Kingsley Shacklebolt paced the floor of Dumbledore's office trying to work off his agitation. Lucius Malfoy had just left the office with his snotty son, Draco, in tow. The younger Malfoy would be safely quarantined at Malfoy Manor.
"I appreciate what you're saying, Albus, but I can't make my Aurors be less obtrusive. The villagers are furious about the quarantine, and the Aurors are at their wits' end trying to contain them—and your brother's not helping matters. That man's totally unreasonable."
"I'll have a word with Aberforth," said Albus.
"Please don't," said Shacklebolt exasperatedly. "It'll only make him more defiant."
"As you wish," said Albus. "But I could write a public letter to the occupants of Hogsmeade asking them to be more cooperative."
"That would be greatly appreciated. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm late for a meeting." Shacklebolt disappeared into the green flames of Dumbledore's fireplace just at the moment Minerva McGonagall, followed closely by Severus Snape, entered the headmaster's office.
"Ah Minerva, just in time. So sorry to wake you, Severus."
"Quite alright, Headmaster. I had a few good hours."
Dumbledore waved his hand for the professors to sit and turned his attention back to McGonagall. "How are the Bradshaws?"
"Severus' anti-parasitic has worked well, but the…," Minerva shuddered, "…infection has done damage to their internal organs; they'll need to be re-grown before they can be safely moved to St. Mungo's."
"But they'll recover?" said Albus.
"Yes, they'll likely have some light scarring due to the extensive skin re-growth, but they'll make a full recovery in a few weeks."
"Excellent," said Albus as he sat, a bit more heavily than usual, in a large well-cushioned armchair across from Severus and beside Minerva. Severus sat with his arms folded over his chest and was already half-dozing.
"Pomona finished fumigating the Bradshaw's cottage when the Aurors arrived. She and Filius have quarantined themselves in their respective chambers for the evening."
"That's prudent," replied Albus.
Minerva leaned forward a little and primly asked, "Do you plan on telling us about the Inferius any time soon?"
"What?" said Severus, abruptly sitting up in his chair.
"It has been disposed of."
"This isn't a contagion at all," said Severus. "We have a dark wizard to contend with. Having so many Aurors exposed in Hogsmeade could be disastrous."
"I believe it may be a witch, or more precisely, a Sorceress," said Albus. "And I agree about the danger to the Aurors, but I'm afraid Kingsley has his orders to follow."
"And the Inferius?" said Severus.
"Filius found a single male Inferius in the Bradshaws' cottage. I was able to interrogate it before a curse disintegrated it. It spoke in Slovenian and claimed that both its name and residence were called Goran."
"What does Goran mean?" said Minerva.
"It is a given name, and it means "highlander" or "mountain-dweller," replied Albus, "which is appropriate considering the Bradshaw's infection." Minerva shuddered again.
"How so, Headmaster?" said Severus.
"You are familiar with that parasite, are you not?" said Albus, his eyes twinkling.
"I'm not," said Minerva testily, "if one of you would be kind enough to explain it to me."
"There is a very rare parasite," began Severus, "that is found in very deep mountain caves; caves so deep that they're inaccessible to Muggles. It's an aquatic parasite that uses fish as its host animal. It's a very small worm-like creature, and only the female is parasitic, and only for breeding purposes. She lays eggs under a fish's scale, a small blister develops and when it erupts, the larval parasites are released. The offspring will find their own hosts when they're ready to breed."
"Precisely," said Albus.
Severus frowned. "How do you mean? That worm does no permanent damage to its host animal, and it's entirely aquatic. It can't infect humans. And the Ministry has long-standing laws against its procurement."
"How do you know so much about it then, Severus?" said Minerva.
"The worm is used in making…shall we say, less than legal poisons."
"How could the Bradshaw's infection and this worm be connected, Albus?" said Minerva.
"Filius said that a pink thread of tissue issued forth from Daniel Bradshaw's hand—"
"The worm we're discussing has no such appendage," said Severus flatly.
"Not in its natural state," replied Albus. "But if it were, say, crossbred with something else…"
"It would take a very powerful and clever Sorceress to accomplish such a thing," said Severus.
"That's quite a great leap of logic, Albus," said Minerva.
"Goran was from a mountainous area; he was Eastern European and a Muggle. He claimed to have died from a sickness found in deep water, and he claimed a woman took him deep into subterranean caves. That was all the information I could get before the body exploded."
"It really isn't much to go on, Albus," said Minerva.
"And it could be a deliberate misdirection," said Severus. "Whoever created the Inferius could have charmed it to give those answers."
Albus relied on his two most trusted colleagues to give him alternative theories, but this time Albus would not be swayed. He was certain the answers he received from Goran were genuine. "I've asked Kingsley to investigate rural villages where the parasite is known to be found."
"Why not cities or large towns?" said Minerva. "A contagion would be found more easily in a larger population."
"That's precisely the point, Minerva," continued Albus. "Eastern cities aren't the intended targets. Small Muggle villages are isolated and easy to use as testing grounds."
"Testing grounds for what, Albus?" said Minerva. "This parasitic infection was easy enough to contain. If this alleged Sorceress is bent on causing large-scale damage, she hasn't done a very good job of it so far."
"These were just teasers, Minerva," replied Albus gravely. "Something else is coming, but I don't know what. What I do know is that we've been given a trail of breadcrumbs to follow, and it appears to be leading to Hogwarts."
Minerva rose, looking concerned but resolute. "I'm going to patrol the halls and make sure all the children are in their houses."
"Very good," said Albus. Minerva had barely closed the office door behind her when Kingsley Shacklebolt fire-called Albus.
"You there, Albus?"
"Yes, Kingsley."
"You were right again, Albus. We've found two high-mountain villages that have been wiped out. Not a single person left alive, yet the livestock were left unharmed. They're malnourished, but otherwise unmolested. Very strange." A loud knocking sound rang through from Kinglsey's side. "Gotta go," he whispered, and his head disappeared from the emerald flames.
Albus walked back to his chair looking pensive.
"Why kill the people and not the animals, or at least take them? Very peculiar," said Severus.
"The animals were inconsequential. The tests needed to be performed on people," replied Albus.
"But why choose Muggles when the targets are wizards? We're not prone to all of the same ailments."
"Because it would take longer for the ministry to detect and because it was easy. Miss Coldwater was always very lazy."
"Do you mean Esmerelda Coldwater, the Welsh witch?"
"I do, and I believe you've made her acquaintance, Severus."
"Of course, she was the Dark Lord's favorite Potions-maker until I joined his ranks. Why do you think it's her? She's presumed long dead."
Albus held out his hand and a small child's toy flew from his desk and settled in his palm. "Hagrid received information from a person who wishes to remain anonymous." Albus leaned forward and handed the toy cauldron to Severus. "Daniel Bradshaw found that toy lying in the street. He sought an owner, but couldn't find one. He'd intended it as a gift for his niece. Filius found it sitting on the kitchen counter next to a pot of soup. The Healers from St. Mungo's examined it, and it did indeed contain parasite eggs, which have been disposed of."
"This is your evidence?" said Severus.
"Who do you know of that was gifted enough to create an Inferius, and also had a peculiar fondness for children's toys?" Severus handed back the toy, a scowl creeped across his sullen face. "Only one witch comes to mind," said Albus, answering his own question. "Coldwater is magically gifted, shrewd, extremely arrogant, and above all else—she's lazy. She would be both arrogant and indolent enough to test a magical contagion on Muggles and not wizards."
"Why now, after so many years?"
"I don't know for certain, Severus. But we can assume that mutating those parasites took her a good deal of work; research and trial-and-error would've taken her much time to accomplish, possibly years. Knowing her as I do, I'd wager that her initial efforts were unsuccessful. Every time she failed, she quit in a rage, and it would be some time for her to return to her work. Tell me, Severus, do you know the details of her death?"
"I know only what Lucius told me. Coldwater refused to bow to the Dark Lord and refused to take his mark. The Dark Lord was incensed. He sent Lucius, Crabbe, and Goyle, to dispatch her. Coldwater led them high into the Welsh mountains. They dueled and Lucius cast the killing curse. He thought it hit her because she fell into the deep caverns below. Lucius doesn't like to get his robes dirty so those dunderheads, Crabbe and Goyle, were sent to fetch her body. They never found it, but the Dark Lord was obsessed with the Potters by this point and didn't care."
"What was Coldwater's Potions' specialty, Severus?"
"Hemorrhagic poisons."
"Merlin help us!"