Chapter one: Remembering Maleficia
Kingsley Shacklebolt sat down. It was good to be back in the Auror office.
For two years he had been Britain's Minister of Magic, the most popular one ever to hold the office. He was proud of this, and especially of the fact that he had become Britain's first black Minister of Magic while the United States' magical community had yet to get a black President. Nevertheless, he had said it was only temporary, and he was sticking to it. However, if the pressure continued, he might consider running for office again someday.
But for now, he only wanted to hear about Auror business.
This morning, he was preparing for his first interrogation. This was big, possibly the biggest thing since Voldemort's defeat. A witch named Lucrezia Spear had given herself in, claiming to have first-hand information about the disappearance of Maleficia, the so-called Grand High Witch, and her followers. Maleficia was once considered one of Voldemort's most dangerous collaborators. But after the first, supposed "death" of Voldemort twenty years ago Maleficia became a megalomaniac, setting herself up as the supreme ruler of all witches. Intelligence reports had described her as "terminally insane, yet clever and very powerful". But Maleficia never became the influential leader that Voldemort had been. Her bizarre demands that her followers should shave off their hair, cut off their toes and grow long, crooked fingernails had discouraged anyone but her most devoted followers. Also, her obsession with tormenting muggle children was considered disturbing, even amongst many of Voldemort's followers. The Grand High Witch' great movement of dark art witches never became anything more than a sect.
For a while, Maleficia was being investigated by the Aurors' special agent Alma Dal, an elderly Norwegian squib. Dal was an expert witch-hunter, but she didn't go by the book, to put it mildly. On one occasion, she killed two of Maleficia's followers that she had been ordered to arrest. When questioned about the case, she didn't even try to claim self-defence, but simply said: "The Grand High Witch and her lackeys are vermin. Death is the only justice they deserve!" Dal was considered a loose cannon, and they took her out of Auror service. Then ten years ago she disappeared, at the same time that Maleficia and all her followers also suddenly disappeared. Coincidence? Nobody thought so, but everyone was happy to think this was the end of the Maleficia problem. There were other, even bigger threats ahead at the time. But they were gone now, mostly. Voldemort was dead. Maleficia, as it now turned out, was also dead. She died ten years ago. But her legacy remained.
Shacklebolt opened the door to his office and took a peek outside. He had decided to give the Aurors' newest, and definitely most famous recruit the honour of participating in the interrogation.
"Has Harry Potter arrived yet, Jonesy?" he asked his secretary.
"Not yet, sir. But Miss Spear is ready."
"Then have her sent to my office right away. I will get Mr. Potter a reminder."
---------------
Harry, meanwhile, had decided to take a detour to visit Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley, where his best friend, Ronald Weasley was going through the mail.
"New letter from Hermione?" he asked, looking at the thick parchment Ron was studying. After graduating from Hogwarts, Hermione had begun working in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. A month ago, the department sent her on an expedition to the Moomin Valley, a special reservation for magical creatures, some of them very rare, located at a secret place in Finland.
"Yeah, she keeps sending me these long, detailed things. That's Hermione for you. Sometimes I think she gets her private mail mixed up with her official reports to the head of the department."
"Only I don't think she would start her reports by calling the head of the department 'Dear Ronniekins' ", Harry commented with a grin, peeking at the top of the letter.
Ron koffed "If you want to hear what she has to say, I'd rather read it for you, if it's all the same!", he said, slightly embarrased.
"Certainly, go ahead!", Harry replied.
"Rubeus and I are beginning to run out of time, as the summers are short here in Moomin Valley, and many of the valley's inhabitants are hibernating in the winter" – Ron began. Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwart's, had been given leave of absence to join Hermione on this expedition. Ron and Harry, meanwhile, still weren't used to the idea of Hermione calling Hagrid by his first name. "Rubeus is one of our closest friends, it doesn't make sense that we should call him by his surname", Hermione argued. All things considered, she probably had a point. It was just that they had always called him Hagrid.
"It's only the end of august, but already, the days are getting colder. Of course, one advantage to this is that we might get a chance to see the Groke soon. The Groke is a sort of mysterious winter spirit, and finding out more about her is one of the main reasons why the department arranged this expedition. The natives are describing the Groke as an icy cold, horrible-looking giantess that spreads fear wherever she walks. So naturally, Rubeus can't wait to meet her. However, there is one Moomin Valley native who isn't afraid of the Groke: A courageous mymble woman simply known as My. My has agreed to escort us on our evening "Groke-spottings", whichshould begin next week, depending on whether the temperatures are low enough.
Speaking of mymbles, I have begun taking a strong personal interest in these charming, lively beings. If the mymbles' written genealogical sources are to be trusted, these creatures could actually be the ancestors of the "forbidden love refugees" of the late seventeenth century. These refugees were wizards and witches who wanted to marry their house-elves. Such relationships were strictly forbidden at the time, and a lot these people emigrated to the Finnish countryside - with their house-elves - to avoid persecution. In other words, there's a possibility that mymbles are actually crossbred house-elves! The fact that mymbles are shorter than humans, and that most of them have big noses that resemble those of house-elves, would confirm this. And why is this such a sensation? Because unlike house-elves, mymbles are free-spirited beings with a strong sense of independence and individuality. If they do indeed have a close blood relation to house-elves, this could falsify the claims that house-elves are submissive and servile by nature, and confirm my theory that house-elves are submissive and servile only because they are culturally instilled to behave that way. This could revolutionize the way we look at house-elves! As you can probably imagine, I'm very excited about this."
At this point of time, the reading was interrupted by the appearance of a silvery, ethereal semi-transparent light.
"Oh, I know what this is about", Harry muttered.
"Mr. Harry Potter!" the patronus image of Kingsley Shacklebolt declared "I wish to remind you of an important meeting taking place this morning. You are to report for duty within five minutes!"
"You heard the man, I've got to go", Harry said, hurrying towards the door.
"Is this about the Grand High Witch?" Ron asked innocently.
Harry turned around
"Uh, I heard it form George" Ron added hastily "It's just a rumour, and you know how George talks…"
"You know I'm not allowed to discuss Auror matters", Harry replied as politely as he could, and made a mental note to tell Shacklebolt about the importance of preventing leaks.
---------------
The first thing Harry noticed as he walked into the Chief Auror's office, was a figure wearing a pair of thick gloves and a robe with the hood pulled down.
"Mr Potter", Shacklebolt said in his most formal voice, "This is Miss Lucrezia Spear"
For a moment, Harry looked at the figure that made no sign to get up and greet him, or even say anything to him.
"Please be seated, Mr. Potter"
Harry sat down in a chair next to Shacklebolt's desk.
"And Miss Spear? Please remove your hood." He continued.
The figure didn't move.
"Miss Spear" Shacklebolt said in a firmer voice "Do I have to use force?"
The figure slowly moved her hands upwards, and, even slower, removed the hood with a pair of hands that were still tucked in a pair of oversized gloves.
Harry gaped. For all he had been through, there were still sights that could shock and surprise him. The figure under the hood was indeed a woman - a sort of woman, anyway. She did, however, have a thin layer of light brown fur all over her face and, instead of a nose, a large snout with whiskers.
Basically, she looked like a big, human mouse.
"And now your gloves, please" added Shacklebolt, who didn't look the least bit surprised.
The mouse-woman did as she was told, a little less hesitant this time. Taking off her gloves, she revealed a pair of claw-like, furry hands with opposable thumbs.
"Okay, there must be an interesting story behind this", Harry said flatly.
Kingsley Shacklebolt leaned back in his chair. "That's what we're about to find out", he said.
Continued
At last, here it is: The first chapter in what might turn out to be an over-ambitious fanfic.
The project's working title is The Crosser Project, and the idea is to incorporate several characters from my favourite childhood books into Harry Potter's universe. Harry Potter himself won't play a large part, except in this particular story. Later stories will focus on Ron and Hermione along with characters created by Roald Dahl, Michael Ende, Tove Jansson and Angela Sommer-Bodenburg, to mention a few. In other words, it's a multi-crossover.
Chapter two should be up very soon; it's pretty much finished. In the meantime, please read and review. And bear in mind that English is not my native language, so don't be afraid to tell me if I'm not expressing myself correctly.
This chapter was inspired by the following books:
The Harry Potter books in general, all of whom are written by J. K. Rowling
The Moomin books in general, all of whom are written by Tove Jansson.
The Witches, a book written by Roald Dahl.
All the characters used or mentioned in this story are created by these three writers, except for Lucrezia Spear, who was invented by me (although technically, she appears in Roald Dahl's book; if only as a nameless face in the crowd). I also made up the names for the Grand High Witch and the grandmother from The Witches. In the book, they have no names.