Sorry for the initial confusion here! Somehow I missed that extra "she" at the end of the chapter. I know that the chapters have been short lately. I'm working on organizing how I manage my time, so the goal is a new update every Friday. Take care and I'll have another update for you all then.

Brad drummed his fingers on the table next to Mr. Dunkirk as he watched the computer banks. Today was going to be a more accurate test of their system, as it was the first Hogsmeade visit day. While Eric, Jason, and Brad were dressed for a dance with the Ministry if their OP was discovered by any of the chaperones that were accompanying the students, Sara was wearing one of Hermione's older robes.

They'd had no contact with the trio since the start of the school year. They had no idea about conditions inside the school or how anyone was faring. He was scanning the monitors for any sign of the three, at which point he'd lead Sara in. If they could get the trio to the bakery, it'd be easier to get them upstairs for a debrief.

He wished there was time to just visit with them, but the longer they were away from everyone, the easier it would be for someone to notice they were gone. On top of that, they would not be passing good news today.

Mr. Burke, the intelligence guru operating out of FOB Phoenix, had passed info along that Sirius Black had been snatched off of the street by Aurors. This was according to an Order of the Phoenix operative within the Ministry of Magic Aurors Office. No one knew where Sirius was taken and Colonel Boyd wasn't approving resources to move outside of the FOB or their limited operation in Hogsmeade.

"I swear to God I'm gonna chop your fing-" Dunkirk started, stopping short at Brad's icy stare. Sometimes it was good to remind a desk jockey who spends their time downrange. Dunkirk muttered something inaudible but Brad didn't rise to the half-assed challenge.

"They're still a few clusters of students that lagged behind, but that's it," Mr. Patterson said. He was pretty frequently smoothing over ruffled feathers caused by his partner running his mouth.

Brad grunted. Most of the students had arrived already and Brad hadn't seen any sign of Harry and the gang.

There was a soft knock at the door, and it opened a crack before anyone had a chance to answer.

"A couple Ministry folk're downstairs ordering some food," Jason said, almost at a whisper. Brad frowned.

"Copy." There wasn't much else to say, they'd already planned everything out in advance. Brad was gonna keep monitoring the screen while Jason and Eric stood in the upstairs hall, at the top of the stairs. If the Ministry sniffed them out, it was gonna be a pitched fight as they retreated to the FOB.

Several quiet minutes ticked by. Little bumps and shuffles downstairs, which would have gone unnoticed at any other time, sent Brad's heart into overdrive as he pictured the worst. Nothing came of it, however.

"That's the last of them," Patterson said, gesturing to the screen. "No more students on the trail, your crew isn't coming."

Before Brad could make any reply, Jason came in to let him know the Ministry wizards had left. They still had several hours of people coming in and out of the shop, but the first test had been passed. Really, he needed to figure out a way to learn what was going on inside the school.

Harry looked once to his friends, both of which nodded in affirmation. Sometimes it sucked being the defacto leader. Harry gave the door a sharp, brief rap. They didn't have to wait long before the door swung open.

Going to see the Headmistress after Defense Against the Dark Arts had been less of an ordeal that they'd expected, but then it had just been delayed until now. Umbridge had been busy with something and simply instructed Professor Hargrass to arrange a detention for them. Here they were.

"Ah, children," the Headmistress said in a sickly sweet voice that did nothing to put them at ease. "Children, children." They were in a classroom in which the stone had been turned to a vibrant pink color. Moving portraits of kittens were hung in neat rows around the classroom, mewing, playing with yarn, and doing other things that young cats enjoy.

"We're here, ma'am," Harry said after a long pause, uncomfortable with the silence from Umbridge.

"It's Headmistress, dear," she said, staring at him intently.

"Headmistress," he corrected.

"I've had some time to ponder these troubling events concerning you, Mr. Potter." Umbridge said, standing up behind the desk. "Threatening a Ministry official is a serious matter, after all."

"It was a dream." He'd repeated the fact more than once, though no one seemed to care.

"Dreaming to harm Ministry officials is little better, Mr. Potter," Umbridge said, turning her attention to his two friends, who had gone thus far unnoticed. "You two give a disturbing level of credence to Mr. Potter and his crackpot theories about dark wizards. I expected better from you, being Prefects, after all."

"I've had difficulty with some of the other Prefects, too. In fact, it seems the only ones interested in an orderly and safe educational environment are the fine students in Slytherin…" she paused a moment, lost in thought. "...I will be making an announcement tonight at dinner, but I am hereby dissolving the Prefect system. Your roles will be replaced by an Inquisitorial Squad who will be enforcing the rules across all of the houses, to ensure everyone is being treated the same."

Harry glanced back to his friends. Ron would never admit it, but he'd been proud of being assigned the role of Prefect. He was beet red now, but said nothing. Hermione's face flushed as well, but she maintained her composure a little better than Ron.

"You two may leave." She gestured dismissively toward the door. They hesitated for a moment, but when Umbridge's unconvincingly sweet smile soured, they left without a word. "I'll have to do something special with you, though. So convinced by your own lies about the return of the Dark Lord that you'd stoop to harming innocents...no, that won't do at all."

She opened a drawer in her desk, pulling out several sheets of parchment and a quill. She placed the supplies on a desk near the front of the classroom and went back to her desk without saying a word to Harry. He wanted to stand there until she said something, but he had the impression he was in deep enough trouble.

He went and sat at the desk as Umbridge pulled out a book. "I shall not lie, I shall not harm...write the lines."

Harry looked down at the parchment. There were only a few sheets, four maybe. Not that he was complaining, but lines seemed like a weird choice for punishment. "How many lines?" Harry asked.

"Hmm…" Umbridge made a show of thinking about it. She wasn't particularly good at acting. "Until the message sinks in."

"Come on, we've all gotta recharge once in a while," Ella-Louise drawled, flashing him a smile and twirling a finger through her blonde locks. When Sumner looked up, she was still eying him in that unnerving way she had, like she wanted to devour him. He'd squared off with Taliban fighters that outnumbered his team six-to-one and felt more at ease there than he did around her.

"We have a mission to accomplish," Sumner grunted, dissatisfied with how lame it sounded out loud. Her smile widened in a way that said sure, that's why. Still, she turned back to her own book.

They'd been at it for the better part of the day, as they had every day for the last several weeks. Ella-Louise had charmed a little information out of one of the Ministry investigators, which is how they'd learned that Dumbledore had checked out or purchased a large number of books on both wizarding and muggle genealogy, historical wizarding communities, and a variety of other subjects.

The Texan witch had also altered the wizard's memory before she finished, leaving him with the impression that Dumbledore was primarily interested in wizarding communities in Mongolia. That was sure to throw a wrench in their investigation.

Ella-Louise was smart in that way and Sumner doubted they'd have this start to their investigation without her. Still, the reading was incredibly dry and he wasn't making heads or tails of anything. They were operating on the theory that Dumbledore would be continuing his work on the down-low, so if they could figure out what he was after, they could narrow the search.

So far, they had a small stack of books and research papers on genetics, both wizarding and muggle, but it looked like they had every scrap of research done on half-bloods. There was also a lot of geographical information, different coves, orphanages, and small towns and villages. He couldn't figure out the connection there. They'd sent a list back to MACUSA so the egg heads could take a crack at it, but they still needed to work the angle from their end.

Across the table, he heard Ella-Louise sigh. He tried not to glance up at her, but he did. Her lower lip was pushed out in a pout that would look ridiculous on anyone else, but she wore it well.

He could see her eyes trained on her book, scanning through the words, but he knew she was still watching him somehow when she ran her finger, which had still been twirling the hair by her ear, down her neck and toward her cleavage, drawing his attention there.

Sumner fought the urge to clear his throat and ducked back into his book about a pair of villages called Hangleton. Pretty unremarkable aside from some mysterious deaths. When he reread the same sentence about a groundskeeper who is rumored to have gotten away with murder for the fourth time, groaned and shut the book.

Ella-Louise's eyes turned up at him innocently, as though she had no idea what could be going through his head.

"Fine," Sumner grunted. They did need a break, and something more substantial than basic sandwiches would be welcome. "Let's get dinner."

She didn't miss a beat, jumping up gracefully from the table to go get ready.