Chapter 35 – Back at the Ministry
Fourth Year
After finding out about Harry's name coming out of the goblet, Sirius knew he had to do something about it. Although he couldn't prevent Harry from competing, he had to find out who had put his name in the goblet, or at the very least be in on the action of catching them. The only way he could do that without getting physically thrown out of the castle by Filch was to officially return to his job as an Auror.
Which led to Sirius to stand outside the main employee entrance to the ministry on Monday morning, watching as wizards ducked into the gentlemen's toilet. To say he was nervous was an understatement. The entire night before he had barely slept in anticipation. Before the news about the tournament, Sirius had hoped to return to ministry after the Christmas holidays which would have given him nearly two more months to work with Aurora Delaney… He wasn't truly ready to go back, but he knew he needed to.
"You can do this," Sirius told himself quietly, gripping his wand tightly. After a few more deep breaths he followed a pair of wizards in navy robes into the public toilet. A few minutes later after the line of wizards in front of him flushed themselves into work, Sirius came flying out of one of the gilded fireplaces and into the Ministry's atrium. He had to admit he stumbled a bit on the entry. It had been way too long since he had flushed in. If he was being honest, he felt a little nauseous, but he wasn't sure if that was the flushing or the nerves.
Quickly moving out of the way of the fireplaces so as not to get trampled by the witches and wizards following him, he made his way through the crowd and towards the main lobby. As he walked, he watched as paper airplanes made of parchment soared above his head, flying to their intended targets to deliver messages throughout the building. Several men were passing out copies of the Daily Prophet, yelling that morning's headlines.
"Sirius!" Sirius turned to see Arthur Weasley coming towards him, carrying about ten thick rolls of parchment.
"Arthur, do you need some help?"
"Oh, no, I'm fine. I just have to get up to the office. Apparently, someone has gone and bewitched a string of toilets in muggle London. Whenever someone goes to sit down on one, they are bombarded with water as they would be with a muggle firehose!" Sirius stifled a laugh knowing that was a prank and the other marauders would have pulled back at Hogwarts. "I've got to get going, but welcome back, Sirius!" He finished before scurrying off towards the elevators.
Sirius just shook his head and smiled, continuing at his normal pace. As Sirius approached the fountain in the center of the atrium, he watched as a young boy with jet black hair, no older than three or four, sat on the edge, dipping his hand in the water and watching it ripple at his touch. A young blonde witch, who Sirius assumed was the boy's mum sat beside him, digging through her change purse. She pulled out a knut and handed it to him, whispering for him to 'make a wish'. The little boy cupped the knut in his tiny hands and closed his eyes tightly and while he whispered his wish before throwing knut into the fountain, landing just below the feet of the gilded house elf.
Sirius couldn't help but smile watching the exchange. Back during the first few years he worked there, he had thrown many knuts and sickles – and to be honest, galleons – into that fountain silently making wishes. Most of the time it had been dumb wishes like winning bets with Tawny over whether or not the baby she was going to deliver was going to be a boy or a girl. As the war raged, he often found himself wishing for him and Tawny to make it home that night.
When the boy and his mum left, he walked up to the fountain, noticing the sign reading: All proceeds from the Fountain of Magical Brethren will go to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Sirius didn't remember the sign being there before, thinking they must have put it up during his time in Azkaban. Digging through his pockets, he pulled out a single galleon. If all the proceeds from the fountain went to Mungo's that meant some of them would have to go to Tawny's department as well. Telling himself he was only making a wish for Tawny, he whispered, "I wish for today to go well," and flipped the galleon off his fingertips and into the fountain.
"Sirius Black." A familiar begrudged voice rang out behind him. Sirius closed his eyes and dropped his head, already knowing the fountain had not granted his one request.
"Minister." He said, turning on his heels. Standing before him was Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, accompanied by his Undersecretary, clutching a baby pink clipboard to her chest. The minister wore a look which was a cross between surprise and anger, while Umbridge pursed her lips and glared.
"What are you doing back at the ministry?"
"I work here again, sir," Sirius answered, attempting to be polite. "Today is my first day back, you see."
"Which department?'
"I believe you already know the answer to that."
"I'll be consulting with Mr. Shacklebolt, immediately." Fudge huffed and turned to walk away.
Sirius knew he should just drop the subject, but something in him just couldn't help but say, "Last I checked, Kingsley could hire whoever he wanted. He is the department head now since Mad-Eye's found a new interest in teaching."
"Shacklebolt works for me." The minster growled.
"What are you going to do about it? Fire him? Are you really going to fire one of your best, Aurors because you're bitter you lost the trial?" And there it was… the point of no return.
"Mr. Shacklebolt is not the only person I could fire." Fudge said, smirking maliciously. "I believe Ms. Lovegood runs a department at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Isn't that right, Dolores?" The undersecretary nodded in agreement, he pursed lips turning up into an evil smile.
"The ministry doesn't run St. Mungo's."
"No. But I am quite close to the head of the hospital."
"Hippocrates Smethwyck would never fire Tawny. He knows the moment he did there would be outrage. Healers would walk out of the building in protest." Sirius smirked, crossing his arms.
He was quite right. Hippocrates Smethwyck took over the position of Head of St. Mungo's a few years back, handing off his position as Head of the Department of Creature Induced Injuries to his right hand, Damian Foster – Remus's new boss. Smethwyck was the one who appointed Tawny as Head of the Department of Magical Deliveries. He knew just how valuable she was to the hospital, and how beloved she was as well. If Smethwyck was to fire Tawny out of the blue, any healer in that hospital who knew her – which was the majority of them – would riot.
"If you're going to fire someone, you'll have to fire me, but you won't do that."
"Try me." The minister hissed, slightly raising his wand which was gripped tightly in his balled fist.
"It's only my first day, I haven't done anything that would be considered a fireable offense. That would indicate that you fired me solely because you hold a grudge against me."
"Your point?"
"I believe that's a theory that Rita Skeeter would love to advertise in the Daily Prophet, don't you? Minister fires Acquitted Ex-Convict due to his Inability to Admit Defeat. That issue will fly off the shelves." Sirius said, swishing his wand as he would perform a levitation charm.
"Ms. Skeeter is too busy covering the tournament to print your rubbish headlines, Black." Umbridge scoffed.
"Oh, you mean the tournament my godson is in?" Sirius asked, watching the minister squirm in anger. "All I have to do is tell Harry to offer up an interview with his family. Easy enough."
Fudge gripped his wand so tightly Sirius was sure he was about to break it in half. "Now if you'll excuse me, Minister, I'd rather not be late for my first day back," Sirius said, patting Fudge on the shoulder and heading towards the elevator, a cheeky grin plastered on his face. As he walked, he thought: Maybe the fountain did grant my wish after all.
"Sirius, you're… right on time." Kingsley noted, double-checking his watch.
"I was planning on being here fifteen minutes early, but the minister wanted a word."
Kingsley shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose as he groaned, "I thought I told you to avoid the minister."
"He ran into me, what was I supposed to do, ignore him?" Sirius asked, shrugging his shoulders.
"Depends on what you said to him," Kingsley said, raising an eyebrow. Sirius quickly briefed him about his pleasant conversation with the minister, causing Kingsley to grip his bald head in frustration. Sirius knew that if Kingsley had any hair on his head, he would be harshly tugging on the ends of it. "Merlin, I'm surprised you weren't fired on the spot."
"I've got too many connections to get fired right now." Sirius winked.
"You've been free for three months and you've suddenly got too many connections? Who are you and what have you done with Sirius Black?"
"I'm just that good, mate," Sirius said, taking a seat at one of the desks, propping is feet up on the edge. "So, what are we up to today mate? Do we have some dark wizard to track down? What about the case at Hogwarts? I'll happily volunteer to find out who put Harry's name in the goblet."
"Moody has that case covered," Kingsley replied. The only case he really wanted to cover, he couldn't. At least the case would be in Moody's hands. If anyone was going to catch the witch or wizard that put Harry's name in the goblet it would be Mad-Eye. "Besides, you're only on part-time duty and that case is a full-time responsibility."
"Part-time? What that hell am I on part-time for?" Sirius argued.
"You have a six-month trial period where you'll be working part-time mostly doing training and paperwork."
"Training and paperwork? Kingsley, mate, I'm not fresh out of Hogwarts! I already did my Auror training." Sirius insisted. He trained under Mad-Eye years ago, back before the Auror back when he still had both of his eyes. More training? Moody put him and James through the wringer to become Aurors. What else could he possibly learn?
"Yes, back in the late 70s, Sirius. A lot has changed since the last time you worked here. There are new protocols and training exercises you have to cover." Kingsley insisted. "You're lucky its only six months. I could have you training for three years like everyone else. But I know you're not new to this, so just take the part-time work and then in six months you'll be a full-fledged Auror again, alright."
"Fine, I'll take the six months, but there's got to be something I can do besides paperwork. Come on, Kingsley, you've got to give me a case or something." Sirius begged, clutching his hands together and giving the Auror his best puppy-dog eyes.
"You can't lead a case yet, but if someone in the department is willing to let you help out with theirs-"
"He can help with mine." A young witch with short bubble-gum pink hair said interrupting Kingsley. Instead of normal robes like the rest of the office, she dressed similarly to Sirius, including a long deep purple leather jacket which she had pushed up to her elbows and a pair of dark brown knee-high boots that laced all the way up. "I haven't had a lot of leads, so I could use an extra set of eyes." She said, brushing Sirius's boots off the desk and taking a seat where they had been.
"And you are?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Tonks. Nymphadora Tonks, really. But if you ever call me Nymphadora I'll hex you." She smiled as she said it, but Sirius could tell she fully meant it.
Sirius looked her over once more, trying to wrap his head around the fact that the girl in front of him was the same little girl he remembered meeting years prior. The last time he'd seen her he was still at Hogwarts and she couldn't have been more than a few years old… When he was reviewing his questions for Kreacher for the trial with Tawny, she had mentioned that she brought up Tonks for him to use as an example. He knew it had been forever since he saw her, but he couldn't believe how much she'd grown.
"Tonks… You're my cousin Andromeda's kid? I knew you'd grown up to be an Auror but… Blimey, I'm old, aren't I?"
"I'm not that much younger than you, Sirius."
"More than a decade," Sirius added, crossing his arms while Tonks rolled her eyes.
"Do you want in on my case or not?" She asked.
"Depends on what you've got," Sirius said, although he honestly didn't care as long as it didn't involve pushing papers.
"Missing persons."
"Bertha Jorkins?" He asked, intrigued.
"Precisely." Tonks, grinned, handing him the case file.
Sirius didn't even open it before replying, "Alright, I'm in."
Nearly a month later, there were still no real leads on Bertha Jorkins. Tonks and Sirius had interviewed all of Bertha's friends, family, and co-workers from her department as well as the others on her floor to see if anyone had seen or heard anything. When that came up empty, the pair had traveled to Albania to try and find any leads there as well. They had spent nearly every day that week in Albania, coming home in the evenings instead of mid-afternoon when Sirius was supposed to come home.
The more time they spent in Albania's magical community, they discovered that Bertha Jorkins was not the only missing person's case. The Aurors in the Albanian Ministry for Magic had their hands full with witches and wizards going missing, all who had disappeared just like Bertha had. The Aurors on their case were drowning in complaints from loved ones, begging to know where their husbands, wives, or children were, but they didn't have any leads.
Sirius felt lucky for not having to deal with the madness they were but also felt bad for Bertha that no one had come to make a complaint about them not being able to find her. The only people that had reported her missing were her co-workers in the Department of Magical Games and Sports, and even then, they weren't too intent on finding her. The ministry had briefly run a missing poster in the Daily Prophet, and no one had sent an owl or shows up at the ministry with any information.
It seemed as that ministry – anyone really – didn't care about finding her. No one except for him and Tonks. Kingsley handed the case off to Tonks solely because no one else would take it. The Jorkins case was her first solo case since she finished her training with Mad-Eye Moody, and it was going nowhere, even with Sirius's help. Sirius could tell Tonks was stressed when she changed her hair color faded from her usual bright and bubbly pink to a light brown. It reminded him of Peter's fur when he changed into his animagus form…As much as they both hated to admit it, the two were stumped. How does a person just go completely missing from the face of the planet without a trace?
When he came home from another leadless trip to Albania, he was expecting for Tawny and Remus to be home reading on the sofa or in the chair by the fireplace, curled up with a cup of tea. Since they had been so busy lately, they both had taken a mental health day under the advisement of Aurora Delaney. However, the moment Sirius stepped in the doorway, he was immediately met by chaos. Tawny and Remus had turned the room upside down. Open books covered every surface of the room, as well as the floor. Used parchment was strewn everywhere, covered in notes and scratched out words. An inkwell had turned over on the coffee table in the madness, dripping ink all over the living room rug. Almost a dozen empty and half full teacups and coffee mugs were scattered around the room as well, while another kettle was brewing on the stovetop.
"What the hell happened in here?" Sirius asked, gesturing to the madness that had become their living room and kitchen. Tawny flicked her wand, levitating Harry's letter up to Sirius while she continued, reading, her finger tracing the page with each sentence.
Tawny, Sirius, and Remus,
What do you know about fighting a dragon? Yes, I wrote dragon. Why you ask? I found out last night that facing a dragon is the first task. I'm not going to tell you how I know – at least not by owl – but I do. There are four potential dragons I could be facing: a Hungarian Horntail, a Common Welsh Green, a Swedish Short Snout, or a Chinese Fireball. I saw them up close and in person last night… I don't know if you've ever seen a dragon before, but I don't think you want to because they're bloody terrifying. I don't want to worry you, but I need ideas on how to figure this out. Hermione is going to help me do some research – just Hermione since Ron is still convinced, I put my name in the goblet without telling him – but, could you help me as well? Now would really be a good time to get a crash course on how to train a dragon from Charlie Weasley, but I don't think I have time, or that he's personally allowed to help me. Maybe if you asked him, he could tell you? Do you think you could talk to me over the floo tonight around dinner? The first task is tomorrow, and I need ideas, fast!
I hope to talk to you soon.
Love you lot,
Harry
"Harry has to fight a dragon?" Sirius asked, surprised.
"Yes. Remus and I have been through every book in this house researching everything about dragons and we've come up with nothing helpful. Everything requires the force of five or more wizards!" Tawny said, not looking up from the book she was reading.
"We sent an owl to Charlie Weasley to see if he'd floo us to give us any advice, but he sent one back telling us that he couldn't help because cheating wasn't in the spirit of the tournament. I thought Tawny might go rip his head off." Remus added.
"Harry wants us to floo him in a couple of hours and we don't have anything to tell him!" Tawny cried, looking up at Sirius. Her eyes were filled with concern. "The task is less than 24 hours away! What is he going to do?"
"Okay, okay let's think about this," Sirius said, crossing the room to get to her. "Back in our day at school, we used to get out of challenging situations all the time. We can come up with something."
"Those were ridiculous things like hiding from Filch. This is a bloody dragon, Sirius!" Tawny said, throwing her hands up in frustration.
"Regardless of the stakes, we figured it out. We used our strengths, right? What is Harry good at?"
"He's excellent at defense, but none of those spells are going to help him," Remus said. "Maybe a shield charm or two if the dragon starts breathing fire. But Harry wouldn't have learned those yet."
"What else?"
"Quidditch. But I don't think his ability to catch a snitch is going to help him beat a dragon."
"No, but flying might," Sirius added, thinking of Harry on the quidditch pitch. Weaving in between players, dodging bludgers, diving for a little fleck of gold buzzing through the air… that all took incredibly flying skills.
"A dragon can fly too, Sirius. You think Harry is going to outfly a dragon?"
"He's got a firebolt! That's the fastest broom in the world, Tawn! If anything can outfly a dragon it's a firebolt."
"He can't bring his broom with him to the task," Remus added.
"All he has to do is summon it."
"He's only in his fourth year. They haven't learned those yet."
"He's got twenty-four hours; he can learn a summoning spell by then." Sirius insisted. "Think about it, Tawny. I taught you how to a Patronus charm in one night back in sixth year and that was ten times more difficult. He doesn't have the skill set as these older students so flying might be all he's got. All he has to do is learn a simple summoning spell by two o'clock tomorrow. He can do this."
When the three of them flooed Harry that night at dinner, Sirius could tell the boy was scared out of his mind, Hermione too. Both of them had been it at all trying to figure out ways to stop the dragon but had come up short as well. Sirius reassured him that all he needed was his broom and then he could fly circles around that dragon, no matter which one he got. When Harry insisted on practicing all night, Tawny recommended the charms classroom, knowing good and well that it would be empty. Remus reminded them to bring the cloak and the map with them, in the worst-case scenario, he pointed out an escape route on the map that would get them as close to Gryffindor tower as he could. Harry quickly left the floo with Hermione, and took off for the charms' classroom, leaving the three of them sitting on the floor by the fireplace, hoping that his all-night study session with Hermione would be enough for him to summon his broom the following afternoon.
The next afternoon, Sirius and Remus sat in the stands at Hogwarts waiting to watch the champions face off against their dragons. It was just the two of them because firstly, Tawny had a patient going into labor that insisted that it be her to deliver the child and not Violet. Secondly, Tawny could not bring herself to watch the task. She knew that Sirius and Remus would be there to comfort or protect Harry if needed, but she could not bring herself to physically watch him fight that dragon. Working was the only way she could make it through the day.
When Tawny came home that night, Sirius and Remus were sitting at the kitchen table, drinking firewhiskey and playing old Weird Sisters albums in celebration of Harry's big win. It turned out that Harry's quidditch skills were what he needed all along. They recounted the entire tale of Harry's outstanding flying and him sweeping up the golden egg just as he would a snitch. "He tied for first place with Victor Krum! THE VICTOR KRUM! Our boy is bloody brilliant!" As they resumed their drinking and dancing, Tawny sat down to write a letter to congratulate her godson.
Harry,
I've only just got home, and Sirius and Remus have been going on and on about your victory today! I am so proud of you not only for your ability to beat a dragon but for learning a new spell so quickly. The summoning charm is one of my most frequently used charms and I know it will come in handy soon. I don't know what these next tasks will have in store for you, but I would recommend that you learn some protective charms next. Luckily there are a few months in between tasks and that should give you plenty of time to learn.
I'm sorry I wasn't there to watch you today. I would say it was because I was busy, but really it was because I was scared. You're my baby, Harry, and the thought of you being in so much danger and I couldn't do anything to protect you… I hurt me. I knew the whole time I would be on edge and I would likely have fought someone to get to you, and then I would have been escorted off the premises by ministry officials. I'll try to do better next time. But I make no promises. You know me. I can't help being overprotective Tawny.
Now that the first task is over and holidays are on the way, you should consider asking someone to the Yule Ball. Do you have any idea who you would want to ask? Do I know them? We will need to get you some dress robes. I'll go down to Diagon Alley later this week and see if I can find some for you. Once I do, I'll send some back with Hedwig when she delivers your next letter. I am going to miss seeing you over the holiday, but maybe we can squeeze in a Hogsmeade visit and you can come to meet us at the village. We'd love to see you. Once again, I'm so proud of you darling. Don't forget to let me know about the next task. We will help in any way that we can.
With all my love,
Tawny
