Chapter 28- Burn to a Cinder
San Francisco, Laura decided as she stood outside of the abandoned building that was actually the MACUSA Office in the city, was much more gorgeous in September.
The air had a hint of the cold that the ocean would bring, but the sun was still heating the city, filling Laura with an odd hope.
She had considered warning Dougal that she was going to be coming to town, but then figured Graves surely let the office know.
Dougal was the Deputy Auror at the San Francisco Office, Laura learned after her first meeting with him. Which was why he accompanied Laura and Hinton to the hospital back in January. The Head Auror in San Francisco was Kim Won-Il, a 45-year-old Korean with almost twenty-five years of experience. Won-Il was probably the most laid back Auror Laura had ever heard of. He was a good Auror, according to Graves, and well experienced with many spells, but he went about his day in a very casual manner that Dougal had spoken of on many occasions. Dougal quite enjoyed working under Won-Il.
She was so looking forward to meeting him.
Won-Il was waiting for Laura when she walked into the abandoned building, casually leaning against a gate at security.
"Miss Maurette," he greeted her after she went through security. "I am so excited to meet you," he said in a calm voice that didn't scream excitement to her.
"Likewise, Mr. Kim. I've heard so much about you," she said as they shook hands.
Won-Il gave Laura a small bow and then gestured for her to follow him. "Won-Il, will be fine. The Director spoke very highly of you and said he would allow no one other than you to lead the search for Noonan. I look forward to seeing what you can do. Anything you need, just let us know." The pair walked and talked as he led Laura towards the Auror's office. "Aaron Filmore and Emma Nichols will be your help. They were the ones who found out Noonan was in town. And Dougal MacLeod, whom I believe you've met, will also be available to help. They're my three best Aurors."
"Thank you," Laura said as they reached the third floor where the expansive Auror's office was. It reminded her of the office at the Ministry back home in London. The room was filled with closed off cubicles and each cubicle was covered in newspaper clippings and photos of what Laura assumed were dark wizards. She paused as she looked over the room, feeling an expected desire to go back to London.
"It's wonderful, is it not?" Won-Il said, noticing her look.
Laura forced a smile. "It is. Nicer than New York, if I can be honest." There was just no privacy in the Auror's office.
"Let me show you to your cubicle. I've put you by Emma, here near the front," he said as he brought her over to her new desk. The cubicle had just one photo hanging on the outside wall; it was a photo of Philip Noonan.
"Emma, come say hello," Won-Il said, sticking his head over the cubicle next to Laura's.
Emma Nichols couldn't have been much more than five feet, even with the heeled boots she wore. 40-something with the longest blonde hair Laura had ever seen, which she wore down in the office, at first glance Emma was very comforting in her appearance. But as the woman stared Laura down, Laura couldn't help but get the feeling that Emma would hex her if necessary.
Not a woman to mess with, certainly. Laura smiled at the thought.
Emma extended her hand as she came closer to Laura. "A pleasure to meet you, Laura."
Laura took her hand in her own and was surprised by how warm and smooth Emma's hands felt. "And you. I didn't have much time to look over Noonan's file, so I look forward to hearing what you and Aaron have found out."
Emma nodded, her bangs bouncing on her forehead.
"I'll leave you to it. Welcome back, Laura," Won-Il said before giving a small bow and leaving the two women alone.
Emma pointed into Laura's cubicle at a stack of papers. "I copied some of my notes for you, just the important things. I'll go get Aaron while you read."
"Cheers," Laura said. She walked into her cubicle, took off her coat and hat, set them on the side desk and then settled in to begin reading the notes Emma made for her. The woman's notes were perfect, Laura thought. They were clear, but straight to the point and in a bullet list. There was no extraneous information to be found. Just facts.
Philip Noonan was born in 1887, making him around 37, just a few years younger than Gellert Grindelwald. Noonan, like Grindelwald, had attended Durmstrang Institute in Scandinavia and was where Noonan became entranced by the older wizard. After he graduated from Durmstrang in 1905, he joined Grindelwald's growing legion of followers, committing atrocities against muggles for his master across Europe until he finally came to North America in 1922. According to Emma's notes, he had killed three high profile muggles in Canada and one in Mexico before killing indiscriminately across America.
His total number of murders was unknown, but MACUSA believed it to be around 20.
He was easily one of Grindelwald's most dangerous followers. Laura had to wonder why Graves thought she could do this, especially if he was so concerned for her life.
Graves worked in weird ways, Laura thought. Or maybe she was reading too much into things.
"So, this is the amazing Laura Maurette we've heard so much about?" a voice said from behind Laura. There was a slight dip of bitterness in the voice that made the hair stand up on the back of Laura's neck.
Her heart clinched in her chest, but Laura pushed through it and turned around in her seat to look at who had spoken.
Emma was standing next to the much taller man, glaring at him, seemingly noticing the bitterness in his voice as well. Laura could only conclude this was Aaron Filmore.
"And you are?" Laura quipped, her voice monotone.
She could see his jaw clamp shut as he gritted his teeth angrily, a blush coming up his neck. "Aaron Filmore, the man who has done the work on this case and I don't appreciate being pushed out for no reason."
Laura leaned casually on the back of her chair. "I've read your file, Aaron. The most dangerous dark wizard you've picked up is…no one. You've been an Auror for two years. The Director simply wishes to ensure that Noonan gets arrested. He doesn't want you to get killed because you're in over your head. It happens to us all at some point in our careers. You deal with it and move on and eventually, you get to do it to someone else. Welcome to being an Auror." Laura turned to Emma who was smirking. "I assume you're familiar with this area that Noonan was seen in?"
Aaron was fuming, but Laura ignored him. They had more important things to discuss.
Emma nodded. "It's one of the few Wizard populated areas in the city. Unfortunately, there's three different underground clubs he's been seen at."
Laura silently contemplated how they would do it. There was no way they could hit all three at once. And while she was very confident in her skills, even she wasn't stupid enough to go up against Noonan on her own. Based on his attitude problem, Laura wasn't sure she wanted Aaron to back her up. Even with Dougal's help, that still meant at best they could pair up.
Which meant one club would have to be ignored or put on the back burner. But Laura knew what these clubs were like. The moment they showed up at a club, the other two would be warned.
Laura wished Tina and Minali and Hinton were here.
She'd even take Limus.
"I don't suppose we could get two or more Auror's to help out?" she questioned Emma.
"We may not be as used to dueling dark wizards like you," a familiar Scottish voice said from outside of her cubicle. "But there's plenty of us to pitch in." Dougal came around the corner of the cubicle to stand next to Emma, dwarfing her. He smiled softly at Laura, his blue eyes twinkling with appreciation. Laura assumed he heard what she had said to Aaron.
She couldn't help it, but a smile lit up Laura's face. Not only was it nice to see a familiar face, but it was nice to see him.
But she couldn't ignore the slight difference in her excitement to see him. She was genuinely happy to see him and yet there wasn't that familiar beat of her heart that she usually got when he would visit her on the weekends.
What was different?
"Ideally, I'd like three for each club. Aaron will go to one, I'll go to another, and Emma to the third with two backup each, at least," she told him as her mind tried to figure out why her heart wasn't beating as fast as it used to when she saw him.
Dougal nodded, thinking. "Orla Brady is good in a pinch and Henry Jones is good with spells. Quick reflexes."
"Trevor and Jeremy have been working together for years and can read each other's minds. They're good in the field," Emma added.
"Very true. They're good to have at your back. Rihannon would be good if she wasn't already out in the field," Dougal said as he thought out loud. "Benjamin could be a good backup."
"Okay, then there's nine. We hit at the same exact same time or we ruin all three of our chances and we may chase him out of town," Laura said. "Get everyone together and we'll make a plan."
Dougal nodded, smirking. "Yes, ma'am," he said with a wink.
She tried not to blush and turned back to her notes. She needed to get very familiar with who Noonan was hanging out with in the city.
And she did not need to think about Dougal and why she wasn't as excited as she wanted to be. Laura needed to focus on the case. Thinking about men while in the field was what got her in trouble when out with Hinton. If she wanted everyone to come back alive and safe, she needed to get her head in the game.
Philip Noonan was what mattered today.
Dougal could wait until tomorrow.
