His Mermaid Her Unicorn

17

     Dumbledore was standing at the entrance of the Great Hall as the Heads of Houses reported to him.

     "All students from Hufflepuff have been accounted for," Professor Sprout said.

     "Thank you," he replied.

     The new Head of Slytherin stepped up next. "All students from Slytherin have also been accounted for."

       Dumbledore nodded as Professor Flitwick stepped up. "All Ravenclaw students are accounted for."

     When he didn't see Professor McGonagall walk up he made his way to the entrance of the school. Some straggling students were still making their way inside so he assumed they must be Gryffindors.

     He spotted the Head students speaking with Professor McGonagall and she appeared worried. Dumbledore thought nothing of it and waited for her to report to him.

     "Oh good, you're here," she said as she walked up to him with a concerned expression upon her face.

     "Whatever is the matter, Minerva?" He asked.

     "The Head Boy and Head Girl just told me some disturbing news. James Potter is missing. He hasn't been seen by anyone in hours," Minerva whispered as to not alarm the other students still heading inside the castle.

     His thoughts immediately went to Mya Dolohov. Of course! This must be her doing but he had no way of contacting her. Why would he though? After cursing her in the Black Lake he'd heard rumors of a monster terrorizing the other inhabitants but, at the time, he didn't put the two together. Now that she was back he couldn't fathom what she would want with Harry's child.

     "What about the other children? Is everyone else inside the castle?" Dumbledore questioned.

     "Yes, Albus. They are," she answered him.

     "Good, good, but we'll have to put together a search party to find the youngest Potter. Please summon his older brother to my office, I need to speak with him." Dumbledore said.

     "Surely you're not going to tell him his brother is missing! That would worry him," Minerva stated.

     "Minerva! Please, keep your voice down," he hissed.

     "James is missing?" A voice called from behind the pair.

     Dumbledore hesitated.

     "No, he's not missing, carry on. Curfew will soon be upon us," Minerva admonished.

     The group of students went about their business but the damage was done. Soon the whole school would know about James Potter.

*****

     Dumbledore was sitting in his office when a young man walked in. The other staff members and Head students were already out searching for the youngest Potter and he would join them with the young man, possibly, later on.

     "You wanted to see me, Headmaster?" He asked.

     "Yes, I did. I wanted to ask you about your brother, James. Since you've seen him, has something been bothering him or had he seemed down?" Dumbledore queried. "Would he go somewhere in the castle so no one would bother him while he's upset?"

     Zane placed a finger under his chin.

     "No Headmaster, not at all. He seemed excited these past few days. But that's only because he has a crush on someone and he thinks he's hiding it well. Rebekah is the girl's name. Apparently, they were supposed to meet for the Hogsmeade trip but he stood her up." James babbled on.

     "Is that what you wanted to ask me about? My brother's now nonexistent love life? Because I keep hearing he's missing. The common room's buzzing with the news, so what happened?!" Zane demanded.

     Dumbledore let the boy's tone slide since he knew Zane was just concerned for his brother. Sighing, trying to approach the situation with a delicate hand, he tried to placate the young man.

     "Your brother just hasn't returned from the Hogsmeade trip, nothing has happened to him. He must have lost his way, so I sent a party out to help find him and make sure he gets back safely," he said.

     Zane was about to protest when a knock sounded from the front of the room. The Head students had returned and before they could say anything Dumbledore asked them to escort Zane back to Gryffindor tower.

     "Report back to me afterward," he told them. They nodded and followed his orders.

     As the students left, Minerva walked into his office. Her face downcast.

     "Albus, we didn't find James. There's no sign of him. We did scan the area for any magical signatures though, we found some but its untraceable. The spell used is nothing I've ever encountered before. You're going to have to come and inspect the area, lest you have to involve the Ministry," the professor said.

     Dumbledore got up with haste and followed her to the site.

     After inspecting the area, his fear was realized.

     "The spell cast in this area allows the castor to appear as someone who was greatly desired in that moment. James Potter was going to meet another student, Rebekah Wood," he said.

     "Oliver Wood's daughter?" Professor Flitwick asked.

     "Yes. Unfortunately, it looks like the young Mr. Potter has been kidnapped making it appear to Miss Wood that she had been stood up," Dumbledore said.

     Everyone gasped.

     "We'll have to involve the Aurors immediately. Especially, since apparently most of the students have been gossiping about the disappearance of one of their classmates," he went on while looking pointedly at Professor McGonagall. She had the decency to look ashamed for letting that bit of information slip to some students.

     "Follow me, Minerva. We have some floo calls to make," Dumbledore sighed as the two of them made their way back to his office.

     Harry was not going to be happy with this news when he found out. His mind is going to jump straight to the former Miss Granger, just like his did.