Albus was back inside the guest room again. He really hoped Sophia would come through. It was his best chance at finding out what McLaggen was really up to, and specifically if it was anything illegal. He hoped it wasn't. He really liked the idea of this group, and he honestly hoped he could join them. But he wasn't a fan of the extreme secrecy, and it seemed some of the others here didn't really like it either.
Sophia and a few of the others had given him a new perspective of the Ministry. He had grown up with his family so intimately involved in it that he rarely questioned its existence and level of involvement. Of course, he knew the stories about how his father had been subjected to near persecution by them, and obviously it had been horrible under Voldemort, but it had changed a lot since then. Hadn't it?
His thoughts were interrupted by the door rattling. He hadn't noticed that sound before. He made sure not to touch the floor until the door was fully open and Sophia stood in the doorway.
"I really hope I won't regret this," she said.
"You won't. Don't worry. Where did Jack go?"
"He was exhausted from not getting any sleep last night, so he's sleeping over there."
Something was off in the way she said that, but it wasn't really important how she got rid of Jack, as long as he didn't wake up until Albus was gone. He finally stepped out of the bed, then made a rough dummy to make it look like he was fast asleep. That way, Sophia could show a sleeping figure if anyone came to enquire. Plausible deniability was important.
"You know, if he catches you, I'm going to be in so much trouble."
"I could have snuck out without you seeing. You were distracted by Jack falling asleep."
"You honestly think they'd buy that?"
"Worth a shot, but I doubt we'll need to find out. They're not going to catch me."
"I wish I shared your optimism."
Albus didn't say anything else, he just put on a Disillusionment Charm and started sneaking over to McLaggen's house. He didn't see Sophia's shocked expression behind him.
Albus was in stealth mode. This was something he knew he was good at. Not even Scorpius, who did this for a living, could really match Albus when it came to avoiding being seen. Scorpius could be different people. Albus could be invisible. The only question was how he was going to get into McLaggen's house. It didn't have any obvious guards outside, at least not on this side, but the door was probably locked.
As luck would have it, someone came out of the house just as he was sneaking up to it and came back with some sort of bag a few minutes later. He looked annoyed and didn't bother closing the door properly after him. Albus was able to squeeze in after him without moving the door.
'Time to see what you've been hiding' Albus thought.
Once he located the laboratory, he almost sighed in relief. He didn't know what all of this was, but it was nothing like the Dark Magic research places he had seen. He didn't know why he was so insistent to keep this a secret, even from the other members, but it wasn't what he feared. He hoped one of them would say something about the purpose of this place in the hours he could spend here. He needed to get back inside the guest room before the first people woke up for the day. It wouldn't hurt to get a few hours of sleep either, since he didn't sleep much last night. He pitied Sophia who now had to stay up for the second night in a row. Or was it third? Had she been able to sleep once he was asleep that first night?
"Did you get it?" McLaggen said from a corner. Albus managed not to jump in shock. He hadn't even seen him there.
"I got it. Why the rush though? Why do we have to stay up all night to finish this?"
"I've told you. We only have one more night of guaranteed privacy. That Auror boy will be done with his confinement after today, then he'll have free range of the place."
"But even then, unless you invite him, there's no reason for him to come here."
"You think that'll stop him? I'm surprised he hasn't tried to sneak in here already. It was smart foisting him off on that Muggle tech girl. She's kept him distracted."
Had McLaggen not even bothered to learn the names, or was that meant as an insult?
"What is it you're afraid of him finding anyway? It's not like we're doing anything illegal."
"He's desperate. He wants to find something to get his father to allow him to get his job back. If he sees this, he may try to steal the idea and present it as his own. As would any of the other freethinkers out there."
Albus had no such intentions, but he could see how McLaggen could think that. But he knew this wouldn't be solved so easily. He wasn't even sure he would be able to get back to work if his project with Sophia yielded any results, other inventions wouldn't make much difference.
"Why do you even keep them around, if you dislike them so much?"
"Why are you suddenly asking so many questions?"
"I'm just curious. Maybe a tad annoyed at having to be up all night because you're paranoid."
McLaggen grunted but didn't say anything else. Albus was even more curious now. Why did he keep the rest of the group around, if he generally disliked them? He hoped he would answer.
"Have you forgotten the deal we all signed when we joined the group?"
"The one where we all share the profits of anything we make equally?"
"Exactly. I thought it would be easy money, just provide the space and they would churn out inventions. Do you know how many times that has happened in the many years we've done this?"
The man didn't say anything, but McLaggen didn't seem to expect him to, as he continued anyway.
"Once. Only once in over 5 years. Hardly a good investment, wouldn't you say? Yet I keep hoping. And the costs truly are minimal."
"But you've not shared your work with them."
"Of course not! Then I would have to share any profit with all of them. Didn't you hear what I just said?"
Neither of the two said anything else. Albus had heard enough. This wasn't an issue from a Ministry standpoint. But he suspected Sophia would be very interested to hear what he had overheard.
He spent a few hours searching as much of McLaggen's house as he could. Even the creepy basement. It looked like a perfectly normal house except for the laboratory where the door to the Base was. From what he could see, the super-secret experiments McLaggen claimed to be doing were nothing special. Albus doubted he would be getting a patent for anything anytime soon. Satisfied that McLaggen was just an arrogant idiot, he quickly followed one of the men back into the Base again. He noticed that there were quite a few of them that rotated being on guard from a small nook that wasn't visible from the base. Was some of them the men that had failed the test, as Sophia had mentioned, or did McLaggen have them elsewhere? He didn't recognise any of them, but he didn't have a perfect memory of every person on Law Enforcement lists.
The discarded members were the only issue left to solve, but it didn't necessarily have anything to do with this group specifically. He was more and more certain that someone else was using this name and doing illegal experiments. That was an issue for later though.
***
Sophia hadn't told Albus the full story when she let him out of the room. She didn't really know why. He had been the one to ask her to do this, he wouldn't care that she had to knock Jack over the head to accomplish it. Jack had started to grumble at once when Albus made no moves to go to bed that night either and Sophia knocked him out when she was up on the roof making noises. If anyone happened to see it, she could claim it was an accident.
And then Albus managed to surprise her again by turning practically invisible! She only noticed him because she had been looking at him as he cast the Disillusionment Charm. At least she thought that was what it was. He wasn't bragging, he really was good at that. Sophia had downed one of Greg's Wideye Potions so she wouldn't fall asleep unintentionally during the day. She hoped Albus wouldn't stay out all night either, she couldn't sleep until he was back in bed.
Several boring hours went by. Sophia pretended she still believed Albus was inside the room, and checked about once an hour, and made some noises, just in case anyone was looking. She was tempted to use the last of Greg's Wideye Potions, but that would mean that she wouldn't be able to sleep when Albus returned. Finally, as the clock showed nearly 5am, she felt something tapping her on the shoulder. Barely suppressing a scream, she hastily turned around, pointing her wand in the direction she felt it come from. Then something tapped her on the shoulder from the other direction. The fourth time this happened, she had had enough.
"Ok, you've had your fun. Did you find anything?"
"I did. I'm not nearly as worried now as I was last night. Thank you."
"Yeah, yeah. Get inside then. Sleep for a few more hours, then I'll let you out." Sophia said as she opened the door again. She hoped she would be able to get a few hours' sleep as well. The main reason for the Caterwauling Charm was to wake them up if the person inside woke up. Albus probably wouldn't activate that in what remained of the night. She set her alarm for 8am, just to be safe.