Reviews
Mugen-Muse
I was thinking along those same lines. I guess we're both great minds.
As for the duelling club, the children of Death Eaters can easily be trained by their parents and most of them can afford private tutors. Given that Lucius Malfoy is on the school's board of governors perhaps he was the one to get closed down so that the children of non-Death Eaters would be more vulnerable.
frankieu
I was thinking of having the MC enter some sort of duelling contest as John Hiddleston since his knowledge and skills should give him a good chance of winning. The MC doesn't have enough experience to win such contests as an adult so it won't be a hobby for him.
The other thing I have planned is for the MC to go on holiday for some proper relaxation before he burns out.
ZhaWarudo
I think the quality of the class would depend on the teacher as not only do they teach the class they also assign what book you use to study the subject and put it on the reading list. Tonks would have learned Muggle Studies from Quirinus Quirrell until her final year and this was before he ran afoul of Voldemort so he might have been a much better teacher at the time.
You also have to take into account that many witches and wizards don't think much of Muggles so naturally, they'd think poorly of that subject. Percy Weasley a pureblood actually thinks the subject is important. Arthur Weasley, another pureblood, doesn't understand Muggles but we have no idea if he took Muggle Studies or what the teacher was like back then.
There's not enough information to really judge the subject and fanfiction stories tend to poke fun at Muggle Studies as part of an effort to portray magical humans as morans because they know very little of the Muggle world.
They forget that studying a foreign culture, which the Muggle world is to them, is difficult and you will get things wrong. They also forgot that the vast majority of Muggles don't even know that magic is real and that they know nothing at all about the magical world.
Even if the course itself is somewhat useless that doesn't mean having the qualifications themselves is the same. You need an OWL in Muggle Studies to work at the Muggle Liason Office at the Ministry, and any Muggleborn or Half-Blood could learn what they need to know about the Muggle world for themselves.
As for Tonks making jokes, she like Fred and George is a jokester. She makes silly jokes, she pulls pranks and so she isn't being serious with John most of the time. She's trying to wind him up with the step-cousin remarks.
Crossworlds 1 - Harry Potter
Part 14
The Atrium. Ministry of Magic.
I had hoped that I would be able to handle this latest chore via Gringotts as they handled everything else that involved money, but alas this time I would have to talk to someone from the magical government in order to register John Hiddleston with the British Wizard Duelling Association.
As to why I wished to do that it was so he could enter the Junior Division of the All-England Wizarding Duelling Competition this summer. Tom Hiddleston simply didn't have the skills or experience to take on wizards in controlled duels in which I could only use approved of spells and none of my cool powers.
By duelling at a junior level I would gain some of the needed experience when going up against young witches and wizards, and that should allow me to enter the more advanced contests as Tom Hiddleston at some later date.
As for registering for the duelling leagues, this had to be done via the Department of Magical Games and Sports partly due to the limits on underage witches and wizards when it came to using magic.
Mostly it was because the Ministry felt the need to involve itself in every aspect of life here in the Wizarding World. If only to give useless Purebloods something to do with their time. I had some understanding as to why Wizardings felt compelled to make a complex government out of the Ministry when they were only supposed to be enforcing the statute of secrecy.
Aside from giving Purebloods a job that is and you couldn't escape paper just by fleeing your native dimension it turned out. Death and taxes really are the only certain things in life. Lucky for me I could pay my taxes via the bank.
On the other hand, it was a good idea to keep the inbred Pureblood busy with pointless work and politics as it stopped them from getting into trouble and this place distracted them from paying any attention to people me. As such, I didn't totally disapprove of the bloated carcass that the wizarding world thought of as government.
Besides one of the benefits of me being super-rich was that I could bribe my way out of trouble if I needed to so why would I complain too much about the terribly run Ministry?
When I arrived I found myself in a large hall with fireplaces going up and down both long walls. Down the left-hand side of the hall were gilded fireplaces which witches and wizards used to arrive at the Ministry. The right-hand side contained gilded fireplaces as well, and these were used for departures.
Looking down I noticed that the floor was polished dark wood rather than stone and when I looked up I saw that the ceiling was peacock blue with golden symbols moving across it. I had no idea if those symbols meant anything and I didn't care enough about t his place to bother finding out.
The Fountain of Magical Brethren was here in the Atrium. And as I remembered from reading Order of the Phoenix the display was made up of a group of golden statues. The statues were of a wizard, a witch, a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf, all of which spouted water into the surrounding pool of water.
I did not fail to notice how the goblin and elf were looking up at the wand wavers with smiles on their faces. I doubted that Dobby had smiled at any Malfoy for a good long while and goblins most sneered at wizards.
At the end of the Atrium, there was a set of golden gates, next to which was a security stand. Here a wizard registered the wands of visitors and after me using a wandless compulsion charm, that acted very much like a Jedi Mind Trick, the guard let me through the gate.
I couldn't allow my wand to be registered here because it was the same wand used by John Hiddleston who was supposed to be in Hogwarts. I would like a wand suited to Tom Hiddleston but my wand didn't like sharing its wizard, and I didn't think an illusion would fool the measuring equipment they had here.
It had been risky to use wandless magic like that as compulsion charms are an advanced bit of magic, but my skill with the mind arts kept growing and I was building on Tom Riddle's use of wandless magic. He'd been able to influence the minds of people and animals since he was a small boy.
Another smaller hall was what lay beyond the gates, and here there was a series of lifts. The lifts provided access to the other levels, but I only needed the seventh floor.
"Hello, I'm here to register my cousin for the Junior Division of the All-England Wizarding Duelling Competition," I said to the first person I found.
Given that I looked like a wealthy and important Pureblood it didn't take long for me to be shown to the right office.
"Hello, I'm Bertha Jorkins" greeted a young witch.
I knew that name right away and how she would have ended up playing a role in the return of Lord Voldemort. Not that he could return the way he had, and if I played my cards right he never would return to physical existence.
To help ensure that I considered trying to confound Miss Jorkins magically so that she'd never want to leave the country and end up running into Riddle, but I doubted any spell I cast would last long enough. Besides, I should have the Dark Lord dealt with long before the Triwizard Tournament started up again.
"Hello, I'm here to register my cousin for the Junior Division of the All-England Wizarding Duelling Competition," I repeated.
Thankfully Jorkins proved to be somewhat good at her job, if only because of her enthusiasm, and I'd soon signed my younger persona signed up for the duelling contest that would take place over the summer. I would have to fill out more paperwork and pay the fees close to the event.
Once the paperwork was done I made a polite goodbye and headed out. Intending to leave the Ministry as quickly as possible as I knew this place to be nothing more than a trap meant to suck all the time and energy out of even the most powerful of wizards.
When I came out of the lift I ran into some reporters. One of which somehow knew who I was despite my lack of public appearances.
"Mr Hiddleston," said a reporter "A moment please".
I wasn't given the chance to refuse this request.
"We've heard that you've donated a large number of brooms to Hogwarts," said a witch who thankfully wasn't Rita Skeeter "What motivated you to be so generous?".
I knew that the Wizarding World society here in Great Britain was isolated and small, at least when compared to its Muggle counterpart, but they must really be desperate for news stories if my donation was worth even a single reporter looking into it.
"My cousin's wellbeing" I answered, figuring that this was a chance to make myself look good and maybe take a poke at Dumbledore "He wrote to me about the poor quality of the school's brooms and how a poor girl in class who was injured".
I didn't mention that I'd used to spell to help the young witch as I didn't want to put too much attention on myself as Jon Hiddleston.
"My concern was the safety of my cousin, and since first years aren't allowed to bring their own brooms there was only one thing I could do to safeguard a member of my family" I was now saying "Besides what's the point of having so much gold if you don't use at least some of it to help others".
That wasn't all I had to say and soon someone gave me a chance to speak further.
"Do you have any idea why the school's brooms have become so shoddy?" I was asked by another reporter.
Poor money management? A lowered budget? There could be a number of reasons. But the truth would serve me here even if I knew it.
"Hogwarts is supposed to be the finest magical school in the world and the Ministry spends a lot of your tax money to make sure that Hogwarts remains the premier school," I told the reporters "But if the school's most basic equipment is faulty enough to be a risk to the health of the students then I can't help wondering what the school's budget is being spent upon. I think the Ministry needs to look into this matter".
My words were enough to get the cameras flashing and for more reporters to start asking questions. Since that was all I needed to say I quickly made my way out of the building before anyone else could successfully question me. I'd not planned to put myself in the public eye like that, and it might not have been my wisest course of action, but I'd not been able to resist having a go at Dumbledore even indirectly.
For now, I needed to check in with Bagshot before I needed to be seen at the school as my younger self.
(Line Break)
Bagshot Residence. Godric's Hollow.
"So you wanted to see me?" I inquired.
Bathilda Bagshot the magical historian and the co-author of our joint anti-Dumbledore had invited Tom Hiddleston over for tea. Which was code for 'come on over and help me plan this book we are both writing' and also there was tea. She'd even put out some scones, it was a very British thing to do.
"Yes, young man," she said as I took a seat at the mostly paper covered kitchen table "I've got all the material I need for the first few chapters. Now I don't want to mention his sister much as she was innocent in all this, and Aberforth isn't such a bad chap, but I knew Albus's father somewhat through his wife, and let me tell you he didn't get thrown into a cell in Azkaban for so long just because he attacked a few Muggle boys. He was always a brute".
He'd married a Muggleborn, however just because he wasn't a blood purist that didn't mean he was a good man. The Wizarding World wasn't divided into heroes and the Death Eaters.
"I don't have anything really bad to say about Kendra Dumbledore either other than she should have gotten help for her daughter," said Bagshot.
Kendra Dumbledore must have been worried that the Ministry would lock up Ariana as she was a danger to others and a threat to the security of the magical world. Not that most rational course of action, but I could hardly blame her for wanting to keep her vulnerable child so close.
"Keeping the focus on Albus Dumbledore seems like a good idea," I said "It's not the entire Dumbledore family we're after".
This would be for the best as my attempts to further link the Dumbeldore family to Grindlewald by trying to find information on Aurelius Dumbledore had gone nowhere. There was no record of the wizard that I could find, so either his existence wasn't canon or his life had been covered up.
Given that both Percival and Kendra Dumbledore were already dead by the time Aurelius would have been born he can't be a brother of Albus's. He could have been a cousin, but I could find no mention of Percival Dumbledore having any siblings or cousins of his own.
Aurelius might have been the son of either Albus or Aberforth as while Albus played for the other team he wouldn't be the first gay man to father a child. Aberforth could also be the father, although for that to work he would need to have knocked up some woman while he was still in Hogwarts.
That might explain why Aurelius/Credence or whatever, was on a ship to America while so young, if some teenage witch became pregnant her family might have sent her and the baby away due to it all being a huge scandal. Wizarding society could seem very Victorian at times and I didn't doubt that it could have been worse.
As someone with a vivid imagination, I could certainly see Grindlewald wanting to turn Albus's nephew or son against him since Albus Dumbledore might hold back if it meant duelling a member of his own family and Grindlewald couldn't fight Dumbledore directly due to some sort of blood oath. However, since I lacked any evidence and Aurelius might never have existed I decided not to bring up this matter with Bagshot.
Gellert Grindlewald himself would know, but I didn't think that I'd be able to drop by his prison for an interview. Then again perhaps I could so I'd look into that over the summer when I could spend more time away from the castle. I certainly had the wealth to bribe my way into a visit.
"Given that, I'm going to focus mostly on the two months that my great-nephew was here in Godric's Hollow," said the witch.
I helped myself to a scone as the expert in history spoke further.
"There are some letters I can add to the book and I was actually there at the time, that said I could do with talking to Aberforth" she mentioned "Only I'm not sure he'd be willing to talk to me".
Before now I had wondered if the owner of the Hog's Head would mind talking about his brother's dark past. It wouldn't hurt to ask, assuming that Aberforth didn't start throwing a few curses at me.
"I'll go to his pub and try to talk to him," I said as I took some papers out of the pocket of my cloak "I had my cousin make some notes about his experience at Hogwarts. There are some worrying matters that people should be alerted to".
Binns had been around for a very long time and you can't really sack a teacher just because they are boring, but Snape was a different matter.
"Severus Snape, the Headmaster not only defended this man in court he even hired a known criminal to teach" I was now saying "The man isn't just a poor teacher he actually goes out of his way to upset the students. My cousin's not the only student to notice this and I was thinking of talking to some graduating students about the man and how his poor teaching affects their careers. They will be taken more seriously than the children".
I blame Alan Rickman's portrayal of the character in the film for why Snape actually has fans. Snape is a man who bullies students so badly that at least one of his students fears the teacher to the point that a Boggort will take the form of the potion's master when that student faces the creature. That fact alone should be ringing alarm bells in a lot of heads.
"He favours students in his own house and he takes away points and gives detentions, sometimes for hardly any reason" I mentioned.
Sure he wasn't so bad to me personally, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't happily throw the wizard into Azkaban or at the very least disgrace him enough so that he had to avoid being seen in public.
Snape for sure knows his craft, but since he doesn't do much to pass that information on to others he can't be called a true teacher. As a spy, he was useful and certainly worth Dumbledore keeping out of prison, however only a foul would put someone who had to commit terrorist actions as a double agent in charge of groups of children.
"There's no way a man like that could have a teaching position without Dumbledore's support" stated Bagshot "He's only free from the dementor's because of Albus".
I had something else to bring up.
"It's not just Snape" I went on to say "The caretaker threatens students with implements of torture. I've given real thought to withdrawing John from the school".
Which was true. I had thought about leaving the school and likely would have if not for the sheer amount of information there that I needed to access.
"Then there's the brooms" Bagshot brought up "I read the Prophet and your rather subtle dig at Albus's running of the school".
I picked up the paper and looked over the short article which hadn't made it anywhere near the front page as such it was safe to assume those reporters had been at the Ministry for some reason and one of them had just happened to recognise me.
The article was two parts and written by two different reports. One covered the details of the donation and the other was about my views on Hogwarts. As hoped it painted Tom Hiddleston in a good light with no mention of John Hiddleston at all and if you read between the lines it was clear that I was questioning the Headmaster's running of Hogwarts in the second part.
After checking out that bit of the paper I took note of what was on the front page. That bitch of witch Umbridge was pushing for harsher laws on half-breeds under the pretence of limiting risks to the Wizarding World. The Ministry really had too much power over the magical world and it was only going to get worse.
Unless someone did something about it. I intended to take action despite the risk and with that in mind, I made an excuse and left Mrs Bagshot to her work. I was going to sneak out tonight and I needed to prepare.
(Line Break)
Umbridge's Cottage. Unknown Location.
Threstrals were a highly underrated species when it came to magical creatures. Not only were they invisible to many people they could fly very fast and they had an amazing sense of direction as such when I'd taken the form of a Threstral it hadn't taken me long to find the cottage that Dolores Umbridge called home.
When I returned to the from I used as Kol the Red Mage, not that I wore red as colour coding yourself is just stupid, I began to inspect the property before me and look for anything that could alert the owner to my presence.
It was a tiny cottage with a well-kept garden and it served as home to the head of the Improper Use of Magic Office. Despite not having become Senior Undersecretary yet Umbridge had risen high in the ranks of the Ministry. She was only in her early 30s and given how long wand wavers can live for that was still very young. She didn't look that young, maybe it was her bad looks making her seem older.
No doubt her advancement had come at the cost of others and even now she was helping to create laws that would only drive creatures and people she saw as 'half-breeds' into the arms of Voldemort or anyone else who offered them more than scorn. If I had any intentions of staying in this world for more than a few years I might have considered becoming that leader.
Because I knew what she had done so far and what she would do if given the chance I'd decided to remove Umbridge from this reality. I wouldn't murder her, at least not directly, because I wasn't sure that I actually could, and there were other ways for me to deal with people who could become problems. I'd considered simply disgracing Umbridge, but I was concerned that she'd find some way of getting out of trouble and staying in power as she did in the canon timeline.
Before I worried about removing her I had to deal with the wards that defended this home and I was no expert in this field. However, I knew enough to know that Umbridge wasn't willing to pay for proper defences and she lacked the skill to put them up herself. They were wards to prevent someone from teleporting in and out of the property, but beyond that, her protections were rather basic.
I took out my wand and began casting the charms I needed to counter the wards. Every charm had a counter-charm, some way of neutralising the spell. Even the Killing Curse could be stopped it was just that only Lily Potter had ever figured out how.
I'd acquired the required knowledge to break into this poorly defended home due to my own studies and a little of Voldemort basic knowledge of wards that he'd picked up while at Hogwarts.
Interestingly the word 'ward' is never actually used in canon they are referred to as Protective Enchantments in the textbooks as well, but when I'd been setting up my home in Godric's Hollow I'd pay for extensive wards and the word had been recognized.
I knew that in order to protect a certain place, the caster had to repeat the incantations of charms over and over in the area they wished to protect so that the spells reinforced each other. There were no runes involved or any fancy rituals, and they were not hard to undo if you only had basic ones.
The only reason the protective enchantments worked so well for Harry and his friends when they went camping is that no one knew there were any charms to go and counter.
Not all magical defences could be easily bypassed because the counter-charms might not be known because the magics behind the defences were lost knowledge, like at Hogwarts, and as for the Fidulus charm, well how do you aim counter charms at charms you can't find?
There's also a time factor. When you're countering wards you're vulnerable and if you perform a charm incorrectly you can get hurt even if the ward you are trying to counter isn't dangerous.
Also, someone who is inside the property you're trying to get into will have time to escape while you're performing the counter charm. This is why Curse Breakers and those who put up the wards tend to work in teams.
A simple unlocking charm, a spell that a first-year Hogwarts student could master, was the last spell I used in order to get inside. Overall Wizarding security was a bit of a joke really a product of the arrogance of the wand wavers, and to be fair most of their security is designed to keep Muggles out. Also, there hadn't been an attack for nearly a decade so it wasn't too surprising that people had lowered their guards.
I used a Freezing Charm to make sure that none of the moving kitten pictures made any noise or distracted me in any way as I moved from room to room.
"Please don't loot this place" requested Cortana.
I'd considered doing that so as to add further to my fortune, but there was nothing here worth taking and I wasn't desperate enough for cash to bother rooting around for Umbridge's coin purse. Besides, I didn't have the contacts required to fence stolen goods and even if I did, who'd want stuff this pink?
After making sure that we wouldn't be bothered by Umbridge's poor taste in decorations I headed to the bedroom and found the horrible witch tucked up in bed. I felt the desire to wake her up and gloat, or threaten her in some way, but I was no Voldemort or other stereotypical villain so instead of talking I took action.
I used the special knife that allowed me to cut a rift in reality that led to the Crossworld and then I levitated the still sleeping witch into the rift without using my wand. She woke up and began screaming as I moved her.
"Let me down!" she ordered "I am a friend of the Minister".
The cut in reality didn't last for long and soon the evil wand waver was gone from this world. Since she had clue how to access the Mall that meant Umbridge would wander around aimlessly until the Crossworlds killed her or she ended up going mad and entering the wrong gate, I'd been told that could happen if you spent too long in the Crossworld. Plus there were gates there that led to really nasty places.
Given Umbridge's unpleasant attitude even if she found her way into another realm she'd soon met a bad end and in the very unlikely event that she somehow got back, that wouldn't endanger me since I'd been wearing my Kol mask she had no idea who had sent her there.
Before leaving I used my wand for a few harmless cleaning spells that I cast upon myself just in case a Ministry official decided to check my wand. Not that they should I was simply being careful I was okay. This would all work out.
I'd been right to do this and to have her simply go missing rather than be found dead. She'd made enough enemies that her disappearing could be blamed on many people, and there was no evidence linking me to this scene.
My plan had been carried out flawless and there was no reason to worry. Not unless that unknown person who was looking for the world seed just happened to bump into Umbridge, but there was nothing separating me from anyone else who made use of the Crossworlds and I was far from the only one who did.
This would be fine I just needed to stay relaxed and not draw attention to myself, and that meant getting back to the castle before any of my dormmates woke up.
(Line Break)
Headmaster's Office. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Albus Dumbledore put down the newspaper with a sigh. He did not like the idea of the Ministry interfering with his school and given his plans for next year he was going to have to work hard to keep them out. Fudge had started making inquiries as to the state of the school after coming under pressure from the public.
Thankfully it would soon blow over as before long something else would come along to distract the Minister at least until the public's interest faded away. The witches and wizards of Britain could be a fickle lot and this was far from the first time that someone with a little skill in politics had tried to turn the people against him.
At least this time it had been more subtle than the efforts of Lucius Malfoy, who no doubt had seized upon the public's brief interest in an unimportant matter in an attempt to undermine Dumbledore while whispering in Fudge's ear. There had been some talk at the Ministery of putting together a group that would be sent to inspect the school, to ensure that it was being run to the highest standards.
The Headmaster would be able to block that until things blew over, he had more than enough political power for that. No, what really concerned him was the Wizard who'd made a subtle move to undermine Dumbeldore in the guise of charity.
He knew very little about Tom Hiddleston and that alone was alarming as Dumbledore had been involved in British politics for decades. There shouldn't be a rich Pureblood family that he didn't know about and that was why he'd contacted an old friend as he'd needed someone to find out more for him.
Alastor Moody, often known as Mad-Eye, wasn't a frontline Auror anymore, he was on his way to retirement and these days he spent most of his time screening potential Aurors and training them to survive as he had. Hopefully, they'd all get to keep more of their body parts than their mentor had.
"Do you have information for me Alastor?" the Headmaster asked.
The semi-retired Dark Wizard hunter had barely stepped into the office before he was questioned.
"Not much to tell, Albus" Mad-Eye admitted "Aside from his visits to Gringotts I've not been able to track many of Hiddleston's movements. He's very good at not being seen. Aside from visiting the bank I just know that he's moved into your old place in Godric's Hollow. Oh and he's been to see Bagshot".
The Headmaster processed this news. There was little point in trying to find out more from the goblins as they would never share information about such an important client and the humans they employed signed contracts to ensure that Gringotts information stayed secure.
As for moving into his old family home, there were only so many properties available to Wizard who wanted to live in this country. Yet Dumbledore didn't think that this was a mere coincidence. For some reason, Tom Hiddleston had an interest in Godric's Hollow.
"At first I wondered if he was interested in the Potters," said Alastor Moody "But he's supposed to be some sort of treasure hunter and explorer so him making contact with Bagshot makes sense. If there were any lost treasures worth his time in this country then she would have some idea of where to start looking and don't forget that Godric's Hollow has its own history".
That did seem logical. The village was supposedly the birthplace of Godric Gryffindor and the three brothers (the wizards who had created the Deathly Hallows, two of which Dumbledore possessed) had been buried in that village. Perhaps Hiddleston was yet another seeker of the Hallows. He would hardly be the first witch or wizard who sought those objects to be drawn to Godric's Hollow.
If he was he wouldn't be getting his hands on one. Dumbledore would not give up the wand and the cloak was kept safely in his office until it was needed again. As for the stone that had been lost many years ago.
"Anything else?" the Headmaster enquired.
He still wasn't sure if the Hiddleston family were enemies or not. On the surface of things, Tom Hiddleston seemed to be truly concerned about his young cousin's welfare, but his words also suggested that he was no fan of Albus Dumbledore. Not that this made him a dark wizard who supported Voldemort.
"Aside from a few shopping trips that's about it," said Mad-Eye "Until he went to the Ministry to register his cousin as a junior duellist he's not been seen much in public and that was what made him so interesting to people".
Dumbledore hadn't forgotten about young John Smith, John Hiddleston to give him his proper name, he appeared to be a quiet and hard-working Ravenclaw. Socially awkward and slow to make friends. Nothing really alarming given his background and it was too soon to really get a proper measurement of the young wizard's character. But if the boy had an interest in duelling then maybe there was more to him. Perhaps Dumbledore would go see this young Hiddleston perform. The Headmaster was often invited to judge such events even if rarely had a few hours free to even watch.
"I don't really have time to worry about Hiddleston" Moody was now saying "I've still got no idea who was impersonating Bellatrix at the bank. We've run every test we can, that mad bitch never left her cell, so it has to be an imposter".
Mad-Eye already had a few suspects.
"What about the metamorph you have here?" he asked "She could have passed for her aunt. I don't know well enough to make a judgement".
Dumbledore had high hopes for Miss Tonks as such he was glad that didn't seem to have been involved.
"I checked with her teachers and the Hufflepuff prefects" the Headmaster replied "She was in the company of classmates at the time of Bellatrix's appearance and all the time turners are accounted for".
Most likely it was a case of someone using a polyjuice potion. Metamorphs were far and no mere glamour would fool the goblins.
"We have no idea if anything was taken from Bellatrix Lestrange's vault" reported Mad-Eye "And we don't know what the imposter was carrying in that cabinet".
There were so many unknowns. For Dumbledore, it was very frustrating.
"There's also the disappearance of Umbridge to worry about" mentioned Moody "I took a few Aurors with me to check out her cottage. We found no sign of foul play, nothing is missing and she didn't pack so much as a toothbrush. However, we did find some blood quills and some material that could be considered blackmail. There's even evidence that she was using her position to harass Muggleborns. I haven't been able to confirm it, but it looks as if she was collecting fines for the misuse of magic and not reporting anything to the DMLE".
Corruption in the Ministry was nothing new.
"We think someone might have found out what she was up and they decided to deal with it themselves. Maybe she threatened the wrong person" said Moody "If she feared being discovered then she would have tried to destroy any evidence or she would have at least packed a suitcase. Not that I'm ruling out her panicking and leaving everything behind".
Given the kind of laws she'd been trying to pass it wouldn't shock either of the men to find out that Umbridge had run afoul of a werewolf, a vampire, an angry Muggleborn, or some magical creature. It would be easier by far to make a list of people who wouldn't want to harm Umbridge than to draw up one made of suspects.
"What are your orders in this matter?" Dumbledore wondered.
"Fudge wants her dealt without making the Ministry look bad" answered the Auror "So we won't be alerting the papers and if she is found she'll be arrested for possession of illegal cursed artefacts, abuse of position, as well as corruption. Which means if she isn't dead she'll spend the rest of her life with the dementors".
She'd be better off dead than with the dementors.
"A pity," remarked Dumbledore.
He wanted to find out more about Hiddleston but compared to the Bellatrix issue and Umbridge disappearing he didn't matter much.
"I'm wondering why we got no note about Umbridge," said Mad-Eye "Whoever tipped us off about Black and Crouch either didn't know or didn't care enough to tell us".
Those notes had been a pain in Dumbledore's backside. If Sirius Black demanded full custody of Harry Potter then the Minister wasn't going to say no because Fudge would like to be seen as the man who reunited poor innocent Sirius Black with his godson. Since it would make the Minister look good in the papers.
The Headmaster couldn't allow that, he needed Harry Potter to be humble were as Black would no doubt spoil the Boy-Who-Lived and encourage him to go against authority. He would have to work to keep them apart without outright denying Sirius some access to Harry as that would only make Dumbledore look like a villain.
Then there was the whole Crouch issue. Not a big deal for Albus as Crouch Senior hadn't been an ally of Dumbledore's and as for Junior, he was just too dangerous to be allowed out of Azkaban.
"So our letter writing friend is not all-knowing," remarked the Headmaster.
Well, that was something.
"We just don't have enough information to piece any of this together," said Mad-Eye.
Was Hiddleston connected to any of these other events? The mastermind behind them? Or was he just another piece of the puzzle?
"Do let me know if you find anything else out" requested Dumbledore.
Moody took this as a dismissal and was soon on his way.
