sensitive on the team is still pretty new.” Zerbrowski answered him. Fuck he’d actually asked that last thought aloud. 

“How’d you manage that? One minute the scene had a foreboding feeling and the next it was practically saturated in your magic.” Anita demanded.

“A scan of the magic in the area is standard procedure once it's been determined safe to enter and with this many police,” he gestured to the numerous men and women walking in and out of their view. “I wanted to see it for myself. I wasn't aware your own witch hadn’t finished their scan. I apologize for my overstep.” Harry offered the brunette still frowning at him.

“Standard procedure with MI6?” Anita returned. He let his gaze slide to her. They both knew what she was doing by asking that here. Subtle Anita, real subtle. 

“Yes,” In situations where things get hazy like this, best to stick to some form of the truth and well the magical MI6 did have a standard procedure scan. “My scan will not have left any of my own magic on the scene.” Harry assured the young witch. 

“Did you at least gain anything from that?” Anita sniped looking antsy. 

“I think I will wait until Miss?” Harry looked at the new person in front of him that still hadn’t introduced themself to him. Uniform cops wore their names but this young woman was in casual dress, maybe that's why they didn’t expect her, she wasn’t technically on shift. 

“It's Mrs.. Mrs. Tamm Reynolds.” She didn’t offer her hand. Interesting. Normally when he ran into field witches they liked to test him. She paused and then he felt her. A soft mousy presence in the grand scheme of things. She ran over the general feel of the house and he could see her frown. Piercing brown eyes locked on him for a while before she asked. “What else would be considered standard procedure on MI6 and what does that kind of scan achieve in the long run?” 

Were the American sensitives this magic blind? “The scan told me that there was similar magic used here to what was used at the last location. Helps establish a pattern. It also tells me that this house stood empty for a while before the sudden influx of people with magic. Unfortunately their signatures were too old to get a read on.” 

“That’s not a lot to go on and nearly none of that would hold up in court!” She frowned at him.  Anita and Zerbrowski stood off to the side watching the play by play. Though his childhood friend was also frowning.

“Do you only do things if they are guaranteed to work out or be proven for your court of law?” He wasn’t amused by the implication that he was wasting people's time and energy with this. Especially since this was an investigation, meaning they were supposed to look down as many paths as they could to find out more on who was committing these crimes, not briefly glance down them and hope for the best. “I sincerely hope the police would be more open to doing full investigations and not dismissing a new method just because it doesn’t supply an immediate solution to the case.” He glared down at the little witch.

“There is a precedent for these things! A by the book way of doing things.” She crossed her arms under her chest looking self-righteously angry.

Just like that he wasn’t angry with Mrs. Tammy Reynolds, he was done. He looked her up and down, spared a glance to Anita and Zerbrowski off to the side and sighed. “In recent years I wrote those books Mrs. Reynolds.” He side stepped her and went to look at the physical scene. He had no more time for someone who couldn't see past the end of their nose.

Captain Dolph stood in the doorway waiting. He didn’t say anything as he walked up with Anita and Zerbrowski behind him. Nor did they acknowledge the notable lack of one Tammy Reynolds. A win-win he was going to question. Just yet anyway. The house was similar to the last one in the amount of dust covering nearly every surface. It made his hands itch to clean. He looked around for any disturbances in the filth. At least with this they could clearly see what had been touched and what hadn’t.

They followed the hulking man to the back hallway and then into a room off to the side. Bright pink and not a speck of dust in sight. Harry stared, taking in the whole scene before him, his eyes slowly coming to understand what it was he was looking at. Anita did the same to his right but Zerbrowksi stood in the hallway, unable or unwilling to enter too. That should have been his first warning but this whole case had him spinning like a top.

He looked away from the center of the room where his eyes refused to focus. A night light on one wall. An open window on another. He paused on that before moving on. The locals would have already searched in the direction the window points. The little girl's bed. Then there, off to the side a rug lay crumpled against the wall. He stared at that far longer than he should wondering why it struck him as wrong. 

Finally he turned back to the center to take in what his mind was trying to protect him from. As far as dark rituals went he had seen worse but the mind works in mysterious ways. Life was fun like that. There in the very center of this childs bedroom was a ritual circle. He could tell just from the inconsistencies it was painted in blood. Though the bowl with the hand in it was a good tell all the same. 

Anita was already knelt next to the ritual poking around with a gloved hand. He stayed back watching her while he tried to think on the runes. They looked nothing like what he knew most magical uses, not even the muggle sensitives were known to use this kind of runic array. The rug off to the side niggled at him, a heavy weight in the back of his mind. A witch or wizard would never have left something like that! They’d have just vanished it… They’d have vanished it! Merlin be damned this wasn’t one of his, or at least they weren’t at the scene. That’s why the magic was similar but inert. 

He held in the sigh at least he could report that no MACUSA citizen was assisting in the kidnap and brainwashing of children. Damn. They’d narrowed it down from twice as many people and it wasn’t even information he could share.

“I don’t recognize these runes at all,” Anita broke the silence and jumped started his brain back to the matter at hand.

“I studied runes in college and I don’t recognize them either,” Harry added, finally stepping forward. He stared down at one of the bits of the array on the ground trying desperately not to think about how it was written in a child's blood in childish chicken scratch. He blinked. “These were written by the child. Where are they?” He turned, speaking directly to Captain Storr. He had seen the bloody hand prints of a child earlier when he took in the room but it was one of those things his brain took entirely too long to process. Investigation had never been his strong suit, not like this anyway.

Zerbrowski popped in when Captain Storr took a second too long to answer, “She was taken to the local hospital, we have a few guys with her.”

Harry nodded, “Were her hands bloody?”

Zerbrowski frown but it was Captain Storr that answered. “Yes.” Short sweet and to the point, could have been worse.

“I will reach out to a few runic specialists I know for the circle but I believe the child wrote this.” He nodded to Anita who begrudgingly agreed this wasn’t done by practiced hands at all unlike the last house. 

Harry paused looking around while Anita stood up. “There were two children here.” She gestured to the hand and then to the other… parts Harry had been ignoring as he looked. Any case with a kid involved was literally the worst. They had a way of staying with you. 

He focused on the bloody piles around the room and suddenly could see the remains. A smaller than what he normally saw heart sat marking true north, he paused to check. East was a smaller bowl with two unseeing eyes. South held what he believed were the young males reproductive organs. West, closest to where he stood, was the bowl with the hands in it. He had never heard of calling any kind of corner with these kinds of offerings. The longer he looked at this room the less he thought the ritual had a purpose. He frowned down at the whole lot. Something about it looked off even if he ignored the grotesque offerings. There were no candles, the only lights in the room were all artificial or from the open window. There was no presence of a blade of any kind.

“Did the girl have any kind of knife on her when you found her?” Harry didn’t care which of the officers answered him. He was busy trying to see what else was missing in the room.

From what he knew about rituals there was always a specific knife used, candles- no fire was a “cleaner” light source, and to call the corners properly was to acknowledge their chosen elements. He crouched next to the bowl with the hand in it, staring. Merlin if he could use his wand here he could just run a spell to test for the contents but low profile meant old school.

A pair of gloves were shoved in his face from the side. “No, she didn’t have anything on her.” Zerbrowski finally explained.

“Even clothes?” He queried distractedly, he focused some wandless magic to get the gloves on without struggle and then purge them on his signature. The last thing he needed these days was to be pinned to a strange ritual made up of children.

“No clothes.” Zerbrowski bit out, disturbed as he watched Harry shove a finger in the slurry around the hand.

 Pulling his hand up he watched the blood, checking its consistency. Blood that had sat for as long as this crime scene had would be thick, slow to move and tacky but the blood in this bowl dripped from his finger looking paler in the light. “Water.” 

Anita blinked once at him then again at the bowls, she crouched once more at the bowl next to her. She had looked at it before but couldn't understand what she was seeing so thought to leave it to the techs but she had a feeling she knew exactly what the chunky bits in the blood were. Carefully she pulled out one of the blood covered chunks to show a familiar feather shape. “Air.” She confirmed for Harry's sake and for her friends behind her.

He had moved to the southernmost bowl, but he could already tell his suspicions were confirmed just from looking. Sitting around the human parts were matches and there was a strong alcohol smell coming from it. He refrained from touching it, his gloves soiled by the first bowl. Making eye contact with Anita she confirmed the northern bowl had earthen contents.

 “They called the corners, elemental recognition and everything.” Anita told Captain Storr.

Harry stood back up slipping off his gloves,nodding, “Which is odd because most blood rituals don’t use the elements thinking the sacrifice is enough. The only reason I can think that someone would do both is if they were doing two rituals at once and needed to acknowledge them a second time.” Harry frowned thinking hard on what he knew from the Black family library.

“I don’t think they were following a set ritual, I think it’s one they made on their own.” Anita spoke louder interrupting his train of thought on purpose. She and the two offices were moving out of the room, from the looks of things they had tried to steer him away as well. Right can’t leave the trainee for lack of a better word with the scene. Not yet anyway.

“What makes you say that?” Zerbrowski asked from the doorway.

She pointed to some of the messier runes around the circle, “These look like something someone came up with by combining runes to make a new one.”

Freezing for half a second too long Harry whipped over to look again with new eyes. He could see it now. The runes didn’t look like anything he had seen before because most rune masters would cut off their own hands before trying to make new ones by combining such contradictory sigils together. “Merlin,” He whispered, peering at them some looked like more than one rune combined. It was to state simply a mess.

“A mess is right.” Anita turned to look at Captain Storr. “We need to call in a runic professional to look at these. I didn’t study runes like this in school.” She was hunched in on herself.

“If you had, I would be concerned for what kind of school you went to. This is beyond me and I had to study dark rituals years and years ago.” All three others looked at him perplexed. “Ah, we had an active cult when I was green. It wasn’t pretty.” Understatement of the year but no need to explain too much. He did make a mental note to tell his handler to add it to his cover story though. No need for anyone to ask questions.

“So you,” Captain Storr was only addressing Anita at this point. Which understandable, he was new to them and at this point hadn’t added anything to the case. “Can’t even make a guess at what they were doing here?”

“No, but it looks like they’re getting desperate. This is vastly messier than the last scene.” Anita frowned at the room. 

Nodding to himself, Harry looked around once more. There was almost too much of a difference from the last scene, “Almost like it was done by an entirely different person.” Now there was a thought. Two different killers with the same goal. Hmm, if only they could parse out why the other wasn’t leading the troops as it were anymore. Sometimes answers just brought more questions.

Captain Storr scrawled something in his notepad. Maybe it was brownie points. He hoped so. At this point he’d take what he could get.