Kate landed on the front steps of the precinct a little off balance, spilling a little bit of coffee that hasn't quite cooled off in her to-go cup. She's later than she usually is during an ongoing investigation, but she's counting on Castle's mail to be up there waiting for her. She' wrong. Well, not entirely. The mail, all three bags of it, are piled in a room with Ryan and Esposito who don't seem to know where to start. But this isn't the first thing that catches her eye when she walks towards her desk, it's the tall, dark haired, ruggedly handsome man standing in the Head Auror's office with a smug smile on his face. She pops her head through the door where Ryan and Espo are.

"Why is Castle in there with Gates?" She asks, as Ryan lazily waves his wand through the air to sort the mail.

"He arrived just after the mail did. Gates seemed a little... frazzled, when we got here. The second she saw him she ordered him into her office." Ryan just looked over her shoulder as he said this, Espo accompanying it with a shrug.

Beckett shut the door but stood idly by it, trying to catch a piece of the conversation in the room next door. But before she could hear much, Gates' head popped out of her door and asked her to come in. Trying not to fidget too much with the edge of her shirt, Beckett followed Gates into her office and stood next to Castle without making eye contact with him. Gates, a tough dark skinned woman who recently took over as head auror, wasn't one of Beckett's biggest fans. Gates had only been there for about a year, and in that time Beckett had gone rouge at least ten times. But Kate was one of the best and Gates couldn't do much about it. Gates stood behind her desk, removing her glasses and looked up at the two of them. Kate took a few steps away from Castle. Gates eyes danced to Kate.

"This morning I got an interesting call from someone who I didn't even think knew what a muggle telephone was." Her eyes danced to Castle and then back to Kate. "The Minister of Magic, the european one, has informed me that Mr. Castle would be of service to you in this investigation." Kates mouth dropped open, finally meeting Castle's eyes who just looked at her with a sheepish smile.

"Sir, I think we have this investigation under control. Mr..." Kate dared looking at Castle while she said this and when his eyes darted to her mouth she had to look away. "Mr. Castle was corporative and is no longer a suspect. I don't see where he would be able to help any further." Gates just pursed her lips at them.

"I don't care if he's useless. The Minister has insisted that we let Mr. Castle follow you on this investigation." Kate huffed out some air and crossed her arms in protest, but she could see that there was nothing she could do. She could feel Castle stand a little taller and could see the smirk of triumph on his face out of the corner of her eye. Gates stared at her, waiting for her to say something. Kate shifted her feet a little.

"Fine." Was all she could get out.

"Okay then. Mr. Castle, there is a slew of paperwork you have to fill out before you can do this. And I suggest you brush up on some defensive spells." Gates handed Castle a file of papers and nodded to the man who had appeared outside her office door. "We have someone from magical law here to go over it with you."

"Thank you... sir." Castle said with a little apprehension, learning fast, but when Gates didn't scold him for it he continued. "I appreciate the opportunity to help." He turned and left. Kate went to follow him out but Gates called her back.

"Oh and Beckett." Kate turned. Gates waved her wand and the door shut quietly behind Kate, and Kate took a few steps forward. "The Minister of Magic has informed me that Castle has gotten a new idea for a book. Something about a team of aurors and... well long story short, Mr. Castle will be shadowing you for more than just this case." Kate just looked at her.

"I thought this was just so he could help solve this one." Gates just shook her head.

"He's basing his next novel off of you." She paused to let that sink in. Kate could feel the heat rising inside her as she set her jaw and tried really hard not to glare at her boss. "The minister and I both agree that it's a good idea. As long as he doesn't get himself killed, it will be good press for both the ministry and the department of Aurors. We don't have the best reputation, you know that Beckett." This was the softest Kate had ever seen Gates in the few months that she had known her, and she was taken aback. Not enough for her anger to dissipate but enough for her to take a breath.

"For how long, sir?" She asked. Gates glanced over Kate's shoulder.

"Well that will be up to him, won't it?" Kate turned and saw Castle standing on the opposite side of the door watching them. He smirked when he saw her look and held up his file of paperwork and gave her a thumbs up. Kate looked back at Gates, hoping she would change her mind now that she was seeing the man they would be dealing with, but she just raised her hand and shooed her out of her office.