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Love of a Wicked Heart

Chapter 11

1995, Ministry of Magic, England

Madame Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, was currently sitting in her office with Aurors Alastor Moody, Kinsley Shacklebolt, Hestia Jones, and Nymphadora Tonks. Hestia Jones had recently joined the Order and asked by Amelia to investigate the death of the Dursleys as she knew it could be connected and everyone else would sweep it under the rug. They were discussing the multiple killings over the past two days and trying to figure out if there was a connection with the deaths of the Dursleys.

Soon the door to the office was opened and Cornelius Fudge walked in followed by Lucius Malfoy and Delores Umbridge. Amelia sighed and said, "What are you doing here Delores? I thought you were supposed to be at Hogwarts trying to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

Umbridge was about to reply when Cornelius interrupted her and said, "I asked her to join this meeting. I sent young Percival Wetherby to replace her for the day."

Amelia snorted and said, "Very well Minister. Now, should I ask the Aurors to leave or should they stay for this meeting?"

Cornelius thought about it for a moment before saying, "I think they should stay as it pertains to the current cases they are investigating."

Amelia nodded when she heard Umbridge ask in a sickly sweet voice, "I recently heard that you are having Miss Jones here investigate the death of Muggles. I do hope you are not overstepping your authority Madame Bones."

Amelia shook her head and said, "I can assure you that I am not overstepping my authority, Madame Umbridge. It was reported that the Muggles saw a woman appear in the fire and heard her cackle. They also claim that they saw the smoke swirl around the woman and claim that she disappeared in that smoke. I thought it would be better to make sure that this was not someone breaking the Statute of Secrecy."

Auror Hestia Jones nodded and spoke up, "From what I was able to find out from a squib contact in the Muggle World, the first fire started after a Muggle car was blown up without anything to cause the explosion. Then about ten minutes after the Muggle Fire Brigade arrived, two more fires started from inside the house and quickly spread without anything to start those fires nor was there any type of accelerant to speed up the fire. I was also able to find out that the Muggles were alive when the fire consumed the house and instead of the Muggles fleeing the fire as most people would; they remained on the couch as if something was forcing them to stay there. Also, I found no trace of anyone else being at the Muggle residence or any magic being cast."

At hearing this, Cornelius nodded and said, "I can see that having this investigated was a good idea. At best we just have a breach of the Statute of Secrecy, but at worse these cases are connected somehow."

Amelia nodded and said, "Correct Minister. While Rufus Scrimgeour, John Dawlish, Albert Runcorn, Corban Yaxley, and Pius Thicknesse's causes of death are more obvious, Rita Skeeter's is still unknown and I am currently waiting on the autopsies to confirm the others and to tell us how Rita was killed."

Lucius looked at Amelia and said, "Speaking of Miss Skeeter, what about the list of suspects you were having made? Did it turn up anything to find the possible killer?"
Auror Nymphadora Tonks sighed and said, "I have run names with her past articles and so far I have found no possible suspect. So far many have died, left England or had an alibi for the murder. I also found that she has some very strong wards around her flat, and they seem to be untouched. So she either let her killer in, or we are dealing with someone who knows how to get around multiple wards without setting them off."

Umbridge looked irritated and asked, "Then what have you been doing all this time? Are you just sitting around and ignoring the deaths of prominent members of our society?"

Amelia shook her head and said, "The only thing that connects these cased is that there was no evidence to collect. There was nothing left behind and the only disturbance at the scene of Miss Skeeter's murder was a possibility of a missing book. Other than that, we couldn't find any kind of evidence."

Cornelius looked annoyed for a moment before storming out of the room. He was soon followed by an equally irritated Lucius Malfoy and Delores Umbridge.

Amelia sighed as she felt a headache forming and dismissed Moody, Shacklebolt, Jones, and Tonks. She told them she would see them later and watched them quietly leave her office.

1995, Grimmauld Place, England

The Order of the Phoenix was currently gathered around the kitchen table in Grimmauld Place. They sat, chatting with each other when Albus stood up and cleared his throat. Once everyone had quieted down, Albus spoke up and said, "I would like to call this meeting to order. Now, what does anyone have something report?"

Amelia stood up and said, "I am sure everyone here has heard of the murders of Rufus Scrimgeour, John Dawlish, Albert Runcorn, Corban Yaxley, Pius Thicknesse, and Rita Skeeter. I am currently having Alastor and Kingsley investigate the deaths of the five Aurors while Nymphadora is investigating the death of Rita Skeeter. I am also having Hestia Jones investigate the death of Miss Potter's Muggle relatives."

At this, there were many people asking questions when Dumbledore quieted them down and asked, "What have you found so far?"

First Alastor stood up and said, "Other than Rufus being tortured and brutally murdered like the others, we have nothing to go on as there was practically no evidence at the scenes. While it looks like a group of people killed them, what little evidence we do have seems to show that they were hit with only one spell. We are also trying to figure out how someone was able to get around the Ministry Wards and place Rufus' body in the Minister's office."

Nymphadora stood up soon after and said, "Rita's flat was similar as there was no evidence to show anyone being there and killing her. We are still waiting for her autopsy report to give a cause of death and like Kingsley and Moody; I am trying to figure out how someone could have gotten past the wards on her flat without disturbing them."

Albus nodded and watched as Hestia stood and told them the report she received from her contact in the Muggle world about how the Dursleys died. Hestia's report was backed up by Arabella Figg, who saw the woman in the fire. Hearing about how the Dursleys died made a lot of people look sick at the thought of them being burned alive while not being able to flee. Albus looked disturbed at the thought and asked, "Does anyone have any possible information on who could be behind these attacks?"

Severus Snape stood up and said, "I can assure you that the Dark Lord is just as unnerved about the killings of the five Aurors and Rita Skeeter. He wanted to make sure that it wasn't any of his followers. When he learned that it wasn't, he was soon seeing if anything could be found on this person and to have them recruited to his side."

Mundungus Fletcher stood up and said, "I have been hearing similar rumors around the streets. I also heard that a woman had wandered into Madame Goisfrid's Quality Robes and Cloaks and that she leaves from time to time but no one is able to follow her. I also heard that she has been asking about You-Know-Who and his followers."

Albus nodded and told everyone that they needed to keep their heads down and watch out for anything out of the ordinary and to stay safe. Once the meeting was finished, Dumbledore sighed and thought about the old seamstress and how she used to make the best battle robes for Grindlewald when she lived in the village near Nurmengard Castle. He could only hope that they found Miss Potter very soon and that this new player wouldn't join Voldemort or all hope would be lost.

Here is Chapter 11. As always, please leave a review and let me know what you think.