Public arrest

Scorpius was sure he had misheard. 

"You want me to do what?"

"Go to Azkaban. Wouldn't that actually strengthen your cover story?" Dawson said.

"Yes, perhaps, but why?"

"We have arrested and sentenced this man, but we suspect he has more to answer for. I was hoping you could get it out of him."

"Why can't we just wait until he is released?"

"He will be there for years, but I fear he has knowledge about things that will happen before that. You have done things like this before, why hesitate at this?"

Scorpius didn't have a good answer. But going to Azkaban? Rose had not liked being there, and she had been a guard, with freedom to move around. Azkaban was not a happy place.

"For how long? I have things to keep up here as well."

"Not long, I hope. We can easily claim a misunderstanding and have you released as usual. But at least a week, to give you time to become his friend. We can make it a public arrest, if you wish. That way, no one will wonder where you've disappeared to."

Scorpius thought about it. That might not be such a bad idea. Many of the people in Knockturn Alley had started whispering that Lehrer was too close to the Potters, with how often he had had to rescue James. It might be a good idea to let him be seen getting into some trouble with the Ministry as well. Maybe Albus could even be the one to arrest him?

"That might be a good idea actually. When do you want to do this? And who else is involved?"

"I am the only one working on this at the moment. And we need to do the arrest as soon as possible. As I said, I'm worried he's the leader of a larger group of Dark Wizards that are planning something much worse. The sooner we can get you in position, the better. Your alter ego is exactly the kind of person he would be interested in joining with."

Scorpius hadn't heard about any such group, but he knew that there were things happening that he didn't hear about until it was too late. And a secret group of Dark wizards wasn't likely to spend their time in Knockturn Alley. But would they know he wasn't a former Death Eater? Either way, it was a way for Scorpius to at least get the man talking. 

"Okay, we can do it tomorrow. I need to go home and tell Rose I will be gone."

"Leave her a message. We can't wait until tomorrow, that may be too late. I've already cleared your involvement with Potter and the Minister." 

If Harry already knew about it, there was no reason to delay.

"Fine. I'll leave her a message. Let's meet in Knockturn Alley in an hour or so. You know what my disguise looks like, right?"

"Yes, I've seen you around. Oh, and remember, I need to make this look real, so I will be very unfriendly. And I will probably have to tie you up."

Scorpius nodded as he went over to the office he shared with Rose and Albus. He remembered what James had said about Dawson, but it wasn't like he could refuse something like this based on a small suspicion. Rose had looked into it and found nothing. 

Harry wasn't in his office and both Rose and Albus had been called out as soon as they arrived at work that morning, so there was no one to ask for advice from. He couldn't let a chance like this slip away. If Dawson's suspicions were true, this could be the most important thing he had ever done. And if he could truthfully say that he had been in Azkaban, it would strengthen his alias.

But to be sure, he left an obvious message on the desk, left a few duplicates in a drawer, and sent one message home with their owl. He felt a bit paranoid, but he taped one last message to the underside of her desk. That would only be able to be seen if you sat under the desk and looked up. He could almost see Albus roll his eyes at him, but Rose would understand. No hurt in being too careful. If this went badly, he wanted to be sure that Rose knew where he was. He didn't want to get stuck in Azkaban because no one knew who he was. That could take ages to sort out. 

Then he went over to the wardrobe and changed into his Lehrer costume. He had made sure to have multiple parts of all his costumes both at work and at home, so he wouldn't have to change his appearance by magic again. If he was to be gone for a week he couldn't rely on an illusion. He needed the changes to be physical. Besides, Azkaban should reveal any illusion. He hoped no one would try to tug at his beard. It was attached fairly tight, but if you tugged in the right place, it fell right off. But only he knew exactly where to tug. And Rose, of course. She claimed to hate that beard, but she had scratched it fondly a few times when he had come back with it.

Dawson would probably take his wand, so he would try to hide a spare one deep in his costume. It would be amusing to see if the guards in Azkaban would find it. He would have to ask Dawson if any of the guards would know who he really was. It would be preferable to have at least one contact person there, in case he needed to send information quickly. As he messed up his hair, he got ready to get to Knockturn Alley. About half an hour had passed already and he needed to establish his presence before Dawson came to look for him. 

***

Scorpius entered Lehrer's favourite bar in Knockturn Alley and immediately knew something had already happened. Everyone stopped for a brief second and looked at him, before pretending they had done no such thing. Had Dawson been here already? He nodded at some of the people he usually sat with as he went to get a drink. They didn't greet him as they normally would. Bad sign. 

He didn't even make it to the counter. Dawson had apparently been waiting for him, Scorpius didn't even see where he came from. Everyone was very obviously not caring about what happened right in front of them, meaning they took note of every word. He needed to do this convincingly.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Scorpius protested as Dawson quite harshly secured his hands behind him and forced him down on the nearest table.

"I've been looking for you."

"Well, here I am. No need to be so forceful."

"Nice try. But your luck has finally run out, LEHRER." Scorpius pretended to be shocked at being addressed by that name. 

"I- I don't know who that is."

"You can stop playing ignorant. I suppose you don't know what this is either?" he asked as he revealed the Dark Mark on his left arm. Half the bar shuddered at the sight of it.

"That's not what it looks like, I only have that to…"

"Shut up. I know everything you've done, and now I can finally prove it. You'll finally get to join all your fellows in Azkaban, where you belong." Dawson said as he took his wand away. He didn't find the spare one though.

"No, wait, I can explain…" Scorpius tried to say, but Dawson actually used a Silence charm on him, preventing him from having to come up with an excuse. Dawson then addressed the other patrons at the bar as ropes coiled themselves around Scorpius. Not just the sort that secured anyone that was taken into custody, these were special magical ropes. Scorpius had never been bound by those before. 

"This man is a dangerous Dark Wizard. I encourage anyone who has information about his deeds to contact the Ministry. There is a reward offered for information that will keep him behind bars for the rest of his life."

Okay, that may have been a step too far. Some of the people in here might actually fabricate evidence against him for any kind of reward. He may have to scrap the Lehrer persona after this. What was Dawson thinking? He still couldn't say anything, but he managed to catch the eye of a few of his associates. None of them seemed to be keen on being involved in this at all. He tried to look unconcerned, but this was something Lehrer would be a little worried about. He struggled a little as the ropes continued to tie him up tighter and tighter. Those were quite uncomfortable and made it hard to move. He would almost have preferred chains, at least they didn't give him rope burns. Did they really have to be that tight? And move back and forth like that? As Dawson dragged Scorpius out of the pub, the ropes tightened more and more as he tried to get free from them. Scorpius had never seen this sort of arrest happen, but maybe this was how they were trained to handle truly dangerous wizards? Dawson had all but accused him of being a Death Eater, and they probably didn't want to take any chances when it came to them.

As they Apparated away from there, the Silence charm finally released. Dawson made Scorpius wait in a dark corner as he checked to make sure that they were alone, before they went aboard a small boat. He got the boat out of the harbour before he set a course and the boat set off, straight out to sea all on its own. Scorpius didn't know what dock this was, but either way, it would take several hours to get to Azkaban. As soon as they were out of sight from land, Dawson removed the ropes, and they both went below deck. 

"You know, this may make it a bit harder to return. What if someone actually comes to you with some fabricated evidence?" Scorpius asked as he massaged his wrists. The ropes had been really tight.

"No need to worry. If anyone comes with some false evidence, that will make it even easier to prove that this was all a misunderstanding. Of course, Potter won't believe you are actually Lehrer. You have no identification with that name, do you?"

"No, he doesn't actually exist. But you made me sound more dangerous than I expected."

"It was necessary. I need to get you placed in top-security. Being arrested as a suspected Death Eater ought to do that."

"You didn't say anything about top-security! Who is this man you want me to get close to?!"

"We don't know his name, or anything about him, which is why we need to use such drastic measures as this. I strongly suspect that he is behind a series of upticks in Dark magic usages in Scotland during the last months."

"You placed someone in top-security without even knowing who he is?"

"We placed him there because we don't know who he is. And because he completely refuses to cooperate with us. Not everyone in top-security is your old Death Eater pals you know."

That was something else Scorpius hadn't considered. The Death Eaters would know that Lehrer wasn't an actual Death Eater. Most likely, they would also recognise him even through this disguise. Only two people not in Azkaban at the moment had this version of the Dark Mark. When he pointed that out to Dawson he actually laughed.

"Don't worry, most of those who are still there aren't exactly lucid. The sane ones escaped to Norway, remember? They are still there."

Right. Dawson had of course thought about that as well. He breathed a bit lighter.

"Will any of the guards in Azkaban know who I really am? How will I be able to pass on the information I learn?"

"We'll go over all of that when we get there. Don't worry, I got it covered."

The boat-trip was long and boring. There was a heavy wind and high sea, so all the openings had to be shut. They sat in complete darkness, until Dawson remembered to light his wand. He hadn't given Scorpius his wand back, and Scorpius didn't feel the need to ask for it, since he would have to give it back before they arrived anyway. Dawson didn't seem to want to talk anymore though, and Scorpius couldn't think of much else to say. He tried to talk about Rose and Albus, but Dawson didn't seem to like talking about them, even though he had been their trainer. Was he still upset about what happened at their exam? Dawson mainly sat and read some sort of book; it was too dark for Scorpius to see the title.

At last, he heard the boat scrape against land. 

"We're here." was all Dawson said. In one swift motion, the ropes were around Scorpius again. Very tight, and even around his legs, though he could still walk. Barely.

"Is this necessary?"

"Yes. We never let prisoners walk around freely, and there is no way of knowing who might see you. Now be quiet and just play along, or I will need to Silence you again. We don't let the prisoners talk much either."

Scorpius sighed but tried to get up to the deck. It was a lot harder to get up the few steps from the cabin with his legs tied like that, but Dawson gave him a push to get him up the last step. Time to start the charade all over again.