Chapter Twenty-Eight
Causa
It was a good thing that the galleries had been built so large. The sheer curiosity of everyone at Hogwarts (including the dragons that hadn't been involved in the building) meant that there was a desire to be a spectator when it was finished, just to find out what was going on. It didn't help in the matters of actually doing schoolwork or teaching about the schoolwork, either. As it was a valid subject with plenty of relevance the dragon lecturers had for the past week been discussing draconic construction, expanding on the mathematics and architecture, and other things along that line. As it became clearer that the dragon foreman and his crew was building an open-room courtroom, the lectures shifted into the philosophy behind legal matters. The philosophy shifted into practice, which touched a few times upon penalties.
As this was dragon-centric, after all, more than a few students decided that they didn't want to bother with the evening meal after those specific lectures. Or sleep.
Oddly, Professor Snape seemed interested in the legal lectures even before the construction had started. Even he couldn't honestly explain it, other than maybe it was something other than the stupidity of the usual dunderheads of all ages he had to deal with. It was something different and it helped him to clear his mind, oddly enough. After the third one he attended, he was seen making his own notes and scowling at anyone with the temerity to interrupt him.
So when the trial had been announced and the day approached, the Headmaster had decided to bow to the inevitable and cancel classes for the duration. Every single student was in the stands, mostly grouped by house and taking advantage of the opportunities given to them not to be in class, study, do any assignments or anything remotely academic. There were several bets being made that might or might not have anything to do with dragons.
"After all, it couldn't be more than one day. Correct, Minerva?" he'd said at the time to his deputy, who slowly shook her head. She'd turned to look at the solidness of the building that the industrious dragons had been putting together. They'd made up disruptions to the school schedule many times over the years thanks to this event or that, but this was wholly different.
"Albus, these are dragons. They do things differently. One day might not be enough, and many of the students – and some professors – wouldn't have their minds on the lessons if it ran over one day."
She'd been right, but no one knew that just yet.
|:-:|
"Dragons! Beasts! Lower than cattle – at least you get meat and milk from cattle!"
"Of course, Madam Umbridge."
Delores Umbridge was not in a happy mood. The man who'd answered her was a lowly assistant. Underlings had been left to mind the Ministry during today's shortened work-day, and she had been dragged along with Cornelius to this… show trial! Dragons! Pretending to be intelligent enough to be civilized! And holding court? What a laugh!
"Oh, please," she muttered to herself about her thoughts, not loud enough to be overheard. "These beasts have nothing that the Ministry would recognize, except use in potion ingredients and clothing."
She didn't recognize Albus Dumbledore's research into the uses for dragon's blood as useful at all, since she didn't like him at all and wasn't going to give him anything she didn't have to after a long fight.
"Er, Delores, did you say something?" Fudge asked from her side, having turned back to her from his conversation with the Head of Magical Creatures on his other side. He wasn't looking too good at the moment, but it was rather warm in the area. It was possibly the presence of those dragons in the box, sitting up like trained Pomeranians. She half expected them to light hoops on fire and jump through them after balancing on big steel balls first.
"No, Cornelius. It's just a bit warm."
"It is, isn't it? I wonder why?"
She didn't deign to answer his question, which she felt was beneath her. It was obvious, wasn't it?
"Oh, look, now we'll see who this Monroe Bitterberry is," he said. He sounded like he was unsure if he really wanted to know. "I don't recognize the name."
Umbridge didn't want to admit that out loud herself, but she couldn't think of something else to say right then. It was the truth, anyway – the name didn't ring a bell in her mind any more than it apparently didn't in his. She, along with everyone else watched as a balding man with a florid face strutted his way to the indicated place while sneering at the dragon.
"I thought 'Monroe' was a girl's name," Fudge pondered. "Wasn't there a model or some such long ago with that name?"
"I have no idea. Now, be quiet and let me listen. I'm trying to figure out what's so familiar about him," Umbridge said, momentarily forgetting who was the Undersecretary and who was the Minister. He settled down to watch, ignoring her snappishness. Fudge's mind wasn't on that, anyway.
On the perch, Bitterberry was taking the oath, which was as odd to the human watchers as the first time they heard it. It made sense that fire meant something to the dragons, but to swear an oath by it?
Dahne nodded as the man settled into the more-or-less human-sized indention dragons called a 'seat,' not really noticing that the man was more generously proportioned than Moody had been. The runes buzzed for a minute or so longer. Everyone thought it was a little odd, and the dragons wondered if maybe they hadn't executed the runic work precisely enough but it settled down soon enough.
"Witness, identify yourself for the record."
Dahne was feeling off about this witness and he didn't know why. Everything that he'd been told and that his human assistants could tell said that this Bitterberry (and wasn't that just a strange name) was upstanding. He wasn't related to Tessaies or Domir, and his mental abilities didn't quite match theirs even if he was also a Horntail. They were more than sufficient for his career but it was still frustrating to have to figure out why something twinged and made his head hurt sometimes.
He was going to have to ask for a recess after this and go see Domir. Maybe either he or Perreh could come up with a good excuse for at least ten minutes.
The smarmy man (he mentally thanked Wildness of Mane for that word, although he didn't know who Cormac was) was speaking, so the prosecuting dragon listened. He'd had the man speak on his direction, after all. Dahne's research had pointed him toward this Bitterberry as the proper one to clear up the things he needed for the successful prosecution of his case. It hadn't taken much for the summons to be issued with the increased use of the Treaty.
He had to hand it to Tessaies. She got things done.
"I am Monroe Bitterberry."
Dahne was hoping for more than that, but after a moment of silence realized that this might be like pulling teeth.
"And in what capacity in the Ministry of Magic do you fill, Mister Bitterberry?"
Everyone could see that the man barely restrained a sneer at the dragon, who ignored it with rising difficulty. Something was really bothering him about the man and it didn't help that there was a practically visible cloud of dislike hovering over him.
"I serve as the head of Genealogical Research for the Ministry. I oversee a team that researches the House lines of the major Wizarding families in Magical Britain and the offshoots of said families."
"I see. And how long have you been in that role?"
"I have had the honor of holding that honored position for the last twenty-three years," the man said stiffly, implying to all present that it no mere 'role.'
"Very impressive, Mister Bitterberry. As Head, would you take a few minutes to describe the makeup of your department and the function within the Ministry?"
"Of course."
Thirty-five minutes later, Dahne realized that this was the wrong question to ask. Of course, he was able to establish that the magical lines was passed down from parent to child in a matter of genetics, although a lot of 'pureblood' magicals didn't see it that way. Dragons understood and accepted the science of genetics, the sub-branch of genomics, and the associated sciences around it as a link to the Earth and those that inhabited it. There was a reason a lot of the dragon lecturers had covered biology in their lectures at Hogwarts. There had been plans to cover other 'soft sciences' in the months to come, but this had come up.
Dahne was trying not to think about that, and a glance at Perreh could see that he felt the same way.
"… and that brings us to the Black family," Bitterberry said.
Dahne spoke up quickly, before the others could say anything. He didn't like the lecturing tone the witness had taken on.
"And how does the Black family relate to this trial, aside from Sirius Black being the defendant?"
"They're all Death Eaters, of course, every single one. Proven beyond a doubt. All Dark and bound to service to Voldemort…"
"You lie!"
The shout came from Sirius Black, who had bolted to his feet. His whole frame was shivering in outrage and anger. Perreh sighed at his side, but leaned back and said nothing. In the gallery, people started whispering and waiting to see if the judge would stop him. Surprising all the humans, Whopnehr raised up a bit to give Sirius a speculative glance. His talons scraped across the stone, stilling the whispers and disgruntlement that had cropped up at the outburst from the defendant.
"Mister Black. You are disrupting the court, but then again dragon courts are not like human courts. Are you invoking the Declaration of Contention?"
Sirius was confused enough that he didn't jump when Perreh leaned close enough to whisper in his ear. The animagus still had problems with the sight of dragon teeth so close to him, or more precisely, Padfoot was wary of teeth bigger than his own by a fair percentage.
"He is asking if you can prove that to be false."
"There's too many with Black blood in Magical Britain to be able to answer that. We're an old family. There are a lot of intermarriages between the old families. James was my cousin and through him, so is Harry!"
The look that Sirius was giving his defense dragon was underpinned by a bit of fear for the thought about his impulsiveness. He didn't know that the draconic runes the construction dragons had carved into the court's stone furniture had activated upon the judge's question, and neither did the other humans. Their attention was upon Sirius Black in any event, and whatever Perreh was saying to him. They couldn't hear what was being said, since they couldn't get too close thanks to the sweep of Perreh's tail as he moved around. No one wanted to be tripped up. For that matter, no one wanted to risk being tripped up by Dahne's spiked tail either. The points of said spikes had their own watchers.
"Well, what about the Death Eater comment?"
"Yes, I can! Never! No cursed tattoo on my arms! I would die first."
He started to push his sleeves up, only to find both hands trapped under a massive forepaw on the table. Sirius could feel the sudden sweat on his skin practically boiling away from the heat, or so it felt to him. A corner of his mind was asking quite calmly just how he was going to move. Perreh's forepaw was very heavy and Sirius had to flatten his hands out to spread the weight. Some of his attention was on the talons in that forepaw. With some morbid fascination, he could see that the inside edge of the dragon's talon had some serration.
Part of that morbid fascination asked how the dragon kept them so sharp and what he sharpened them on.
Perreh's voice continued, softly enough for just Sirius to hear in case someone had better-than-expected hearing. "The Declaration of Contention uses the magic in the runic configuration of the court's layout. Underneath each of these," Perreh nodded to the judge's bench, the perch, and the other places with a congregation of either humans or dragons, "has a master rune that monitors the activity of the runes you can see."
"Okay?" Sirius was confused.
Perreh eyed him for a moment.
"Are you magical, or not? Leave one hand on this table and prove your Contention. Use your magic to aid that...or in your case, like an Oath."
The defense dragon moved his forepaw. Perreh gave Sirius an even stare until Sirius' eyes went wide, then nodded toward Whopnehr. The old dragon was waiting more or less patiently as he recognized a client being advised. Sirius stood as much as he could with his left hand on the table and yanked his sleeve up. There was a subdued gasp from some of the onlookers that could see some of his arm and frenzied whispers followed. It was an awkward shift for him to angle the inside of his arm toward Whopnehr and keep his palm on the table. He didn't realize that he stepped on Perreh's foot in the process, but the Ironbelly didn't say anything or move.
The tendons in his hand and arm started screaming in protest from the odd positioning as Sirius drew upon his magic to support what he was going to say. He wasn't sure what exactly Perreh meant by use his magic, but by Merlin and James' and Lily's sacrifice, he was Harry's Godfather and he was going to use that!
Sirius continued to draw upon his magic. He was sure that it would respond in the way that he needed even if he wasn't quite sure what he needed. The pain of being thrown into Azkaban and the dementors' effects, the worry about Harry both then and now, the agony of seeing the lifelessness in his friends' eyes, the stress of being on the run, all of it was channeled down his arm and into the table.
He didn't notice when the cuff of his sleeve resting on the top part of his arm started smoking a bit, as total his concentration had become upon his thoughts.
The frenzied whispers cut off suddenly as the table lit up like a beacon. Sirius looked up and winged it.
"I Declare that I am Sirius Orion Black and that I am the Godfather of Harry James Potter! I have never been a Death Eater and I reject now just as strongly as I rejected then the whole of their depraved existence! I am not the only Black or with Black blood that reject Voldemort! I am not the only Black or with Black blood that resists Voldemort! I swear this, with all the love I hold for the Potters that I know, past and present!"
|:-:|
Inside the Castle, there was a rumble deep within her depths and her walls trembled. The Aurors left on security detail had been reminiscing about the things they had studied – some weren't exactly on the approved list the Ministry had – and jumped up at the sound.
"What's going on?"
"I have no idea. Maybe Dumbledore has something going on, some experiment or something!"
"While he's not here to monitor it?"
"Good point."
They glanced around with mounting unease as the Castle settled. One peered at the other.
"Do you get the feeling that you're being… watched?"
The return look wasn't any more relaxed and the question went unanswered but not unconsidered.
|:-:|
Harry had a front row seat, of course. The last Potter had to be here for his Godfather, if nothing else. He was one of only a few that had decided to sit with dragons. Hermione was with him, as expected, and Neville sat with them if a bit apart. Tessaies was curled up behind them, both leaning back on an ebony foreleg. Neville leaned back against the healed part of Rhiain's belly while she in turned leaned back against a stout tree. The young Gryffindor had forgotten about the Welsh Green's presence, as drawn into the proceedings as he was.
There wasn't really much room in that area for other students thanks to the dragons' bulk, otherwise Luna would be with Neville. She was in the stands, with a better view of the area next to Dean. She was writing out everything that happened for the Quibbler and he was sketching it out as quickly as he could. They had come to an agreement. Dean was confused by the terms, but he was hard at work.
Annika and Quiangya was on the other side, taking their own mental notes. Annika was concentrating hard on everything, which dampened her 'ditsyness' and Quiangya was thankful. They all watched, waiting to see what would occur.
The gleam under Sirius' hand lanced out to the prosecution area with Dahne observing in resignation but saying nothing, as he knew that such a thing had to be allowed to play out. It went to the jury section, then the judge's bench, then to the galleries. It was, to the ones occupying those areas, almost like a herald calling for attention to something about to be announced. Once that attention was procured, it paused for a moment then shot out to the witness perch where Bitterberry waited. He didn't know what was going on any more than any of the non-dragon audience. The dragons seemed interested, and several in most areas were taking all manner of notes just as Luna was. The scratch of their talons on the surfaces that appeared from who knew where chittered as the flow of magic struck the perch.
The effect was immediate.
Bitterberry screamed, howling out a note that no one would have thought he was capable of. He jumped up, dancing on his tiptoes as his back arched and his arms windmilled. Even his hair shot out straight, with smoke curling off the tips in an increasing amount. Everyone could see that there was a great deal of agony firing through his body, and it came in pulses. Several people leaped to their feet, trying to decide if they could pull him away from the magical energy. Everyone could see it, there in the witness perch's area.
"Hold!" Whopnehr's voice cracked throughout the area, loud enough to be heard inside the Castle.
The dragons' eyes were wide and the pupils of each one had dilated to watch with some kind of intense intent as Bitterberry danced in pain. He tried to escape the perch, but there was something confining him to it and he couldn't go anywhere. The rails around it shone in a malicious refulgence that was hard to look at, but no one wanted to or even could look away. The sight of his eyes glowing in spasms even as they shriveled up in their eyesockets and burned away made some want to retch. There was an undulating moan from Bitterberry right before he burst into a white-hot flame, accompanied by the deep toll of a bell that no one knew the location of or could see. It wasn't Hogwarts' bell, they knew. This one wasn't the brightly toned bell many had come to know and their hearts sank to hear it, even if they didn't know why.
This one rang out a martial peal of anger and retribution. It shook everyone down to the bones, although the dragons seemed to expect it. Several were seen nodding to themselves.
As the intense toll slowly faded away along with the fire, they saw the witness collapse into a heap of fine ash. There was a moment of silence. Pairs of wide eyes met each other, then the dragons in the witness box along with Perreh and Dahne sent jets of flame toward the sky to acknowledge the Declaration and the events following it.
For his part, Sirius collapsed back into his seat. He was spent and decided that he was going to stay right here for a moment. He stared at the perch in disbelief – he'd seen many feats of magic during his life, but this was completely unexpected.
There was a storm there. He, and everyone else, could see that there were miniature clouds, lightning, and thunder rolling from the perch. The rain expected from that storm wasn't of water, but of fire. It raged within the confines of the witness perch's magical keep, beating against the ephemeral walls of the ambit of its manifestation. All eyes could see that the ashes were swept up into a funnel cloud that danced around as the storm rolled on.
No one wanted to comment even as the storm slowly attenuated its strength and died away. The ashes vanished within the diminished magical field and the witness perch was left looking the same as it had always looked to everyone, with absolutely no sign that someone had been burned down within itself. There was a few moments of complete silence, as there really wasn't anything anyone could think to say.
Whopnehr made a gargling noise from his position a bit higher than everyone else. The others looked up at him, wondering if he was choking or if it was just a dragon's version of clearing his throat.
"The Declaration of Contention has been invoked and weighed."
The old dragon made some kind of gesture toward Sirius that seemed to be almost ritualized, and everyone could see that Whopnehr's talons held a bit of magical afterglow as his forepaw traced a pattern through the air. Sirius started to ask a question, but Perreh nudged him and shook his head no.
"The additional magics governing Mister Black's Oath of Godfathership also contributed, as I observed. It is Magic's ruling supporting his Declaration that Sirius Black is not a Death Eater, is not a supporter of the same or of the being known as Voldemort, and that certain members of the Black Family are of the same beliefs and states as himself."
The old dragon made another gesture at the witness perch, a bit slower this time.
"As truth is very important and falsehoods cannot be abided under the Magic that oversees this trial and all we of Her gifts, I also observe that there has been a Cleansing upon the witness perch by the happenings and movements of Magic we all witnessed today. This Monroe Bitterberry has attempted to spread falsities while under oath, and the question of by deliberate action or by ignorance is irrelevant.
Whopnehr swung a gimlet eye upon everyone in his court, and he frowned most mightily. Even as old as he was, people shuddered to see how displeased he was – and that was the same reaction whether human or dragon.
"Harken! Witness ye the consequences of telling a lie in a dragon court! It is unfailing, unrepentant, and uncaring! When the dragon oath 'swearing to tell Magic's truth, Blood's truth, and Fire's truth, upon pain of loss of all,' is taken, it is not to be done lightly, not at all. You see now the end of that prevaricating flight, should anyone here be thinking of that. Should you be called here to give your testimony, be warned!"
Some people looked at Mad-Eye Moody and thinking about his oath sworn as the first witness. He was nodding his head in unconscious agreement. Whopnehr sighed, drawing attention back to himself. A dragon's sigh was not to be ignored.
"We will stand in recess for three hours, in order to allow the energies of the runework of the witness perch to settle and I would like Mister Black to be examined by a Healer in the meantime. I felt a good deal of magical energy run its course, and think it would be wise. While it's been a while since I've seen a Declaration of Contention, I can truthfully say that it felt stronger than any I've seen in a long, long while. Mister Black, I want to see a Healer report here at the end of that time," the judge tapped a sharp talon on his scratching stone with emphasis. Many in the galleries winced as the sound seemed like it was splitting through their heads.
Sirius nodded.
"Yes, My Lord.. Er, Your Honorable Battle Draco."
Whopnehr nodded, ignoring the flub Sirius had made in the form of address.
"So ordered. We will reconvene in three hours."
The talons scraped across the stone again and the humans winced. Mirela barked out, "All rise!" and glared at those that she didn't feel had jumped to their feet fast enough. Whopnehr mumbled something to himself that the translation charm didn't process as he left. Everyone could see that he was struggling a bit and showing his age.
|:-:|
Sirius looked at Perreh.
"Now what?"
"Now I think I'll take you over to Domir. He's been wanting to try something new on you for the last few days as part of his professional studies. Learning in his field never stops."
"Er, what?" Sirius wasn't sure that he liked the sound of that. Domir was that almighty huge Horntail. He was getting used to the dragons, but Domir still gave him the creeps from his sheer size alone. Nice guy… er, dragon, but huge.
"I don't claim to understand it. That's not my field, you see. I have to have some familiarity with some of the terms he uses for my work in cases that involve Healing matters, but this is far out of my sky. He's been consulting with your Madam Pomfrey, who's been making suggestions tailored to your specific case as she is the one most available and familiar with your care and records."
"Uhhhh… what, exactly?" The answer was a bit weak and Perreh went on. He hadn't noticed.
"I think she said something about 'things that were never seen to during your time here,' and something else about 'updating parchmentwork,' and something else after that about 'required immunizations other than potions and recommended procedures.' There was other stuff I missed, and I think I got that much right anyway. You humans have some odd emotional shadings to your words. Domir seemed interested as well. He's going to sit in and 'learn,' he said."
"P-procedures?"
It was like a curtain had lifted. Through the years and things from the wizarding prison, Sirius was suddenly reminded of a couple of pranks he'd played on the mediwitch in Fifth Year. Remus, James, and even Peter had noped out of the honor, but she'd never said anything about the results. She just carried on with her duties and Sirius avoided her for everything he could get away with.
"Something about a 'snip' and a needle or three. I didn't understand it at… Sirius?"
Perreh sighed as he watched his client keel over. Humans were strange. Surely this Madam Pomfrey, as a professional just as conscientious as Domir, would have his best interests at heart?
|:-:|
Dahne watched Sirius keel over and flop onto the table and wondered what that was all about. Humans were strange. He'd have to ask Perreh once they had an opportunity. His eyes narrowed and his brow was furrowed in speculation. He was having a lot of questions begging for attention in his legal mind, and judging from what body language he saw from his old friend, so was Perreh.
Well, they couldn't talk about that right now, but sooner or later they'd split a barrel between them. Something really wasn't right here. He and his old friend would get to the bottom of this.
In the meantime, he had to decide who to call next. The last witness hadn't acquitted himself very well.
|:-:|
A couple of younger Blue Snortfire dragons had been watching what the humans were doing since they arrived, intrigued by some of the new things they'd seen over the past week or so. They'd had to talk to some of the elders to discuss some of the more confusing actions and knew that most of the humans here were younglings. Those were at just below the same relative age level as they themselves were, but that knowledge didn't really help them with the questions they had. It was just so odd.
The elders usually told them to open their eyes, shut their mouths and watch, but that didn't help if they had a question. They'd been told that there wasn't any such thing as a dumb question, but if they couldn't ask it, then how was they going to learn? Surely there had to be something the old wyrms could take the time to answer. If they didn't, the two young dragons decided that they were going to poke around and stir up trouble – which was usually how they learned things.
One elbowed the other.
"Hey…"
That one jumped and rubbed his side. It was still a bit tender from the slaps they'd gotten from the Giant Squid for ganging up and stealing his fish dinner an hour ago. They thought it was worth it since it was very good fish, now resting in their bellies.
"What? That hurt, you son of a salamander."
"Yeah, yeah. That's for putting ice in my bedding. How you got it there and kept it from melting, I haven't figured out."
"And I'll never tell, either." The innocent look on that young dragon didn't look very absolved, mainly because neither was very good at it. It wasn't for lack of trying, more like lack of veracity.
In fact, it had been Professor Flitwick feeling puckish. Several of the older dragons had already gotten tired of the hijinks of the two younger dragons and had commiserated with the half-Goblin professor about the experiences that went along with teaching the younger generation. He had decided to help them out a bit, since he hadn't played a good prank in a long time. The other dragon didn't know about it and decided that maybe claiming the credit for whoever had done it hadn't been the brightest idea.
"What do you want, anyway? I'm looking at something here."
"Yeah, right. That's the professor that turns into a cat you're looking at."
"A cat? One of those really tasty things that bite? And are you sure? I've been trying to figure this one out, since I've never seen a… what did you call it? A cat look at me so sternly. I feel like I want to make sure my scales are brushed off and my teeth are clean."
"… I'm not going to try to answer that. She and Jack have been exploring – what did he call it – 'wee drams.' Don't ask me what a dram is."
"Okay. What's a dram and for that matter, what's a 'wee?'"
There wasn't an answer, at least a verbal answer. A moment later, the sassy dragon was hopping on one foot, since the other dragon had stomped on the other. Meanwhile the black and white cat strolled off, thinking about the upcoming world domination and the things on his checklist to do for that. The evaluation for minions had gone poorly, since these were obviously of low-quality.
"Okay, okay! I'll be quiet!"
"Sure you will. Anyway, look there. See her?"
"Who, the woman with that shiny glass in her eye?"
"Yeah, that one."
"What about her, and why are you looking at her? No, don't draw her attention over here to us! She makes me feel like I've done something wrong to get caught and in trouble for."
"Well, to be fair, you usually have. Pavel catches you once a week, twice if you haven't been paying attention."
"Right, like you're not there helping me do it. Anyway, what about her?"
"She's up to something, now that court's in recess."
"So?"
"So, I want to know what it is. Pavel wouldn't start something when he doesn't have much time unless he could finish it quick, and she looks like she's the same way."
"Okay... and?"
"And let's go over there and watch. I want to know what's going on and she's usually more entertaining than much of the other humans. It looks like she's going over to that…" the young dragon paused, his face screwing up in befuddlement. "What is that, anyway?"
There was a moment's pause and the other dragon shrugged, his mystification just as evident.
"Whatever it is, it's pink."
"That's pink? It looks too bright to be what that young human showed me. Are you sure?"
"I think so, but now I'm not sure. Let's go find out. Maybe we can ask somebody."
|:-:|
Madam Bones had decided that she'd had enough. This recess gave her time to do a little investigation of her own.
"Dolores. I'm surprised to see you here."
"I'm the Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic, why wouldn't I be?"
Privately, Madam Bones wondered if the squat woman visited the loo and did the expected thing because of her job title. It had much the same results, the DMLE Head thought.
"I have a few questions to ask you in relation to an investigation that I'm conducting."
"At your level? Why wasn't I informed of this?"
"It hasn't risen to that point yet." Plus, it wouldn't be a good idea to give you those details until I have you in a cell, Madam Bones thought behind a still face.
"What do you want to know?" The question was asked in an ill humor.
"We've uncovered some discrepancies, thanks to an investigation that General Accounting has ask us to look into."
"Oh? Discrepancies? Are you telling me that they don't know how to count?"
The question was accompanied by the falsest smile Madam Bones had ever seen.
"No, Madam Umbridge. After a certain point, they're required to turn investigations over to us."
"So they can't count that high. Thank you for telling me this. I'll have to make some reassignments. Good day." Umbridge turned to leave and took a step away from the Aurors, but Madam Bones placed her hand on her arm.
"I'm sorry, but that's not what I was referring to."
Umbridge looked at the hand on her arm.
"What's the meaning of this? Remove your hand before I remove your job! I have nothing more to say to you!"
She snatched her arm away after shoving Madam Bones back, and turned to waddle away. Her motions were a bit more hurried than usual and the Aurors noticed that. For the second time, Madam Bones had had enough.
"Madam Umbridge!"
"Stuff it! I have nothing to say to you!" The toad-faced woman moved quicker, which wasn't saying much.
"I think you do. You're coming with us."
Umbridge yanked her wand out and threw a wide-area Tripping Jinx on the three Aurors. This had little effect on them as one merely stepped aside, one blocked it, and the other jumped out of the trip, but the action of doing so took up her attention. No one saw the young dragon step onto the path Umbridge had been on.
What happened next was something that made the Aurors wonder exactly how they were going to phrase things in their reports.
Umbridge turned to try to run and came face to face with the young dragon that had been watching. He opened his mouth and the woman in the ugly pink cardigan started to inhale air to shriek. The other young dragon was sitting to the side, watching and wondering what his friend was up to. He had no idea, any more than the Aurors did.
There was a resonating buuuuuuurp that came from the young dragon's maw. The half-digested fish had contributed to the effluence of scent carried on that massive eructation, along with the usual things that a dragon's digestive system dealt with – with the addition of the rather potent fuel that enabled the dragon flames. These particular dragons were of the Snortfire breed, meaning that they didn't really have the massive flaming ability of a Horntail or below. Even Kirsa had more flame than they did, but they had some that mainly issued from their nasal passages and gave them their name. It was something that they had to deal with.
Thanks to their specific body makeup, they did have a rather sulfurous colicky issue so to speak, and had to deal with the discomfort that came with that problem. It was usually under control, thanks to the advice that Domir had given them. He had consulted with the draconic Healer at their home camp and made sure that they 'took their medicine.' Unfortunately, Domir couldn't be everywhere and neither could his very capable nurse-assistant. Plus, thanks to their ages and corresponding maturity, they thought it was very amusing.
Especially when they discovered some of the 'jokes' the younger ones had here that were maybe not in the best taste.
Umbridge went green, which didn't really go well with the pink cardigan. The Aurors winced, and in the process missed the catch of the squat witch as she tumbled to the hard-packed ground.
"Madam Umbridge!"
She was spitting into the dirt and mumbling something that they had to listen closer to hear.
"… worse than Cornelius doing it…"
Eyebrows were raised. That mental image didn't help matters.
"… got in my mouth…spilled in…"
That didn't either, and all three grimaced. Madam Bones cut her eyes to the young dragons as she let her Aurors handle Umbridge. She found herself folding her arms and giving them a look. Madam Bones could hear them conversing.
"Oh, that was funny," the watching young dragon told the burping young dragon.
"It could have been worse. Have you tried that kimchi Kyo Seung-Ho made for us?"
"Yes! It was very good, but… well…"
"You too? Is it just me, or does the air it spews make it easier to fly around?"
"Air? I don't think that's air."
By now, Umbridge found herself restrained in magic-binding cuffs and told that she was being detained for resisting an Auror in the execution of their duties. The aurors that cuffed her were wheezing and holding a hand up to their noses. Not all the wheezing was from the smell. The dragons noticed and broke off their discussion.
"Nothing to see here, now. Hey, maybe there's some kimchi left and we can keep Oskar awake again."
"Er…"
"What?"
"From the way she's looking at us, maybe we'd better go… quick! Fly!"
"Who?"
The young dragon suddenly realized he was by himself and looked around to see Madam Bones glaring at him – and frowning. He looked down to see her foot tapping exactly like his nestmother's left rear foot – same tempo and everything. It was Madam Bones' right foot, but that didn't matter to the young dragon. A glance at the faces of the Aurors who'd seen the same thing didn't help the sinking feeling in his stomach. He gulped and scampered off into the air, kicking up dirt that landed near the Aurors.
"Wait for meeeee!"
|:-:|
"Hey, Benny?"
"Yeah, Jim?"
"Didn't that dragon look exactly like little Kasidy…"
"… when she got caught doing something to get into trouble? Sure did."
The Aurors chuckled to each other and followed Madam Bones, dragging Umbridge along. It was quiet for a few minutes as they walked toward the edge of Hogwarts' wards.
"Hey, Jim?"
"Yeah, Benny?"
"Think they'll take recommendations?"
"Possibly. Got something in mind?"
"Oh, a few things."
"Me, too."
Up ahead, Madam Bones sighed to herself and pretended very hard that she didn't hear that.
/***\
Author Notes:
Stats at time of chapter publication, if you're interested: FFN – 1,293 followers, 828 favorites, 370 reviews, and 17 communities. AO3 – 620 kudos, 169 bookmarks, 326 comments (granted a bunch of comments are just me replying to others commenting, but still...)
I don't even know how to start a FFN community or AO3 collection, but I'm still grateful for those who do and place me and my work in either of those. Absolutely no writer is worth anything without readers, no matter the style or genre, and I'm so very pleased that you're here reading my words.
