Published 13th of October, 2020
Ministry of Magic
Section of Regulation and Authorization
2 p.m.
"Thank you very much," Octavia said to the ministerial messenger, picked up a large bundle of letters, and began going through the senders.
She was a little tired of them already. Most weren't directly for her, but because of her position, people probably thought she needed to know, so they sent duplicates. And only IN the letter they wrote "For information".
How much time would everyone have gained if it had been written ON the envelope.
"Education Program Department," she muttered under her breath as she put the envelope on the right side. "Administrative Office ... Registration and Human Resources Office ..." Both envelopes landed on the left. "Department of Research on Wizarding Skills. Experimental Potions Department ... They got stuck with new patents again ...?"
She straightened abruptly at the sight of the next envelope and quickly reached for the letter opener.
In the top left-hand corner it was written "Magasin Central d'Ingredients de Classe A et B pour Europe de l'Ouest. Carcassonne ".
Unfortunately, a single note could not be the desired order list. And the short answer, which Octavia translated without major problems despite her poor knowledge of French, made her face drop even more.
-.-.-
Carcassonne, le 01.05.2003
Bonjour Madame Banks,
J'ai le regret de vous informer que sans des raisons valables nous ne pouvons pas vous fournir la liste demandée.
Dans cette attente, je vous prie d'agréer, Madame Banks, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées.
Directeur Jean Pierre Bernard Charasse
-.-.-.-
"Damn Frogs," Octavia gasped. "They do not want to send a regular letter without proper justification. Wait, you will get such LA reason that LA wand will fall out of your hand!"
She was about to start writing a letter to St. Mungo to get Hermione quickly and have her prepare an official letter when she remembered the conversation with Pelagia from a week ago and hesitated.
Since then, she kept wondering if the older witch had sold her another rumor, or if it was true that Hermione was dating Kelly. Until now, she had tried to ignore her anxiety and pretend that she didn't know anything, but if they gave French people any reason now, it would get a lot more serious.
And she, Octavia, still didn't know why Hermione was so involved in this Inspection.
She pursed her lips and, staring blindly at the decorations on the wall, tried to decide what to do. In the end, she decided to write a short letter of explanation to Monsieur Charasse herself and keep Hermione out of the matter until she was sure of it.
She did not have to write a letter to the Security Department because it was on the same Level, in the next corridor.
Powell's Potions Laboratory / Ministry of Magic
5:00 p.m.
Paul and Jeff Perkins, greenhorn-Auror, went through the Front Desk checks and Jeff sat down on the edge of the couch.
"Wait for me a second," Paul said. "I'll go to the loo."
"Are you so afraid too? I think I'm going to shit soon," Jeff scowled. "Snape taught me at Hogwarts and I still have nightmares because of him."
"I'm not so much scared as upset," Paul forced himself to answer only the question with the greatest difficulty.
„Please give me Powell. I don't want to deal with that asshole!"
"Get Powell, I'll take care of Snape." Paul clapped Jeff on the shoulder and walked briskly to the men's room.
He pulled out a vial of Reverserum and drank it all in one gulp, then threw the beaker into the trash and smashed it with a shoe into millions of pieces.
Powell was already talking to Jeff when he returned to the hall.
"... where did this spot come from?" Jeff spread his hands helplessly and nodded at Paul. "Paul, can you explain everything to Mr. Powell? I'm sorry," he added, turning to the bald wizard. "I'm not..."
"Enough," said Paul dryly. "Sorry, but we are not going to discuss the investigation in public."
Leoncius Powell immediately gestured to the door to his office.
"Of course! Let's come to my office. Severus Snape will be coming down soon."
But they didn't even have time to sit down when the door was pushed open with a click and Snape entered.
"Excellent, Severus! I'm glad you came so soon." Powell gestured him to the chair and sat down comfortably himself. "The gentlemen have come with new news."
"I sincerely hope," Snape replied, but he didn't sit down, just folded his arms and leaned against the wall.
Paul looked him straight in the eye, trying to relax. To get Snape to do what he wanted, he had to tell him a good deal of truth. A dangerously large dose.
"Thank you for coming so quickly," he bowed slightly to Snape and Powell. "First of all, I must admit that I did not comply with some rules. Even more than just 'some'." He smiled shyly at Jeff, who chuckled softly in response. "I should first reopen the investigation, and then have the evidence analyzed and to interrogate, but ..."
"Come on, Bryant," Snape urged him. "I'm not here to hear your pleas."
"Snape, stop it!" Jeff jumped to his feet.
"Silence, Perkins!" Snape snapped immediately.
Terrified, Jeff grabbed his lips and slumped into the chair like a rag doll. At the same time, Powell shot Snape a warning look. Paul suppressed a triumphant smile.
"Sorry, you're right, sir," he grimaced slightly. "Well, I pushed our Research Office a bit today and they just finished analyzing the ingredients. And since this time the spot was much larger than the previous one, they managed to identify two new ingredients. Among them is a bloodroot, and our researchers have no doubt that it was this that caused such terrible hemorrhages at the victims. So I can open an investigation with a pure heart."
"At ..." Powell began.
"What's the second ingredient?" Snape interrupted him firmly.
Paul mentally cursed himself for the idea of talking about the two new ingredients. From Augie's report, he only removed a bloodroot, because the others were not dangerous and the investigation could be closed without problems and now he didn't know what to say.
"I don't remember exactly," he said after a moment. "But from what our researchers said, it is not harmful."
Snape nodded slowly, as if not entirely convinced.
"At the victims?" Powell asked. "Anyone else died besides poor Chase?"
OH FUCKING HELL! Paul choked on his own stupidity as he realized what he had just said. One word too many! You idiot ...! You screwed everything up!
Feeling Snape's scrutinizing gaze upon him, he forced himself to look only at Powell. And what now?! SHIT! What are you going to tell him now?!
"Sorry," he heard himself say in a thin voice and cleared his throat. "I should say right away. Yes, there are more victims."
Overcoming the insane urge to rub his hands on his trousers, he shook his head sadly.
"I didn't hear anything" said Powell. "They wrote nothing in the Prophet. And you, Severus?"
Snape didn't answer, just narrowed his eyes and looked closely at Paul. Jeff was looking at him too. Hell, everyone is staring at you!
If Snape knows about the victims, he knows it also happens to Muggles. So you can tell them that.
"They didn't write anything in the Prophet because ... it happened with Muggles," he explained. „There were ... a few other victims. Apparently you also heard about it?" He glanced at Snape.
He had to say it - under the influence of Veritaserum, he would have asked about it!
Snape looked silently for a moment longer, as if weighing his words.
„I'm more and more intrigued by your wast knowledge and incredible deduction, Bryant," he finally drawled. "How do you know about this?"
"Harry Potter is still in contact with his Muggle family. Everybody is talking about it in Muggle world."
"Haven't heard anybody talk about it in HQ," Jeff muttered. "But mainly we talk about what is happening with us" he added as if to excuse.
„Indeed. Stunning deduction" said Snape, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Shit, shit, shit. He figured it out ! He must have guessed! Damnation! He had to change his strategy. Now, right now!
„Opening an already closed investigation is always a bit complicated, but given the situation, I think I can speed it up if I have an official request from one of you," he said. "You will be the best, Mr. Powell. Can I ask you for this?"
Powell nodded, confused.
"Naturally! What should I do?"
"Please come with us to the Ministry to make ... so to speak, an official request to re-open the investigation."
"Oh, I think Severus would be much better! He's the one who found both spots, and knows a lot more about this whole thing than I do."
Paul glanced at Snape and immediately looked down at his mocking gaze.
"It's a good idea, indeed, but ... it's not an interrogation, it's a request. Tomorrow I will definitely come back and have the opportunity to talk to Mr. Snape about the details."
"I can hardly wait," Snape said. "And now goodbye. Bryant, Perkins, Leoncius." He nodded to them and left.
The door rattled loudly and stopped, locked by a spell. Paul gritted his teeth in fury, but Jeff looked as if he had suddenly come to life.
„So what, shall we go?" He said, standing up.
Powell nodded, left the desk, and the three of them nearly collided with each other as they left the office.
Everyone was in a rush for completely different reasons.
Hermione's apartment
5:00 p.m.
Hermione pulled the Healer's robe over her head, tossed it on the bed and put on her pajamas, then went to prepare an early dinner, or rather late lunch. When she finished eating, she started washing the dirty breakfast dishes. The feeling of the warm foam against her hands and the water leaking through her fingers was somehow surprising, but quite pleasant.
Then she wiped it away and put everything in the cupboards and went into the sitting room. She put her notes and books on the table, cleaned the quills and put them back in the glass, but when she saw the ink-stained bottom, she took them out and went to rinse the glass. And wipe it.
It didn't take her long to clean up, because living alone, she didn't mess too much. This time it felt as if it was shorter than usual.
She sighed heavily and glanced at the blank TV. The time has come.
She huddled up in the corner on the couch and turned on Sky News. For some time she listened to various trivial messages with one ear, at the end of each report she took a deep breath and was frozen in anticipation, but the worst did not come.
That was surprising. The news of over five hundred deaths from an unknown disease should be repeated over and over again, meanwhile ...
This!
At the sight of a row of hospital beds, the girl cringed even more and froze.
She saw a lot of children - some were asleep, but around the others there were adults sitting and giving them colorful stuffed animals.
Not understanding what she was seeing, Hermione looked closely and saw the adults smiling. Children too. A little girl awkwardly hugged a large, fluffy puma, and the woman next to it burst out laughing.
"It's been practically a day since the announcement by the Secretary of State for Health, Alain Milburn, yesterday that doctors have finally managed to get the situation under control, and this great news is still being confirmed," said the smiling tv presenter. "I would like to join my colleagues and offer my thanks to all the medical personalities of our country who worked continuously for three days to find a cure. First of all, to Professor Neumann from the Institute of Infectious Diseases, without whose knowledge and experience they would certainly not have been able to accomplish this miracle.
The condition of all patients improves by the hour. Today at noon, they were transferred from the ICU to normal wards and their relatives were allowed to visit. As you can see, the rooms are bursting at the seams from the visits of sick families and ... from the hundreds of mascots that literally flooded all hospitals in Dublin at the BBC Radio's appeal from the very morning. Some of you also send sweets, but hospitals refuse to accept them, fearing another poisoning. As hospital directors say, it's easier to sterilize a monkey than chocolate."
A loud burst of laughter sobered Hermione, and she found herself kneeling on the floor just in front of the table. Taking a deep breath, she returned to the couch and, reaching for the pillow, continued to watch.
For a while, she listened to interviews with the various doctors who had been gathered to Temple Street Children's University Hospital a few days ago, and she relaxed more and more.
The muggles, it seemed, had somehow managed to defeat magic. She couldn't imagine how, but what mattered right now was that they had found a way!
There will be no more suffering and no more death. Whatever the drug was, it shattered some maniacal wizard's cursed scheme and stopped another nightmare.
It occurred to her that she should write to Severus Snape about it, but in the next second she felt the pillow hug her and her eyes closed.
But even if she wrote to him, Severus Snape would not have written back. Never again.
Powell's Potions Laboratory
A few moments earlier
Snape quickly entered his lab, closed the door behind him, and leaned against the wall.
Bryant, you bastard. You'll pay me for this. For Griffin and for everyone else!
He had no doubt that Bryant was involved in all this. He certainly didn't brew the poison, but he was covering whoever did it.
He was right! From this morning, he had felt that something was wrong with that blasted Auror, and he was right!
First, he exposed himself saying that they had lost ingredients from the lab. He might have said that by accident, but instincts told Severus that it was more than a coincidence. Only he, Hermione Granger and the killer knew about the theft of ingredients.
And a moment ago his hunch was confirmed. The Auror gave himself away talking about THE victims, though he was only called to one. To Chase Griffin.
He, Hermione Granger and the killer knew about the Muggle deaths too.
Naturally, Bryant could have found out from Potter or from other sources that Muggles die in strange circumstances and could associate that with Griffin. He might have found out BY ACCIDENT. And this case would be much more likely than ingredients theft.
But two such different ACCIDENTS at the same time ...?
He was lying. Bryant was lying. He had to drink the Reverserum before coming and played a very persuasive scene of outspoken honesty in front of them.
The only question was whether White was involved in it as well, or was he came to lab because he was Bryant's partner.
Severus glanced at the table and quickly sent a few bottles of ingredients back to their places, removed any remnants of the potion he had not poured into the vials from the cauldron, and put it in the sink. He'll wash it tomorrow. Now he was going to go to the Ministry, where Bryant and Powell must have gone. He was going to get him there, drag him over and get out of him everything he knew. And he didn't care whether he had to use legilimency or force to find out.
Just as he didn't care what condition Bryant would be in when he is done with him.
He sealed the lab door with Colloportus and ran down the stairs. Monika was just collecting her things, so she didn't even pay attention to him.
He stepped outside the building and squinted against the sun as he focused on his target - the Ministry of Magic.
And at that moment he felt his whole body stiffen, he lost his balance and fell to the ground. The last thing he remembered was the grinding of small stones under the feet of someone he hadn't seen and the gentle brush of an invisible cloth on his face.
Potter ...?
Then it was dark.
Ministry of Magic, Atrium
Around 8 p.m.
"Atrium," a female voice said, the elevator stopped and the golden grille creaked aside.
Paul bowed slightly to Powell, giving way to him, and followed the bald man into the golden rectangle of light falling from the cabin on the black floor of the almost dark Atrium.
They both looked around involuntarily. There were a few crystal bubbles with candles in the air, a few torches burning against the walls, but that was not enough to illuminate such a large hall. Their footsteps echoed softly against the walls and sounded completely out of place in the emptiness. "Thank you very much, really," Paul said as the two of them started toward the toilets. "And I'm sorry it took so long. We took up way too much of your time today."
Powell stifled a yawn and patted Paul on the shoulder.
„Most important, we managed to open an investigation. We should thank you. And I'm sure Severus will catch up tomorrow lo ... all the time" he corrected quickly. "You don't even know how clever he is!"
Paul smiled apologetically.
"I know very well. He taught me seven years at Hogwarts. It's a genius."
You must admit that he is really talented. To brew the same poison without the advice of that bloody cook ...? Fortunately you won't need to see him anymore.
"Ah!" He stopped abruptly in place and tapped his forehead with his hand. "Professor Snape will come a little later tomorrow. As you have noticed, he knows so much about this case that he was invited to come tomorrow morning. Me and a few of my colleagues need to know as much as possible in order to be able to quickly find the culprit ... I'm sorry again!"
Powell stopped as well and smiled kindly.
„You're welcome! Please don't hesitate to ask him about everything, no matter how much time it may take."
Paul escorted Powell to the toilets and said goodbye to him. As the old man disappeared, the Auror sighed heavily and glanced at his watch.
It was just after eight in the evening. Mia's probably getting worried.
But he couldn't go home yet. He had to visit one more person.
North Sea
Azkaban
Severus knew where he was even before he opened his eyes.
His whole body was filled with a cold worse than anything he had ever experienced. The soaked clothes clung to the chilled skin and he practically wasn't able to take a deep breath. He took a short gulp and a damp stench entered his frozen lungs.
The stench of fear, sorrow and suffering. The stench of people buried alive, maddened with hopelessness, who had taken everything good from their hearts and minds and left only the worst nightmares of their lives.
He moved and felt himself lying on the cold stone floor, so he leaned back and sat up slowly.
He opened his eyes at the same time, but saw only darkness. It took a moment for his eyesight to adjust to it and he saw uneven bars against slightly lighter background. Besides, it was dark everywhere.
It was a world without color. There wasn't even black, there were only shades of rot. He felt it as clearly as he knew that from now on these would be the only colors he would see.
Till the end.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, an even more terrifying chill arrived, penetrated his soul, and sucked out of him everything he felt. A silhouette hung out against the bars, a wheezing breath engulfing him and tearing his ears apart into a thousand ringing pieces. The last thing he heard was someone's despairing scream.
Tuesday, May 6th
Powell's Potions Laboratory
Midday
All morning, Hermione couldn't concentrate.
Yesterday evening she was awakened by the advertisements and, since it was only ten in the evening, she wrote a short message to Snape. Since he didn't write back, she sent him another one this morning: "12:00 at my home."
But at noon she still had no news from him and he did not show up for the meeting.
It was completely unlike him, and though Hermione tried to find some trivial explanation, she grew increasingly nervous and decided to drop by the Powell's Lab on the pretext of talking about the Inspection.
She apparated on the Winding Alley, asked for a meting with Powell, and sitting on the couch, she didn't know whether it was good to wait or not.
„Miss Granger!" Powell called as he approached her. "Nice to see you again!"
Hermione had only one option - to avoid telling a truth she didn't want to reveal, she just had to ask him many, many questions. Fortunately, she had a lot of news concerning Inspection.
"Well ... Mrs. Banks is seriously considering suspending the entire procedure for a while, giving you a deadline of one month for the necessary corrections and restarting the entire second stage," she said at the end of the lengthy account of the last conversation with her superior from the Ministry.
Powell looked at her with the expression of an unjustly reprimanded child and sighed excruciatingly.
"Well ... I will not deny that this backyard issue is very disturbing. Perhaps Severus is right in saying that this is where the one who brewed the poison came in."
Hermione with some effort made an as innocent face as Powell, and at the same time was pleased to note that the time of Veritaserum was passing.
"Yeah, do you have any news about Chase?"
"Of course," said Powell with contentement. "The case is reopened. Yesterday, I was giving my testimony to the Ministry and I gave permission for Severus to come to them this morning. Apparently they have a lot of questions because he hasn't come back to work yet ..."
"As you can imagine, I don't want to hear about Severus Snape," Hermione cut in sharply.
At the same time, she breathed a sigh of relief. She found out what she wanted and didn't even bother asking careful questions. She glanced at her watch ostentatiously and gasped loudly.
"Merlin, I'm sorry to bother you so much!" She jumped up and adjusted the Healer's robe. "As soon as I have any more specific news, I'll let you know immediately. And now it's time for me."
They both shook hands briefly, and Hermione went outside.
Apparently, the false spot had moved the Aurors quite well. They probably bombarded him with thousands of questions and yesterday and today ... Maybe they even discovered the ingredients and now Snape is giving them a lecture like me two weeks ago? In any case, no wonder he didn't write back. He can't do it while sitting with them.
Reassured, she returned home. While watching the news, she quickly ate her sandwich and wrote another message before returning to the Clinic. "What's new?"
All afternoon she had been subconsciously waiting for the familiar sensation of sudden heaviness in her left pocket, but for nothing, so just after five she didn't even came home but Apparated directly to Spinner's End.
She couldn't see much through the darkened windows, but the house looked empty. Hermione knocked hard on the door and, after waiting a moment, slammed it several times with her open palm. But no one answered the loud thud.
Increasingly concerned, she pressed the door knob and to her surprise the door swung open. He was yelling at me about the fireplace but he hadn't cast any spells so far ...
„Professor?" She called, and stepped uncertainly inside. "Professor Snape!"
But only an ominous silence answered her.
There were no fresh traces of fire on the fireplace, and in the kitchen on the table there was a cup of coffee, the remains of which had already dried to the bottom. Hermione bit her lips, looked around, and her eyes fell on something lying on the sill outside the window.
She didn't have to open it to recognize today's Prophet's morning number.
„Oh, Merlin ..."
Everything became clear.