Author's Note: Many thanks go to LuthAn for her amazing beta of this story.

The Magical War Detective I: The New Protector
Chapter Two: The Lady in Question
Part I

Wednesday, November 13, 1974
Department of Magical Law Enforcement, London

Alice Pevensey sat on a battered couch in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement waiting room reviewing the morning paper. She found reading the Daily Prophet a depressing necessity; even when the news was bad she needed to stay informed. Sorrow tinged even good news these days: the newborn babe named for a grandmother vanished over a year ago, the wizard who fought the Imperius Curse but only after he was forced to reveal information on his neighbours.

"Miss Pevensey?" Alice looked up at an owl-eyed man she knew to be Mr. Weatherby, Crouch's secretary, standing in the waiting room doorway.

"Yes?" Alice said as she leapt to her feet, unable to keep the eagerness from her voice; she hoped she was about to be hired. She doubted she would have been asked to come to the Ministry in person for a rejection.

Weatherby regarded her for a moment. Just when Alice was starting to feel uncomfortable, he produced a letter from the pocket of his robes. "Mr. Crouch instructed me to give this to you personally."

Alice accepted the letter. It felt too thick to be a rejection. She touched her wand to the seal - a fanciful 'C' and a hippogriff. Crouch's seal, Alice thought with awe. It took an effort of will to keep from running her finger across the hardened wax, but she was determined not to behave like a giddy schoolgirl.

She glanced up from her examination of the letter to find that Weatherby had already disappeared. There were no witnesses if this was to be a simple dismissal. Alice took a deep breath, and whispered the spell that would break the seal.

To: Miss Alice Pevensey
From: Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Sr.
Subject: Application to Department of Magical Law Enforcement

You have been accepted by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement office in St. Peter Port, Guernsey. Should you choose to accept this position please report to Ministry Annex, room 311 for further information. Be advised that your presence is requested in Guernsey as soon as possible.

When Alice finished reading the letter she could not decide whether to accept it and be pleased or crumple it up and feel insulted. It was not an invitation to become an Auror, but it was a job in the D.M.L.E. and she could always apply for a transfer to the Auror Office or the Hit Wizards. She scanned the rest of the document. At least the pay would be decent. Even the smallest Ministry salary was nothing for a witch with barely two knuts to rub together to sneer at.

Alice decided to accept the position. If she did not find a job soon she would have to ask her family for gold and she had no intention of doing that. The documents directed her to down the hall to an office by Magical Equipment Control to pick up her supplies. The clerk was a rather chatty Ministry witch with a cousin on Guernsey gave her advice about finding a place to stay in St Peter Port.

As she was leaving, lugging an imposing book of regulations that refused to shrink and a packet of official papers, she met a tight-lipped Minerva McGonagall, shepherding a red-eyed girl, in the corridor. They were moving past Alice to the D.M.L.E. offices she had just left. Alice found herself stopping just outside the lift and staring back at the way she had come, wondering whether the girl had just lost all or part of her family.

"Her family was murdered last night." The headmaster's voice intruded upon Alice's thoughts. She pivoted to find Dumbledore standing by the lift doors and watching her with a grave expression.

"I thought as much," Alice said. She well recalled seeing similar faces on housemates informed of losses during her last year at Hogwarts. Until then such unpleasantness was rare. She recalled when Sara Hastings's grandmother died of dragonpox, a mundane death no one bothered to pull a student out of class to report. Now, however, there were murders, attempted murders, kidnapping, disappearances, curses and maiming.

"I understand you have been accepted into the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Dumbledore said, nodding at the supplies in her arms. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," Alice did not bother to wonder how Dumbledore knew. The headmaster's sources were legendary.

"It appears your first case will be the murder of Miss Landry's family." Dumbledore indicated the direction McGonagall and her charge had gone in.

This was news to Alice. "I hadn't heard."

"Jersey," Dumbledore sighed. "Very early this morning. I'm not surprised you were not told, information is a premium in these dark times."

Alice had the distinct impression that Dumbledore wanted her to know something, but the headmaster's roundabout way of telling her was devouring valuable time. She had to travel to Guernsey and report to a Protector called Mr. Ketterly by the end of the day.

"Sir..."

"Have you ever read the works of Oscar Wilde?"

Whatever she had been expecting, it was not that.

She blinked. "I can't say that I have." She had never even heard of Oscar Wilde and she considered herself well read.

A subdued version of the infamous twinkle appeared in Dumbledore's eyes. "I think you might soon encounter someone fond of Mr. Wilde's work. The Importance of Being Earnest."

With that, Dumbledore left her staring at him in complete confusion. After a moment Alice shook herself out of her momentary trance. She had too much to do to loiter around the Ministry. Most of Dumbledore's advice required much digestion so whatever he meant would become clear in time.

Alice returned to her room and began to pack. As she had been living out of her trunk since school, this did not take a great deal of time. As soon as all necessary items were in the trunk she Apparated back to the Ministry and caught the noon Portkey to St Peter Port, Guernsey.