Leon went outside the same night the purple figure was discovered on the photograph. He went out at one in the morning. No one was around. Hagrid's hut was dark, and even Mr. Lancaster had fallen asleep by the exit. Leon pulled out a cigarette, held his wand to the end of it, and a spark came out the tip, igniting the tobacco. He took a deep drag and blew the smoke up and away. As Leon thought about what was about to happen, he sighed. Scanning the gates of the castle back and forth until he choked down his cigarette, Leon finally saw a green light flicker from the woods. Jogging over to the source, his three siblings floated in front of him on broomsticks. Each of them grinned.

"Leon, you ready to become a man?" Jonas snickered.

"Of course he is," Donny said.

"C'mon, we're running late," Chelsea said. "We need to go right now."

Jonas and Donny started flying away. One of them whispered, "We'll see you there!"

"Come on, Leon! We have to go right now! Wait. Where's your broom?"

"Ah, shit!" Leon patted his sides as if he thought he hid it in his cloak. "I'm sorry, Chelsea, I left it in my room."

"Dammit! Well, you'll just have to meet us there then. I can't wait for you."

"Where am I going?"

"Listen up because I'm not repeating this again! You're going to Mulledhills. There's a pub there called Gilroy's. Go inside. We're having a meeting in the basement for tonight's raid. The password is 'skull-eye.' Tell the barkeep. See you there!" Chelsea flew away into the night.

Leon watched his sister fade into the sky before he sprinted back to the castle. As soon as he entered the doors, he paused once he passed Mr. Lancaster's room. No one was walking through the halls. Leon spent a moment in deep thought and weighed the futures in his hands. A small part of him wanted to stay loyal and go to his common room to fetch the broomstick he purposely forgot. There was still time to go back on his decision that would forever alter his life.

With a deep inhale and a shaky exhale, his eyes brimmed with tears. He rushed through the corridors until he made it to the gargoyle statue and whispered the temporary code: molasses. Leon walked in, and Zita waited by the fire, giving a gentle smile. Kingsley Shacklebolt was next to her.

"Have a seat, Leon." Zita motioned for him to sit in the chair across from them.

"My siblings are going to Gilroy's in Mulledhills. A meeting is going to take place in the basement. The password is..." Leon's voice faded and anxiety swirled in his chest. His eyes widened, and tears poured out.

"It's okay, Leon. I don't need a password. You've told me enough as it is. All we needed was a location, and you've done just that. You've done the right thing, and you've saved lives tonight. Well done, the Ministry will never forget this," Zita said.

"Thank...you." Leon buried his head in his hands and wept.

"I know. It's hard to ease this pain, but this is a remarkably selfless act that goes far beyond a monetary value. Give yourself plenty of time to heal, but congratulations for doing the right thing," Zita said.

Leon sobbed and tried to calm down, but he couldn't. Zita stood up with Kingsley Shacklebolt. Mr. Lancaster walked into the office with Hagrid.

"'Ey mate, I'll sit in here with ya for a little while and keep you company." Mr. Lancaster yawned.

"Sorry wha' yeh're goin' through, it’s tough," Hagrid said.

"Have a goodnight, you three. Kingsley and I are going to Gilroy's in Mulledhills. We should be back by late morning." Zita bowed her head and left with Shacklebolt.

Hagrid and Mr. Lancaster sat across from a hunched over Leon. The two of them frowned at each other and shrugged.

"I got some funny stories I can tell ya if you'd like?" Mr. Lancaster said, but Leon kept crying incoherently.

Zita and Shacklebolt went into another room in the castle. They used the floo powder to enter the Ministry of Magic, where three Aurors waited in a small flagstone chamber.

"I just wanted all of you to know I'm planning on taking the lead here," Zita said. "I mastered some magic that handles these situations without a hitch. It's tough, so please, don't try and do anything too fancy or get in the way. If I go down, which will not happen, but if it did, Shacklebolt will take over. Any questions so far?"

Everyone shook their head.

"They're in a bar," Zita continued. "I'll go in first, and you four come in after me and stay by the entrance. Once I start to advance to their meeting room, that's when you'll follow after me. Let's head out."

***

Chelsea rushed into Gilroy's, an empty tavern with two cloaked individuals sitting up at the bar. The bartender leered at her. He was broad-shouldered and bald with a snake tattoo on the top of his head.

"Skull-eye," Chelsea grunted as she came up to him.

He eyed her up and down for a moment. "You're a pretty witch to be hangin' out downstairs."

"My brothers are down there, and I'm more powerful than them." Chelsea glared.

"Why don't you hang around here with me, have a drink." He let out a deep laugh.

Chelsea pulled out her wand and pointed the tip at his nose. "Just let me in that damn basement."

He smiled. "As long as you come back and say goodbye."

A section at the end of the bar flipped up. Chelsea strolled over to find a wooden trapdoor on the ground. She yanked it open and stepped downstairs into a damp basement. The smell of mold hung in the air, a few rats shrieked as they scurried away from the steps. A green light came from the center of the room. Chelsea approached a group of six wizards sitting around a rectangular table. A lantern with a green flame sat at the center.

"Chelsea, so glad you could finally join us," the man at the center said; his name was Max. He was tall with a sculpted face like a Roman statue.

"Sorry, Max, our brother Leon is on his way. Expect one more still," Chelsea said.

"What happened to him? We left you alone for a few seconds!" Donny hollered.

"If he's not here within five minutes, we'll have to leave him. These wizards aren't going to kill themselves." Max cracked up, and everyone else joined in.

"Mudbloods aren't wizards," Donny said.

"Good point."

"Ten minutes will make all the difference?" Chelsea challenged.

"Well, I wanted to praise our gratitude to Voldemort before going hunting, but it looks like we shall do that now. Come, Chelsea, take a seat at our table, so we don't waste any more damn time."

"Can you get a new bartender?" Chelsea scowled.

"Nah, Paul upstairs stays."

"He gives me the creeps."

"Exactly." Max smirked, and everyone chuckled.

Chelsea took a seat at the table. "Just tell me who I'm going to kill tonight."

"Don't get impatient now. We still need to say our prayer. Do you see how important it is to be on time? When you're brother gets here, he'll have to face some consequences. Not sure what yet. Perhaps the imperius curse?"

"Let's get on with the damn prayer!" Jonas barked, speaking what was on Chelsea's mind.

***

Upstairs in Gilroy's tavern, the doors opened. Zita stepped through, peering at the bartender. The bartender took a deep breath and put his hand in his cloak, where he wrapped his fingers around a concealed wand. He glanced at the two cloaked people at the bar and gave a slight nod.

Zita's eyes turned white, and a red aura emanated from her body. She aimed her wand at the bartender, and a cloud of red smoke streamed out, covering the air. With a wave of her hand, the smoke disappeared, and the three people in the tavern slumped to the floor. Zita moved around the bar, and she glared at the trapdoor until it broke off from the hinges. She descended the steps, and the Neo-Death Eaters scrambled away from the table with their wands pointed at Zita.

"Avada Kedavra!" they shouted as green beams shot at Zita, but her wand produced red smoke that made the projectiles disappear. The smoke enveloped the whole room and then it vanished in an instant. Everyone in the room fell to the ground. The Aurors from outside came rushing down the steps to arrest the unconscious Neo-Death Eaters. When they came up behind Zita, she passed out but Shacklebolt caught her in time.

"Is she okay?" one of the Aurors asked Shacklebolt.

"She's a powerful witch, and that spell she used takes a lot of energy. She'll be all right though."

"Hell yeah, that spell is powerful. These blokes are all knocked out," another Auror said.

"Go ahead and take them in for questioning," Shacklebolt directed. "Thank you all for coming out tonight. I'll take Zita back to Hogwarts."

"What kind of spell was she using? I wanna master that!" the Auror said.

"Something so complex, only she understands." Kingsley shrugged. He waited until all of the Aurors left the basement before he apparated back to Hogwarts with Zita in his arms.

***

On Sunday afternoon, Sable, Johnny, and Leon roamed through the halls of the castle, trying to find prey to shoot their light spell on unsuspecting victims for a cheap laugh. Johnny and Sable took note of Leon's slumped posture and non-existent smile.

Around the corner of a hall, Mr. Lancaster was whistling and moseying along. A ghost flew from the wall and screeched at him.

Mr. Lancaster jumped and yelled, "Damn you, Peeves! You startled me!"

"Oh, you're just too fun to mess with," Peeves shrieked as the ghost disappeared back into the wall.

"Luxino prement!" Sable whispered as a crackling light shot from her wand and pinched the back of Lancaster's head.

He spun around and scanned every corner. Sable and Johnny walked briskly to the opposite side of the hall, biting their lips as they were about to burst with laughter. Leon lagged a little bit behind, listening to Mr. Lancaster, "Just my damn luck. Getting pranked twice in one day. Ugh. Not to mention everything else that's been going on..."

Once the three of them were far enough away, Johnny and Sable exploded with obnoxious laughter. Leon stared at them, waiting for their high pitch squealing and tears to die down.

"Oh, come on," Johnny said in between deep breaths. "That was hilarious! Leon, what's the matter? I've seen more life at a cemetery. What's got into you?"

Leon sighed. "I'm not feeling very well. I feel sick."

"Ew. Get away from me then." Sable cracked up, then her eyes widened. "Oh shit, we gotta run," she whispered as she turned around with Johnny. They casually walked away down the hall.

"Leon!" Mr. Lancaster called out from behind. "I'm glad I found you. I was just going to look for you in the Slytherin common room. Zita wanted to talk to you."

Leon took a deep breath and nodded. At any moment, he felt like he could cry. It was like balancing on an emotional tightrope all day. He followed Mr. Lancaster up to Zita's office.

"Hello, Leon," Zita greeted warmly.

"Hi," he said.

"I wanted to let you know that your siblings were indeed arrested and questioned along with a couple of other high profile Neo-Death Eaters. They will likely be going through a rehabilitation program since there are no murders linked to them, but, I can’t say this enough..." Zita paused. "Thank you for what you've done."

Leon grimaced. "I was hoping they'd go to Azkaban. They'll kill me, Zita! If they get a chance, they'll escape and take me out! I know them, they're twisted!”

"Leon, it's okay. Take a deep breath. You're safe here in this castle. Just stay in as much as you can. Be careful when you go out for smokes on the grounds."

Leon gulped. How did she know? He thought.

"Not because of your siblings, but we're dealing with a serious issue with this land curse, and more information has come to us. Some invisible figure is wandering around close by. It may seem like a silly question, but do you ever hear any voices when you're out there at night?"

Leon shook his head.

"That's good, at least. Just be careful if you do go outside."

Leon nodded. "What's this rehabilitation program like? Are they going to hurt my siblings?"

"Goodness no. They're going to give them the best care they need to reform them, so they don't want to harm anyone. Violence will never be considered for their treatment."

"I still feel uneasy about this. You can do all the spells in the world. I don't think there's any way to change them."

"Give it time. You have my protection and your mother's. She's also incredibly proud of you."

"Can I leave now?" Leon asked.

"Of course. Remember, things will get better. Take time to heal, you'll get through this."

Leon fought back the tears and walked out of the room. He spent the most of his evening wandering the halls and then decided to go to the library to study. The only other people Leon saw in the library were a few older students. But he caught a glimpse of Daphne Poisonwood, sitting at a table by herself, scribbling on a piece of parchment.

Perhaps I could join her? Leon wondered. On second thought, It's probably better if I just sit by myself.

Daphne lifted her head up for a moment to think, but she caught sight of Leon. She smiled at him and waved. Leon felt his lips curl up for the first time in what felt like forever. He waved back, slowly, as if to savor the moment. Then he continued his search for an empty table to sit and study.