Chapter 64: Magical Maintenance
"Just go along with it," Barnaby insisted to Claire. "My uncle only trusts those who've proven themselves to him."
"I guess I now know where you get that notion." When Barnaby gave her a blank look, Claire reminded him, "Remember? When you agreed to help me get into the Fear Vault during our Third Year if I dueled you?"
"Oh, yeah," Barnaby remembered as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "I almost forgot about that."
"Now just because we're dating, it doesn't mean I'll go easy on you for this duel," Claire said as she took out her wand.
"Wasn't planning on doing that either," Barnaby replied as he took his wand out as well.
The two moved a few paces away from each other, and then Claire used Depulso to slam Barnaby into the glass door at the entrance to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement area. Fortunately, the glass didn't break though Barnaby slid down to the floor groaning in pain.
"Are you okay?" Claire asked as she ran over.
"Yeah," Barnaby insisted as he got up and used Episkey on his shoulders. "This just means I need to train harder than before."
"Excellent dueling!" Cecil remarked. "Just what I expected from two Hogwarts students."
"So, will you now tell us about that incident with the enchanted windows and the Magical Maintenance Department's involvement?" Claire said.
"There isn't much to tell," Cecil replied. "One day, the windows in my personal office were storming and I couldn't concentrate on my work. So I took it upon myself to fix the problem. I talked to Magical Maintenance, and they were very forthcoming about their involvement in the matter."
Claire's eyes widened. "You mean they actually caused the windows to become stormy?"
"Unfortunately, yes, and it was only after the Ministry agreed to give them a slight raise that they fixed the problem."
"Have you had the same issue lately?"
"Nothing but clear skies! Perfect weather for hunting werewolves. Do you know why?"
"Barnaby, you probably know since you're interested in magical creatures," Claire said, looking at Barnaby.
"Sorry, but we haven't covered werewolves in any of our Care of Magical Creatures classes so far," Barnaby replied.
"Clear skies are a good time for catching werewolves because they're weaker in bright sunlight," Cecil explained. "At least, that's what Gilderoy Lockhart said when he talked about his battle with the Wagga Wagga Werewolf during a special symphony he performed."
"Do you mean a symposium?" Claire asked.
"Yes, exactly what I said," Cecil claimed.
"Symphony…symposium…close enough," Barnaby murmured out loud.
It seems Barnaby also inherited Cecil's habit for confusing words, like the time he confused the word 'boutonnière' for 'buccaneer,' Claire thought as she giggled quietly. Then she said to Cecil, "So you've had sunny windows all day?"
"Quite so!" Cecil stated. "Do you doubt my prowess of perception?"
"I was just double-checking, Mr. Lee," Claire insisted. "Because by contrast to your office, the Portkey Office's windows have been acting up."
So Claire and Barnaby left the Department for Magical Law Enforcement area. They met up with Ben in the All-Purpose Room, where the windows were also showing stormy weather and several papers were strewn about on the floor. Twycross was speaking angrily to a man with blond hair wearing a gray suit, while the other witches and wizards looked concerned.
"You told me the stormy weather situation was only isolated in the Portkey Office, right?" Ben said to Claire.
"Right," Claire acknowledged. "But me and Barnaby just got back from talking with his uncle, and he's had sunny weather in his office all day."
"That sounds right," said the blond-haired man as he walked past Claire and Ben, looking at the windows carefully.
"How do you know that?" Claire asked the blond-haired man. "Are you with the Magical Maintenance Department?"
"Yes," the blond-haired man nodded. "My name's Reginald Cattermole, but you can call me Reg since Reginald's too former for a guy basically carrying around a magic mop."
"Nice to meet you," Claire said politely. "I'm Claire Krystal, and this is my friend Ben Copper."
"Hello," Ben greeted.
"We're visiting Hogwarts students, and I've been sent by Arthur Weasley to find you guys to fix the stormy weather problem that's happening in the Portkey Office," Claire said to Reg. "Do you know if this is the Magical Maintenance Department's doing?"
"No, it's not!" Reg snapped in a bitter tone. "Everyone's always quick to blame us when things go wrong around here."
"I'm not trying to blame you, Reg," Claire insisted. "All I want is the truth so we can get to the bottom of this mystery. For instance, why are you particularly interested in this window — aside from the storm that's going on?"
"This window is the 'master' window," Reg said. "It controls all the enchanted windows in the entire Ministry. We've tried just about every spell we know in terms of fixing it."
"Mind if Ben and I take a look?" Claire asked.
Reg shrugged. "Go ahead."
Claire and Ben then examined the windows while Reg supervised them.
"While I'm not sure what kind of spell would cause this much mayhem, someone has definitely tampered with these windows," Ben said after a pause.
"During the Magical Maintenance Department's strike, they used various charms to change the windows," Reg interjected. "But none of them were powerful enough to affect the master window in this manner."
"I know these windows were sunny when I came in here earlier and met Mr. Diggory, who was standing right here," Claire mentioned, pointing to where Diggory stood. "Maybe these windows have been cursed…."
"That's what I was thinking," Ben agreed. "And whoever cursed these windows used very complex spell-work to do it."
"It would explain why none of the spells we've tried have worked," Reg said.
"But why would someone want to curse these windows, though?" Claire wondered.
"Good question," Reg responded in a pondering tone.
"It could be a disgruntled former employee, or a Dark Witch or Wizard that somehow snuck in here," Ben suggested.
"There are plenty of disgruntled former employees I know of, but none of them have access to the Ministry," Reg pointed out.
"Well, whoever the culprit is, they clearly have access to the Ministry," Ben stated.
"So they must have gotten past Mr. Munch somehow," Claire realized.
To be continued…