The Investigation Begins Solo Finished

tags: @Makaio Kāne | date: 28-09-2025 | fit: x

Prim had gotten the owl and she hadn't been particularly happy about it, considering it had dropped directly into her bowl of oatmeal that morning.

But any trace of annoyance had long since been replaced by quiet concern as she held the envelope out to her two siblings. Avis squinted at the rushed handwriting on its crumpled surface and her eyes widened. Her eyes flicked up to her older sister in poorly hidden anticipation.

"Well, have you opened it yet?" she asked, a flash of impatience piercing her tone. Prim gave her The Older Sister Glare and the younger girl wrinkled her nose.

"Obviously not," Prim retorted, waving about the clearly intact envelope. Avis folded her arms with narrowed eyes as Will plucked the letter out of Prim's hand, a grim look on his face.

"I would've opened it," Avis muttered as her older brother tore at the parchment with pointer finger.

"We know, bird," he joked in a completely humorless tone. His eyes were already scanning the blotchy piece of paper inside, words in black ink scrawled messily onto the surface. The other two were quiet as he read, but Avis could hardly keep still. Her brother's eyebrows rose up and down as emotions flickered across his face. She bit her lip, curiosity raging through her chest.

Finally, the seventh year spoke. "It's from Dogwood alright," he said, anger clouding his tone. Avis glanced at Prim. The last time Will had had a conversation with their father's ex-partner, it hadn't been very conversational. Much louder and more screaming involved.

Prim snatched the letter back from Will and he began to pace around the common room, the fire crackling behind him. Conveniently, no one else seemed to be around, most likely already in bed preparing for the beginning of the week starting with Monday tomorrow.

Avis crowded behind Prim as she began to read, peaking from out behind her shoulder.

Will, Prim and Avis,
I hope you are all well. To preface, this owl comes with grim news, but news nonetheless. I will keep it short as I don't have much time.

First, your mam will be returning home from Berlin within the coming weeks. She and I cannot say much for fear of intercepted owls but she has made little progress other than this discovery I am about to share. I'm sure she will send you an owl when she can.

We knew your father somehow had the inability to return home yet the two sightings we've had of him (New Zealand in September and Berlin in June) have shown that he is still capable of travel. Your mother, while in Berlin, got in contact with a Tracking Spell expert who managed to diagnose that the cause of Douglas' far but uncontrolled travel is the work of a Portkey, more importantly a cursed one. We've not much information otherwise and are working to track your father due to the magical traces the Portkey has left but have had little success. It's a very powerful object and not much is known about it but this is where you lot come in.

There are abundant resources at Hogwarts. Use them. Find everything you can on Portkeys, cursed or not, and I will continue my work here. Good luck. Send an owl with what you've found but be discreet. Douglas' enemies have eyes and ears of all kinds.

Avis shuddered at the last line and glanced up at her older siblings with a grim expression. Their faces mirrored her own. Prim broke the silence, quiet command resonating from her voice.

"We start in the library, I suppose," she said calmly, her gray eyes hardened with determination. Avis felt a flicker of hope in her heart at her sister's obvious resolve to find their father, even if all they could do was read some dusty old books.

Will was shaking his head and muttering. "He's just patronizing us, giving us something to do to distract ourselves. I should be out there..." he grumbled, hands stuffed tightly into his pockets. Prim glared at him and Avis watched with a helpless expression.

"Stop being selfish. You can't be out there. But you can do something in here. He wants our help, Will. Da needs us," she snapped, eyes flashing. Will looked taken aback for a moment and began to chew his cheek. He was still angry, Avis could tell, but Prim's words had shaken up something within him. Avis took a breath.

"I can ask one of the professors. Professor Kāne has all sorts of stories about cursed objects and such," she added helpfully. Prim nodded at her and Will sighed.

"Julian's dad works in the Department of Magical Transportation. Maybe I can get him to send him an owl or something," he finally said begrudgingly, mentioning one of his friends. Avis patted his arm and he gave her a half-hearted smile. Prim folded her arms.

"Right, let's report back here next Sunday," she said. The other two nodded and Avis smiled up at her. She'd always admired her sister's quiet leadership, even if she hadn't realized it before.

Later that night as Avis drifted off to sleep, she heard Da's voice in her head calling for help as she often did, but this time it sounded closer than she usually dreamt it to be.