"Lupin, Remus Lupin?"
"Yes."
He looked half-dead. I'd been watching the interrogations' on my inter-office globe, and so far no one had covered the questions I had since I'd seen the crime scene yesterday. The past 8 hours had been horrible to watch. The Ministry hit men called several people in for character statements on the two wizards. But none were dragged in off the street the way Lupin was in the early morning. Him, they handcuffed to a chair gave double and more doses of undiluted veritaserum followed by stimulants, and caused him to relive in his mind the loss of all his closest friends.
I'd had to invoke a lot of authority and sign a list to even speak to Lupin alone. I was a junior minister, but my department has a lot of clout in these matters. What I was about to do next may come under board of inquiry, but the information and the truth was more important.
I set up a scramble field to block inter-office transmission to nearly every department except mine. The first thing we agree to when we sign on as Investigators, is that finding out the truth is more important then personal aspirations, and to use the best methods possible at the time to find that information out. However, there's a limit to the amount of cruelty I can tolerate from the other departments I've seen being used today.
Its sights like this that cause me to wonder where the line is actually being drawn between 'us' and 'them.' I could smell this man's fear, his grief. This day would torment this man for the rest of his life. The reality of him like this will torment me for the rest of mine. His closest friends, all of them gone, and one of them betrayed the rest. His pack, as it were, was utterly destroyed.
Prejudice.
Damn anti-werewolf prejudice. If people put even a part of the energy they spend on hate and fear of the condition into finding a cure, it would have happened long ago.
But this man might be able to clarify what I saw yesterday. And it means asking him more questions. There are days I really hate this job. At least I have the choice in the manner I question him, even if I don't have the authority let him go.
"Guard, undo his manacles and get him a glass of water. He's a witness, not the one on trial here." The guard didn't move.
"He's my witness for one hour to do with as I please to get the information I need. Is this correct?" I say very coldly.
"That is correct, minister."
"Then undo the handcuffs and get us a pitcher of water and two glasses, and stop wasting my time!" I ordered harshly.
"On what authority?" I flash BOTH my ministry ids at him. I will definitely be facing an inquiry board. He cringed, than complied with all the speed I could have wished.
Lupin watched the exchange dazedly. I sat down as he rubbed his arms. I knew he would probably not remember this small kindness or our exchange later. I also removed the silver dagger and silver wire from his sight. The guard returned with the water pitcher and two glasses. Finally leaving us alone.
Lupin looked at me suspiciously. And asked very hoarsely, "What do you want to know?" There was a bit of belligerence and a touch of sarcasm in what he said. I was glad to hear it in his voice. They hadn't broken him yet.
"First, I'd like you to be able to stretch and get something to drink." To show the water was just water, I poured two glasses- then took a drink, and handed it to him. He downed it and went for another glass. As soon as he was breathing a bit more normally, and had about three glasses of water I started my hour clock.
I'd already heard his accounts about his friends. James Potter was noble, idealistic, and totally trusting of Sirius Black. Sirius had always portrayed himself as willing to die for the Potters, his godson, and Dumbledore's cause. James trusted him completely and made him their secret-keeper when they went into hiding. Peter Pettigrew was their friend, had been throughout school. He worked hard for Dumbledore as well as the ministry. He was quiet, and seemed content to stay in the shadow of his more dynamic friends. He also seemed to be the sounding board and peacekeeper of the group.
Lupin was watching me a little more alertly now.
"Please tell me why you didn't trust Sirius Black." Lupin was still under the effects of the veritaserum. I hated to start with such a blunt and personal question, but I didn't have much time. And throughout all his interviews, he'd said over and over that the Potters and Pettigrew trusted Black, but never that he did. That's a telling omission.
"He tried to use me to kill someone he didn't like." He couldn't stop himself from answering, and looked utterly horrified he had said it.
"Go on," I prompted.
"Back at Hogwarts he told Severus Snape where to find me when I was in my other form. If James hadn't intervened, he'd have turned us both into a killers." He looked close to tears at the admission. But something still didn't add up from what I saw on the site yesterday- murder in cold blood wouldn't have been so obvious.
I knew Snape had already told this story to the aurors, but his details made a lot more sense now.
"Why wouldn't Sirius trust you?" He looked confused by the abrupt switch, but answered, again – seemingly against his will.
"He was afraid of me, I think." He looked at his hands, and said quietly, "Because I haven't been around him or the others as much lately."
"Why?"
"I sent back two recruitment owls to them, refusing to join. I didn't want to put my friends in danger, and I didn't want my friends to think I'd joined up. I'm a werewolf- a dark creature. Voldemort wants, wanted, people like me in his ranks. I've been under suspicion for several years now by everyone but Dumbledore that I was going to change sides. I would never do that- but who else besides him is actually going to believe me?"
That was new information, and I'm glad that it's something that Crouch wasn't going to hear or Lupin would also be handed to the Dementors.
"And Peter?" I prompted.
"What about Peter?"
"How trusted was he, how trusting?"
"Peter was a brick, quiet, solid. The smallest of all of us, and possibly the strongest. He remained calm even when the rest of us weren't."
"Was he any good at dueling?"
"No."
But Peter still confronted Sirius on an open street. Interesting. All this only confirmed what he had said earlier, but wasn't all that helpful.
"Is there any chance in your mind that Sirius might be innocent?"
"I don't know. I want to say yes, but he was the secret keeper. Everyone involved knew that. Why? Why didn't they go with Dumbledore?" That was the question on too many minds right now. I decided to try a different angle.
"So when did you find out Sirius was to be the secret-keeper"
"The morning before he was supposed to go into hiding, he was checking on me after the full moon, and wanted to say goodbye."
"Sirius didn't trust you, but he told you this?" That didn't make any sense to me, but it was a leading question and so invalid. "Don't worry about answering that, I was just thinking out loud."
"Would you have found this information out eventually?" I asked instead.
"James and Lily actually told me themselves later that afternoon, they had already said their goodbye's to Peter at that point."
"So they also trusted both of you with that information. Who else knew that Sirius was to be the secret-keeper?"
"James, Lily, Sirius, Peter, Dumbledore, and myself. Sirius was going to perform the charm, and go into hiding until everything was over. That was hard for him, he was used to being on the front lines for Dumbledore. He didn't strike me as really able to sit back and do nothing, but I guess that protecting your best friend and godson counts as a big something overall." Veritaserium made someone prone to ramble.
He took another drink and I tried to place all this information into some type of sense. There were just too many things that weren't clear. The first is why did the confrontation happen in one of the busiest areas of muggle London in broad daylight. Then there was the cut, not blasted, finger of Peter's near the sewer.
The hole that seemed almost too well placed to produce the maximum amount of damage, and hang the muggles nearby. Finally, from all accounts, including Dumbledore's- was that despite a childish prank that almost cost two men their lives, Sirius was the last person anyone would have expected to ever betray the Potters. And finally as I pointed and drew out to Frank, there is still a lot of time unaccounted for between the Potters being attacked, and the attack on Petticrew.
"Who among the three of you, Lupin, Black, and Pettigrew, would be more likely to be a Death Eater?"
"Me, they tried to recruit me."
"And to your knowledge, they didn't try to recruit any of the others?"
"No." The word hung between us.
"Who would be the least likely of all of you to be recruited, in order?"
"James, Lily, Peter, Sirius."
"Are you a death eater?"
"NO!!" He pounded the table with his fist nearly knocking over the water glass.
"I believe you, Lupin. But one of the two wizards on the street yesterday most certainly was either a death-eater, or desperate. I'm not sure which. But Black is going to be the one they hang with it if we don't move quickly."
"Wait, you think he's innocent!?! Why?"
"The evidence doesn't yet tell me otherwise."
There was a knock at the door. My time was up.
"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to re-handcuff you. I want to apologize for the way the Ministry has treated you today, Remus Lupin. Hopefully they'll let you go soon." I gently re-latch the manacles making sure they are not as tight as are humanly possible. I can do that much for him at least. The guard came in just as I was finishing.
Always clean up your loose ends.
I raise my want to the guard and say, "Obliviate."
It wouldn't do anyone good for him to remember anything of who I am. That just makes the inquiries take longer. I remove the water pitcher, glasses, and spill leaving no trace that I was ever there. There is a reason, after all, why we're called "unspeakables."
I turn and look back at Lupin; he was staring at the wall in a stupor.
I returned to my office to compile these notes with the rest and to confer with Moody and Frank, and the rest of my team about the interview.
Later that night, I was still haunted by the image of Lupin staring blankly at the wall. I decided to wait outside the ministry to be sure he got home safely. I didn't think the ministry would be considerate enough to provide him a ride.
I was correct.
The bodily threw him out the front door, where he landed hard on the pavement. He pulled himself up and staggered away like he was drunk. About half way down the block, he stumbled again and fell. I ran over to assist, and pulled my wand out when a large shadow detached from a nearby building and moved towards us.
To my relief, it was Rubias Hagrid. And he looked rather surprised to see me here.
"Hagrid, We need to get him off the street. If any death-eaters see him like this..."
"Three Broomsticks. I already have a room reserved."
"But... how did you..."
"Went to his home to pay respects this morning, it was tore up something awful, saw the ministry warrant on his door, figured they brought him here and was waiting to convince him to go to the Broomsticks, at least for the next day or two."
"He's too out of it to try to fly on a broomstick, and I'm not able to apparate anyone with me... How can we get him there?"
"I still have Sirius' flying motorbike, that could work." His face darkened into a hard expression. "I was going to destroy it today, guess it's good I didn't get the chance." A flying motorbike? I couldn't help but smile at the engineering. Hope the Department of Muggle Artifacts doesn't get a hold of it.
"That should work. I'll get my broom and meet you there."
About a twenty minutes later I was talking to the owner of the Three Broomsticks, getting Hagrid a refund and putting Lupin's stay on the Ministry's account. I also went down to the post office to send messages to both Moody, my team leader, and my Ministry department head to let him know I authorized the expense, and I was not going to be in the office until late the next day and why. By the time I returned back to the Broomsticks Hagrid was getting Lupin's key and seeing him to his room. I turned down the bed while Hagrid got Lupin cleaned up as best as he could. Lupin was not in good shape and all but passed out onto the bed.
I heard a faint scratching at the window from an owl. I automatically reached for an owl treat from the pouch at my belt, and opened the window. There were two messages. The first was from Moody and Frank, telling me to take the whole day off from the office, and to guard Lupin until the veritaserum wore off. They also said the owl would stay nearby incase I needed to contact them. The other was from my department head affirming the use of the ministry account, and congratulating me on upholding the mission of the department. The Ministry owl accepted the treat, but stayed outside on the windowsill.
"What was that about?"
"I needed to let my office know I wasn't going to be in the office tomorrow, and also receiving approval to put the cost of the room here on the ministry account for the duration."
"Are ye daft? Now the whole ministry will know where he is!" He looked livid. If our positions were reversed, I know I would too.
"Only three people will know where Lupin is. Alaster Moody, my team leader, Frank Longbottom, one of my senior-mentors, and my department head who knows that it's best to keep information like this out of the hands of the ministry proper." Hagrid calmed down when I named Moody, one of Dumbledore's closest comrades.
"And who are you, and why are you so interested in Lupin? And how did you know my name?" He was looking really suspicious now.
"As to the last question, I was a Hogwarts student, Ravenclaw, class of 1976. We've also met in passing several times over the last three years running security at Dumbledore's various morale-boosting conventions. I'm one of the crime scene investigators on the Sirius Black case. Lupin here was requested as a character reference for both Pettigrew and Black, and has been sorely mistreated by the department of magical law enforcement today."
"But that still doesn't tell me WHO you are." Hagrid moved between Lupin and myself, picking up an umbrella as he went. I remembered that this was a man Dumbledore had trusted for nearly 40 years. It's up to our own discretion what we tell those who work outside the ministry.
"What I am about to say cannot leave this room, Hagrid." He nodded, looking confused. "My name is Lory Finnigan. As I already said, I am a Crime Scene Investigator. But I work for the Department of Mysteries, I'm an unspeakable in Magical Law Enforcement." It was a great honor to be approached by the recruiters right after I joined Moody's team. I'm not sure, but I think he recommended me.
The department acts as a kind of check and balance within the ministry itself, and as a depository for all the information that goes through the entire ministry on any given day. There are unspeakables within every department, though no one knows who they are, what they do, or how many. We hold duel assignments, working openly in the one department, but ultimately reporting to the Mysteries. There are those who work solely for the department, but they're mostly senior ministers or researchers.
Hagrid let out a low whistle and lowered his umbrella. "Well, no wonder you keep quiet about all that." He looked back at Lupin who wasn't moving that much. I walked over and checked his breathing, eye response, and pulse.
"Hagrid, I know you work a lot with magical creatures. What do you know about werewolves?"
"A bit from when he was at Hogwarts, why?" He seemed taken aback with the abrupt change of topic.
"I know the bite, and the monthly transformation changes their physiology a lot. I've seen other cases of veritaserum poisoning in average humans, but I've never seen a reaction quite this bad." He suddenly became all business while he checked Lupin over.
He quickly decided he was out of his depth when Lupin started having seizures.
While Hagrid restrained Lupin, I ran to the windowsill and scribbled a message to Carly, our team's expert on magical maladies and injuries telling her to get here quickly. I watched the owl float off into the night, and turned to help Hagrid.
About a ½ hour later we heard the sound of footsteps on our landing. Carly and Madame Pomfrey came running in.
"I was with her on rounds when your owl arrived. How is he? What's happened?" Carly sounded calm, even though she was moving quickly to Lupins side.
"Veritaserum Poisening, possibly also a bad inter-reaction reaction to stimulants." He's not having seizures right now, but he's had two in the last 30 minutes. Shock, and dehydration are both real possibilities. We'd take him to Mungo's, but he's a werewolf."
"Got it, we'll take it from here. Lory, I've got you covered- go back and report. Team, let's see if we can pull him through this."
I looked back once as I crossed the room. Lupin looked more dead than alive.
And I'm not sure he's going to thank us in the morning.
I went back to work. There was no way I could sleep tonight. I sent the Ministry owl back to wait in case Carly needed anything.
November 6, 1981Four days later while our team was preparing to present our findings and speculations, and request more time for investigating our unanswered questions- when we were told that yet again, the presentation wouldn't be necessary. Because of his family tree, Sirius Black was charged and sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban for the murders.
All Frank, and I could do was to put a copy of the final report, photos, and sketches into our growing file, filled with the cases we considered unsolved but had been officially closed. He added Sirius Black's name to his ever-growing list of people that went to prison without trial. Our team-leader Moody had requested us to keep this list updated for him. I was also adding the death-dates for the ones who died in prison.
I was never able to put a firm reason on things at the time, but I had a feeling Sirius was being punished for something he didn't do while the other duelist received an Order of Merlin first class medal posthumously for the confronting the supposed death-eater and traitor.
I became Lupin's shadow for most of the two years following the interrogation. I ran into Hagrid helping Lupin home one night, and he asked me to help him. Hagrid cared for all magical creatures, even the ones who were human 27 days of the moon-cycle. We were both more afraid for him then of him. And we did our best to make sure that even in his worst stupor no one bothered him between the bars he frequented and the holes he lived in.
We also sat vigil many full moons outside the various sheds, shacks, and barns that he holed up in to be sure for his sake he didn't get loose. And we checked on Lupin in the early mornings while he was still asleep, to be sure he didn't hurt himself overly much. I got to know Hagrid fairly well during that time. Various aurors, unspeakables, and hit men stalked him as well, but as soon as it was known that I was following him with the unofficial approval of my department, that soon diminished.