The Debriefing

Michael found himself getting irked with the young man. He followed him to the door.

"Look, you," he said, "I do not need another crazy sonofab**** making my life or my family's miserable. You weren't around him enough to know him like we did. Its not hard to know someone uses a dog for an animagus. Most animagi use animals that are common enough to not be noticed. Not very useful to find a tiger in Diagon Alley, now, is it?

"Nobody likes it that he's dead. Nobody likes it that he was cursed. We didn't curse him, and we didn't kill him. Get your shit together and stop treating us like we're the enemy here. Your father knew we weren't the enemy. Even cursed, he was still willing to die for Robert because there were too many years we were the only thing even remotely close to family that he had.

"We will find who did this, with or without you. But you don't get to do this with us until you can at least minimally behave yourself. If you can act like a grownup, you can stay. If you want to act like a heathen, then keep right on walking." He pointed to the door. "Your choice."

Thaor stared into Michael's eyes, his blood boiling, his eyes turned into a dark green color. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he drew his wand.

YOU DONT GET TO TELL ME WHAT I CAN AND CANT DO. You say none of you saw this coming, none of you knew he was alive. ITS ROBERTS BLOODY JOB TO KNOW THAT SORT OF THING. You also don't get to tell me a damn thing about my father, because clearly you didn't know him at all. He said angrily.

Oh I'll be leaving alright, as I see it, it's you lot who need me, not the other way around. I know exactly where he's been this hole time, every town, every house, everything. So when YOU, decide to play by MY rules, let me know. Until then, I'll be going back to the castle. he said as he walked out the door.

Michael frowned. The boy was as nuts as his father evidently.

"I do get to tell you who can or can't be in my house. I do get to tell you who can and who cannot be around my family. You might not like it but I can and I will set those limits," he said. "If you have all the answers, then, you're right. You surely don't need our help.

"There is no reason Robert or anyone else needed to be chasing an alleged dead man. That's not his job. Nor is it his job to raise himself up from medical leave to go running after his own would-be assassin.

"And if you knew where he was, then, as I see it, you're guilty of complicity for hiding a murderer. And if you knew everything, why shouldn't we think you're as guilty as he is for the damage he caused tonight?

"By all means, go investigate it yourself if you choose, but if you're talking about going back to Hogwarts, I have no earthly idea why. You're not on staff there anymore. There's no reason why they should let you onto the grounds. But do try. Feel free."

Arrest me then. I only know where he's been, because, like you, I wasn't spending time looking for someone I believed to be dead. Hindsight is always 20/20 Michael. he said, not taking his eyes off of Michael's.

Thinking back, I can remember multiple occasions of seeing a golden retriever following me as I traveled. It's only just hit me that it was my father. he said, putting his wand back away.

He took a couple more steps into the yard before turning back to Michael. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to prepare for some travel time. he said, getting ready to apparate.

It wasn't hard for Brian to hear the arguing on the front doorstep. Brian and Angus were the only ones qualified to arrest anyone. Brian sighed and got up.

"Should I go talk to him?" Khaat asked tiredly.

"No," Brian said. "You should not. I'll see if I can referee." He went to the door and opened it. "Excuse me," Brian said, "but I think we know nobody is going to be arrested tonight unless its a werewolf. There isn't much of anything to go on to solve who cursed your father, Thaor. What little we have is very thin at best. We want it resolved too.

"Until we find who did it, we don't know who is really the instigator of all those killings, all the destruction. And we don't know why. Any wizard can be ambushed or blindsided, but it wasn't a very likely thing to happen to Thaor. He was always on guard.

"Our best chance is if we all find a way to work together. Shall we give it another go?"

Thaor took a deep breath and put his wand away. He knew Brian was right. Tensions were high, there was a lot they all didn't know, and to find out, they'd have to work together. I think you're quite right. he said, not apologizing, that was one of his fathers rules, he believed it to be a sign of weakness.

Thaor looked around the street before walking back to the house. Lets get started, yes? he said as he walked back into the living room and took his seat once more.

"I suggest you start by finding out more about the curse itself," Khaat offered. "We see a lot of curses at St. Mungos, and we treat them. There are some we can't turn around but not that many that we don't have a good understanding of. If my father got the curse from Thaor spreading it to him, then its somehow contagious."

"Your father believes it is passed from one energy worker to another," Michael said.

"Wait," Brian said, "What we haven't looked at is how the curse specifically affected Thaor. How it affects your father might be a completely different thing. If the memory thread is uncontaminated then we need to see how it manifested in Thaor to get closer to discovering what the original curse was. So--perhaps we start by listing symptoms. Maybe it will lead us to naming the original curse and then finding out who is capable of casting it. That might give us some suspects."

Thaor sighed, I don't know his symptoms necessarily. But I do know where he has been, now that I think about it. he said, taking a break to rub his stomach, the wounds were a dull pain now, but he could still feel them.

He's been right here, in Hogsmeade, and on Hogwarts grounds. Thinking back I've seen his animagus around here a lot, but, as the rest of you, I thought nothing of it, why would we be looking for the animagus of a man we believed to be dead? he said with a frown. They were right where they started, nothing to go on, no plan, no way to solve the problem at hand.

"Well, I think we must consider another possible motive," Michael said. "Much as Thaor had enemies, it might well be possible that he was either in the wrong place at the wrong time--which doesn't seem to fit. Or--perhaps someone was using him all along."

"For what end?" Kate asked.

"I don't know. Maybe they wanted him to hurt someone that he hurt or killed. Perhaps he took something they wanted. He committed a great many crimes. Its possible that they were using them to meet their own ends.

"And if that's the case, then that sounds like a person we do need to be very careful of," Brian said. "Because they obviously don't seem to care about how many they kill or what damage they do."

"Its possible that we might need to get more information from Thaor's ghost if we're to know much more," Kate said.

"If he knows any more, and he might not," Edward shrugged.

Thaor listened to the dialogue between the group, he was staring at Michael's chess board, when a though hit him. You know, I've learned a lot of things in my life, never shoot a large caliber man with a small caliber bullet, never eat yellow snow, the such, but one thing my father did teach me, among his many rules, was, Never make a move unless you see the whole board.

You all have played chess, yes? he asked, not waiting for an answer before continuing. How would you plan your next move, if you couldn't see the entire board? What I'm trying to say is, how can we begin to know where to look, or what to do. he asked the group, pausing for an answer this time.