Blunda: To close or cover your eyes to avoid seeing something or facing a hard truth.
If anything, the afternoon nap had rendered Viktor even groggier. He quickly took a lukewarm shower, made a protein shake, and hastily pulled on his ITF uniform. He wore civilian clothes with shield charms most of the time when he was on duty, but was used to being in uniform after years of school and Quidditch and preferred not having to think about what to wear. He packed a briefcase with the notes from his three-day hunt and the last pain potion vial. Ieva had been on duty on Sunday, and she had three children waiting for her at home, so Viktor hoped that the meeting would not be too long. Armed with wishful thinking, he was on his way to Berlin.
The Berlin Headquarters was the newest and largest ITF base. Designed in the latest wizarding architectural style, it was a green glass building with a sleek torus form and an elegant steel frame. The middle of the torus was a courtyard cafeteria under a climate control charm, where the employees could enjoy sitting outside all year round without having to fear the elements. Several rectangular water features, level with the floor, dissected the courtyard, creating islands with tables and seats that were connected by little bridges. When he had time, Viktor loved to sit in the courtyard with a very good espresso, just watching his colleagues bustle around or admiring the ornamental trees and vines whose names he didn't know. This time, however, he hastily crossed it, looking for a ground-level meeting room where he hadn't been before. He re-entered the building on the other side and followed the arrows to the meeting rooms E12-20. E13, E14, E16? Odd.
"Are you looking for E15?" asked a friendly voice behind him. Viktor turned around to see a young, handsome wizard with lush brown hair, wearing a forest green shirt, a tie that was a shade darker than the shirt, and slim-fitting dark grey chinos. Viktor almost pitied himself. Not in a million years would he have come up with such a tasteful combination, it looked fantastic. He wished he knew how to dress better. "Yes, I seem to have missed it."
"Ah, it is OK, it is hidden. It is only accessible through E14. Please, let me show you". The young man opened the door to E14 with a tap of his wand, revealing an empty meeting room with an oval desk. At the back of the room, there was indeed a door with the sign 'E15'. Viktor raised his eyebrows.
"It is a tad strange indeed," his guide commented. His English was smooth and without a recognizable accent. Viktor wondered where he was from. "I think they designed it as a room to divide the meeting participants into groups when it's necessary. It is normally only booked together with room E14. The secretary who booked it for you is probably new and didn't know. Good that I found you." He smiled warmly and waved on his way out. "Have a good one, Officer Krumov". Viktor watched him leave. Who did the guy remind him of? He looked around. It was a pretty standard, rather small meeting room with a rectangular table, six chairs, a writing board, and a small projection curtain. He filled himself a glass of water from the carafe on the table, took one of the chairs, and looked at his watch. 14:48. A moment later, the door opened again. A middle-height, broad-shouldered frame topped with a head of black brush-bristle hair entered.
"Harry, I wasn't expecting you".
"Hello, Viktor", Harry offered him a firm hand to shake, "I was invited by the scary witch who investigated the scene. I had a hard time finding the room, though. A Cedric Diggory lookalike has led me here".
Ah, that was it, yes.
"I heard that you almost got your head blasted off. Are you alright?"
Was he? "I was quite shaken after the explosion. Honestly, the only place I wish to be right now is my bed." Preferably with Hermione snuggled up in front of him, wearing her nightdress with the funny yellow chick and a lazy black-white dog whose names he had forgotten, but Harry didn't need to know that.
"As far as I have been informed, there has been no breakthrough yet. It will probably be a short one."
"Yeah…" murmured Viktor. He had not had the time to prepare a report of this three-day hunt. Not that there was much to report, he had done little else than follow the bloodhound on his leash and write down names and details of their stops.
"Where is Scabior?"
"I have no idea. He led me to the warehouse where the suspect was hiding. I went in first, he was right behind me. Then the explosion happened. My guess is, he sensed something was wrong and ran away. I don't know where he is."
"I just don't get that bloke…" Harry sighed. "He is so talented, if only he would collaborate. Had he stayed with you, he would be a free man now. I mean, if he survived, of course. I gave him a sweet deal. Now, if I see him again, I have to take him into custody. What a waste."
"He is good," confirmed Viktor. "I don't think there is another wizard like him. To be able to trace someone just by viewing a few memories... Even after three days with him, I have no idea how he does it. We almost got him in Leuwaarden…"
Viktor was interrupted as Ieva Zaleska entered the room with another witch, who Viktor recognized from his training. Laura Burkart was a laboratory head and crime scene investigation expert for the ITF. She had a soft face, long blonde hair, warm brown eyes, and a calm, confident demeanour. She was dressed in a light salmon linen dress and a white linen jacket, a petal among grey-black ITF and Auror uniforms.
"Auror Potter, thank you for travelling in on such short notice. Viktor, I hope you are feeling better after yesterday's events," Ieva gestured to them to take their seats. "Laura, you have met Viktor already. You know Auror Potter?"
"Only by reputation," replied Laura as she took a seat. "Laura Burkart, I am the forensic laboratory head. I am leading the investigation following the explosion in the warehouse."
"Harry Potter, how do you do?" Harry slightly raised himself from his chair to lean over the table and offer her a handshake. They were both not very tall, though, and ended up awkwardly holding fingers. The awkwardness only added to the congeniality of the gesture, invoking a few silent chuckles and breaking the ice.
"I don't have a formal agenda for this meeting," started Ieva, "which is unusual for me. I am afraid we have not yet come very far with our investigations. We do however have some preliminary results which we would like to share. Considering how dire the situation is, we could not afford to wait until we are finished examining all the evidence." As she said the last few words, Laura took a small cube out of her pocket and tapped it with her wand. Photos of the warehouse after the explosion projected onto the screen. They did look rather dramatic, more so under the artificial light. The first one was just soot and rubble.
"The bomb was a standard plastic explosive, remotely detonated," stated Laura, "it was probably not very much, it blew up the crates, destroyed part of the floor and a couple of columns, but the rest of the building remained intact. It was possibly hidden in one of the crates." She tapped the cube again, this time revealing a photo of destroyed cans with a red liquid oozing from them. "We found out that the warehouse was used by a local tinned soup company to store tomato soup. They supply supermarket chains in the Berlin area."
"Only tomato soup?" asked Harry. To a law enforcement officer, everything was suspicious.
"It is actually very simple, tomatoes are harvested once a year and a large quantity of soup is made. Many other soup varieties are produced throughout the year and distributed to supermarkets directly from the factory."
"Ah."
"But," continued Laura, as if trying to convince Harry that his question was not stupid, "we took samples from the liquid and also the few intact tins that we could find. We might investigate those in due time".
Viktor tried not to lose composure, he had anticipated that the meeting would yield more questions than answers. The laboratory head interrupted his thoughts, "Shall I proceed with the rest of the images? You will find that we do provide answers as well, not only questions." Viktor and Harry nodded simultaneously, both slightly embarrassed to have jumped straight into interrogation mode. Laura changed the photo. This one was rather disturbing.
"The victim was right at the epicentre of the explosion. Unfortunately, not a lot of him was left intact. We have recovered these fragments of skull, including a few pieces of jaw large enough to be used for identification purposes if we had dental records," the photo changed again, "one left foot, size 44, " the photo changed again, "and one severed arm." Viktor's stomach lurched, and he winced infinitesimally. It didn't escape Ieva's attention, though, and she turned to him. "You said you detected two people before you entered the warehouse, Viktor?"
"I did, two people."
"And one of them was the suspect you were after?" This was a bad question. "I did not get a clear look at their faces before they entered the warehouse, but the stature and hair colour of one of them was a match for the man we were after. Scabior said it was him, too."
"But you are not sure."
How could Viktor be sure of anything? They were all wizards. He had not been close enough to run any identification spells. Even if he had been close enough, he had nothing to compare to. This had been a fool's errand from the beginning.
"We have only identified the remains of one person," Laura interrupted his thoughts yet again. "as of now, there is no evidence that a second person was the victim of the explosion". She suddenly seemed crestfallen. "If we had a few more intact skull pieces, we could at least have tried to reconstruct the face. We are still examining the shoes and the clothing, but this will take a while as everything is… well, it is messy."
Harry pushed his glasses up his nose, a leftover habit from his childhood, thought Viktor. He then turned to Ieva, intending to ask a question, but was interrupted as the witch stood up. The room suddenly felt even smaller. "I will quickly summarize what I know about this whole incident, correct me if I'm wrong. Viktor, that this man was being followed as a suspect for the incident in Cardiff. Auror Potter, you asked for ITF support as the suspect fled the UK borders." Harry nodded. "Viktor, you were tasked to follow him, and were given a partner by Auror Potter the past three days, who is particularly skilled in tracking." Viktor nodded, too. Somehow it felt good to have stuff he already knew summarized to him, it cleared his head. "I don't know all the details of your journey, I am sure Auror Potter will be highly interested to read your report. This incident is highly distressing, and it is in the best interest of the entire wizarding world that the culprits are delivered to justice as swiftly as possible. You will receive the report of our findings as soon as possible. I am afraid the rest of the investigation is not within the jurisdiction of my team. If you need another crime scene investigated, we are at your disposal. Until then, there is not much more we can do but further analyse the evidence. Are there any burning questions?" She alternated her blue gaze between Viktor and Harry. Laura leaned back on her chair, her brows furrowed and lips tight. It seemed like both women were eager for the meeting to be over. Viktor was eager to be dismissed too, the pain and stiffness were slowly returning, and the protein shake had not kept him full for very long. He was dying for a plate of pasta and a hot bath. He did have some burning questions, though.
"Did you detect any traces of recent Apparition?" asked Viktor. Laura shook her head. Damn. Two people had entered the warehouse, two people had been in the warehouse. What happened to the second one? "Were there any other exits?"
"Yes, there is another exit at the back, but it was locked and bolted from the inside. It could have been opened and relocked with a spell, of course, that we can not know."
Fuck. Asking obvious questions was not helping either.
"There are other ways as well," said Ieva, "Unregistered Portkeys, for example. I would not lose sleep on that. Look…" she sat back down, suddenly looking deflated as well. "I understand how dire the situation is, but I cannot give you any more answers at this point. This does not mean defeat. We will continue the investigation, and the evidence we have can also be revisited in the light of additional clues that you will surely acquire."
Viktor felt the throbbing pain and stiffness overtake him. Harry, who had been oozing anxiety and stress the last time they had met in England, seemed to be lost in contemplation. Viktor doubted that he had got much sleep in the past days. He had relied on their wild goose chase to bring him something, anything – but all Viktor had given him was a bunker full of tomato goo and a severed arm.
"Before we call it the day, there is one more thing." If Ieva looked deflated a minute before, she now looked downright miserable. There was something strange going on. The two women, personifications of precision, meticulousness and composure, had been becoming tenser and fidgety as the meeting neared its end. As the "one more thing" was announced, they were both squirming as if they had to break some very dire news but didn't know how to. The whole scene looked unnatural and disturbing to Viktor. Surely, even if it was very bad news, neither of them would have any problem delivering it. Something was off.
"What is it?" asked Harry impatiently as no explanation followed the declaration. He seemed to be oblivious to the changes in the two women, maybe too engrossed in his troubles. Laura sighed and summoned an evidence box with a wave of her wand. It was a standard-issue, magic-proof, unbreakable stasis box. Viktor reached to take it.
"Don't open it," said Laura with a slightly trembling voice. Her high, tanned brow was misty.
"All right… it is evidence though is it not? I assume you recovered it from the crime scene." Laura nodded.
"Is it cursed?" asked Harry this time.
"It is not cursed." The witch looked like an unseen garrotte wire was wrung around her neck.
"What is then?" snapped Harry, apparently still not taking the clues. Viktor knew that a big burden was on his shoulders for this investigation, but it didn't take a seasoned Auror to see that something was not right. If either of the witches could have answered the question, they would have already done so without being prompted.
"I don't want to know," said Laura. OK, this was really, really weird.
"You don't want to know what it is?"
"I don't want to know what it is." Viktor turned to Ieva, who simply grimaced and nodded.
"So you have seen the evidence in the box, but you don't want to know what it is." Harry's summary sounded so wrong. "Do you have a photo?"
"Nobody wanted to take a photo."
Suddenly, Harry was back to his usual, practical self. He stood up and asked for permission to cast a detection charm on Laura and Ieva. The two witches were under the influence of an unknown spell. It wasn't dark, it wasn't a curse. Whatever it was, though, it seemed to prevent them from wanting to know what the object in the box was. "And no one has been able to cancel the charm?" asked Harry. "You must have some of the best curse breakers around. Surely it should be possible."
Ieva let out a slightly irritated puff through her nose. "Please, Auror Potter, try. Cast a Finite. You have my permission." She said, stretching her long arms out in surrender.
Harry rose to the challenge, lifted his wand, and froze. "I don't... I can't… I don't want to... Shit. I am guessing you can also not describe it."
Viktor was amazed that Harry still didn't realize how uncomfortable the two women were growing as they were forced to think about the contents of the box. His question was not graced with an answer.
"May I take the box with me?" inquired Viktor politely. The two were only too glad to get rid of it, as Viktor placed it in his briefcase there were two simultaneous sighs of relief.
The meeting was dismissed shortly afterwards. Before they left the room, Ieva put a hand on Viktor's shoulder.
"You saw the arm in the warehouse, right?" she asked, looking him straight in the eye. She was so tall that she hardly needed to lift her head.
"I did."
"And it disturbed you greatly. I saw how you reacted to the photos."
"Well, I did step on the arm…"
"It disturbed you more than usual." Viktor had no idea what she was getting at. "It did disturb me greatly, yes."
"Maybe," she said, "it has something to do with the evidence in the box."
Viktor didn't bother to ask any further. The two witches disappeared into a corridor, leaving Harry and Viktor alone.
"Viktor, are you really alright mate?" asked Harry, running a hand through his thick hair as they made their way towards the courtyard. "That was one mean explosion you've survived."
"I am in one piece," replied Viktor, remembering Ieva's earlier proxy for well-being. "I need to go to the medical centre before I leave." He took the last potion vial from his briefcase and swallowed it in a few gulps. Ugh. Pain potion on an empty stomach was just nasty.
"Does Hermione know?"
"I told her as much as I could, also about the explosion. It was late, I couldn't write in much detail. I will call her later."
"You told her about the explosion? I have yet to get a howler from her, I wonder what got in the way." Viktor smiled. It was of course not Harry's fault that he had almost got blasted into pieces, but then again, such small details rarely stopped Hermione from lashing out.
"She is probably busy with the exams. It is the end of the term."
"Maybe… thank Merlin for small mercies." He looked at his watch, and Viktor did the same. It was nearly four. The courtyard was mostly empty, bar a few smart-looking witches and wizards discussing business over folders and screens. The coffee break was probably already over.
"I don't need to be back for another hour or so," said Harry, "shall we grab something to drink and chat for a bit?" Viktor nodded in agreement. They took two of the four luxuriously comfortable yet minimalistically designed metal chairs around a square metal table. As soon as they were seated, Harry cast a Muffilato charm.
"That is not necessary, these tables have privacy charms around them."
"Oh," Harry pushed back his glasses again. "Sorry, I don't come here often. Right then, shall we have a cup of tea?"
If Viktor didn't drink tea for a hundred years, he wouldn't miss it. "Here's the menu." He tapped the table with his wand, and said "Menu, please", upon which the English menu appeared on the table surface.
"That is such a neat trick. These headquarters are the best." After Harry picked a cup of Darjeeling and a slice of carrot cake, Viktor turned the menu to himself and ordered a smoked salmon bagel and a glass of orange juice. As the menu disappeared, Viktor retrieved his notes from his briefcase, but even before he could place them on the table, the food and drinks appeared. Harry's tray had a glass of hot water covered with a small plate, a muslin tea bag, a small jug of milk and two tiny bowls with small lemon slices and honey. His carrot cake was adorned with copious amounts of cream cheese frosting, caramelized nuts and glazed baby carrots. Viktor's tray was equally enticing, the orange juice was freshly squeezed and ice-cold, drops of condensed water dripping down the glass that was decorated with a mint sugar rim. His bagel looked deep golden brown and crispy, with small blisters on the surface. He took one half in the hand and bit into the crust with a satisfying crunch, only to fill his mouth with juicy salmon, dill and cream cheese. Heaven. Harry was also enjoying his treat, which from the way his fork went into it was moist and full of walnuts. Viktor took a sip from his juice while Harry removed the tea bag from the glass and placed it on the small plate.
"You know what, this is all very fancy and the food is delicious, but seriously, this is not how you make tea." said Harry, as he added a drop of milk to his weak-looking tea, turning it into a murky brownish colour that didn't look very appetizing. He winced as he took a sip and put his glass down.
"So… you have been out and about? Where have you been?"
"Flanders, first," replied Viktor, not bothering to look at the notes that still lay on his lap. "We were around Bruges and Ghent, mostly around non-wizarding folk. It is very densely populated, so we couldn't use magic so easily. It took a while to find him. Scabior decided that we should head north, so we Apparated to the Netherlands. We were close, very close – we found him in Leuwaarden behind the train station on Saturday night."
"Wow, you actually saw him? Our guy?"
"It was him. He did not even bother to change his appearance, I am guessing he didn't expect to be tracked. I tried to stun him."
"Tried?"
"It didn't work."
"He blocked you? That is no mean feat, I saw how you fight."
"No, I am sure he didn't see me, and he didn't even raise his wand. It just… didn't work." This confession prompted Harry to put his fork aside and look at Viktor in earnest. "You sent a stunner to him, it hit, and it had no effect?" Viktor nodded as he took a deep sip from his glass. "He noticed us after that and escaped. We followed him through the night and the next day, crossed Germany, finally found him in Berlin. This time we just tailed him. He had an accomplice. Another man, slightly taller, dark hair. They were quite far away, I didn't dare to go much closer until they entered the warehouse. I couldn't let him escape again. Then I entered the warehouse, Scabior was right behind me. This is when the explosion happened."
Harry leaned back on his chair, arms crossed over his chest and eyes fixed on some invisible object on the ground. Viktor finished his bagel and juice while Harry processed the information, not that it was a lot.
"Your tea, will you finish it?"
Harry shook his head. "It is abysmal." Viktor sent the trays back with a tap of his wand. "How is it even possible that your stunner did not affect this bloke? Even Auror robes can't fully absorb those. Are you sure you hit him?"
"I am sure. I wasn't even that far away."
"Fuck. Me." Viktor could wholly empathize, the place where Harry was now, was where he had been living for the past two days. "All right, I guess the rest will be in your report. What do we do about the evidence? We can't open the box."
"I have an idea." Viktor didn't have an idea what to do, but did he have an idea who could help him. He looked at his watch again. Shortly before five. If he quickly went home to pack, he could be there for dinner. His heartbeat increased, and he finally felt a little lighter. "I will send you my report later, is that OK? I need to leave."
"Sure, let's go." They both stood up and headed to the international Floos, which were buzzing with rush hour activity. As they both stood in front of one of the massive fireplaces, Harry put a friendly hand on Viktor's arm, and Viktor did the same with him. He liked Harry. The boy had become a fine Auror, a reliable ally and friend. After he had ceased to carry the weight of the world on his young shoulders, he had also become a lot easier-going and level-headed, though the last event seemed to start to get to him.
"We haven't had a chance to catch up in ages. When this is all over, you and Hermione should come for dinner. You know, we bought a new house recently, the backyard is lovely. We could have a barbecue, maybe try out a couple of those wicked brooms of yours?"
"Yes," Viktor smiled, "it will be soon, don't worry. I will bring the new broom I am working on, and we will freak Hermione out." Harry laughed.
"Yeah… Can't wait." They had queued up in front of the same Floo, behind three other people. "By the way, I don't know if I ever told you, but your new look is gorgeous, and I am insanely jealous. I couldn't grow facial hair to save my life, and my hair only grows upwards." Harry ruffled his hair. "Your beard is especially impressive."
"Is it?" muttered Viktor, stroking his long beard. Both his father and brother had long, full beards, he had never considered it to be anything special. As an athlete, he had chosen to keep his hair and beard short for easy maintenance, but long hair and beard had given him at least a semblance of anonymity in his new life. "It is hereditary, I guess."
"Probably. Although, even if I could grow a beard like that, I highly doubt that Theo would like it." It was Harry's turn, he grabbed a handful of powder. "Keep me posted, OK?" He said, waving. Viktor nodded and waved back as his little friend disappeared to London.