Chapter 10! Wow, I never thought I'd get this far!
HP belongs to my hero J.K Rowling
"Still no word from the Ministry?" Harry asked at breakfast a few days later, he had been expecting a letter from the minister telling him how the interogation had gone. "Nope, just a letter from my mother" Draco said waving the piece of parchment in his hand to show Harry. "I might go visit the Minister, see what's taking so long" Harry said dropping his peice of toast onto his plate. Draco looked up from the letter "okay". Harry finished his breakfast before he went upstairs to shower and get dressed. He made sure his hair was relitively flat before he went back downstairs. Draco had fed and dressed Avielle, he sat with her on his lap as he read. "I'll be back by lunch" Harry said passing Draco and Avielle on his way to the fireplace. "See you" Draco said as green flames engulfed the dark haired man.
"I would've let you know if either of them had given us any useful information" The minster said as he paced back and forth behind his desk. "Have they said anything?" Harry asked knowing the ministry would do almost anything to catch those responsible. "One said 'ask the elves'" The minister said pausing for a moment in front of a picture, it seemed to be his family but Harry didn't know him well enough to be sure. "Elves, like house elves?" Harry asked wondering if it was a cryptic clue or the useless rambling of a captive man. "We're not sure what it means but we can't hold them anymore, they have a trial tomorrow then it's off to Azkaban if they're convicted" He said as he used both hands to smooth his jacket. Being minister of magic was a highly stressful job, it had been blamed for the balding of many men. "Okay, I'll talk to Kreacher but I doubt it actually means anything" Harry said as he stood. He left the office after shaking the ministers hand.
Having told Draco everything the minister had said to him Harry was none the wiser. "Kreacher?" Harry asked and the elf apeared with a loud crack, Avielle was startled awake by the sudden noise. Draco calmed Avielle while Harry asked Kreacher if he had any idea what the man meant. "When the war finished some elves had no more families. It's hard for an elf to get a job when their families dies out. Most of the elves went to work at Hogwarts in the kitchens. Kreacher doesn't know anything else that might help Master" Kreacher said shaking his head. Harry nodded, he thanked and dissmissed the old elf who was keen to get back to his duties. Draco had heard Kreacher and stood with a thoughtful look on his face. "Duh!" Draco said shaking his head at his own stupidity "some of the elves at Hogwarts are still loyal to the Dark Lord! They've probably been spying in Minerva's office to find out the addresses of the children, which they then feed to the gang" Draco said. It took Harry a moment to fully comprehend what he had said but when he did he agreed. "We have to tell Minerva" Draco said reaching for Harry's arm. They apparated to Hogsmede where they paused momentarily to calm Avielle then practically ran to Hogwarts. "Minerva!" Harry said as he scaled the stairs to the Headmistresses office, Draco and Avielle were not far behind. "Harry, what on earth is the matter?" She said standing behind her desk as they entered her office. "It's the elves!" Harry said. Minerva's face wrinkled in confusion. "What?" She managed to say before Draco took the opportunity to fully explain his theory. When he had finished Minerva no longer looked confused she nodded and said "I've asked the elves to keep my office clean as well so they had full access to my things" She said trying to process what she had been told. "You have to ask them who the gang members are" Draco said "You're their Master they can hardly lie to you. But you have to get the Minster and his people here first, as witnesses. So when their names are revealed they can be caught and tried" Draco took a deep breath, he had been so focused on getting his thoughts out that he had forgotten to breathe. "Right you are Mister Malfoy" Minerva said instructing one of the paintings to notify the minister as quickly as possible. Draco handed Avielle to Harry as he panted and wiped sweat from his brow. Harry jiggled Avielle who was grizzling after the excitement of running from Hogsmede to Hogwarts. Avielle drifted off to sleep as the minister and several of his people arrived through the fireplace. "Summon the elves Minerva" The minister instructed eager to see if Draco's theory was correct.
"Thank you very much Mister Malfoy!" the minister said as he shook Draco's hand, thanks to his quick thinking the ministry now possessed a list of the names of members of the gang. Draco shook hands with the minister and several of his high ranking workers before joining Harry beside Minerva. Minerva was holding Avielle, who had slept contentedly through the whole interrogation. The elves that weren't responsible were very upset, they blamed themselves for not figuring it out sooner. Hermione had come to comfort them and to stand up for the innocent elves when the minister accused them all of being in on the plan. "Can we go home now?" Draco asked Harry who nodded. The hardest part of leaving was convincing Minerva that she should let them take Avielle. Minerva complained that they were no where near as cute when they arrived for first year. Promising to bring Avielle back soon they managed to get the sleeping baby from the witches arms.
Draco was still doing his little victory dance when Hermione and Ron arrived later that afternoon. They were glad that the house didn't require any further cleaning and were happy to stay for dinner. Hermione asked Draco how he had figured it out and Draco explained that his father had tried to do a similar thing with Dobby. At the mention of Dobby everyone paused for a moment to reflect. When they had eaten dinner they moved to the sitting room where Avielle stole the evening by rolling over for the first time. Ron and Hermione left shortly before midnight leaving Harry and Draco to put Avielle to bed. It had been such an action packed day that they both fell asleep quickly.
Hope you liked it! Finally the gang has been exposed! Unless you can think of a way for the story to continue the next chapter will be the last :D