… Auror Headquarters…

… Level Two, Ministry of Magic Headquarters…

"Oi! Hamilton! You've got a new case!" A gruff voice dragged Hazel out of her thoughts.

Hazel shot to her feet in surprise. "W-What?" She blinked in surprise when the Auror's words sank in. "T-That's impossible!" She sputtered.

Another female Auror shook the phone that was previously pressed up against her ear. "Tell that to the report we just received. It came from The Three Broomsticks Inn, Hogsmeade."

Hazel's eyes widened further and she scrambled to the Auror's cubicle. "Please, Giselle, can I have that?" She stretched out her hand for the phone.

"It's all you." Giselle, an older Auror agreed, passing the phone to her.

Although Hazel was a brand new Auror, she had been crucial to solving a really important case a couple of months ago, which got her partnered up with the 'Harry Potter' on this new case.

She had been beyond excited for this opportunity given to her to work with a literal idol.

But the case had slowly turned into a different kind of hell, she was the youngest and most inexperienced member on the team drafted together to handle the case. This meant that she got left behind more often than not, she was also left to deal with the paperwork.

Hazel didn't mind because she knew she had gotten an opportunity that most people could only dream of. She hadn't been expecting a new incident so soon though.

"Please could you repeat the report that was received?" Hazel asked politely into the phone.

The call attendant on the other side sounded unimpressed. "The report came at 9:47 am, a young man was found dead in one of the rooms of the Three Broomsticks Inn. He had the usual factors, roughly between the age of 18-22, and had the usual X slash mark on his chest."

Horror painted itself across Hazel's face, it was definitely the work of the person they had been after for months now.

Muggle police termed her, X, the Night Slasher.

Currently, Mr. Potter and the rest of her team were currently cleaning up the messy tracks she left behind on her previous kill. It was decided that she was female because most of the reports they had gotten had cleared her as a female.

There was no one on the team left behind at the Headquarters but her so she would have to go in alone.

"T-Thank you." She stuttered, handing the phone back to Giselle. "Thank you, Giselle."

"Sure." Giselle studied the young Auror with knowing eyes. "Want me to tag along with you? I could make time for you." She offered kindly.

Hazel smiled. "Thanks, Giselle, but I'm sure you already have enough on your plate. Besides, I don't have much to do, I just have to document the clues and the rest is up to the Investigative Assistants." She explained, turning to return to her cubicle.

Hazel thought quickly, she had to immediately go to the site of the crime. Something worried her though and it was the location that the report had come from.

The Three Broomsticks Inn in Hogsmeade. Hogsmeade was an all-magical town but it wasn't unheard of that a handful of Muggles were found there.

All of the victims of 'X' had all been Muggles and as the culprit herself was a Witch, it made for a very messy situation between Muggles and Majes.

Also, there had been another kill merely two nights ago, it was why the entire team of Aurors assigned to the case was out of the Headquarters.

There was no time to mentally analyze the issue though, she could only do her job and then wait till her superiors returned.

Hazel returned to her cubicle so distracted that she didn't notice that there was someone sitting on her chair until she was almost upon them.

"Oh my… West… Why are you…" She blinked in surprise, glancing at her table.

She had left a cutout piece of newspaper on her table and had been engrossed staring at it before she was called away to deal with the report.

She immediately snatched it up and hid the piece of newspaper behind her back, a frown on her face. "West? Why are you at my cubicle?"

"I was assigned to accompany you to Hogsmeade." Weston said in a blank tone, crossing his legs.

Weston had cut his hair down to a military buzzcut when he joined the ministry, it made his bright green eyes stand out. He was dressed in a long, black overcoat, a black fitted turtleneck, and hip-hugging pants. Shin-high heavy-duty black boots covered his feet.

Hazel did a double-take, she had been too distracted by the thought of Weston reading the cutout newspaper to care about his presence at her cubicle but now that she knew...

"What? Why? It happened in an all-magical town." She snapped, still testy from him reading the newspaper.

Weston got to his feet and shrugged. "I don't question authority, are you ready to leave?"

Hazel forced herself to take a deep breath, slipping the newspaper in between a stack of files without looking at Weston. The newspaper was about Audric.

It was published a year after they all thought he was dead, and it revealed that his death had been faked. It also revealed the truth behind the death of his parents and how he had single-handedly taken down a powerful secret organization.

He was awarded an Order of Merlin, First Class, and was urged to join the Ministry of Magic but Audric turned down the offer and then disappeared. It had been three years since the article was published and it almost seemed like he had died again.

But that wasn't possible, the Albeline House was starting to become a household name now, even though no one had seen him in public for years, there was no denying how influential he had rapidly become.

Hazel threw her scarlet dress robes over her shoulders, it fell past her knees and was a thing of pride to her. She had only recently turned in her black training dress robes for her scarlet dress robes and it still made excitement run through her each time she wore it.

It had a shorter front jacket with golden buttons all around the front flap. She didn't bother buttoning up, too much in a hurry to do so.

It contrasted beautifully with her dark red hair that was long enough to fall past her shoulders now, she had it up in a ponytail most of the time though because it obstructed her while she was working. There was determination in her gray eyes as she strode out of the Auror Headquarters with Weston languidly following behind her.

Weston, unlike her, had applied to be an Obliviator instead and as it had a less rigorous training regime than that of Aurors, he was technically higher than her.

They both took an elevator to Level 1 where the two Investigative Assistants that would be accompanying her were already waiting. They would be apparating straight to their destination as it was an all-magical town, there was no need to be inconspicuous.

Hazel looked around the snowy little town, she was standing right in front of the Three Broomsticks Inn. It was just 10:09 in the morning, it wasn't surprising to find the place deserted.

Weston was by her side the moment she apparated to the location, the two Investigative Assistants showing up a couple of seconds later.

"Shall we?" She invited, leading the way.

Weston calmly studied Hazel as he walked behind her, he easily towered over her, walking lazily like he didn't have a care in the world. His face portrayed that emotion too but a little slip happened in the form of a slight furrow on his brow.

He wasn't dense, he knew that Hazel still was into Audric but he hadn't been expecting her to be carefully hoarding something like a cutout of an article that he was featured in. It made his usually bored expression darken, it had been years, literal years since she had last seen him.

He said nothing about it, there was nothing to be said. Just like his unspoken feelings, there were things that were never going to be said.

The pub itself was deserted except for a pale barmaid behind the counter, her gaze brushed over the rest of the group to rest on him. Weston raised a brow and she immediately looked away with reddened cheeks.

"Hi, we're from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." Hazel spoke politely, flashing her badge even though her uniform already gave it away.

"Madam Rosmerta is upstairs, she will receive you." Maurelle said in a whisper-soft voice, keeping her eyes down for fear of sharing gazes with the intimidating officer.

"Thanks." Hazel slipped her badge back into her pocket and started up the stairs.

Rosmerta was there to receive them as the barmaid said and with a tense expression on her face, she led them to the room where the crime had happened.

Before the door to the room was opened, Hazel could already feel the stifling presence of malign magic. It was easily five times more powerful than the residual found on other crime scenes.

Hazel already knew that the victim had to be a Wizard this time because of the location. This was quite unprecedented.

'X', the Night Slasher was known for attacking only Muggles but it seemed like that was about to change.

The door opened to the gruesome scene that was similar down to the last detail to all the pictures taped up back at the Auror Headquarters.

Hazel stepped in first, a serious expression on her face as she studied the victim. "This doesn't look good."