Chapter 10 - A Plan Emerges
Harry's first task of the day was to meet with Eldritch and Hestia. They convened at Harry's desk to put together the information the three of them had gathered over the past several days in preparation for a department meeting at eleven. Harry began by outlining what he had found regarding the MacNair land and also his research into the elder MacNairs' deaths. It became clear as he listed each item that there was a link to iron and meteorites in regards to both the land and the deaths. As he was finishing, Harry could tell that Eldritch was getting excited.
"Ok, so that's what I have for now. Eldritch, you look like you have something monumental. Why don't you go first."
"Well Harry, as you listed your findings, a few pieces clicked into place for me. I've been looking into the MacNair business dealings, especially over the last ten years. The family has a lot of old business ties, but in the last years they have been busy restructuring their holdings. The tea farm they sold has been in the family for 120 years, but was sold very quickly for a reasonable amount, but potentially it could have brought more money. The next part of my puzzle was looking at what they've been doing with the money from these sales. It took some digging through magical and muggle records, but I've tracked a link to Cedrella MacNair via a corporation in the States. That company has spent the last eight years gradually building up a new division of investments centered around mines and rare minerals. One of their purchases was a small mine in the northwest part of Romania, near where William was visiting shortly before his death. Also, Cedrella is listed on the board of the corporation as Sinead MacNair. Sinead is her middle name. It seems that the MacNairs have been keeping a lot of their dealings private by working within the muggle world. Interestingly, I found a Sinead MacNair who took several muggle business courses in the United States when Cedrella would have been nineteen and was in the States on 'student travels'."
Harry let out a low whistle.
"Very interesting. For a pure blood family who have historically despised muggles, it seems the MacNairs are tolerant of muggles when it suits them. Thanks Eldritch. Ok Hestia, how did the surveillance go?"
"Well, I followed Cedrella on three occasions when she left her cottage. Twice the trips were brief, just a couple of hours on average. The third trip lasted most of day and into the night. The two short trips were both to visit the homes of some of the party attendees. The first trip she visited the ancestral home of the Wilkes family. The youngest son, Graeme, was part of the Saturday night gathering. Interestingly, Theodore Nott is also living at the home. The house is on a fair size, very old estate that is well warded. Along with the main road, there are three additional side roads into the property. I called in some of the juniors to watch those roads and no one left while Cedrella was visiting. Graeme and Theodore left together about a half hour after Cedrella left. I had already followed Cedrella back to her cottage, but Mr. Thomas, one of the juniors, took the initiative and followed the men when they left. They spent several hours making a number of stops, including Malfoy Manor and Knockturn Alley. They ended up back that evening at Cedrella's cottage with several boxes in hand. It would seem that Cedrella may not be leaving the cottage often, but the others are doing her bidding."
As Hestia paused, Harry and Eldritch took a moment to assimilate the information.
"Ok Hestia, what about Cedrella's two additional trips?"
"Well, trip two was the briefest, lasting only about an hour. She visited Millicent Bulstrode's flat and left less than an hour later. The flat was warded, but not well. I was able to use an extendable ear from an adjacent stairwell and heard a bit of the conversation. The warding did work in that the conversation was muffled, but I still caught some of it. She was discussing something with Millicent and trying to ensure Millicent would be ready in time for the 'growing moon'. That was something I caught well in Cedrella's voice, the emphasis was on the growing moon. Millicent was difficult to hear, but she seemed to upset. Not long after, Cedrella left the flat and appeared angry."
Before Hestia continued, Eldritch spoke up.
"Growing moon…I've heard of that. I think the Prophet had an article on it recently."
"Indeed Eldritch, I looked it up. The 'growing moon' is a full moon that occurs quite close to the Earth in rotation. Muggles call it a supermoon. They are a bit overly dramatic. Anyway, the next one is due in just three days. That is where the final visit I witnessed comes in. Cedrella spent most of a day and evening at the Goyle residence. While not spectacular, the house is quite old and sits on close to an acre of land near old forest. We know that Cedrella was at one time involved with Gregory Senior when she was in her late teens and he was nearly forty. Since he was killed in the Battle of Hogwarts, it seems she has switched her focus to his son, who is eleven years younger than her. The house was warded against listening devices, but the grounds were not. Also, there was no disillusionment of the grounds and I was able to see quite a bit of what happened once darkness fell. This was two nights ago as the moon was waxing and the grounds were quite illuminated. Cedrella stood outside near an old tree and performed some sort of ritual. The language was similar to Welsh, but significantly different from the modern version. I recognized enough though to realize she was calling on the power of Taranis. Part way through the ceremony, she ended it abruptly."
Hestia paused to sip some water and then continued.
"Gregory Junior did nothing while this was going on. He mainly just stood to the side and watched. When Cedrella finished, she turned to him and seemed to be possessed. She said something about 'finishing the ritual when the moon completes'. She seemed quite frantic after her partial conjuring ceremony and attacked Goyle in a most carnal manner afterward. I will say for a man who seemed to be in a state of shock, he recovered quickly and did everything she demanded, which was quite a lot. Now, I'm no prude, but it was quite shocking to watch them and I was tempted to leave, but I maintained surveillance. After about an hour, they finished and Cedrella walked off the property and apparated back home. She left young Goyle laying under the tree. I followed Cedrella and caught her as she returned to her own cottage. In summary, I would say that she appeared to be practicing for something big to happen at the time of the growing moon. Seeing what the brief practice ritual did to her, I would hate to see the result of a full ritual."
Harry looked a bit stunned.
"Wow. This does not bode well. I paid attention enough in my mythology lessons that I remember a bit about Taranis. He was one of the most powerful Druidic gods, with the ability to control thunder and lightning. Given the location of the MacNair cottage, as well as their great interest in metals and mines, I can only assume they are planning on attempting to call Taranis to do their bidding. I don't know if I even believe it is possible, but we can't ignore the possibility. Let's go ahead and get a summary together for the department meeting. I think some decisions are going to need to be made quickly."
A couple of hours later, the Auror department all gathered for their update meeting. Davis Proudfoot called the room to order.
"Good morning everyone. I know you have all been busy. I'd like to start with Smyth's team. They were tasked with surveillance and investigation of Draco Malfoy and the Greengrass sisters."
Smyth stood and addressed the department.
"Our team has been looking into Draco Malfoy and Astoria and Daphne Greengrass. We put all three under careful surveillance. Initially, this surveillance was to be initiated at Malfoy Manor and the Greengrass estate. After two days it became obvious that the Greengrass sisters are in fact living at Malfoy Manor. As we thought earlier, it appears an alliance is in the works and we noted on one evening that Draco is indeed involved with Astoria, but also with Daphne. They were spotted at the Pixies nightclub and it was quite obvious that the three of them are very, um…intimate. While interesting, Draco's personal life is not our main concern. What is concerning is that during our surveillance Draco made a trip to a dark arts store located in Mould-on-the-Wold. This store, Nasty Novelties is a small by-appointment only establishment. Draco was at the store a total of 23 minutes and left with a small package. The team checked with Gringotts after this and found that Draco made a withdrawal of a sizeable amount two days prior to his shopping trip. Of course, the goblins won't tell us exact amounts. Along with Draco's own shopping trip, Theodore Nott and Graeme Wilkes made a brief visit, arriving with a package, but then leaving without…"
As Smyth made his presentation, a short, chirping alarm sounded from Proudfoot's office and he left the group briefly. Returning seconds later, he carried the blue-white surveillance ball that was linked to Cedrella's cottage. As he peered into the ball, Proudfoot grimaced.
"Well everyone. It looks like we have a timely development. Draco Malfoy just arrived at Cedrella's cottage. He is alone, but carrying several packages. He's entering the wards now, so we won't see much else. I'll keep a watch while we continue the briefings."
Smyth caught the nod from his boss and continued.
"Well I was almost done. We don't have anything additional. The Greengrass sisters have done nothing apparent on their own. The family is old pure-blood, but nowhere near as wealthy as the Malfoys. In summary, it appears Draco is working with several others within Cedrella's group to run some kind of errands and gather materials for something. We may not know what, but I can't imagine it's good."
Smyth finished and Proudfoot signaled Robards to begin.
"Okay everyone, our team took a look at the other guests from Cedrella's party. As has been mentioned, Theodore and Graeme are known to have run at least one errand for Draco Malfoy. We were hoping for similar results from detailed surveillance on the other participants, but the only information we were able to deduce is that it seems that several of Cedrella's party-goers are paired off. Along with Draco and the Greengrass sisters, George and Gemma, and Flora and Edward were spotted together and their interactions make it obvious that the purebloods are pursuing their usual early pairings to keep the blood lines alive. Interestingly, one evening's surveillance also caught Graeme and Theodore in a brief compromising situation in an alley. It would seem they are also together, which is surprising. The purebloods have traditionally scowled on such relations, as they do not propagate the bloodlines. While this may seem to be just a bit of gossip, the information should be kept in mind if we ever need to provide pressure during future investigations. As a last note, three days ago Farley and Vaisey also made withdrawals from their family vaults. Again, we are unsure if money or other valuables were removed, but the coincidence seems a bit too convenient."
Robards turned to Proudfoot, who then nodded at Harry to present.
"Our team was tasked with investigating the MacNair cottage and businesses, as well as the deaths of William and Fiona MacNair. We discovered that the cottage sits on an old druid circle and is in the records with an ancient name that translates to 'land of iron power'. Additional investigation leads us to believe that the iron in question is meteoric iron. This iron has been especially valued through the centuries for its purported alchemical uses and there are also legends of the druids using the iron to draw on ancient primal forces. We also found that over the last ten years, the MacNairs have been working on locating and collecting more sources of this iron. Fiona died in Egypt while in possession of looted artifacts made of the substance. William died in Romania near a well-known meteor landing site. Also, the MacNair family has spent the last few years consolidating their businesses and investing quite a bit into mining operations. Eldritch had to do a lot of digging, but found that Cedrella sits on the board of a muggle holding company and is actually the driving force behind the company's mining investments. She also has attended a muggle business school in the States."
That announcement brought a round of whispers and hisses. Someone spoke up from the back of the room.
"So much for hating muggles. I guess they're useful on occasion."
Harry couldn't identify the voice and decided to continue.
"Indeed, it seems that Cedrella has decided to hide some of her business dealings behind a muggle facade. Next, myself and a dowser visited the cottage and we found a lot of iron traces of different 'affinities'. The dowser I utilized is quite accomplished and believes the iron at the site comes from multiple sources. He was greatly disturbed by what he felt and left as quickly as we could finalize the work. Finally, Hestia kept Cedrella under surveillance whenever she would leave the cottage. She made a visit to Theodore and Graeme that we believe initiated their shopping. She also visited Millicent Bulstrode, but left quickly and Millicent seemed upset. That may be something we can leverage in the future. Finally, Hestia witnessed a partial ceremony at the home of Gregory Goyle that appeared to be a trial run of some sort of ceremony where Cedrella was readying to call on the ancient god Taranis. She ended before the ceremony was complete and advised Gregory that they would finish the ritual at the 'growing moon'. That moon is now due in just three days. It is our belief that the group is pulling together ancient artifacts, primarily iron, in preparation for some sort of ceremony to be performed in three days. I don't know if it's actually possible, but it would seem that Cedrella is going to call on the power of the druid god of thunder and lightning, Taranis. If she can actually do this, we obviously have a very large problem."
Harry ended his presentation and looked at Proudfoot. Davis took a moment before he spoke.
"Merlin's beard. It sounds like we are in for a shitstorm of trouble. Okay, thank you everyone. I think it's time we all get together on this and decide on a plan to move forward. Before we do that, Williamson and the juniors were working on Yaxley. Did you get anything else out of him?"
Williamson stretched his lanky frame as he responded.
"We've spent several days providing increased pressure around the clock on Cyrus. We may have a complaint from the DPUWW, but I'm willing to take it. For one so young he is amazingly skilled and stubborn in resisting. I'm a reasonably skilled Legilimens, but even with the aid of potions to wear him down, I have only been able to touch the first layers of his mind. The juniors have been using more mundane means and have garnered much of the same information. Cyrus was part of the group of young people that Cedrella recruited about a year and a half ago in the wake of the Battle of Hogwarts. All we can see in his head is the saying 'right the wrongs as promised'. We can continue to pressure him, but DPUWW is beginning to raise a fuss."
Proudfoot nodded at Williamson and turned to address the whole room.
"Okay everyone, let's start brainstorming. I want suggestions on next steps. We've been lucky with passive surveillance so far, but I think given time constraints we need to get more aggressive. Any idea is welcome, no matter how small. Remember, when we caught Cyrus we thought it was a simple muggle abuse case and now look where we are."
The room began buzzing and hands began raising as ideas started dancing around the room. Davis took the ideas with multiple supporters and waved his wand to sketch them in the air in fluorescent lettering. Once they had settled on four immediate actions, Davis spoke to begin assignments.
"Okay, Potter, Lang and junior Thomas will be going to Millicent Bulstrode's to question her. Since she knows Potter and Thomas from school, let's hope that they can get some information out of her. Lang will also be in attendance for her abilities with questioning from a witch's perspective. Next, Robards' team and Smyth's team will be splitting into two person groups. Each group will be assigned twelve hour alternating shifts and will glue themselves to Malfoy/Greengrass, Nott/Wilkes, Rowle/Farley and Carrow/Vaisey. If any of those duos split, then someone from Potter's team will be called in to assist. Given the time constraints, let's add some pressure and make sure that all the participants are aware of our surveillance. No glamor charms for now. Maybe we can wear a few of them down. Next, Williamson and the other juniors will visit Nasty Novelites in an attempt to question the proprietor about what Malfoy acquired. I don't know why the Ministry allows such stores to remain, but maybe we can dig up some violations that will make them more amenable to help. Meanwhile, I will work with our Ministry goblin liaison and attempt to freeze the MacNair account. I will also begin the process to apply for a writ of entrance that will allow us to raid the MacNair property given the evidence we now have. We have two and a half days until this 'growing moon'. Let's get to it and cut this snake off at the head..oops, sorry Potter, bad analogy. Anyway, you know what I mean. Dismissed."