Arthur had been right about Charlie. After dropping by to pick up the books, he had informed his father that he was looking into records about his village as well as speaking to the locals about Rookwood through both his true identity and the one he had presented to the investigators. It was a relief to Harry that his brother wasn't taking any drastic actions and was including the family in his intentions. However well that may be, though, they had all been doubting if the eldest Weaseley had made the correct choice concerning George.
Four days had passed without any word from the twin. Visits to both his residence and the joke shop had come up empty, outside of the evening prior when Torry told Harry and Ginny that he had heard word from his boss. George had let the store remain closed since the day of his strange behavior, but instructed his employee to open it again on the third day. He had also said not to contact him as he would do this himself when he wished to. In the meantime, Torry and his fellow employee were meant to run the shop in his place. It had to be quite a lot to put on the wizards' shoulders since they weren't used to much more than grunt work.
It wasn't much, but at least it let the rest of the Weaseleys know that the twin was alright...or rather unharmed. It appeared that even though he'd been unaware of his father's suggestion that the twin be left alone, he had wanted it as well. It still left the family bereft yet somewhat hopeful that it was all the man needed and he would soon be back and better, if not completely his old self again.
It was at the end of that fourth day that the aurors received word from Ioana concerning her preliminary findings. She said that she'd been focusing on the texts, but had not yet held them against anything her family or anyone else she was in contact with knew. However, she felt it important to share what she discovered as she went along. Harry and Hermione were well aware of many of the myths concerning vampires that appeared in the cinema screen and muggle books. Even Arthur had come across some of these things in his studies of non-magical folk. Since, however, they were in works of fiction which did not even present themselves as anything else, they had been left to be such that: pretend tales for entertainment.
Ioana shared after briefly studying the albums from Durmstrang that many of those stories began as truth or at least with the likelihood of being true. The things that were of most interest to the investigators were ways of fighting vampires as well as finding them, so the witch focused on those topics. Sunlight had already been proven to be effective against the creatures, but the records went on to explain that the reason for it being was that vampires had become what they are by giving away their soul and therefore turning into dark beings which were hurt by more positive light energies. It was also said that the change in their physical appearance aided the intensity of sunlight to harm them due to their pale skin and heightened senses. Ioana had equated 'soul' to mean magic because everything that had been taught was that that was how wizards turned into vampires.
Other than that, things that were mentioned in fending them off included things with an overwhelming odor or otherwise overpowering to the physical senses such as loud noises. Garlic was said to have been used by many muggles for this end, but wizards who had reported encounters with the species told that the garlic did not work. Other things like onion were suggested yet not told to be useful either way. Another passage presumed that muggles had tried garlic since it was known to keep blood-sucking pests like mosquitoes away. This was never said to be tested either though there had been a minor report of extreme sound aggravating a vampire into fleeing.
Some muggles also stated that to fight vampires, religious or blessed artifacts were necessary. The wizarding accounts of this likewise shifted 'religious' and 'blessed' to mean magically endowed though once again, nothing had been proven or said to proven about these tactics. Harry had instantly wondered if there was a way to trap the power of a patronus inside an object. Such a spell would certainly work against the creatures as it had with the dementors and Gerald the demon. Holy water, could have even simply been a cast patronus without its corporal form. The white, wispy energy might have been mistaken as magical water to the muggle eye.
After that, everything to do with killing vampires concerned physical force. Decapitation, a stake through the heart, completely destroying the body of the creature and scattering it...or simply burying it away so that eventually, it dried up from starvation. It was strange that even the lack of answers helped to put everyone at ease. It seemed that as intimidating and ancient the vampires were, they weren't as powerful as they first appeared. Perhaps another reason behind staying largely within muggle society.
Ioana said that one of the books spoke of their assets as well. She hadn't yet dug too deeply into that area, but from what she could make out, there wasn't anything more than the family was already aware. Heightened senses, speed, and strength as well as their venom which could be used to control those weaker than them. The witch did take the time to point out that due to the probable ages of the immortal creatures, they had a vast store of knowledge and wealth. Both of which would benefit their ventures.
"I admit I was expecting something more grand," Harry told his wife as they lay down that night to sleep, "But it's actually quite nice to know that they aren't some overly powerful enemy."
"I suppose that makes sense, though," Ginny pursed her lips, "It's not pleasant to think that the only real ways to handle them is by killing them."
"Sometimes it just comes down to us or them," Harry mused, rolling over to his back and staring at the ceiling, "And we aren't the ones drinking blood."
"Maybe..." she thought, "I wonder if the books have anything on that? Their diet, that is."
The auror shrugged and turned back over to face his wife, "Probably. Why?"
"I just...it's curious," she confessed, placing her eyes on the man laying beside her, "We just don't know much about it and I wonder why they have to kill to stay alive and if they actually do. For all we know, they have humans with them that they feed on regularly without needing to murder them."
"Maybe," Harry shrugged. "It would definitely be nice to come to an arrangement with them instead of hunting them and worrying about such a dark threat."
There was a small pause as the two just looked at each other, faces nearly touching before Ginny gave a small smile. She inched closer to her husband, moving onto her back and slouching down so that she could rest her head backwards against his bare chest, "I'm also still curious about Brad."
"Mm," Harry nodded, gently caressing the top of the witch's head with his chin as his arms came to rest around her sides, "If to become a vampire, a wizard has to give up their magic...how does a muggle become one? Perhaps he's just being controlled. He could have used his own magic to make it look like he had been changed."
"I guess," Ginny replied, "Oliver did say that Brad was incredibly strong when he choked him out. I suppose that could have been faked as well...on Brad's end, I mean."
Another brief silence.
"Have you heard from Oliver recently?" she continued.
Harry shook his head, "Not really. We do have to make a visit regularly, but he hasn't been the most talkative person, you know? He does appear to be in slightly better spirits. I just don't know if that's a good thing or not."
"Because of what his brother said?" his wife guessed.
"Yeah," the auror affirmed. "I just don't understand how with all that's happened, he can still question that Gerald is the bad guy here."
The witch took in a deep breath and flipped over on her stomach so that her head, still resting on Harry, was now facing him, "You have to try and see it from his perspective. That band was the first answer he had to his dream of becoming a musician. His first friends since he lost his parents. There were lies, sure, but they were close, nonetheless. From what I can tell, they all helped each other through a lot. It must be hard to think it was all insincere."
"It doesn't excuse it," Harry pointed.
"No, it doesn't. I'm just saying..." Ginny trailed off.
The wizard smiled, "I know. You're too sweet," he leaned in and kissed the woman's forehead, "Let's get some rest though. It's back to the grindstone first thing in the morning."
Ginny sat back up, put her arms around her husband, and placed her lips onto his. The two exchanged a delicate kiss before both got comfortable on either side of the bed and fell into slumber. The next day started as usual, the aurors met outside the Ministry at the regular time and made their way in together. However, their entrance did not go unnoticed as per routine. Instead, they were met with various stares and whispers. Just as the pair began to wonder what had happened, they saw a familiar, yet unwanted face emerging from one of the lifts...one that also immediately drew attention from those scattered around the main floor.
"Astoria?" Ron growled. "Now what has she done?"
"I would say to calm it," his partner answered, not looking at the redhead but gazing at the woman in the distance, "But I think you're right."
The two began quickly walking toward the witch. Just before she reached the first row of fireplaces, she spotted them and halted, "Good morning, gentlemen," she greeted them amiably although her face read anything except.
"Morning," Harry offered quickly, rushing to the point, "What are you up to?"
"I've just had word with the Minister," she answered, "It seems the people aren't too thrilled to have their aurors hiding known information concerning dark wizards amongst them."
"Hiding? Blimey, you should know better than that!" Ron exclaimed, "And I bet ya done told them about the business in Romania as well?"
"I'm not an idiot," Astoria raised an eyebrow, "Who is going to take this case seriously when we start mouthing about vampires and demons and other unproven beasts? The people know about Gerald Davis and Augustus Rookwood being at large...as they should."
Harry nodded his head angrily, not out of agreement, but in an attempt to keep himself cool. The added pressure of citizens looking to them for answers in these cases was not going to help matters at all. Seeing that her part was done, the witch continued on her way.
"I know you think you're helping Draco," the lead auror suddenly turned and called, causing her to stop, "But this isn't."
Spinning rapidly on her heels to face the wizards again, she stomped back, "Oh? Making sure every citizen has their eyes peeled for sign of his father's murderer? Yeah, I think that's helping." And once more, she huffed off, this time her trek to and through the flames of the floo network not disrupted.
"I guess it's time to see Shackelbolt then," Ron rolled his eyes.
What was typically a brief trip to the Minister's office, took far too long as so many wished to stop the aurors to comment on how poorly they had acted or the opposite in saying that they had their fellow Ministry employees' support. Some simply were curious and wanted to see if either of the wizards would speak to them more directly about their case. Each of these conversations ended the same way: with both aurors saying they were following protocol, thanking the others, and not revealing anything more than Astoria had said she had.
When they finally reached their destination, Shackelbolt was frustrated as well. He was just better skilled at hiding it, "You've run into Ms. Greengrass, I see."
The aurors nodded.
Minister Shackelbolt slid a copy of that morning's Daily Prophet across his desk to them and Harry responded by reading out loud the article it was flipped to:
"It has recently come to the attention of one of our trusted reporters that the Investigations Department currently run by two aurors, Harry Potter and Ronald Weasely, has neglected to inform citizens of the presence of not one, but two dangerous criminals. Upon the death of Lucius Malfoy, a suspect was identified in his murder and later determined to be true culprit.
"Where these details were revealed to the Malfoy family, they were not exposed to any other party. When the aurors failed to properly handle their task in bringing in the murderer, an American wizard by the name of Gerald Davis, the distraught family instead brought the case to the attention of Astoria Greengrass, reporter for the Daily Prophet, in hopes that justice will be done.
"During the dealings of the aurors' case, one Augustus Rookwood, another known dark wizard and deatheater was discovered to still be at large. On behalf of the Malfoy family, and for the safety of all wizards and witches, the Daily Prophet asks that any information pertaining to Gerald Davis, Augustus Rookwood, or the death of Lucius Malfoy, be brought forth so that we may keep our community safe and free from such evil doers."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm just going to say that I have a hate/love relationship with the media. I think a lot of reporters need to mind their damn business. Especially those that like to stick their nose into the private lives of celebrities and such. Even in legal cases, reporters can cause a lot of necessary strife. The countless times that people have been deemed guilty prematurely because of the media is ridiculous. On the other hand, however, I feel that reporters do a lot of good. In such an instance as in this story, I feel that the people should be aware when there is danger lurking about them and this danger has been definitively proven. Also, the media can be distorted to make people believe the things they want you to believe. #RantOver lol