Our chat with Madam Pomfrey was productive. She was able to provide accurate medical records and diagnosis of the injuries that had been inflicted and an estimation of when. She also had documented additional times that Bryson had been in after holidays with injuries that she suspected were the result of abuse. With both the statements and documents in hand, we were ready to go to Harry and ask for a warrant. We knew it had to be done quickly because Bennett Burke had nearly unlimited resources at his disposal. If word got around that we were investigating him, he would likely vanish without a trace. Possibly taking Bryson with him.

Harry looked over our documents. "Bloody hell! There is a lot here. I thought I had it bad at the Dursley's, but they didn't have magic to heal me so they knew their limits. Some of these injuries are quite extensive. And you say this is common in pureblood families?"

Malfoy shrugged. "Abuse is the easiest form of submission. It's often not to these lengths, but in families that partake in more of the pureblood ideals, it is more common."

Letting out a long breath and rubbing a hand down his face, Harry grabbed a piece of parchment. "We need to do this quick. It won't take long for him to find out we are investigating him and it's better to have him confined before word can spread. This is excellent work and more than enough for the warrant. Here it is." He signed the parchment and handed it to us. "Charge him with use of an unforgiveable for now. Not that that isn't enough, but will see what else we might be able to get to stick from there."

I grabbed the parchment and Malfoy and I took to leave.

"Do you know where he lives?" I asked as we entered our shared office to come up with strategy.

"Yes, I've actually been to their manor before. It's not as big as Malfoy Manor so we have that on our side, but there are plenty of protections in place. We will need to take precautions. There will likely be protections in place preventing anyone without pureblood from entering. If you hold my hand as we enter the property though, you should be just fine."

I nodded in understanding. It was well known that many of the ancient pureblood properties were protected in such a way. It always amazed me that it only took touching a pureblood to pass through them. One would think they would make it harder to penetrate. That was the problem with these elitists though. They assumed that others believed in their cause so forcefully that they would never associate themselves and have a need to use the work around.

"How much of a fight are you expecting that he will put up?"

"It's hard to say. He will hopefully have no idea why we are there and will greet us out of curiosity. The last thing he will suspect is that his son ratted him out. He's more likely to believe we are there in regards to a dark artefact or something. That will work to our advantage, but we will need to arrest him quickly. As soon as he knows the charge, he will try to disapparate or retaliate."

"Got it. Are you ready?"

Malfoy checked through his pockets making sure his wand was in place. "Ready. Let's go get this piece of garbage locked up where he belongs."

Being familiar with the location, I allowed Malfoy to take my hand and lead the apparition. We landed smoothly, but he held my hand as we walked to the door and I felt as we passed through the wards that would have otherwise kept me out. I tried not to shudder as the pins and needles feeling of the spell washed over me.

"I don't say this because I doubt your capabilities in any way. Please, stay behind me. You will not be a welcomed guest."

He didn't have to tell me twice. Malfoy knocked on the door and we were greeted by a house elf a few seconds later.

"Master Malfoy and a mudblood have come to visit. Why should I tell Master you are here?"

Malfoy cleared his throat. "Hello there sir, I wish to speak to Mr. Burke regarding some standard paperwork at the Ministry that needs to be filed."

The house elf eyed us skeptically, but showed us to a drawing room to wait. "

"Do you think he'll buy that?" I asked.

"Doubtful, but it will get his attention."

And so it did. It was a short time later when Bennett Burke, a beefy man in his early fifties with a sour look on his face entered the room.

"Mr. Malfoy, how dare you bring that filth into my home! Surely whatever business you have with me could have been done without soiling my rugs. They're worth a fortune you know."

I gripped my wand in my holster. While the words weren't unexpected, they still got me fired up.

Malfoy moved to stand more in front of me. I understood he was putting himself between us, but he also stood in a way that my wand hand would be blocked. He was conveying to Burke that I was unimportant while telling me he trusted me to protect him if needed.

"Don't worry about her. Just a formality I was forced to partake in." Burke gave a disgusting grunt. "I just have a few things to discuss with you if we could sit down."

He was clearly trying to put Burke off his guard to allow us to cast the spell without retaliation, but it wasn't working.

"What is this in regards to?"

Malfoy didn't have an answer that would please the wizard, so instead he took a shot at a body bind curse.

Unfortunately, Burke was faster than his stature would imply. He dodged the curse and fired off his own spell in return. The curse was aimed at me, but Malfoy pushed me out of the way and it grazed his shoulder. Blood began to ooze from the wound but the distraction, which left them both occupied, left me free to succeed in subduing our suspect. The full body bind hit Burke right in the chest and he went down hard. I secured him per protocol and went to check on Malfoy.

"Let me have a look."

He hissed as I pulled back the material of his suit jacket to check the damage.

"Hold still. It doesn't look deep." I ran a quick diagnostic. "Seems he used a simple cutting curse, let me cast the healing spell before we leave."

Waving my wand in a complicated pattern, the wound stopped bleeding and I was able to close him up.

"Thanks."

"No problem. We'll still need to get you cleaned up when we get back, but for now, let's get him locked up before he can cause any other trouble."

Malfoy levitated Burke's wand and secured it in an evidence bag before putting it in his pocket. "Bennett Burke, you are formally under arrest for performing the unforgiveable curse on your son. The formal trial will be held in a few days when the investigation is complete and your sentence will be handed down then. For now, enjoy Azkaban."

I could see the satisfaction on Malfoy's face as he placed a hand around Burke's upper arm and reached for my hand. "Lead the way, Granger."

I, too, placed my hand on Burke and led the apparition. We spent several hours filling out the mountains of paperwork that are required when bringing in a new detainee. After that, we headed back to the Ministry where Harry was waiting for an update.

"Well?" His hair was more disheveled than usual and it was clear he was worried.

"Only a minor scuffle," I turned to Malfoy, "I'll finish cleaning that up in a minute by the way." then returned to Harry. "Burke is officially in Azkaban custody. We have his wand in evidence. Given the time I thought we would register it and then perform the modified prior incantato to see if the cruciatas was used in the last several days. If it has been, we will record that, send the information to Azkaban to ensure he is kept in maximum security, and then call it a night. We will finish the rest of the paperwork tomorrow and get started on the evidence list for trial."

Harry nodded. "Sounds fair. It's late already. I'm going to get home to Ginny and James. Head out as soon as you can and don't feel bad if you come in late tomorrow. Oh, and good work today."