Disclaimer : Harry Potter is JK Rowling's.
Chapter 24 - Finding T.M. Didler
The Cardinal was furious with Gomez. This was not part of their plan and there was no need to get Thomas arrested. Thomas was purposeless in jail except to get the Muggles a suspect and the Ministry onto the Muggle murders, which was obviously exactly what Gomez wanted to happen. Gomez had no right to end this when the Cardinal was not through. And not only was Gomez trying to end it, he, possibly by accident, led Potter and Granger closer to finding out.
Gomez kept on underestimating Granger. Though meticulous care was taken so Thomas would not see even a mere suggestion of who the Cardinal's public alter ego was, there was no telling what a skilled Legilimiens like Granger could accomplish given Thomas' spotty memory. As unfortunate as it was, the Cardinal had to tie up this loose end, quickly, or risk being exposed. At the moment, Thomas' black appointment book no longer existed and later, once Thomas was settled in a nice comfortable Muggle cell, there would be an appearance of an escape and Thomas would never be seen on the face of the earth again.
With this thought, the Cardinal disapparated from the Evidence room of the Muggle Police station.
A few minutes later, Ritchie was quite irate as he left the same station and drove back to Scotland Yard to find the Chief. Ritchie was having a very bad day. Thomas had been arrested and now, transferred to the Yard without his knowledge. He was disgusted with Harry for the obvious reasons, annoyed at Jane for involving him in that conversation, but really pissed at himself for not resisting the urge to do them any favors. This was definitely Ron's fault for showing him that memory.
Admittedly, he could not understand why Jane would have wanted to erase the memory of Thomas attempting to kiss her. It could have been to keep it from Ron's sister and to protect a friend and save his marriage, but Jane could keep a secret better than anyone he knew. The only reason he could think of that would make her take it was if there were something else to the incident. Jane always had a good reason for doing things.
By omitting the Thomas-almost-kissing-her story the first time, Ritchie hoped she would miss it and not ask the question. He knew she would react the way she did finding out she took an amnesiac, recognizing that she hated not knowing everything that was important enough to know. Finding out she had a missing memory, particularly one she willingly parted with, was sure to drive her up the wall and Harry's implication the night before, though probably not meant, made things worse. It was bad enough coming to the same conclusion that Harry arrived at and be proven wrong about yourself at the same time.
Harry deserved being screamed at, maybe not for anything he did today but definitely for suggesting it to her last night. Ritchie intervened, not for him but for Jane, because of the memory he was carrying in his jacket pocket. What was more irritating was that while he seemed certain this morning what to do with it, the incident had made him change his mind.
Ritchie brought the nasty mood with him as he confronted the Chief in his office.
"Am I not lead in this case? Why was I not informed about picking Thomas up or about the decision to move him here?!" Ritchie was screaming at the top of his lungs.
"Keep your voice down, Tilly," the Chief was a patient man but he had limits, "This is an important case. The order came directly from the Minister himself, he wanted an arrest and he got an arrest. End of story!"
"Thomas doesn't have a motive."
"I am sure he has one. You said so yourself. The victims had dreadful reputations. Even a saint could have killed them."
"It seems his guilt has been decided."
"We move on, Tilly. There have been no more killings and there will be no more. People need closure."
"But you're wrong. There have been more murders!"
"Those do not concern us Muggles!"
Ritchie did not have time to be fully surprised by what he had just heard his Chief say as they turned their attention to an owl that was rapping very persistently on the Chief's office window.
About half an hour ago, at Hogwarts, Hermione hung up on Ritchie and turned her phone off. She was livid; more at herself than Harry; actually mostly at herself. Last night, she was hurt Harry could even think she would use the amnesiac with someone else, and today she just found out she did. She could accept being proven wrong, which rarely happened, but to be proven wrong about something like that was devastating. It was so unlike her to do something so moronic as to wipe off a memory. But was it?
Five months certainly seemed a long time ago. She thought back trying to remember how she felt then and how she would have handled Dean trying to kiss her. Around that time, she had to admit, there was a slight chance she could have. She might not have wanted to have that memory to deal with. And Dean had no reason to lie about what happened and all the reason to deny it, so she likely did.
She tried to locate memories around the time when the incident with Dean supposedly happened. Vaguely, she remembered sitting beside him at the bar in the Screeching Moon. Tom the bartender was laughing with them, or was it at them? Dean excused himself, saying he had to go home and make up with Ginny. She did not remember any conversations about Ginny. In fact, she didn't even remember Dean joining her at the bar.
The last memory she had before that was of Tom setting a glass of firewhiskey in front of her saying it was compliments of an anonymous admirer. She teased him, suspecting it was really him trying to make her feel less depressed. He denied it and denied it each of the many other times he brought her complimentary drinks from her 'admirer'. She always left him a hefty tip. Tom really knew how to make his customers feel better.
Thinking about Tom she remembered an incident that now seemed pertinent to her lost memory. It was during her disastrous brief date with Aimes about a month later.
"Tom, make Ron pay his tab next time he's in because he's a dead man," she said to him as she dropped by the bar on her third trip to the ladies room in twenty minutes.
"What's wrong with this one?" Tom smiled, polishing some glasses.
"I can't stand him. He's been doing this to his face every three minutes," she demonstrated, tried to scrounge up her facial muscles.
"Why?"
"Apparently, he never breaks his regimen and this hour is facial exercise. He says the next hour is for his upper body. You can tell how excited I am to watch him exercise all night. Just my luck!"
Tom laughed.
"It's not funny," she said at first then accepted, having a chuckle with him, "Okay, it is a bit funny."
"I think he's getting anxious that you've been standing here for a long time," Tom observed over her shoulder.
She turned and signalled that she would be right with him while telling Tom, "Why can't he take a hint? If my date left me three times to go to the ladies room, I would think it's either she was having a really awful time or have a serious bladder or bowel problem, I would run away the first opportunity I have."
Tom suggested, "Sounds like this calls for my amnesiac special. Do you want me to make up a batch?"
"You know I never touch that stuff. How many times have you offered me this special drink of yours and how many times have I said no?"
"I don't know, how many?"
"Six, that's six times it's been no and tonight is lucky seven."
"But you wouldn't remember how many times you've said yes," Tom was grinning mischievously.
"True. But see, I don't get it. I think the more horrible a memory is the more I'd really like to hang on to it."
"Why is that?"
"Take tonight. I definitely want to keep this one so I don't ever make the same mistake again. There's no sense hitting myself with a hammer constantly," she replied.
"What about a memory that may not be horrible but had no other purpose but to make you feel guilty?" Tom asked.
"Tempting for sure. Listen, if Aimes doesn't agree to end this date and leave now I will definitely kill Ron," she said in jest, "So you can ask me again then, though I'm not sure I'll be remorseful doing it."
Tom merely smiled as she continued before rejoining Aimes, "Save me a seat, I'll be back in two minutes."
Tom would know when else she took it and if there was just that one or several, she wanted each and every memory back. Maybe she could pay him a visit when all this business about the Cardinal was behind her.
Hermione was so upset finding out that she took the amnesiac that she took it out on Harry. Harry may not have said anything but he was thinking it; and it mattered a lot to her what he thought. Since she did it at least once, she might have done it many other times. She may have done something horribly wrong that she wouldn't remember and maybe there was more to Dean's memory than he admitted. It wouldn't have mattered much if she weren't concerned about how Harry would feel about that.
She found herself wishing she did not love him anymore so she would not care so much about him being hurt by what he could find out about her. There were a couple of things she did in the past months that Harry might find hurtful, things she still had to tell Harry about, and now, that included events she may not even remember, much less explain.
Just last night, she was already frustrated and exhausted trying to explain her actions from the past when she wasn't accountable to anyone but herself. What was she supposed to do? Think of how Harry would be affected by her every decision when she was certain he didn't care and would never come back? She was trying her best to move on with her life and that would have been a definite violation of what she was trying to do. And she didn't even do anything wrong, at least not that she remembered.
Fate was being cruel to her. Not only did the things she did to try and forget him not work, it appeared they would ultimately be the cause why they wouldn't be together. Harry thought he would come back and just pick up where he left off, still thinking of her as the Hermione he remembered from two years ago, when so much had happened in his absence. Anytime soon, he would realize he was in love with someone who no longer existed; someone who probably died when he left two years ago.
Hermione did see this coming before jumping into the fire again. That was part of the reason she wanted him to leave and disappear again. She knew she would have no choice if he showed any interest in her. Last night in her apartment, he asked her if she really wanted him to stop what they were doing, and between Ginny telling her that he still loved her and how she still felt about him, she had to give them another chance. If they were meant for each other and if Harry truly loved her, he would be able to look past all that and still want to be with her. She really could not see that happening now. The truth was, she could see their frustration continuing if they stayed together. Maybe it was just not meant to be.
There was an aching lump in her throat as she thought about the eventuality of saying goodbye once more, hoping it wouldn't be as bad the second time around. Hopefully, they would remain friends. A few drops of tears fell as she closed her eyes.
"Are you okay?" Neville Longbottom, Hogwarts Herbology teacher, asked, concerned. He had in his arms a stack of what looked like class graduation books.
"I'm fine, Neville. I'm just tired," telling a half-truth as she wiped the tears off her face with a hanky she conjured out of thin air.
There were hushed voices among a group of Neville's students at the far end of the room.
"I think they suspect it's you," Neville apologized, setting the books on the table, "You can't believe how notoriety has actually increased your popularity."
"Thanks for doing this and please thank Professor McGonagall for me, for being supportive."
"I just wish you had given me an idea of what it was you wanted help with before coming over, though I understand the need for secrecy. I may have gotten you more useful information."
"I know it's a long shot. We think Didler attended Hogwarts around the time we were here but likely changed names before getting on the train. It seems far fetched the name Didler would appear on any Hogwarts document."
"Okay, so here's what we did. For a start, we already know that no student with the name Didler ever attended Hogwarts. But you think Didler attended under a different name. Unfortunately, the list of students eligible for admission into Hogwarts for any given year, which probably would have Didler's name, is highly confidential, to protect the anonymity of students like Didler. Even Professor McGonagall will not be able to help us. But, admission letters and transfer letters are not that private."
"And Hogwarts keeps copies?"
Neville nodded, "I had my class look at copies of letters for students who attended Hogwarts during the seven years we were here. That's a total of thirteen years. The problem was they were dumped in boxes, just sorted by year, and definitely missing a lot of letters. Ours weren't in the lot. Neither was Didler's."
Hermione was not hearing anything good so far. Maybe Didler changed names before the admission letters were sent out.
"But you said Didler was an orphan. Hogwarts has a fund for orphans who cannot afford to buy books, robes and supplies. It took a while to find the right book but…"
Neville was grinning from ear to ear as he opened a logbook and pointed to an almost faded entry.
July 1, 1994 T.M.Didler 100 galleons
"The summer before our fourth year," Hermione did a quick calculation in her head.
Hermione jumped and gave Neville a big hug, planting a loud kiss on his cheek. Neville blushed as his students cheered him. Hermione apologized, "I'm sorry. But thanks. This is wonderful news!"
"You're most welcome but don't get too excited, yet. That entry is the only one. We don't know if Didler was in the first year class or a transfer. As I said, we don't have a complete list of the admission letters for that year but assuming, and this is a big assumption, that in 1994 Didler was a first year, I can get the kids to start cross referencing names on the Hogwarts 1994 first year roster with the names on the admission letters we have on file. I reckon by tomorrow we can narrow down the 1994 first year list to include only those without matching admission letters. If Didler entered Hogwarts as a first year, Didler's other name should be on it."
"Let's work on that assumption and if we find nothing we'll come back and dig some more," Hermione thought the chances were quite good Didler was a first year student in 1994. Transfers were quite rare.
"I thought you might want to get started; Graduating Classes 1994 through 2001. Didler should have at least one photo in here somewhere," Neville was still blushing when he pushed seven Hogwarts Graduation Annuals towards her. One year was missing for when the school was closed.
The top most looked familiar. It was for the year they graduated. Opening it to the centre page, she found a picture of her, Ron and Harry. It was when they were recognized with a special school award for ridding the world of Voldemort. She remembered the moment, as she saw herself on the moving picture looking very embarrassed that she was receiving such an honour. Ron was laughing at someone in the crowd. And Harry was looking at her and Ron, mostly her with such a bittersweet expression. Hermione never saw it that way before. She wondered, with everything that had happened, if that was going to be the last look she was going to give him.
Re-focussed by Neville's discovery of T.M. Didler, she thanked him and sent the graduation books over to Harry's house. Hermione found and walked through the secret passageway that led to the Shrieking Shack. When she got there, she looked at her watch and took her phone out. She called Ritchie.
"It's me."
"Are you okay?"
She thought that question sounded familiar, "I'm fine. How did the conversation with the Chief go?"
"Not well," Ritchie replied, "First of all, the Chief knows Gomez as Michael Goodrich. He's rich and donated a lot of cash to get the Chief into his position. My Chief also knows he's a Muggle and Gomez is a wizard."
"Interesting."
"It was a set up. Thomas is the fall guy so they both get what they want. And one other thing, Thomas' appointment book is missing."
"That's not good," Hermione replied, worried. She looked at the time; it was just before two in the afternoon, "I have some time before work. I need you. Can we meet?"
Exactly an hour before that, at the Ministry for Magic, Harry had just apparated and was quite ill tempered. He tried Hermione's phone a few times but his kept telling him hers was out of service. With the Gomez meeting scheduled in a little over half an hour, he couldn't go to Hogwarts either. Even if they talked right now, he was bound to mess things up even more as he was still at a loss about what to say to her to make things right.
Why would she take the potion? Dean he could understand. On the other hand, she didn't do anything wrong. Wouldn't that be the only reason why one would want a memory erased? The months she stayed away from the Burrow and from Ginny kept nagging him. He stopped himself.
"No, it was merely a near kiss, nothing more, just as Dean confessed," he told himself. It had to be.
And really, it was premature to think she took the potion more than that one time. Last night he only said those words to hurt her and now she would not allow him to take them back. At the moment, she would not even allow him to get in touch with her.
It was quite a concern for Harry that Ritchie knew too much about them. Not only did she choose to talk about what he said last night with Ritchie present, she invited Ritchie into their conversation and quickly turned to Ritchie for support during their argument. On hindsight, had he not been so pre-occupied trying to defend himself and trying to figure out how to diffuse the tension, he might have recognized the futility of his words sooner and made an attempt to talk to her more privately
Ritchie's reaction was also a bit of puzzlement. It almost seemed as if he was actually trying to help Harry out. Harry must have been imagining things.
Upon arrival at the Atrium he immediately went to the Library. He asked for a complimentary copy of the Daily Prophet containing the Rita Skeeter article about Hermione's escape that had a picture of Gomez on it and walked across to the Owlery.
Ritchie did not specify how so Harry thought it was a good opportunity to have some fun sending him the picture. First, he had to remove Hermione's bound image from the background. The last thing he wanted was an overly concerned Ritchie bombarding Hermione with affection. He looked around, hoping he was still around and found him. The perfect owl to do this particular job; Mr. Pecker.
Mr. Pecker was a former Prophet delivery owl that couldn't get past the fact that being a Ministry owl meant he was no longer required to collect payment for deliveries. He wondered how long Ritchie would figure this out, a test of just how well read and well informed he was about the magical world. Grinning as he was attaching the picture to Mr. Pecker's leg, he wished he could be there to see the look on Ritchie's face.
He still had time. Harry went to Wizard and Witch Resources, where employee files would be. He charmed his way into an unscheduled meeting with the Head of the Department and convinced her to show him the Gomez employee file. There was not much there that was of interest. There were no names listed as family; no family contact in case of Emergency; no personal leaves to address family matters; no suggestion of T.M.Didler. Curious, his pension plan listed a Muggle charity as a beneficiary. His wrote down the name for later reference.
Kingsley sent him a flyer saying Gomez had postponed their meeting to an hour later, at three in the afternoon when Hermione was due at work. He thought about going there after. That would not go over well with her should he show up there. They might just end up arguing about why she insisted on living a Muggle life. Maybe she was finished at Hogwarts and they could have a quick chat before. He tried Hermione again. Her phone just kept ringing. He called Ritchie.
"What is it?" he asked abruptly.
No, he could not ask him about whether or not she called. His resolve melted as quickly as it formed. Damn.
I'm worried about her. "Has she called at all?"
"She's with me," Harry was taken aback, trying not to jump to any more conclusions as she suggested this morning. He looked at the phone; they were at the Yard.
"I want to talk to her."
"She's busy at the moment," Ritchie replied, "I'll have her call you back."
He was sounding extremely normal. Something was up.
"Did you get the picture?"
"Thanks," Ritchie replied with no animosity whatsoever, sounding very normal but distracted, "What's the owl's name?"
"Mr. Pecker," Harry thought, hopefully Ritchie didn't hurt Mr. Pecker.
"Fitting," Ritchie said, "He loves chocolates by the way. And your Miguel Gomez is our Michael Goodrich. He's quite an influential man on our side of the world too, got the Chief his job."
"Goodrich?"
"He was adopted by a rich childless couple who left him everything at age sixteen."
"Anything unusual?"
"Nothing suspicious, but I'll dig some more," Harry heard him swear.
"What's the matter?" Harry asked.
"I think were fine," came his strange reply.
"Can you check out a Muggle Charity for me? Pension beneficiary on Gomez' file," Harry read out the name.
"Will do. I've got to go Harry. I'll see you later tonight."
And he hung up. Harry tried Hermione again. It rang and rang and the display did say she was at the Yard. Finally giving up on talking to her before her shift at the Bookstore, he concentrated on finding more about Gomez. As he suspected, he could not get to the personal file with the intensive background information that would have been gathered on Gomez when he first joined the Ministry. Only Scrimgeour had access. There was one other place in the Ministry he wanted to check.
The Social Functions Section of the Wizard and Witch Resources Department was comprised of a staff of two lively, chatty sisters who could not have found a job in the Ministry they would have loved more. Tammy and Pammy Hart arranged and organized all Ministry sanctioned functions. They liked Gomez because he donated galleons to charity, particularly for foster children. Gomez apparently let everyone know he was one. Neither remembered him bringing family to functions although in one occasion a long time ago, he did bring a few foster kids to celebrate a promotion. All they had was an old faded photo of the group of twenty, there were no names to match with the blurred faces. They made a reproduction for him to keep.
Harry went back to the Auror office and was surprised to see that tensions were higher than usual. He quickly found out why. There were reports from Scotland Yard that Dean Thomas had escaped.