The Chasers Heart, Part 2

Year 6: The End of an Era

I didn't remember much from those next few weeks. I don't even remember how we all got back to Hogwarts or the journey home on the Hogwarts Express. I vaguely remembered Dumbledore summoning me to his office again before leaving the school, but I couldn't recall any of what he said. Likely another warning against perusing the final Vault. It was a waste of breath, there was absolutely no way I as going to search for the final Vault. Rakepick's words kept echoing in my mind. You know how it is, Knight. You're obsessed with the Cursed Vaults, too.

I wasn't obsessed with the Vaults. In fact, I could care less about the Vaults and the supposed treasure inside. I was obsessed with finding my brother and now that I had, he was gone again. At least I knew he was alive. For now. That was something, I suppose. But he'd left me again. And I had no idea what to do or where to go from here.

He'd told me not to tell Mum, but how was I meant to keep it from her? She was even more anxious than I was about what had happened to Jacob. We'd both cried when she'd fetched me from King's Cross Station and I'd burst into tears at the mere sight of her, then explained everything that had happened. She was in a bit of a state for the next few days, moving about the house mechanically and asking me questions she knew that I didn't know the answers to. The week after school ended, we were both summoned to the Ministry of Magic to tell them what we knew.

It was awful reliving that night. So much had happened, it felt like the Quidditch Final, that Rakepick had tampered with, was part of a different lifetime that had ended the moment I walked into the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom that night. The Ministry witch who questioned me was severe-looking, but kind and assured me that I wasn't in trouble and they were just trying to gather all the information they could to track down Jacob and Rakepick. It still felt like I was in trouble. If I hadn't already sworn to cease searching for the Final Vault, I would have then.

To everyone's astonishment, and I was pretty sure that was actually everyone involved in this mad scenario, for a professional Curse-Breaker, Rakepick proved fairly easy to locate. Turns out, the goblins at Gringotts had their own way of tracking down employees, both current and former. Couldn't have Curse-Breakers going rogue with their treasure. She was found with a group of dark witches and wizards hiding out in the Shetland Islands. However, the biggest surprise of all was that my father, who had been missing for nearly as long as Jacob had, was their leader.

So, Dad and Rakepick were in Azkaban for the time being. Dad was still awaiting his trial, but I'd seen him briefly when he'd been escorted to the Ministry in London for his preliminary hearing. Mum had been in tears, and our eyes met, though I wasn't sure he recognized me. I barely recognized him. He looked far older than he actually was, his hair and beard were grown out and more white than blonde and his robes were dirty and torn. I had been a small child when he went missing. He must have known who I was, I was standing with Mum and had his exact shade of blonde hair, just without the scattered bits of white.

Jacob returned home shortly after that, having been debriefed by the Ministry himself and found innocent of any crime. If anything, I thought he was a victim of Rakepick's scheming and he should be taken into account for her trial. It was a massive relief to have him cleared of all charges. I didn't know if I could handle having both Dad and Jacob in prison, it would feel worse than having them missing.

I was happy to finally have Jacob home. It was all I'd ever wanted since the day he'd gone missing. We'd laughed and cried when we were finally reunited without any Cursed Vaults or dark wizards to be concerned with or Ministry officials keeping us apart. I'd showed him my new broomstick and had to apologize for breaking his. He told me it was alright so long as I let him have a go on mine. I showed him some of my skills I'd learned while he'd been gone and he had loads of questions about the Quidditch team at Hogwarts and, consequently, Murphy.