❝ I am pressed so hard against the earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk. ❞ —Katja Millay, The Sea of Tranquility

Despite Melvin's best attempts, Karson Richards refused to talk to us that evening, or the next one, or the one after that. Either he realized he told us too much or Dashawn forbade him from telling us more. We didn't know what the reality was, but both seemed plausible. So we gave up.

Frustrating as it is to know only fragments of the truth and have a thousand unanswered questions, it is still better than being left in the dark. We have gathered enough information from Karson Richards and professor Raymond, that we can move forth on our own.

"Here's my issue," Mike is saying as we head in the direction of Hagrid's Hut to serve our detention, while the rest of the school travels to Hogsmeade. "Raymond says he can't tell us what professor McBon is up to, which seems to be a recurring theme with both Melvin's dad and Dashawn. He gave us plenty of background information and Karson showed us a glimpse of how it all started but what they seem to be avoiding is what's happening now. What is gonna happen now? What do we do?"

"We take matters into our own hands," I respond. Looking over my shoulders, I throw a meaningful look at Melvin, Alex and Wally behind us. "It seems like Raymond has a soft spot for me and genuinely wants to help, so I'll convince him to tell us what professor McBon is planning. If every adult refuses to give us direct answers, we'll fight tooth to nail and not back down until we get them."

"Spoken like a true Gryffindor," comes a deep voice behind us. I whirl around, coming face to face with none other than Karson Richards.

He is leaning on his cane with both hands, dressed in his typical leather vest that exposes his tattoos on both arms. One of them displays a serpent, and the other a brain with a big cursive 'U' underneath it. It looks oddly familiar, despite the fact I've got no clue what it means. His face wears a blank expression as usual, but when his eyes fall on Melvin's bewildered ones, a smile traces his lips.

"What are you doing here, dad?" Melvin asks.

"I'm on my way to pay Hagrid a visit," he responds casually. He trudges past us, the tip of his cane digging small holes in the wet soil. "As well as make sure the creature he gets you to take care of as part of your detention isn't too dangerous."

"Oh, at this point, we've most likely seen them all," says Melvin with a scoff.

"Glad I dropped Care of Magical Creatures last year," mumbles Alex.

We continue to walk towards Hagrid's Hut, Karson leading the way. The thumping of his cane breaks the silence of the afternoon. I glance at Mike. His brows are pressed together, his bottom lip caught between his teeth.

"What?" I ask.

Mike jerks his head, as if waking from a nap. "Hm?"

"You're overthinking something. As you do."

"I'm analyzing."

"Same thing. Spit it."

"Well," he begins. Takes a deep breath. "I was just considering the idea that Dashawn has made an Unbreakable Vow. Hence why he is refusing to tell us a thing, but still leading us to all the answers. I mean, c'mon." He gestures at Karson walking in front of us. "Tell me this wasn't all planned. He wouldn't talk to us the past three days."

I consider. "Fair point. But does it sound like something professor McBon would do? Making an Unbreakable Vow with her own colleague? Seems a bit absurd."

"You're talking about a woman that's a Seer, retired Unspeakable and made Polly recruit and prepare us for a potential war to fulfill a prophecy none of us had any clue of, and Merlin knows what else that she's still hiding. I don't know what sounds like her or doesn't at this point."

"Let's not forget the part about her not caring that a Dolphinus would be killed, so long as she saved Robert Kin," Melvin chimes in. "Or that she let the Simmons' article get published. Seriously, who runs that magazine? Are they all blind?"

"Call me heartless, mate," Alex says. "But I couldn't care less about Jeff Willard. I don't care what Raymond told Sibi about him being scared and misunderstood. Doesn't excuse his actions. He discredited everything Polly was fighting for, and for what? She and Stella are innocent too, yet they didn't reject their identity and engage in oppression of their own kind to seem like victims. That's a coward's way of doing it."

"Well, the bloke wasn't a Gryffindor for a reason," Melvin says. "I see your point, but consider. People do crazy things to survive. Besides, it doesn't make McBon's actions any better. I stand by what I said, she's not to be trusted."

I let out a sigh. I want answers. But more than that, I want an action plan. There is no point in knowing all these secrets if we are not going to put them to any use. It's like being handed an incomplete cooking recipe and then told to make a cake.

We take two more steps down the hill and Hagrid's Hut comes in sight, smoke rising from the chimney. Hagrid is bent over a pumpkin on his garden, swiping a dusting of snow from its surface. When he spots us approaching, his back straightens and he lifts his giant hand to wave at us. An automatic smile tugs at my lips.

"Long time no see, Hagrid," Karson Richards beams when he reaches him.

He sticks out his hand to greet the half-giant. From the way his face contorts when Hagrid shakes it, the grip must be firm, as is usual with Hagrid.

"It's nice to have yeh back, Karson," Hagrid responds. When his gaze shifts to us, his face breaks into a grin. "Look a' that! Your son, Melvin looks jus' like yeh. Hello, Sibi, Michael. What a lovely surprise! Oh, and Walcott's here as well, hello! Who's the other one? I neve' seen him."

Karson gestures for Alex to step forward. Rests a hand on his shoulder.

"My old friend's son," he introduces. "Alex Forster Junior."

Hagrid's face falls. "Oh, dear."

"I know what you must think—" Alex starts.

"Oh no, it's nothin' like that," says Hagrid quickly, waving a hand in dismissal. "I jus' feel for yeh, son. That man was all sorts o' vile. I don' think yer like him at all."

"D'you mind if we come in, Hagrid?" Karson interrupts. "The kids have got detention to serve later."

Hagrid's eyes widen as if the realization just kicks in.

"Oh, right, right! 'Course." He pushes the wooden door of his hut open. "C'mon in. I jus' made some earl grey tea."

We enter his hut. Karson stops Hagrid before he can follow after us and pushes the door closed behind me. I glance out of the window, which is open ajar. Trying to catch a snippet of their conversation proves useless as they are speaking in whispers. Mike is right, there's definitely something Melvin's dad is planning on telling us today. Whether by Dashawn's will or his own.

"Wow," Alex remarks as his eyes scan the house. "Crazy to think I've been in this school for five years and never stepped a foot in here."

"There's probably other places you've never stepped foot in," Mike says. "Think of all the common rooms."

Melvin plops down on the red armchair by the fireplace. "Rena, Ralph and I have made it a mission to not leave Hogwarts without exploring every inch of it."

"Ambitious," I say. "Did Rena escape detention too, by the way?"

"Nope. She's helping out Umphassen in the greenhouses all of next week. Umphassen was not thrilled that we jinxed her Umbrella Flowers to pour water on people. This is also the first time we get separate detentions and Ralph gets off scot-free, so Rena's holding a wee bit of a grudge."

I can't help but chuckle at that. Just as I'm about to ask where Wally has gone, the sound of barking from the kitchen makes me turn around. He is lying on the ground, Fang on top of him, licking at his face while Wally pets him behind the ears. The broad grin on his face and the way his chest is rising and falling indicates he is laughing, despite the lack of vocalizations coming out of his mouth.

I smile, almost nostalgically so. Polly used to hide behind me whenever Fang ran up to us when we visited Hagrid. When I asked her about it, she said it was a phobia she had developed since childhood, when her aunt's bulldog bit her leg. Thinking of her hurts, so I shake my head to push the memory away.

I walk up to Wally. He is now on his feet and stroking Fang's head.

"So I take it you're close to Hagrid."

Wally doesn't take Care of Magical Creatures, so surely that can't be how he has gotten to know Hagrid over the years. He nods and brings out his wand to write on the air.

'He used to teach my mum. Ever since year one, Hagrid has kept me really close. He was my first friend apart from Roxanne.'

I nod. "Has he told you anything worth knowing?"

Wally bites his lip, as if debating whether or not to answer. Slowly, he lifts his arm again.

'He's shown me something.'

I raise my eyebrows. "And?"

He throws a concerned look at Mike, Melvin and Alex on the other side of the hut. They are sitting at the table, drinking tea and engaged in discussion, none of them paying the slightest attention to us. Wally shifts his body so that his back is facing them, then writes something quickly.

'I can show you, but you must promise not to tell.'

His eyes are trained on me, as if waiting for the moment I finish reading and meet his gaze so that he can make the words vanish. I frown.

"You've got me worried now, Wally. Does anyone else knows about this?"

He raises his arm again. This time, the writing is in smaller letters, like he is trying to make sure it's ineligible from a distance.

'Dashawn and Karson Richards know. It's all part of McBon's plan. There's other people involved too, but they're trying to keep it secret.'

"From us?" I ask.

Wally shakes his head.

'From the Ministry,' he writes.   

I don't have time to say more. The sound of the door opening and the thud of a cane against the wooden floor signify Hagrid and Karson have entered. Fang barks and runs toward Hagrid.

"We got company today, Fang," he says, reaching down to pet the dog's ears. "Would yeh lot like some pudding? Made it myself jus' this morning."

"Pudding sounds lovely," Karson responds. He pulls up an empty chair next to Melvin and sits.

As Hagrid disappears into the kitchen, smiling at me and Wally when he passes us by, we walk up to the table and join the rest of our friends. Karson doesn't as much as glance at us. He is busy pouring himself some earl grey tea. We're all silent as we watch him, exchanging quizzical, apprehensive glances with one-another.

"Dad," Melvin finally speaks up, his voice careful. "We, uh . . . we've been wanting to talk to you."

He takes a long sip of tea. Not lifting his eyes from the cup as he lowers it slowly, he replies, "I'm aware."

Another moment of awkward silence stretches between us. I decide this is the time to speak up.

"Mr Richards, we were wondering if we could ask you some questions related to what we just saw three days ago in the Pensieve. At the end of the day, those were your memories, sir."

I don't expect him to lift his gaze, so my blood turns cold when his dark eyes fixate on me. There's no hint of anger on his features, so I smile. Karson looks around at the rest of them. Everyone's eyes are trained on him, expectant. He sighs. Traces the rim of his teacup with one finger.

"I am not the same man I was twenty two years ago," he says. "I was involved in some dark business that I'm not proud of. I was prejudiced and cowardly, and I didn't realize until later that year how much I hated being both of those things. When I saw how helpless and scared Robert Kin looked when the Ministry examiners found out he was a Dolphinus . . . something about it hit me. He was so young and vulnerable, unaware of his powers, how his kind were treated. My little brother Kurtis, Rena and Ralph's dad, was friends with him. They were both the same age, only twelve."

He shifts his gaze outside the window into Hagrid's garden of snow-covered pumpkins.

"I couldn't support Jeffrey after that," he continues. "He was a coward. Alexander was prejudiced. Everything I didn't want to be. Both of them were nasty, twisted people in their own way. I wanted no part in it."

"How did you back out?" Alex asks. "How did my father let you?"

"Under the condition that I kept my mouth shut about what he was doing. If he, in turn, would stay away from Kurtis. I was spineless back then, with no morals or opinions of my own. It's how I got myself into such messy business in the first place. I was a rule follower and masterful at Charms—the perfect partner in crime for someone like Alexander Forster. But he kept his word and I kept mine."

"Were you expelled, dad?" Melvin asks.

Karson shakes his head. "I finished the rest of my education and excelled in my N.E.W.T.s. But I couldn't live with myself knowing what I'd done to that girl, Connie Sawyers."

He looks over at Wally. For the first time since he has been at Hogwarts, his face shows a trace of emotion that isn't directed at his son or niece and nephew. His eyes are round with sorrow.

"I can never repay what I took away from you and your mother, Walcott, and that is something I will regret for the rest of my life. But I turned myself in to the Ministry. I stood by my word to Alexander that I wouldn't let anyone know what we had been up to—I couldn't—but I served my time in Azkaban for two crimes. Using an Unforgivable Curse on a student, which was the person that I Imperiod to test out the potion on Connie, and then giving an unregistered potion to another student without their consent."

"What?!" Melvin exclaims. "You never told me you used to be in Azkaban! Merlin's beard, dad!"

His mouth curves in a smirk as he turns to Melvin.

"Son, remember when I told you not to ask me any questions about my job because I was prohibited from talking about it? Well, I passed this off as one of those things."

"So you lied," Melvin says.

Karson seems unfazed. "I was sorted into Slytherin for a reason. You should know."

"Your job?" Mike asks, his eyes narrowed. "What kind of job is that where it prohibits you from talking about it?"

"When I got released from Azkaban after my two-year sentence," Karson continues. "Jeffrey had landed himself a job in the Head of Department of Law Enforcement. I knew what that man was capable of doing. If he had to cheat his way up to the top, he would without thinking twice. It's how he's gotten himself to become Head of it now, as well as Minister's Adviser. That position did not exist, but he made it happen because Zico Peterson was a good man with progressive ideals and old friend of Breeze McBon's. Jeffrey couldn't have him be in control of the nation and start shifting everyone's stance on Dolphinuses. He knew that meant he'd have to pay for his crimes. So he had to become Peterson's right-hand man."

"So, naturally, my solution was to find a job where I'd never end up his underling." He takes another slow sip of tea. "Kurtis and his wife lent me some money so that I could pursue further training. A few months later, I landed my first internship at the Department of Mysteries. The man I worked for at the time knew Breeze McBon because she used to work there herself before coming to teach at Hogwarts, so I think that was her indirect way of testing out my loyalties. After that, I got the only job that allowed me not to answer to the Department of Law Enforcement. At last, I was immune to Jeffrey's influence."

My eyes drift to the big cursive 'U' letter on his left arm right beneath the tattoo of a brain. That's when it clicks why it looks familiar. I have seen the same tattoo on professor McBon's arm once.

"You're an Unspeakable," I realize out loud.

Karson nods. "I work on the Thought Chamber, exploring the patterns of thought and using Legilimency. Breeze McBon herself worked in the Hall of Prophecies during her time for the Ministry."

The Thought Chamber. So that explains the brain tattoo above the 'U'.

"Makes sense," Mike says. He rubs his chin thoughtfully. "If she was a Seer and didn't want anyone the Ministry to know about the prophecy, what better job than the one where she couldn't talk about it?"

"Imagine how many other prophecies she must know," Melvin wonders. "She had access to the entire Hall."

"Breeze McBon is a powerful woman," Karson says and pours himself more tea. "And she would do anything for the prophecy to be fulfilled. Which was precisely why I was worried at first, when I saw that godforsaken article."

He looks at Melvin mutely for a long moment.

"I wanted you to step out of this initiative for the same reason I stepped out of what I was part of twenty two years ago," Karson tells him. "To protect yourself, the same as I wanted to protect Kurtis."

Melvin opens his mouth and closes it again. The fact that he turned against me after the scandal completely slipped my mind while we were in the midst of uncovering all these secrets. His being here now doesn't mean he is on our side again. It looks like even he forgot that part up until now.

"I-I don't know, dad," Melvin says and looks down, his face conflicted. "After everything we've found out from you and professor Raymond, I don't want to just . . . sit back and do nothing. I may not fully trust McBon, but . . . Polly was my friend, too. I know she's innocent and so is Stella. We can't let them be killed in Azkaban."

My heart flutters with a ray of hope. He still cares. He's still with us. I want to smile. Karson sighs and shakes his head. The hollowness of my stomach only comes to my attention when I turn to see Hagrid trudging toward us. He is holding a giant chocolate pudding on gloved hands, a proud grin plastered on his face.

"Had ter heat it up firs'," he explains and places the pudding on the middle of the table.

He grabs his pink umbrella from beside the fireplace and points it toward the kitchen. A series of plates and cutlery come levitating toward the table, each of them landing softly in front of each of us.

"That's better, eh?"

Experience tells me Hagrid isn't known for his baking skills, but my hunger insists I cut a slice of pudding anyway. It tastes a bit doughy in the middle as I chew on it. It could've done with another ten minutes in the oven. But I'm so hungry that I almost don't mind it.

"Do you trust professor McBon?" Alex asks.

"I do," Karson responds. He cuts himself a piece of pudding. "I never questioned her goals, just her means of achieving them."

"The prophecy," I say. Karson turns to me. "Could you tell us more about it, Mr Richards? Professor Raymond said he didn't know what we saw in the memory."

"Professor Raymond doesn't know many things," he says. "Yes, the prophecy is Breeze's main concern. Sometimes I wonder whether it's her only one."

"What are the Tasks?" I ask.

Karson hesitates. "I can't answer that."

I sigh deeply, close my eyes. Of course he can't. We should feel lucky he has even answered this much.

"Is there any way we can help?"

He takes a bite of the chocolate pudding. Swallows before answering, "Stand together. Don't say more than you need to. Don't seek answers in the wrong places."

And with nothing more than a pointed look in Hagrid's direction, Karson Richards stands up, grabs his cane and limps towards the door.

"Dad, what—"

But he walks out, closing the door behind him. Melvin groans and leans back in his chair. Fang lets out a low bark. Wally pets his head and feeds him a slice of his untouched pudding.

"Well, at least he trusts professor McBon and whatever she's up to," I say, though it provides little comfort. We're still clueless about what that is. "So we know we can too."

"Marvelous," Alex sneers. "We've still got no idea what to do in the meantime."

"Mike was suggesting something interesting a while back," Melvin says. "What if McBon has made an Unbreakable Vow with Dashawn so that he won't tell what she's planning? My dad won't tell because he won't tell. And also, well, he can always pass it off as it being part of his job, which he does with practically everything."

"Rubbish!" exclaims Hagrid, catching us all off guard. He stands up from the armchair he was sitting on and grabs a bucket filled with what looks like dead rats. I stifle the urge to gag. "Breeze McBon would neve' do such a thing. She's a great, great woman. Only reason Boden is stayin' silent is 'cos he's been threatened."

"Threatened?" we all say in unison.

Hagrid's face turns white in horror and he clasps his free hand over his mouth.

"Shouldn't hav' said that," he murmurs. "I should not have said that."

He shakes his head while mumbling something incoherent under his breath, then opens the door. Fang jumps off from Wally's lap and follows after Hagrid. I look around at all of them, their expressions equally dumbfounded.

Hagrid motions for us to leave the hut, the look on his face a cross between bothered and regretful. When I walk closer to him, I can still make out his lips murmuring 'shouldn't have said that.' Mike walks up to me. We both exchange a quizzical look.

"Hagrid, what do you mean 'threatened'?" I ask. "Who's threatening him?"

But instead of answering, Hagrid grumbles and shakes his head. He grabs a can of worms from his garden and shoves it in Mike's hands.

"Don't yeh lot got detention ter serve or somethin'? C'mon, all o' yeh. That's enough. We got ter feed Buckbeak."