Order of the Hidden Dragon

Before the evening, they released all the members of the Order. Well, except Albus. He was technically still wanted for the incident with Piers, so they had to keep him. Harry didn't like it, but he hadn't stopped it either. Rose hoped that this would perhaps make Sophia decide to help them after all. Or it would make it worse. Rose had no idea what the young woman thought, but the way she glared at her was not a good sign. Albus had seemed worried that this would make Sophia side with McLaggen after all. Rose hoped she wouldn't go that far, but McLaggen had some excellent arguments on his side now.

It was Hermione that gave the official apology and the explanation of what happened. It would be better coming from her, since Harry had been the one to initiate the raid.

"It seems there is another group out there who uses your name and does illegal things. That is not an excuse for our actions, which was too hasty and rash, but it is an explanation. Rest assured we will do our utmost to find that group as well. None of you here are charged with anything and we hope that the future can see collaboration instead of hostility." She said to finish. Rose hoped so as well, but she doubted it would happen any time soon.

"Where is Albus?" Mary asked. It seemed Sophia only now seemed to notice that he wasn't there with them.

"Albus Potter is detained while we conclude the investigation into the death of Logan Piers." Hermione said reluctantly. "He will need to wait until we have cleared up that matter to know his fate."

"But…" Mary seemed to be at a loss for words, but one of the older men seemed to prevent her from protesting further. Sophia glared daggers at Rose especially. This had become a true disaster. Whatever chance they had had of finding the Knocker, or Yang was probably gone now.

***

Sophia didn't know what to think, as they all left the Ministry and went back to their base. The Ministry hadn't confiscated anything, so it remained largely as it had been before the raid. But it all felt wrong. Albus wasn't here. He hadn't even been here a week; how could she miss him after such a short time? Sure, they had been together most of the time, but that was because they had to.

McLaggen was already going on about how horribly the Ministry had treated them, and she found herself almost agreeing with him. She had always thought he exaggerated when he talked about them, but from what they had just been through, maybe he had a point. If it hadn't been for the long ramble she had overheard when Rose interviewed him, she would have agreed with him. She wondered if Rose had noticed that Albus placed that device on her robes. They had heard the whole interview and McLaggen was lucky he wasn't locked up in a mental facility! Albus had whispered to her that they probably had a recording of this, it had become a routine after Hermione Granger had taken over as Minister. If Albus could get a copy of that, they could use it if McLaggen ever tried to take over again. But from what had happened at the end of her own interview, she doubted the Ministry would do them any favours.

And after arresting all of them, the Minister had asked her for help! No, she didn't even ask, she just assumed Sophia would do it again! Even Albus had been surprised that she refused. She had no interest in helping the Minister with anything, even if it was an important task. Besides, the Auror was probably dead by now anyway. At least that's what she tried telling herself. 

She sat in front of her computer, wondering what to do next. Her project to help Albus locate the Knocker had consumed her ever since he told her about it, what had she done before that? She couldn't even remember anymore.

Someone knocked on the door. When she told them to come in, it was Greg and Mary.

"We brought some tea. Do you want some?" Mary asked. Sophia only nodded. She wondered what they were here for. Greg usually wasn't one to visit people out of the blue like this. He and Fred took walks around the base but rarely entered other areas. Mary poured out the fruit tea. She knew it was Sophia's favourite.

"How are you doing?" Mary said after they had all taken a few sips.

"I'm fine. I should be asking you that. I'm sorry I haven't been there for you after Logan died."

"I'm holding on for now. The worst shock was the first day. But that's what I wanted to discuss with you, actually." Mary looked over at Greg.

"Mary told me what you saw," Greg said. "It must have been terrible. Especially considering Mr. Potter then fell down here just hours later."

"I suppose I haven't really had time to think about that until now. When McLaggen made me his Minder, I sort of just had to separate myself from it."

"That is a normal way to handle it, but not healthy in the long run. That's why I thought it would be a good idea for the two of you to go over last week's events together. It could help mend broken bonds and alleviate hurt feelings."

"I told you, Greg, I don't blame Sophia for anything. There is nothing to talk about."

"It was neither of ours' fault." Sophia agreed.

"That is correct, but what about your feelings around Mr. Potter? What do you feel about his role in this?"

"I haven't thought about that much," Sophia confessed. "When he took my truth serum, he claimed it was an accident, and I believe him. I believed it even before that. But what does it matter? He is now exactly where he feared he would end up, being arrested by members of his own family."

"We could try to help get him released as well."

"How? We already told them what we saw. We didn't see anything more than he did, with the sudden fog."

"Yeah, but that's the thing. Where did that fog come from? And why did Logan move towards Albus, knowing that Albus would be alert for any danger? There is something missing here. Albus also claimed he didn't remember firing off a spell. What if there were someone else there?" Mary said.

"You're grasping at Billywigs." Sophia said. "We didn't see anyone else, where did they come from, and where did they go so fast? Why do you want to help him anyway? He killed your brother."

"First off, like you said, it was an accident. If he did it. But if it was someone else, I would want to know that just as much as he would."

"But how? We can't go back in time, there are no Time-Turners anymore." One of their members had tried to remake those but had abandoned the project. It was too dangerous, messing with time. Some things were best left alone.

"That's true. But there are surveillance cameras. Didn't you disable all of those save one?"

"I did. If not, they would probably show exactly what happened, especially if the fog was magically created. Or if not, maybe with the infrared…"

"But they said one of the cameras wasn't disabled. It was obscured by the fog, but is there a way to penetrate that, even after the fact?"

Sophia hadn't thought about that. Why hadn't she thought about that? If she could get her hands on the same footage the Ministry had found…

Sophia didn't even remember getting to her feet, but Mary quickly took her cup, to stop her from breaking it.

"What do you need?" she asked. She knew her so well.

"My laptop." Sophia said. "And a ladder."