Chapter 21: Leprechaun Gold
When Ron opened the door to the hotel room, Hermione had transfigured the inn's furniture into a table and four chairs and their luggage and clothes that he knew were strewn about that morning were nowhere to be seen. He had to admire her quick spell work. All those weeks working alongside his mother had honed Hermione's cleaning spells as though she'd been raised by Molly Weasley.
They all sat down.
"Alright," Harry said. He set a knife in the center of the table. It looked exactly like the murder weapon except it wasn't gold. "Interesting object this knife."
Ulster shifted in his chair.
"I took it back to the ministry and ran a series of magical tests. It has nothing on it, no fingerprints, no blood, not even a scratch, and most importantly, no magical signature, which is exceptionally weird given that when I put it in the vault for safekeeping last night, it was solid gold, and yet, this morning it was solid lead."
Ulster smirked "What did you expect? It's made of leprechaun gold, and it's mine. The minute you took it a timer started for it to turn to lead."
"Why didn't you mention that yesterday?" Harry asked.
"I assumed you knew. Most people are familiar with how leprechaun gold works from Quidditch matches."
"The leprechaun gold at Quidditch matches just disappears," Ron said. "It doesn't turn to lead in your pocket."
Ulster shrugged. "The magic varies. Point is, it's not gold anymore."
"Yesterday, you said this knife was a gift from the leprechauns. Why would they give you gift that isn't real gold?"
"It is real gold, or it is when it's in my possession. May I?" He reached for the knife.
Ron put his hand on his wand, knowing without looking that Harry and Hermione had done the same."
"Go ahead," Harry said.
Ulster picked up the knife and held it. Moments later it gleamed gold in his hand. "All leprechaun gold is real gold in the right hands."
"What about blood? Or a magical signature?" Harry asked.
"Nothing sticks to leprechaun gold."
"Isn't that convenient," Ron said.
Ulster frowned. "It's really not. I'm a busy man. I didn't kill that poor boy and yet here we all are, wasting time, while you should be looking for whoever did murder him."
"Could it have been a leprechaun?" Harry asked.
Ulster looked taken aback. "I shouldn't think they'd bother."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione asked.
"Just that the vast majority of the Fae have little or nothing to do with humans and no interest in changing that. The leprechauns and house elves are notable exceptions, but they aren't exactly blood thirsty."
"That doesn't mean they can't be," Harry said.
"True," Ulster agreed. "But that boy had only been here a fortnight. He couldn't possibly have angered a leprechaun enough to get himself killed. In fact, I don't reckon he came in contact with one at all. The don't consort with just anyone and never if there's nothing in it for them. They aren't the selfless, pandering creatures house elves are."
Hermione frowned at him but didn't argue. Instead, she said, "But you're the expert. They never visit your office?"
Ulster laughed. "No love. I go to them. They don't come to me. How on earth would I learn anything about them in my office? Do you not understand the point of field work?"
Ron felt Hermione bristle at that implication that she was stupid.
"And yet," Harry said grimly. "Someone did kill him."
"Aye," Ulster said. "Bloody awful."
"So what lead you to hire Burke?" Harry asked.
"He came highly recommended by Professor Moreau at Beauxbatons."
"Beauxbatons?" Ron said. "He didn't go to Hogwarts?"
"No. I would never have hired a Burke that went to Hogwarts."
"So you know about the family's connection to the dark arts?" Harry asked.
"Yes, of course, it's not like I never read the papers. I read them all the time during the war. But he wasn't from that side of the family."
Ron and Harry exchanged a look. "All right then," Harry said. "That's all for now, but I expect you to be available if we have any further questions."
"I'm teaching this semester, so it's not like I'm going anywhere."
"Then you'll be available to testify before the Wizengamot then?" Hermione asked, unsure as to whether she actually wanted him to. She liked him less and less with every encounter.
"I've been considering that," Ulster said. "You don't really want me. You should ask Anesu instead."
"Your assistant? But I need an expert."
"No, you need a generalist and I'm not one anymore. I've worked exclusively with Leprechauns for over twenty years. While it's true Anesu is my assistant now, she's worked with several other experts for the last decade. Her depth of knowledge concerning multiply fairy types far exceeds mine at this point. When she leaves me, she's likely to be at the Ministry of Magic in the Depart for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, they've been courting her of late."
Hermione arched an eyebrow. She hadn't heard anything about that. "Really? Do you think she'd agree to testify?"
"I can't see why not. She's not nearly as prickly as I am."
"Perfect," Ron said.
"Alright then," Ulster said, standing. "I'll send her over here in the morning, unless you're leaving tonight."
"We'll be here," Ron said.
When Ulster left, Ron looked at Harry and Hermione. "Please tell me you two are as hungry as I am."
"I don't think that's possible," Hermione said. "But I do want to eat."
They went back down to the dining room and ordered dinner. While they waited for their meals to arrive, Harry turned over his beer glass and a large pitcher sailed to the table and filled it. Ron and Hermione did the same.
"I was really hoping Ulster would have more information concerning Burke. It looks like I'm going to be here conducting interviews on campus and in town for a while, and I'll need to talk to the local Garda to see who the bad wizards are in the area. Nothing about this seems like a regular fight that ended with Burke dead. There's definitely magic at play here. And I can't help thinking there's a message in the murder weapon."
Ron and Hermione agreed.
"Are you two heading back home tomorrow after breakfast?"
"Not until we've seen at least one bloody tourist thing on this island," Ron said.
Hermione smiled at him. "I guess that's a no then."
After dinner Harry went back to the Ministry to arrange for a couple of Aurors to start interviewing people who knew Burke at Beauxbatons as well as local members of the Burke family while he went back to Ireland to conduct more thorough interviews there.
Ron and Hermione returned to their room.
"Where do you want to go tomorrow?" Hermione asked.
"I'd really like to see the Giant's Causeway," Ron said.
"You know it wasn't really built by giants," Hermione said.
"I know," Ron scoffed. "But they really did use it to walk from Scotland to Ireland and back until the middle sunk under their weight because of the softer sea bed, which is how we ended up with two sub-species of giant."
Hermione raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"What?" Ron said. "I read and I want to see it."
"All right then, we'll go."
"We can catch the Knight Bus after breakfast then," Ron said, his spirits lifting already.
"No need. I can take us."
"Oh, you've been then." He felt somewhat deflated. Hermione seemed to have gone everywhere with her parents, which served them well on the run, but it was bloody hard to find places to go where she hadn't been, unless he was willing to go to the other side of the planet. "We should pick somewhere else."
"Don't be silly. I went with my parents when I was nine. I'd quite like to see it again, especially given the magical nature of the site."
"You're sure?" Ron said.
"Of course. We'll pop out right after breakfast."
Ron grinned at her. "Great!"
The next morning Anesu joined them for breakfast looking much more calm and collected than she had previously. Hermione explained the issue of ancient permits and how families who had them were abusing them.
Anesu nodded throughout the explanation.
"Would you be willing to speak to the Wizengamot about it?" Hermione asked in conclusion.
"Absolutely," Anesu said, gesturing with her fork. "I've seen firsthand what some of those wild elves are like, and believe me, you don't want Erklings or Red Caps in the hands of some would-be breeder. That's a disaster waiting to happen."
"Agreed," Hermione said. "I'll send an owl once I have dates and then we can talk more about what they're likely to ask and what the rules are in addressing the Wizengamot."
"That sounds good," Anesu said. "I look forward to it. But I should get going, I've got to go through a load of applications again to find a replacement for Burke before I leave."
"Shouldn't Ulster be doing that?" Ron asked.
Anesu let out short snort. "Clearly you don't know the man."
They said their goodbyes and then Hermione turned to Ron. "Ready to go be tourists?"
"About bloody time," Ron said.