"Congratulations, you've passed the test!" Sophia said as she opened the door properly. No one else was there to greet him, but she did her part anyway. Usually at least three members of the group were there to greet their new member, but it was only Jack and Sophia here now, and Jack was still asleep. She had healed his bruise to hide what she had done, but he hadn't woken up yet. She just left him there as they both went back to her area. She quickly checked if the computer had found anything else but wasn't surprised when it hadn't. She didn't dare do her special search that combined magic and technology. If Albus realised what she was doing, he might have to arrest her later. If he ever got his job back. He didn't seem to know what to do about that. He hadn't said anything about sending their findings to anyone in the Ministry either, though they probably should. If the Knocker managed to sell Yang, who knew where he would end up.
Albus looked up at Sophia with an unexpected serious expression.
"Do you trust me, Sophia?"
Sophia was taken aback by that question. Trust him?
"I… I want to, but I…"
Albus sighed. Then he got out his wand, did a series of non-verbal spells Sophia hadn't seen before and to her astonishment, it was as if all other noises got dulled down and her vision blurred. The outside was still visible, but she suspected they wouldn't be able to see them. Maybe her trick with the computers wasn't as impressive as she thought.
"This is somewhat similar to what you did with your computers, though not nearly as noisy," Albus said. "And probably not impossible to break through, though I will notice if anyone tries. We can talk more freely now, if you want to."
Sophia hesitated. Could she really trust Albus? She wanted to, she really did, but he didn't know her as well as he thought he did.
"I trust you as much as I trust anyone at the moment," she said. "But sometimes it's not a matter of trust."
Albus nodded in understanding. "You mentioned you don't like how McLaggen has taken over this group and made it into something more sinister than what it used to be. Do you want to work with me to change that?"
"What can we do to change that?"
"First of all, I can tell you what I saw inside McLaggen's lair last night. Have you ever been inside?"
Sophia snorted at his choice of words. It really could be called a "lair", though she didn't really think McLaggen was up to something terrible, like a villain from a story.
"No. Only those that he deems "worthy" are allowed in there. I am quite far down that list."
"I thought as much. I don't know if you are aware, but this group is on the Ministry's radar, but they have very little idea of what it is about. I thought that if any of it was true, it would be inside McLaggen's area. But it seems he's mostly trying to hide his work so that he doesn't have to share with the rest of you. Not that most of it is even worth sharing."
Sophia nodded. She had already suspected that McLaggen was mostly talk and little skill to back it up with. He wasn't the first such person she had met.
"You don't seem surprised at this?"
"No, I'm honestly more relieved. That was the least dangerous reason for him to be so secretive. I suspect quite a few of those that want to join his "gang" are a little disappointed though."
"Yes, it sounded like the man I followed inside last night was getting annoyed at him. And McLaggen is starting to regret investing in this group."
"I'm not surprised. We haven't really made anything we can profit from in ages."
"Then how are you all keeping afloat?"
"Well, as McLaggen explained, we live here rent free. Most of us live off of family money or previously earned wages. My family gave me my inheritance early, when I graduated and decided to remain in the Wizarding world rather than getting a job among Muggles. That way, I can have access to gold for wizard supplies yet also have a Muggle bank account for normal purchases. Why do you ask?"
"I'm curious. I feel like there is still so much I don't know about this group I accidentally joined. I am relieved though. It doesn't seem like this is a group of Dark wizards, like I feared."
"You don't know as much as you think you do. Not all of us are saints, just because we don't dabble in Dark Magic." They started to tread into dangerous territory, but Sophia wanted to be honest with Albus, especially since she had forced him to be honest with her.
"I know that there are many shades of grey in this world. All I need to know is, are you doing anything that would make a Ministry employee arrest you, if they knew? I don't need details, just a yes or no."
Sophia didn't want to admit it, but she guessed Albus already suspected her, since he asked.
"Probably, yes." She hoped this didn't mean he would stop talking to her.
"I see. Is that related to the way your computer seems to break through almost any digital wall? Because I think you'd be surprised at how much we are allowed to do in that regard, when we have to."
Sophia looked up in surprise. "How do you even know what that is?"
"You gave me access to your computer yesterday, remember? And while I think that a few of the functions on it are… unorthodox and perhaps borderline illegal, it is also brilliant! If the Ministry had access to your programs, our jobs would be a lot easier."
Sophia was confused. He knew about her computer hacking, and didn't mind? Was it just because he wasn't working right now, or would it even extend to later? And why was this group on the Ministry's radar? They had sort of skipped over that part.
Just as she was about to say something, Albus held up a hand.
"Someone's coming. I need to remove the sound barrier."
And as quickly as he had set it up, his magical barriers were down. When Sophia saw who it was that came towards them, she almost wished he had kept them up for a little longer.
It was Mary Piers. And it looked like she was done hiding her anger.