The Following Wednesday
Ron nodded firmly at Harry and let out a sharp breath, his freckles standing out more than usual against his pale face. Harry dropped his black robe that he had worn almost every day to work and couldn't help but think again that he really needed to go shopping. Their wands were both strapped to their outer leg in the holder that Tom Zhang had given each auror for easy access, and Ron was fingering the top of his nervously.
"Ready?" Harry asked, probably less nervous than he ought to be. Ron nodded and followed him out of their office and into the meeting room where four other aurors waited: Williamson, Bayman, Goldsmith, and Josephs (the four aurors who happened to be in the Action Subdivision that week).
"All right. Is everyone clear on the plan?" Harry asked while he marched into the room. The four aurors nodded solemnly, their faces lined with apprehension. "Goldsmith, where are we apparating to?"
"The edge of Melton Street in Edgefield, behind the large oak tree behind the building," she recited perfectly.
"Good. And where are we entering Josephs?"
"I'm entering through the large window in the back leading into the kitchen along with Weasley and Williamson."
"Bayman, where are you entering?"
"The window on the opposite side into the sitting room with you and Goldsmith."
"Perfect." Harry nodded with satisfaction. Bayman had eased up considerably towards their leadership after Harry had soundly beaten him in a practice duel in their first round of extended training and he hasn't questioned him since. Whether it was just to vie for a spot as head or because he actually trusted them, neither Ron nor Harry had any idea and they weren't too phased with it at the moment.
"And remember; we are going to capture and bring the two of them back, nothing more. Do not use excessive force" Ron added sternly, trying to distance themselves from the Death Eaters' tactics in the ministry just last year. The intel subdivision had been watching the building closely for the past week and discovered that another accused Death Eater had recently hidden out with the first, both relying on their minimal protective enchantments to keep them safe.
"Right. Any questions before we go?" Harry and Ron both looked each auror in the eyes, waiting for any clarifications needed. But, when none came, Harry nodded again and slipped his wand out from the holster on his leg. "Wands out. Disillusionment Charms on." Harry felt a cold liquid drip down his back and he looked down at his hands to see them blending in with the color of the carpet. When he looked back up, all he could see were blurry outlines of shapes that didn't quite match their background. "Apparate on the count of three. One… Two… Three." The six disappeared into the darkness simultaneously, and when his shoes thudded against the hard ground, Ron opened his eyes to see his vision completely blocked by rough bark.
He turned hastily, his wand ready just in case, and saw the same six rough figures spread out on the dead grass.
"Josephs. Williamson. You're with me," Ron said, his voice hoarse. The two stepped towards him and with a quick nod to Harry, they walked purposefully and as quietly as they could towards the back fence of the house. The house itself looked perfectly normal in a perfectly normal muggle neighborhood, although it was far off the beaten road and isolated in a field of dry grass. It was made of white stucco with a tiled roof that formed a small rectangle of a building and a low gray fence outlining the perimeter of the land, as well as the perimeter of the enchantments. From the intel, the aurors knew there was an intruder charm so that the moment anyone touched the perimeter, the Death Eaters would know it. They had also cast Protego Maxima, but have failed to recast it regularly, so it should break easily with a single shield penetration spell.
"Ready?" Ron said quietly to the two aurors behind him.
"Yeah," one replied, equally as soft. Ron nodded and raised his wand to the edge of the enchantment and a blue light shot from the tip and into the translucent barrier around the edge. The blue light crackled on the surface and spread quickly across the dome, making its way around the full circle and the dome itself began to fall away in holes as if it was singed or burning. The moment a hole appeared large enough in front of them, Ron jumped over the low fence and raced to the window.
Josephs quickly whipped his wand and the glass shattered, but no pieces broke through the large shield that Williamson had already produced in front of them. Ron marched through it, stepping over the remaining wall, his wand out and at the ready. His heart was beating desperately fast and his non-wand hand was trembling slightly, but his eyes never left the building: scanning left and right.
The house was eerily silent. Glass crunched under their feet, the sound magnified in their ears, and they moved past the center island towards the doorway leading into three other rooms and a staircase. Ron trailed his free hand along the wall and continued to carefully creep towards the exit, continuously scanning for any clue. They had guessed that the two Death Eaters would try to ambush them since they would have to set off their intruder charm to enter the premises, but Ron had not accurately predicted how jumpy he was. Every crunch of glass, every breath from behind him, every rustle of their clothes set him on edge.
Suddenly, two blasts of bright red light flashed towards their general location, shooting off to their right since the Death Eaters couldn't properly see them. Ron jumped into the hallway, simultaneously shooting off a spell while he twisted uncomfortably, turning to the left where they had come from. Two figures clad in all black and gray raced down the skinny walkway, firing over their shoulders as they went.
Ron whipped his wand, shooting a spell at their backs and chased after them down the hall, switching off between blocking their frenzied curses and firing his own. Spells flew past him with Josephs and Williamson right on his tail, and the two men turned frantically into the front sitting room, leaving their line of sight. Clearly, they were attempting to escape the building through the front door since their anti-disapparation spell was doing them more harm than aid at this point. He quickened his pace when he heard yelps coming from the room in front of them and inwardly hoped it was not an auror that had cried out.
They skidded around the corner and saw the two Death Eaters now furiously dueling the other partially visible outlines of people who were waiting for them. Flashes of light danced between the three aurors and the Death Eaters. Spells flew past the aurors and left craters and scorch marks on the fainted cheerful yellow wall behind them. Ron, Josephs, and Williamson formed another line behind the Death Eaters and before they noticed the newcomers, Williamson had managed to hit one of their scrambling backs so that ropes bound tightly around him, his limbs stuck to his side, and he toppled to the floor with a dull thud. His wand fell out of his hand when he hit the floor, and it rolled torturously slowly away from his hand which was struggling to escape the ropes.
"It's six against one," Harry said calmly as the other Death Eater slowly lowered his wand, but his mask refused to give away any hopelessness. "Throw down your wand."
The man continued to ever so slowly move his arm to his side, his head twitching between the rows of aurors that now surrounded him.
In the space of half a second, the man flicked his wand towards the bound Death Eater next to him and he began to say "Rela-"
"Incarcerous!" Harry beat him to it and shining black ropes bound the second man tightly and he crashed to the floor, his silver mask falling on impact. He had managed to maintain a grip on his wand, but before he could even attempt to use it, Ron flicked his own wand and snatched it from the air. Harry mimicked his thought, and he summoned the other's wand off of the floor.
Harry spun his own wand in an upward circle and lifted the disillusionment charm, his black sneakers standing out against the dusty wooden floor. He approached the two men, simply curious to see if he recognized either of them.
"Potter," the second Death Eater spat furiously while still writhing on the ground like a fish out of water. "You'll pay, we will finish what the Dark Lord-" His threat was cut short when a white gag was shoved into his mouth, and Harry looked around, unperturbed by whatever the man was supposedly planning.
"Thanks, Bayman," Harry said conversationally when he saw his wand lowering. The taller man inclined his head slightly, his eyes glued to the Death Eater's face.
"Look!" Goldsmith said in a hushed yet urgent voice, her hand outstretched and pointing out the shattered window. Harry turned to see a third Death Eater, dressed in the traditional black cloak and carrying their silver mask in hand, walking up the path towards the house. They were watching their feet kick the gravel, but looked up as they passed the short wall around the building. Immediately, they saw the unfamiliar faces and jumped before turning around and racing back outside the anti-disapparition spell boundaries.
Harry fired a spell, but the light shot through where their chest used to be before they had turned sharply and disappeared from the spot.
"Who was that," Harry commanded, turning back to the ungagged Death Eater who had managed to sit up in his ropes and was awkwardly hunching over. Ron strode towards him and tore off the man's mask, passing it to Josephs behind him.
"I don't know," he growled, his eyes maliciously bearing into Harry's.
"Fine. See if you can remember on our way back," Ron snapped with a sigh. He muttered a spell and a second gag wrapped itself tightly around his mouth. "Josephs and Bayman: take him." Ron deftly nudged the first with his foot. "Goldsmith and Williamson: you take him. Head back to the tree. We'll follow behind you just in case." The four aurors pulled the bound Death Eaters to their feet and each grabbed onto one of their arms. They tugged them out the door, none too gently, and marched down the front entrance, around the wall, and towards the thick oak trunk. Harry and Ron strode a few paces behind them, in case they dared to try anything risky, but other than general grumbling and seething, the two captured men did nothing more than trip along in their wake.
"On the count of three, apparate back into Room F since it's the only room without the disapparition jinx on it for the day," Ron explained to the group. "One… two… three."
Their feet simultaneously hit the carpeted floor of the meeting room that they had left from not so long ago.
"Put them in separate holding cells, please. Then come meet us in our office," Harry said, his wand still out. Ron slid his back into the small loop on his leg and followed the group steering the two prisoners into the main room.
Once they stepped through the threshold, the two Death Eaters side-stepping through the doorway while being tugged along, the room erupted into ecstatic cheers. The four aurors ahead of them smiled broadly at their colleagues and the Death Eaters' eyes narrowed in response. But, even with the clapping, they did not slow their pace and marched directly into the holding cells to deposit the two while Harry and Ron split off from the group into their shared office.
"I'd say our first mission was a success!" Ron said happily the second he shut the door behind him.
"Definitely," Harry agreed and leaned back against Ron's desk (they had finally decided whose was whose). A few minutes later, Williamson, Josephs, Bayman, and Goldsmith made their way into their office, all looking rather pleased.
"Great job today, everyone. Really fantastic!" Harry said enthusiastically, pushing himself off of the desk.
"You all did great," Ron agreed. He scanned them each thoroughly and saw only a few superficial scratches dotting their clothes and a small bruise forming on Bayman's shoulder. They each murmured their own approval and tried to poorly hide their relieved smiles.
"All right, so who wants to file these away in the records room?" Harry asked, holding out the two spare wands and a mask.
"I can," Josephs volunteered, adding them to his hand on top of the other mask he still held.
"Brilliant, thank you. And we need someone to fill out the official report."
"I can do that." Williamson raised her hand just above her shoulder, her other wrapped around her middle.
"So you'll probably be called in to testify to a court if needed. Is that okay with you?" Ron asked, his head tilting to the side slightly.
"Yeah, that's fine."
"Okay, great. Next on the list is interro-"
"I can." Bayman and Goldsmith cut Ron off simultaneously. Their eyes met and Goldsmith turned back towards Ron and Harry, her expression determined, and Bayman rolled his eyes dramatically.
"No disrespect, but I don't think you would be the best choice for an interrogation," he said, his arms crossed firmly across his chest.
"And why is that?" she snapped back, her own arms crossing to mimic his.
"You aren't exactly intimidating." He leaned forward in an attempt to use his height to his advantage, but she would not back down.
"Why not? Oh wait, let me guess! It's because I'm a witch, isn't that right?" She shot before either Harry or Ron could interrupt, her eyes squinting to form thin lines.
"And because you're barely a meter and a half tall!"
"Hey, hey, hey!" Harry said, stepping in between them while Ron stayed glued to the spot and seemed to be mesmerized by the fight that had broken out in under a second. "First of all, size is no indication of power, Bayman." His thoughts strayed to a fiery redhead for a moment, but he dragged himself back into the moment.
"I never said that-"
"It was implied," he said shortly. "Second, why don't each of you just take one of them, okay?"
"Fine." Goldsmith said, turning away from Bayman.
"I'm not sure what the interrogation procedures were like this past year, but no curses, no hexes, and no Veritaserum. All right?"
"Hang on. No Veritaserum? That's the best-"
"Well if you actually knew what you were doing, Bayman, you would know that Veritasreum doesn't hold up in court cases since some people can resist it and it's only their version of the truth," she spat instantaneously, clearly still furious by his comments.
"I know that, Goldsmith, but it could be used as a threat or-"
"Shut it!" Harry interrupted again. "Stop bickering! Each of you will interrogate one of them later in the week so find out any information you need to prepare for that. You two are dismissed." With a last furious glance at Bayman, Goldsmith swept out of the room, flicking her dark brown plait over her shoulder.
"Josephs, do you mind getting started on the paperwork to move them to a temporary prison while they wait for trial?" Ron asked, finally snapping out of his daze. He nodded, and left the room, his cheeks apparently red from second-hand embarrassment.
"Are they usually like that?" Harry asked Williamson, watching out the window as Bayman sat haughtily in his chair, ignoring Goldsmith in the seat diagonal from him.
"Erm… pretty much, yeah… They went through training together and both are really competitive, so that kinda… sets them on edge… Plus, well, Bayman can kind of… er… gets on a lot of the women's nerves in the office, but she's the most outspoken about it." She spoke slowly and carefully while shuffling her feet uncomfortably and twisting her hands together.
"I see," Ron replied, nodding slowly. "Thanks for telling us."
"Er… I'm going to go get started on the report…," she trailed off hopefully.
"Oh! Yeah, yeah of course." She ducked her head slightly and hurried out the door. Ron whistled lowly and turned to Harry, both thinking the same thing.
"Bloody hell!" He cursed while Harry smiled knowingly. "That was…something…"
"Yeah…" Harry massaged his temple slightly. "Let's… let's get an intel auror in here and figure out that whole mess later." Harry poked his head out the door and called the first person he saw into their office.
"Hey, Kenning. Can you go to Melton Street with the rest of the intels and look for any clues or information to use on other Death Eaters?"
"And repair the windows too," Ron added. He nodded briskly and left to the far corner of the office where the rest of the intel aurors for the week were working.
Thursday, After Class
Harry turned on his heels, hands in his pockets, just as the door closed and the last student left the classroom. He sighed heavily and stared at the substantial stack of essays about boggarts and the theory behind the reductor curse (Harry did not want his students to practice that particular curse without knowing what they were doing) that he would now have to read and grade. Hermione thought his refusal to assign writing as homework was to make kids like the class, but really, he just didn't want to have to grade them. It was so much easier and made so much more sense to grade based on actual competency in casting spells and hexes rather than writing about them. But, O.W.L.s say you have to be able to write about them too; so, here he was. Assigning papers and having to read them.
Somewhat grudgingly, he trudged around the front desk and sunk into the large chair behind it. He summoned a ballpoint pen from his office and pulled the first stack towards him. Pulling the first paper from the pile, Harry began to read about the famous boggart of Canterbury and how-
"Good afternoon, Professor." Harry's head snapped up and he saw the two Slytherin boys cautiously enter the classroom, bags slung over their shoulder.
"Good afternoon to you as well, Rowstock. And… I'm sorry, remind me of your name?"
"Shawn Parkinson," he replied stiffly.
"Parkinson? Any chance you're related to Pansy Parkinson?" Harry asked, trying to sound nonchalant, but his eyes narrowed nonetheless as her voice reverberated through his skull, commanding someone to grab him to hand over to Voldemort.
"My cousin." Rowstock's head snapped between the two of them like he was watching a tennis match, but Parkinson's gaze remained fixed on the table legs.
"Do you know her?" Rowstock asked, unable to keep up his cool facade in face of his curiosity.
"She was in his year, Lucian!" he muttered fervently. They both fell silent and turned back towards the front of the class, Parkinson glaring from under bushy eyebrows.
"Well, have a seat, you two." They complied and fell into the two chairs at the front of the classroom. They set their bookbags down, leaning against the table legs; Parkinson immediately crossed his arms fiercely and Rowstock sank his head into his hand as if he was exhausted from something.
"You're going to be doing some reading, today." Harry flicked his wand and two heavy textbooks flew across the room and landed with a thud in front of them.
"Muggle Studies?" Parkinson cried incredulously, his mouth hanging open.
"Yup. Professor McGonagall was kind enough to let me bor-"
"You've got to be kidding me!" He interrupted again, scowling darkly, and he hit his hands against the desk.
"I am not kidding you, Mr. Parkinson. I thought you should learn about muggles before you go around disrespecting and threatening them. They are fellow human beings, not animals." Harry found it harder and harder to keep up his friendly demeanor and his voice was growing colder with every sentence.
"I am not reading this crap," Parkinson shoved the book away from him using only a finger as if not to dirty too much of himself by association.
"Then get used to not having a wand, because I won't be giving it back."
"Let's just do it, Shawn. It's not that bad," Rowstock murmured under his breath. He pulled the textbook towards him indifferently and flipped it open to a random chapter.
"All right, Rowstock. You can pick the chapters you read today. Go to the table of contents and tell me which two chapters interest you." Harry leaned back in his chair, watching the blond boy scan the list apathetically and fully ignoring Parkinson's angry glare.
"I guess… er…," he glanced nervously at his friend who refused to do anything but stare at the opposite wall with his arms crossed. "British muggle government and… do I really have to read two chapters?" he whined.
"I can make it three, if you'd like."
"Fine, fine… government and… popular sports, I guess."
"Lovely. Read those two chapters, and when you're done, I'm going to quiz you and if you can answer my questions correctly, then your first detention is finished." Rowstock nodded sullenly and sank his chin back into his hand, his other hand flipping nonchalantly to the first chapter. Parkinson turned his heated gaze onto his friend who shrugged, refusing to quail under his pressure, and turned back to the book.
"Do as you wish, Parkinson. But know that you will not be getting your wand back until you can answer my questions about six separate chapters from the textbook." Parkinson made no comment and continued to stare at the wall past Harry's head. "Fine, have it your way. I guess we'll be seeing a lot more of each other until you complete your three detentions." Parkinson said nor did anything. Harry shook his head and chuckled lightly to himself. This kid thought that he was stubborn; but, he clearly had never met Harry.
He turned back to grading papers and marked the first with a large "E" on the top with a few comments before turning to the second. The next student wrote about a boggart's shape and how no one can ever truly know what a boggart looks like when it's alone. Harry couldn't help himself but comment 'unless you had a magic eye' with a small smile to himself and a pang in his chest at the thought of the grizzled old auror. He read another excellent paper about the discovery of the riddikulus spell, another about how they can never die, and another about their abilities to take on similar powers to what they shapeshift into. Then, he read one essay (in its most loose definition) that was barely three sentences long and essentially a list of examples of the places a boggart can hide, and he was forced to mark the paper with a 'P'.
Forty-five minutes passed in relative silence, with only Rowstock's occasional page flip and Harry's pen scratching against the paper to fill it. Parkinson shifted in his seat every so often, but otherwise refused to move. Another twenty minutes passed and Harry finally finished reading through the third-year's essays. He pushed the stack away from him, rubbing his eyes before glaring at the next pile. Groaning, he forced himself to pull it towards him and he took the top page off the stack.
"Potter! I'm bo…" Harry's head snapped up instantly at the loud sound and he saw the two Slytherin boys jump in their seats. Ginny let the door slip from her fingertips and bang loudly behind her. Her voice trailed off as she quickly realized she was interrupting something.
"Er… hi, Harry…," she said after Rowstock turned back to his chapter. Parkinson, however, continued watching her carefully through his still squinted eyes.
"Hey, Ginny. Welcome to detention," he replied cheerfully.
"Oh." Her soft pink lips formed a perfect O as realization dawned on her and she slowly approached the front table. She glanced at the two students and her cheerful eyes hardened in a matter of milliseconds.
"Parkinson," she said, her chin upturned.
"Weasley," he growled back.
"Didn't you have bat-bogeys last time I saw you?"
"Didn't you have a large gash last I saw you?"
"Must've been someone else 'cause you never hit me."
"Well, if you don't remember, I'd be happy to do it again."
"I'd be surprised if you can hit anything with your 'skills'. But even so, that might be extra hard considering Potter has your wand."
"Speaking of," Harry interrupted loudly. "Parkinson, I think it's safe to say that you'll need at least one more detention to get caught up on the reading." He scowled, and turned back to face the front wall stubbornly.
"What are you having them do?" Ginny asked, sitting lightly on top of a nearby desk, untangling her crossed arms. Harry quickly explained, trying to keep his voice low so that Rowstock could keep reading.
"So Parkinson is trying to out-stubborn you?" She said, the faintest glimmer of a grin visible.
"Seems like it," Harry replied, no longer bothering to keep his voice down.
"Well, that's stupid of him. He has clearly never met you."
"I know. It really is an unfair match, especially if you're on my stubborn team now." Parkinson flashed an angry glare at them both and crossed his arms even tighter.
Ginny chuckled lightly. "Git," she whispered and hopped off the desk. "What are you doing?" She peered over the front of the desk, leaning over the surface, allowing her long hair to sweep the table.
"Grading papers." He twirled the ballpoint pen in his hand and reread the same sentence for the fifth time, finding it very hard to focus.
"Sounds fascinating."
"It isn't. What are you doing?"
"Besides trying to distract you?"
"Besides succeeding in distracting me," he corrected, glancing up and mimicking her smirk.
"Hermione's off in a study-group and so is Cass. Luna's searching the ground for something or other. Hailey is tutoring some kid. And I'm here, exceptionally bored," she listed off while pushing herself upright and flicked a loose strand of hair out of her face.
"Want to do something after Rowstock finishes up?"
"Hey Rowstock!" He grudgingly looked up and raised an eyebrow. "How many pages do you have left?"
"Er… 'bout four," he responded, shrugging his shoulders.
"Yeah, okay. I'll wait." She walked over to the table lining the side of the class filled with random papers and books. "What is all this?"
Harry stood, happy to get away from grading papers, and walked over to where she was. "Not sure. I think it's all Bill's stuff."
"Huh," she commented, fingering a stack lightly. "I heard your first auror mission went well."
"Where'd you hear that?" Harry glanced at her quickly, watching as she continued to scan Bill's random collection of things.
"It was in the Prophet this morning."
"That was fast. Ron only spoke with someone last night."
"I think they're eager to show that things are getting better." They talked quietly at the side of the class for a few more minutes, Harry leaning against the side with his arms crossed and Ginny perusing through her brother's things.
"Professor?" Rowstock asked tentatively.
"Finished?" He nodded and stretched with a large yawn that he failed to stifle.
"Brilliant." Harry withdrew his wand quickly from the loop on his leg that he had taken to wearing constantly, and flicked it once. His open textbook flew into his hand, and he flipped through pages until he got to the start of the chapter. "Okay, quick quiz. Er… What are the three parts of the British Parliament?"
"There's the royalty, the House of Lords, and the… the House of… the elected one.'
"The House of Commons, yeah. And which of them is the Prime Minister a part of?"
"The Commons?"
"Yup." Harry asked a few more questions about the government to make sure he read and then switched to the sports chapter where he asked about football, cricket, rugby, and random facts he saw or thought of along the way.
"Okay, second to last question." The Slytherin nodded and let out a small sigh of relief. "What was the most interesting fact?"
"Oh… Er… I guess… that apparently the wizarding world caught on to rugby after some random squib got on the Scottish team."
"Really? Huh, I had no idea."
"Yeah, his name was Angus something-or-other."
"Huh. Okay, and if you could play any muggle sport, what would you play?"
"Er… maybe rugby. That seems cool. Kinda like Quidditch, but… on the ground." Parkinson glared coldly at his friend for even considering such a question.
"All right, you're free to go, Rowstock. Two more detentions and then you're done." He stood, stretching his legs, and swung his bag over his shoulder. "Parkinson, you still have three more detentions. And fifteen points from Slytherin for ignoring a professor's instructions." Parkinson scowled and without another word, swept the class without waiting for his friend. Rowstock followed behind him muttering something about already being behind in the House Cup.
"What a lovely young man," Ginny said, staring after them.
"Almost as lovely as his cousin. What happened between you two, anyways?"
"Oh, he tried to hex me a few weeks ago after DADA 'cause I beat him in a practice duel that Bill was having us do. And just like the practice duel, I beat him again."
"I'm not surprised by that."
"He's terrible. Did you see him at Hogsmeade? He was just flailing around."
"It was rather pitiful. Plus, you're good at dueling too."
"Yeah, I'm all right at it." She shrugged modestly. "Anyways, weren't you going to entertain me?"
"What do you want to do?" She grinned wickedly and grabbed his hand, making his whole arm tingle, and pulled him to the door.
"Where are we going?" He called out laughing as she raced through the corridors.
"Kitchens! I'm hungry!" She called back, pulling him down the steps so quickly, he was sure that he was going to fall.
As always, thanks for reading and please leave reviews or suggestions or comments! They motivate me to keep writing!
Hope you enjoyed, next chapter will be all about the Malfoys.