HP X LOTM : Please Call Me Mr. Error.

Looking at the new addition to their team, Loki became a little stunned.

Loki first looked at the boy who had joined them and then at the silver-bearded old man behind him. The old man winked at him causing Loki to feel goosebumps rise.

'What is this nonsense?'

Loki yielded for Professor McGonagall to move ahead of him as she continued speaking, "As I've informed you. You will be getting a new addition to your team for this week."

"And it is that boy?" Daphne asked calmly.

"Yes.", Dumbledore spoke in an even calmer tone lifting the mood a little by simply being present.

Harry looked at Daphne, then at Loki and finally at Hermione. She was the only person he knew in this room at his age.

'Wouldn't Ron say something like, 'You're on a team with Slytherins!?''

'Too bad we still haven't made up.'

'And with Mione thinking we're quarrelling like lovers, I don't think we'll come together soon.'

Loki was the first to question, "Why won't he get to do a training mission like everyone else?"

Professor McGonagall wanted to respond but Dumbledore was faster, he looked at Loki and spoke with a smile, "Harry's already been vetted. Most of you already saw his performance in the first task. Is there much else to say?"

Loki wanted to argue, but Daphne interrupted, "Alright. We'll take him. But he follows my orders."

Dumbledore looked at Harry and he nodded.

"Then welcome to our team." Daphne said without extending her hand as she turned toward McGonagall and spoke impatiently, "We're already late by five minutes. I do not want to delay this any further."

Professor McGonagall nodded and Dumbledore just smiled as they all one by one used the floo network in McGonagall's office to teleport directly to the Ministry of Magic.

Harry gave one last glance to Dumbledore and without saying much else, followed everyone before him to the ministry.

In the office now devoid of students, McGonagall asked Dumbledore, "Will they be fine?"

"When have I ever lied?"

There was an uneasy frown on McGonagall's face but she moved to her desk and began to sort through the tasks she was burdened with. Dumbledore gave her a funny glance and left.

'So something stupid is going to happen today.' Loki concluded as he looked at Harry with a frown.

Harry looked at him and felt a little confused but then became embarrassed as he looked away.

'Why's he looking at me like that?'

'Is it because I joined unannounced?'

Hermione elbowed Loki as she noticed his frown was making Harry uncomfortable causing him to give her a frown in return.

Hermione just shook her head and moved to Harry. "Is this your first time on a mission like this one Harry? Why didn't you tell me earlier!?"

"And you didn't tell me you were on one of the teams too. I think that's only fair, don't you?"

The four of them stepped out of the room that they'd teleported into and handed over their IDs to the guard who looked at Harry like he'd seen a ghost.

"It's Harry Potter!!!" They heard the guard mumble as he stepped back in shock.

Before things could get any more rowdy, Daphne decided to bail and everyone happily took with it.

Arriving at Ethan's office, Daphne *knocked*.

"Come in."

Daphne stepped in along with everyone and once Harry was inside she introduced him, "I'm sure you've been informed but this is Harry Potter."

Ethan looked up from his desk, focusing on Harry only for a second and then he went back to doing his work. "Good job with the Case of the Death Trumpeter."

Harry looked a little embarrassed but nodded even though Ethan wasn't looking.

Meanwhile, Loki was a little confused, 'Death Trumpeter? Was that the case he helped solve with 'Adam'?'

"This is your case for today.", Ethan explained signing on the file he was working on as he closed it and handed it over to Daphne.

Daphne took the file and moved to the adjacent room where she would study and discuss it with everyone else.

"Alright, the mission is to retrieve an item that looks like a muggle coin box."

Harry raised his hand immediately and asked after Daphne nodded, "What is a coin box?"

"It is something muggles store their money in.", Daphne explained showing everyone a picture of a piggy bank.

"You mean a piggy bank?" Harry murmured, his voice only reaching Loki and Hermione's ears.

Loki almost broke into a laugh imagining Daphne saying piggy bank but controlled himself well along with Hermione who bit her lower lip and abstained from making a scene out of this.

"What does it do?" Loki asked after studying the picture of the toy-inflated pig used to store money, trying to distract everyone so they wouldn't laugh.

"In exchange for a one-time payment, it kills your enemy.", Daphne said with a bland expression.

Hermione frowned and then asked, "And the payment?"

"Your soul.", Daphne explained.

Harry's grip on his seat tightened but he didn't speak.

Loki however asked, "Where did this come from? Another one of those smuggled items?"

Daphne shook her head, "No this was an item that the Aurors were about to confiscate from a merchant in Knockturn Alley but the box caused their collars to tighten and choke them as the merchant escaped."

There was a slight pause causing Harry to prompt, "And then?"

"The merchant was found dead in his home. The coin box missing."

Everyone was a little unsettled but Loki having a pretty good idea what sequence this box was from asked plainly, "How did the merchant die?"

Daphne looked at him for a second and then answered, "Decapitation. He had decapitated himself by pulling his head out."

Loki nodded and asked, "Is there a sealing method written down?"

Daphne shook her head so Loki spoke calmly, "The box at the very least from the Sequence 4 Puppet of the Prisoner pathway."

Daphne's eyes widened and she looked at the files. "Are you sure?" she asked.

Loki nodded. "We should probably switch this case out."

Daphne nodded and walked out of the room, everyone heard Daphne murmur and speak with Ethan but then they heard her steps come back to their room.

"Loki, come out, Ethan wants to speak to you."

Loki nodded and walked back out with Ethan who was looking at him seriously, "You sure it's a sequence 4?"

"Yes."

"How sure?"

"A Hundred per cent." Loki said and seeing Ethan's probing expression he elaborated while cleverly hiding lies in truth, "Worked for a Sequence 3 Saint from the same pathway on a commission for her with a Mystical Item, that's where I learned about it."

Ethan *sighed* and wiped his face.

He seemed to be thinking about something but then he spoke calmly, "I want you to go and scout the place. Don't interfere. Don't provoke or even probe. All I want you to do is find out where the damn thing is. As soon as you do, I'll send Laura to you."

Loki wanted to deny it, not because he thought they couldn't figure out its location or because of the danger the artefact possessed, but because Harry was involved.

But to Loki's happiness, Daphne spoke up, "We won't accept that. Sequence 4 is the minimum, not the maximum. If it was limited to Sequence 4, I would have tried to attempt it."

Ethan looked at Daphne for a few seconds and nodded.

Just as Loki thought Ethan would pass on this case to someone else, he spoke, "I'll hand give you a Mystical Item for protection and come along with you. Will you take it then?"

Daphne looked at Ethan to weigh her options and to Loki's sorrow, she nodded, "Alright. In that case, we can accept it."

________________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N : Join my Patreon ([email protected]/hooin_kyoma_au) to read 20 chapters ahead for just $3.