"Laws should apply also to those who make them." (Anonymous)
Eleanor Sartorius surveyed the startled, big-eyed faces of her second-year Defense against the Dark Arts students. She used her wand to put out the fire she had started at the back of the classroom and held up the black concave glass mirror she had used to direct magical energy.
"Okay, let's try this. I need two volunteers. Very good, Hendrijk, Olga, come up front. Now Hendrijk, I want you to protect yourself first. Step behind that screen here, and prepare yourself. Use the shielding spells I have taught you. Olga, here take the mirror, focus your thoughts and then when you feel they are strong enough, use the mirror to direct them. Think of the concave surface as a lens that bundles your energy. Those of you, who know about muggle technology, could also visualize a laser."
She placed the girl on the chair in front of the class. "Ready? Okay, give it a try. Nothing drastic, though. We are already in the school nurse's bad books."
Everyone was watching as the second-year concentrated and then lifted and pointed the mirror. A moment later Hendrijk dashed out from behind the screen, yelling. Eleanor hissed in disgust. "Focus, boy! So your robes are on fire, you know a spell for that! Use it!"
But the student was too distressed to counteract the hex and she hurried over and doused the flames with a spell. "Merlin's toenails! What's the point of studying defense when you panic at the first sign of an attack? Five points from the House of Water!" She took a look at the boy and decided to send him to the infirmary for a draught of ash water, a potion that counteracted burns.
"Olga, come over here. I told you: nothing drastic. What is your understanding of drastic, if I may enquire? Don't answer that. I don't want to find out. Fifteen points to be deduced from House of Air for your reckless behavior." She allowed herself a small smile. "Five points to be added for House of Air, because that was an excellent first performance. Good focus and execution."
She was calling out two other students, finding that the class' enthusiasm for trying the new technique had dropped off a little, when suddenly a large snow owl swooped through the long hall and perched on her desk with an urgent hoot. The bird was unfamiliar to her and seemed quite exhausted. "Right," she demanded. "Everyone knows owls in private quarters, common rooms and the dining hall only. Whose is this?"
Blank stares from everyone. She instructed the new attack and defense pair to take their positions and glanced at the owl's message. It was addressed to her, looked official and bore a confidentiality seal from a law firm in London. She felt her stomach churn, and briefly petted the owl. "Go, perch over there," she instructed the bird. "I'll have time for you in a few minutes."
She had to fight hard to focus on her class while the student wielding the mirror caused his victim to shrink at a rather alarming rate. However the recipient of the spell fought back, and the class erupted in laughter as a gangly blond boy disappeared into his robes only to grow back to his normal size.
She awarded both pupils house points and then gave the class their homework. "For next week I want you to each construct your own magical mirror. You can get the concave glass disks from the alchemy supplies in the keep of Professor Stolcius, and the janitor has black paint. Put personal sigils on the backs of your mirrors that you feel will enhance their power. You are also welcome to practice amongst yourselves on volunteers. But if I find anyone getting up to mischief and remotely hexing other students or teachers without their consent, I will see to it that your spells backfire – severely! Class dismissed."
With the usual chatter and racket her students packed up their books and utensils and tramped out of the large vaulted chamber that served as the defense classroom. It was time for lunch. As the last student had left, she walked over to her messenger and with trembling fingers untied the message from the owl's foot. She broke the seal and unfurled the elegantly penned note.
"Attn. Professor E. Sartorius,
I am writing to you at the instruction of Mr. Lucius Malfoy, my client. A rather unfortunate event has necessitated that I get in contact with you. Yesterday Mr. Malfoy was arrested on charges of conspiracy, attempted robbery and reckless endangerment of minors. He is currently being held by the Ministry at Azkaban prison for questioning.
I have clear orders to meet with you at our offices in Knockturn Alley in this event and give into your care certain effects that Mr. Malfoy has left with us. Please make an appointment and meet me as soon as you are able.
Yours respectfully Marcellus Tethering, Advocatus
Law Firm of Belisarius & Tethering
42 C Knockturn Alley
London"
Eleanor sat down hard on one of the tables. What she had feared had really happened. Lucius had been doing Voldemort's work, and he had been caught and arrested. The game was finally up.
All of her impulses drove her to London to find out what happened, to see if she could help. She needed to see Tethering that very day if she could. She thought quickly. The second year class had been the last for the day. The quiddich match this afternoon she could miss. It was between House of Air and House of Earth, and of course Victor Krum's team would win – no surprise there. She called a house elf, gave him a message for the head mistress to let her know she had left on urgent business, and then enchanted a portkey to apparate behind the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley.
After the usual pulling sensation and rush she felt herself materialize near a group of people who were agitatedly chatting together looking at a large poster that was pasted to the back wall of the pub. She winced as she felt the talons of Advocatus Tethering's owl dig into her shoulder and edged up to the wizards and witches.
"You-Know-Who Lives!" read the blood red headline of the poster. Below were printed instructions on how to protect oneself and deal with the threat. It seemed the Ministry was also trying to enforce a curfew. She snorted in disgust. Hell, the man had been out and about for two years now, with absolutely no one taking notice.
Before anyone could turn and talk to her she walked away and pushed through the crowds towards the narrow stone stairs that led to the less reputable part of the wizarding quarter. At the entrance to Knockturn Alley some aurors in civilian clothes were trying to loiter inconspicuously, surveying the crowd. She recognized two of them as former students of hers from Durmstrang, and waved at them, before she made her way down the steps. The two youngsters looked decidedly uncomfortable at being identified, but didn't challenge her.
Two thirds down the crooked cobble-stoned street and a few narrow crumbling houses past Borgin and Burke's she saw faded gold lettering in an old half-blind window. Law Office of Belisarius & Tethering. Advocati since 413 AD. Quando pagas te defendiamus – If you can pay, we'll defend you. She lifted an eyebrow. That sounded about right for the ethical and moral credo of an advocatus in the employ of the Malfoy family. The owl nibbled at her earlobe impatiently and she turned. "Yes, all right, I'm going in already," she promised the bird.
When she opened the tall, creaking wood door, she found herself in for a surprise: instead of some small dingy office she had stepped into a magnificent hallway. The walls were upholstered in blood-red dragonhide and the floor was paved with huge slabs of alabaster that reflected the light of candle-covered crystal chandeliers. Obviously the clients of Belisarius and Tethering paid very, very well. She paused and looked around. The owl hooted softly and took off down the hall.
Eleanor blinked in amazement as a stunningly beautiful, black-clad woman with raven black hair glided towards her. The witch's skin was as pale as the alabaster floor and her crimson lips curved in a disdainful smile as she addressed her visitor. "May I enquire as to your business here, madam?" She revealed two perfect, razor-sharp white fangs, and Eleanor barely kept her composure as she realized that the advocati employed an actual honest-to-goddess vampire. This was highly irregular.
She swallowed, feeling somewhat boorish before the ethereal beauty of the undead. "I am here to see Advocatus Tethering with regards to his client Lucius Malfoy. My name is Eleanor Sartorius, and I am afraid I do not have an appointment."
The vampire immediately wiped the arrogant smile off her face and surveyed Eleanor with newfound interest. "Oh, Professor, you are expected. Anything relating to Lucius Malfoy is always treated with the highest priority. We are all very shocked and saddened by his recent arrest. I am Desdemona, by the way." She stretched out a pale skeletal hand and motioned for Eleanor to follow her into the depths of the building.
Finally they arrived before a tall door and Desdemona put her fingers on the handle, but before she opened the office, the vampire suddenly leaned in, bringing her pale face right to Eleanor's ear. The witch felt a deathly chill spread outwards from the slender form next to her and shuddered. "So, my dear, how do you find Lucius? Delicious, yes?" Eleanor took a surprised and offended step back at the sudden familiarity. "What?" "Oh, do not pretend otherwise. I know what he's left you, and he would not indulge someone like that without reason. You are obviously in his favor. Humor my curiosity, please. Of course we were together a long, long time ago." The vampire smiled wistfully.
Eleanor shook her head. "If you were, than we both know what we're talking about. No need to discuss it." She assessed the lawyers' employee. "I wonder why he ever gave you up," she said calmly, honestly acknowledging the other woman's beauty and charisma. Desdemona flashed her a feral smile. "He didn't want to risk getting bitten, and I was getting harder and harder to control, I'm afraid." Eleanor shrugged. "Pity for you, lucky for me," she stated coolly. The vampire hissed quietly and finally opened the door for her. "Mr. Tethering," she called out. "Professor Sartorius here to see you." Without another word or glance back she turned on her heel and moved noiselessly towards the entrance hall.
Eleanor stepped into a lavishly furnished office and focused on the man who had risen behind his desk. The wizard who stepped forward to greet her looked out of place in his elegant surroundings. He seemed completely unremarkable, appeared to be of the age of a muggle of about sixty and wore drab grey robes. He sported a small pointed goatee and his narrow face was surrounded by an unruly mop of spiny grey hair. However, as she walked up to him to greet him, she noticed the keen light in his narrow dark eyes and realized that there had to be few things that escaped the sharp intelligence of Lucius' advocatus. She would not underestimate this man, and he might prove a capable and powerful allay in her fight to salvage the mess Lucius had gotten himself into.
"I felt the situation was too urgent to wait," she explained. "I hope I am not inconveniencing you." Tethering shook her hand and motioned for her to sit down. "Absolutely not," he assured her. "This is a very grave problem, and Mr. Malfoy informed me that you might be able to help us in organizing his defense." "Of course," she replied. "I will assist in any way I can." Tethering walked over to a cabinet and bent down to retrieve a parcel from a sealed drawer. He placed it before her. "First of all I would like to discharge my duty towards my client and put these objects in your care. Mr. Malfoy wanted you to have them. Please feel free to examine them."
Eleanor broke the seal with the Malfoy crest of a serpent that was stamped on the twine wrapped around the parcel and stripped off the heavy vellum to reveal a beautifully carved wooden box with a hinged lid. She opened it and found a bound black leather notebook, a heavy brass key and a letter inside. The key she identified as a Gringott's vault key. She next unfolded the letter and immediately recognized Lucius' powerful and elegant handwriting.
"My dear Eleanor,
When you are reading this note you will already know that the Dark Lord's plans have gone awry and that I am either dead or imprisoned as a consequence. It pains me to have finally proved you right.
I am leaving certain things in your care that I feel no one else would use or appreciate in the way you could. The key opens an unmarked vault at Gringotts that contains a part of my magical library (the darkest part, as you can imagine), my alchemistical equipment and a few personal effects that I flatter myself may have some sentimental value to you. (No, my riding crop is not among them, in case you wondered…)
The black book contains two lifetimes' worth of work (my father's and my own) regarding the underbelly of our world. Use it, abuse it, and live a little, my dear. It will give you leverage beyond belief. Have fun with it. I will not insult you by leaving you money.
If I am imprisoned I hope that I have earned your affections to the point where you will help my trusted lawyer Advocatus Tethering in securing my release, or at least a more lenient sentence. However, if the choice should stand between death and life imprisonment, I hope that you find the mercy in you to have me executed.
If I am dead I will reiterate my advice that I gave you when we first met and that I abandoned in the years that followed for selfish reasons of keeping you with me. Go, marry a decent pureblooded wizard, forget about me and ensure the survival of your blood-line.
So, my love, I leave you. Raise hell, follow your will, be the granddaughter of Falco Sartorius, and never, ever, regret anything!
Love, Lucius."
She slowly lowered the soft vellum of his letter, biting back a sob. She could hear him speak those words to her, his voice smooth and gravelly at the same time, supercilious, ironic and tender, sending shivers down her spine. But the last line just killed her. "Love, Lucius." He had never signed himself like this. Love had never been an option, until now when, apparently, it was too late for everything.
She folded up the parchment and blinked before she lifted up the black book and found that it was magically sealed. "Nemo me impune lacessit," appeared in flaming script on the font of it as she tried to open it. She smiled. Lucius had used the motto of his family: "No one provokes me unpunished." She gently ran her fingers over the soft calfskin. "Vive lumine, disce opacum," she intoned her family credo. "Live in the light, know the shadow." The book opened with a soft rustle and she looked at the handwritten notes.
The first third of the book was filled with a forceful, slanting script that had to be the writing of Octavian Malfoy, Lucius' father. The rest showed Lucius' own bold, fluid writing. As she began to read, she gasped in amazement. The book contained dirt on everyone and anyone: Fudge for example had apparently embezzled money to pay an outrageous jewelry bill his wife had run up with a craftsman in Hong Kong.
The Unspeakable Walter Soren had slept with an underage witch by the name of Asphodela Richards. She read Lucius' note about the girl and felt mildly sick: "Fifteen, precocious, clever, very skilled for her age and greedy for money. Likes having her pictures taken while on assignment. Could be used for about another two or three set-ups before she comes of age, possible candidates; A.F.C., auror, and G.V.B., Ministry Consul in Paris. Both like their prey young. Commission some school robes from Mrs. Malkin and advise A.R. on dyeing her hair black for A.F.C."
Eleanor flipped the page and read a later entry that read. "A.F.C. compromised, knows pictures can be sent to his wife and superiors." She surveyed the enchanted moving pictures pasted beneath the entry and choked. It didn't get much more explicit than that. She was not surprised that even someone like Lucius had judged young Asphodela as very skilled.
Some blackmail scenarios had a brief note behind them, "favor called in", that seemed to indicate that Lucius had already used his leverage. He seemed to have a warped business sense about his transactions in sordidness, as he apparently did not use a scenario repeatedly for extortion. 'Ever the gentleman dark wizard,' she thought as she lifted her head.
She closed the book and suddenly felt a fierce resolve in her that frightened her. She realized that in a certain way she held the key to Lucius future in her hands. How far would she go to help him? Would she resort to blackmail? Would she have the stomach to make these people regret their own failings to the extent that her lover's crimes would blanch in comparison? It suddenly looked to her, as if she could really free him with this tool he had given her.
Tethering cleared his throat and she met his eyes. He seemed to assess her with cool detachment as if he knew exactly what she was thinking about. "I see that you understand the value of Mr. Malfoy's legacy. For you, and perhaps for him, should you be inclined to help us."
She carefully placed the letter and the book back in the box. "I need to know more first. What are his prospects? Is anyone else on the case? What are you planning to do? Is his wife involved in any efforts on his behalf?" she asked, trying to remain calm and noncommittal. Before taking the plunge into crime herself, she wanted to know what she would be saving Lucius from.
Tethering leaned forwards in his chair, placing his hands flat on the table. He seemed somewhat agitated now. "This investigation and the Ministry's reactions are highly irregular. For example, I have not been allowed access to my client. I know that he has already been questioned extensively under Veritaserum, as have his associates, none of them with a lawyer present. This is illegal, but does not seem to bother anyone. It seems that the re-emergence of Voldemort has simply suspended our entire, centuries-old legal system. I could not even tell you for sure right now whether the captured Death Eaters are being tortured or not. The only circumstance in our favor is the desertion of the Dementors. At least the aurors cannot inflict unlimited mental anguish."
Eleanor stared at the advocatus in shock. "Can they do that?" Tethering leaned back, trying to calm himself. "Apparently they just have," he said with an air of resignation. "So with the current situation being this unpredictable, it is hard to say what the sentences will be like. I am sure there will be a large faction of the wizengamot judges and citizens that would favor the death penalty, simply out of fear. A dead man poses no threat. Lifetime imprisonment may be seen as risky by many with Voldemort at large and without the Dementors securing the prisoners."
"But death penalties have been carried out by Dementor's Kiss for centuries now," objected Eleanor. "With them gone, how would they execute the Death Eaters?" Tethering's lips twitched. "Your guess is as good as mine. There are a lot of ways to separate body from spirit. Some are less pleasant than others, as you will know. I'm sure they'll find a way, probably less pleasant. After all, a Dementor's Kiss isn't exactly a walk in the park, either."
Eleanor felt suddenly cold, sick and shaky. She pictured Lucius, the way she had seen him only last Saturday morning when she had woken up next to him, but now in her mind his face changed. What would he look like after weeks of questioning, under torture perhaps, after a rushed and unfair show-trial, only to be put to death in a public execution? What would they do, behead him, hang him, poison him – would they revert to the old muggle atrocity of burning him at the stake?
Tethering walked over to a cabinet and poured her a hot tea from a samovar. He stepped around the table and put the cup in front of her. "Here, you look like you need it," he said not unkindly. She lifted the translucent porcelain cup and took a sip of the strong hot brew, noticing that her hands trembled. She inhaled deeply.
"What are our options?" she asked and then surprised herself at her next words. "Will Voldemort intervene?" Tethering flinched. "I would prefer if you did refer to him as the Dark Lord," he suggested. Then he shrugged his shoulders. "Mr. Malfoy tells me you are not a Death Eater. As I am neither, we can only speculate. I believe, however, from previous cases that I have handled that the Dark Lord typically finds his followers expendable, especially, if they have made statements to the aurors. And as the Ministry officials have used Veritaserum on Mr. Malfoy in an unchecked manner that will surely have been the case. Frankly, I would not count on it, Professor."
Eleanor took another sip. "So is Narcissa taking any steps to aid her husband?" Tethering snorted. "She has been soliciting the services of another law office in Diagon Alley for some time now. But as far as I know she has not made any move in the matter at all. Should Mr. Malfoy be executed she and her family would find themselves in the position of being heirs to a rather large estate. I do not think it's in her best interest to get involved at all."
Eleanor considered this and sat up straight, facing Tethering across the desk. "So you are telling me, it's us or no one," she stated. "Us against the rest of the Black family, against the Dark Lord, against the entire Ministry and legal authorities and against the public." The elderly lawyer flashed her an almost boyish grin. "Fun, eh?" She shook her head and drank down the last of her tea. "Suicidally evil and heroic," she agreed. Before she could review her decision, she had pulled Lucius' black book back out of the box and slammed it down on the dark wood of the desk before her.
"Fine," she said. "Let's rake up some serious muck. Who do we have to get to, to turn this situation around?" The advocatus gave her an appreciative look. "I believe Mr. Malfoy was not mistaken in his assessment of you. Let me get some help." He touched a bell, and a moment later the vampire Desdemona opened the door. "Des, get Belisarius. Come back with him. We will be leaning on some people." The woman glanced over to Eleanor for a moment, flashing her fangs at her, and then turned back.
A few minutes later a tall, portly gentleman entered the room. His dark brown curls were arranged around his pale, sensuous face with flawless precision and he wore elaborate robes that seemed to date back to the times of the Byzantine empire. He spoke with an accent Eleanor could not place. "Gaius Belisarius, at your service." They shook hands. Desdemona followed right behind him and pulled up two chairs. She helped her employer to settle in, then slid into the other chair as if she possessed no bones.
Tethering, who now truly looked like a grey, Kafkaesque bureaucrat in comparison to his colorful associates poured tea for Eleanor, Belisarius and himself and a goblet of red liquid for their assistant and smiled. "We are commencing Operation Malfoy. Professor Sartorius has agreed to release the information we need to start taking control of his lawsuit. My suggestion would be to identify the scenarios that would give us the most productive leverage and pursue them relentlessly, until we have achieved our objective."
Eleanor had the distinct impression of sitting among a pack of vultures about to consume some freshly-hunted cadaver. She placed her hand on the book, very well aware that she was as close as she'd ever get to making a pact with the devil. "Before we begin, I'd like to propose a few basic rules," she said, forcing a look of self-possessed arrogance on her face.