Author's Note:
The Professor: Hello, and welcome to Ambrose the Book-Wolf and the Torchwood Professor's story, "A Gifted Syllable". Bear with us on the title - all the titles in this series have some relevance to the plot.
Ambrose: Yes, they do indeed. Now, so we need not be detected not doing a disclaimer - Harry Potter and all other people, places, concepts, species', etc that are affiliated with the Harry Potter universe are the intellectual property of J.K. Rowling, and of course all those guys at Warner Bros. who do the movies probably own a bit too . . . Any and all other references to outside TV shows, movies, cartoons, books, etc, are not in any way inclined toward encroaching copyright. There we are.
The Professor: dons deer stalker and cap There we are indeed. Now, this is our first foray into gumshoe fiction, so wish us luck.
Ambrose: Enjoy the story - it's our first of this series, so if you like it (and say as such) we'll continue. Read and review, guys!
(Chapter 1 - Start)
Hogwarts Teacher Found Murdered
Kingsley Maynard Shacklebolt was found dead on the floor of his quarters at a quarter to seven on the first of June, 1999, by Madam Poppy Pomfrey. Mr Shacklebolt, born on the sixth of August 1960, was thirty eight at the time of his death. Mr Shacklebolt was, in his lifetime, a world-renowned Auror and dueling champion. He later joined the staff of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in September 1997. The pathologists report found the Killing Curse to be the cause of death. In response, the British Auror Front has announced they suspect foul play, and that they have called in specialist help -
Kingsley Shacklebolt was indeed found dead on the first of June, 1999. He was indeed thirty eight at the time of his murder. He had indeed been a world-renowned Auror and dueling champion. He had indeed been murdered by the Killing Curse.
However, the British Auror Front had not called in 'specialist' help until the day after Kingsley's body had been discovered. They had instead (after trying to solve the mystery themselves, but quickly realizing this sort of crime was beyond them, had chucked it) given the case to a group of seven private detectives - the best in Britain. Four of them had worked off of photographs and written reports of the crime scene, and three of them had worked on the crime scene itself.
Not one of them had been able to divine a who, why or even a how - aside from knowing it was the Killing Curse - from the scene.
Thusly, Auror Commander Amelia Bones had called in the specialist help, who was well-known as having a sharp mind and quick eyes. The British Auror Front had resisted calling in this help because of one condition that the help always stipulated - they must be paid, and well. Very well.
It is a well known fact that the British Auror Front, just as every other law enforcement agency throughout history has been, is very underfunded. They would not have been able to requisition this help had Amelia Bones been owed a favor by this help.
Amelia Bone had been Auror Commander for some ten years. Three years ago, she had helped the specialist help - one Harry James Potter - out of a very sticky situation. Therefore, he owed her a favor, which she called in.
Harry James Potter - notorious in the higher echelons of society for being able to solve nearly any crime very quickly, and so therefore very much so in demand - had been in Britain in 1996. The visit had ended very oddly - it had led to him owing three hundred and one bobbin wheels to Mundungus Fletcher, it had led to him owning three different flavored condoms (Strawberry, Melon and Banana Nut) and it had led to him meeting Ronald Bilius Weasley for the first time - though not, to Harry (and the narration's) relief, all at the same time.
This favor was called in, and this led to Harry James Potter and Ronald Bilius Weasley leaving a police-mans' ball in Marseiilles, France (after having foiled an attempt to detonate a planted bomb after the thirtieth conga shuffle step) and arriving in the Auror Commander's Office, in the Ministry of Magic, Britain, at three past one in the morning on the third of June 1999.
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The arrival by Floo Network of Harry Potter is often succeeded by a wave of soot crashing over a carpet and a shape, roughly the size of a twenty four year old male, falling onto the afore-mentioned carpet. This is why, when Harry Potter arrived by Floo in Amelia Bones' office, Amelia did not fall back off of her chair or even jog her quill; she was far too accustomed to it to be surprised. She finished off her sentence on the felony report she had been filling in prior, and stood up, taking off her glasses and sliding them into her case. She walked around the desk that took up about an eighth of her office, which gave Harry plenty of time in which to get up and perform a cleaning charm on himself.
His arrival was followed by that of Ronald Weasley, who is far more graceful upon leaving a Floo fireplace (despite managing to trip over his own feet on a daily basis). Thus, when Amelia had reached the fireplace from which they had entered the office, two twenty four year old males stood before her in a adequate state of affairs.
This was hardly the first or second time that she had seen Harry Potter, but it was only the second time she had seen Ronald Weasley. This is why, in the two seconds silence that passed as the three accessed one another, she found her eyes drifting to Weasley.
He was quite a tall man, certainly much taller than his companion, with a shock of bright red-orange hair atop his head, giving off an impression of being rather like a carrot. His face had seemingly not yet grown into maturity, as a few remnants of baby fat remained in the cheeks and chin, and his skin was rather pink, with a great many freckles upon it (though Amelia knew this was his normal appearance, and not simply a result of physical exertion or sunbathing). This created a rather strange impression when one looked into his eyes, which were an almost crayon-like baby blue. He was attired rather unconcernedly; he had a battered grey (though she suspected it had been black at one point) denim Levi jacket over a simple red shirt. He had rather common trousers on, with a simple woolen belt going through the belt loops and which ended in a clamp buckle, and very badly-kept Nike trainers, which even had a few rips in the sides, which she assumed were quite old from the look of them. The overall impression she got was of an outfit put together simply because he liked the separate things, and wanted to wear them; he seemed not to care about his appearance, nor about anything in the office but her, as he looked at her quite inquisitively.
Then her gaze slid over to Harry Potter, who was, as a rule, always well dressed. He was a short man by nature, only an inch or so taller than the five foot four Amelia, and he had an artfully arranged chaos perched upon his head; his sable hair seemed never to quite settle down, so he simply liked to make it worse. His face was rather attractive, with angular and striking features, which gave one the impression of a starved aristocrat, even more so when one considered his pale complexion, which was impeccably blank of freckle or spot. This altogether strange face was brought together by almond shaped eyes - cat's eyes, Amelia had thought when she had met him - which were the most startling green she had ever seen. His attire was impeccable; he wore a white button up shirt, which had the top button undone, and a dark green tie, loosely done. He also wore a waistcoat, the same shade of green with understated golden spirals, and a similarly colored outer coat, which was at the moment undone. His trousers were very well-tailored, and fit his figure very well, but not so much as to be an invitation. They were held up by a black leather belt, which ended in quite an eye-catching buckle; a wolf's head howling at a full moon. His shoes were, however, quite baffling, when compared to his other apparel; they were a pair of black high-top All Star Converses, with the laces twice done, and were very clean indeed. The overall impression you got was of a man who, while not caring for fashion, did quite like to show people what he liked, and cared not one iota about what they might think the clothes were supposed to mean. However, he did care quite a bit about one thing; murder.
And that is why, at four past one on the third of June, 1999, Mr Harry James Potter asked Madame Amelia Jasmine Bones: "Who, how and when?"
(Chapter One - End)
The Professor: There we are then! Gumshoe has stuck with us!
Ambrose: Your puns get worse as the days go by. And take off that stupid hat.
The Professor: It isn't stupid! How dare you say such a thing! Why, I'm so angry I'll -
Ambrose: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it . . . Well, that's all from us tonight. Read and review, guys!