Daisies • HP Next Generation

A Plan

The girl usually wasn't one for breaking school rules, but recently, it had become almost normal for her. The new curfew meant going to her dormitory when there were hours of light left in the day. Since she had perfected a disillusionment charm, she'd been freed from the confines of ordinary hours and been able to go where she wished when she wished, for the most part. It had been easy to check in to her common room, and then slip out, invisible to all eyes but her own, as someone else opened the entrance.

Now it was actually time to go to sleep. She hadn't been able to sleep as much as she should have for days now, and she'd caught herself dozing off and yawning too many times in the past half hour. And there she was doing it again. She had turned another corner without care. She could still be heard - and evidently had been heard, or else, how did he know she was there?

Albus Potter stood in the corridor holding a piece of parchment. His green eyes seemed to look right past her charm to see her standing in her robes in front of him.

"What are you doing out so late, Malia?" he asked her. A breath seemed to catch in her throat as Malia inhaled. How could he know it was her? What else had he been able to find out without her knowing? She drew her wand from her left pocket, and held it for a moment.

"Do you know something about where students are disappearing to -"

And then the stunning spell hit Albus in the chest without warning. His eyes widened at the last second - realization dawning across his face, before he crashed to the floor. Funny, that he hadn't thought to put up a shield beforehand. A few well-placed compliments went so far in creating fake friendships. Not that it was something she enjoyed doing - but the ends justify the means, don't they?

Malia rushed over to cast a disillusionment charm on him as well, but when she bent over, she realized she wouldn't have to. He hadn't heard her coming. Albus Potter probably hadn't even known a thing about her project. He'd simply seen Malia walking behind him on this ever-so-convenient map.

She scooped it up in her hand and watched the teachers' dots wander around. No one was patrolling this area of the castle at the moment - and when they did, there would be no reason for them to suspect a thing had gone on in that first-floor corridor. Albus Potter would be gone.

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"Will you need anyone else to go sir?" the messenger asked him.

Harry shook his head. "No, everyone who I would need to help me has already been informed. Besides, it's probably nothing too formidable."

The girl nodded nervously. She was one of several young auror recruits that couldn't seem to get over the fact that he was the famous Harry Potter.

Harry passed her in the hall, and continued to think about the letter he had received from the Hogwarts Headmistress the previous day. Two Hogwarts students had gone missing, seemingly with no warning. Contradictory to what he had told the young auror-in-training, he was extremely worried about it. Nothing suspicious like this had happened at Hogwarts since Voldemort's demise, and although he knew it couldn't be that particular dark wizard, that didn't mean that this threat would be any less of a problem.

Since they hadn't had any big problems in crime recently, he guessed that whatever was going on was student related. If this was so, the young dark-lord-in-training could be stopped and prevented before they did anything catastrophic.

Harry exited the Ministry and turned on his heel, before experiencing the brief discomfort that came with apparition. He reappeared right outside the Hogwarts gates, where McGonagall herself was waiting for him.

"Mr. Potter, thank you for coming," McGonagall said. She had a grave expression on her face, one he didn't think he had seen since the war - although her face when Harry had told her of James' and Fred's pranks before they had gone to Hogwarts had been close.