Chapter 20

Discoveries

Muggles had a habit of squirreling away the most interesting things in the most boring of places. It was probably wise, truth be told; the magical community could learn a lot from them. There were far more boring places in the world than there were interesting ones, and there was just no telling how many of them held deep and fascinating muggle secrets.

Amelia Bones was currently walking up a hallway in one such place.

Another thing that the magical communities could learn from the muggles was the value of intelligence. They had entire services dedicated to collecting information about friends and rivals alike. If you wanted to know some bit of political dirt, one of their agencies probably had it.

The magical communities had nothing similar. Partly, she imagined, it was because the communities were so isolated and so rarely interacted. The only exception to that was trade with nearby countries, and even that was surprisingly limited. Someday, though, they might actually need such information, and then where would they be?

But that was a thought for another day.

As was the question of whether they had one of these agencies dedicated to watching the magical world. That was a scary thought — especially since they almost certainly did.

Her guide led her into the office at the end of the hall, where an older woman was sitting behind a stately desk, clearly already expecting her. She felt a certain kinship with this woman; they were both hard people, doing very difficult jobs. And neither would compromise their beliefs.

"Madam Bones," the woman greeted, gesturing to the seat in front of the desk and beginning to pour tea. "I was quite surprised to see your request for a meeting. Your kind doesn't tend to know we even exist."

Amelia took the seat and accepted the cup, even as she wondered if that was a veiled hint that they were being watched. She shook it off though, and instead took a sip of the rather excellent tea. It didn't matter right now what these people were up to; only whether or not they could help her.

"I won't deny that," she frowned. "I've long thought that we need to learn much more about our cousins, if only to assist in preserving the Statute. I get shouted down when I bring that up, though. Most don't really understand yet."

The woman chuckled. "I have a feeling you and I will get along just fine," she smiled. "I've only met a few of you, and until now I was not impressed."

Her blunt manner actually endeared her to Amelia. It was better to hear the obvious truth than to have to ferret it out. Oh, she wasn't foolish enough to think she would only get truth here, but every little bit helped.

"You're not alone in that," she offered in return. "Sometimes I truly despair."

The woman chuckled again and settled in for the conversation. "So what brings the Director of Magical Law Enforcement to see the Director of Her Majesty's Special Intelligence Service?"

"An odd request," frowned Amelia. "And to be clear, this is off the record as far as the Ministry is concerned."

That earned her a raised eyebrow. "Oh?" she prompted.

Amelia nodded. "What do you know of Harry Potter?" she asked curiously.

"Supposedly defeated a Dark Lord as a baby," the woman stated bluntly, "though one wonders how that could ever be possible. Well hidden childhood, and of course our information from your school is limited. Recently entered into an international tournament taking place there, apparently against his will, though that is debated. Kidnapped from the final event, and now missing and presumed dead."

The completeness of her instant assessment brought Amelia up short for a moment. Clearly, they were watching. That should probably have bothered her much more than it did, but she put it aside for now; she would worry about it if and when it became an issue, since she knew she couldn't counter it at the moment.

"The public may presume him dead," said Amelia, "but I do not even remotely agree."

"Oh?" queried the woman again. There was a faint trace of amusement there, which was interesting.

Amelia decided to change tracks slightly. "I'm not certain if you're aware that Albus Dumbledore was arrested?"

"We had heard that," she frowned. "But the reasons are currently escaping us."

"Potter, mostly," Amelia told her bluntly. "He was setting the boy up to die for a rather dubious reason involving a Prophecy that we believe he severely misinterpreted. He made the boy's life an absolute living hell."

The woman winced at that, but remained silent, apparently sensing that there was more to be said.

"He'll be going to trial shortly," continued Amelia, "but that's not the point."

She took a moment to rearrange herself more comfortably, and took another sip of her tea. It was really quite good, honestly. And she was finding that she liked her counterpart a great deal; the woman understood how the game should be played, and was obviously very sharp.

"The kidnapping scene did not add up," she finally continued. "There was no actual evidence of Potter's death, and the way it's claimed he died is very nearly impossible, and possibly literally so. I believe that Potter was aware of Dumbledore's efforts, and took the opportunity to escape his control."

The woman slowly nodded. "That is a sensible conclusion," she offered.

"Indeed," nodded Amelia. "Then we have the case of Ginevra Weasley, who went missing at almost exactly the same time."

There was that very faint note of amusement again, and Amelia started to suspect that the woman already knew something. This was getting increasingly interesting. And honestly, a little worrisome. Just how closely were they watching the community?

But of course the woman gave nothing away.

"Oh?" she asked curiously.

"We have no indication whatsoever of them having contact," admitted Amelia. "But Mr. Potter is known to the family, and Miss Weasley was having some very dire family problems. I believe it to be a significant possibility that he helped arrange her escape as well. And given the timing, they are probably together somewhere."

"No evidence whatsoever?" frowned the woman.

"Not so far," nodded Amelia, "but I trust my instincts."

"Often wise in your line of work," the woman nodded. "At least if you're good at it, which you do appear to be."

The faint amusement was back, and Amelia was becoming increasingly curious. This woman clearly knew something. That said, she couldn't press. Not yet, anyway.

"I certainly hope so," she wryly returned, "otherwise I'm in the wrong line of work."

The woman chuckled at her again. "So where do we come in?" she asked curiously.

"I'm fairly certain that Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley headed for the hills," Amelia said simply. "He had certain precautions in place in case of his death, most notably a number of letters that were automatically sent when he missed a check-in. One came to me, and that is what burned Dumbledore, but the more interesting one went to his godfather."

Amelia leaned back and took another sip. "The man was on the run, falsely accused, and Mr. Potter suggested that he should leave the country and go somewhere that hates Magical Britain."

"No offense, Madam Bones," the woman frowned, "but there are quite a few such places."

"I'm aware," nodded Amelia. "But only a few of them are English speaking locales."

"True," she agreed.

"If I were in Mr. Potter's shoes," mused Amelia, "I would use muggle transportation to go to one of those places and seek asylum. I'm betting that's exactly what he did. Probably with Miss Weasley in tow, as she has sufficient cause to seek asylum as well."

"A reasonable assumption if your other information proves correct," nodded the woman.

"Yes," nodded Amelia. "And that brings me to you. Understand that I am not trying to drag them back, and even were I to try, I doubt I would succeed. I want to verify their location, and possibly check in on them to ensure their safety as best as I'm able. I know you have ways of finding people in the muggle world, and I'm hoping you might be able to determine if they left the country that way, and where they might have gone."

"Hence why this is off the record with respect to your Ministry," the woman understood.

"Yes," nodded Amelia. "Mr. Potter has long since earned his peace. I won't compromise it, and I know that our Ministry feels far too entitled to do exactly that. I'm only after his safety; anything else is up to him."

The woman stared at her for an interminable moment, and Amelia felt like she was being x-rayed, to use the muggle term. Had she not herself been an Occlumens, she might have thought this woman a closet Legilimens. It wasn't particularly comfortable, but under the circumstances, Amelia just met her sharp gaze and put up with it.

And then, finally, she got somewhere.

"You impress me, Madam Bones," the woman smiled, "and that is not at all easy to do."

Rather than wait for a response, however, she opened one the drawers in her desk and retrieved a file folder from it, laying it on the desk in front of her. Then she flipped it open, studied the contents — a photo — before picking it up, turning it around, and sliding it over to her. There was another that had been beneath it, but Amelia couldn't make it out.

And besides, the content of the one she was given was startling.

It was Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, holding hands with each other as they entered a building somewhere, and looking none the worse for wear. There wasn't enough notable detail to tell Amelia where, but just this much was confirmation of her theory. She would bet her wand that this photo was taken after the Third Task!

"When and where is this?" she asked softly.

"It was the very same night," the woman explained. "Where is the Portsmouth International Port. They purchased tickets on a twenty-seven day cruise under the names Harry Porter and Guinevere Wellesley, and had extremely convincing passports under those names."

Amelia sat back and couldn't prevent the chuckle that escaped her as she shook her head in wonder. This was unbelievable, even though she half expected it. He had escaped from right under Albus' nose, and done it so well that Albus well and truly thought him dead!

"I expected something like this, and yet it's still so hard to believe," she breathed. "There have been signs since his disappearance that he is vastly more intelligent than he ever let on, but this takes the cake. He even set them up with names that they'll be able to answer to without even thinking about it!"

"I noticed the same thing," the woman nodded. "If I could, I would recruit him in a heartbeat. He's quite phenomenal from what little we know."

"I doubt he would sign up though," noted Amelia. "My instincts tell me he that he just wants to be left alone to live a quiet life."

"As do mine," she nodded.

Amelia stared at the photo for a long moment, and something deep within her unknotted as she realized that they were likely just fine. She had never met Harry Potter, but from what Susan had told her, he was a genuinely polite young man who deserved a lot better than he got. And he certainly deserved vastly better than what Albus was dishing out.

Finally she got her brain back in gear though, and looked up. The woman was frankly observing her, with a small smile lingering on her lips. She had a feeling that they could be friends under other circumstances.

"May I ask where they went?" she asked calmly.

"The cruise had numerous stops," the woman told her, "but the ultimate destination was New York."

Amelia nodded. "America," she sighed. "If they got off there, it will make it extremely difficult to contact them. Out of all the countries that don't like us, they have one of the strongest opinions, and not without cause unfortunately."

"Indeed."

The woman studied her again, and seemed to come to a decision. She picked up the other photo and slid it over to her. Amelia likewise picked it up, and wasn't terribly surprised by what she found.

It was another image of Harry and Ginevra, entering yet another building. They looked… better somehow. Much more relaxed than in the previous photo, though there was certainly some tension there. And again they were holding hands, which made Amelia wonder if something was going on between them.

Not that it mattered really, but many who knew her would be shocked to learn that she was a closet romantic.

"Port of New York," the woman explained after a moment. "We have an informant there, and most of what we learned is what you would expect. They went to magical customs, and after dealing with a fair bit of disbelief since he was thought to be dead, they requested and were granted asylum in America."

Amelia nodded at the expected information. "You implied that there was something I wouldn't expect?" she asked curiously.

"They appear to have used their correct legal names," said the woman, now sounding very amused. "Harry and Ginevra Potter."

Amelia looked up sharply. "What?" she asked. "How is that even possible?"

"We don't know," shrugged the woman. "But I know how your Gringotts issued passports work, and that is her correct name. The Americans have them listed as husband and wife, which is odd given their ages. Something of a mystery."

Amelia shook her head in wonder. "I would be less surprised by them going to such lengths if Ginevra had actually been disowned, but I know for a fact that she hasn't been. I have no idea how they could have accomplished that, unless one of the countries they passed through has much looser laws than most."

"And they don't, so far as we're aware," agreed the woman.

"Hmmm," frowned Amelia. "That's a mystery that's going to bug me until I learn the answer, assuming that I ever do."

"I feel exactly the same," she grinned.

Amelia thought for a moment. It would be quite a while before she could pay a visit, and she was going to have to do it in person most likely. But would the Americans cooperate with her, even if she only wanted to talk? That was… doubtful.

"I don't suppose you know where in America they settled? It's a rather large country."

"Unfortunately no," frowned the woman. "Our informant did not have quite that much access. Our access to America is surprisingly limited unless we have a very good reason to request the cooperation of their own agencies."

"Understandable," nodded Amelia.

She picked up the later photo again, and sat back as she stared at it. It really warmed her heart to see that they were in such good shape. And that they were now protected in America was a bonus.

She was tempted to ask for a copy of the picture to show the Weasleys, but quickly decided against it. Any proof of this magnitude left laying around would spark a manhunt that would end extremely poorly. He really did deserve to have some peace.

Finally she looked back up at the woman. "Thank you for this," she offered quietly. "It makes me feel much, much better about their status."

"You're welcome," the woman offered. "Now what will you do?"

Amelia snorted. "Nothing for now," she said honestly, "except maybe to backchannel to the Weasleys a vague assurance that Ginevra is likely well, but I have to think that one through. I won't be able to do anything else until I can take some significant vacation time and fly over there. It's going to have to be a personal visit, especially if I want any cooperation from the Americans."

"I would appreciate it if you would keep me informed," the woman requested. "Most notably, I am rather curious about their marriage."

"So long as they allow," she nodded, "though I don't see why they wouldn't."

===[~]===

A/N: Yeah, Madam Bones is smarter than most in magical Britain. She knows who to talk to. But just how closely are they watching? That concept could make a fun story someday…

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