The Three Spiders

By circinusphoenix

Summary: In the Goblet of Fire, Barty Crouch Jr. showed us just how excellent he was at Transfiguration, lovingly turning Draco into a ferret. Transfiguring a human is no small feat, and it's obvious he had done it before. So, what of the three spiders he used in the Unforgivable Curses on in Defence class? Were they just spiders, or something else . . . (my first attempt at a fic based on OC's)

- CHAPTER ONE -

The Assignment

Amber lanterns lit the stone stairwell dimly, as a very excited and rushed man vaulted the steps. His feet echoed his quick pace in the hollow staircase, as he continued upwards, his heart beating rapidly in his chest. A few times he almost tripped on his black cloaks, which he now proudly wore. When it happened, his frustration grew since he would have to clean the dust off before continuing. He didn't want to look bad in front of the Minister for Magic.

Once he started off again, going up what felt like an endless flight of stairs, his mind returned to his thinking. He was an Auror now. It was something he dreamed about becoming in his years at Hogwarts, and now he was finally there; wearing the black cloak, and actually meeting the Minister. He couldn't help a grin wipe across his face as he finally reached the landing.

At the end of the staircase, a stone platform stood, leading to a short corridor, with a heavy wooden door at the end. As the man walked down slowly, he noticed a few labeled doors offset to the hallway. Some labels included "Assistant Secretary to the Minister" and "Official Ministry Spokesperson and Speechwriter." The man kept his deep blue eyes set however on the door at the end, to which he was determined to enter without making any large mistakes.

He reached the old, oak door, and made sure his clothing was tidy and neat. Just as he was bending down to fix the cuff of his pant-leg, the door unexpectedly opened, and the man fell backwards onto his behind in surprise.

'Oh hello. You must be that new chap from the Auror Department, correct?' the portly little man asked, whom the man on the floor knew was the Minister for Magic. The man hastily got to his feet, his robes in a mess and his cuff still sticking into the back of his left shoe, and nodded, offering his hand.

'Yes Minister. Evan Wymond, from the Department of-'

'Yes, yes, yes' Fudge interrupted, waving off Evan from continuing. 'Come in' he added tiredly. Fudge walked in, and left Evan outside. Evan, who's mind was still on the floor, shook his head and marched into the office quickly. By the time he made it into the office, the Minister already found his seat, and his pipe.

'Sit. No wait, stand, this shouldn't take too long' Fudge said. The office was very ornate, with many paintings and objects on the walls, which were wallpapered with old Victorian like patterns in gold on a scarlet sea.

Fudge sat behind an overly large mahogany desk, on a high winged brown leather chair. A welcoming set of brown leathered sitting chairs stood in front of the desk, but Evan had to look longingly at the seats, as the Minister told him to stay standing. He could feel his picturesque idea of his first time meeting the Minister going down the drain.

Fudge lit his pipe, and took a long puff while Evan continued to wait. He was becoming impatient with the rumpled grey haired man. Evan took the time to look more at the objects in the room, which to his count, numbered in the thousands. He noticed a lime green bowler hat sitting on a coat rack, along with a long black robe and a pinstriped one. A grand fireplace stood behind the Minister's chair, a light fire burning at the time. Fudge finally took his pipe, and set it down.

'You're a newby, correct?' he asked bluntly. Evan looked at the Minister for a moment, but nodded and put a showy smile on his face to hide his overwhelming misconceptions of Fudge.

'Alright. I have an assignment that needs taking care of. Who was your Auror Instructor?' he asked, taking a sheet of parchment out. A bright green quill came from a desk drawer, and stood over the parchment ready to write.

'Torrin Terrwynebas' Evan answered evenly. Torrin was considered one of the best instructors at the Auror Training Academy, or the ATA as its students called it. Evan was very lucky to be put under Torrin's division, which ended up graduating top of all others.

'Torrin? Alright. What do you know about Alastor Moody?' Fudge asked, looking at Evan directly.

'Not much really. He was a great Auror once; one of the best actually. But he's kind of gone off his rocker as of late as far as I know' Evan answered. Torrin always spoke highly of Alastor, the two being very good friends. Torrin admitted in Evan's last year that Alastor, or "Mad-Eye" as he was sometimes called, began to show overly paranoid tendencies. Torrin still felt he was a good man, just under too much pressure.

The green quill finished writing a last sentence, and Fudge took out a silver quill, and wrote a short note. He folded the parchment, and sealed it with his wand. He very uncouthly thrusted the note to Evan, who took it, and stepped back.

'I've assigned you under Rowan Murkham. He will be your supervisor. Go down to the Auror Headquarters and report to him' Fudge stated flatly. Topher knew Ministry procedures, and felt the need to ask.

'Minister, don't I have to sign-'

'It's been done' Fudge interrupted again, giving his wand a flick and a file flying onto his desk. Fudge took a rubber stamp, and slammed it onto a page in the file, then whisked it back to the cabinet it came from. Evan stood in the room for a moment, as the Minister took out a separate piece of parchment. Fudge looked up after a few seconds.

'Oh, we're done' he said offhandedly. Evan tentatively stepped back, and exited out through the door.

Once he closed the door behind him, he gave a sigh, and found himself laughing a little. That morning, he thought meeting the Minster for Magic would be like meeting royalty; having to present yourself and your title, sitting down, and having a polite conversation. Just being in the presence of the Minister, he thought would be an honour. Now as he walked back down the dimly lit hallway, he realized how much of an oaf he was for thinking such a thing.

Meeting Fudge made him feel like a number; one of just hundreds of people he met, and never remembered their name. He never thought he would actually be recognized by Fudge, but thought he would at least get some courtesy. He didn't even get that. He was just swept off as some blank Auror.

Evan didn't want that. He wanted this assignment to put him on the map; to make him recognized. He had a lot to prove, and massive amounts of competition. There was no war going on, no great battle or struggle between good or evil, so promotions in the Auror ranks were few if not non-existent. Evan knew that if he wanted to go anywhere, he would have to do his best, right from the start.

Evan walked back down the stairs, and all the way to the Auror Headquarters, located on Level Two of the Ministry. The lifts at the time were out of order, because they were being serviced. It was so late at night, around eleven, that very few people were inconvenienced by it.

Just as he walked through the doors, he heard a clinking sound, and looked back to see a tall, but excessively round man exit one of the lifts. He came out of the lift, and looked up as if expecting something to fall on him.

'Did they get the lifts working again?' Evan asked the man. The man's round blue eyes turned down to Evan, and he nodded.

'Yeah, they did about twenty minutes ago. Darn things are frightening aren't they? I'd just rather hop on my broomstick and shoot up to the Department' he said rather jovially. Evan grinned at his comment, wondering if the man would actually fit on a broomstick, and decided to introduce himself.

'My name is Evan Wymond, I work for the Auror Department' he said, extending his hand. He was delighted to see the heavy man accept it enthusiastically.

'Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Games and Sports' Ludo expressed proudly. Evan heard of him before.

'Weren't you a Beater for the Wimbourne Wasps back a while ago?' Evan asked. Ludo's rosy complexion increased as he smiled happily, and puffed out his chest in pride.

'Why yes I was.'

'Well that's something then. You were quite good as I am told. It's very nice to have met you' Evan exclaimed, remembering that the man was just on his way out from the looks of things.

'Well, since you have a good taste in Quidditch, come up to my office sometime. I can get you tickets to the World Cup. We're organizing it right now actually.'

'Really! Wow, thank you so much Mr. Bagman' Evan said happily, shaking his hand again. Ludo smiled.

'Please, call me Ludo.'

'Sure. I'll talk to you later Ludo' Evan assured. Ludo waved, and walked out to the stairwell, which lead to the Atrium. Evan turned and laughed, realizing meeting an outdated Quidditch Beater was more exciting than meeting the Minister for Magic. He pushed open the double doors, and entered the Auror Headquarters.

The room was littered with cubicals; various posters of wanted wizards, Quidditch teams, personal photographs, and Daily Prophet articles posted on their sides. The entire room was dark, except for the few lamps that signaled the nighthawks that stayed late to work, and the fake moonlight that shone through the magical windows eerily.

Evan slowly walked around, and tried to find his supervisor. He didn't know what he looked like, only his name. The room was extremely quiet, devoid of any sound except for the occasional scratch of a quill against parchment. Evan checked the names, and walked by a few serious looking Aurors reading documents, and one or two that fallen asleep on their desks. Evan turned around, and came to the cubical he was looking for, labeled:

ROWAN MURKHAM – AUROR SUPERVISOR

Evan very carefully, cleared his throat, and turned the corner.

He found an older looking wizard, mid forties perhaps, with dark brown shaggy hair reading a book. He had a brown and better kept moustache and goatee, and heavy inset eyes. His legs were inclined to the top of his desk, and his worn brown shoes rested on a stack of papers, while he leaned back in his chair, a lamp behind him giving some light to he book.

Evan quietly knocked on the side of the cubical wall, and the man turned to face him.

'Oh hello. You must be Evan' he said quietly, turning around from his desk and standing up. He shook Evan's hand, and motioned him to a chair in his cubical, which was larger than some that he passed. The man took his seat again, and put his book on his desk, where a myriad of photographs stood facing him.

'Well, I wish we could have met an earlier time, but this will do. My name is Rowan Murkham, and I'll be your Auror Supervisor. My job, since you just graduated, is just to help you out on things. I won't be telling you what to do; just what not to do. Don't think of me as a teacher; more like an advisor.' He looked at Evan, the lamplight showing his intense hazel eyes, and Evan nodded in understanding. Rowan then proceeded to pick up a file on his desk and open it.

'So you just graduated—congratulations—under . . . Torrin. Very good. Torrin's a good man. Younger than most trainers, but very skillful and wise. I see you graduated second in your class, not bad. Who was the first, if you don't mine me asking?'

'A girl named Brice Purdory' Evan admitted with a tinge of unhappiness. He was only two points off being top in his class.

'Brice you say? Well, I can tell Fudge wants our job to be done well then' Rowan attested. Evan quirked his brow.

'Why is that?' Rowan smiled, and leaned forward in his chair.

'Because she is your partner on this project.'

Evan slowly leaned back in his chair, and let out a tired sigh. He was mixed about working with Brice. She was very smart; sometimes too smart, but very attractive. Evan tried numerous times to get her to go out with him, but she always turned him down. Evan began looking at it like a game, but became less enthused as the last year rolled down. He tried one last dare to win her affection, but it proved beyond disastrous. After that, there was large amounts of tension between them.

In the end, he gave up, and figured he would never see her again. He did want to see her of course, she was beautiful, and very interesting; but he made himself ready to not see her again.

Rowan put the folder down, and smirked at Evan's response. 'I'm guessing you two don't get along?' he asked.

'No, we get along. There's just . . . some tension is all.' Evan asked when they were getting started, and was at least glad to hear that he wouldn't be seeing her until the next day.

'I am however supposed to brief you on your project. This is both you and Brice's project; I'm just here to supervise, as I've said. I'll be around you two a bit, but most of the time it will just be the two of you, working together' Rowan explained. Evan was still mixed about the pairing, but nodded.

'The Ministry has been having some problems with an ex-Auror. He is a great man, and I personally hate that the Minister has asked you to do this. Your project is to watch Alastor Moody. He's been acting weirder than normal, which is already quite weird. The Minister has worries that he might, in his paranoid state, hurt muggles or cause a ruckus for the Ministry.'

'Do you think he will?' Evan asked. Rowan rubbed his eyes tiredly, and let out a sigh, dropping the file back on his desk.

'I know Mad-Eye, he's eccentric. A little overly eccentric I might say. When he worked here, he was a great man. He became paranoid though in his later years, and the Ministry forced him to retire. Since then, he's become a bit of a wreck. I saw him a month ago, just to drop in and say hi. Once you get past all his defenses to his house, and prove you're who you say you are, he's quite hospitable.'

'So what exactly am I supposed to do?' Evan asked.

'Watch Mad-Eye, keep an eye for him. The Minister honestly wants a reason to lock him away, but I want you to help Alastor. If there are problems, fix them as best you can, and don't report it please. He served the Auror Department for decades; he's more deserving of an easy life, not prison.' Evan understood fully what Rowan was meaning.

'I'll try my best sir' Evan said. Rowan chuckled.

'Just call me Rowan. We will go into more detail tomorrow, but you and Brice have to watch yourselves. Moody has increased his defenses around his house the last while. He's sure someone is trying to get at him, so he's become worst than ever. We've checked the area many times, but haven't found anyone. I'm just hoping when he goes to Hogwarts, he'll be better.'

'He's going to Hogwarts?' Evan questioned. Evan loved Hogwarts; the Great Hall, the Quidditch Pitch, Gryffindor Tower. It was a place that would always remain close to his heart.

'Yes. Dumbledore asked him to teach Defence. He should do well at it—as long as he doesn't scare the daylights out of the students' Rowan added with a smile. He stood, and Evan promptly did the same.

'Well, it's late, and I should be going home. Come back tomorrow morning, around Ten, and you, me, and Brice will go over schedules and background notes. Although this is not the normal Auror assignment, we'll treat it like one, alright?'

'Sure, sounds good' Evan said, as he began his way out of the cubicle.

'Oh, and Evan' Rowan said, Evan turning around. 'Welcome to the Auror Department.'

Name Meanings:
Rowan Murkham - Rowan after the tree, which is known to be a relatively small, but tough, and dense tree that can thrive in poor soil. Murkham Murk - murky-like
Brice Purdory - Brice Welsh: Bricius: speckled. Purdory Latin: Pudicus: humble
Evan Wymond - Evan short for Evangelos, Greek: eu: good, angelos: messanger. Wymond Old English: wig: battle, mund: protector.