"I am sorry to hear of your added troubles," Karkaroff offered plainly though the aurors assumed it was meant to be sincere. "Perhaps something we have here at the school can help you with your vampire problem."
Harry and Ron had been asked to return to Durmstrang Institute after speaking with the headmaster over the telephone. They had been maintaining the connection with Karkaroff rather poorly as per the progression of their case and the flimsy relationship had shown during their last encounter when he had came off resistant to cooperation. Upon hearing of the encounter with Augustus Rookwood as well as with the vampires and the rest of the goings on in more detail, the headmaster became just as helpful as had been hoped for.
"The Institute has information on vampires?" Harry asked as they followed Igor Karkaroff down the empty hall.
"Something like that," the headmaster replied, halting suddenly in front of a massive wooden door.
The door was easily twelve feet tall and eight wide. Carved into the darkly stained oak were many different creatures including mermaids, thestrals, and centaurs. Each appeared to be alive despite the fact that none of them were moving. A longer gaze revealed that it was the eyes that led to this effect as all shined and looked quite real. Upon the headmaster's word, one of Russian that the aurors didn't understand, many of the creatures blinked and two centaurs near the bottom trotted from their place. They took hold of the inner part of the door and pushed against it until it opened.
The sight was beautiful to see even for those raised in the magical world. Karkaroff immediately stepped inside, walking down the aisle that had been revealed to them. On either side, there were rows of books and scrolls that were seemingly endless. Harry realized that he had brought them to Durmstrang's library. Compared to that at Hogwarts, it was enormous and that in itself was a grand feat.
Karkaroff stopped after about five rows in and turned to his left, speaking in Russian once more. The aurors patiently waited behind him, wondering when they would be let in on what was going on. After several moments without any change in their standings, the headmaster spoke again, but this time in English, "Muggle study isn't one of high importance more so in my country than where you are from," he said, obviously talking to his guests, "However, when dealing with an elusive enemy, it is smart not to discredit anything completely...especially when that enemy is known to keep to muggles over wizards. You've already found this."
"Yes, sir," Harry agreed, eyes on the elder wizard who remained staring off into the distance. "It seems both the vampires and Gerald like to stay away from the magical community. We surmised that it must run a lesser risk to them to live that way."
Karkaroff nodded, but didn't have time to say anything else before a house elf appeared out of the air in front of him, carrying two large books that looked to weigh as much as the elf himself, "Tak neterpelivyy, tak neterpelivvy," the creature muttered to himself as he handed the headmaster the albums.
The elf seemed to have the same cherry disposition that Kreacher did, with a worn appearance to match. Headmaster Karkaroff surprisingly said nothing in return to the ramblings and instead took the books quietly and handed them over to Harry. The elf placed judgemental eyes upon the aurors and then glared at the ex-deatheater who took no notice of him, and then snapped his fingers and was gone once more.
Harry instantly turned his attention to the cumbersome novels he held, carefully giving one to Ron before opening his own. Not to his surprise, but certainly his dismay, the auror saw that the text was not in English, "We appreciate the help," he said awkwardly, "Though perhaps you have someone who could help us translate? We're not really certain of anyone who knows Russian."
The headmaster crossed his arms and lifted an eye, "It's in Romanian."
His reaction almost seemed to be in offense to the auror's mistake though Harry honestly had not realized there was a difference between the language of the two places, having assumed that Romania was part of Russia. He opened his mouth to apologize, closing it awkwardly, and then reopening it deciding to just ignore the faux pas, "Then perhaps we do know someone. Thank you. What is this exactly, though?"
"Those records account every bit of vampiric human lore from the beginning," he informed, "They connect which stories were the same from different places and people even when the accounts were unknown to the person reporting it. In that way, it helps to determine the most accurate details of such creatures through probability and logic. They also may hold accounts that the Ministry does not have on record since, as has been proven to you, it is from the nesting place of the species."
"That's fantastic," Ron exclaimed as he glimpsed over several pages of the book in his hand.
"Can we take these with us and return them to you later or should we-" the other auror continued talking to the headmaster, who interrupted him.
"They are copies. You're free to keep them as you wish," Karkaroff nodded.
"Thank you," Harry smiled, "Well, we will be on our way then, if there was nothing more you needed of us."
"No, I am fair," the headmaster answered, finally uncrossing his arms as he strolled by the aurors, "I will send you on your way."
The three left out the way they had come, traveling in silence down the halls and back to Karkaroff's office where he bid them well and allowed them to finish the trek to the outer walls of the Institute on their own. The more time the wizards spent with the ex-deatheater, the more they became accustomed to his demeanor and found the man less shady and off-putting though still as intimidating as ever.
Everyone had already returned to their regular routines which meant Charlie and Ioana were back in Romania. So they would have to send word to their new friend for help in translating the texts. Hermione could get the job done, of course, but it would be much faster, easier, and most exact if a native speaker were to do it. Only two days had passed since the family dispersed so it wasn't likely Ioana had found anything else of use yet and perhaps something in the books from Durmstrang could set her on the right path.
Outside of that, the aurors didn't have much to occupy their time. All the red tape on past cases had been sorted out and there had been no new complaints. Well, at least not any that amounted to anything. Nothing had been heard of the Malfoys after Ron's visit to check up on them and the investigators had been dithering about whether to speak with them again or not. On one hand, they were supposed to keep them informed and on the other, there was the worry that aggravating them would prompt further unwanted action. As it stood, the Minister seemed to be counting it a blessing that the media had not yet caused a fuss on the Malfoy's doing about recent events.
Harry and Ron decided to take the afternoon hours upon returning to London to look in on George at the joke shop. They had been equally hesitant to bother the twin for fear of agitating his already depressed state, but they knew the best thing they could do for their brother was to make sure he was aware of the family he still had and how much they cared about him. So they made their way to Weaseleys' Wizard Wheezes.
The store stayed busy on many days with a steady stream of traffic on almost all others. Ever since refusing to close their doors under the distress of the last great wizarding war, the joke shop had gained great notoriety and respect from fellow wizards. The fact that they carried many incredible items was just a bonus. The twins had ended up hiring a couple of other hands around the store after its rise in popularity, but the brunt of the pleasant work and the business affairs remained with the twins themselves. Now that George was the only one left, it had been expected he would look for more help. However, he instead kept up with all of his and his brother's work. He claimed it was out of respect for not allowing anyone to take Fred's place, but his family felt that he did it so he could just lose himself in his work.
Inside the store, there was a mother looking at a display while trying to keep away the hands of the toddler she carried, and on the other side was a trio of students in their Hogwarts robes. Slytherins that appeared to be around their fourth year or so. The students put heavy stares on the aurors as they entered and began speaking hushedly to each other. Harry ignored them and kept walking. Not spotting the owner, he found the young employee who had been hired to clean up. It seemed that somebody had made a mess of the candy station.
"Is George about?" Harry asked.
"Oh, yah," the wizard scratched his head, "In his office though, I'll warn ya, he's not in a good mood today."
The aurors paused.
"How so?" Ron inquired.
"Well," the wizard glanced around nervously before leaning in close, "Between us..your brother is acting like he's lost his damn mind."
Harry opened his mouth to get the employee to clarify, but at that moment, George emerged from his office and into the main floor of the building. He, too, seemed like he was about to say something until he saw the aurors. He put his eyes on his brothers and took a deep breath before walking forward.
"George, we were free so we came by to-" Ron started as the twin reached them.
"I'm too busy, guys, I can't talk," the wizard waved them off, stopping and placing a stern yet troubled look on them.
"You're really beginning to worry everyone, mate," Harry refused to tip-toe around the situation anymore, "Maybe you should take a break from the shop for a bit. We know you're dealing with a lot right now especially with our case and all so why don't you just talk to us about it-"
"No!" George yelled suddenly, startling everyone in the room. Even the enchanted machines grew quiet. The twin jerked his head to the side violently, looking away from the aurors momentarily, then put them back in his vision, "You know, you're right. I need to get out of here. Torry," he shook his head toward the employee still standing nearby, "Close the shop. Now." And with that, George stormed by the aurors.
Before he could make it out the door, Torry called after him, "You want me to open back up in the morning, then?"
George halted at the door, taking deep, obvious breaths before turning his head to the side and answering, "No."
"George, wait!" Harry yelled after, but the twin continued charging out.
The aurors followed the wizard out the door just in time to see him glare at them, suddenly divert his eyes, and then disapparate.
"See what I mean?" Torry's voice came from behind them.
Harry and Ron turned back toward the shop to see he and the customers had all followed them out, witnessing the same thing. Even the Slytherin students appeared unnerved.
"Alright, I'm sorry everyone, but store is closed for today," Torry offered apologetically, "Please come back later."
The mother wore an expression of extreme concern as she obeyed and walked away from the shop. The Slytherins lingered momentarily, enthralled in the drama, until Torry finally aggressively shooed them on their way as well. Harry and Ron exchanged confused and distressed glances before they, too, left, after quickly deciding to alert Arthur to what had happened. They met up with the elder Weaseley as he and Hermione left the Ministry for the day.
"Charlie is going to come by to pick up those books for Ioana to work on," he said, at first ignoring the incident with George, "But he seems preoccupied."
"Why is everyone burying themselves in their career?" Hermione sighed. "They have to know it's not helping."
"I don't think Charlie is actually focused on his work," Arthur admitted. "I know my son and...I feel as if he's less concerned with your case and is instead deciphering a way to find Rookwood."
"I had a feeling he would by the way he talked," Harry agreed, "But I'd hoped he'd at least let us in. We all want to see justice for Fred."
Arthur nodded, "It's not his intention to hide it, I'm sure. He's only not the kind to speak of things prematurely."
"What are we going to do about George, then?" Ron asked, steering the subject back to the twin's abrupt departure.
The father exhaled sharply, "As much as it pains me to say it...I think we need to leave him alone for now. He knows we're here, but our continued reminder is just aggravating him. Let him have some time to cool off and get his head straight again."