The Provisional Laws of Acquired Behavior or Learning

Authors Note: I have not watched Magical beasts and am purely wiki-picking useful characters and events if they behave OC then people change after a vast gulf of years anyway. I am not happy with this chapter and the next two are proving aggravating to write.
To Victor John Foxfire: No beta we die like men! At least until the entire thing is finished because if I pause for formatting I'll falter and if I ask someone else for help my writing won't improve nor will this fic be original and thank you for the constructive criticism.

Disclaimer: I don't at this time own any published work of Sega or JK Rowling, if I did I'd gut the current Sonic fandom and only allow literate people to contribute cutting the fandom back by 90% and improving the quality by the same percentage.

Magical Congress of the United States of America, 1st February 1992
Madam President Seraphina Picquery re-elected to power in Magical Congress of the United States of America, more commonly known by their acronym of MACUSA, after a long absence from the political scene, sighed as she picked up another file with age-worn hands. Her once vibrant blonde hair had faded to silver and keen brown eyes surrounded by wrinkles a mark of the time that had passed since her younger days. Duty had compelled her to return and present herself for re-election to her old office as the other candidate had been so unsuitable that she genuinely feared for her nation if the man was elected. She hadn't been the only retired president asked by the secret service no less to return, but she had been the only one to accept.
Next to her stood Captain M. P. Carneirus, A surprisingly spry for a eighty or ninety-ish-year-old wizard, he'd joined MACUSA Auror forces as a young graduate of Ilvermony straight out of school, steamrolled his way into the position of Captain of Aurors and in the stereotype of quirky wizards everywhere and refused to be promoted since then, no matter how many commendations he won all because apparently the office space of the Captain of Aurors was to die for. Still despite the eccentricity, the man was incredibly competent and as far as Seraphina was concerned it was nice to have someone on her side from the old days.
"-as you can see Madam President we have had an unforgivable ongoing breach of security for the past year" finished Captain Carneirus shifting another classified document over for her to peruse.
Seraphina took a deep measured breath as she tried to understand the enormity of the disaster facing her country "Call me Seraphina, So for all intents and purposes MACUSA's Real-Time Hex Indicator map, the Magical Exposure Threat Level Measurer and ever other monitoring device we have available to track magical outbursts have been giving off false readings for the past year while actually being completely inactive." She pulled up another file "and its highly likely that the same has happened to other countries across the pond and we are simply the first to discover it?" incredulous was not a feeling Seraphina had much experience with until now.
Captain Carneirus nodded grimly "The Chief and Director both had nervous breakdowns when they heard the news, it's the reason I'm the one delivering this debriefing and I fully expect the Director to retire. Who knows how many incidents have been seen and remained un-obliviated?"
Seraphina made a snap decision "Contact the ICW and schedule an emergency meeting with them as soon as possible in a secure location, as of now I'm declaring a Level Four Danger alert"

3rd February, Hogwarts, Seventh Floor
The silencing charms worked like literal charms, the similarly applied quake suppression enchantment glowed with a corona of suppressed heat as the black-clad witch flung blasting spell after blasting spell at the seemingly indestructible wall, Usually, the self-proclaimed greatest thief in the world used subtler methods of breaking and entry but endless days of frustration with what promised to be the motherload of ancient riches hiding just behind a wall had resulted in the entirely accidental discovery of the walls resistance to heavy-duty blasting charms.

Library, Hogwarts
Lee Jordan slept on obliviously, victim of a potent delayed sleeping draught in his dinner, destined to wake up hours later with the paragraph entitled 'A Study of Magical Geodes' printed in reverse across his face and a grumpy Madam Prince looming behind him with metaphorical fire in her eyes at the drooled and abused library book.

4th February, Forbidden Forest, The Ravine
"I think we're maybe going about this the wrong way" Maurice realised staring up at the gigantic tree Miles had selected for them to turn into a treehouse.
"What's wrong, Sugar" asked Bunnie wordlessly passing a bottle of water to him which he accepted gratefully. Maurice took a swig and gestured at the entire ravine, "I think we shouldn't be cutting down trees older than the castle, it just doesn't seem right."
"I see what you mean" spoke Neville ambling over and accepting a bottle from Bunnie sitting down on a nearby tree root with a heartfelt sigh. "We do have a whole forest to work with and building like this can't be healthy for the trees either"
"Maybe we could make some log cabins and stuff like that under the trees"
"Wouldn't the tree roots and branches disturb the foundations?"
Maurice scoffed "in a few hundred years maybe, nothing we'd have to worry about and even then there are spells."
Neville snapped his fingers in a eureka moment before rifling through his pocket for a notebook to write in "There are spells like that, I completely forgot"
"Best herbologist in our year" yawned Maurice, Bunnie chuckled.
"I've been more focused on architecture to brush up on my Herbology Maurice" Neville snarked back dryly face pink.
"Welp, Today's a wash, Lunch?" asked Bunnie thumbing the direction she'd arrived from a large stone bench with a cloth covering and a large picnic hamper.
"So how goes the surveying?" Spoke Susan from where she sat cleaning the approaching groups disassembled telescopes in preparation for the night's stargazing session. "Neville's rediscovered his herbologist roots and wants to grow our houses" Maurice ducked a halfhearted swipe from Neville with a grin.
"I did not say that" spoke Neville primly "What I said is that there are spells we need to cast before we even think of building or else we'll damage the ravine"
Bunnie though of one of her godfather's many lessons "We should prolly look at Uncles books fer how ta build stuff too"
Maurice yawned again sprawling lazily on the cloth next to Susan and closing his eyes to amused chuckles.

4th February, Hogwarts, Seventh Floor
"The detonator connects to the…. C4…" The future greatest magical thief in the world hummed merrily to herself as she carefully stuck the last wire in the putty, sauntering off further down the corridor trailing red wire behind her.

5th floor, Music Classroom, Hogwarts
Contrary to most mundane schools the sound in the music room did not echo through the hallways for several reasons, firstly the Hogwarts resident charms master had charmed the door and secondly, so those within could hone their lyrical skill in peace.
So here it was that the music room found itself with a line of students at the door auditioning to join the club or at least the singing part of it.
The club had an oddly restricted membership style wherein the earliest the student could join was in second year but those who sought to make a career could audition in the latter half of first year. The reason being to see if the student could adjust to the timetabling and keep a decent grade level which as the years went by would become more and more crammed with practices.
You didn't have to be a singer to join though, some joined to learn as a hobby or to show off their skill with musical instruments, this fact Hermione Granger observed even as she continued singing from the small podium in front of Professor Flitwick and a panel of carefully selected music students.

"-Trapped in a cage-

-No matter what I do when-

-I'm thinking; bout you-

-even the stage turns blue-"

The lyrics Hermione had written herself rang clear and loud all her social anxiety locked away so tightly it wasn't visible, though the Calming Draught she'd brewed beforehand certainly helped. Coming to a stop at the end of her song to a smattering of clapping and applause Hermione accepted a glass of water with a small smile at the professor "Well done Miss Granger!" applauded Filius Flitwick "Very well done indeed! I had no idea you had such lyrical talent… It was simply marvelous! I see now why you chose to join the music club, such passion, such raw potential..."
"She has exceptional grades so far and-" the Ravenclaw Prefect Nicolas Grimmett showed the color-coded timetable Hermione had left at the table "-excellent organizational skills, I don't see why we don't let her join a year early, it'd be criminal to wait."
Flitwick agreed "Such talent must indeed be honed, Do you have a stage name in mind?"
"I have some ideas.." Spoke Hermione smiled beginning to feel like she'd finally found her place.

6th February, Hogwarts, Seventh Floor
The extremely dedicated thief held her breath as her diagnostic charms skittered across the patch of wall text filling her journal with complicated arithmetic equations, It would take her a while to decipher them, years probably, but it wasn't like that hidden room was the only hidden treasure Hogwarts had to offer…

13th February, Potions class
Maurice waited as the rush from the students leaving the class died down, Susan was combing a hand through her hair as she waited for the glass vials from their lesson to soak the washing basin. Today Professor Slughorn had taught the class how to brew the Wiggenweld Potion and Maurice had been quietly faux whimpering each time his favorite snack, Moly was added to Susan's sadistic amusement. Still, it was a useful healing potion with a very long shelf life, so after getting the potion professors ok that their potion was safe to use the two had begun bottling the potion for their own inventory in the clubhouse. Right now Susan was taking her turn washing the empty ingredient vials while Maurice stuffed his face with leftover Moly. Sighing in satisfaction Maurice added the now empty Moly jar to the water basin and sat next to Susan on a stool. "Do you want to go to the cinema with me today?" Susan continued carding her hair unsatisfied with the potion fume greasiness and met Maurice's gaze.
"Where are we going?"
'And here comes the tricky bit' Maurice thought "London"
Susan paused "I can't go to London like this" This being the fact she was a princess, had a busy schedule and currently needed a shower.
Maurice smiled faintly as Susan self consciously fidgeted with her hair he reached forward and clasped her hand still "You need to relax, besides I won't tell if you don't." Maurice gave Susan a winning smile which had her smiling in spite of herself still it wasn't just herself she was worried about.
"What about Miles? Shouldn't you be picking him up this afternoon?"
"He's on an overnight science camp trip with his school club"
Miles had tested into the last year of primary school and would be undergoing another placement after graduation to high school, only waiting so long as the school he wanted wasn't going to accept new students in the middle of the term, not even pint-sized geniuses.
"You realize I'm in danger as a princess right?"
Maurice waved off her worries "No one will even know we're gone and your tutor is away reporting to your aunt and won't be back till tomorrow and if we leave now we can have the whole day, my treat."
Susan quirked a eyebrow "You'd be missing history class" she pointed out, to which after a brief pause to contemplate that statement Maurice snorted and Susan sniggered, Because really Binns class was a joke, they'd been already been consistently skipping it and Susan was tutoring him anyway.

The Knothole
Maurice adjusted his woolly jumper and smoothed out the wrinkles in his blue jeans. Susan and Bunnie were in another room going over clothes she could wear in mundane London and not stick out.
Finally emerging from the impromptu changing room Susan wore comfortable beige jeans held up by a purple belt and a white t-shirt with a blue denim jacket thrown on top, she tugged the large brown sunhat Bunnie had lent her to hide her face subconsciously "How do I look?"
"Ya look fine darling, ya'll blend right in too" spoke Bunnie exasperatedly tugging the hat up slightly "So calm down!"
"You look nice, Sue" Maurice agreed with a grin rolling his shoulders, "So where first?"
Susan shrugged not knowing much about mundane London "You lead, Show me the best you got"
"Well if that's the case…" drawled Maurice teasingly withdrawing and dangling two simple chains from his jean pocket in front of Susan "We'll probably need these"
Realizing what he was dangling in front of her Susan was surprised "You finished the intent detectors?"
Maurice's grin got wider and added "and added an age obscuring charm and a little something I like to call the notice-me-but-ask-me-not charm, this way if someone gets curious about two eleven-year-olds in London they'll notice but decide someone else will probably deal with it leaving us alone and able to do anything we want"
"That's quite brilliant" Susan admired letting Bunnie fasten the necklace about her neck "Really, really sketchy, but brilliant"
Maurice smirked "Having second thoughts?"
Susan sniffed imperiously "If I have to hear one more person simper in my presence I may hex someone, besides just because I'm a princess doesn't mean I can't have my own adventures"
"You go, girl!" Bunnie fist-bumped the princess in agreement.
Maurice held out a hand kneeling slightly, letting Susan approach to pick her up in a princess carry.
"Time to rock and roll!" Maurice sped out the open door with a chuckle.
Watching the two leave Bunnie closed the door and went to the recreation room where Neville sat with Fred and Blaise pouring over the various catalogs they'd procured from somewhere.
Fred and Blaise seemed to be having a spirited debate about sneakascope models whilst Neville was occasionally taking notes on things from the catalogs.
"What ya doing" asked Bunnie sprawling herself over the back of the sofa, Neville startled slightly and handed her one of the magazines with a guilty start it took her a moment to realize what she was reading but when she did her eyes went wide "Why ja have The Anarchists Cookbook?" examining the other magazines titles Bunnie felt her heart sink at the various pro-anarchy anti-establishment material. Neville waved her off frantically "It's nothing bad! Its just Miles is interesting in mundane techie stuff and the mundane world changes so fast so I figure if he understood the underlying basics-"

Bunnies eyes narrowed flipping to a page about the creation of narcotics pointedly and wordlessly "-I'm editing the really bad stuff out" Grumbled Neville sheepishly dragging the tip of his wand along a highlighted passage and erasing the ink underneath with the Smudge-removing charm as a demonstration "Where did ya even get this?" her accent momentarily fading in her shock.
Blaise raised his hand unspoken even as he and Fred continued to debate something or other causing Bunnie to sigh heavily in agitation because, really, ninjas. "Budge up an' gimme" Settled herself beside Neville she resolved to act as his minder and proofreader in this, just in case he missed something important. It was probably Alastor Moody speaking, albeit in shoulder devil form, but it never hurt to be prepared, constant vigilance and all that and it wasn't like they couldn't brew even deadlier potions, poisons and explosions than pretty much everything in these books anyway.

10:00pm, Hogwarts Lake
The lake sparkled from light shed by the waxing moon, Maurice chuckled as Susan leaned against him as they slowly walked up to the castle together.
"Did you like the movie?" He asked grinning, she chuckled idly twirling her borrowed hat. "I liked it and I'm kind of sad that the magical world doesn't have an equivalent"
"Yet" Maurice interjected "They'll catch on eventually"
Wind dancing across the grass making it ripple like water "I liked the dress" Susan admitted shyly causing Maurice to look her up and down speculatively causing the princess to laugh "Maybe not as… poofy though"
"It would work on you though" Spoke Maurice imagining a older Susan in the golden ballroom dress from the movie, further rumination was interrupted as Hopkirk near sprinted down the steps towards the duo, skidded to a halt before them dignity thrown out the window in the face of urgency "Princess! There you are! There's been an emergency you are needed at home at once!"

14th February, 5:55am, Liberty Island, New York, United States of America
"I'm impressed that you managed to 'book' this place for the meeting" spoke Madam President Seraphina Picquery quietly to her newly promoted Chief of Staff Carneirus. Carneirus waved her off "We've enlisted the aid of several non-maj's to block the roads and compelled several non-magical criminals to vandalise the various tourist barges and block the river, we've warded the island against undue interest and satellite imaging. We've even enlisted Miss Miraphorum to run some weather magic interference-"
"Wasn't she a reporter for the New York Ghost?"
He grinned "Sharp memory Madam President, Miss Miraphorum is a master of weather magic, if we didn't know better you would think there was no magic involved, apparently it's going to get mighty windy tonight with thick banks of fog grounding all air traffic and regular traffic"
"That doesn't seem all that natural" murmured Seraphina.
Carneirus smirked "With luck the no-Maj's will think it's a result of pollution and finally start attempting cleaning up their own messes for once."
"You'll get no argument from me on that score" Seraphina muttered a staunch advocate for the preservation of all creatures magical or otherwise and their habitats.
"Over there! They're arriving" hissed Carneirus.
"Again, good job!"
"Thank you Madam President"
The island had a large array of seating set out a table for each delegate and the leader of their respective governments, usually gathering so many important heads of states together was a nightmarish task. To expedite the affair Carneirus had forced the issue by having everyone involved swear an unbreakable oath to keep the meeting secret for a month after it happened and not inform anyone of it at any time.
Thus this meeting of magical nations was entirely secret and possibly the most well guarded event in wizarding history, despite being recently 'promoted' Carneirus's experience and knowledge shone through allowing him to offer up to date color commentary and help him point out the new arrivals to the re-elected Seraphina and offer pertinent anecdotes and advice unprompted.
"That's Babajide Akingbade the Supreme Mugwump after Dumbledore retired"
"He looks very young"
"He earned 12 NEWTs at the age of fourteen, three masteries by the time he was fifteen and he's currently working on four more, regardless of his age he is a very formidable wizard"
In came the next delegate.
"That the British delegate and the heads of the new royal family King Tiberius and Queen Amelia"
"The Ugandan delegate Momolu Wotorson"
"He's aged remarkably well"
"The Chinese Delegate Madam Ya Zhou"
"Terrifying woman" spoke Carneirus with a forced serene smile firmly convinced that formidable witch could smell fear from a distance.
"The swiz delegate Heinrich Eberstadt"
"Oh not him again" grumbled Seraphina needing no introduction remembering the man from all those years ago.
The delegates continued to come, adding Indian, Hungarian, Mongolian, Russian and Thai delegate without much remark, the Irish delegate Madam Patricia Rakepick and Prime Minister Finbar Quigley on the other hand got plenty of comments that went straight from helpful to something that sounded not out of place from a peanut gallery.
"Why a man so easily intimidated decided to join the cutthroat world of politics I will never know."
"I dunno Madam President, Gwenog Jones can be pretty terrifying…" Carneirus shuddered theatrically with a chuckle eying the still arriving delegates and various heads of states.
"The Brazilian delegate João Coelho as well as the Brazilian Minister Master Libatius Borage-"
Seraphina was surprised at that "The potions master?"
"The same one."
"United States delegate Arnold Guzman"
"Great man fantastic diplomat"
Carneirus nodded fervently in agreement as the man joined them at their table then spotted the Australian delegate Royston Idlewind who needed no introduction after the stunt he'd tried to pull.
"I admire the mans spine in returning to politics after what happened" spoke Guzman quietly to the duo. The unsaid 'and not much else' rang loud and clear.
"Do you think anyone would mind if I opened this meeting with a dissimulator?" hissed Seraphina to her aide waspishly while glaring daggers at the delegate.
"Please refrain from causing a diplomatic incident Madam President. No matter how well deserved it would be." Carneirus trailed off into a unhappy grumble.
The Greek delegate Mentor Metaxas however, had no such compunctions and strode past the Australian delegate with his wand proudly transfigured into a dissimulator and hanging out his pocket on a golden chain causing more than one person to ruthlessly repress their own giggles even as Idlewind tried no to show any reaction to the personal insult, the Chinese Delegate Madam Ya Zhou an open Quidditch fanatic was also grinning savagely at the reference.
The meeting when it finally started took several hours and had no breaks indicating the seriousness of the issue, winding down and having gone over the issues presented the British and American Head Unspeakable's summarised what the international investigations had found that eventually boiled down to a simple summary that they really should have started off with "..So from what our joint investigations have concluded the break-ins in our government's respective seats of power coincide with the raising of what our International Research Teams have termed The Great Sphere, a ward of great but subtle power spanning the globe"
"And because of The Great Sphere, all wards for the detection of magic in non-magical places bar none have become, for lack of better word or term, completely and utterly useless."
"We can surmise that the wards were raised around September 1991 and will not fall until the following date of September 1992"
There was silence at the delegates and heads of state took this in, feeling incredibly uneasy in the knowledge that if any witch, wizard or creature violated the Statute of Secrecy in any way the breach itself would be impossible to detect, the damage itself impossible to counteract.
The only thing now being to figure out some solution for the colossal mess the wizarding world had found itself in.

17th February
Bunnie hissed and sucked at the cut on her thumb glaring down at the disassembled purple casing she was trying to polish Neville carefully pulled her hand away to examine the cut with a wince "Are these prosthetics meant to be so dangerous?" he asked reaching for a handy bottle of dittany "Wouldn't needed ta do this if ah remembered the dang waterproof charm" cleaning the workings of the prosthetics of mud and sand particles from an accidental trip, literally, into the river was a miserable experience. "When'd did you get so good at this?" Neville smiled "Miles is teaching himself about mundane machines, I just find it interesting so I'm learning too. Though while he wants to build a giant mecha I'll settle for having fun that with that weapon-smithing guide." Bunnie smiled whilst inwardly resolving to never ever let Moody and Neville meet.

20th February, Hogwarts
"Mr. Bluewind the feast tonight requires the attendance of all students as there is a very important announcement coming up, You may bring your younger brother if you wish as you will not make it home tonight given its nature." Maurice nodded somewhat puzzled at Professor Lucretia's brusqueness though he could tell it was not directed at him.
"Maurice we need to talk, now" spoke Susan pleasantly discretely tugging at her acorn necklace a designated signal for Maurice to cast a subtle redirection ward to defray any attention for the two to slip away.
Out of sight, Maurice picked up Susan in a princess carry while Susan applied the disillusionment charm on them both, Maurice zoomed away to The Knothole where Susan removed the invisibility and promptly leaned into his arms "Oh Maurice.. It's horrible!"
Immediately Maurice felt concern knowing that this was more serious than a school issue "There going to be a broadcast later tonight about it I wanted to tell you days ago but it's only now that the secrecy charm had been lifted and I can tell you about it."
And really horrible didn't even begin to describe it, leaving Maurice feeling naught but cold trepidation creeping from his heart to his toes and making the hair on the back of his neck rise. Later in the Great Hall Maurice sat solemnly with Susan and a sleepy Miles curled into his side at the table Susans hand holding his and Miles under the table comfortingly as Babajide Akingbade the Supreme Mugwump of ICW made his first international address on the wireless radio which held pride of place in the Great Hall on the teachers table, his voice boomed strongly across the silent hall "Calling all magical's! This is the International Confederation of Wizards with an emergency address! Our magical community is at risk of exposure, Traces of magic are appearing all over the world, revealing magic to non-magical eyes, in this time of chaos we must stand united and act together…"

21st February, In an Unknown Location
It was a long walk through the section that he'd internally labeled the Research and Development Department but Augustus Rookwood, former Unspeakable and former Death Eater and now current Second-in-Command of Grindelwald's forces could not have cared less. The past few months had been full of research, Grindelwald had taken along an accompaniment of troops for a jaunt around the world tracking down some of the harder to reach items while Operation Hidebound was still in effect. The fact that Operation Hidebound had been discovered did nothing to stop the steady flow of obscure artifacts items, creatures, prisoners and occasionally new recruits that had begun trickling in, that trickle rapidly turning into a flood. Managing all the resources had been a task in logistics better left to those suited to it, a large team of squibs all reasonably highly ranked in non-magical armies around the world recruited at the start of Grindelwald's renewed though altered campaign, assigned projects and jobs around Grindelwald's various newly established bases. The hiring of squibs had confused Augustus though he had soon seen the light regarding his leader's motives as their mundane training rendered them a valuable and irreplaceable commodity. Who else could locate an entire intact supersonic strategic heavy bomber let alone nineteen of them in three days and acquire them with calculated magic usage in less than an hour and make it so they weren't missed or reported by anyone? Augustus wished the enchanters retrofitting the recent requisitions with every trick in their magical arsenals both luck and very much envied them the opportunity.
"Sir, Leader has returned" reported Cam, the researcher Grindelwald had personally marked as the future sub-boss of the Revolutionaries Army Repair Echelons when the division became active pending the results at the proposed test site. His leader looked quite happy noted Augustus who fell in line when Grindelwald approached and gestured wordlessly to follow.
Grindelwald had something of a bounce in his step and upon entering the classified laboratory further in the building and being told to activate his mage sight it was not hard to see why.
"What is that?" spoke Augustus voice full of awe seeing now for the first time the sheer volume of magic emanating from the little black stone on the pedestal.
Grindelwald chuckled in reminisce stoic expression fading away "I suppose a legacy of my misspent youth, it has a rather unique property however useless it is to my cause. So I turned it over to my researchers after I had it retrieved to see if they could make it useful. It should be interesting to see what they do with it." Grindelwald paused both gazing at the researchers hovering around the stone before Grindelwald spoke up "How goes the field testing of your little side project, the Pueraria Metallicus?" Augustus chuckled "We're ready whenever you are, we were unable to make it water-resistant however and early testing indicates its best deployment would be against entrenched positions and it will need time ideally two to three weeks to mature before it really gets going then it is unstoppable"
Grindelwald nodded a glint of something indecipherable to Augustus in his eyes "Good, how long until you can get it ready to deploy?
"In an hour if you wish" Augustus managed not to squeak at the predatory look in Grindelwald's eyes.
"Excellent, I have just the target in mind, though I won't deny the feeling of nostalgia in giving the order" Augustus needed no prompting to know where he wanted the weapon deployed and this time Augustus recognized the emotion in the former dark revolutionary's gaze, it was malicious glee.
Still, that did beg a question "Sir, May I ask why that place?" after all that man had joined the ICW Taskforce months ago.
"Hmm? I suppose I like to keep my adversaries confused, this little feint should point them in the wrong direction altogether"

22nd February, Hogwarts Quidditch Stadium
Maurice wobbled a bit as the wind hit the banner he held aloft per Susan's strict orders "This is really boring Sue"
"Shh" she hushed him "We support our friends, Maurice and if you actually tried I'm sure you'd enjoy the game"
Maurice huffed at braced the banner in a knot in the wooden seats, glancing at the game of Quidditch with a huff, finally Maurice quieted down allowing Susan to enjoy the game.
"The snitch is on top of the flagpole at the south end of the pitch" Maurice informed Susan dryly she lifted her binoculars and sure enough Maurice was right, despite both of them being seated in the northern side of the pitch.
Susan lost track of the golden sphere between one blink and the next.
Again Maurice spoke "Now it's skimming the lawn in the east next to the badger banner" Again Maurice was proven right and Susan stared flatly at him "You realize you're completely ruining the entire sport for me right now?"
Miles who was sat at Maurice's left between the two piped up "Why don't you play big brother?"
Susan looked curious despite herself and Maurice rolled his shoulders "It'd be cheating and I'd rather run, I'm faster and I look way less silly running than straddling a flimsy-looking tree branch in midair"
Susan flicked a bit of popcorn at his face causing Maurice to roll his eyes and protest "Well it's true!"
"I'm not one for flying myself" spoke Neville warily eying the Quidditch players "at least the non-magical's make their things look nice and way less accident-prone"
The group flinched as one when Fred's broom got clipped by a bludger and spiraled down to land to land with a thump, miraculously Maurice perked up "What are you so happy for?" asked Susan.
"You spotted it too then?" Spoke Blaise with a small smirk at Maurice. Susan still looked somewhat upset of Fred's behalf a look that slowly melting into confusion then to disbelief as Maurice continued speaking "I could be wrong but I think that's the first time a seeker ever caught the snitch by literally stomping on it."
Sure enough, Fred picked up the somewhat dented Snitch and waved it in the air, the crowd went wild.

ICW Safehouse Kitzbuhel, Austria
"Are you sure you want to do this?" spoke Albus to the indescribably brave man before him, Albus himself and the other members of his strike team nowhere near as brave at their impending tasks.
Inscrutable bronze eyes met sky blue as the former Quidditch player tightened his armor beneath his rather dated mundane business suit "I was 8 years old when the second world war started, I was 9 when three so-called officers of the Hitler-Jugend decided it was acceptable to beat one of my best friends from the local school for the crime of being a different race, in total it took two years for my parents to decide to abandon our hard-earned home and livelihood and flee to England to escape the vile depravity our former countrymen had fallen to." Randolph Keitch's gaze was steel as he retrained his long faded German accent with every word for authenticity "I found out after the war that my childhood friends had all either been put down like dogs by the vermin or had betrayed basic decency by becoming vermin" Keitch spoke smoothly with an edge of venom in his tone "I was too young to act then in any meaningful manner, the very least I can do is lead you to Photobericht Hoffmann"
"We can hardly begin to tell you how grateful we are for your help Mr. Keitch" spoke Silver "With the obscuring enchantments the German ministry put up we'd never succeed otherwise"
In the clean up after Grindelwald and to deter any resurgence attempt the reformed German magical ministry had taken the non-magical methods of destroying the offending symbols a step further by placing subtle wards to deter interest or general recognition of the landmarks in the next generation. The spell was not applied to the monuments however, it was somehow in a feat of magical ingenuity tied to the countries border. This magical 'tagging' deterred any macabre tourism and was powered by a person's magic, it also meant that later maps released did not include several landmarks or locations and prior maps were obscured or lost, as a unforeseen side effect even traveling in time to before the wards were set up, which they were doing, did not remove the enchantment of those who had it. Silver was the only person in the group who had not been to Germany and had not been tagged but had no idea what he was looking for. It was Albus who had recommended finding some who had lived nearby to their goal, Albus the reader of all things magical, fictional and factual who had remembered a single paragraph long snippet in a old autobiography. Wherein one of the co-founder of the Comet Trading Company had cited the propaganda of the nearby photography studio as the reasons for his fortunate move to England in his childhood.
In other words, Randolph Keitch had been unfortunate enough to have lived right next door to 'Photobericht Hoffmann' the home of the Nazi propaganda machine in one of its many iterations.
Keitch carefully examined the identification papers the ICW had carefully forged for the looming trip through time "Are you sure you can identify this Augurey woman? She sounds quite formidable and deadly"
Silver sighed "Quite sure and everyone got a look at my memories in the pensieve"
"If you say so" spoke Keitch before turning to Dumbledore "So I see you're not joining this venture Dumbledore, where or rather when, are you heading?"
Albus uncomfortably adjusted his own suit a dull black and white tuxedo considerably more modern than his compatriots. "New Mexico 1946, there has been some unusual temporal activity there that bears investigating"

Hogwarts Quidditch Stadium
Ron cheered his brother Fred on as the Gryffindor caught the snitch by stomping on it. It looked like all that training over the summer had really helped Fred's seeking skills, odds were this would go into the Hogwarts Quidditch Histories. Ron began making his the way to the pitch through the stands to congratulate his brother, Ron had no time to even blink something hit him hard on the back of the head, the world faded to black.