Order of the Hidden Dragon

The pub he led her to was truly out-of-the-way. She had no idea where she was, but it was probably still in Britain.

"This is a place where Scorpius often meets with informers," Albus explained. "That's what he is doing now as well. If anyone asks."

Sophia nodded but wondered why he told her this. She also noticed that Albus had made subtle changes to his clothes and face, so it wasn't immediately clear who he was.

They sat down at a table and were quickly handed two mugs of mead. Sophia wasn't a huge fan of mead, but she held the mug just to have somewhere to keep her hands. It didn't take long for the two Malfoys to join them at the table.

"Please," Albus began, "Tell it to me straight. Do they still have an arrest warrant out on me?"

The other two exchanged glances.

"You never had an arrest warrant," Rose said eventually. "Just a travel ban. I think that is still in effect. However, your case is close to finished. We found a Muggle security camera that captured part of what happened, and it seems both Dawson and Harry interpret it in your favour. If you return now, I doubt you'll be arrested."

Sophia didn't know how to feel when she heard that. So, Logan hadn't disabled the last camera properly. And now that meant Albus wouldn't need to hide anymore. Would he then return home and leave all of them behind just like that? Why did that thought make her feel so anxious?

"What does Dawson have to do with this?" Albus asked.

"Harry brought him back to investigate your case. None of the others that were present can do it, technically." Rose replied.

"Who is she?" Scorpius asked. Sophia had felt his eyes on her ever since they sat down. She had tried very hard not to think about who she shared a table with by thinking of them like they had been at Hogwarts, but Scorpius clearly didn't trust anyone. And if half of the rumours about what he did for a living was true, she didn't blame him. She felt the need to speak for herself though, so she answered before Albus had a chance to.

"My name is Sophia Buller."

"She's helping me," was all Albus said.

"With what?"

"With locating the Knocker. Or have you found him yet?"

"Why do you still want to find him?" Scorpius asked, at the same time Rose answered.

"We aren't any closer to finding him than we were in that alley."

"Still doing random raids in the hopes that something will turn up?" Albus asked. Neither of them answered that.

"Where have you been, Albus?" Rose asked. "Do you need anything?"

"I'm fine. I've missed all of you terribly, but if what you say is true, then maybe I can still come to family dinners again after all."

"Why haven't you contacted us before?"

That was a reasonable question, Sophia thought, though she worried a bit about what Albus would answer.

"I may or may not have accidentally joined a group of magical pioneers. They don't like strangers, so it took me a while to earn their trust. And considering I thought I was a wanted man; I didn't want to risk getting caught by venturing outside too much. And I didn't want to inconvenience you by sending a message."

A group of magical pioneers? Sophia had to hold back a laugh. It seemed he had paid attention to Greg and Fred's stories after all. That was exactly what they called them, that first group that came together. Sophia hoped they could get back to that again someday.

"What does that even mean? It sounds like you don't intend to come back with us either. What is more important than getting your life back?" Rose sounded exasperated and Sophia didn't blame her.

"Catching the Knocker, obviously."

"And how are you going to manage that? When everyone in the Ministry so far has nothing?"

Here, Sophia felt the need to intervene. Mostly because she wondered whether the Ministry had any presence online at all.

"Did you know that the Knocker advertises sales on the internet?"

From the bewildered look on their faces, it seemed that neither of the Malfoys had any idea about that.

"You really should check whether Dad is even aware of that," Albus said. "Just tell him that you learnt it from an informant. It's not wrong."

"Look at this, if you don't believe us," Sophia said as she handed them several pieces of paper. "We may already have a lead on where the computer he uses for his sales is located."

"You don't want us to tell Harry we saw you? He's worried about you. All of us are." Rose said, as Scorpius accepted the papers. He looked confused, but it seemed he saw what Albus had seen about the ads at the very least.

"How many even know what has happened?"

"Aunt Ginny knows, and my mother, obviously. I don't know about the rest of them."

"Tell my mother that I'm fine, if you have the chance. But don't say anything to dad or Aunt Hermione. Not until after the investigation is over."

Rose sighed but nodded. Sophia was surprised when Albus suddenly got her up on her feet and they left without another word. Wasn't he even going to say goodbye?

Sophia barely had time to think before they were back in the Base. It seemed no one had noticed their absence. Or if they had, they weren't worried.

"You handled that very well," Albus said. "Though you probably shouldn't have given your full name. Rose will probably know everything about you in a day."

Sophia wondered what she would find. She had no idea how much about her was registered at the Ministry at all.

"I hope they understood what the papers meant. You dragged me away before I could explain properly."

"Sorry, but I knew they wouldn't let it go if we started explaining, so I decided to leave before they started asking too many questions."

Sophia didn't dare to ask about the other thing they had talked about. Albus didn't have a warrant for his arrest. There was no real reason for him to stay hidden here anymore. Would he leave? It didn't sound like he intended to, but what would happen when the investigation was over, if he was cleared?