The Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The Ministry of Magic.

The office of Amelia Bones, the head of the department Tonks worked within, was not a fancy affair, its owner didn't care to impress people and anyone visiting her work area could tell that the office was a busy place. The parchment, quills and bottles of ink scattered around her desk were a testament to the sheer amount of work that got done in this room.

There were a few portraits around of former department heads who would give advice if requested, and while they pretended to be napping or off elsewhere the young Auror figured that they were always paying attention to what went around here as they could access other paintings and that they kept Bones informed of anything important.

Light came in from a window despite the office being deep underground and this allowed Tonks to see that her boss was busy with some important work. Amelia Bones didn't even look up at Tonks as her subordinate entered the important office. She had her nose to the grindstone as the Muggles would say.

"Hey, boss. Just came in dropoff my last report," said Tonks.

The young Auror, who was still considered a trainee, was often given the simplest tasks to do, and interviewing witnesses was one of those jobs, it was mostly tedious work that no one wanted. Tonks was rather good at talking to people because she came off as friendly unlike some of the older Aurors who could be seen as hostile.

"You managed to track them all down then?" questioned Bones.

The head of the DMLE had not wanted to drag anyone for questioning when they weren't even sure if Umbridge had been killed, abducted or if she had simply run away because her job had gotten too much for her.

The Ministry employee might even have gone into hiding because it looked as if she'd threatened quite a few people in the past and she could have upset the wrong kind of person. Forcing her to go into hiding.

Tonks had been sent out to find everyone at the party and to question them without making it look as if they were in any trouble. Her non-threatening nature and junior position within the DMLE made her perfect for the role.

The last thing the Aurors wanted after they'd found so much incriminating evidence in Umbridge's home was for the witch to look like a victim as it could lead to sympathy and Fudge was just looking for an excuse to sweep the whole thing under the rug.

They wanted to bring Umbridge in for questions, but her vanishing was nearly as good as it made the foul woman look guilty. Sooner to later Fudge would run out of excuses and they'd be able to give Umbridge a trial in absentia.

The Minister would be made to look foolish as he'd appointed Umbridge to such an important position and she served as one of his advisors. The Blood Quills alone were enough to cause a scandal never mind the evidence of bribes and threats. This could be just what Bones needed to clear her way to the top.

"I think we can rule out everyone at the party" Bones said as she looked over the report "The only time she was out of sight was with a wizard who is new to Magical Britain. He couldn't have grabbed her and taken her anywhere. If he's hiring tutors to teach him the basics then he wouldn't have been able to overpower Umbridge".

Bones sipped her tea while in thought.

"I can't help wondering if Fudge sent her off some errand he doesn't want to talk about" the older of the two women mused.

In Tonk's mind that seemed far more likely than Macross being able to apparate while inside Bone's home, a place protected by magical enchantments, and then dumping Umbridge somewhere secure or hiding a body. Maybe Dumbledore or You-Know-Who could do such things, but Macross was still mastering the most basic of charms.

"Fudge is still insisting that I have someone out there looking for as if she might be in trouble," the head of the DMLE told the young Auror "So between your training sessions I want you to talk to people who had contact with her before the party. Perhaps she was acting oddly or threatening other people around the office. I need you to find out anything you can".

Before Tonks could leave Madam Bones asked her about something else.

"How is going with your young man?" the boss wondered.

The young Auror knew it wasn't very professional to start going out with someone she'd been sent to question, but to be fair he'd asked her out before Tonks had been sent by Bones to track down and talk to those who had been at the party. Besides, it wasn't as if he was a suspect in any criminal investigation.

"It's going well," said the younger witch "He doesn't mind meeting me when I have the time and I don't think he's brought up me being a metamorphmagus even once".

Some guys she'd been interested in had made an effort to act as if it didn't matter to them, but they were just being nice. Macross hadn't seemed to care at all about her special talent until she used to get his attention. Tonks couldn't help wondering what that man had on his mind that kept his thoughts on matters other than her.

"He spends a lot of his time in study," the young witch told her superior "If he'd gone to Hogwarts he'd have felt right at home in Ravenclaw I'm sure".

The mood became more serious.

"Normally, I don't like involving myself in the personal lives of people who work for this department," said Bones "But I would be grateful if you'd talk to your young man about supporting me. Fudge still has Dumbledore and Malfoy behind him".

Tonks was reminded of a cartoon her father had shown her when she was young. She couldn't remember much of it, yet she recalled that it had involved a man with a little devil on one shoulder and a tiny angel on the other who'd given the man advice. It made her think of Fudge with Malfoy and Dumbledore acting as the devil and angel.

"So I'm going to need more help to dislodge them" admitted Bones.

Tonks would prefer not to be the one who had to talk to Macross about that, however, she understGwynedd. Wales.

One of the advantages of having Tonks as a girlfriend, although I'd never actually used that word in relation to her as it might give her ideas, was that she knew quite a bit about using spells in a combat situation.

Not only did she have great marks in Defence Against the Darks she'd learned quite a bit from Mad-Eye Moody, who for all his paranoia was still considered to be one of the greatest Aurors in Magical British history.

The witches and wizards of this world mostly duelled rather than really fight. This normally involves two wand wavers exchanging spells and doing their best to protect themselves until one of them is unable to keep going. Rarely does this involve anyone getting hurt in some way that magic can't easily fix. Not unless the dark arts are involved.

Even when these contests of magical skill carry on until someone is dead there are rules involved along with a certain amount of showmanship. Duels aren't just about fighting they are about demonstrating your mastery of magic to anyone watching. It wasn't enough to quickly end the duel, you had to prove your power for all to see.

I had no intention of following the customs of this culture when in a real fight as I'd do what it took to win and more importantly to stay alive, but learning about duelling was still a good idea because it gave me insight into how the mages of this world would fight and I got to learn some spells from Tonks that could come in useful later.

Since I had so many rooms in this house that were unused for anything and because the internal space of a structure such as this can be expanded without altering the outside or making it unstable, I had plenty of space for a duelling room. Tonks had spent some of her free time setting it up for us and was using it to lecture me about magical combat.

She'd make a decent Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher when it became time to replace Lockhart (something I felt sure would happen sooner rather than later even if my destroying of the diadem had removed the curse) despite that she was not much older than a seventh-year student.

"The real trick is not to freeze up the first time someone tries to tag you with a curse" Tonks was saying "I've seen people just stand there and get hit because they aren't used to being in any kind of danger and don't think they can be hurt in a way that can't be fixed by a trip to St Mungo's".

Given that nearly any injury can be healed with a potion it's easy to see why the wand wavers are so reckless at times. Mostly it's dark magic that is hard to heal, more normal injuries simply don't last long under magical medical care, and those that do require long-term care are easily forgotten about such as Neville's Longbottom parents.

Muggles are more vulnerable, the wand wavers seem to have some sort of resistance to mere physical attacks, such as being hit by fast-moving objects during sports games, and since muggles know that they are fragile they are more sensible with their health and safety. Well mostly.

"So I'm going to throw some spells at you and you're going to practice defending yourself until it becomes something you don't even think about," said the Auror.

How effective wand magic would be against the hostile spells used in other worlds was up for debate. I just figured that having some method of defence was better than nothing and I had other ideas able to avoid my death once I began spending time in more hostile environments.

"Just be glad we're not going to do this the way Mad-Eye taught me" she commented.

I didn't bother to ask as I could well imagine what kind of sadist spells the veteran Auror would use to enforce his message of Constant Vigilance upon a trainee.

"We're only going to be using the most simple of spells" insisted Tonks "So prepared to be tickled".

Rictusempra, also known as the Tickling Charm, did as the name suggests upon successful casting, then it will tickle your target and make them laugh uncontrollably. It might seem harmless and to an extent it is, but the main use of Rictusempra is actually rather useful for duelling.

It can make your opponent laugh so hard that they won't be able to move in any controlled way. If you hold it long enough it can cause the person you cast it on to have trouble breathing. Aside from that, it would be nearly impossible to attack someone or defend yourself if you are rolling about on the floor while laughing.

I blocked the minor spell with a decent shield charm and then fired off a Tarantallegra, the dancing feet spell, that Tonks was easily about to protect herself from. She made it look easy.

Much like the Tickling Charm, this spell could be effective in a magical fight because anyone hit by the charm is going to have trouble doing anything else other than trying not to fall over as they are forced to dance.

While spells such as the Jelly-Legs Jinx, which I tried to tag Tonks with, were minor spells, it was best to focus on mastering them before I moved on to anything more deadly.

I had no interest in learning to cast many curses as you didn't need to know them in order to kill people with magic. Even the Killing Curse can be blocked by solid objects or dodged so it would be best to learn a variety of offensive spells.

Spells that used the elements seemed deadly enough to me and I had no intention of ending up as twisted as some of the dark wizards I'd read about. Besides, I have a gun and a magic sword, once someone was disabled I could just shoot or stab them if I really wanted them dead or do what I did to Umbridge and dump them in a hostile location that would kill them soon enough.

Why risk corrupting myself with dark magic when I can shoot someone with my gun?

Tonks managed to get passed by my latest attempt to use the shield charm with The Knockback Jinx (Flipendo) was a jinx that did as the name suggested and I ended up landing on my ass. Thankfully the fall only bruised my pride. My instructor didn't care if I felt bad.

"Come on get up" urged Tonks "You've got a lot to learn about duelling".

Since she was spending a lot of what little free time she had teaching me I did not complain and to be fair I was making great progress even if my offensive spellcasting was mostly limited to spells used by children.

I knew that I would advance much faster in the art of duelling if I learned from an Auror than I could from a hired tutor and if the price for that was getting knocked on my backside then I would happily pay it.

ood that Fudge was not a good leader. She believed that Bones could do a lot of good for Magical Britain if she were in the big office. For that, she needed funding and public support. Macross could provide funding easily.

"I'll mention it" she promised.

With that Tonks got back to work as she had a lot of people who she needed to question as her part of the Umbridge investigation.

Lestrange Vault. Gringotts Bank.

Even for someone like Lord Voldemort, breaking into the most secure vaults inside this bank would be a major undertaking involving a great deal of planning, preparation and skill, due to the many security features used by the goblins of Gringotts.

For example, to merely reach this vault, one must be escorted by an employee of Gringotts and travel in one of their carts. Along the way, any occupants of the cart will be soaked by enchanted waters called the Theif's Downfall, a magical defence that will wash away the effects of even polyjuice potion.

A dragon stands guard at the door and will only be driven back by the sound of a goblin's clankers since it will wish to avoid being painfully punished. Then with the touch of the employee, the door will open, allowing a member of the Lestrange family to enter.

That's assuming you managed to somehow fool the guards and prove that you were a member of the Lestrange family. This wasn't something I could do and I had no intention of going up against goblins or dragons. I doubted that I'd be able to handle a hinkypuff given my current level of magical education.

Thankfully I didn't have to worry about any of that as thanks to my Elder Blood all I had to was visualise where I needed to go and then will myself there. Not only can I move between places in this world I could relocate myself to different dimensions if I desired. Because of my powers bypassing most of the defences was easy for me.

As discovered by Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Griphook during their break-in of this vault, all the treasure inside the vault had been cursed with Geminio and Flagrante. enchantments, Thus, everything here is hot to the touch and will replicate at a rapid rate if touched, until the potential thief is buried and burned.

While these replicates are identical in appearance to the original they have no monetary value whatsoever as they are only temporary creations like the gold coins thrown about Leprachons during the Quidditch World Cup.

I could easily avoid such a fate by teleporting out if anything went wrong, avoiding a horrible death, and I did not need to physically touch any of the treasure while I was here.

Once I had emptied the vault and transferred the contents, then I'd focus on dealing with those curses placed upon everything and that would require a great deal of study. I had plenty of time for that.

The Lestranges' vault contained a great amount of treasure. All around me were piles of coins made from gold, silver and bronze. There were rings, crowns, amulets and no doubt more interesting items kept in boxes. All of which would need to be carefully examined.

I also saw weapons of many kinds, suits of armour, the preserved skins of magical beasts, the bones of dragons, and bottles of what I assumed to be difficult-to-brew potions as well as several books that I felt sure were filled with dark magic.

Given that I had the potential to learn magic from across the multiverse I saw no reason to worry about learning curses, but I would still take the books if only to deny them to others, or maybe I'd claim they came from Grimmauld Place and had them over the DMLE.

The most valuable thing in this vault by far was the cup of Helga Hufflepuff, which was turned into a Horcrux by Tom Riddle. Voldemort chose this vault as his Horcrux's hiding place because not only were the vaults very secure, the Lestranges were among his most devoted followers. They saw guardianship of this treasure as a privilege I felt sure.

Not only was the cup important because destroying or cleansing it would weaken Voldemort, but the cup itself could also be used to lure Voldemort into a trap or at least bring him out of hiding. One day I would be prepared to deal with the Dark Lord, today, I was simply preparing.

Emptying the vault served other purposes. It would remove resources that could be used by the Death Eaters should they become active again and taking their wealth was a good way to punish the Lestranges for all the harm they'd done.

I intended to make generous donations to worthy causes, including the Department of Magical Law Enforcement which had suffered from budget cuts in recent years. The idea of supporting Madam Bones' bid to become Minister with wealth taken from Death Eaters amused me.

Since the goblins of Gringotts would find out that they had been robbed sooner or later I couldn't just go about selling items from the Lestrange vault out in Diagon Alley. But there were ways around such problems.

The thief Mundungus Fletcher could sell things on the black market for me with me carefully hiding my identity so as protect myself from the bank and Dumbledore who Mundungus truly served.

I could also sell gold in the muggle world and get that converted after draining my vaults partly to make my donations. This might cause problems with the local economy so it seemed wise to consult my account manager.

Before coming here I'd considered that I might need to buy more property or make more investments so as not to harm the economy, however, that was a concern for later and a plan of action would be decided by someone with much better knowledge of finances than myself.

For now, I needed to focus on what I was doing here. The trunk I'd brought with me was a multi-compartment. Much like the one used to hold Mad-Eye Moody prisoner so that Barty Crouch Junior could have access to his hair. You couldn't use the hair of a dead person in the potion.

As for the compartments I intended to fill them with a different kind of treasure as I wanted to strip the vault completely. Each compartment wasn't very wide, so it was good that they were very deep. So much so that you could need a ladder to climb out of one.

This required very careful use of the pack spell. I had to visualise what I was doing and remained focused as one by one each compartment was filled with the stolen wealth.

The treasures here would only duplicate if a person who wasn't a Lestrange touched them, so I had to be very careful not to make physical contact with even a single coin.

As I worked the coins went into the biggest compartment and nearly filled it up. The next compartment was soon filled with rings, amulets, bracelets necklaces and things I didn't even know the names for. Then came the weapons and armour all of which neatly packed themselves away. After that, it was the animal parts. Books and potions followed all of those.

I'd practised this spell for hours before coming here, and Remus Lupin had been quite happy to divert from his lesson plans to cover what he thought were spells to be used for harmless reasons at home.

By the time I was done, there was a single knut left in the vault and there was no sign that anyone in the bank had noticed anything had happened. Now it was time to leave and to secure this trunk within Grimmauld Place.

Gwynedd. Wales.

When she found me I was sitting out in the garden enjoying lunch on a day that was rather warm and sunny for this time of year. Such days were few and far between so I intended to take advantage of this one. The garden was coming along nicely so it was pleasant to sit out here.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" asked Tonks.

Normally I just let her come over when she wished as if nothing else she was a distraction from my studies and sometimes I needed a distraction. This time I'd invited her over after flooing her home and leaving a message with her mother, Tonks lived with her parents, and I had a couple of things that I needed to discuss with the young Auror.

"I was wondering if it would help your career if you could make a high-profile arrest?" I questioned the young Auror.

That got her attention and her relaxed body language shifted as her face took on a serious expression rarely seen on her face.

"What do you know?" she asked.

Quite a bit that she didn't and I was willing to share a little of it with her.

"That bug over there in that jar is Rita Skeeter," I told her.

Not long ago I'd found the reporter trying open a window. No doubt she'd wanted to poke around and dig up some dirt on me. Skeeter enjoyed bringing people down by twisting the truth and she would use words taken from carefully selected people to help make her stories seem more factual.

I'd just donated a large sum of gold to St Mungo's and that made me look very good in the eyes of the public and just the sort of person that Skeeter would get a thrill from tearing down in an article.

Knowing this I'd prepared to capture the reporter, and since I didn't want to waste my energy on her it seemed wise to hand her over to the Aurors even if Skeeter wasn't a dark witch.

Sure she might get out of trouble by bribery, but I didn't have the means or the will to keep her captive for any real length of time. She wasn't worth the trouble and I didn't feel any desire to kill her.

"You didn't transfigure her did you?," Tonks asked "If you did then she's going to counter the breaking and entering charges with an assault charge".

I couldn't even perform such difficult magic.

"No, she's an animagus" I explained, "When I found her poking about she transformed because she panicked and I was able to capture her. Now I am handing over an intruder to the proper authorities as any good citizen should".

Even before Tonks spoke I got the feeling that it wouldn't be that simple.

"Skeeters got a lot of dirt on people," the Auror told me "Enough to keep her out of trouble, and she's got the money to pay the fine".

I'd expected that this was the case.

"If you bring her in then you can make sure everyone knows she's an animagus," I said to Tonks "There are enchantments you can place to detect them, it's just that most people don't bother since animagi are so rare. But once everyone knows how Skeeter gets her information she'll have trouble finding any more dirt and if enough people complain to the paper she can be sacked".

Rita was a bitch, but I didn't think she deserved the dementors. In my view very few people did.

"I didn't think of that" stated Tonks as she tapped the jar that I had the reporter trapped in "And it would get me noticed at work".

Hermione was able to blackmail Skeeter by threatening to go public about her animagus statues so perhaps Bones could do the same. The idea was something I mentioned to Tonks.

"I don't know if Bones will go for that, but I'll run it past the boss," said my girlfriend "I should take her in now and get the paperwork started before this gets too cruel".

Before she did that I had something else I wanted to talk about and it was good that Rita's jar was soundproof as well as unbreakable.

"I heard an interesting rumour that Slughorn passed on to me that might be reliable," I said, whispering needlessly if only to make it seem more important "There's a secret room below the drawing room inside Malfoy Manor where they store dark artefacts. If this is true then it will be well worth setting up a raid on the property".

If I could get Tonks to let slip the time of the raid I could plant some incriminating evidence in that room which I could access as it appears in one of the Deathly Hallows movies. Perhaps I would leave a few things from the Lestrange vault in that hidden space and see how the goblins reacted when they found out.

"Given you caught Skeeter red-handed that should be enough to convince my boss you're worth listening to," said the shape-shifting witch "Malfoy will know the raid is coming, he's got too many friends in high places, but if he shoves everything into a hidey-hole then we can get him into trouble when we find it. I doubt he'd get more than a fine and a slap on the wrist, but Malfoy is friendly with Fudge".

The whole reason Malfoy dropped the diary in Ginny Weasley's cauldron was to discredit her father who was the driving force behind The Muggle Protection Act, a Ministry of Magic bylaw, that was designed to protect Muggles from potentially harmful magical artefacts.

That might have been Arthur Weasley's intent when he wrote the law, but the Ministry was using it as an excuse to conduct raids into the homes of Purebloods and as a reason to confiscate magical objects and books they didn't approve of people having on the pretence of keeping them away from Muggles.

It also made the Ministry look as if actually cared about protecting people and upholding the Statue of Secrecy.

"If we nail him it will make the Minister looks really bad. It might be enough to get Bones into the big office" said Tonks.

Having a Minister who owed me a favour or two could come in very handy one day should I get into trouble with the Ministry and it not be worth building a new home somewhere else.

"You stay for lunch" I invited "Skeeter isn't going anywhere".

Given that she was known to be a big fibber no one would believe her if she complained about unfair treatment. Nor would anyone care even if they did take her at her word.

Gwynedd. Wales.

"Your progress is impressive" commented Remus Lupin.

While I had gotten involved in some political matters and I spent time with Tonks I'd still managed to learn quite a bit of magic in the last few months. More than I'd thought possible.

My most powerful spells were focused on defending myself and so some of them were much more advanced than the spells taught in other subjects that I had learned and the magic seemed to be getting easier to use.

It wasn't something I could put into words, yet I knew that as the Xmas season grew closer I was almost done fully adapting to this world's magic. This made sense as according to my great-uncle's notes the adaptation would take less time in worlds that had powerful magic. Well, that was the theory at least. I'd see how things worked out in reality.

As such when in worlds like ASOIAF it should take me longer to start being able to use the local magic than it would when in Forgotten Realms where magic is used all the time by a lot of people. This world had a lot of magic and it was used often so it made sense that I was doing so well.

"I have good teachers" I praised.

Progressing as much as I had would have taken longer with just books. Practical demonstrations and guidance from experienced wizards were of great help to me.

Remus was a dab hand at all kinds of charms, Slughorn really knew his potions, and Tonks was a great dueller. Between the three of them, they'd managed to teach me quite a bit of magic.

"You've mastered the Wand-Lighting Charm," said Remus Lupin, who ignored my praise "The Softening Charm, the Severing Charm, the Fire-Making Spell, the Unlocking Charm, the Levitation Charm, the Locking Spell and then Mending Charm. That's all the spells you could have learned with Professor Flitwick along with a lot of theoretical knowledge if you were in his first-year class".

Unlike a Hogwarts student, I didn't have to wait for the slower students to catch up, write essays, go to detention, or put up with all the other distractions at the school such as nearly dying due to the staff's incompetence, or Snape's bullying of children.

I'd progressed at my own pace. It also helped that Remus Lupin was able to find ways to make the lessons practical so I could better measure my progress as the weeks went by.

Now that I was almost finished adapting it would soon be time to move on. I planned to go to Skyrim to start learning some of that world's magic. I planned to spend quite some time at the College of Winterhold so as to learn some enchanting if nothing else as that sort of magic was very difficult in this dimension.

I intended to return to this world and learn more about wand magic between trips to other realities be they short or long.

Since I didn't wish to die, I wasn't going to go straight to the Elder Scrolls world as that would simply be too dangerous. I was still working on a list of what I needed and I had a memory of a place I could go to that should allow me to get most of what I desired in one place.

For now, I needed to stay focused on my latest lesson. I might be able to keep myself safe with magical items when travelling the multiverse, but it would still be a good idea to master some more wand magic.

"I'd like to work on the summoning charm," I said to Lupin.

Accio was the perfect charm for the lazy people who can't be bothered to get up and fetch stuff, but I could envision more practical uses for the spell as it would allow me to get hold of important things normally out of reach, a situation many an adventurer could find themselves in.

"The Summoning Charm, for which the incantation is Accio, can if used correctly, cause an object at a distance to come flying towards you" explained Lupin "It is one of the oldest spells known to wizardkind".

He demonstrated the spell by waving his wand and causing a quill to come flying over to him.

"It's not a complex spell" the teacher was now saying "However, it can be hard to control as you need to remain focused on what you want to summon. Younger students can have problems with this and so it's not a spell for a beginner, that said you've mastered spells meant for older students before so I think you should be able to manage this one".

Turning it into a practical lesson wouldn't be hard since all we'd need is some cushions or something else that I wouldn't worry about coming flying at me.

"Never try to summon anything larger or heavier than yourself that will not end well" warned Remus "Also the spell doesn't tend to work well on living creatures as those with magical resistance will just be annoyed by it and animals who lack that defence, generally don't like being tugged around".

He also let me know that the farther away the desired object was from the caster, the harder it was to summon. Line of sight works best as you need to be able to visualise what it is you want to summon and that's easier if you see it.

As I expected Lupin conjured up some pillows and I spent some time trying to get them to gentle fly over to me. It didn't go so well at first, the blasted things wouldn't move, and when I got a little frustrated one of them moved but went in the wrong direction.

"You need to really desire the summoned object as you focus on it" I was advised "Remember intent matters with magic".

I did just as instructed. Trying to feel the need to possess the cushion, to want to hold it in my hands, and that helped. I was just about getting the hang of the spell (enough to make the cushions start moving in the right direction) when Tonks made an entrance and she looked as if she'd had a bad day at the office.

"Remus Lupin this is Tonks" I introduced, pausing slightly before saying Tonks so as to make it clear there was something missing "Tonks this is Remus Lupin one of my tutors".

It was clear to me that the witch hadn't intended to come around during one of my lessons. I let her visit as she pleased as if I was doing anything I didn't want her to see, such as learning from a departed soul, I'd do it over at Grimmauld Place.

"Sorry, I've been involved in some raids" she let us know "My sense of time is messed up I thought it was still morning. Ever since they made me a full-time Auror I've been burning the midnight oil".

As planned I'd managed to get Tonks promoted. Skeeter had as expected avoided going to Azkaban, but she was in disgrace, having lost her job, and the paper she'd worked for had publicly denounced her for being an illegal animagus.

Tonks got all the credit for putting that bitch of a reporter in her place, and since no one at the Ministry liked Skeeter the shapeshifter had become very popular.

My girlfriend had let slip the time and places of her raids. Enough that I'd had the chance to drop something incriminating off into the secret room that I'd tipped her off about.

"How did last night's raid go?" I asked.

Since these things tended to end up in the paper there was no harm in asking and getting the news a little early.

"After a trusted and anonymous citizen tipped us off about a hidden stash at Malfoy Manor," said Tonks "Bones managed to organise a raid".

I was that citizen, but my name hadn't been shared publicly.

"Since we knew where to look we found his stash and the frozen corpse of Madam Umbridge" we were told.

I did my best to make myself frown rather than smile upon hearing that.

"Like in a meat locker?" I asked.

I had to explain what I meant by that as magical people used charms to keep food from spoiling. Of course, I knew that there was no meat locker under the drawing room as I was the one who recovered the body and stashed it there.

That had been a bit of operation as I needed to purchase cold-weather gear just so I could stay on the mountaintop long enough to make contact with the body and teleport the corpse directly to Malfoy Manor mere hours before the raid took place.

"Nah, she was just frozen," said Tonks "Given her past history of threatening people we figure that she tried to blackmail Malfoy and bit off more than she could chew, or that Umbridge was trying push Malfoy out of the Ministry so that she'd be his chief advisor".

Since it's impossible as far as the DMLE knows to teleport through the protective enchantments and because only the Malfoys should know about the hidden room, no one would suspect the body had been planted there.

"Malfoy will find a way to bribe his way out of trouble," said Lupin "The
man is a snake".

Tonks smiled.

"Not this time" she let us know "Fudge panicked and threw Malfoy under the Knight Bus. We found Death Eaters robes and a dead body, and there were too many witnesses for a cover-up so the Minister told us he wants Malfoy to serve as an example of how no one can escape the Ministry's justice. He's going to get the Dementor's Kiss".

Fudge wanted to distance himself from Malfoy and remove evidence of his own wrongdoings. A dead Malfoy couldn't talk about the bribes and if he went to Azkaban he'd be kissed in a matter of hours no matter if it was legal or not.

"But I don't think things will work out for Fudge," said the witch "Bones is going to squeeze Malfoy and if he talks she'll ask the court for a reduced sentence. He'll have to come clean about his dirty dealings if he wants to avoid getting his soul sucked out".

She had more to say about this.

"Malfoy wants to stay in his Ministry holding cell under guard because even if avoids the kiss accidents can happen in Azkaban," said the witch "If a Dementor didn't get him one of the inmates could".

Dumbledore would be in charge of that trial and he's known for giving second chances to people who were already on their third or fourth, so he'd likely agree to make some sort of deal that involves Malfoy going to Azkaban for a few years rather than spending his whole life there or making out with a demon.

Malfoy might even avoid Azkaban if he was willing to incriminate other Death Eaters who escape justice. If he did I could see him fleeing the country and hiding out somewhere remote.

"Sounds like Fudge won't be in office for much longer" commented Lupin "Everyone knows Malfoy was advising him and he's been taking hits for a while now".

The werewolf was now clearing up since it looked as if we wouldn't be carrying on with today's lesson.

"Here's hoping," said Tonks.

So I'd become Bone's version of Malfoy through very little effort. One murder, one framing job and some gold spread about were all it took. Bones would still need my money and I would be able to supply her with useful information via Tonks.

Overall I felt pleased with how things had worked out. Bones would be Minister soon enough I felt sure and a Minister who owes me a favour could be useful. Plus Magical Britain would be better off when Voldemort returned, assuming that I didn't prevent that.

I didn't need to be a mind reader to know that my girlfriend wanted some attention from me and a chance to relax so I let Remus know that we were indeed done for the day.

"Macross, I couldn't tell you this with anyone around" Tonks started to say as we headed into the living room we used to relax in "But there is going to be a raid here. The Minister ordered it. at least on paper, either because he found out the source of the tip that brought down Malfoy or he's just hoping to discredit the boss's major supporter".

While there was nothing incriminating here to worry about I was still concerned about this raid.

"Fudge might have someone plant some evidence," I said.

Discrediting me wouldn't help Malfoy, but the Death Eater could have bribed someone to convince the Minister to take me down with him.

"We thought of that so Bones is coming here to handle things in person with a team that for reasons she can't share is made up of myself, Shacklebolt and old Mad-Eye who insisted on coming along" Tonks was now saying "I won't be poking around before then just to make sure everything is hunky-dory".

And by won't she meant she would be, and I didn't mind.

"I'll cooperate" I promised.

Tonks smiled at me.

"I will have to strip search you later in case you have any contraband" she teased "I have reason to believe you might be hiding a deadly weapon in your trousers".

It was a shame that I couldn't take Tonks with me as she was fun to have around, but she had friends, family and a career she was putting a lot of work into.

Ah well, there would be other potential travelling companions out there in the multiverse.

Graveyard. Godric's Hollow.

While the village was partly buried with snow during this Christmas season there was a bitterly cold wind keeping people inside I noted not long after appearing within the village which hopefully meant an absence of annoying carol singers.

Despite it being Xmas there wasn't much in the way of decorations here, at least not outside people's houses. It didn't feel jolly here at all, if anything I felt as if this place had some sort of sadness to it.

It didn't help that I was currently standing in a graveyard having teleported myself here so as not to appear where I might be seen. This was the resting place for magical families, including the Potters and the Dumbledores. I found the white marble gravestone of James and Lily Potter, by the looks of things it had been tended to recently and that made sense given what I knew.

After stopping at the grave of the Potters for a moment to pay my respects I moved on and found that one house in the village that was decorated. So much so that I found my eyes stinging if I looked directly at the collection of lights.

Not shocking considering that this was the new home of Sirius Black, who had moved into the old cottage that the Potters had once hidden within, no doubt he wanted to make up for all those holidays spent with the Dementors.

I wondered how he'd managed to obtain ownership of the cottage given that the Ministry had proclaimed the cottage to be a historical site so that they could make it into a memorial. It certainly no longer looked rundown, this was somebody's home and the owner had made a great effort to make sure everyone knew it was Xmas time.

If not for the fact that the cottage was hidden from muggles I felt sure that there would be complaints about the overuse of lights from overflying aircraft as well as the neighbours.

"Why did I agree to this?" I asked myself.

I knew it was because Tonks had requested it. She wanted a date for the small party her cousin Sirius Black was having and I'd agreed because I wanted to keep having sex with her. I'd been unable to say no to the woman who had recently told me that she'd kept her old Hogwarts uniform and wanted to roleplay as a naughty student and strict professor.

Not long after knocking on the door to the cottage, it was opened by a small boy who I soon realised was Harry Potter, who must be staying with his godfather over the holidays at least.

Upon seeing the lad I wondered if Albus Dumbledore had managed to come up with some arrangement that involved Harry still going to his aunt and uncles over the summer, but I wasn't going to ask if it wasn't my business. At least the boy would get to enjoy Christmas with his godfather thanks to me.

"Hello, I'm Macross" I introduced "I'm Tonks' date".

As if summoned by her name the witch appeared and Harry moved away.

"You're on time for a change" she commented, after kissing me.

She was never going to let it go that I had turned up for a date once and been late. I'd complain, but she could make her butt and boobs bigger during sex, so she was worth putting up with.

"Did you bring the gifts?" the witch wondered.

Indeed I had. Wrapped up in paper so colourful that it offended my sense of taste was a bottle of oak-matured mead and a selection of the best stuff Honeydukes, the sweet shop in Hogsmede, had to offer. Tonks had been too busy at work to get a chance to do any last moment Christmas shopping.

"Everything okay at work?" I inquired as I handed over the gifts I'd picked out, paid for, wrapped up and then delivered yet somehow were from the both of us "I heard about what happened with Malfoy".

Tonks poured us both a stiff drink before replying. Black had good taste when it came to party refreshments

"With Macnair and Malfoy dead, we don't have a case anymore," she told me "Fudge blamed Bones for what happened and ordered an inquiry, and that's been keeping us all busy".

Walden Macnair had been a wizard and one of Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters, who'd fought in the First Wizarding War, assuming that there would be a second. Macnair didn't search for Voldemort after his first downfall or go to Azkaban, but he would have rejoined the organisation if given a chance.

The Death Eaters who were free must have assumed that Malfoy would turn on them and name some names, as had happened when Voldemort lost his body all those years ago, so they'd decided to kill him.

I guessed that Macnair would have claimed he was under the Imperius Curse again, only he'd been caught by Mad-Eye Moody. After that, the curses started flying and Moody lost more of his body as Walden Macnair lost his life.

Macnair had been the Executioner for the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures at the Ministry of Magic and therefore well versed in murdering defenceless lifeforms. Malfoy wouldn't have had a chance.

"The whole thing has set Bones back on her bid to become Minister, and it's distracted everyone away from Fudge's foolishness" Tonks complained, "Everyone knows Mad-Eye isn't exactly stable and so they think he's to blame, but the boss won't sacrifice Moody so she's taking responsibility".

While I was pleased by the fact that two of Voldemort's supporters were dead this had been a setback as well. I might have to do something drastic about Fudge.

I felt sure I'd find some sort of solution during my travels. I was too eager to go out exploring to worry much about the Minister. It seemed like something I could put a pin in and maybe get back to later if I so desired.

"At least you've got time off now," I said.

She'd be spending it with her family mostly and some of it with me. Once that was over I'd be free to focus on other matters.

"Dinner is going to be a while" announced Sirius as he came into the living room.

Judging by the smell I figured that the meal was ruined so I called up my House Elf and asked nicely for the helpful magical creature to come save us from Black's attempt at being domestic.

"He'll sort it out" I promised.

There were others here. Remus Lupin who I knew and some others who must have been in the Order of the Phoenix along with Sirius. This made them minions of Dumbledore and best ignored unless I had some use for them. I had meant to contact Mundugnus Fletcher about moving some stolen goods, but I'd lost interest in the idea.

The great manipulator himself wasn't here thankfully. He was either at his school or busy getting better control over Fudge who now didn't have Malfoy to do the thinking for him.

The Headmaster had sent letters requesting a meeting and I'd ignored them as I had the invitation for tea from a witch named Zabini. I felt reasonably certain that she was a serial killer who married rich men and then murdered them for their money.

"So Sirius how did you get this cottage?" I asked, feeling curious, "I thought the Ministry turned into a memorial".

I wondered if Harry Potter was happy to be in his parent's home or freaked out. He might not remember this place at all since he only remembers his parents when he's around Dementors if I recall the books correctly. Currently, he just looked a bit bored as children often were at events meant for adults who just wanted an excuse to socialise.

"The Ministry offered me compensation" the Animagus explained "I was supposed to take over this place if anything happened to James and Lily so I requested it. The clean-up and repair work didn't take very long".

It made sense that the Ministry would give it over if it meant Black didn't go around causing a fuss about his wrongful imprisonment.

The talk soon turned to more cheery subjects and while the whole thing bored me I comforted myself with the idea that soon I would be doing things that were much more interesting.