In 1967, Regulus Black loses a game of hide-and-seek. In 1979, he is dragged, alive, from the lake. In 1980, he turns reluctant spy for the Order. These events are not connected. But there's a strange thread weaving through Regulus's life, a splitting seam in his memories, a bogeyman that shadows his steps, and he can't shake the feeling that he's missed something essential...