Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and I do not own Harry Potter. Only the original characters and this particular storyline belong to me; everything else belongs to JKR
Chapter Thirty Two
"You're absolutely sure about your findings?" Amelia Bones asked the two potioneers she had asked to test the items Hermione Granger had been sent by Molly Weasley.
"There's no question Madam Bones. We took several samples of both the fudge and the potion to run several different tests. The fudge was laced with Sleeping Beauty potion, and the potion in the phial was Dragon's Death. If the person it had been sent to even allowed some of that potion to have contact with their skin, and eaten a piece of the fudge, he or she would literally have died in their sleep, since Dragon's Death has a five minute delay before it becomes active, unlike the curse Antonin Dolohov developed, which begins to affect the victim immediately. Dragon's Death is essentially a liquid form of that curse."
"Would you both be willing to testify in front of the Wizengamot about your findings?"
The potioneer on the left smiled slightly before replying, "Madam Bones, like Miss Granger, I'm a Muggleborn. I would be more than willing to testify about the findings of the tests used before the Wizengamot. Whether or not my colleague has motivations as personal as mine I have no idea, however, creating a potion that can kill or permanently incapacitate someone is against every regulation and ethical standard set forth by the Potions Mastery Board."
"Expect my owl letting you know the date and time of the trial and when you'll testify, gentlemen. Thank you for your assistance with this."
Waiting only long enough for the two men to leave the DMLE, Amelia went to the outer office and started calling names and assignments rapidly.
"Simmons, I need every file about Molly Weasley nee Prewett you can lay your hands on, going back to the day she was Sorted at Hogwarts if possible, and I need them yesterday; Grimes, I need you to contact Draco Malfoy, and tell him I need to speak to both him and Hermione Granger in my office in an hour; Coulter, go put together a team of both Senior Aurors and Aurors, no trainees, and meet me at the fountain in the Atrium in ten minutes. Let's move, people!"
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At the Burrow, during the same time Amelia Bones was preparing to solidify a case against her, Molly Weasley was standing over a cauldron, counting as she stirred the potion inside first in a clockwise direction, then counterclockwise. Slowly, the potion went from a dark red to a light rose pink. Adding another ingredient, the hue then went to a dark amethyst. She smiled, and removed it from the fire to cool before decanting it.
No one hurt one of her children and got away with it for long. No one.
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Draco Malfoy was preparing to check in with his assistant when a swan Patronus sailed in his window. Startled, he listened to the message.
"Mr. Malfoy, Madam Bones requests both you and Miss Granger to meet her in her office in an hour. She would have contacted you directly, however, she is currently assembling an Auror team and I heard her mention the name of Molly Weasley."
Grabbing a fistful of Floo powder, Draco went to the safe house. He could always speak to Chloe in person. He also knew that Hermione's initial appointment with the Mind Healer his mother recommended wasn't until that afternoon. Hopefully, the meeting with Madam Bones wouldn't be a long one; this particular Mind Healer didn't take a client being late for an appointment very well, no matter the reason for the tardiness.
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Ronald Weasley shuddered as the bowl of thin gruel was pushed into his cell. He had only been in Azkaban a few days and loathed every minute of it. Not only was he –barely-sleeping on what amounted to a straw mattress on a board, he felt as though he was being starved. No meat, no vegetables or fruit, nothing to drink but water, and the only thing he had been given to eat was gruel. How was he expected to survive on this watery stuff? Bringing the bowl to his mouth, since prisoners were never given anything like actual eating utensils, he began to once again, drink his meal.
Setting the empty bowl aside-which promptly disappeared-his thoughts went to Harry and Hermione. Traitors, both of them, to his way of thinking.
We were the Golden Trio in school, and even though 'Mione and I argued, she usually came around once she had a little time to feel what being left alone and nobody talking to her felt like. Harry was always easy to convince of stuff; he never had anybody in his relatives' house that gave a damn about him, and with me being his best mate, he usually believed what he was told when he came to Hogwarts, like when I said we should stop talking to 'Mione when she ratted Harry out to McGonagall when he got the Firebolt third year. Harry should have testified for me at the trial at least, even though it was because of 'Mione I was even arrested. He married my sister, for Merlin's sake, and family always comes before friends. He didn't stick up for me, so he's a bigger traitor than Hermione.
A human guard came to the door of the cell and stopped, holding a pair of magic suppressing cuffs in his hand.
"Get over here, Weasley, so I can put these on you; you're being brought to one of the visitor rooms for your first Mind Healer appointment, as per your sentence. Any funny stuff, you even try to escape when I open the cell, and you'll go to the appointment in a full body bind."
Damn you, 'Mione. This is all your fucking fault. You should have just done what you were told.
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The team of Aurors were waiting at the fountain when Amelia strode over to them. Holding a sheaf of parchment, she looked each in the eye.
"We will be going to Ottery St Catchpole, a residence called The Burrow, everyone. I will handle the arrest of the suspect, I want two of you with me as backup, and the rest I want to secure the property and look for additional evidence against the suspect. In particular, look for anything bespelled with compulsion or obedience charms and any potions. I want samples of the potions, no matter the stage of brewing, so be sure you have collection phials in your evidence gathering kits. I've seen this suspect in battle, so do not underestimate her because of her gender. So unless anyone has questions, let's go."
More than one head turned as the group walked to a Floo. It wasn't often that many Aurors left the Ministry at the same time, with the exception of the end of their day, and people were glancing nervously at each other.
What exactly was going on?
A/N: This is somewhat of a "filler" chapter, used to easily transition events in the previous chapter with what will come later in the story. Sorry it's so short.