Chapter Twenty Three – Questions and Contradictions
"Agent Cromwell," Director Buford began, "You've had a few days to review the Black files. What have you found?"
"I think I've found one of Riddle's moles in the Ministry," Cromwell responded. They were beginning the weekly staff meeting.
"What do you mean?" Director Buford.
"Well, judging by the files, Kinsley Shacklebolt is either the most incompetent cop on the planet or he's working for Riddle. And I know he's not incompetent."
"How can you be so sure it's not incompetence?" Marshall asked.
"Because I've read a number of the case files where Shacklebolt was either involved or the primary," Cromwell responded. "The man is a damn good cop. Up until now I would have said he was one of their best. He's professional, follows procedure and has the rare instinct to know when not to follow procedure. He's closed some tough cases. That's the reason he was assigned to find Black in the first place. He's definitely covering."
"Ok, can you explain what makes you so certain," Director Buford said. "The file looks pretty thick to me and according to our moles Shacklebolt has Aurors from all over the world chasing after Black."
"It's not so much what's in the files, as what's not in the files," Cromwell replied. "Shacklebolt is dispatching Aurors in response to any possible sighting. The odd thing is the number of sightings that come from 'anonymous' sources. It's true in any investigation this size you're going to get a lot of tips, many from unidentified sources. But not over three quarters of them. And in most of those cases you'll at least get enough information to track the source down. No such information appears the files. Add to that the lack of true follow ups. Shacklebolt dispatches people but he doesn't have them do very many interviews. It's like they're going through the motions because he knows there is nothing there to find."
"Anything else?" Director Buford said.
"The most telling omission is background information," Cromwell said. "Shacklebolt's never interviewed any of Black's former friends or associates. No interviews with surviving family members. Most notably, nobody went back to Azkaban and interviewed the other Death Eaters. I admit the odds on getting useful information out of them is low, but basic procedure says you at least try. For that matter he hasn't interviewed suspected Death Eaters or people who worked for Riddle who claimed they were under Imperious Curses. They could provide information on old safe houses, behaviors, habits any number of things that could lead to Black."
"How many friends can Black have left?" Marshall said. "He did kill two of his supposedly best friends from school."
"From reviewing old Hogwarts' yearbooks I know there is a forth member of his little group still out there," Cromwell replied. "Remus Lupin is still alive. But no one has interviewed him. In fact from what I've read in file there has been no contact at all with Lupin. If the guy who murdered two of my best friends was running around I'd be all over the cops everyday 'til they found him."
"Lupin?" Director Buford paused in thought. "Why does that name seem familiar?"
"He was one the revolving door DADA teachers at Hogwarts a couple of years ago," Cromwell replied. "He was forced out when they learned he was a werewolf."
"Now I remember," Director Buford replied. "Continue."
"There is one other big thing missing," Cromwell said. "No one has ever searched Black's former residences. That's police 101."
"Why haven't the other Aurors noticed any of this?" Lady Aydin asked.
"His team is in constant rotation," Cromwell responded. "I doubt he keeps anybody there long enough to see the pattern. Which is another indication that he's deliberately covering for Black. It's also fortunate that he reports directly to the Minister and not any of the senior Aurors. They'd almost certainly spot the holes in the files. Fudge on the other hand would just note that lots of stuff is being done. He's not a cop. He doesn't know what to look for."
"In other words the files are a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing," Director Buford said. "So how do you proceed from here?"
"It's really telling that nobody has searched Black's former residences," Cromwell said. "An omission like that, even a cursory examination of the file by a professional would notice. We know the Black family was loyal to Riddle. It's a fair guess that they made their homes available as safe houses for other Death Eaters. They're probably also protected by some serious concealment charms. With Shacklebolt at the Ministry I'd say Black is using them again."
"The Black family was one the first to move to London after the founding of the Enclaves," Lady Aydin said. "The location of their estates should be in our files," Lady Aydin shook her head. "Shacklebolt has people chasing all over the globe and Black might be right here in London."
"A couple of weeks ago a tip came into the Aurors about a possible sighting in London," Cromwell said. "According to the file Shacklebolt handled it personally and determined that the sighting was false and the trail cold."
"Cromwell," Director Buford nodded his head. "Check our archives for the location of the Black family's estates. We'll dispatch Agent Grayden to check them. Major Chisholm."
"Yes Sir," came the rapid response.
"I want a couple of your people to accompany him," Director Buford said. "Black murdered thirteen people in cold blood. This is strictly recon but I want to make sure we're prepared."
"Yes Sir," Major Chisholm replied. "I know just the lads for the job."
"So how are we doing," Willow asked. She had just returned from Cleveland the day before and was still working off the jet lag. She was meeting with core team dealing with Wizarding world. Eric and Faye were present along with a couple of other Slayers.
"Research located what we were looking for," Faye said. "I sent a couple of my Slayers to Romania to retrieve it."
"Jennifer called this morning," Eric said. "She said MI5 has a probable lead on Black's location. Hopefully we'll be able to actually start doing something soon."
Dawn came into the room at that moment. "Sorry I'm late guys. I was talking with the Rio office. Some weirdo sea demon popped up yesterday. We're still trying to identify it. Hey Willow," Dawn gave her a hug. "Sorry I didn't catch you when you got in yesterday. But I didn't want to get in Kennedy's way."
Willow blushed. "It was a happy homecoming. How are things looking on your front?"
"I've been going through the historical information MI5 provided about the Wizarding world," Dawn replied. "The more I read the more strange the reaction to Riddle seems."
"What do you mean?" Eric asked.
"The whole not being able to say the name Voldemort," Dawn started. "Aside from being kind of pathetic is way out character from the Wizarding worlds responses to similar threats in the past."
"Examples please," Willow said.
"Early 1940's a Wizard by the name of Grindelwald appears on the scene," Dawn said. "Very dangerous. Gathers a large following, begins attacking people. Kind of similar to Riddle now. But unlike Riddle, the various Ministries begin a coordinated response. There are taskforces set up to track down and capture his followers. The population is kept informed. Civilians actively aid the Aurors in finding Grindelwald's followers. Basically a very robust response to a serious threat. Within two years most of his organization was broken. Grindelwald himself was on the run. This Albus Dumbledore guy, working with the Aurors, tracked him and his remaining followers down and finished them off."
"Now contrast that with Riddle," Dawn said. "When he first appeared, there was no coordinated response. Most Ministries didn't acknowledge the problem existed. He was able to cement his position and grow his organization unmolested. Likewise when everybody finally did recognize the danger, its like they just rolled over and played dead. The Ministry in London was paralyzed. Obviously heavily infiltrated by Riddle's followers. Similar problems were present at the other Ministries as well. During his terror campaign almost no Death Eaters were ever captured. In fact only Dumbledore, Elder Sinclair and an Auror named Moody are credited with capturing multiple Death Eaters during that time."
"So within the course of single generation they went from competent to rollovers," Eric said. "You're right. That's weird."
"It gets better," Dawn said. "After Riddle disappeared the Ministries responses went back to being competent. There was a coordinated effort to locate Death Eaters. Granted, a lot of cases turned into jokes and some bad guys clearly got away but the organization was broken. They were forced completely underground."
"And it looks like something similar is happening now," Willow said. "The Ministry is paralyzed and doing nothing. They don't even acknowledge the threat. So what is it about Riddle that makes him so unique? Why does he get a response like this when nobody else has?"
"All good questions," Dawn said. "Ones I don't have answers too yet. It is worth noting that the increase in 'pranks' began almost three years ago. But they were being reported and prosecuted. The cover-ups along with the severity of the 'pranks' started right after the 'Dark Mark' appeared. Like some kind of switch was turned on."
"Here's another question," Monique, one of the other Slayers, said. "Why hasn't Lady Aydin informed the Ministry of what's going on a make them acknowledge the threat?"
"A couple of reasons," Dawn said. "One, the odds are the Ministry won't believe her. We're muggles, and from what I understand they don't think we know anything about magic and couldn't tell them anything useful. At least they haven't believed anything MI5's tried to warn them about in the past. Two, MI5 is certain Riddle's people have heavily infiltrated the Ministry. Anything we tell them, he'll know in a matter of hours. Our chief advantage is surprise. Working with the Ministry means no surprise."
"We are talking about going in and potentially killing some of their people," Monique noted. "That can't be Kosher."
"Actually under the terms of the Covenant it is," Dawn said.
"I can't wait to hear this explanation," Monique said.
"Under the terms of the Covenant, the Crown has absolute authority of life and death over everyone living inside the Enclaves," Dawn said. "It's a power they've only rarely exercised over the centuries. The most recent being the assassination of several Death Eaters thirteen years ago. The Wizarding world is part of the British Commonwealth. The people living inside of the enclaves, regardless of what country they live in now are, technically speaking, subject to Crown law. The Crown has been content to let Wizards govern themselves so long as they stay within the enclaves. But the original agreement still stands."
"In other words," Eric said. "So long as Lady Aydin has authorization from the Queen and the Prime Minister, MI5 can pretty much do whatever they want to in the enclaves and Wizarding world has no legal recourse."
"That's it in a nutshell," Dawn replied. "The Crown was pretty crafty when they negotiated the original deal with the Wizards. The major restriction on the Crown's ability to act was the compulsion spell. They were limited to using only those under the direct authority of the Crown's representative. With that out of the way, MI5 has much greater freedom of action."
"Ok," Willow said. "Since it sounds like we're going to be able to go ahead with our plan soon. I'll start setting up the house."
"You've taken care of the paperwork?" Eric asked.
"There's absolutely no way to link it back to the Council," Willow replied. "I just got a chance to practice my 'cleaning' spells so when we leave there will be no trace that we were ever there."
"How long until we're ready?" Dawn asked.
"My team should be back in two days," Faye said.
"We'll have the house set up in by the end of the week," Willow said.
"Then by next week we can pull the trigger," Dawn said. "All we'll need is word that MI5 found Black and is ready to make their move on him."