Chapter 48

"How are you holding up?" Severus asked as they had apparated to their second location. Before them stood a small manor house. It wasn't an affluent neighbourhood, but still shouted 'Upper-middle class'. Severus, Harry, Scorpius, and his fellow agents, along with a rather cautious Robards, stood at the edge of the property where they were busy dismantling the wards.

"A scoundrel he turned out to be, but I have to give him props for this spellwork," Scorpius grumbled as he and his colleagues attempted to breach the property without alerting the occupant. "Al would definitely be impressed by this if nothing else."

"What?" Harry asked upon seeing his former employer's stare. Harry wouldn't admit it, but seeing Robards the past two days had brought back old memories. Memories of happier, slightly overworked times. Having actual deep conversations with this man about future plans. The satisfaction of putting criminals behind bars. Helping people. Harry knew 20 years was a lot of time, but he could not fathom a man like Robards becoming so... corrupt.

"Nothing," Robards muttered, looking away.

"We are in!" Angela, one of the Interpol agents, announced as the wards broke. "Damn thing was on a freaking magical loop!" she growled, clearly stressed from the ward breaking. The other agents gave her a bit of a wide berth as they descended on the manor.

"Is this even legal?" Robards asked.

"You're one to talk," Harry shot back.

"The Muggle branch of Interpol has no jurisdiction in the UK and has to work together with local law enforcement; this is likely what our intrepid snitch here is alluding to." Scorpius looked pointedly at Robards. "However, you probably haven't been keeping up with several amendments to international magical law over the years. No such restrictions exist on the Magical branch, as magical communities are much smaller. Extenuating circumstances allow us agents to claim jurisdiction within a Magical community."

"We're in position. Anti-Apparition wards are established along the perimeter." Angela stated.

Scorpius turned to Harry, Severus, and Robards with a serious look. "This part of the operation has to be by the book. We cannot have any interference from civilians. My superiors take the charges laid out here very seriously."

"We can wait out here," Severus nodded as Harry squeezed his partner's arm in nervousness.

However, Robards looked mad. "You expect me to sit out here while the bastard who had Ronald murdered is in there?"

"We can wait out here," Severus reiterated, now with a steely glare towards the former Auror. "Do not make me sever your limbs from your body, Robards."

"I did not hear that threat... I did not hear that threat..." Scorpius muttered under his breath before giving the signal for his agents to move in.

Crashes of splintering wood were heard, likely the front and back doors being breached simultaneously, and shouts of "FIRM! We have a warrant!"

Harry blinked. "Wait, your acronym is actually F.I.R.M.?! I just thought Albus was pulling my leg with the accountant backstory."

"Federation for International Regulation of Magic," Scorpius shrugged before entering the scene as well. "The accountant backstory actually works, though."

Sounds of a scuffle could be heard in the house, and Harry flinched as a spell caused a window to explode outwards.

"We got him!" Someone shouted, and moments later, a struggling James Potter was being roughly dragged out of his home by two agents, with more taking up the rear. James was still struggling and spitting insults at the agents, but his eyes got wide when he saw Robards, Severus, and his father standing further away.

Behind them, Scorpius came out with another agent who had a head injury that was bleeding.

"I have several healing potions if you need them." Severus offered. An offer which the agent, whom they would later learn was Hicks, gladly accepted.

James was still staring at the trio assembled there in shock as the agents placed the magic binding cuffs on him. The runes glowed an eerie yellow as they took effect.

"Thanks," Hicks said as the healing potion started to work. "That bombarda caught me off guard."

When Scorpius was sure his teammate would be alright, he nodded to his colleagues holding onto James. They nodded in return and dissiperated with him.

"We have a mobile command center set up just outside of London. We'll be interrogating him there and then decide if we should hand him over to the Aurors or deal with him ourselves if his crimes have crossed borders. If you still want answers, we can side-along apparate you there."

"But before that, Robards will need to come into our custody officially as well," Scorpius added. Robards looked defensive, though he raised his hands in surrender. He knew when he was outnumbered, and he had already thrown himself under the bus after Snape rummaged through his mind. "My superiors are aware that he is cooperating with the investigation."

Harry nodded. He knew what that meant. Robards was guaranteed some deal in exchange for his testimony. Harry didn't really like it, but he'd seen the system work for years. If Robards got them a bigger fish to fry, then he was looking at reduced time at least.

The side-along apparition to the secure site was as bad as Harry had imagined. He stumbled slightly when they landed.

"How can you stay upright?" Harry asked as Severus stood poised next to him as if they hadn't just been squeezed through a magical straw connecting one location to the other. With one person, it was manageable; with more, it felt like trying to stuff an elephant into a sardine can.

"Practice," Severus responded while brushing off some invisible lint from his long sleeves.

"Well, here we are," Scorpius told them, and Harry blinked as he got a good look at the location.

"This is a cemetery," Harry stated as he stared at the stone mausoleum door in front of them.

"You've got to admit. This is the last place anyone would look for a safe house."

Scorpius tapped his wand on several letters in sequence, and the door groaned open with a loud creak. "Eh... we are working on that." The blonde winced at the noise. "The maintenance department really needs to check our UK locations."

Harry took a deep breath. He had a feeling that what was about to come would be a whirlwind. Severus kept a steady hand on his back as they entered.