Order of the Hidden Dragon

"You know McLaggen?" Mary asked. Hermione had a weird expression on her face that Albus didn't recognise.

"We were in school together. I haven't talked to him in years," was all she said, but there was probably more to it than that.

"Well, from what I can tell, he tries to become this group's leader and isn't best pleased that I managed to join them." Albus said.

"I would imagine he wasn't. But why "tried"."

"We don't have a leader," Mary said. Albus noticed that Sophia had barely said a word. What was going on in her head? He had let her listen to the conversation he had heard in the Extendable Ear, that should tell her that both Hermione and Rose wanted to fix this.

"McLaggen wants to be our leader, to control everything. He already has too much power, simply because he owns the land we're on. It's his large house at the entrance. He has tried repeatedly to admit new members and is none too pleased when none of them managed to pass the test." Mary continued.

"What test?" Hermione asked.

"We have a sort of test we give to new potential members. It is mainly a way for us to see whether they are able to fit in with the group and how they deal with a little stress."

"It's not dangerous, and little chance of injury," Albus added.

"Anyway, I suspect that if anyone uses our name, that would be a place to start."

"These people that you turn away, what happens to them?"

"I don't know. That's one of the jobs McLaggen insists on doing, but he claims he simply modifies their memory, so they don't know where to find us, then let them go."

"McLaggen wants to turn our group into something to use against the Ministry." Sophia said. It was the first thing she had said since Hermione had come. "If he had his way, our group would have been a threat. But most of us don't listen to him. Maybe we should have."

Albus didn't like the sound of that, but he couldn't say much while they were in here.

There was a lot of talking. To Albus, it felt like it took hours. Mary spoke quite willingly, clearly trying to prove that this was a misunderstanding. They also talked about what happened on that fateful afternoon when Logan died, but Hermione said that they needed to talk to Dawson about that officially. Sophia said little, and Albus was worried about what she thought about all of this. Would she really start to listen to McLaggen now, after resisting his ideas for so long? If so, that would be a great loss.

Rose was the one who had the idea to show the list of suspected members to the two women. They saw that some of the names were the same as those that had tried and failed to become members some years ago. None of them were currently members.

"It seems we need to have a chat with McLaggen," Hermione said with a sigh. Albus wondered again what their story was. "I'll talk to Harry about who should interview him. I don't think he'll take kindly to either of us doing it."

Rose seemed confused as well. There was clearly a story here, but Albus didn't think this was the time to ask. Scorpius might know, he had actually read Harry's book multiple times. He knew more about his father than Albus did, at least about the past.

"What do you want me to do?" Rose asked. "And what shall we do with these three?"

"Sophia, can you try to trace the whereabouts of the Knocker again?" Hermione asked. "What do you need?"

"Maybe I can. But why should I help you, when the last time I helped, it led to me being arrested?" Sophia sounded angrier than Albus had ever heard her. "You know, I didn't want to believe that what is said about the Ministry was true. But then you started raiding everywhere, making it impossible to do anything without you noticing it. Then I try to help, again, and this is the thanks I get. Tell me, why should I help you?"

Again? Had she tried to do something like this before? There was still so much he didn't know about Sophia. Mary went over and grabbed hold of her, probably to prevent her from saying something she'd regret.

Hermione looked bewildered. It was unusual to see her so out of control, but it was clear that she didn't know how to proceed from here. Albus knew they wouldn't get further by sitting in here.

"It sounds like you must either decide to release us or try to hold us on something. On what grounds did you arrest all of us, Minister?" he said.

"I wasn't the one who arrested you." Hermione said, having made her mind up. "I will speak to Potter and see what happens from here. I was hoping we would be able to work together to solve this, but if this is your decision, so be it. Take them back, Rose. And make sure to search people properly next time." And with that, she left the room, leaving the listening end of the Extendable Ear on the table. Albus quickly put that back in his pocket. Rose did not look pleased with having to do what her mother didn't want to do herself. Albus held out his hands. They wouldn't get any further sitting here.

"Go on," he said. "No use staying here. If you want to volunteer to interview McLaggen, you better hurry. Ask Scorpius what he knows first." Rose sighed but reluctantly put their bonds back on and led the three of them back to the holding cell. Their bonds were released the moment she closed the door though, so Albus didn't have to break another set.

Once she was gone, Mary rounded on Sophia.

"What was that about? You realise that you could have asked for almost anything, and they would have given it, don't you? Why throw away that chance to solve all of this?"

"They wouldn't have let us all go, if that's what you're implying. Not as long as Potter thinks he has evidence to back up his claim. He's not known for being one to back down. Neither is the Minister. I doubt either of them will admit to making a mistake any time soon."

"So, you're just going to sit here and wait? For what?"

Sophia just shook her head again.

"I don't know. It's all gone wrong; I don't even know what I think anymore. I just know that all of this is my fault. If I hadn't given them information in the first place, none of this would have happened. I won't make the same mistake again."

"Hey, this is not your fault. You only did what you thought was right. They are the ones who made the wrong assumptions. That's on them, not you."

Neither of the women seemed to remember that Albus was there with him, which might be a good thing. He had no idea what to say either. This had all become such a mess. He knew that they would probably only be held for a maximum of two days, that was the longest they could be kept without any evidence of a crime, but then again, it was his father who made that decision. Would he really insist on keeping them, like Sophia seemed to fear? He hoped not. He also knew that he had to insist on being treated the same as the others, or this would take even longer. It's not like he had anywhere else pressing to be. Though he wished he could be the one interviewing McLaggen, he knew that wouldn't have happened, even if he had got his job back.