Disclaimer: See "Stories of the Hogwarts Sisterhood"
Disclaimer 2: Some of the characters belong to the A&E series "Hornblower", so I certainly don't own them (wish I could)
To flamers: I don't take kindly to flames so get out of here, if you know what's good for you.
Note: This is a sequel to "Stories of the Hogwarts Sisterhood"; taken place several months later during Easter holidays, so read that first.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie trailer is out!! Whee!! Watch it, everyone, it's cool!
Thank you for the reviews!
Jestana: No, not yet
Isabelle3: No, Dumbledore does not hold it against Achilles because he wanted to be an Auror. In fact, he respected his decision. That is why he told Minerva that she should learned to let Achilles go.
Rated PG-13 for content
Chapter 13: The Auror Headquarters
The next morning, once Athena had finished her breakfast, she went upstairs to her room. She grabbed a piece of parchment and her quill and sat down at her desk.
She quickly wrote:
Hermione,
If my mother asks about me, tell her that I am at your place, (yes, I am asking you to lie to your favourite professor) please. It's important, I will explain it to you when I have the time.
Athena
She stuffed the letter into an envelope and whistled for her owl, Bubo. The barn owl flew to her immediately and she tied her letter to her leg.
"Bring this to Hermione and fast." She ordered and Bubo flew off.
Once she did, Athena reached for her wand, and stuffed it in her small shoulder bag. She smiled in satisfaction and went downstairs.
***
She quickly left the house and walked out of the street where all the magical folks lived. Once she got out of the street, Athena went straight for a Muggle underground train station.
An hour later, Athena finally arrived to London. She went up the escalator, through the ticket barrier, came out to the street and walked down a side road until she reached a street of several shabby-looking offices, a pub and an overflowing skip. She went straight to the old telephone box, went in and dialled 62442 on the phone.
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business." said the cool female voice.
"Um, the name is Athena McGonagall," said Athena, knowing that she must not use her father's name. "I am here to, um, visit the Auror Headquarters."
"Thank you, visitor, please take the badge and attach it to the front of your robes.'
After a click and a rattle, Athena picked up the square silver badge that said, "Athena McGonagall, Visitor to the Auror Headquarters."
"Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium."
The telephone box sank to the ground and when it stopped, the female voice greeted, "The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day."
Once the door of the telephone box opened, Athena looked around. The Atrium had been repaired after the fights between her father and Voldemort, Harry and Bellatrix Lestrange. The golden statues of the fountain were back to their original places, good as new. The floor was repaired and back to its original state.
After Athena checked her wand, she went through the golden gates and into the smaller hall where she waited for a lift. Besides Athena, there was a handsome wizard with curly blond hair and brown eyes in his 30s. He looked familiar to Athena but she couldn't remember where she had seen him before. When the lift came, he gestured for Athena to go in first.
Once they went in, the man pressed the number 2 asked, "Which floor, Miss?"
Athena paused, not having a slightly clue which floor the Auror Department was.
"Come now, I don't have all day." he said impatiently.
"Um, which floor is the Auror Department situated?" asked Athena.
The man stared at her for a while before he said, "That would be my floor, then."
As the lift went up, he stepped back and folded his arms.
After a while, he found that Athena was staring at him. He asked, "Is there anything wrong?"
"Nothing," said Athena quickly. "Just that you looked oddly familiar. Have we met?"
The man raised an eyebrow at her and said, "I am not interested in little girls."
"I am not little!" protested Athena.
"Whatever." said the man coolly.
Athena just about to say that he DID look familiar to her when the cool female voice said, "Level Two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters and Wizengamot Administration Services."
The lift doors opened and the man let Athena to go out first. Once again, Athena didn't know where to go as she stared at the corridor lined with doors.
"Um, Sir, do you know where exactly the Auror Headquarters is?" She asked, looking back at him.
He frowned. "Look, I am too busy to waste my time on annoying little girls like you. If you want to ask silly questions, go somewhere else."
"I didn't mean to," said Athena helplessly. "It's my first time here."
The man's frown deepened. Then he said, "Fine, follow me."
Athena followed him down the corridor and around the corner. He stopped at a pair of heavy oak doors and opened it.
Once he did, Athena's jaws nearly dropped. The place was simply full of handsome wizards in robes. Some of them were talking; some were running here and there with their arms full of parchments. Some were sitting at their cubicles, writing.
"Wotcher, Athena, what are you doing here?" asked a voice and the two of them turned around.
"Tonks, hi!" said Athena brightly and the man simply nodded at her, whose hairstyle for the day was spiky bright blue hair with matching blue robes.
"Nice hair colour." Athena grinned.
"You know her, Tonks? Good, I will leave her to you then." said the man and turned around.
"Yes, Sir." sang Tonks and he scowled.
"Never mind about him," said Tonks after he left. "He is posh and a bit stuck-up because he is one of the youngest Aurors of the higher rank. But overall, he is okay. So, what brings you here to this men heaven?"
"I am looking for an Auror but I am not sure where he is," said Athena truthfully. "Tonks, is there an Auror here whose name is Achilles?"
"Then you are asking the wrong person, I have been here for years but I still can't get some of colleagues' names right. You can ask Kingsley but he is out. Why don't you ask the head, maybe he knows." said Tonks helpfully.
"Okay." said Athena and Tonks led her to the left of the room.
Suddenly, Tonks stopped and Athena nearly bumped into her when she said, "Morning Sir."
This time, Tonks used the word "Sir" in a respectable way in contrast to the playful tone she used on the man just now.
Athena looked from behind and saw a wizard around his 50s with black robes, looking closely at her.
"Morning Tonks, who is this?" he asked.
"Oh, this is my friend, Athena," said Tonks, shifting Athena to the front so that the wizard could see her. "She is here to look for an Auror but she is not sure where he is."
"Very well, leave her to me," he said. "Now get back to work. And do something about your hair."
"Yes Sir, right away, Sir," said Tonks quickly. "Bye Athena, see ya next time."
She left.
"Morning Miss, name is Edward Pellew," said the man, extending a hand to her. "I am the head of this headquarters."
"Athena McGonagall." said Athena as she shook his hand.
"McGonagall? Say, are you relating to Minerva McGonagall?" asked Pellew with interest.
"Of course, she is my mother."
"Well, what a surprise! I used to study at Hogwarts too, under her House. I can say that she is the best teacher I ever have. Is she still teaching there?"
Athena nodded.
"Quite nice to see her daughter here, you look just like her......now back to business," said Pellew, quickly changed the topic. "What did Tonks say you are here for?"
"Looking for an Auror."
"Right then, follow me." he said and she did.
They arrived at a cubicle which seemed to be bigger than the rest. Its walls had medals and certificate on it and there were piles of files on the desk.
Pellew sat down. "Now then, what is the Auror's name?"
"Achilles McGonagall." said Athena, knowing that Achilles would never use their father's name.
"Is he related to you?"
"He is my brother."
Pellew raised his eyebrow. "Well, if he is your brother, you should have an idea where he is."
"I don't know, he left home years ago." said Athena quietly.
Pellew didn't question further. He took a file labelled 'M' and opened it. He ran his finger down a page, muttering: "McGonagall........."
Finally, he looked up. "I'm sorry; Miss McGonagall, but I don't have the name in the register."
"But you got to have!" said Athena, sounding younger than she intended to. "I know that he is working here!"
"Hm, well, may I suggest asking some of the younger Aurors here?"
Athena nodded.
Pellew closed his file, stood up, looked over his cubicle and called loudly: "Mr. Wellard!"
Athena frowned at the name, looked over and saw a handsome white faced boy with dark hair who was no older than 25.
"Wellard? Terrence Wellard, is that you?"
Wellard looked up. "Hey there, Athena! How are you? I have not seen you since I graduated 5 years ago!"
"Fine. By the way, do you know anyone here whose name is Achilles?"
Wellard thought for a while and shook his head. "By the way, how's Harry, Ron and Hermione?"
Pellew cleared his throat loudly.
Wellard turned quickly to Pellew. "Yes, Sir?"
"Get Mr. Hornblower, Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Bush here, if you please!"
"Yes Sir!" said Wellard, grinned at Athena before he left.
Soon, three gorgeous men in dark blue robes came back.
"Sir!"
"Gentlemen, this young lady here is looking for an Auror named Achilles McGonagall. Do any of you know him?"
All three of them thought.
"No Sir." said all of them at last.
Athena sighed.
"What does he look like?" asked a young man with neat blond hair and light blue eyes.
"He has black hair, green eyes and a moustache, if I remember correctly."
"How old is he?" asked the man with long curly brown hair (which he tied back in a ponytail) and big brown eyes.
"38."
"38........ Hey Archie, how old are you?" The man asked the young man.
"Don't be silly, Horatio, you know that I am only 28 this year." said the man, punching his friend playfully.
"William, how old are you?" Hornblower asked the man with curly brown hair and blue eyes.
"30." replied Bush.
"Well, none of us are the same age as Chillies........" started Hornblower.
"It is Achilles." corrected Athena coldly.
"Oops, sorry. What am I trying to say is, none of us are the same age as Achilles McGonagall. If we are, we will be taking the same Auror tests with him in the same year. Then we are bound to know him." explained Hornblower.
"Is there any Aurors here who are the same age as Achilles McGonagall?" Pellew asked Hornblower.
"Hm........." said Hornblower, trying to think.
"Um, forgive me for interrupting, Sir," said Kennedy slowly. "But there is one Auror I know who is 38 this year."
"Who?" asked all four of them.
Kennedy looked at them in return. "Philip Edrington, didn't you know?"
Hornblower slapped his forehead. "Of course! Edrington! God, I'm a forgetful son of a swab."
"Easy, easy," said Bush. "The headquarters is so big; you can't possibly remember the details of all the Aurors."
"True, Mr. Hornblower, don't blame yourself." said Pellew. "Well, Miss McGonagall, I shall bring you to Edrington's cubicle. Hopefully that he knows your brother. Thank you, gentlemen, you may go back to work."
"Yes Sir!" said all three of them and ran off.
"Follow me, Miss McGonagall." said Pellew as he walked out of his cubicle.
As they walked, Athena thought about the name Philip Edrington, which sounded familiar. Now where had she heard the name before........
A minute later, they arrived at Edrington's cubicle.
"Looks like Edrington is not around," said Pellew. "I guess we have to wait for a while."
Athena looked at the photos on Edrington's desk in surprise. Philip Edrington was actually the same man who brought her here.
There were photos of himself in Muggle clothes.
Himself in a wedding suit, wrapping his arms around a beautiful woman with blond hair (Athena assumed that she was his wife)
Himself and his wife standing behind two young children, a boy and a girl.
There were also photos of himself when he was younger, smiling brightly.
And........
Athena stared at the last few photos in shock. There were photos of his younger self and the younger Achilles.
"That's it! Philip Edrington is Achilles's friend from Ravenclaw!" thought Athena.
Athena was looking at a photo of Edrington and Achilles standing together in the Great Hall in their graduation robes when she heard someone saying, "Mr. Pellew? What are you doing here?"
Athena turned around sharply and stared at Edrington.
"You again!" said Edrington, clearly not very happy to see her.
"You know her, Mr. Edrington?" asked Pellew.
"Not really," said Edrington.
"I know him!" said Athena. "He is my brother's friend from Ravenclaw!"
Edrington raised an eyebrow and turned to Athena. "Really? What is your brother's name?"
"Duh! It's Achilles McGonagall!" said Athena impatiently.
Edrington was silent for a while before he said, "Who?"
"The one in your photos!" Athena pointed.
Edrington stared at the photos and picked the graduation day photo up. "That's not Adonis or Apollo or whatever you called him." he said.
"Who is he then?" Athena challenged.
"My friend, Richard Smith." said Edrington calmly.
Athena's mouth nearly dropped open. "No way!" she exclaimed.
Pellew leaned forward to look at the photo. "You are right, Mr. Edrington, that is Richard Smith in his younger days."
Athena shook her head in disbelief weakly. "No, but that's him.......I recognize his eyes......."
Edrington shook his head. "Sorry, Miss but I don't have any friend whose sister is in your age."
Athena rubbed her head as if it hurts. Why everyone insisted that the one in the picture was not her brother?
"Are you all right?" asked Pellew in concern.
Athena nodded slowly and looked up. "Okay, why don't you ask him to come here so that I can clarify things with him?"
"I love to, Miss. But unfortunately, Mr. Smith is not around today. I think I have Richard's address in my file. Why don't I get it for you?" Pellew offered.
"Pardon me for interrupting, Sir but I don't think Richard had written down his address on your file." said Edrington quickly.
"Do you know his address?" asked Pellew.
Edrington was silent.
"Answer me, Mr. Edrington."
"Yes, Sir." He said quietly.
"Give the address to the good lady, then."
"I afraid I can't, Sir." said Edrington boldly.
"And why is that, Mr. Edrington?"
"Richard trusts me to not giving his address to anyone."
Pellew stared at Edrington before he said, "Edrington, I understand that you are a very good friend to Richard, but this is not just anyone, this is possibly his sister. If she has something for him, you should tell her."
"Sorry Sir, but as far as I know, Richard do not have such a young sister. I can't give it to her unless she proves that she is."
Pellew turned to Athena. "Do you have any proof, Miss McGonagall?"
"What kind of proof?"
"Just tell me an incident during his 7th year at Hogwarts."
"That's ridiculous, Mr. Edrington! It has been 21 years since Richard graduated from Hogwarts, how is this young lady suppose to know about his 7th year?"
"Okay," said Athena, smiling. "Let me tell you about what happened during the last day of the NEWTs. Severus Snape was bullied by James Potter near the lake. He was hung in the mid-air upside down. James was going to take off his pants when my brother, or Richard as you two called him, rushed to the scene and demanded James to let him go. He refused, so he cut his hand. James' hand was heavily wounded."
"You," She pointed at Edrington. "Asked my brother why he did that to a fellow Gryffindor, my brother said: 'Philip, you are a Ravenclaw, surely you are smart enough to know who is right and who is wrong.' Then you said: 'But he is a Gryffindor!' So my brother said coolly: 'So? I don't take sides'. You said: 'But detention is more appropriate.........' In the end my brother said: 'Detention never works on Potter, Philip, you don't know him.'."
Edrington and Pellew were staring at her when she finished.
"How did you know about that?" asked Edrington in shock.
"She has proved it, Edrington, give the address to her."
"But........." started Edrington.
"Give it to her, Edrington. I will bear the consequences."
"Oh all right," said Edrington unwillingly. "He lives in Plymouth........."
"Plymouth?! That's miles away from here!" exclaimed Athena, looking up from the piece of parchment that she took out from her bag to write on.
"Miss, if you do not want the rest of the address, I am glad to be quiet." said Edrington.
"No, give it to me, please."
"No. 24 A, Wisdom Street. He lives on the third floor, the first door to the left."
Athena scribbled down the address and gave her thanks.
"No problem, I guess," replied Edrington. "Now if you excused me, I must get back to my work. Good day, Miss, Mr. Pellew." he said and sat down at his desk.
"Good to see that you got an address; let's just hope that Richard is really your brother." said Pellew.
Athena nodded. "I need to go home now, can you show me the way out of here, please?"
Pellew opened his mouth when Wellard came to him and said, "Mr. Pellew, you are required to see Mr. Bush at his cubicle. He needs your assistance."
"Very well, I will come," said Pellew. "Mr. Wellard, kindly show Miss McGonagall out, if you please."
"Yes Sir. Follow me, Athena." said Wellard and brought Athena to the doors. "So Athena, why are you here? Who is this Achilles person?"
"Long story." said Athena shortly and sighed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.
Disclaimer 2: Some of the characters belong to the A&E series "Hornblower", so I certainly don't own them (wish I could)
To flamers: I don't take kindly to flames so get out of here, if you know what's good for you.
Note: This is a sequel to "Stories of the Hogwarts Sisterhood"; taken place several months later during Easter holidays, so read that first.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie trailer is out!! Whee!! Watch it, everyone, it's cool!
Thank you for the reviews!
Jestana: No, not yet
Isabelle3: No, Dumbledore does not hold it against Achilles because he wanted to be an Auror. In fact, he respected his decision. That is why he told Minerva that she should learned to let Achilles go.
Rated PG-13 for content
Chapter 13: The Auror Headquarters
The next morning, once Athena had finished her breakfast, she went upstairs to her room. She grabbed a piece of parchment and her quill and sat down at her desk.
She quickly wrote:
Hermione,
If my mother asks about me, tell her that I am at your place, (yes, I am asking you to lie to your favourite professor) please. It's important, I will explain it to you when I have the time.
Athena
She stuffed the letter into an envelope and whistled for her owl, Bubo. The barn owl flew to her immediately and she tied her letter to her leg.
"Bring this to Hermione and fast." She ordered and Bubo flew off.
Once she did, Athena reached for her wand, and stuffed it in her small shoulder bag. She smiled in satisfaction and went downstairs.
***
She quickly left the house and walked out of the street where all the magical folks lived. Once she got out of the street, Athena went straight for a Muggle underground train station.
An hour later, Athena finally arrived to London. She went up the escalator, through the ticket barrier, came out to the street and walked down a side road until she reached a street of several shabby-looking offices, a pub and an overflowing skip. She went straight to the old telephone box, went in and dialled 62442 on the phone.
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business." said the cool female voice.
"Um, the name is Athena McGonagall," said Athena, knowing that she must not use her father's name. "I am here to, um, visit the Auror Headquarters."
"Thank you, visitor, please take the badge and attach it to the front of your robes.'
After a click and a rattle, Athena picked up the square silver badge that said, "Athena McGonagall, Visitor to the Auror Headquarters."
"Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium."
The telephone box sank to the ground and when it stopped, the female voice greeted, "The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day."
Once the door of the telephone box opened, Athena looked around. The Atrium had been repaired after the fights between her father and Voldemort, Harry and Bellatrix Lestrange. The golden statues of the fountain were back to their original places, good as new. The floor was repaired and back to its original state.
After Athena checked her wand, she went through the golden gates and into the smaller hall where she waited for a lift. Besides Athena, there was a handsome wizard with curly blond hair and brown eyes in his 30s. He looked familiar to Athena but she couldn't remember where she had seen him before. When the lift came, he gestured for Athena to go in first.
Once they went in, the man pressed the number 2 asked, "Which floor, Miss?"
Athena paused, not having a slightly clue which floor the Auror Department was.
"Come now, I don't have all day." he said impatiently.
"Um, which floor is the Auror Department situated?" asked Athena.
The man stared at her for a while before he said, "That would be my floor, then."
As the lift went up, he stepped back and folded his arms.
After a while, he found that Athena was staring at him. He asked, "Is there anything wrong?"
"Nothing," said Athena quickly. "Just that you looked oddly familiar. Have we met?"
The man raised an eyebrow at her and said, "I am not interested in little girls."
"I am not little!" protested Athena.
"Whatever." said the man coolly.
Athena just about to say that he DID look familiar to her when the cool female voice said, "Level Two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters and Wizengamot Administration Services."
The lift doors opened and the man let Athena to go out first. Once again, Athena didn't know where to go as she stared at the corridor lined with doors.
"Um, Sir, do you know where exactly the Auror Headquarters is?" She asked, looking back at him.
He frowned. "Look, I am too busy to waste my time on annoying little girls like you. If you want to ask silly questions, go somewhere else."
"I didn't mean to," said Athena helplessly. "It's my first time here."
The man's frown deepened. Then he said, "Fine, follow me."
Athena followed him down the corridor and around the corner. He stopped at a pair of heavy oak doors and opened it.
Once he did, Athena's jaws nearly dropped. The place was simply full of handsome wizards in robes. Some of them were talking; some were running here and there with their arms full of parchments. Some were sitting at their cubicles, writing.
"Wotcher, Athena, what are you doing here?" asked a voice and the two of them turned around.
"Tonks, hi!" said Athena brightly and the man simply nodded at her, whose hairstyle for the day was spiky bright blue hair with matching blue robes.
"Nice hair colour." Athena grinned.
"You know her, Tonks? Good, I will leave her to you then." said the man and turned around.
"Yes, Sir." sang Tonks and he scowled.
"Never mind about him," said Tonks after he left. "He is posh and a bit stuck-up because he is one of the youngest Aurors of the higher rank. But overall, he is okay. So, what brings you here to this men heaven?"
"I am looking for an Auror but I am not sure where he is," said Athena truthfully. "Tonks, is there an Auror here whose name is Achilles?"
"Then you are asking the wrong person, I have been here for years but I still can't get some of colleagues' names right. You can ask Kingsley but he is out. Why don't you ask the head, maybe he knows." said Tonks helpfully.
"Okay." said Athena and Tonks led her to the left of the room.
Suddenly, Tonks stopped and Athena nearly bumped into her when she said, "Morning Sir."
This time, Tonks used the word "Sir" in a respectable way in contrast to the playful tone she used on the man just now.
Athena looked from behind and saw a wizard around his 50s with black robes, looking closely at her.
"Morning Tonks, who is this?" he asked.
"Oh, this is my friend, Athena," said Tonks, shifting Athena to the front so that the wizard could see her. "She is here to look for an Auror but she is not sure where he is."
"Very well, leave her to me," he said. "Now get back to work. And do something about your hair."
"Yes Sir, right away, Sir," said Tonks quickly. "Bye Athena, see ya next time."
She left.
"Morning Miss, name is Edward Pellew," said the man, extending a hand to her. "I am the head of this headquarters."
"Athena McGonagall." said Athena as she shook his hand.
"McGonagall? Say, are you relating to Minerva McGonagall?" asked Pellew with interest.
"Of course, she is my mother."
"Well, what a surprise! I used to study at Hogwarts too, under her House. I can say that she is the best teacher I ever have. Is she still teaching there?"
Athena nodded.
"Quite nice to see her daughter here, you look just like her......now back to business," said Pellew, quickly changed the topic. "What did Tonks say you are here for?"
"Looking for an Auror."
"Right then, follow me." he said and she did.
They arrived at a cubicle which seemed to be bigger than the rest. Its walls had medals and certificate on it and there were piles of files on the desk.
Pellew sat down. "Now then, what is the Auror's name?"
"Achilles McGonagall." said Athena, knowing that Achilles would never use their father's name.
"Is he related to you?"
"He is my brother."
Pellew raised his eyebrow. "Well, if he is your brother, you should have an idea where he is."
"I don't know, he left home years ago." said Athena quietly.
Pellew didn't question further. He took a file labelled 'M' and opened it. He ran his finger down a page, muttering: "McGonagall........."
Finally, he looked up. "I'm sorry; Miss McGonagall, but I don't have the name in the register."
"But you got to have!" said Athena, sounding younger than she intended to. "I know that he is working here!"
"Hm, well, may I suggest asking some of the younger Aurors here?"
Athena nodded.
Pellew closed his file, stood up, looked over his cubicle and called loudly: "Mr. Wellard!"
Athena frowned at the name, looked over and saw a handsome white faced boy with dark hair who was no older than 25.
"Wellard? Terrence Wellard, is that you?"
Wellard looked up. "Hey there, Athena! How are you? I have not seen you since I graduated 5 years ago!"
"Fine. By the way, do you know anyone here whose name is Achilles?"
Wellard thought for a while and shook his head. "By the way, how's Harry, Ron and Hermione?"
Pellew cleared his throat loudly.
Wellard turned quickly to Pellew. "Yes, Sir?"
"Get Mr. Hornblower, Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Bush here, if you please!"
"Yes Sir!" said Wellard, grinned at Athena before he left.
Soon, three gorgeous men in dark blue robes came back.
"Sir!"
"Gentlemen, this young lady here is looking for an Auror named Achilles McGonagall. Do any of you know him?"
All three of them thought.
"No Sir." said all of them at last.
Athena sighed.
"What does he look like?" asked a young man with neat blond hair and light blue eyes.
"He has black hair, green eyes and a moustache, if I remember correctly."
"How old is he?" asked the man with long curly brown hair (which he tied back in a ponytail) and big brown eyes.
"38."
"38........ Hey Archie, how old are you?" The man asked the young man.
"Don't be silly, Horatio, you know that I am only 28 this year." said the man, punching his friend playfully.
"William, how old are you?" Hornblower asked the man with curly brown hair and blue eyes.
"30." replied Bush.
"Well, none of us are the same age as Chillies........" started Hornblower.
"It is Achilles." corrected Athena coldly.
"Oops, sorry. What am I trying to say is, none of us are the same age as Achilles McGonagall. If we are, we will be taking the same Auror tests with him in the same year. Then we are bound to know him." explained Hornblower.
"Is there any Aurors here who are the same age as Achilles McGonagall?" Pellew asked Hornblower.
"Hm........." said Hornblower, trying to think.
"Um, forgive me for interrupting, Sir," said Kennedy slowly. "But there is one Auror I know who is 38 this year."
"Who?" asked all four of them.
Kennedy looked at them in return. "Philip Edrington, didn't you know?"
Hornblower slapped his forehead. "Of course! Edrington! God, I'm a forgetful son of a swab."
"Easy, easy," said Bush. "The headquarters is so big; you can't possibly remember the details of all the Aurors."
"True, Mr. Hornblower, don't blame yourself." said Pellew. "Well, Miss McGonagall, I shall bring you to Edrington's cubicle. Hopefully that he knows your brother. Thank you, gentlemen, you may go back to work."
"Yes Sir!" said all three of them and ran off.
"Follow me, Miss McGonagall." said Pellew as he walked out of his cubicle.
As they walked, Athena thought about the name Philip Edrington, which sounded familiar. Now where had she heard the name before........
A minute later, they arrived at Edrington's cubicle.
"Looks like Edrington is not around," said Pellew. "I guess we have to wait for a while."
Athena looked at the photos on Edrington's desk in surprise. Philip Edrington was actually the same man who brought her here.
There were photos of himself in Muggle clothes.
Himself in a wedding suit, wrapping his arms around a beautiful woman with blond hair (Athena assumed that she was his wife)
Himself and his wife standing behind two young children, a boy and a girl.
There were also photos of himself when he was younger, smiling brightly.
And........
Athena stared at the last few photos in shock. There were photos of his younger self and the younger Achilles.
"That's it! Philip Edrington is Achilles's friend from Ravenclaw!" thought Athena.
Athena was looking at a photo of Edrington and Achilles standing together in the Great Hall in their graduation robes when she heard someone saying, "Mr. Pellew? What are you doing here?"
Athena turned around sharply and stared at Edrington.
"You again!" said Edrington, clearly not very happy to see her.
"You know her, Mr. Edrington?" asked Pellew.
"Not really," said Edrington.
"I know him!" said Athena. "He is my brother's friend from Ravenclaw!"
Edrington raised an eyebrow and turned to Athena. "Really? What is your brother's name?"
"Duh! It's Achilles McGonagall!" said Athena impatiently.
Edrington was silent for a while before he said, "Who?"
"The one in your photos!" Athena pointed.
Edrington stared at the photos and picked the graduation day photo up. "That's not Adonis or Apollo or whatever you called him." he said.
"Who is he then?" Athena challenged.
"My friend, Richard Smith." said Edrington calmly.
Athena's mouth nearly dropped open. "No way!" she exclaimed.
Pellew leaned forward to look at the photo. "You are right, Mr. Edrington, that is Richard Smith in his younger days."
Athena shook her head in disbelief weakly. "No, but that's him.......I recognize his eyes......."
Edrington shook his head. "Sorry, Miss but I don't have any friend whose sister is in your age."
Athena rubbed her head as if it hurts. Why everyone insisted that the one in the picture was not her brother?
"Are you all right?" asked Pellew in concern.
Athena nodded slowly and looked up. "Okay, why don't you ask him to come here so that I can clarify things with him?"
"I love to, Miss. But unfortunately, Mr. Smith is not around today. I think I have Richard's address in my file. Why don't I get it for you?" Pellew offered.
"Pardon me for interrupting, Sir but I don't think Richard had written down his address on your file." said Edrington quickly.
"Do you know his address?" asked Pellew.
Edrington was silent.
"Answer me, Mr. Edrington."
"Yes, Sir." He said quietly.
"Give the address to the good lady, then."
"I afraid I can't, Sir." said Edrington boldly.
"And why is that, Mr. Edrington?"
"Richard trusts me to not giving his address to anyone."
Pellew stared at Edrington before he said, "Edrington, I understand that you are a very good friend to Richard, but this is not just anyone, this is possibly his sister. If she has something for him, you should tell her."
"Sorry Sir, but as far as I know, Richard do not have such a young sister. I can't give it to her unless she proves that she is."
Pellew turned to Athena. "Do you have any proof, Miss McGonagall?"
"What kind of proof?"
"Just tell me an incident during his 7th year at Hogwarts."
"That's ridiculous, Mr. Edrington! It has been 21 years since Richard graduated from Hogwarts, how is this young lady suppose to know about his 7th year?"
"Okay," said Athena, smiling. "Let me tell you about what happened during the last day of the NEWTs. Severus Snape was bullied by James Potter near the lake. He was hung in the mid-air upside down. James was going to take off his pants when my brother, or Richard as you two called him, rushed to the scene and demanded James to let him go. He refused, so he cut his hand. James' hand was heavily wounded."
"You," She pointed at Edrington. "Asked my brother why he did that to a fellow Gryffindor, my brother said: 'Philip, you are a Ravenclaw, surely you are smart enough to know who is right and who is wrong.' Then you said: 'But he is a Gryffindor!' So my brother said coolly: 'So? I don't take sides'. You said: 'But detention is more appropriate.........' In the end my brother said: 'Detention never works on Potter, Philip, you don't know him.'."
Edrington and Pellew were staring at her when she finished.
"How did you know about that?" asked Edrington in shock.
"She has proved it, Edrington, give the address to her."
"But........." started Edrington.
"Give it to her, Edrington. I will bear the consequences."
"Oh all right," said Edrington unwillingly. "He lives in Plymouth........."
"Plymouth?! That's miles away from here!" exclaimed Athena, looking up from the piece of parchment that she took out from her bag to write on.
"Miss, if you do not want the rest of the address, I am glad to be quiet." said Edrington.
"No, give it to me, please."
"No. 24 A, Wisdom Street. He lives on the third floor, the first door to the left."
Athena scribbled down the address and gave her thanks.
"No problem, I guess," replied Edrington. "Now if you excused me, I must get back to my work. Good day, Miss, Mr. Pellew." he said and sat down at his desk.
"Good to see that you got an address; let's just hope that Richard is really your brother." said Pellew.
Athena nodded. "I need to go home now, can you show me the way out of here, please?"
Pellew opened his mouth when Wellard came to him and said, "Mr. Pellew, you are required to see Mr. Bush at his cubicle. He needs your assistance."
"Very well, I will come," said Pellew. "Mr. Wellard, kindly show Miss McGonagall out, if you please."
"Yes Sir. Follow me, Athena." said Wellard and brought Athena to the doors. "So Athena, why are you here? Who is this Achilles person?"
"Long story." said Athena shortly and sighed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.
