Chapter 29- Unspeakables

The last of winter had come and gone with little fanfare, and that meant that two of the Marauders were attending Quidditch Practise on a regular basis. This meant that both of the girls got to spend a lot less time with their mates. It was getting close to the second game of the Quidditch season for Gryffindor, The Lions of Gryffindor v the Eagles of Ravenclaw. Katja noticed from his behaviour that this game put Auror Williamson into a bind—he played for the Eagles the second time-line, and the Lions in the first. Katja got the impression that he would go just to watch the quality of the game, and not actively root for anybody.

James was a Chaser and backup Seeker, whilst Sirius was a Beater. Opposing teams always hated to play Gryffindor because they were so good—they had won first or second place five out of the six years that James and Sirius had been on the team. Ravenclaw, on the other hand, had a well thought out Offensive Scheme—they had well thought-out gameplans, even though they hadn't won the cup outright in five years. If the Lions won, then they would have a commanding lead for the Championship. If the Ravens won by more than sixty points, it would be exactly the opposite.

The day of the game arrived. Katja noticed that James' eating habits before games were quite different from Harry's. Whereas Harry would eat almost nothing before a game, James seemed to be having pancakes, sausages, bacon and pumpkin juice. Sirius was having a meal high in carbohydrates, too. I wonder if they got the elves to fix their favourite foods on Gameday, she thought.

She was hoping that the Gryffindors would win today, and win big, because she had bet five Galleons that Gryffindor would win. The atmosphere at the game was just as exciting as always. The Lions were playing in their gold robes, while the Ravens were wearing blue. As usual, Madame Hooch gave her talk about having a nice, clean game, but she wasn't saying it as enthusiastically as when the Lions play the Snakes.

It was a rather uneven game. After Gryffindor scored three times (to make the score 30-0), the Ravens came back with 15 goals (30-150). The Bludgers took out the Gryffindor Seeker, and Gryffindor were forced to use their only substitution of the game. James Potter went in at Seeker, and another player whom Katja didn't recognise went in at Chaser. Unfortunately, this meant that if another player got hurt, they would be down a player for the rest of the game.

The new Attacking Core for the Lions seemed to work well. Within the first half hour of the Substitution, the Gryffindors scored 15 goals of their own, while only giving up three. James did a Wronski Feint, which nearly killed the Ravenclaw Seeker. Fortunately, that move is not against the rules, so Ravenclaw didn't get a penalty for their team.

By the end of the third hour of play, the score was 350-210 in favour of Ravenclaw. The players on both sides of the match knew that if the Snitch wasn't caught soon, then Dumbledore would call the game. Then, a miracle happened for Gryffindor—James Potter saw the Snitch, dove at top speed, and caught the snitch. Unfortunately, the Ravenclaw Seeker was right behind him and didn't pull up in time. He crashed into the ground, and was immediately was knocked out. Madame Pomfrey came hurrying over, muttering about dangerous sports.

After all of the players landed, the Gryffindors were ecstatic. They now had a 2-0 lead in the standings, and all of the other teams had only won a single game apiece (except for Hufflepuff, which lost both of its games). When they got back to the Common Room, a party was brewing. Every Quidditch win necessitated a party, thought the Gryffindors. That's the way it had always been, and it would continue to be that way until the end of time. Right before she entered the common room, however, Katja was taken aside by Professor McGonagall.

"Ms Wagner," she started. "I would like for you come to my office sometime tomorrow. I never got to speak to you about Careers Advice. You'll find the pamphlets in the library."

"Is 1300 good, Professor?" asked Katja. I have an excuse to go to the library! She was thinking. I am so excited.

"Of course," the professor replied. "Now, I don't want to deprive you of a chance to make a large mess and a lot of noise, so you can go back to the common room."

After dinner that night, Katja went to the library and started to look at the Careers pamphlets. A couple of minutes after she started, Sirius walked in.

"I plan to be an Auror," he stated boldly. "James and I have good enough grades, and decent enough political connections, that we will be accepted into the Academy. However, I'm not so sure that I will be able to any more."

"Because of your family?" Katja asked.

"Not really, unless you are proposing that you become part of my family. No, the reason that I might not be able to join the Aurors any more is because of you," he replied. He tried to make it sound gentle, but he wasn't sure that he succeeded fully.

"Why me? I'm a Dumbledore!" she said back.

"Let's just say that it is hard for someone with your condition, or the mate of someone with your condition, to find a job in England. There are laws against it. Many people either don't want someone like you working for them, or there are huge restrictions on the amount of work—incurring huge fines for non-compliance. Now, if I were you, I'd look at Her Majesty's Royal Constabulary, Magic Division, which isn't a part of the Ministry, but answers directly to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. The Magic Division is staffed mostly by Magic-awares, such as Squibs and Creatures."

"That's one option," said Katja. "I'm sure that you know more resources?"

"You could always join the MBI in America. Over there in the US, they don't care as much about your condition. Yes, they have a couple of squabbles here and there a couple of times a decade, but they are generally resolved quickly. Blood does not matter as much in the US, most of them are what we would consider to be Half-Bloods or less." He seemed to realise that he was getting slightly off topic. "Of course, the MBI has a great program, and I'm sure that our marks would be more than high enough to be accepted."

"What is the MBI?" asked Katja.

"It's the Magical Division of the US Federal Bureau of Investigations, although the MBI has jurisdiction over the US, Canada, St Pierre et Miquelon, and Her Majesty's Colonies in the Caribbean. It's basically the American Aurors."

Katja was thinking about all of this discrimination present in the Wizarding Culture of Great Britain. She hadn't really noticed some of the discrimination present before, but now that she was a 'Dark Creature' she felt all of it. Sirius paused for a second before continuing on.

"Of course, you could go to the Unspeakables in the Ministry. They're one of the few departments that actually pays people like me, you and Remus well. Your grades would be good enough for them—I mean, if you weren't what you are, then the whole Ministry would be begging at your feet to join them. That's not to say that people like the Kiwis or the Aussies won't come asking—they are like the Americans, they don't care what you are, as long as you work hard." Sirius seemed to think for a minute. "South Africa is decent, too. The Wizarding Portion of South Africa is much better than the Muggles—not as much discrimination, you see."

When he was done, Katja thanked him and they went up to the Common Room together. It's really nice having someone who actually understands this world, she thought. Although I like him for other reasons, he is a much better resource for this type of thing than Ronald. Although he knew the culture, he just wasn't able to really explain it well; Harry on the other hand had been just as bad as she was with this sort of thing (without the discrimination of being a Muggle-born).

The next day, Katja started noticing representatives from most of the Departments at the Ministry around the school, talking to the students. She knew that they were all recruiting for their Departments. Right after breakfast, one of the Representatives came up to her, speaking in a North-East American accent.

"Are you Miss Katja Wagner?" the rep asked. When she nodded, he pulled out a file, which she saw contained a photograph of her and some of her vital statistics. "I'm James Julius Eaton from the MBI recruitment office for Overseas. Might I talk to you for a couple of minutes?"

Katja and Mr Eaton talked for a couple of minutes. The MBI was exceptionally well informed about her—they knew her condition ("That doesn't matter to us, as long as you take appropriate measures"), they knew her marks from that year and the OWL scores that she had supplied the Headmaster with, they even knew the person that she was dating and both of their Animagus forms. She was pleasantly surprised when the officer told her that the Recruitment would be for both of them.

"We really don't want to split people up, especially people with Lycanthropy. Their mates can control them better than anyone else. Also, your Animagus forms would come in handy at the MBI. Just remember to think about us, OK? I'll give you my card." He pulled a wallet out of his robes and pulled out a business card. He must have an Undetectable Extension Charm on his pockets. That wallet is much too big.

The man then left just as quickly as he came. Later, a representative from the MBKP (in Germany) came and tried to recruit her as well. Thank Merlin that I had the translation spell on, she thought. I read tons of books at the library about German, but I wouldn't have been able to understand half of what the man said. Basically, the MBKP (Magic Bureau of Criminal Police) Officer had said some of the same things that his American counterpart had. She had researched the Germans' attitudes towards magic, and she had found that they actually taught the Dark Arts. Even though she wanted to see how the German Ministry worked, she decided against it. 1300 came to quickly for Katja that day, but at exactly 1300, she knocked on Professor McGonagall's door.

"I have been looking over your test scores that you provided us, and with the results this first half of the year, and I say that anywhere outside the UK would offer you a job immediately" said McGonagall after offering Katja a biscuit, which Katja did not take.

"That's what Mr Black—Sirius, I mean, said to me yesterday. Already representatives from Germany and America have come to see me."

"My job is to help counsel you through the process of looking for a job, Ms Wagner. What is it that you want to do?"

"I wanted to be an Auror, so that I could help track down the people who murdered my family, but due to certain restrictions in this country, I don't know how that would happen."

"The United Kingdom allows members of foreign police forces to be TAD to its own forces, Ms Wagner. All you have to do in order to get back into England is to have those credentials."

Unfamiliar with the term, Katja asked, "TAD?"

"I thought, given your background, that you'd understand the term. 'TAD' is a Muggle military term for 'Temporary Duty Assignment.' Basically, you get assigned to British Forces Territory and work as if you are a member of the Hosting Force, but you are still a 'Guest Officer' and are still paid by the original force."

"I get it, now. Sirius and I will discuss what we want to do. The Americans have already offered us places at the American Magical Academy, to train to become MBI officers, as have the Germans."

Professor McGonagall looked as if she didn't know what to say. It was hard for her, seeing a student with such potential not being able to do what she wanted to do just because of something that happens once a month. Katja left after a couple of minutes, going back up to the Common Room. That evening at dinner, she got a note.

Ms. Katja Wagner,

Please come to the Room of Requirement at 8:00p tonight. Bring your Defence teacher, your mate, and the other one of you with you. Each of the others will receive their own notes. I wish to bring one of the brightest students that I have ever seen to my Department.

"Firefox"

Katja was intrigued by the note. It was obviously either a hoax or from a secretive government agency. This was the most intriguing possibility. She saw that Sirius and Remus each got their own notes, and motioned for them to join them somewhere private. As soon as dinner was over, the three of them and Auror Williamson all went to discuss the note.

"What should we do? Should we go to this meeting?" asked Katja.

"Be on the lookout. If we don't agree to this, there are probably charms on the notes that will make us forget that we ever got the notes. If we don't agree to their demands, the might try and Obliviate us. We just have to one-up them."

At 8 that night, all of them met outside the RoR, where they saw what looked to be a man in dark robes waiting for them.

"Hello. I am Firefox, and I am here to recruit you for the Ministry of Magic. Let us go into the Room, and we can discuss things more openly."

When they went in, the room was set up as a large sitting room, with comfortable chairs for all of them. The Person who called itself 'Firefox' quickly got to the point.

"I know that you have been entertaining offers from the Americans and the Germans. Now, we at the Office of Temporal Investigations have access to materials that you haven't even dreamed of yet, so we know the history of each and every one of you. Dave Williamson, born Harry James Potter 31 July 1980, you 'died' in the 22nd century, and were brought to this time period as a young child. You can speak Parseltounge. Your supposed date of birth is 31 October 1934." The person paused for a minute as if taking a breath. "You, Ms Wagner, are Hermione Jean Granger, born 17 September 1980, turned into a werewolf on 6 September 1997, thrown back in time on the same day. You arrived on 31 August 1977 with the appearance of yourself at approximately 15 years of age. I could give vital details about all of you—including you, Mr R J Lupin."

Internally, Katja chuckled at this description of Remus—this is how she first met him. When the man (it sounded like a man) was finished, Sirius asked a question.

"So, what do you want with us?"

"Because of your condition, Ms Wagner and Mr Lupin, you are basically unemployable at the Ministry of Magic, or nearly anywhere else in our world. Because of your 'association' with these werewolves, Mr Black is basically unemployable. I asked the Professor along because I thought that he might find this...interesting." He said the last part in a tone similar to that of Spock (from Star Trek: TOS).

"Unemployable?" asked Sirius. "I'm not a werewolf!"

"Like I said, due to your level of intimacy with a werewolf, you are basically unemployable."

"We haven't done that yet!" said Sirius, affronted that the man would accuse him and Katja of having that type of relationship.

"Did you, or did you not participate in a New Moon ritual on 10 December? That is enough activity to put yourself at that level. I didn't say that you couldn't be employed by the Ministry, I just didn't say where a person like you could get a job at the Ministry. In my Department, we have stores of knowledge beyond your wildest imagination. You can learn about nearly anything with us."

"Both of us—Ms Wagner and I, that is, have had enough experience with time-travel for a lifetime, or in my case, two" said Williamson.

"Very well. Just know this. If your association with this werewolf gets out, you'd better start backing your bags to go somewhere other than England. Hell, even the Irish will take you. If you've pissed us off, then they would be ten times likely to accept you. You do know what will happen if you don't accept our proposal, don't you? Your eight o'clock appointment never showed, and none of you will retain any additional data about the others."

The students and the professor went into a quick huddle. They quickly discussed the offer, but Sirius and Katja agreed that it was most likely the best option to leave Britain for a while. They came out of the huddle and declined the offer. 'Firefox' thanked them, and sent a couple of spells their way. Like he had said before, one of the spells would make them forget that they had a conversation with the Unspeakable, and the other would remove any knowledge that hadn't been there before the meeting. Sirius and Katja both thought that America would be their best option, and that they would owl Mr Eaton in the morning.

Planning for a trip to America and a Horcrux-hunt took more time than any of the Marauders would have thought. It didn't help that the NEWTs were coming up soon (this was Katja's distraction), the final game of the Quidditch season was coming up. Gryffindor had a chance to have its first 3-0 season in a decade. If they won the game against Slytherin, then they would automatically win the Quidditch Cup. This, of course, was what distracted Sirius and James. One thing that they would have to think about, Katja thought, is how they were going to get to America. Either way, they would need passports—it just mattered what type of passport they would need. Obviously, if they wanted to use Muggle transport, then they would have to get Muggle-style passports at the Ministry. Otherwise, they would need Magical Passports, which would be harder to obtain, especially for Katja. Before they went to America, though, she and Sirius would hunt down the most obvious Horcruxes. This meant that they would destroy the diadem, the locket and the ring. Hufflepuff's Cup was in to secure a location (Gringotts), as well as the diary (Malfoy Manor). The snake wouldn't be a Horcrux until 1994. They planned to go straight-away after Graduation.

A/N: I gave Quidditch one Substitution. I think that this is a reasonable based on the sport, however, it would certainly give certain games an advantage (Snakes v Lions, for example). The Quidditch match starts early in the day, around 10 or 10:30, meaning that the game would be over approximately 1:30 or 2:00 in the afternoon.

This concept of being TAD will be a plot point soon:) Ireland is still independent of the British Ministry of Magic at this point. I figure that it would happen sometime after the defeat of the Dark Lord (aka Lord Voldemort)