Chapter Fifty-One
The Spy Who Loved Me
Alexandria woke up and found herself looking at her living room ceiling, realizing that he had once again taken a nap only to have slept through the night. And just like before, her quilt was on top of her and the fire had been built up for her. There was a knock on the door... undoubtedly Corey. Maybe it was Alicia who had put the quilt on her? Or Pyther, she reasoned, glancing at the painting on the wall. That did make a lot of sense, especially after what happened the day before. Pyther would have probably been thinking about her after getting Alicia settled in.
Reluctantly, Alex slid her feet into a pair of slippers and went over to the door, unconcerned that she was still wearing her Muggle clothes from the day before. The moment she opened a door, there as a potion next to her nose.
"Good morning, drink that first," Corey advised. She reluctantly took it before stepping out of the way. "I brought you some breakfast, and I don't think either one of us wants it to come right back up again."
"Thanks," Alexandria replied with a sigh, downing it as Corey came in and put a rather large tray on the kitchen bar. "You don't expect me to eat all of that, do you?" she commented as she closed the door.
"It's for both of us," Corey explained. "It's not even takeout. Rose made full breakfasts this morning. The beans might have slid into the tomatoes a little, so I hope you don't mind a bit of co-mingling. Do you prefer coffee or tea in the morning?"
"Depends on my mood," Alex admitted, and Corey gazed at her expectantly. "Breakfast tea will do."
"Fine with me," Corey replied, putting the kettle on as Alexandria sat down at the bar and propped her head up, waiting for the potion to take hold. "You know, I heard that you really went through something yesterday. You might want to make an appointment with the Cottonwoods," he suggested sincerely.
"I can't do that! Then everyone will know!" Alex protested. "I'll go to Sagittari. He's easy to get to without anyone finding out from here, and I know he'll be discreet. I just have to worry about Mum."
"Do you want me to write down the hours she's in the Items classroom?" Corey asked.
"That would be really helpful... and Sagittari's classes too if you know them," Alexandria added gratefully.
"Even if he does have class, he wouldn't mind if you went in and waited," Corey assured her, getting their cups ready.
"True," Alexandria agreed, then grew quiet as Corey got their tea and lifted the cover off the tray he had brought, handing over her plate and taking his.
"So... I know you didn't have as long to think about it as you had originally planned, but did you have any more time to think it over?" Corey asked. Alexandria sighed.
"I have," Alexandria admitted. "And to be perfectly honest, I don't know what I want to do. I think I want to talk to him first," she decided. Corey smiled softly.
"Well, 'I don't know' and 'talking about it' sounds a lot more reasonable after the shock you had. I'm glad that you're starting to think it over with a calm head," Corey said sincerely, and the two ate quietly for a moment.
"Thank you," Alexandria said.
"Hm?" Corey said, a bit confused.
"I know how the family would vote on this. I also know how our society feels about this," Alexandria admitted. "I know how you feel about it too. And yet despite that, all you've been advising since the start is for me to think things through. I really appreciate that... more than I know how to express."
"That's what siblings are for. Especially older ones," Corey teased.
"Who do you go to for advice when you get stuck?" Alex asked curiously.
"Mum or Dad, typically, or my friends, or even younger siblings," Corey replied. "It depends on what the problem is. It's good to have a lot of people to turn to, and it's also good to let your guard down enough that you're not afraid to ask for advice... no matter what your job title is."
"Well, right now I'm just Alex," Alexandria said with a sigh. "But you're right. Somewhere along the way of doing my job... I don't know exactly when... I convinced myself that I couldn't ask for advice anymore, because my job was too important and I needed to be in complete control. Over time, I let that affect the rest of my life to the point that no matter what was going on, my job was in the forefront. Even when I tried to take time just to be with my family, my job constantly invaded."
"Yes, because you let it," Corey said.
"It's not always my fault!" Alexandria protested. "Like the year before last when I stumbled into Bagman during that Yule party in Villahexen, there's no way I could have controlled that!"
"Maybe you can't control every situation, but you can control a lot of them," Corey said. "Take grandfather, for example. He's the second highest Minister, and his job is every bit as important as yours, don't you agree?"
"Sure," Alexandria replied.
"Despite that, every morning he leaves the house at the exact same time, has lunch at the same time, and goes home at the same time," Corey pointed out. "And although a lot of the discussions at dinner involve work, he always makes it a point to eat with his family, spend time with his wife and twins and instruct them on their forms, as then set aside time to fill out whatever paperwork he needs for his business, which he visits once or twice a month. And yet, despite all of his obligations, he also makes sure to give himself time to head down to the Secret Lab and unwind. Doesn't he?"
"Yeah," Alexandria replied ruefully.
"Not only that, but I bet that when you think of who your grandfather is as a person, it doesn't have anything to do with his job at the Ministry, no matter how important it is," Corey said. "I think one of the reasons that Grandfather is good at that job is because he's always been the same wizard no matter what his title is. It wouldn't matter what job you put him in, it wouldn't change him. Thomas Craw, Minister of Magic. Thomas Craw, Pig Farmer! Ice Cream Man? Bar owner? No, I've got it now... Headmaster of Hogwarts! Go ahead and laugh all you like, but answer my question. Would he behave any different in a different job?" he asked her as Alexandria fought through her laughter and wiped away her tears.
"No," she rasped, trying not to think too hard about how silly he'd look peddling ice cream.
"That's something you need to work on, Alex. You need to figure out how to be yourself regardless of what your job is. If you can learn how to do that, I bet that you'll be a better Minister of Mysteries than when you have been while forcing yourself to be someone you're not," Corey said. "You should also learn by our Grandfather's example and set regular business hours, except for emergencies. You need to trust your assistants to do the work just like Grandfather does, and like Father does, too. He wasted no time after he took over your job to hire enough staff in Mysteries that he could be home in time to put Seren to bed, and nobody thought any less of him for doing it. In fact, I think the only person who thinks that you need to be in touch with that office 24/7 is you."
"I do understand what you're saying, Corey," Alexandria said sincerely. "But it's impossible to learn how to do my job as myself when I'm still not altogether sure of who I am any more."
"Start with what you know about yourself and go from there," Corey suggested.
"Well, I know that I am a person who wants to know things. Does that count?" Alexandria asked.
"Absolutely," Corey decided without hesitation. "Even when you were little, you always had questions about the world around you. You used to drive us crazy with questions," Corey recalled with a grin.
"I still have them... a lot of them," Alexandria admitted.
"Out of all those questions in your head, which ones are the most important to you?" Corey asked.
Alexandria didn't have to think about it too long.
"Right now, the most important question is what am I going to do about having another child I won't be able to raise. And I guess the only person who can really help me decide that is the Magician," Alexandria decided. "I think I'm going to see Sagittari, and then I'll see about getting in touch with the Magician. Do you suppose you could ask the Magician to come to Hogsmeade to visit me when you head back to the office?"
"I don't go into Mysteries until the afternoon, but I'll pass on your message," Corey promised. "As you can see from my notes, Mum has an Item's Class today right before lunch. That gives you plenty of time to get dressed and head through the tunnel to the castle."
"I think I will," Alexandria agreed, feeling more sure of herself now than she had felt in a very long time.
After getting a clean bill of health from her veterinarian, Alexandria spent the rest of the day doing the laundry and making out a grocery list for when her Trade Elf came to pick it up. Then she decided to have a light dinner, frowning at the open window when she hadn't gotten a response right away. Making the most of afternoon, she picked out one of her favorite books, which, she realized, was the first thing she had read other than research books lately. She was pretty sure now that Alicia was right; the only way she was going to get answers was to talk to the Magician directly.
The next morning, Alexandria got up and took her medicine before wandering out to the kitchen. She brightened when she saw Wilder sitting in the window.
"Good morning, Wilder! Do you have a letter for me?" Alexandria asked hopefully.
"It's from your father!" the owl hooted, dropping his letter.
"Oh," Alexandria said flatly.
"Is that not a good thing?" he wondered.
"It's not that. I was just hoping it was from someone else, that's all," Alexandria said.
"Whooo?" the owl asked, but Alexandria had picked up the note and opened it up.
Alexandria,
This is to let you know that the Magician has finished his report of the incident in Milan, which has now been sent through the normal channels through the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Magic. Draco was more than a little put out by the scale of the scene and the authorities' complaints about the blatant use of magic. Fortunately, the fact that several of Bagman's assassins were captured in the process helped mitigate Draco's initial reaction to the situation. He has filed extraditions, with the intent of moving them to the high security quarter of Azkaban once the renovations are completed. In fact, the current Warden believes that attempting to keep Mr. Cole contained may be a good test of the new facility. Despite the mitigating circumstances, your grandfather is now advising that once you are ready to return to your post, you should report to him for a refresher course on LE procedures when it comes to situations within areas of dense Muggle activity, and how to maintain restraint within these areas. However, no further action is to be taken at this time. Draco did ask me to tell you to please refrain from venturing too far from your location, especially while we are attempting to gauge what Bagman's response to the incident will be.
Your Father.
Alexandria let out a long sigh, putting the letter away.
"Is everything all right?" Wilder hooted.
"Well, it could have been a lot worse," Alexandria admitted. "We did make quite a mess to clean up yesterday, but it sounds like Draco is going to let it slide as long as I don't get into any more trouble," she explained.
"Were you planning on getting into more trouble?" the owl wondered.
"The last thing I need right now is more trouble," Alexandria said, then paused. "I wonder if the Daily Prophet reported on what happened in Milan at all?"
"Do you want me to get you a newspaper?" Wilder asked.
"Maybe I'll come down and get it myself," Alexandria decided. "Was the Magician in the office when you picked up this letter?"
"He was," Wilder confirmed.
"I don't suppose he wrote me a letter?" Alexandria asked. "I asked Corey to tell him that I wanted to talk to him."
"Talking isn't writing," Wilder hooted.
"Good point. I forgot how literal he could be," Alexandria said. "Did he tell you to tell me anything?"
"He told me that he would talk to you later," Wilder said.
"That's it? No time, no place, just... later?" Alexandria frowned, and Wilder hooted in agreement. "Well, I'm certainly not going to waste my day waiting on him. I'm going to go get breakfast at the tea room and grab a newspaper. Do you want to go?"
"Are owls allowed in the tea room?" Wilder hooted.
"I really don't know, but I'm sick and tired of talking to myself. I'm used to you and Austere keeping me company so I can talk things out, and not having you around hasn't been easy," she admitted. "I guess what I'm saying is I'm lonely. I'm only used to being by myself when I'm sleeping. Now that I have all of this extra time, I've found that I really don't care for being alone very much. That's just not me. I prefer having people to talk to, and I've been isolated for too long. It's weird in a way," she added as he hopped up on her shoulder. "I have a lot of Agents that I communicate with all the time... but I can't ever share any of it with anyone else. I wonder why that aspect of the job didn't bother Bagman? Or maybe it did? What I mean is that he's an extrovert just like me. He loves people... he loves having people to talk to and to talk at, just like I do. And just like me, he lost his first life partner... not in the same way, but in some ways just as tragic. I wonder if that's part of what made him go bad? Because the fact of the matter is that the two of our personalities are a lot alike."
"You are in no way a ruthless killer," Wilder hooted from on her shoulder.
"I don't think he started out that way," Alexandria explained sincerely. "Living through the Terrors changed him, like it changed a lot of people... it's a generational thing... we are all victims of the times we live in."
"Not if you don't let yourself be," Wilder protested, ruffling his feathers.
"Oh, if it were only that easy," Alexandria said with a smile. She stepped out of her flat and made her way through the streets of Hogsmeade. It was still quite cold first thing in the morning, but even in Hogsmeade, the snow had receded to the shadows and was all but gone in the village itself. "Look at that sun... it's a sign that spring is just around the corner. I'm half-tempted to take a walk in that grassy patch between the shop and Keki's Grove to see if any snowbells are coming up yet. I suppose that sounds a bit silly, doesn't it? Something that a child would want to do."
"Do only children look forward to spring?" Wilder wanted to know.
"Well, I'm certainly over winter, that's for damn sure," Alexandria said with a grin, walking over to the newsstand.
"Oh, hello, Minist... Mrs.."
"Just call me Alex, Jimmy," Alex said with a sigh.
"Right, Alex. Were you getting a paper? What I mean is, I think Ron wanted to see you about something. Concerning the paper," he explained. Alexandria groaned.
"Now what?" she asked.
"I don't think it's anything bad. Just weird," Jimmy said, making Alexandria even more curious.
She made her way inside, taking only a moment to talk to reception before making her way back to Ron's office to find him at his desk, talking to Joanie.
"Hey, it's Joanie!" Alexandria said in surprise. "Sorry! Door's open..."
"The door being open means that you can come on in, you're not interrupting," Ron said, gesturing for her to come in.
"Good to see you, Alexandria! Been a long time!" Joanie said.
"Yes, it has. You hardly ever come out of Polaris Town these days."
"You're right, we don't, but over Christmas, Jacob's parents and mine cornered us and told us that it was high time we took a holiday that was long enough to have a proper visit. Personally, I just think they want to see the grandkids," Joanie teased.
"Not just the grandkids..." Ron protested.
"And Dad wants me to moonlight..."
"Just a little!" Ron argued.
"Well, tell him no! It's your holiday, don't let him ruin it for you. How long are you on holiday?" Alexandria asked.
"Two whole months. We spent the first month in Hawaii and we just got here two days ago," she explained. "Hey, I know it's not much notice, but Jamie and I are putting together a Coven Night and we need a fifth. Do you want to go?"
"Sorry, I've committed myself to having a dry month... extended New Year's resolution, you see." Alexandria improvised.
"Oh, you're no fun, that's why Alicia didn't want to go. At least she had a better excuse," Jamie said. Alexandria shrugged with an apologetic smile while Ron gazed at her suspiciously. "See you later, Dad! I'd better get back so we can take the kids sight-seeing."
"Have fun," Ron said, and Joanie made her exit. Ron sighed at Alexandria. "You just ruined my chances getting her to freelance an article, you know that, don't you?"
"Probably because I'm finally starting to appreciate how valuable it is to take some time off when you've been working too hard. And if you had to corner her to take a holiday, I'm guessing it was long overdue," Alexandria said.
"Yeah, it was," Ron agreed. "What did you need?"
"I was going to buy a paper off the stand and Jimmy suggested I come talk to you. Is this about what happened in Milan?" Alexandria asked.
"No, but don't get me started on that. Your Father put a lot of pressure on me to stick to known facts, and it was so dry and dull I had to put it in the crime section rather than the front page," Ron complained.
"I bet Bagman had a lot to say about that in his last letter," Alexandria said knowingly.
"That's just the thing," Ron began, folding his hands together. "Lately, I haven't been getting any letters from him at all, and the timing of when they stopped is kind of suspicious."
"Suspicious how?" Alexandria asked.
"They stopped coming right after you dropped your subscription," Ron said, and Alexandria frowned. "I guess it could be a coincidence, but it sure as hell didn't feel like it to me."
"Well, I've always known that some of it was directed at me, although that bit last year about trying to remove the Sorting Hat was all about the school. But what about the fact that Bagman was using the column to rile up Solidarity? Surely that still applies whether I am reading the paper or not," Alexandria said.
"You would think so, especially since Solidarity's stopped going along with the whole 'transparency' idea recently," Ron said.
"Have they?" Alex asked in surprise.
"See what happens when you don't subscribe to the paper?" Ron taunted her. "Your father's just about taken over council meetings. As the Minister of Mysteries, he's got the right to speak at every meeting whenever he likes, you know, and he's been doing a lot of speaking lately, especially about the dangers of information getting in the wrong hands. Everyone's now realized that while the Solidarity party as a whole thinks that Draco needs to slow down on reforms, they're not against cautious reforms, especially when it has to do with furthering people's individual rights and protecting individual privacy at the same time... which transparency can infringe on, according to your Father," he explained. "He's a fantastic speaker when he has a mind to, and the fact that he has the respect of the vast majority of Solidarity members helps. I'd even say he has more influence over them than Bagman can ever hope to, especially from the sidelines. I'm not saying that doesn't have something to do with why Bagman stopped sending me letters too, it's just that the timing's wrong, since the first Council Meeting was later. I was getting his letters in here every other day, sometimes daily. They stopped the day your subscription stopped."
"Thanks, Ron," Alexandria said.
"It's okay. Just be careful out there... especially after Milan," Ron warned.
"I know. I'll be careful," Alexandria said, stepping back out but making sure to buy a newspaper.
"Are we in danger in Hogsmeade?" Wilder wanted to know as they stepped outside.
"I highly doubt it, because Bagman is not likely to go against Garvan's protection order, and it'd be hard for him to make it seem like I was trying to come after him here," Alex replied. "Still, there can be no doubt that he's probably unhappy with me right now. I wonder if my Father's concerned as well? He may still have an Agent looking after me," she thought, glancing at the rooftops speculatively.
"He does," Wilder confirmed. "I heard him myself. He told his assistants to keep you under constant surveillance!"
"In that case, we probably don't have anything to worry about. I trust all of my Agents with my life... quite literally right now, it would seem," Alexandria added. "I just hope they're careful... the last thing I want right now is to start another spy war. That would be terrible no matter which side of the war someone was on."
"How right you are," said a voice in front of them, and Alexandria paused as Mr. Jack came around the side of the building, dressed for work. "Good morning, Ms. Clemmons."
"Mr. Jack," Alexandria said evenly.
"Nice weather. Wonderful day. Hope it stays that way. By the way, I don't think you're being watched by anyone... not anymore, anyway," he said, tipping his hat before wandering back towards the school.
"The bus driver slipped a note in your pocket," Wilder warned with a hoot.
"Just a note, I hope," Alexandria said, taking it out cautiously and running a quick test to see if it was magic. Her wand sputtered a time or two, but she was finally convinced it wasn't magic and she opened it.
To the former Minister of Mysteries,
I think it is time that you and I had a little chat on neutral ground about the incident earlier this week. Meet me by the Oracle near Jubilee Park after you receive this note. I suggest you come alone if you do not want things to escalate further. Anyone attempting to tail you will more than likely be too preoccupied to assist. Let us keep this friendly, shall we?
The previous former Minister of Mysteries
"Well, isn't that lovely?" Alexandria said sarcastically, folding it up and walking back towards Corey's shop.
"What did it say?" Wilder hooted.
"He wants to meet me in London for a parlay. It's not safe for me to Apparate now, so we'll move my flat to the Ministry and use the Portkey pads to get close," Alexandria explained as they walked.
"As a full fledged Agent Owl, I recommend that we let your father know what is going on since we have to stop by the Ministry anyway," Wilder suggested.
"No, Bagman made a point to ask me to come alone," Alexandria said.
"Do you mean I can't go too?" Wilder asked. She paused as she got inside the shop, climbing up and entering her flat before replying again.
"It's a bit of a risk, but I am going to take you, since he's not likely to see a familiar as a threat. I'm also going to give you a secret mission on this trip," Alexandria said seriously, locking everything up so she could move the flat. "I'm going to talk to Bagman to make sure the current situation doesn't escalate, but that doesn't mean I trust him, Garvan's protection order or no. If anything goes wrong and this ends up being more than just a parlay, I need you to go get the Magician."
"The Magician?" Wilder hooted.
"I know it's going to sound strange after everything I've told you before about him, Wilder, but I learned a lot about him on that trip to Milan," she explained, turning the dial and pulling the lever that made the flat rumble as it settled into its new location. "Whether I agree with him or not, he does see me as family, and I'm certain that he'll come to try to help me out of any jam I'm in no matter how many laws he has to break to do it. I trust him," she added, checking her Cloak Chest one last time before making her way out into the fog.
The nearest Portkey Pad was near Waterloo Station, and as she crossed the street, she couldn't help but cast a grim look at the London Eye. A few tourists passed her curious looks, wondering if the owl on the shoulder meant she was some sort of street performer. But Alexandria was too busy gazing at the wheel to notice them.
"There's the real reason he chose this park as neutral ground," she said under her breath. "He was hoping that I'd see it as a threat," she explained, turning into the park.
"A threat?" Wilder hooted.
"Big wheels of any kind reminds me of the night I lost Ben," she explained to the owl. "Perhaps he thinks I might have a phobia about them, but I don't, really. Right after Ben died, I actually started going to fun fairs and getting on them. I got on every one I saw, trying to break myself of the memory of that night. But I made a mistake at first, because I always did it alone. I went up alone, and came out alone. I didn't know it at the time, but that was part of why it rattled me so, despite knowing that none of them were cursed or even magical, I was still shaken. Until I went with a random tour group up there," she said, glancing up again.
"The carriages are large and have lots of people in them. And when I came out, so did they. All of the people got off together. Some smiling... some relieved because they got bored before the end, but all of them just as healthy as when the first went up. I went up several more times after that. While the tourists were admiring the view, I was busy watching them get on and off safely and without incident. I got over it, you see. But that doesn't mean I don't think of Ben every time I look at it," she explained, walking down the path. "Picking the Oracle sculpture was also a message of sorts. The Oracle was the newspaper that Amadeus Longbottom ran, a colleague of his who used to constantly print Bagman's views."
"Like the Letters to the Editor?" Wilder asked.
"Oh, yes, but much worse," Alexandria replied. "I just hope it isn't busy over there. Winter or not, there are always people about the Queen's Walk since it's a major tourist area."
"There are ways to hide from normal people, aren't there?" Wilder pointed out.
"Sure, but would he want to hide? If the area isn't magic sealed, it means that the person he's meeting isn't likely to do magic since there are so many Muggles about. Of course, if he thinks there's a high possibility of a conflict, he will seal the area... honestly, that'd be a bit of a warning sign that things might not end all that peacefully," Alexandria said.
The two of them worked their way around to the Jubilee Oracle without another word until they got close, and Alexandria slowed down, seeing a glint of sunlight bouncing off above their heads in a way it shouldn't have been.
"The area is magic sealed," Alexandria said grimly. "Do you remember your mission, Wilder?"
"Yes. At the first sign of trouble, I will get the Magician," Wilder hooted.
"Good. Then let's get this over with," Alexandria said, stepping inside the barrier.
Bagman, it seemed, was sitting alone on a bench, admiring the view of Whitehall across the river.
"Ah, Alexandria, there you are at last. And you brought your owl," Ludo noted, standing up as if in respect. Alexandria kept a wand's pace away from him.
"And you brought what? Three men? Four men? I think I did a bit better about coming 'alone' than you did," Alexandria pointed out.
"I only brought three, and I never implied that I would be alone. I only suggested that you should be," Ludo said.
"Fine by me. I mean, if I'm outnumbered, then the 'defending yourself' excuse isn't going to really go all that far, is it?" Alexandria pointed out.
"Oh, I've ordered them to keep out of this. They're only there to observe," he explained.
"And so is my owl, just in case things don't stay civil," Alexandria said.
"Fair enough," Ludo said. "You know the only reason I only have three men with me today is that some of them have been temporarily detained in Milan."
"Temporarily?" Alexandria repeated.
"Yes, I understand they're planning to extradite them here, assuming they can do so expeditiously. Otherwise, I'm afraid they won't have anyone in Italy to extradite," Ludo replied calmly. "Still, I rather think you owe me for the inconvenience of it all, don't you?"
"I don't see why I should owe you anything. None of it would have happened if your men hadn't been tailing me in the first place," Alexandria said firmly. "Can't you leave me alone even long enough for me to take a little holiday with my sister? One that I didn't even get to finish, might I add, I wasn't the only one inconvenienced by that, not to mention causing an international headache for the Ministry."
"Good, it'll give them something productive to do for a change," Ludo replied. "As for your claim it was a simple holiday, one doesn't normally spend the majority of their time scouring books in the library attempting to uncover isolated wizard communities. Exactly who is it that you're looking for that is so important that you needed to step away from the Ministry of Mysteries to try and catch?"
Alexandria blinked. So did her owl.
"My research had absolutely nothing to do with my leave of absence! My research was totally and completely personal in nature and had nothing to do with Mysteries," Alexandria informed him.
"Very well, then perhaps you should tell me what it was about, then, especially since you felt so strongly about it that you felt provoked to cast at my friends in the middle of a busy Muggle street and then proceeded to cause an international incident by taking it on the road," Ludo said evenly.
"Maybe if they had just let the matter go without giving chase, there wouldn't have been an 'international incident'," Alexandria retorted. "You are reading way too much into this. I really was there just for a holiday, and I really was researching for personal reasons. What I decide to do on holiday isn't any of your business because it has nothing to do with you, and it certainly doesn't have anything to do with the Mysteries department."
"Oh really? Then why did the Magician himself come after you? I learned that after the incident, he was the one who signed off on all the diplomatic paperwork, which can only mean that he's now working for the Ministry... given his talents, he must be an Agent," Ludo said.
"I didn't even know Dad had hired him until recently," Alexandria confessed. "I didn't hire him myself because I didn't trust him. It's kind of hard to trust someone when you don't even know their name."
"Regardless of who hired him, he is an Agent now and he was there," Ludo said firmly.
"Probably because Dad was worried about me being out of the country on my own, knowing that someone would try to take advantage of the fact that I'm on leave. Apparently, he had a point," Alexandria retorted.
"A reasonable explanation, I'll grant you. One that I myself would come up with if I were attempting to cover my true intentions," Ludo said.
"I don't have any hidden intentions. I told you the truth, and I don't know how else to reply to you since I did. What do you want me to do? Lie to you? Because right now it sounds like it's the only way to get out of this mess," Alexandria replied with exasperation.
"Tell me the real reason you went on medical leave," Ludo said evenly, not backing down.
"None of your damn business," Alexandria replied defiantly. "And since we seem to be at a stalemate, I think this conversation is done."
"This conversation doesn't end until you tell me the truth," Ludo said threateningly, giving a sharp nod.
Realizing at once that nod meant that someone was coming up behind her, Alex dropped down into a crouch and got her wand.
The movement was so fast that it forced Wilder to fly up and off her shoulder, landing onto the ground between her and her new assailant.
By the time he reached the ground, he was no longer an owl.
In the owl's place stood the Magician, and it only took a quick movement of his hand for Tibalt to suddenly become drowsy, stumbling around until finally falling asleep against the railing.
The Magician whirled around and faced Bagman with a grim expression and his hands in a defensive posture.
"OH MY GOD! It was the owl!" Alexandria exclaimed, putting her hands on the sides of her head.
"Of course it was the owl! It's always the owl!" Bagman snapped, and Alexandria groaned in pain for not having realized it sooner. "And if I'm not mistaken, an owl who isn't even an actual Metamorphmagus! You're not human at all, are you? You're a Pooka!"
"At your service," the Magician said coldly.
"Craters! That explains everything," Alexandria cursed, feeling like a complete idiot.
"Stand down at once and let us leave peacefully, Ludo. If you know my real nature, then you must be aware that I have more than enough magic to take on any one of you, or all of you if necessary," the Magician warned.
"Not all of my men are within your striking range, Mr. Magician. I may not have planned for a Pooka, but I did plan for Alexandria to have backup, so I made certain that some of my men would be out of easy spell range... even for you," Ludo said calmly. The Magician's eyes flicked up at the London Eye than across at one of the boats in the river that seemed to be in no hurry to go anywhere.
"Very well, then we'll simply have to handle this mano y mano," the Magician said, and suddenly charged him.
Alexandria had no more than taken a moment to stand up when there were two Ludo Bagmans locked hand to hand in front of her, pushing against each other to keep the other from getting the footing needed to bring the other down.
"I am stronger than I look," one of the Bagmans warned.
"I am more skilled at this than you know," the other warned in kind.
A moment later, one of them began to lose ground, sliding a bit. The movement forced the other Ludo to act, using his feet to hook the other one and they went tumbling to the pavement together. Alex cringed as she thought how painful the wrestling match looked against the cold hard concrete, watching as they around in an attempt to pin the other.
Suddenly, Alex saw the flash of a spell and one of the Bagmans went limp. The other searched a cloak on the ground and found some Auror cuffs, putting them on the unconscious Bagman.
"It's alright!" the victorious Bagman said, signaling to Mr. Jack, who was standing near the carousel. Mr/ Jack walked over, entering the magic seal. "Take this man back to my office for further interrogation. I'll escort the ex-Minister to the office myself."
"Are you sure those cuffs are going to hold a Pooka?" Mr. Jack asked warily.
"I suppose we'll find out soon enough. Besides, even if he manages to get out of them, you know as well as I do there's no where he can escape considering where the office is at the moment," Bagman pointed out, handing Mr. Jack a key. Nodding in agreement, Mr. Jack knelt down and grabbed hold of the cuffs, the two of them disappearing.
The other Bagman hurried over to Alex.
"Come on, use your house key and lets get out of here," he said.
"It is you, right?" Alexandria asked warily.
"Would you care for more Bond quotes, or do you want me to sing A View to a Kill?" he inquired.
"No, hell no," Alexandria said, stealthily hiding her key in her hand before letting him forcefully grab onto her wrist. She grasped the handle, and the two of them swiftly were whisked across town and into her flat.
