Semper Fidelis

Chapter 12.3

After the lunch service ended, Harry excused himself from the Head Table and retreated into his bedchambers. It was time for the Gryphon meeting and he was anticipating Malfoy's report from his trip to New York City to investigate the dark magic activity at the Met.

After he closed the door behind him and casted a Colloportus and Silencio to avoid any disturbance or listening ears, Harry sat himself behind his large desk. Harry pointed his wand on the space above his desk and muttered, "Ergo occursum Gryphem."

A thin white mist left the tip of Harry's wand and filled the space above the tabletop. The mist constructed an image of a long oak table in what looked to be a meeting room situating Harry's figure at the head. Plushed chairs lined either side of the table and a second later, figures of the Gryphons started to fill the seats.

Remus appeared first, and he was seated at Harry's right. He looked alert but calm and he gave Harry a smile in greeting. The next to appear was Draco Malfoy, and he was seated across the table from Remus and to Harry's left. His platinum blonde hair had been trimmed short from his days at Hogwarts and his grey eyes were bright as he, too, nodded his head in greeting at his two superiors.

The rest of the Gryphons arrived shortly. Nymphadora "Tonks" Lupin sat herself next to Remus and chirped a happy "Good morning!" to her teammates and husband. Ansel Cheng and Yasmine Crabtree filled the seats to Tonks' right. On the other side of the table, Theodore Adams, Novella "Nova" De Luca, and Cyprian Constantinou were sat on a row next to Draco. They were the Gryphons and Harry surveyed his team with something akin to pride. They were a small team of nine but these were some of the best men and women responsible for keeping the country safe from dark wizards.

"Good morning, everyone," Harry said clearly once his team was all settled. They greeted him and each other in reply. "I don't want to keep you here for long since it's a Saturday so let's get to what needed to be discussed. Draco, you have the floor." 

Draco Malfoy, lead analyst of the Gryphons and one hell of an Auror, nodded his head and regarded his teammates with cool grey eyes.

"First, let me show you what the MACUSA agents captured at the scene," Draco said. He grabbed his wand from his pocket and said "Scena revelare". A picture of one of the large exhibition halls inside the Metropolitan Museum of New York materialized on top of the table. Harry squinted his eyes to look closely. What should have been a pristine hall filled with priceless artefacts was instead thrown into chaos. Broken glass and pieces of wood, clay, and other materials littered the floor. The Met's ivory walls were dark with ash as if a fire had occurred in the room even though nothing was burned. There was debris everywhere and Harry didn't know where to look. Statues were toppled over, many of them cracked and missing body parts, no doubt littered in the chaos around them. Tapestries were ripped and hanging precariously from the walls, and many of the windows of the hall were punctured and broken.

It looked like a tornado tore through the exhibit.

"It's a lot to take in, I know," Draco said, as he looked at the stunned faces of his colleagues. "But I have a suspicion that that was the point. When Ansel, Theo, and I visited, we noticed this part of the room. This was where most of the traces were left," Draco said, and a wave of his wand shifted the image and zoomed into one corner of the room.

This corner was utterly devastated. Harry couldn't even guess what was stored in this part of the museum since everything had been turned to dust. What caught his attention though were the markings on the wall. It was still covered in ash, but on the ash he could discern sparkline like patterns tracing up the wall. It was as if a ball of electricity exploded from this corner and threw sparks into the air marking the walls covered in soot.

"Were there any casualties? Any witnesses?" Yasmine asked, her brows furrowed as her eyes raked over the image of the museum.

"One casualty," Ansel Cheng replied solemnly. "The security guard. His body was found by the entrance. We reckon that he came across whoever did this and was killed because of it."

"How did he die?" Harry asked. "The Killing Curse?"

"No," Theo Adams answered. "No trace of the Killing Curse was at the scene. The MACUSA took the body and performed an autopsy. The man died of heart failure."

"He had a heart attack when he saw what happened?" Nova De Luca asked.

"The MACUSA thinks so," Draco said.

"But you don't," Harry replied, his emerald eyes knowing as he looked at Draco.

The blonde smirked. "You're right, I don't. Take a look at the next pictures," Draco said. Another flick of his wand and the image changed to that of a heap laying on the ground. It was the body of the security guard laid in the fetal position. The next picture was that of his face. Harry grimaced as he saw the pained expression on the dead man's face. Another flick of the wand and another picture was shown, this one of the man's clenched fists. They were clenched so hard that they drew blood on his palms. The last picture was that of the walls making up the arc of the entrance to the gallery on either side of the body. They, too, had sparklines drawn on the ash extending from the central point which happened to be the dead man.

"He was in a lot of pain," Cyprian Constantinou remarked. "It's something like the Cruciatus Curse, wasn't it?"

Draco nodded his head. "I certainly think so. This man didn't just have a heart attack. He was cursed with so much pain that his heart failed. He walked in on something he shouldn't have."

"But who could have done this? And why?" Tonks asked in wonder.

"That's the question. We don't know," Remus answered her. "This is magic we haven't seen before. The only witness we have is dead. Thankfully the MACUSA was able to cover up the destruction at the Met with a glamour. They spun a story that there was a break-in and the security guard was killed preventing theft. Every artefact you would see in that hall now will just be a reproduction."

A question had been nagging in Harry's head since he saw the state of the exhibit hall. "Was there anything taken? They were at the Met for a reason."

Draco frowned and shook his head. "We don't know."

"We don't have a lot to go on, but we need to start somewhere. Whoever the person or group was that caused this much destruction and used such powerful magic needs to be stopped before they hurt anyone else," Harry said firmly. His team nodded in agreement. "Draco, Ansel, Yas, and Cyprian, I want you to go through every item that was in that exhibit hall. We need to know if there were anything magical in the exhibits. Maybe the perpetrators were after an artefact. Remus, commission the Department of Mysteries to help in this research. After that, Remus, Tonks, Nova, and Theo, I want you to interview the Death Eaters in Azkaban. Get a hold of our other contacts as well. Someone out there knows what happened." He dictated. "But above all, stay vigilant. We need to know immediately if this dark magic happens again anywhere in the world."

The Gryphons nodded. There was no need for words since they all knew exactly how serious this new threat was, whatever it may be.

"Send the griffin if there's anything urgent. As always, you can contact me by sending the hummingbird. We'll touch base again as a team in two weeks' time. Does anyone have any questions?" Harry asked. The Gryphons shook their heads. "Great. Meeting adjourned. Have a good day everyone." Harry waved his wand and the white mist forming the picture of the meeting room dispersed into thin air until his tabletop was completely clear.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. A Muggle had died and they had no idea who or what had caused it. The situation does not bode well with the Gryphons' commander and he wished that his team would find a break in the case. He also made a note to visit the extensive Hogwarts library to do his own research and even considered approaching Professor Dumbledore. The man had certainly proven helpful in his past cases.

Harry glanced at his watch and saw that it was nearing 3pm which meant it was almost time for the Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts. Putting the meeting out of his mind, Harry stood from his desk and walked out into the halls.