Targets in the Dark
"Mum, they are our friends and their families," Harry said quickly to Sally when he saw the knights surrounding his friends.
Dorian, who heard this, gave them a nod, and the knights dispersed almost instantly; even so, both the Weasley family and the Grangers still felt watchful eyes on them, alert and guarded.
"I… I am so sorry about that. I didn't expect…" Sally began, still somewhat worried for her children's safety, though trying to maintain proper manners with the families she was meeting for the first time. Even unintentionally, she was already leaving quite an interesting impression.
"Oh no, it's fine, it's fine," Arthur said quickly. Arthur Weasley was a tall and thin man, with red hair; truly a Weasley. He wore glasses and a slightly forced smile while throwing quick glances at the knights who continued securing the area, handcuffing criminals and placing a precaution line around the black blankets that no longer moved.
"An attack on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters… how can that be? This is madness, real madness," said a short and slightly plump woman with short, somewhat messy red hair, her expression filled with worry as she stood in front of her children and blocked her youngest daughter's view. "Are you all alright?" she asked quickly toward Harry, Percy, and Sally.
That gesture made it clear she was not a bad person at all.
"Yes, no problem," Sally said with a kind smile, appreciating the concern of a stranger for her children and for herself.
"They wouldn't be remnants of them, right?" Molly Weasley murmured fearfully, looking at her husband.
Arthur shook his head, though he instinctively glanced at the knights' belts and their swords, knowing perfectly well who they were. It seemed Molly had not noticed yet; perhaps due to the shock, or because everything had happened too fast. The rumors of the underworld were clear: anyone who worked with the Knights had a price on their head. If Sally Jackson was the target, then this had not been an improvised attack; it had been a message.
And that only made things worse, especially for the Ministry, and Arthur knew it.
Behind the Weasley couple, Fred and George murmured things like "awesome," "incredible," "can we get closer?", although Percy Weasley was holding them by the collars of their robes to keep them from moving, while wearing an expression just as concerned as Arthur's. And being more observant and intelligent, he had understood exactly who the people around them were.
Ron and Hermione finally snapped out of their shock and approached Percy and Harry.
"Are you alright?" Hermione asked, worried and almost in shock. Her friends had been attacked suddenly, and out of nowhere people had appeared and resolved everything in seconds.
She also recognized Dorian from the conversation they had had through the two-way mirror.
"Yes," Harry and Percy said, letting out a sigh at the same time.
But it was not the time to stay there much longer, and Sally knew it. She could not talk much with the parents of her sons' friends; they needed to return quickly to a safe place in case there were still other attackers hiding.
The others understood, nodding and separating quickly.
When they left the station, they walked at a brisk pace. Dorian advanced behind them with a calm gaze, though analyzing every corner around them. Two other men not far away also walked on guard.
The other knights remained on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters; they needed to inspect the entire area to find as many clues as possible. Others would take care of transferring the prisoners.
Sally was somewhat nervous, glancing around every so often, until they finally reached the car. As soon as she entered, she let out a breath; she felt safer there. Those cars were truly upgraded to offer protection against both weapons and magic. She herself had participated in the structural improvement alongside Mark, so she knew perfectly how safe they were.
Sally sat in the back with Percy and Harry at her sides, who looked at her as soon as she closed the door.
In the front seat, Dorian took the place of the co-pilot; the driver started the engine the moment he got in, and they drove off quickly, followed by two other escort cars.
After a few seconds of silence, Harry and Percy could not hold back any longer.
"Mum, what was that?" Percy asked immediately. They were truly keeping themselves from demanding to know why they had been attacked so suddenly.
Harry also looked at her with a serious expression.
Sally observed them for a moment, somewhat worried. "It's nothing, it's nothing. Don't worry. Just evil wizards who maybe hate the Knights," she replied, trying to sound calm, although it was obvious she did not want to say too much.
That made Harry and Percy frown at the same time.
Dorian looked at Sally through the rear-view mirror, although he would obviously say nothing.
Harry and Percy exchanged the same annoyed look; they knew their mother was hiding information from them. But at the same time, they knew her well enough to recognize the tone Sally used when she did not want them to worry. So the tense moment eased a bit as the car moved along the road.
Still, both of them noticed that every now and then their mother would fall silent, distracted, as if she feared something.
They finally arrived home, and as soon as they stepped out of the car Harry was already excited to see Aunt Mor and Dred. Sally urged them to go ahead toward the door.
They looked at her for an instant, but they knew the neighborhood was the safest place; they were not worried something might happen. And they ran inside the house.
Dorian stepped out of the car and leaned against the door, observing Sally with his usual calm.
"You won't tell them anything?" he asked, looking at her slightly.
"That there is a price on my head and Mark's, and also on any wizard who works for the Knights?" Sally replied in a sharply sarcastic tone. "Obviously I won't tell them that. They would only worry for nothing," she added seriously, though the anxiety still escaped through her eyes.
She had not expected to actually be attacked right in front of so many people; and, above all, she now realized something far more important: it had happened in front of her children.
And so it was. In the magical underworld, anyone who worked for the Knights had a price on their head.
It was not that the Knights were hated by the magical population in general; although they were feared, they had proven that they truly cared about the innocent and only attacked the evil wizards who harmed muggles.
They basically protected their own people. As long as one had nothing to fear, they would not cause any trouble.
But that applied only to common wizards. For influential and powerful families, having the Knights around sometimes meant an obstacle to their interests. Over the years, similar situations had occurred, and many of these families had begun to discredit them more and more.
Things had reached a point where everything was hanging by a thread. The Ministry, full of people with similar power and influence, was not much of a help; on the contrary, it made everything even more complicated. The Knights no longer felt much appreciation for the Ministry, since within that same government a "hidden government" had formed, a group of important names who acted as if they were owners of lands and decisions that did not belong to them. Although the same occurred in other magical countries.
The ancient wizards had taken advantage of their abilities and inheritances to become eternal elites, living as they pleased and despising the muggles, who for them represented no threat at all. Or at least that was the case until technology advanced by leaps and bounds and stopped being something that could be ignored.
With the Statute of Secrecy, the strict separation between magic and non-magic, and the rise of wizards with truly dangerous ideas, such as Grindelwald or Voldemort, the friction only increased over time.
"Don't worry too much. We have some leads on who might be the idiot who put a price on your head. And it seems to point to someone familiar. It will be fun to find him," Dorian said with a tone that mixed amusement and a slight threat. "And the old man will be really angry when he hears that one of ours was attacked. So something very lively will probably start in the coming days."
"I know," Sally replied with a small smile. Mr. Vincent had always been extremely protective of the Knights; especially of her and Mark. Although Mark seemed to annoy him quite a bit, the appreciation he had for them was evident. Maybe because they were wizards, or because they had been such a great help to the organization. Either way, she valued it.
"Take a few days. The other idiot spends all his time locked in his lab; he needs to get some exercise," Dorian added. He was referring, of course, to Mark, since lately Sally was helping the Knights much more than he was. Mark was still trying to replicate some of the potions she had created, which would also be a huge help to everyone, including her.
Dorian walked over to the driver's seat. He gestured to the chauffeur, who was already there; the man quickly got out, greeted him, and headed toward one of the nearby houses. Dorian sat down, rested an arm under the window, and let out a short sigh before speaking.
"I have to deliver the report to the old man. Luther, Arthur, or maybe Adrien will come for the first watch," he said while starting the car.
"And Miss Gema?" Sally asked. Normally Gema was the one who looked after the house; having another woman there was more comfortable, especially since Mor and she were almost always at home. Gema had grown quite close to them. Although, on the other hand, the neighbors' gossip about so many men coming and going had already become its own spectacle. Not that it bothered her, obviously.
"Didn't they tell you? She went to the United States. She'll be back soon," Dorian replied.
Upon hearing the name of her home country, Sally's expression turned serious for an instant, followed by a much more worried one.
That detail did not go unnoticed by Dorian, who greeted her with a slight gesture before accelerating and driving away.
Sally remained on the sidewalk, thinking silently for a couple of seconds, until she heard Percy screaming for mercy, followed by Mor's shouts, which made it clear that she was home.
Sally let out a tired smile and began walking toward the door. Through the window she could already see Percy hanging upside down while Mor pulled at his cheeks, and Harry trying to rescue him… not very successfully, honestly.