"No idea." replied Sarah "Are there any that you can think of who have been acting differently towards you lately?"
"Well, yeah, loads," said Harry "But that's because I'm interacting with more students."
"But are there any that stand out?"
"Not really. I mean, I'm getting on with Hannah and Susan a lot better than ever before, but that's more due to use spending the last weeks of summer in each other's company. A few Slytherin girls have begun warming up to me, but they're the ones I helped on the train… Wait, how about Padma? I went on a date with her the other day."
"But you didn't ingest the potion," said Sarah "So that can't have been what made you ask her out."
Harry blushed and replied "Well, actually she was technically the one who did the asking."
Sarah smirked at him "Oh really? I'll bet that Hannah loved hearing that."
"Yeah, she wanted to know all the juicy details, both before and after."
"So how has this Padma girl been acting towards you?" asked Sarah.
"How do you mean?" asked Harry.
"Well, has she been overly affectionate with you? Has she been extremely forward? Is there anything to suggest that she pines for you when you're not there?"
"No, I don't think so," said Harry before adding, almost absently "She's acting nothing like Cho."
His own words echoed in his mind for a moment before he fully absorbed what he had said and exclaimed "Holy crap, it's Cho! That's what's wrong with her!"
St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injures was rather quiet this evening. Officially, visiting hours were over, but two guests walked into the front door to the hospital anyway.
They approached the front desk and flashed their gold badges. The blond haired witch sitting behind the desk nodded and sent a message off to the Chief Healer as the two men began making their way towards the Admissions Department.
Chief Healer Amadeus Hopkirk met them outside his office and directed them inside.
"So," began Amadeus once he was seated in the chair behind his desk "to what do I owe this pleasure? What business does the Department of Mysteries have with St Mungo's Hospital?"
Saul Croaker and Cyrus Greengrass had been trying to set up this meeting for the better part of a week now, and only this afternoon had the Chief Healer finally consented to meet with them.
Though he was not technically an employee of the Department of Mysteries, Cyrus had collaborated with them enough times to warrant them giving him certain a few of the perks that came from working within that department, including the identification badge.
Ever since Harry Potter had levelled half of the Hall of Prophesy whilst fighting the Horcrux in his head, Cyrus had been working with the best and the brightest that the Department of Mysteries had to offer, and seeing as the Unspeakables only accepted the best and the brightest to their ranks, Cyrus had been working with a fair few minds could have given Rowena Ravenclaw herself a run for her money.
Based on every bit of information that Harry had ever given to either Cyrus, Madam Bones or Healer Abbott, they had been doing everything that they could in order to track down Lord Voldemort's other Horcruxes.
They had started at the beginning, learning all that they could about Tom Riddle's school days. This was a tough challenge as most who knew him either did not like to talk about him, or were in some way or another a puppet of Dumbledore's.
They had gleaned very little of Riddle's life before Hogwarts, only that he had come from Wool's Orphanage, a place that had long since been torn down. They had searched the place but had found nothing to suggest that Voldemort had ever returned there following his graduation from Hogwarts, far less anything that might have been a Horcrux.
This failure to find anything had caused them to look at the other end of Riddle's time at Hogwarts, trying to discover what he had done after leaving the classroom behind him.
Their findings had led them here.
"We require the opportunity to ask a few questions of one of your patients," explained Croaker "We are on the trail of a criminal and we believe that one of your patients may be able to offer us a little insight into how this man's mind works."
"And which patient would that be?" asked Amadeus.
"Caractacus Burke." replied Cyrus.
The healer looked slightly stunned by this name "You do realise that the man is not exactly all there anymore, don't you? He has been here for nearly forty years now, slowly slipping down the slope towards oblivion?"
"We are aware of his… condition," said Croaker. "However, this man is our main lead. We simply have to question him."
"We also have the backing of the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in this matter," added Cyrus "Madam Bones is most interested in learning exactly what it is that this patient knows about our target."
Amadeus rubbed a hand over his face wearily before giving a nod "Alight. Alright, I'll allow it. I can't guarantee that you'll get anything out of him, mind you. He's rarely lucid. Most of the time he just stares blankly at the pot plant in the corner of the ward and when he does speak it is usually nothing more than inane babble."
"Nevertheless…" said Croaker.
Amadeus nodded his head and stood up "Very well. I will take you to him."
They left the office and the Healer led the way up several flights of stairs until they reached the geriatric ward.
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