From The Point of View of Harry James Potter.
"Brilliant, Right when I was about to go home, I received a call informing me about an emergency" I thought bitterly.
Apparently a squib had died in the presence of muggles due to magical causes. It wouldn't have been a big deal if she had died alone, but the old woman had to go and die in front of a Muggle, and if that was already not a big enough problem at the time, a reregistered underage witch was detected performing magic.
I hope this news doesn't get out, or it will give rise to the recently growing conspiracy theories about the Cursed Child. They have been going on for years now, but people will never stop speculating. I will be sorry for the underage, who will be treated with suspicion if people find out for the rest of her life.
I wish I could go home and see my two boys preparing for the new school year. It's Albus's first year, and I can't wait to see the look on his face when he receives the letter. I remember clear as day when I received my letter, or should I say letters, as Hagrid had filled the house with them. Uncle Vernon had lost his mind with worry. God, that was a wild week.
I smile to myself at remembering all that, and ten looking at the orphanage, I let out a huge sigh as I enter the gates of the New Heaven Orphanage.
It is nearly midnight. The street is lit with the light of police cars and ambulances, and the air is warm. The obliviators nod as I pass them by while they modify the cops memories.
I walk up to the front door of the old orphanage building and knock. An elder nun opens the door.
"Good day. I am Detective Potter. I believe you called the police to report a crime."
"Oh yes, thank God you are here. Please come this way." She invites me in without looking at the badge or even noticing the obliviators outside. How careless.
I walk up the brightly lit hallway, which has nice, somewhat new wallpapers and is extremely clean for a government orphanage, which surprises me because it was unlike any orphanage I visited. This probably means that someone rich is either funding it or they are getting money from illegal sources.
I am introduced to the High Priest of the church, Father Edle. He looks worn and distressed yet still quite alert.
"Let me take you to the crime scene," he finally says after we are finished with greetings and introductions of ourselves and the five nuns standing in the hallway.
"So what exactly happened here?" I ask as we walk into the office, leaving the five nuns behind.
"She was talking to Sister Anne when she started screaming and suddenly became motionless in her chair. The young nun thought she was having a stroke, so she called us, which is when I checked her pulse, but she was already dead." Father Edle told me as I examined her body that her right hand had the mark of the unbreakable vow, which was probably the cause of death. Other than that, everything was normal.
"So why did you report a crime when it seemed she died of medical causes? Did you suspect foul play?" I asked, standing up and wondering why they thought it was a crime and not an accident.
"We did because I examined her body; you see, I am also a doctor, and she doesn't appear to be poisoned or harmed in anyway, and she did not have a heart attack that I can confirm. I almost as if her soul left her body without any natural reason." Father Edle said with a sober yet scared look.
"That remains to be seen. I believe you haven't been working as a doctor for a while now and have gone rusty. This is most likely a heart attack, but we will determine that based on the forensics report, but still, I would like to search the room." I told him rudely, which I didn't like, but I had to pretend to be a cop.
I am left alone in the office, which is quite luxurious for an orphanage head's office and even more for a squib. What I find disturbing most about this place is that it doesn't have a single magical tool; no witch or Squib is this good at hiding her involvement in the Wizarding World. I cast a spell, and nothing reveals itself until I notice a small crack in the corner next to the study table.
I knock on it, and it appears to be a hidden door leading to a small room that has all sorts of illegal magical items and rare potion ingredients. There is also a stacked pile of crates filled with galleons. How in hell did a Squib manage to gather this much fortune even if she was an illegal smuggler?
I walk out of the room and conceal it with magic. Then I get out of the office to call backup when Father Edle asks, "Did you find anything unusual?"
"No, everything is as ordinary as it could be." I said, and he truly looked relieved.
"That can't be right; you need to search again." Demanded an old nun outraged.
"Who are you?" I asked, not remembering her name, but I didn't feel guilty for that.
"She is the head nun." Told father Edle calmly.
"Listen, officer, this is not an accident that kid and Anne killed Madam Mastigia." The old nun declared as if I wasn't doing my job right.
"What kid are you talking about?" I asked pretending to be unaware regarding the reregistered witch or it would look suspicious.
"Delphini, she is the devil's kin. Mastigia said herself, She cursed Mastigia; I am sure that evil brat did." The nun said it hysterically. It seemed she was dying for her fears to be heard, which surprised me because how bad a child could be to call them a devil's kin.
"Silence, please don't listen to them." Father Edel said, coldly silencing her. But my curiosity peaked, and I asked, "What makes you think the child is involved?"
"Well you, she hates Mastigia, and well, Mastigia was rather hard on her, especially today when the girl tried to steal something. And that is not all weird things always happen to people who cross her. I am telling you she is a witch." The last word really made me worried; it was obvious they either knew something and were scared or they were trying to hide something that they realized now will get them in trouble with the law. My best guess is child abuse.
"I don't believe the girl has anything to do with it yet; if you insist, I would like to speak to her, and the nun named Anne, where are they?" I inquired suspicious of these people and wanted to get the whole picture.
"Well they-" Father Edle mumbled but stopped
"Well, they what?" I asked again, a little worried and annoyed.
"Well, they are locked in the basement as they should be." The old nun blurted out as if that were obvious.
"What the bloody hell did you just say?" I shouted in outraged disbelief.
"Are you insane? You locked a kid in the basement just because of your superstitions, and by the looks of it, you feel no guilt or shame for doing that, do you?" I shouted, losing my temper.
"But she is a criminal." The old nun said she was trying to justify her acts.
"Who are you to decide that? This is child abuse." I furiously told them, and at the last words, their eyes became wide open, as if they only realized now what kind of trouble they were in.
"But," she tried to say, but I shouted over her.
"And who cares even if she is a criminal? Nothing gives anyone the right to lock a kid up like that." I told her, burning with rage.
"Where is the basement? I will get them out myself." I said, and a scared nun dashed forward to take me to the basement down stairs. She opened the door, and I walked in.
The basement was darkly raked of oil and pipe water and was littered with rats and cobwebs. Inside In the light from the hanging bulb, I saw a young woman sitting on a chair with a little girl with silver and blue hair next to her, fast asleep. The nun was patting her head gently while feeling drowsy.
She blinked and looked at me. Suddenly, her eyes fell open. She stared at me, looking scared, and said, "Please, Officer, you need to listen to me. I didn't do anything, nor did Delphi. Please, even if you see me as a suspect, please let her go. She has nothing to do with this." She begged me earnestly, and I admired how selfless she was.
"It's ok, I am not here to arrest either of you. I am here to help. Is the girl okay?" I asked politely, and as I did, I noticed that the girl's lip was bleeding. What had the monsters done to her? Clearly, there was more to the story than they were letting on.
"Yes, she is okay but is asleep." The young nun Anne replied
"Ok, you can bring her upstairs. I need to know exactly what happened here." I told her, and she looked relieved. She cautiously carried the child in her arms, and we went upstairs. I followed right behind her.
As we reached the ground floor. A nun came and shouted, "You are letting them out; they are criminals."
"And who are you?" I asked with a cold, loathing expression.
"I am the one who apprehended them; I am also Madam Mastigia's most trusted worker." She said proudly, which basically meant that she was the second biggest bully in the playground.
"In that case, I will make sure to ask about your behavior when I take their statements." I told her coldly and moved forward in the hallway.
"What?" She said taken aback.
"Please, is there any room we can talk in private.?" I asked Father Edle calmly.
Father Edle guided us to a smaller, less tidy room. I instructed sister Anne to place Delphini on the couch, and I sat down on the chair to talk to her.
She sat down on the sofa as Father Edel closed the door behind them. Once he was out of ear shots, I began to speak but noticed that the girl had opened her eyes, finally waking up, or perhaps she was already awake because she asked, "Are we safe now?" innocently
She was a cute little girl with sapphire blue eyes and pale skin that reminded me of a fairy, yet there was something that bothered me; for some reason, she looked familiar, as if I had met her before or at least someone who looked like her. I cleared my head of these thoughts and said, "Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you, Delphini. I am Detective Potter. I have a few questions for you and Sister Anne, if that is ok with you." politely addressing them both.
On hearing this, she quickly said, "Please, you have to help us; they are mistreating us," causing me to give her my undivided attention. If this was as I suspected, then we will have to involve the Muggle child protective services in this case.
Sister Anne told me everything that happened today, including Mastigia burning Delphini's letters, stealing her money, and locking her up. She also told me about all the other kinds of abuse Mastigia and other nuns had done to her due to the fact that Delphi was not a registered orphan but a child left for safekeeping. After hearing it, all my blood boiled like lava. These monsters were depriving the child of her every right, despite her living in the orphanage.
And it was clear to me now how Mastigia got her hands on so much money. She probably made a deal with this child's guardians to raise her here but pocketed all the money they had sent for her care. Then she abused the child, but only enough to keep the unbreakable vow from killing her until today, when she crossed all boundaries.
I can understand how the child must have felt left alone with no one coming to check on her ever. Vulnerable and weak. Bullied by everyone just for being different, it was as if I was seeing my younger self. It all reminded me of how I was treated—how I was left alone in the care of my own aunt only to be neglected—but if I ever thought I had been treated badly, then that was nothing compared to what this child was going through now.
There is no way I am leaving this girl in these monsters's care. I promised myself.
But there was another question that was bothering me: why had the guardian left the child her? Why not take care of the girl themselves? They probably thought she wasn't worth the trouble.
But who are her parents? I asked myself, and my eyes fell on the golden emerald locket she was wearing; somehow the flower on it looked familiar.
Maybe she noticed my look because she clutched it protectively in her hands.
"It's a beautiful locket; can I see it?" I asked in a friendly, curious voice that I used when I talked to my daughter Lily.
"I take it; it's an heirloom." I guessed as she looked scared that I might steal it.
"Yes, and no, I don't want to give to anyone." She said defensively.
Promise." She asked a little doubtful.
"Promise," I replied with a smile, and she handed me the locket, which had an emerald incrusted on a flower and the name "Dahlia" engraved on it. I opened it to look inside; there was a wizard clock just like the one I was gifted by my mother-in-law. This one played soft music. I closed it and looked behind to reveal a quote: "I love you forever and always." Clearly, whoever ever made this was skilled, and the locket looked extremely expensive—not something an ordinary witch or wizard can afford. My best guess was that Delphini was an illegitimate child of some rich witch or wizard that had to hid her here out of shame or fear.
I handed the locket and asked about what she knew about her parents. I was told that her mother and father were both dead, and her mother's name was Dahlia, as written on the locket. Other than that, there was nothing else they knew.
I got up and told them "Both of you don't need to worry. I will inform the author about what has been happening here, and we will move you two somewhere else. In the mean time, I hope you will come with me. There is all I need to explain to Delphi, some of which might be a little hard to believe, but I ask that you trust me, and I promise I will keep you both safe." They both exchanged a look, and then Delphini said, "I trust Detective Potter; I think he is nice." She assured Anne, who looked nervous but agreed, we got out of the room.
Now it was time to teach these bastards a lesson for mistreating a child and her protector. This will be against the Wizarding Law, and I can get in trouble, but someone needs to make sure these monsters don't make the same mistake ever again.