Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Harry Potter. All characters belong to JK Rowling; their abuse in this plot bunny is entirely my fault.
Yes, there are deliberate grammar errors in the text where characters are speaking; very few people always speak with grammatical perfection.
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Ch 4 Tea Time
At tea time, the doors were flung open with a flourish, as Harry and Ron strode through the doors.
"Hermione, imagine finding you in a library! We've come to join you for tea."
Hermione grinned, then embraced both males. "Harry, Ron, what's new?" She led them to the couches in front of the fire, where tea appeared in front of them.
Lucius rose at the interruption. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley."
Harry looked at him in surprise "Mr. Malfoy". Ron just scowled and poured himself a tea.
Lucius collected his tea and scones, retreating back to his table. He pretended to be absorbed in his reading, as he listened to the trio's conversation.
Harry started "We nearly had our hands on McNair this morning. Slippery fellow, he escaped after he caused a car accident in London."
"Ya, it took 30 minutes to clear up the mess." Ron said around his scone.
"Sorry to hear that. How did you find him?"
"We traced him from the purchase of an amulet." He pulled it out of his pocket. "Here's the thing…" Harry shot a glance to Lucius, and dropped his voice to a whisper. "I remember this amulet. I found it a month ago during the seizure at Lestrange's. It has a nick on it right here." He pointed to the nick. "I remember cutting myself on it. It didn't heal for two weeks, and bugged me every time it got wet. Hermione…" "It's supposed to be in Ministry hands. I think someone is selling off the dark objects we're seizing."
"Have you seen other things then?" she asked.
"I've suspected something fishy is going on, but have no proof. I went back to check the seizure records, and this wasn't listed." Harry told her.
"What are we going to do?" Ron questioned.
Harry continued "With the new law, there's a lot more Aurors. I don't know where to start. It's got to be an inside job if the records are getting altered."
"It's the stupidest law I've seen. Let's force every student to learn how Aurors capture criminals, including an existing criminal element. Once criminals are fully trained, let's leave them to a life of crime." Hermione ranted.
She drew a deep breath. "First, copy the muggle police. Keep your own records of everything you do, hand in a copy. We can do comparisons later. " She thought "Next, tell Kingsley, and the rest of the Order. It's more than one person stealing things. There's the fence"
"What's a fence got to do with it?" Ron looked confused.
"A fence is a person who sells stolen goods Ron." Harry said.
"And then there's the buyers. They're likely Death Eaters you want to grab in the first place." She shrugged. "Maybe you can watch the fence and find everyone." She took a sip of tea. "Ok, enough business. How are the girls?"
"Lavender is doing fine. She keeps sending me for ice cream in the middle of the night." Ron grinned.
Hermione rolled her eyes "They're called cravings Ron. They happen when you're pregnant."
"Ya, I know. Next week we're going to have the first photos in utero done. I can't wait to see the little tyke."
Harry winced "Ginny sends her love. She won't be able to get here until the weekend. Last time I looked at her, she was drowning in paperwork. Literally."
"At least she's not in the field Harry."
"Thank Merlin for that. It was bad enough during the last battle." He shuttered. "Molly's expecting you at the Burrow for supper soon Hermione."
Hermione sighed "We'll see. With Mr. Malfoy now in residence, it's going to be harder for me to get away."
"Oh well. Anyways, we should get back to the office, before someone notices we're gone." Harry rose and gave Hermione another hug. Ron grabbed another scone, thru a quick hug around her before both were heading for the fireplace. "Bye Hermione. See you soon."
Lucius pondered the new information. If thefts from Ministry seizures were ending up on the black market, it made more sense why his manor had been plundered so badly. Fences would soon have problems moving merchandise locally; too many of the old buyers would be dead, on the run, in Azkaban, or saving money for bribes. The antique, jewel and collectable markets would be badly hit, and prices would plummet. Most established fences would avoid buying anything stamped with the Malfoy seal as long as he was alive. Malfoys had a tendency to retaliate against anyone enabling criminal activity against them.
Damn it. He needed to see his estate lawyers, and have them start buying out the local market using the Malfoy trust funds. They could ship the less valuable stuff overseas for profit. Some things would need to be retained for future alliances and bribes from the families they were taken from. Any of his family heirlooms would need to be recovered, and the fences punished dramatically, sending a message. Without a market, the appeal of plundering his home should soon be contained to taking dark objects only.