The Potion of Life

Chapter 5: The Keeper's Bones

Professor Fig was pacing back and forth when I entered the Map Chamber. The four Keepers in the portraits looked restless as well.
   "Professor! I got your note." I said as I headed down the stairs, joining my mentor. "What did you manage to find out? I went to the tower, but couldn't find any clues as to what happened."
   He looked up at me and shook his head. "No, I imagine there wouldn't be. Whoever did this was meticulous in wiping out their traces. The Ministry couldn't find anything either."
That sounded concerning.

"Do you know how the Ministry found out about this?" I asked. Even Ignatia Wildsmith never heard about San Bakar before, having no clue who he was, just knowing that it was his tower.
   The Professor sighed. "I wouldn't be surprised if they got a tip from someone. Grave robbery happens more often than you'd think and the Ministry normally sends one Auror to deal with any alive relatives. But in this case, San Bakar has been gone for centuries and there hasn't been a descendant alive for decades."
   I looked over to the portrait of said Keeper and saw him flinch. I suppose it was a bit insensitive to talk about his deceased bloodline right in front of him.

"So imagine my surprise, seeing about five Aurors clean up the rubble before leaving the place." Professor Fig furrowed his brows. "It all seems very unusual."
   It truly did. My own gut was telling me something was off about that. "What else did you discover?"
   He looked up and met my gaze. His grave expression made my stomach twist into knots and one quick glance at the Keepers behind him told me that whatever he was about to say, it couldn't be anything good.

"It's not just San Bakar's bones that were stolen. The bones of the other Keepers are missing too."
My stomach dropped and I felt my chest tighten. What?
   "All of their graves were robbed?" I manage to squeak as I look at the grim faces of the Keepers. Rackham nods his head. "Your mentor has told us that although our graves -compared to San Bakar's- looked undisturbed, our bones were missing when he opened our caskets."
   The idea of Professor Fig opening caskets like that disturbed me, but I pushed it to the back of my mind since that was the least of my worries right now.

"But what does that mean? What use would your bones be?" I started pacing along with my Professor. "I cannot believe someone would go to so much trouble to get to your graves specifically to create Inferi."
   "It is not to create the undead." Niamh spoke up and I stopped to look at her. "To create Inferi, the corpse need to still have flesh on the bones, which ours did not have."
"Then why?"
   "That is exactly what we are afraid of." San Bakar said. It was the first time he had spoken and I focused my attention on my least liked Keeper.
   "I get that you're afraid, but let's think about this." It was clearly shown on his face what he thought about my attitude, but I didn't care and I wasn't done yet. "Out of all of you, only Professor Rackham had the ability to wield Ancient Magic, so why take your bones as well? And would there really be a difference between a set of bones who once made up a human that could wield that power and a set that didn't?"

Professor Fig gave me a warning look and I realized I had been pretty insensitive about my wording. Those were their bones I was talking about.
   "Sorry, I'm just trying to understand." I sheepishly shrugged my shoulders.
Rookwood cleared his throat. "Yes, we are trying as well. As far as we know, there is no difference, but whoever did this does not have any good intentions. Professor Fig told us our bones weren't the only ones taken."
   I turned around to look at my mentor. He caught my gaze. "It appears that Isidora's bones are stolen too."

Dread filled me. Someone was messing with century old bones, but why? To say something was off was an understatement.
   "So what now?" I asked, looking at the portraits as if they held the answers. "What can we do if we don't even know where to begin looking?"
   It was Niamh that answered. "There isn't much you can do. However, if they are out there looking for Ancient Magic wielders and their Keepers, you two better watch your backs. From what we've come to know, they know exactly what they're doing and how to erase their tracks. Be careful."