Yesterday 14 Hogwarts students vanished. They had vanished right in the middle of Hogsmeade. In the street. In the middle of the day. It had created immediate panic.

Andromeda had taken charge today. With so many cases on there were not enough senior aurors to take the lead. She was proud and determined to figure it out. The scene held some evidence. Yesterday her colleagues interviewed Hogsmeade residents who witnessed. The witch from Honeydukes was in custody. It looked like she had been imperioed. She had no memory. Her memories would be examined. They would find out today. Everything pointed to unauthorised portkeys. They could not be traced.

This morning Andromeda wanted to hear from the students. They had calmed down a little bit. She had set up in an empty classroom and asked that a Professor be there whenever a student came to her.
"Ok." She said to the person before her. "Slowly, steadily. What happened?"

Xavier entered the empty classroom with a slight sneer. He had never really been fond of Aurors, too many bad experiences. He remembered feeling angry with them when his father disappeared when he was young, no one seemed willing to help his hysterical and desperate mother. As he grew they only seemed to become more and more incompetent, from constantly hounding his uncle to blowing up his house, to accusing him of murder. Not to mention Harry Potter himself, the boy who lived, trying to blackmail him into saying where his uncle was hiding out.

Unfortunately for the time being they were a necessary evil. His friends were missing and the Aurors just may be the only people who could help find them. He glanced over at the Professor that he supposed was there to be a mediator. Perhaps that wasn't such a bad idea considering his disdain for the red robes.

He sat on top of one of the empty desks instead of the proffered chair, " Was walkin' thru Hogsmede tryin' not ta vomit," Valentine's had always left a bad taste in his mouth, "saw me mates hangin' round ousside Honeydukes. I wen' ta see'em an they jus vanished, jus poof. Some youn' dumb Gryffindor though' they gone invisible. His girlfrien' disappear'd too. He started yellin' at tha samples gir'."

Xavier shifted, the flask he usually kept on him sat uncomfortably in his back pocket and he suddenly wished Professor Donovan [1] hadn't made him dump it's contents, "Ye know normally she's a right fine gir', enjoys a good flirtin', fiesty, quick wit but there was summin' wrong wit her. No fire. Then she said summin' I didn't catch it but it just didnea sound righ'. She collaps'd an' me mates wen' poof jus like e'eryone else."

"Yer gonna fin' her righ?" He had switched from saying his mates to her. He couldn't have given a rat's ass about Carstairs but Gracie? He needed for her to be okay. His cold grey eyes turned to the door as another Auror entered, for back up he supposed and his slight sneer turned into a full blown scowl, he threw up his arms, "Ah great! Yer onnit then, are ye? Bollocks, we're all fecked."

---

1. with permission from Sly

Berkeley had been following the case since it came through the office. Hogwarts students abducted in Hogsmeade, how does that even happen? It had been enough to get her out of the office and out in the field, something she had been avoiding since the MacDuff case. She had enough siblings and cousins at Hogwarts that it had hit a little too close to home. She needed to be at the school, she needed to know that Kyson and Briar were okay. That Peyton, Helena and even Xavier were coping, not to mention Tiberius and Cadance . . . the list went on.

She stepped into the empty classroom, an interview already in progress. She was followed by a notepad and a floating enchanted quill, not the cheap quick quotes that was prone to mistakes but one she had enchanted herself. It was currently scribbling away noting everything that came to mind about the case the setting and anyone involved.

"Ah great! Yer onnit then, are ye? Bollocks, we're all fecked."

Berkeley steeled herself and drew in a deep breath before putting a smile on her porcelain face. The expression was not natural, the petite Auror was not well known for her openness or kindness. She was often perceived as cold and distant. It wasn't that she was heartless or that she lacked any empathy she just didn't like being around people, paperwork was her forte.

"Mind your tongue Xavier." She scolded her younger cousin as easily as she would her own brother. She knew the look and the anger behind it. The Slytherin had visited her over the Holidays at her own request. She thought it might do him some good to spend some time away from their Grandfather's antiquated mansion. Unfortunately she hadn't expected the little snoop to rummage through her case files. He claimed to be looking for something on his uncle (a case she wasn't involved in) and ended up finding information about his father instead (a case she had personally requested)

"Try to be helpful." She did her best to give Andromeda a reassuring look.

"The samples girl?" Andromeda asked. "She was arrested." Auror Cavanagh came in. Xavier Tawse snapped. Berkley appeared to know him. She used his name. Andromeda looked at Xavier again. She looked seriously at him. "Who did you see disappear?" She asked. "Did they all disappear exactly the same time? Did you see anyone suspicious?"

Xavier stared at his cousin a few moments longer before focusing once again on the other Auror. She didn't seem upset over his outburst. Probably for the best. Family business and all that. A few years ago he had nothing to do with his father's family, now though, with most of his mother's family arrested, on the run or just plain disappeared they were all he had left. It wasn't always a comforting notion.

"Gracie Slant and Virgil Carstairs." He spoke slowly and deliberately. He didn't want the thick Scottish brogue he had adopted to mess up the more important details for the Auror but he also wasn't comfortable enough to switch back to his native tongue. That was a privilege he saved for a very select few, "Thee othas, don' feckin' know. There's thee curly haired gir' thee Gryffindor was harpin' bout and I heard Bevans got nabb'd too."

He shrugged, his hand reaching down to his pants wanting badly to grab a drink even though he knew it wasn't there, "Thee only suspicious lookin' fing dhere, was thee bloody studen's disappearin'. No'un touch'd 'em, no spells, nuthin', jus' gone."

Alright if I join in? 

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There was something about Hogwarts that really screamed 'arrested development' to Hayes. She'd been indirectly asked to attend the questioning of Hogwarts students following the disappearances, and the thought of returning to her alma mater had her feeling like a teenager again. And so, in typical Hayes fashion, she had overslept and was running about thirty minutes behind. She'd been pretty good about her timekeeping since beginning training, but there was something about showing up to a classroom on time that caused her to revert back to her lackadaisical self. Hogwarts-aged Hayes had no problem arriving to class thirty to forty minutes late. Auror in training Hayes at least had the decency to feel guilty.

But fourteen missing kids. Fourteen kids, just gone. Poof. Had the world always been under such duress, or was it something she was just starting to notice now that she was an adult? She was twenty-three years old and couldn't imagine how scared those kids must be. Who knew where they even were. Not the DoMLE, that was for sure. Christ. Hopefully today's questioning yielded some sort of clue, would give them sort of idea on where to start looking.

As Hayes made her way to the classroom she was meant to meet her colleagues in she couldn't help but feel slightly nostalgic. The feeling faded when she crossed the threshold and saw several students and professors, some looking a bit anxious. Not that she could blame them. She was feeling a tad anxious herself. The two aurors who had managed to show up on time had their backs to her, and Hayes was unable to identify them. The dark-haired one might have been Andromeda, but the blonde eluded her. She paused for a second, rehearsing her apology in her head. She didn't want to interrupt their current interview, though, and settled for leaning against the wall of the classroom. She'd make her way over when they were finished, or if someone happened to notice her.

Andromeda picked up a set of photos and held one up to Xavier. "Curly haired girl, yeah? Juni Zamperia." Andromeda knew her dad. He was a really good obliviator. She could not imagine how he felt right now. Andromeda was quietly relieved Ariadne was ok. Xavier was in the same year. "Thank you for your help Xavier." Andromeda glanced over her shoulder. She saw Hayes. "Hayes. Was there anyone waiting outside?" Andromeda hoped there were a few more students able to talk to them.

Theo strode in, already in motion as soon as the question was asked.

Up until that moment, he had waited with the other students, just another point of tension outside the classroom. He was quiet, and if not visibly upset, then his mind was clearly elsewhere—distracted, perhaps, to those who knew him. For one who normally seemed so attentive to his surroundings, he was unusually distant. Whoever stood in front of him might as well not exist.

But to the one sitting beside him, he was tightly wound. His chest rose with slow, measured breaths, and the shut of his eyes was inhumanly still. The fold of his arms was relaxed, even casual. But there was something – off about it, not quite natural. If he presented a picture of self-control, then it was the kind that usually came with strain.

He glanced at Alex, meeting her eyes in one last look before rising to his feet. There was something bracing about it, while being devoid of obvious comfort, which was a relief; he did not need yet another reminder of how recent events had affected him.

Ignoring Shona’s sharp look and the other aurors, Theo assumed Xavier’s place. An expressionless gaze met Andromeda’s head on, waiting.

Xavier stood up once the Auror dismissed him. He almost wished he could be more help for them, had something more to give them other than a shoddy eye witness account. He didn't like feeling helpless. While others around him were scared and distant, just as worried about themselves and how this would affect them than their fellow students, all Xavier felt was anger. Though that wasn't exactly surprising. It seemed to be the one emotion he was really good with. He knew it intimately at this point, it had just become a part of him over the years. Seeing his cousin hadn't exactly helped the situation.

He gave a slight nod to Whitman as he came into the room next though it didn't seem like the fellow Slytherin noticed. He looked to be as much in his own world as Xavier was stewing in his anger. As he passed his cousin, nearly a foot taller than the eldest Cavanaugh he lowered his voice and growled, "They betta come back Berk, mak'em come back."

Xavier gave one more fleeting look to the classroom and those in it before leaving to find some way to release the tension and anger that was building up in him.

The next student walked in. He seemed very confident but thoughtful. When he sat down he made eye contact. "And you are?" She asked the boy. He was good looking but unsettling. "What information can you share with regards to the disappearances yesterday?"

Theo took a breath. “I was to meet one of them – my girlfriend, Ji-Hyun Jeun – later, to celebrate,” he began, with measured slowness. “I would have sooner, but I couldn’t make it. So she was with a friend—Micah Gallagher.” Another missing student. “They were to roam Hogsmeade until I could take her for our date.” He smiled wanly. “She was quite excited.”

And now she was gone. The smile faded.

“I had just arrived when they disappeared. Ji-Hyun, Micah… Juni Zamperia, Esther Morrell. The limpet always on her arm—Bastian Desrosiers.” A brow furrowed as he recalled, “Virgil Carstairs and Gracie Slant. Indica Kemp.” Theo looked up, expression solemn. “I did not see them all disappear, but I – asked.” Eli Amherst had been one of the most vocal, in his upset. Had Theo been anyone else, it was likely he would have gotten a black eye from all the flailing.

“Then I went to the samples girl.” For a moment, features hardened. Then he sighed: a small concession from an otherwise rigid bearing. “She was still on the ground. She seemed very confused for someone who had just distributed illicit portkeys.” The sweets were inert by the time he had cautiously prodded one, but portkey transportation was very similar to apparition in how they appeared to an outsider.

Theo's account of the samples girl matched up. It was looking certain. She was under the imperius charm. Where had the person been? "Thank you." Andromeda said. "Did she say anything to you?" Some witnesses said they heard her say something rude. "It appears the students chosen are entirely at random. Can you see any connection between them? Other than they are students here."