Chapter Nine: Questions and More Questions
...
Harry hated it when his friends were fighting with each other.
But now…
Now…
Harry hated it even more – mainly because they weren't even talking to each other! Which meant that Harry had to choose between sitting with Ron or Hermione in class and talking to one or the other anywhere else. Also, Harry had to act as a type of go-between for them on occasion – and that became really annoying, really fast.
Before Ron accused Crookshanks of killing Scabbers, Ron and Hermione would still talk to each other even though most of their conversations usually devolved into arguments or shouting matches. Now, Ron and Hermione wouldn't even say "hi" to each other in the morning.
And Harry was firmly stuck in the middle of this epic fight, even if no words were being exchanged between to two fighting parties.
It was frustrating, to say the least.
But what was even more frustrating than his friends' small-scale version of a cold war was the way that Snuffles was acting.
Over-excessive, overbearing, and obsessively overprotective would be the words that Harry would choose to describe Snuffles' current behavior towards him.
And Harry didn't know what started his dog back down this path of need-to-protect-Harry behavior.
The last time that Snuffles had acted like something similar to his current behavior was after Harry had been hurt by Buckbeak or after Halloween when Snuffles got separated from Harry. But this time, for whatever reason, it was like Snuffles decided to kick his protect-Harry behavior into overdrive.
Harry couldn't even go to the bathroom without Snuffles trailing after him like a shadow, for Merlin's sake!
Apparently Snuffles' overprotective tendencies wouldn't allow Harry to be out of his line of sight anymore. Whenever Harry had a class, Snuffles would now try to follow Harry into the classroom every time, despite Harry telling him not to and that Snuffles wasn't allowed in the room – so instead, the dog would sit directly in front of the classroom door and, the moment that Harry's lesson ended, Snuffles would come charging into the room, heading straight for Harry.
But, despite Snuffles' extremely overprotective behavior towards Harry as of late, Harry had noticed that Snuffles seemed to be spending a lot of time with Hermione – only when Harry was also present in the same room and within Snuffles' line of sight, of course.
Whenever Harry was in the Common Room, Snuffles would usually go off and find Hermione, if Hermione was in the Common Room as well, that is. If Hermione was doing her homework at one of the tables, then Snuffles would curl up on the floor next to her feet. If Hermione was reading a book on the couch, then Snuffles would be laying down on the couch with her.
Right now, for example, Hermione was sitting in one of the window seats with a book in her hand, Crookshanks in her lap, and Snuffles laying at her feet. Every so often, Snuffles would lift his head and look at Harry, as if making sure Harry was still in the room. But what surprised Harry was that Hermione could still be reading with all of the noise in the Common Room.
A loud burst of laughter from Angelina drew Harry's attention back to the conversation that was taking place right next to him.
"– And how Harry just zipped passed –"
"– Fred, the way you aimed that last Bludger was fantastic! I can't believe –"
"– Speaking of amazing shots! Alicia did an absolutely –"
Harry had been going around the Common Room, talking with his fellow Gryffindors and celebrating their win against the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. Currently, he was standing with Angelina, Fred, and Dean by a table that was loaded with snacks, desserts, and drinks that a few of them had managed to grab from the kitchens.
Harry had initially come to the table to grab a few Cauldron Cakes to split with Ron since Ron was doing his best to stay on the complete opposite side of the room from Hermione; and the window that Hermione was sitting by was, apparently, too close to the snack table for Ron to come and get the food himself.
So Harry, being the good friend that he was, decided to get some food for the two of them, mainly because for the past few minutes that Harry had been talking with Ron, the redhead kept gazing longingly at the food table before shifting his gaze to glare at Hermione… and then staring longingly at the food table once again. And then he'd repeat. Longing for food, glaring at Hermione, longing for food, glaring at Hermione. Food. Hermione. Food. Hermione.
But right now, Harry didn't want to dwell on the fact that his two best friends were fighting. All he wanted to do was relax and celebrate the victory that he and his Quidditch mates had won in the match against Ravenclaw – and there had been some pretty unusual excitement near the end of the match.
It had seemed like everyone in the castle had been buzzing with excitement about the Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw Quidditch game, especially Oliver Wood. And Oliver had channeled his excitement about the upcoming match into ensuring that the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team was busy (and almost constantly) preparing for the game.
Harry had happily complied with all of the practices that Oliver had set up because it gave Harry ample time to learn the nuances and tricks of his Firebolt. It also helped Harry become more confident with flying on his new broomstick. In fact, it seemed like after the first Quidditch practice with Harry flying on his Firebolt, the entire team seemed to get a boost in confidence (especially after Harry managed to catch the Snitch within ten seconds of its release and the rest of the team performed their moves faultlessly). With their Seeker in the air with the fastest broomstick on the market, their chances of winning had increased exponentially.
When the day of the game finally arrived, Harry managed to get Snuffles to reluctantly stay with Hermione while Harry went with his team to go prepare for the upcoming game. Since Hermione said she would be watching the Quidditch match, Snuffles would be able to stay with her in the stands and somewhat sate his need-to-protect-Harry-and-keep-him-in-sight-at-all-times urge. Harry was hoping that being able to see him flying around from the stands would prevent Snuffles from panicking too much about being separated from Harry. And since Snuffles had been spending time around Hermione and Crookshanks, Harry figured that asking Hermione to watch Snuffles during the Quidditch game might also help with keeping Snuffles relatively calm.
The game against Ravenclaw had started out pretty much the same as any other Quidditch match (though with less shoving, as the Slytherin team was prone to do), with Harry circling around the pitch in search of the Snitch, Fred and George keeping the Bludgers away from their teammates, Alicia, Angelina, and Katie passing the Quaffle back and forth and scoring points, and Oliver stanchly defending their goals.
Harry had spotted the Snitch twice, but he had had the Ravenclaw Seeker, Cho Chang, on his tail; so in the attempt to get her off of his back, he accidentally lost sight of the Snitch. During that time, Gryffindor managed to get an 80 point lead over Ravenclaw.
By the time that Harry had spotted the Snitch for the third time, the Ravenclaws had managed to score some points – making it 80-30 in Gryffindor's favor. As Harry flew after the Snitch, he caught sight of three Dementors making their way onto the pitch. So, without thinking much about it, Harry cast a Patronus in the direction of those Dementors and then easily caught the Snitch, winning the game.
Harry had been euphoric with winning the game and successfully casting a Patronus at a group of Dementors.
When Harry touched down on the pitch, he had been almost immediately knocked down by an overeager and overprotective Snuffles. Harry had managed to keep to his feet and placed his hands on Snuffles, trying to calm him down as well as reassure the dog that he was fine.
As the Gryffindor fans ran out onto the pitch in celebration of the Gryffindor team's victory, Harry was swept away with the tide of well-wishers. It was only after Harry had made it back to the Common Room (with Snuffles sticking to Harry like glue) where the Quidditch victory celebration started up immediately and was in full swing that he learned about what had happened with the Dementors – or should he say, what had happened with the supposed Dementors – on the Quidditch pitch.
Ron had gleefully informed Harry that the Dementors were actually three Slytherins dressed in cloaks. Flint, Crabbe, and Goyle had pretended to be Dementors with the intention of distracting Harry so that the Ravenclaw Seeker would catch the Snitch and the Gryffindors would lose the game. Obviously Flint, Crabbe, and Goyle's plan had spectacularly failed. Ron was so gleeful in his telling of the event because Professor McGonagall had caught the three Slytherins and punished them severely – much to the delight of, not only the Gryffindor Quidditch team, but the entirety of the Gryffindor House as well.
"Oi! Harry! Think fast!"
Thankful for his quick reflexes, honed by his time playing Seeker, Harry caught the thing that had been aimed at his face. Taking a quick peek to see what had just been thrown at him, Harry saw that it was a Chocolate Frog package.
Harry glanced over at the direction that it had come from and saw that George had now joined his twin brother in talking with Angelina and Dean. Since George was smiling brightly at him, Harry assumed that it was George who had thrown the Chocolate Frog. But, then again, it could've been Fred because Fred was looking a bit shifty… and amused.
Well, actually, maybe Harry was right in the first place and it was George who had thrown it because Dean was subtly looking at Harry and then pointing at George.
"Is it safe to eat?" Harry questioned lightly, one hand holding the Chocolate Frog and his other hand and arm holding as many Cauldron Cakes as he could carry.
"I am shocked that you would think that we would've done something to it!" Fred said in mock offence.
"Absolutely appalled!" George agreed.
Angelina rolled her eyes and muttered, "Well, it wouldn't exactly be the first time, now would it?"
Fred and George moved in sync as they both placed a hand against their chest and gave Angelina a wounded look.
"We would never!" Both twins exclaimed at the same time.
"He just picked it up off of the table and tossed it at you, Harry," Dean said quietly. "It didn't look like they did anything to it."
"Snitch!" Fred accused teasingly, pointing at Dean.
"Yeah!" George agreed, also pointing at Dean. "Quick, catch him, Harry! It's your job as a Seeker!"
Dean huffed lightly as Harry chuckled and shook his head.
Seeing that Fred and George had already been pulled into a side conversation with Angelina, Harry waved the hand holding the Chocolate Frog at Dean before turning away. Harry maneuvered his way through the crowd of happy Gryffindors, occasionally getting a pat or two on the back, and made it back across the room to the two chairs that he and Ron had commandeered.
Still not entirely convinced of the safety of the Chocolate Frog (who knew what the twins could've done to it, even if it had only been in their hands for a few seconds? The safer bet would be to not risk it at all), Harry, once again proving to be a great friend, offered the Chocolate Frog to Ron. Ron would probably think the risk was worth it for the Chocolate Frog. Probably. Maybe.
Well… maybe not.
"Thanks mate!" Ron said, opening the Chocolate Frog package as Harry set down the Cauldron Cakes on the floor between them, keeping one for himself to open right then and there.
As Harry unwrapped his Cauldron Cake, he overheard two of his fellow Gryffindors, who were walking behind where Ron and Harry were sitting, making fun of the Slytherins pretending to be Dementors and saying how awesome Harry's response had been.
"Ya know, I'm not surprised that those slimy Slytherins would pull something like that," Ron commented around a mouthful of Chocolate Frog. Apparently Ron had overheard that conversation as well.
Harry hummed in agreement before biting into a Cauldron Cake. Ron wasn't turning any funny colors or losing his hair, so maybe the twins really hadn't messed with that Chocolate Frog. Oh well, Harry was more than happy with eating his Cauldron Cake.
"But what did surprise me," Ron continued, "was that Malfoy wasn't one of the ones pretending to be a Dementor."
Harry stilled, before forcefully swallowing the bite of cake he had in his mouth.
"It sounds an awful lot like something he would do. I'm almost shocked that he wasn't all over that nasty trick," Ron said.
"Yeah, weird," Harry said distractedly. He hadn't exactly forgotten about the conversation that he had with Malfoy on Halloween, but he hadn't been actively thinking about it either. With all that had been happening, Harry hadn't really given much thought to Malfoy.
Harry was still half-convinced that his entire conversation with Malfoy was some Halloween candy, sugar-induced hallucination. But then again, the way that Malfoy had been (and still was) acting pointed to the conversation being something that actually happened.
Now that he learned about how Black betrayed his parents, Harry knew what Malfoy was talking about when he had suggested that Harry would want revenge against Black. But Harry wasn't entirely sure that taking the Slytherin up on his offer to help plan his revenge against Black would be the smartest thing to do. And just because Harry didn't have a solid plan for confronting Black yet, didn't mean he needed anyone else's help.
Also, Malfoy's version of help might be more of a hindrance. Who knew what Malfoy would try to do? Although he had some type of temporary truce with Malfoy, Harry wouldn't trust the blond as far as he could throw him. Harry knew better than that.
And, yes, Harry acknowledged that he probably should've told Ron and Hermione about the whole Malfoy fiasco.
At first, he hadn't told them because he had been worried about Snuffles being missing. And then Ron and Hermione had been at each other's throats over about their pet issues and Harry hadn't wanted to accidentally start an argument between them since, more often than not, it had seemed like every time the two talked with each other, their conversation ended up turning into a fight. And now, the two weren't even talking to each other, so Harry didn't know how to even broach the subject of Malfoy, let alone tell them that he hadn't told them about his conversation with Malfoy immediately after it had happened.
Even though Harry was more sympathetic towards Ron's side of the Crookshanks versus Scabbers argument (because if the worst did happen and Scabbers really was dead, then Harry could understand where Ron was coming from because if the signs pointed towards someone being responsible for the death of either Hedwig or Snuffles, then Harry would be raising whatever hell he could to get justice for it), Harry didn't want to appear as though he was taking sides – and if he told Hermione first or Ron first about the Malfoy issue, it might look like he was taking sides in the Crookshanks/Scabbers argument… and that could spark a whole other fight, only Harry would be in the middle of it and not just acting like a somewhat neutral party or mediator.
So, for now, Harry would have to deal with the issue of Malfoy by himself. Harry figured that he'd have to talk to Malfoy again sooner rather than later because he knew that if he seemingly ignored Malfoy for too long, then Malfoy might start causing trouble for him again. And Harry really didn't need any more trouble added to his life right now. Ron and Hermione's fight, Snuffles' overprotectiveness, Dementor attacks, and Black's betrayal and murderous intentions towards him were enough trouble for Harry to deal with at the moment.
Maybe he'd talk to Snuffles about the Malfoy issue sometime later – it might help to talk about it with someone, even if that someone was a dog who couldn't really offer any advice. But for now, Harry was determined to forget about it and enjoy the atmosphere of the Gryffindor's celebratory party.
...
Dressed in his best robes, Remus quickly stepped out of one of the many large fireplaces in the Ministry atrium so that he didn't get accidentally trod on if someone came out of the Floo behind him. Remus muttered a cleaning charm to brush the soot from his robes as he was waved over by the guard at the security desk.
After having his wand checked and his name and purpose for visiting the Ministry of Magic recorded, Remus made his way towards the elevators. One of the elevators opened and, along with two flying memos, four wizards heatedly arguing with one another pushed passed Remus as they exited the elevator.
Once the wizards were out of the way, Remus entered the elevator and pushed the button that would take him to the floor he needed. He was joined by two witches and a wizard just before the elevator doors closed so Remus moved to stand in the far right corner and reached up to grab the strap hanging from the ceiling. After being jerked from left to right and then up, Remus arrived at his stop.
The Office of Records.
"Excuse me," Remus said as he moved passed one of the witches on his way out of the elevator.
The layout of the Office of Records was pretty straightforward. There were multiple desks in rows off to the left and the right of the short hallway that lead from the elevator towards the main reception desk.
The Office of Records was quiet and mostly empty. From what Remus could see, there were only two witches and three wizards working at some of the side desks. At the reception desk, there was a witch who had her arm propped up so that she was resting her head on her curled fist and she looking down at something on the desk in front of her.
As Remus approached the reception desk, he noticed that the witch was browsing through what looked to be a Witch Weekly magazine. Remus stood in front of the desk for a moment or two as he waited for the witch to acknowledge him, but the witch didn't even look up. She just flipped to the next page of her Witch Weekly magazine.
"Ahem," Remus cleared his throat. "Pardon me."
Not looking up from her magazine, the witch sounded pretty apathetic as she asked, "How can I help you?"
"I was hoping to get a copy of the transcripts from Sirius Black's trial," Remus said, getting straight to the point of his visit.
The witch partially lifted her head and looked at Remus from over the rims of her glasses. She looked decidedly unimpressed.
Sighing, the witch sat up fully and leaned back in her chair. She turned to look towards a door to her right and yelled, "Henry!"
There was a thump that came from behind the door that the witch was glaring at. The door was quickly jerked open and a lanky wizard, who looked to be in his twenties, practically fell away from the door and into the room.
"Yes, Ms. Lankin?" Henry said as he stumbled to a stop a few steps away from the room that he had just appeared from.
"Get me the court transcripts for the trial of Sirius Black," the witch, Ms. Lankin, demanded.
"Yes, ma'am!"
Henry quickly spun on his heel and returned to the room that he had just come from, shutting the door behind him.
"Right," the witch sighed as she bent down to open one of the lower drawers on the desk. "I'm going to need you to fill out this form," she pulled out a folder, grabbed a sheet of parchment from it, and slapped the parchment down on the desk in front of Remus, "It's just a basic request form."
The witch grabbed a self-inking quill from her desk and set it down next to the form.
"Just fill out all the information to the best of your ability," Ms. Lankin said, sounding as if she was seriously doubting Remus' ability to even write down his name. The witch then returned to flipping through the pages of her magazine.
Feeling frustrated with the witch's attitude, Remus quietly sighed before picking up the quill. Since the desk only came up to the top of his waist, Remus had to bend down a bit as he began to fill in the blanks on the request form.
"Where it says 'Type of Request' just write down 'court transcript'," Ms. Lankin pointed to a line on the form without even looking up from the article in Witch Weekly that she was reading. "And leave this line blank. I'll have to write down the record number from the transcripts on this form once Henry gets back with the transcripts… And then I'll make a copy of them for you to take."
Remus got the form filled out fairly quickly, mainly because it was a simple form to fill out, but also because he wanted to leave as soon as he could. Ms. Lankin's attitude was really grating on his nerves.
After a few minutes of Remus awkwardly standing in front of the desk, Ms. Lankin sighed deeply and muttered something about incompetent new-hires. She briefly looked up at Remus before leaning back in her chair once again and shouting, "Henry! Hurry it up!"
Remus heard what sounded like a drawer to a filing cabinet being slammed shut, and then it sounded like a whole filing cabinet fell over before the sound of a thump indicated that a person had just fallen over as well. And yes, those were definitely the exclamations of a wizard in pain that Remus was hearing.
About five minutes later, the door that Henry had disappeared through opened once again as Henry hesitantly walked towards Ms. Lankin with a troubled look on his face.
"Well?" Ms. Lankin asked, snapping her fingers and then holding out her hand towards Henry.
"I – uh… I… That is to say…" Henry mumbled as he fiddled with the edge of his robe sleeve.
"Spit it out!" Ms. Lankin demanded.
"I can't find the transcripts!" Henry blurted, looking embarrassed. "I, uh, I looked everywhere I could think of, but I couldn't find anything related to the trial of Sirius Black."
Ms. Lankin sighed in annoyance and rolled her eyes as she pushed her chair away from the desk and stood up, muttering, "Why am I not surprised?"
The witch turned to Remus with a grimace as she said, "I apologize for his inability to get anything done at all. I'll just go get those transcripts, shall I?"
Henry was still standing in front of the door and fidgeting.
"I guess I have to do everything around here. Come on," Ms. Lankin practically growled, grabbing Henry's arm to turn him around and then shoving him through the door in front of her. Ms. Lankin slammed the door shut behind them.
"Well, she's just a ray of sunshine, isn't she?"
Remus startled a bit since he hadn't realized that one of witches who had been working at one of the other desks when Remus had entered the Office of Records had come up behind him.
"I – uh…" Remus trailed off, agreeing with the newcomer, but not wanting to actually say that and be rude.
"Don't feel the need to answer," the witch said with a smile. "It was kind of rhetorical. She's always like that, so don't take it personally. She's just grumpy. Like, I'd say I don't know why she hasn't been asked to not work at the reception desk, but it's probably because she has a mind like a steel trap!"
The witch continued talking as she walked around to the other side of the desk and pulled open one of the drawers.
"She remembers absolutely everything – which is great for working with records, but not so great if you once grabbed a file without her knowing… and without informing her after the fact that you had, in fact, grabbed it and she had not, in fact, lost it."
She grabbed a folder and then closed the drawer.
"She can hold a grudge like no other," the witch, still smiling, waved the folder she had in her hand. "Which is why I now wait for her to leave the desk if I need a file or form or something from her. It is so much easier than asking her, believe me!"
Remus was still standing in front of the desk, his mouth partially open and not knowing how he was supposed to respond.
"Umm… That's nice?" Remus asked, somewhat confused about why this witch was telling him about it.
"Yup! See ya!" The witch chirped before turning and walking back across the room towards one of the other desks.
As soon as he saw the witch sit back down at her desk, the door that Ms. Lankin went through opened and the witch returned, looking very displeased.
Ms. Lankin returned to her chair, but didn't sit down.
"I'm afraid that at this time we are unable to locate the transcripts of Sirius Black's trial," she said, looking at Remus as if it were his fault that the transcripts were missing. "And there isn't an indication of anyone having checked out the transcripts."
"What?" Remus asked, worried about what the transcripts being missing could mean.
Ms. Lankin held up her hand to silently say that Remus should stop talking.
"Look," Ms. Lankin sighed, sounding disgruntled. "This happens sometimes because some Ministry employees, like Aurors, like to think that they're above the check-out and request process that we have here at the Office of Records. Sometimes someone will just wander in here and grab whatever they want without so much as a by-your-leave – and because they have a certain level of clearance in the Ministry, the wards don't keep them out of the records room. And then they just decide to not tell anyone that they grabbed the file or transcript or whatever the hell it is that they grabbed."
"But then –" Remus started to say, but was interrupted by the witch.
"Look, why don't you just go on up to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Ms. Lankin suggested, still sounding irritated. "Since Black's on the loose, it's likely that one of the Aurors on the Black case came here and grabbed the transcripts to look for clues or whatever," Ms. Lankin rolled her eyes, "and whoever grabbed it just didn't go through the proper process needed for getting a copy of the transcripts. They probably just grabbed the original transcripts – which is a major pain and will cause me a major headache trying to get this thing sorted out. But, if you need the transcripts sooner rather than later, then you should go find whoever the hell has them and have them make you a copy. And then tell them to come to the Office of Records and return the damned transcripts! I'm guessing that those transcripts are somewhere within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, but who the hell knows where they could actually be."
Ms. Lankin sat down, grabbed a piece of parchment, and began writing furiously on it.
"Thank you for your time," Remus said, wanting to be polite even though Ms. Lankin had been quite rude. The witch didn't even look up, seemingly ignoring Remus.
Remus stood still for a moment longer before awkwardly nodding at the witch, who still wasn't paying any attention to him, and then walked back towards the elevator, taking it to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Unlike the Office of Records, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was alive with energy. There were secretaries and assistants scurrying around with files or tea, some Aurors moving back and forth throughout the Department, and other Aurors leaning against desks or cubicles, talking and creating a hum of general conversation that permeated throughout the room.
Also, unlike the Office of Records, there was no obvious reception desk. So Remus walked up to the first person that he saw sitting at an open desk that was closest to where Remus had gotten off of the elevator.
"Sorry to interrupt," Remus said as he approached the wizard behind the desk. The wizard looked up from report he was filling out.
"Yes?" the wizard asked.
"Do you know who I should see about finding some misplaced trial transcripts?" Remus asked, purposefully not mentioning Sirius Black because he didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to himself by mentioning Sirius near the Aurors who are undoubtedly in the middle of hunting down Sirius at this exact moment. He'd rather find one person he could talk to about this, rather than having to deal with a potential group of Aurors asking about why he was looking into Sirius Black's trial.
"Well, I'd try talking to Madam Bones or her assistant. If anyone here was looking into some transcripts, Bones would know or she'd be able to find out the fastest – one of the perks about being the Head of the Department, yeah?" the wizard said. "Her office is down that way," the wizard pointed behind him, "and then take right at the end of the hall. Her office is right there. You can't miss it."
"Thank you," Remus said as he walked away, following the wizard's directions towards Madam Bones' office.
After a short walk, Remus made it to Madam Bones' office. When he arrived, Remus noticed a desk off to the left of Madam Bones' office door.
"Pardon me," Remus said, catching the attention of the secretary seated at the desk.
"Yes?" the witch asked, looking over at Remus. "How may I help you?"
"I was hoping to speak to Madam Bones about a court transcript," Remus said.
"Do you have an appointment?" the secretary asked.
"No, I don't, but if she's unavailable, perhaps you could help me?" Remus asked.
"I can't guarantee anything, but I'll see what I can do. What do you need assistance with?" the witch asked.
"I was just at the Office of Records where I was hoping to get a copy of the transcripts from Sirius Black's trial, but the transcripts are missing. I was told to come here since it was likely that an Auror had the transcripts pulled from the Office around the time that Black escaped Azkaban," Remus said. "Would you or Madam Bones know where the transcripts are so that I could get a copy for personal review?"
"Well, I don't know off the top of my head, but let me see what I can do," the witch said as she began to sort through some of the folders on her desk. Grabbing one of the folders, which Remus could see had been labeled Sirius Black, the witch opened it and started leafing through the papers in the folder.
The sound of shuffling paper was all that could be heard for a few moments until the witch pulled out one of the sheets. She looked over it for a few seconds before pursing her lips and putting the paper back in the folder.
"Ah, okay, I would say that you should talk to the lead investigator on the Black case, but I happen to know that he and Auror Dawlish just left to go look into the latest possible sighting of Black. I can't say for sure when the lead Auror on the case will return," the witch placed the folder back into the stack on her desk before standing up. "But let me check with Madam Bones. She might have some time to meet with you and discuss this."
"Thank you," Remus said sincerely.
The witch walked out from behind her desk and knocked on the door to Madam Bones' office. After being told to enter, the witch partially opened the door to peer into the room.
"Excuse me for a moment, Madam Bones, but do you have some time to meet with –" the witch turned around and sent a look at Remus, silently asking his name.
"Remus Lupin," Remus promptly said.
"– Mr. Lupin? He has a question about some missing court transcripts," the witch finished saying.
Although Remus couldn't quite make out Madam Bones' response, he assumed that she agreed to meet with him since her secretary nodded at Remus and moved away from the door, gesturing for Remus to enter the room.
Remus smiled politely at the witch and walked into Madam Bones' office. The secretary gently closed the door behind Remus.
"Good afternoon, Madam Bones," Remus greeted as soon as he saw Amelia Bones sitting behind her desk. When Remus had entered the room, Madam Bones stood up and gestured for Remus to sit in one of the chairs in front of her desk. Remus smiled as he took a seat.
"Good afternoon to you as well, Mr. Lupin," Madam Bones said cordially. "I've already heard many good things about you from my niece, Susan Bones. I believe she referred to you as her favorite Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."
"Miss Bones has been performing admirably in my class. She and Miss Abbott worked together exceptionably well when I had my third year class go over counter-jinxes the other day," Remus said with a fond smile.
"I would imagine so," Madam Bones agreed. "Now, what can I do for you today, Mr. Lupin? Something about missing court transcripts?"
"Yes. I was just at the Office of Records where I was hoping to get a copy of the transcripts from the trial of Sirius Black. Unfortunately, they were unable to find the transcripts, so they directed me to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I was told it was likely that the transcripts may have been taken by one of the Aurors here after Black's escape from Azkaban," Remus explained.
"Hmm. Yes, I'm sorry to say that it's been known to happen. On occasion, someone will be too eager to look into a case that he or she forgets to go through the proper channels within the Office of Records," Madam Bones said, standing and walking over to a file cabinet that was behind her desk and to the left.
As Madam Bones pulled open a drawer and started going through the files, she continued to say, "Black's escape has caused a lot of panic, especially since escape from Azkaban is unprecedented. I can't say I'm entirely surprised to hear that the proper channels weren't followed to get those documents. I'll have to have to address this issue with my department once we find those transcripts for you."
Madam Bones pulled out a folder and shuffled through the papers. After a moment, she furrowed her brow and shut the folder, returning the folder back to its place in the filing cabinet and shut the drawer. Then Madam Bones moved onto a different drawer where she repeated the process of systematically shuffling through all of the files that were contained within it. And then she moved onto another drawer and then another drawer until she had gone through all of the drawers in that particular filing cabinet.
After fruitlessly searching through the folders in the filing cabinet, Madam Bones returned to her desk and started going through the drawers and files in her desk.
"At times like these, it would be convenient to be able to just summon the file that I needed," Madam Bones stated conversationally. "But, as a precaution, we charm all case files and documents with anti-summoning charms to prevent anyone with ill intentions from having an easy way – simply summoning a folder or the like – of accessing whatever information he or she was after."
After Madam Bones shut the last drawer in her desk that she went through, she turned to look at Remus.
"Excuse me for a moment, Mr. Lupin," Madam Bones said, standing and walking towards her office door.
"Of course," Remus said.
Madam Bones stepped out of her office, leaving the door open as she moved towards where Remus knew her secretary's desk was. Although Remus couldn't see Madam Bones, he was able to hear what she was saying.
"Ms. Lewis, could you run a quick errand for me?"
"Of course, Madam Bones."
"I need you to find Shacklebolt and ask him if he knows anything about the transcripts of Sirius Black's trial. Since Scrimgeour just left to go look into a potential Black sighting, Shacklebolt would be the one who is most likely to know about the whereabouts of the Black trial transcripts – and be sure to emphasize that it's Sirius Black's trial transcripts that we're looking for – Merlin only knows how many Blacks we've tried in the past."
"I'll go find him now, Madam Bones."
"Thank you, Ms. Lewis."
Madam Bones walked back into her office and shut the door behind her. As she sat back down at her desk, Remus spoke up.
"I'm sorry to cause all of this fuss," Remus said, sincere in his apology for causing this trouble for Madam Bones, but completely unrepentant for getting her to look for Sirius' trial transcripts – especially if those transcripts really were missing, and not just misplaced.
"Nonsense, Mr. Lupin," Madam Bones said. "It's better for my department to find those transcripts now rather than have everyone scramble to find them later when someone else, like Minister Fudge, for example, comes asking for them."
After a few moments of silence as they both waited for Madam Bones' secretary, Ms. Lewis, to return, Madam Bones asked about the specifics of how her niece was doing in Remus' class. From there, the conversation flowed about Susan's strengths in her Defense lessons and certain aspects of what Remus was teaching in his Defense Against the Dark Arts classes.
It was about twenty minutes later when a knock sounded at the door.
"Madam Bones?" Ms. Lewis called through the door.
"You can come in, Ms. Lewis," Madam Bones said, raising her voice slightly so that Ms. Lewis would hear her.
Ms. Lewis opened the door, holding a thick folder in her hands.
"Do you have the transcripts there?" Madam Bones asked as Ms. Lewis walked across the room and placed the folder into Madam Bones' outstretched hand.
"Unfortunately, no," Ms. Lewis said. "But that folder contains everything that we have on Sirius Black. Both Auror Shacklebolt and I searched through that folder as well as a few other places – the filing cabinets and the desks and cubicles of all of the other Aurors assigned to the Black case – in addition to questioning all of the Aurors who are on the Black case, and are currently present in the Ministry, about the location of the transcripts from Sirius Black's trial. But we were unable to find anything. No note, no memo, not even a reference to the transcripts in any of the other files on Black. And no one has seen the transcripts either."
"That's…" Madam Bones trailed off, opening the folder and skimming through the papers within it.
Madam Bones looked up at her secretary and said, "Thank you, Ms. Lewis. That will be all for now."
Ms. Lewis nodded and left the room, closing the door behind her.
"I'm afraid I don't quite know what to tell you, Mr. Lupin," Madam Bones said apologetically. "But I will sincerely thank you for bringing this to my attention. Those transcripts are probably floating around the Ministry somewhere – who knows who took them from the Office of Records in the initial panic of Black's escape from Azkaban. I promise you that I will make it my priority to find those transcripts and I will personally be looking into this."
"Thank you, Madam Bones," Remus said, standing up from his chair. "And thank you for taking the time to meet with me, unexpected though my visit was."
"I'll be sure to send you an owl whenever I manage to locate the transcripts of Sirius Black's trial," Madam Bones assured Remus as she also stood to escort Remus out of her office.
"Hopefully, you'll be receiving that owl sooner rather than later," Madam Bones said with a wry twist of her lips.
"I hope so too. Thank you again, Madam Bones," Remus said before turning away from her and walking back through the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and towards the elevator. It was about time he returned to Hogwarts.
...
Author's Note:
So, things are going somewhere – Harry remembered Malfoy's offer and Remus has brought attention to Sirius "missing" transcripts!
Also, I don't really have any knowledge of the inner workings of the Ministry of Magic – so let's just say that how I wrote it is how it goes, yeah? And I know that in canon, the Office of Records doesn't exist, but for the purpose of this story – it does. My explanation to any of the discrepancies about the Ministry of Magic is: this story takes place in an alternate universe – for the purposes of the plot, I have tweaked and messed with the departments/offices and the locations of those department/offices of the Ministry of Magic.
And as for why I have the Ministry employees (and Remus) assuming that Sirius' court transcripts were just missing/misplaced – well, no one would think that the records didn't exist in the first place because everyone is operating under the assumption that, if Sirius was in Azkaban for all these years, then he obviously had a trial and was found guilty.
Oh! And in the next chapter, you'll get a look at what Snuffles is thinking in relation to Scabbers going missing – so you can look forward to that!
And I always appreciate any comments/reviews you leave!