A/N: and here i am again with another chapter with the help form HowInMadeHowie. He really is a great help for me, so please visit his profile and look at the other stories he helped with.
Thanks to you readers once again for liking this story so far. Have fun and be safe
Later that week in the Ministry, Amelia received a summons from Fudge demanding her presence in his office in regards to her request to hire a Witcher to hunt the werewolves that had attacked the children. She had already an inkling to what Fudge would tell her and had prepared her counterargument carefully. Nevertheless, she sighed when the summons arrived on her desk, and she had to pause her work to go see the Minister. She was almost sure that Malfoy was also in this meeting, as in the last few months you could hardly meet the Minister without the blond prick stuck to his hip.
Leaving the elevator, she saw that Mrs. Smith was still working hard at her position as secretary and coordinated all the appointments. Amelia showed her the summons from Fudge and told her that she had an appointment with the Minister. Mrs. Smith was smiling as she announced the arrival of Madam Bones to the Minister through the magical intercom. After being told to send her inside right away, Mrs. Smith nodded to Amelia to show her she could enter now, leaving Amelia wondering where she heard the voice recently.
Fudge was sitting in his chair behind his desk, showing Amelia that he was most displeased with her request. "Amelia, I hope you can explain why you asked me to hire a Witcher to do your job? Do you know how much such a person would charge? It would almost match your entire budget for this year." Next to Fudge stood Lucius Malfoy, just as Amelia had expected. His grinning face was almost so vile that Amelia had to throw up. She was certain that Malfoy also had a hand in these attacks in the first place, but even if she would catch Greyback, he would not tell her who hired him to do these attacks.
Amelia steeled herself and made sure that her counterarguments to this were on point. "Yes, Minister, I can explain this request. As you may have heard from the reports from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, it had come to our attention that there had been attacks from werewolves on different houses in the west country as of late, both magical and muggle homes I should add. And as the DMLE is stretched thin thanks to your budget cuts, we do not have the manpower to search for the rogue pack right now. That is the main reason why I asked you to allow us to hire a Witcher to track down the werewolf pack." She prepared herself to be reprimanded from Fudge as he would think that she had not thought about the costs. She noticed how Malfoy was grinning at her predicament, but he did not know that she would have a suggestion for Fudge that he could not disregard.
"Amelia, you really think we could afford such a cut in our yearly budget? No, you need to handle it yourself somehow, I will not allow you to hire a Witcher." Fudge was fuming, just as Amelia had predicated. She let him go on about how much gold a good Witcher would cost and how she could do her job better and call some Aurors from other cases that were not important to hunt the werewolf and his pack.
When Fudge made a pause to catch his breath, Amelia laid down her bait. "Minister, I may have forgotten to mention that we suspect Fenrir Greyback to be the leader of this pack. All those attacks that we had found out had his method of attack written all over it. And the Ministry have left him unchallenged for the last 30 years, so if we do nothing to catch this werewolf pack and the public finds out that you have forbidden us to hire a suitable hunter, it will be your head on the chopping block. But if you allow it, we just tell the Wizengamot about the situation and why we took the expense in the first place when they would ask why there was such an impact in our budget. If you wish, we could sell it as your idea, this will boost your standing in the Wizengamot as the members would be thankful for your initiative."
Amelia saw how her bait worked inside Fudge's mind while Malfoy lost his grin, knowing that she had him beaten. She had to hold back her own smirk as Fudge stopped walking around with his shocked face after hearing Greyback's name, remembering the terror this werewolf had caused back in the 70's. Collecting himself again, Fudge turned around to look at Amelia.
Fudge nodded slowly collecting his thoughts. "I see your point, Amelia. You are right of course, we need to stop the werewolf pack as soon as possible, and your people are already tied to their cases. Good, you can hire the Witcher that works with the committee for the disposal of dangerous creatures. As we have now discussed this, you are dismissed." Fudge sat back down on his chair as Amelia left the office with a grin on her face.
Her bait had worked wonderfully, now all she needed to do was talk with the Department head on how they contacted a Witcher in the first place and who he was. Walking past Mrs. Smith, Amelia nodded to her when she walked to the elevator. Her next stop was the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, as in there was the office for the disposal of dangerous creatures to ask them who they normally hire for something like this.
She soon arrived and was now looking for the head of the committee. She soon found the ancient looking wizard at his desk, with a small pile of papers next to him. The old wizard looked up from his desk, smiling at Amelia as she walked over to him. "Hello Madam Bones, it is rare for you to come here. How can I help you?" His smile was honest, something that was rare in the ministry.
Amelia told him what she needed, as he had heard that some werewolves had attacked multiple families on the last full moon. The old man nodded, opening a drawer to get a small paper with the Witcher's name on it. He tapped his wand on the paper and made a copy and handed the copy to Amelia.
"Madam Bones, this is the man we usually call for something like that. He is very dependable and does his job. Good luck in your endeavor." Amelia thanked the elderly man when she took the small parchment with the name and address on it. When she did read it, her eyes shot open. 'Geralt of Rivia? That was the reason why the name was so familiar to me.' Silently, she thought that this coincidence was almost too good to be true, as it also meant that the Witcher also worked with the organization that gave her all the information. Returning to her office, she asked her secretary if anyone was looking for her while she was away. Getting a no from her secretary, Amelia opened the door to her office and walked to her desk, writing a letter to the Witcher and asking for his services.
In Kear Morhen, Geralt had just returned from his contract in Romania and was reading about how Harry had slayed the basilisk as Triss had written it up and sent him a letter. When Harry returned in the summer, Geralt would raise the training regime to a higher standard. Yen soon joined him at the table, a cup of coffee in her hand. "So, what do you think? Harry had done a wonderful job in the Chamber of Secrets. You must admit that even you would have some difficulties killing the snake. I also told you what the goblins could harvest and how much gold Harry received. Harry had become a fine Witcher so soon after his mutation." Yen smiled as she saw Geralt showing some rare feeling of pride, she had only seen him like that back when Ciri killed her first monster. And just like Ciri, Harry was their child in all but blood.
While she sipped her coffee, an owl was flying through the window and down to the table they were sitting at. Landing in front of Geralt, it was clear that the letter was meant for him. Looking up, he recognized the owl as one from the British Ministry of Magic. Taking the letter and thanking the owl, he was already wondering what job they now had for him. Looking at the sender, he then was surprised that the sender was not the head from the committee for the disposal of magical creatures.
Opening and reading it, he gathered that Amelia Bones wanted to hire him to hunt down a pack of werewolves that were attacking homes during the full moon. Looking for the amount of the reward for it, he heard that the door to the hall opened and Michael entered the hall.
Michael walked over to Geralt while removing his helmet, noticing that Geralt was reading a letter. But as his mission would be difficult without the Witcher, he decided to just come forth with his situation. "Good to see you're back Geralt. I got a new mission from my superiors, and I would like to hire you for help. Do not worry, you know that ONI will pay you handsomely. An individual was moved from the watch list to the hit list. The name of the target is Fenrir Greyback, a werewolf suspected of leading a pack to attack people's homes. I presume you remember Greyback's profile?" Seeing a small surprise on the Witcher's face, Geralt showed him the letter he had just received. "Huh, such a coincidence. Well you can answer her that you already have a contract for the same target and she could save her gold for another time where she would need your service. We should prepare for a hard fight, according to ONI it is possible that Lucius Malfoy has sent a warning to Greyback to expect a Witcher. In the report from our agent, it was stated that Malfoy was present when Fudge gave the green light to Madam Bones to hire you. And ONI would prefer to catch him alive, but would not be angry at us when he would die."
Geralt nodded to Michael and asked Yen if she could write an answer to Madam Bones, telling her just what Michael had suggested. Turning back to Michael, Geralt smiled grimly at the Spartan, "Yes, I remember Greyback's profile; likes to bite children, right?" Michael nodded. "Then I think we both can agree that this is one dog that needs to be put down." Yen nodded as she had already grabbed some writing supplies and was writing the letter addressed to Amelia Bones, head of the DMLE, British Ministry of Magic.
Back at the Ministry, Amelia sat in her office and was looking through the reports from the archive about the werewolf attacks that had happened all those years ago. She wanted to know more about what happened to make sure that when the Witcher would bring Greyback to her, she would have enough information to punish Greyback accordingly. She then heard a knock on her door, as Auror Tonks asked if she could enter. After allowing it, the door opened and Tonks brought her a letter. "Madam Bones, this letter just arrived. The sender is Yennefer of Vengerberg." Tonks placed the letter on her boss' desk and then left again.
Putting the report she was reading down she opened the letter, Amelia read that Yennefer answered on Geralt's behalf, as he was preparing himself for the hunt for Fenrir Greyback. As he already had a contract to capture or kill this vicious werewolf and his pack, he declined her payment and told her to save it for another time she would need him. Amelia hoped that the stories from the old wizard from the committee were true, and was now glad that Geralt truly had honor and would not take two payments for the same target. Folding the letter, she took the bag of gold she had gotten from the Minister to pay Geralt and placed it in her safe in the office for the time being. She also left a note on it with a date and amount of money in it with a copy in her desk drawer, just to make sure that when it would be searched that it was protocol. She then sent a memo to the Minister, telling him the answer she had received and that she would keep the gold secure for the future. Being sure that soon there would be another memo coming to her demanding the gold back, she did not close the safe completely as this would not be necessary as long as she was in the same room.
A few weeks later, nothing noteworthy happened inside Hogwarts. Well, if one did not count the next Quidditch game at the end of February that is. Ravenclaw played against Slytherin in this match, with the whole school watching them excitedly to see who would win. Harry watched how the Ravenclaw seeker flew, as it would give him some insight if he needed to improve from last year. Somehow, the Ravenclaw captain did not switch him out with Cho Chang, even when she was obviously much better than the one looking for the snitch right now. Harry did not need Callie to point out where the small golden ball was, as he had found it just two minutes into the game and had trained his eyes on it, wondering who would catch it first.
Next to him was Hermione and Lavender, while Ron sat closer to the pitch and was keeping quiet as it was not Gryffindor playing. Next to Ron sat Ginny, looking much healthier than before Christmas, something Harry was glad that his intervention had worked out fine enough for her. Searching for the snitch again, he found it just a few seconds later and watched it again.
When Harry's gaze, following the snitch in that moment, was wandering over the Ravenclaw section he noticed Cho looking at the snitch too with a wanting look. He was sure that all she wanted was to fly herself, knowing full well that Ravenclaw would have crushed Slytherin in this game just a few minutes in.
It seemed that Malfoy had noticed Harry watching something zooming around and soon had found the snitch, but the Ravenclaw seeker had also seen it too. But thanks to his faster broom Malfoy was able to get a lead on his opponent and in the end was able to catch it. But the winning margin was so close that it almost did not count in the long run for the house cup. Malfoy was just a bit angry that he couldn't find it fast enough to make a difference and beat the Gryffindor team later this year, but he was also thinking about the last letter from his father that he had received just the day before.
Flashback
At breakfast in the Great Hall, the owls were, as usual, flying down to their owners with letters and packages from their parents or guardians. Draco saw his father's owl flying into the Great Hall after the Potter's snowy owl, and it landed just as gracefully as ever in front of him and held up its leg. Taking the unusually small package and the letter, the owl took off again and flew out of the Great Hall, telling Draco that his father would not expect a reply so soon again.
Opening the small box, it contained some sweets for him which he took out and ate them. Opening the letter afterwards, he saw that his father demanded more reports about the happenings in the school, as whatever his father was waiting for did not happen at all. Draco still did not know what his father was waiting for, but since the attacks from the heir of Slytherin had stopped; his father was becoming more and more impatient. It had something to do with that, but Draco could not report on something that did not happen. Looking over to the staff table with the teachers, he saw that even the teachers were relaxed and eating like they did at the beginning of the school year. Draco needed something to tell his father, but first he had to concentrate on the match tomorrow, so he put the letter into his pocket.
Flashback end
Holding the snitch in his hand, Draco flew towards his teammates, seeing that they were not as happy as they showed the rest of school for winning this match. He knew why, as today was the day for the Wizengamot session their parents had to attend, a reason why Professor Dumbledore was also absent right now.
Somehow his house mates were always nervous as hell when their parents were at the meeting of the Wizengamot, even if the only things discussed would not be such a big deal. The only reason Draco could think was believable was that someday it was their turn to sit in the chamber of the Wizengamot and decide on the future laws of their society. In his case Draco could not wait until his father deemed him worthy to accompany him to such a meeting so he could learn the ropes. But for now, all he could do was walk to his team's locker room and change back to his school robes.
In the Wizengamot chamber, the session just started as it always did with the counting of the attendance. Also, as Dumbledore was sitting at the seat his position as Chief Warlock demanded, he greeted all those new to the Wizengamot as some families had decided to retire the old head of house and send their heir to sit in their place for meeting. Dumbledore noticed that this mostly happened with those families that were aligned with the dark faction but could not be convicted in any crime as of late. Dumbledore saw that Amelia Bones took time from her schedule to sit in this meeting, just as they had agreed to. Fudge was sitting right next to Dumbeldore, as the minister it was his right to do so. Dumbledore had caught a glimpse of the notes that Fudge had brought in with him, telling him that Fudge really wanted to put this motion to a vote. Dumbledore also noticed Lucius sitting in the public gallery watching this session, Dumbledore made a mental note to take a look at his face when he saw his plan once again fail.
Next to Fudge sat Dolores Umbridge, as his first undersecretary it was her duty to document this meeting for the Minister. She looked at Dumbledore as he began the meeting with the first point on the agenda.
"Good morning, members of the Wizengamot. First, we need to vote on the motion from last session, the one we had discussed at great length until we had to end the session. The mentioned muggle protection law from Arthur Weasley would also include that muggle born wizards and witches could apply for jobs in higher standings in the ministry, helping us to modernize our society and better blend in the society around us. All those in favor, raise their wands with a green light, those against it please use red." Dumbledore lifted his own wand, even if this was not necessary as sadly the most light up red. He was saddened that after all his efforts, the thought of having a muggle born in the ministry in deciding positions was still frowned upon. He would talk with Arthur so he could work that motion over so at least the unprovoked attacks on muggles could be punished.
After all the votes were counted, Dumbledore told those in attendance that he would give the floor to the Minister and his motion that he wanted to be discussed. Fudge stood up and walked to the podium with his notes, not noticing how Amelia and Dumbledore were looking at him with anger for really going through with it.
Fudge stood proud at the podium, as he addressed the members of the Wizengamot. "Honored members of the Wizengamot, I want to present to you a motion that would assure us to find the unknown heirs to a noble and ancient house if the main bloodline had died out. This would make sure that there cannot be a claim from someone not eligible for the position as head of house and member in this circle. This would make us stronger than we were until now. Herby, I give you the quick summary of the changes to the existing law that would be needed to accomplish this." Fudge waved his wand, and the papers flew to every member of the Wizengamot.
Dumbledore waited until it landed in front of him, before he quickly glanced at it and saw that it was the same, he had already received from Captain Lasky and Madam Bones. Truly marvelous, how their intelligence agency worked.
He then noticed a familiar black-haired sorceress sitting a bit down the rows, as Yennefer, proxy to House Potter, igniting the small sheet of parchment after reading it almost as quickly as Dumbledore had and stood up. Dumbledore was glad that she was here, as he and Amelia could use every backup they could get. "Ms. Vengerberg, I see you have something to tell us about this. The Wizengamot acknowledges you and ask you to bring forth your stand on this matter."
Fudge was a bit taken back, as this woman was rarely here in a meeting of the Wizengamot even if her standing as a proxy for the House Potter demanded it. Fudge sat back down as he remembered the time when she first came into these chambers with the official letter from Gringotts that she was made the proxy for House Potter as she was also the guardian of said child, she demanded that she would be brought up to speed why there were so many books with the likeness of her charge without their knowledge. This was almost a whole other fiasco, but she was pacified after the royalties were paid for and the agreement was signed that there would never be a new book published.
"Thank you, Chief Warlock Dumbledore. Yes, I have an opinion on this motion, as I have the feeling that you accuse me, indirectly of course I am sure, that I am a fraud, Minister Fudge? Why else would you suggest that Gringotts, who has all the necessary information and infrastructure to determine the claim to be true or false with a guaranteed success, lay bare this information so this establishment can take the children out of their lives and thrust them into politics at such a young age? And have you even thought about what it would mean for the greedy branch family, who has no rightful claim as long an heir is alive, to get the information that the last head of house had another child from an affair? And, if the goblins followed this motion to the letter, which they have to do according to the treaty the wizarding community has with the goblins, someone could just go into Gringotts later and ask what your last income was, Minister, as the privacy clause would be removed entirely. Otherwise, you would never get it out from them who the owner of a vault really is. That is of course just an example. Now, I guess there is also something else, which Madam Bones can explain better as it entails more knowledge of the law that I am aware of, I admit. Madam Bones, what would happen if we agreed to this motion?" Yen looked over to the other woman, from whom she knew would know more about wizarding law.
Dumbledore watched the reaction from Fudge, who had become so pale as a sheet . Dumbledore suspected that Malfoy had not told him that detail when he asked Fudge to put forth this motion and Fudge had not thought about all the implications this motion would have. Dumbledore then subtly turned his gaze towards Malfoy, who was fuming in anger.
Amelia stood up and nodded towards Dumbledore, so he could give her the right to speak. Dumbledore needed a short moment before he looked at her, but as soon he had looked at Amelia, Dumbledore gave her the floor. Amelia thanked him and then turned towards the members from the Wizengamot. "Honored Wizengamot, I had just to glance at the papers our Minister had given to us to see all the red flags in it. As Ms. Vengerberg had already explained, a branch family that wants a higher standing, could use this information to get the heir, who will be just a child or an impressionable young witch or wizard; to agree to give them the rights to make all the decisions in their name. This of course would only work as long as the heir decides to make them for him or herself, causing the risk for the branch to lash out. That of course could lead to murder and line theft, something that would be caused by you agreeing to this motion and so you all would be also guilty by proxy. So, I would suggest that we vote against it and keep the status quo, as the heirs will have all the time needed to prepare for the politics involved with being the head of house. That would be all." After she had finished, some other witches and wizards gave their opinions to this motion, most were against it after hearing Amelia explaining what it would cause in the long run.
Lucius was fuming in his seat; he could not believe that the motion that he wanted was demolished even before a single vote was cast. He could see Fudge's body language that he was also second guessing himself, surely being afraid that all his bribes would come to light if this motion would pass after all. Lucius was cursing himself for not thinking about this detail; all he wanted was to know who the heir for House Black was, because he really wanted to have access to the Black vault. But it seemed that he had to think of another strategy, because even his old pals were looking worried about this motion now.
Dumbledore had to hide his smile as this was happening according to the plan he and Amelia had talked about. This was the best outcome, and when he asked for the votes after the last wizard had returned to his seat, he only could see some specks of blue to agree for this motion in a sea of red light. For once he was glad to see this color.
At the same time somewhere in the countryside, Geralt and Michael were wandering through a forest and looked at the ground to see if they were still on the right trail. Earlier that day they had found traces from a werewolf who had changed back to his human form. But those traces were not as fresh as those two had liked, but it was the only lead they had since the last sighting from one of those werewolves.
Geralt was crouching down inspecting a bush that appeared trampled over commenting absently as he was taking a closer look. "It is really unfortunate that those spy satellites your people had put around the planet could not find them with greater accuracy. Of course I can understand that they were only looking for them with the purpose to catch them since we received this contract, but it is strange that Greyback only comes out of his hideout when it is a full moon. It is like he would be afraid to walk in the day. But if those traces are really from his pack, I think we are close. Those footprints are just a few days old." Geralt stood back up from his crouching position, noticing Michael looking around with his rifle in the relaxed position. Turning back to look around at the forest Geralt frowned in thought. "Although this does add credence that Greyback was tipped off to lay low."
"I asked Auntie Dot if she had a stable uplink to our satellites with their equipment, so we could scan the surroundings for heat signatures. It seems that there is a cave nearby where someone seems to have made their home. I suggest we proceed with caution." Clipping the rifle to his back, Michael took his knife into his left hand and pulled his pistol from its holster. Geralt unsheathed his sword and drank from a small vial.
Just as Geralt stored the empty vial into his bag, both men heard someone coming closer to their position. Auntie Dot told Michael that the being had not noticed them yet, but they should better hide just to be sure. Michael saw that Geralt had the same thought before he could give the Witcher a sign. Just as they got to their hiding places and the active camouflage on Michael's armor activated, a man walked out from the bush and looked around. He sniffed the air, as if he could smell something. Michael recognized the man who now stood in the clearing from the profile. They had found Fenrir Greyback, but if everything they knew was true, he was not alone.