The Unknown of the Order (Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery

To the Ministry

"You're telling me that Tulip Karasu is the Vigilante?" shouted Penny. She was having to speak loudly because Sophia had been screaming at the top of her tiny lungs since before Sarah and the others returned. 

"I'm skeptical," yelled Diego. "Can't you get her to calm down? Does she need feeding or something?"

"She needs to sleep, but I can't get her to take a nap," said Penny, a slight whine to her voice. 

"I mean, just because this necklace looks like Tulip's, doesn't mean its her," said Diego. "Don't you have one of those as well, Sarah?"

"I did," she said. It was hanging on the bed post back in the flat she hadn't felt safe returning to in months. "Old Bilton gave them out to people he dubbed 'Master Pranksters,' so they weren't exactly common."

"And Tulip is the only person I know who would probably still wear hers after she left school," said Penny. "Please Sophia, just calm down." She bounced the baby gently and rubbed her back, but Sophia continued to wail. 

Barnaby stood up. "I'll take her. I don't understand what's going on anyway."

Penny shook her head, but she let Barnaby scoop up the baby and carry her back into the bedroom. Already, it was easier to hear and the others were able to relax. Penny slumped gratefully into a chair. 

"It might not be Tulip, but that's the best lead we've got," Sarah continued. "We've just got to find her."

They all looked to Penny. Back in school, Penny had always known all the gossip. She still seemed to keep in touch with their old classmates the best, or at least, she usually knew what they were up to these days.

"I don't know," she said. "She was working at the ministry, but last I'd heard, she quit. I don't know where she is now."

"Tulip was working for the ministry?" asked Diego. "Figured she'd want nothing to do with that place."

"She didn't, but she didn't have a lot of choice," said Penny. "After we graduated, she got a job at Zonko's. There wasn't a lot of work to do and she wasn't paid much, but Bilton liked her so he kept her on for a while. But Tulip became too much for him."

"Too much for Bilton?" asked Sarah. The man had a reputation for setting his own stock of fanged frisbees loose in his store. What could possibly be too much for him?

"Yes," said Penny sadly. "Tulip was always messing about instead of working, taking supplies for her own use, and she treated customers she didn't like...well, by dungbombing them."

"Naturally," said Talbott. 

"Anyway, after she left Zonko's, Tulip decided just to open up her own shop. She rented a place in London, and I think it did well for a bit. Tulip is so smart and creative, she was able to come up with some wonderful products. But she didn't care about the business side of things. I told her she should hire someone on to manage that bit of the work, but she went through quite a few assistants. They all quit or were fired because Tulip was...difficult to work with. Eventually, the shop went under.

"Poor Tulip was all out of money, so she finally went to her parents for help. They told her she could only stay with them if she agreed to take an assistant position at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Wow, she must have been desperate," said Sarah.

Penny nodded. "Her parents replied to the last letter I sent to her. They said Tulip no longer worked there, and asked me to not contact them again."

They sat in silence for a moment as they all took in Penny's story. 

"So," said Sarah, "sounds like our best bet would be to ask Tulip's parents where she is."