Maria Hanuschak: It was almost two months after Mikhail graduated that Papa left us for a few days. He came back with Onco and told us that Uncle Tom would not be returning. Onco stayed for a few days; he, Papa and Josef spent most of the time to themselves. Then, Onco left with Josef. A week or so later, men came; they called themselves Aurors, and they took Papa away. They asked John and me many questions. Mama would not answer any. A man with a long beard took me into a room to ask me questions; he said his name was Albus and that I had nothing to fear from him. He offered me lemon drops. I was still scared though.
"Why did you take Papa?" I asked him before he had even shut the door.
"Do you know what a Death Eater is?" he asked as he looked gravely down at me. I would like to think he pitied me then, in that moment and perhaps he did. Fear was also present though, as if someone had told him something about me that perturbed him.
"Is that what you call a man who has the snake on his arm?" His eyes widened as I asked that.
"Yes. Do you know what they, the men with the snakes on their arm, do?"
I said, "They go to the dungeons when they are here."
"Have you ever seen them do anything?" he asked.
"No, Mama would never let us down into the dungeons, even when they weren't here."
"How many men have you seen with a snake on their arm?" I did not want to tell him about Onco or Uncle Tom or the man with the black hair. I was afraid they were going to take them all away from me, just like they did Papa.
"Can you name any Maria?" Albus asked. I looked down; I did not want to answer him.
"Are you afraid they are going to hurt you if you tell us?"
"No," I sobbed, "They won't hurt me; I'm afraid that you are going to hurt them. Why are you taking them all away?" I began to cry. Albus gave me his handkerchief when my nose started to run.
"Maria, it is very important that we know their names if you know them. They have hurt some people, these men with the snakes on their arms…,"Albus tried to say.
"Papa would never hurt anyone," I interjected.
"He may not have, but we have to know who did. Some of these men did hurt people and they need to be told that what they did was wrong," he told me sternly, but gently.
I sat for a long time thinking about what Albus had said. I did not want bad men to get away, but how could Papa or Onco ever hurt anyone? What of Uncle Tom? He liked to watch the rain, how could he hurt anyone?
"Uncle Tom had the mark, and Papa, Onco Lucius, and a man with black hair did too. Please don't hurt them, especially the man with black hair. He played a song for me on our piano once," I begged of him.
"He did?"
"Yes, he did. He was always very nice to me. So was Uncle Tom."
"Would you tell me about you Uncle Tom?" he asked me then. I remember looking down and thinking that if I said anything, it would be betraying Uncle, but Papa had said he was not coming back. I told Albus everything.
"Thank you Maria. You have been a very helpful to us. May I ask you questions again if I think you can answer them?" he asked when I was finished.
"Yes, sir," I said, and he left.
Chief Warlock Greene: Could you define "everything" for the court please?
Maria Hanuschak: I told him about the Legilimency lessons, watching the rain together, and how he spent most of his time in dungeons when at our home. I also stated how Papa had said he wasn't coming back.
Chief Warlock Greene: Thank you. You may proceed.