The Ministerial Board
It felt absolutely glorious that, for a change, Claudia could not stay asleep past four o'clock in the morning because of how happy and excited she was, rather than because her tattoo was tormenting her.
By eight o'clock, she was walking though the Mind Room in her best clothes, and straight to the heart of the Department which housed Agrippa's and now her office. Her new office. She could still scarcely believe it. Claudia Avery, the Deputy Head of the Department of Mysteries – it had a nice ring to it!
"Morning," Claudia said chipperly to the two secretaries sat in the antechamber, guarding the doors to the main offices.
"Good morning," replied the older of the two women. As far as Claudia remembered, her name was Evelyn and she was the one who used to look after Claudia's predecessor. "Evelyn Cameron," the secretary introduced herself. "Let me show you in."
Evelyn unlocked the door behind her desk and opened it. Claudia had to try very hard not to gasp. She had never been inside Alexander's office before, and never did she imagine it looked like this. In size, it was probably larger than her flat. And in furnishing, it looked grander than her parents' house. It had everything! An ostentatious desk, a large meeting table, and a corner with a sofa and a few chairs for more informal gatherings. The colours nearly made her eyes burn. It was not black and mysterious like her Mind Room office. With its oak furniture, gold trimmings and pastel cushions and carpets, it felt very warm. A little too warm for Claudia's taste.
"This is the main office," Evelyn explained. "And through there-" she pointed at a door somewhat hidden in the oak panelling- "is a bathroom and a little private room."
"A bed?" Claudia asked once she stuck her head through the door.
"Alexander liked to take the occasional nap between meetings."
"I see-" Claudia mumbled, wondering how someone in that position found time for naps.
"I was always meeting to ask," Evelyn said. "My sons played Quidditch at Hogwarts with an Avery, any relation?"
"Your sons? Anthony and Chris?" Claudia said and broke into a smile. "I played with them. They were excellent!"
"Yes, they were…" Evelyn beamed.
Claudia brushed her fingers across her new desk and sat down. "This chair will need replacing-" she mumbled. "It's too soft.
Evelyn stared at her for a moment. "It's an excellent chair, very expensive."
Choosing to pick her battles, Claudia ignored the chair issue for a moment. After all, she could always transfigure it later to solve the problem temporarily. "Where are the papers for the day? My diary?"
"Agrippa wanted to see you first."
"When?"
"At eight thirty."
Claudia looked at her watch. "That was five minutes ago!" She jumped to her feet. "Could you bring me a coffee into the meeting?"
"I don't have any. Both Agrippa and Alexander preferred tea…"
"I think you best source some," Claudia murmured and hurried out of the room to meet with Agrippa. At least, it was not far. Once outside of his door, she took a deep breath and knocked.
"Come in!"
Claudia opened the door and saw Agrippa, sitting behind a desk, reading through a mountain of parchments. His office was furnished in a much more elegant style than Claudia's, but was just as imposing.
"How is the first day going?" he asked, still looking at whatever it was he was reading.
"Well, I'm late for my first meeting and my secretary doesn't have any coffee."
Agrippa laughed, tore his eyes away from his reading and stood up. "We were all tea drinkers here." He gestured towards a couple of armchairs in the corner of the office.
"I gathered…" Claudia smirked and sat down in one of them. "Anyway. Glad to be here. Where do we start?"
"That's what I like about you. No small talk." Agrippa settled himself in the armchair. "I think you have a pretty good idea of what I want you to do. But it's worth spelling out anyway. First of all, I need you to deal with the Ministry. I can't bear it anymore. I've already told the Minister's Office that you'll attend the Ministerial Board in my place. You know, the meeting of the Heads of Departments where we all try not to fall asleep while Fudge drones on and on. You just need to pay enough attention so that you don't accidentally tell him something he'd find interesting."
"I get the picture. Keep him happy enough so he leaves us alone, without actually giving him nothing of value."
"Precisely," Agrippa chuckled. "And second of all, you need to know everything that goes on around here. Fix problems before they even emerge. Tell me if something is about to blow up."
"And what are you going to do?" she smirked. She knew Agrippa well enough to be able to afford a few insolent remarks.
"I'll focus on a few priority projects, lend a hand with research… Don't look at me like that!" He laughed when he noticed Claudia's sceptical expression. "Each to their strengths. You're the politician here, not me." He stood up, walked over to his desk and opened the drawer. "Here. This is for you." He paused and extended his arm.
Claudia turned up her palm and soon found herself holding a ring of black metal with a turquoise seal, carrying the logo of the Department of Mysteries.
"What's this?"
"It's a duplicate of the Head Unspeakable signet ring," Agrippa explained. "It unlocks the most secret papers. All you need to do is to place your hand on the parchment while wearing the ring. And of course, you can seal your letters with it, for dramatic effect."
"Oh, I will." Claudia whispered, scarcely believing the power this piece of jewellery seemed to hold. She could access any information she wanted. She would be one of Fudge's closest advisors. The Slytherin within her was dancing with delight. No one ever told her she was destined for something like this! Her parents, Slughorn, all proven to be the idiots they were. She cleared her throat to bring herself back to reality. "Anything else?"
"Yes!" Agrippa exclaimed. "Nearly forgot. The Wizengamot."
"Surely, you can't delegate that to me," Claudia protested.
"Sadly, you're right. But the Department of Mysteries has right to two seats."
"And one of them is mine?"
"There is a catch…" Agrippa sighed. "I can appoint you to be my deputy without any interference from the Ministry, but it's different for the Wizengamot. I can nominate you, but the Minister will have to confirm it."
"The Minister will never do that. Not while Crouch draws breath."
"Fudge doesn't like him, you know. They are old rivals. Fudge's approval is still very much in your reach," Agrippa explained. "Shouldn't be too hard. It doesn't take much for him to like people. As long as they're agreeable…"
"I can pretend to be agreeable," Claudia chuckled before giving Agrippa a broad smile. "Thank you for trusting me with this."
Agrippa nodded. "Good luck. Now, get on with it. I've got a potion to brew." With that, the meeting was over.
Just as Claudia got settled in her new, uncomfortable chair, Evelyn walked in with a steaming cup. "I found some coffee in the cupboard."
"Thank you." Claudia took the cup from Evelyn's hands and brought it to her lips. The moment she tasted the hot liquid, she nearly choked. It was quite possibly the worst cup of coffee she ever had. It tasted like a troll washed his feet in it.
Evelyn must have spotted the disgust on Claudia's face. "Is it no good? It may have been in the cupboard for a while-"
"I suspect long before I was born-" Claudia mumbled and put the coffee down. "I'll bring some in tomorrow."
"Suit yourself-" Evelyn snapped and turned, seemingly to walk away.
"Hang on-" Claudia said and stood up. "I wanted to talk to you about my diary. I want to see all the Heads of Rooms..."
Evelyn frowned, not even bothering to hide her mood. "I already scheduled these over the next two weeks. One a day, that's how Alexander liked it. Gave him a chance to read up on things, mull things over."
Claudia was getting rather fed up listening to stories about Alexander and how he used to like to do things. "I want to see them all today and tomorrow."
"That's a lot of meetings in two days. And a lot of reports to get through."
"I'll manage."
"They might not all have time."
"Just schedule the meetings, alright?" Claudia finally snapped. She knew the job she had just started was going to be hard, but she was not expecting to meet such resistance from the one person who was supposed to do as they were told.
Evelyn did not respond. She turned on her heel, marched out of the office and slammed the door behind her.
Despite her initial resistance, however, Evelyn managed to reschedule those meetings, and Claudia was finally getting into the swing of things after the slow start. Her first two intro meetings, with the Head of the Space Room and the Head of the Healing Magic Room went fine. The meeting she was really looking forward to, however, was her introductory meeting with the Head of Division Twelve. After all these years, she was finally going to find out what they did!
At four o'clock that day, 'Twelve' finally knocked on the door of Claudia's office.
"Come in!"
She leaned over her desk and shook his hand. "I can't keep calling you 'Twelve', can I?" she said.
"I suppose not," he replied with the faintest of smiles. "You can call me K.P."
"Alright, K.P.," she said, wondering if Agrippa knew this guy's real name. "Where do we start?"
He handed her a piece of parchment, about a foot long. "This is a list of our current projects."
Barely able to contain her excitement, Claudia glanced over it.
'Petrification experiments relating to current situation in Hogwarts.'
'Use of electricity as conduit for magic.'
'Immortality.'
Claudia raised her eyes from the list, before even finishing it. "There is not too much detail," she said, desperately trying to sound like a professional rather than a child that did not get the Christmas present they wanted.
"Need to know basis."
She had to bite her lip not to get snappy with yet another person on her first day. How could she possibly imply she did not need to know? "Look, I'm not going to tell you how to do your job. I'm not going to interfere in how you run your department," she said, as calmly as she could. "But my job is to keep the Ministry at bay. I need to know more than this-" she waved the parchment in the air.
K.P. looked at her intently for a few seconds. "The purpose of Division Twelve is not to assist the Minister. It is to test the limits of magic, to prepare for what the dark forces might throw at us. Which makes the interaction with the Ministry somewhat delicate."
"You don't want them to misuse the research and turn out worse than the enemy. I get that… I was in the Auror Office under Crouch's leadership after all."
"Sometimes we need to keep things from them," K.P. said.
"Trust me," Claudia raised a smile. "I have no qualms about that. But I need to know what I can tell them to appease them, and what information I need to protect with my life. Otherwise, I'm no use."
"Alright," K.P. finally relented. "I can provide a short report on each of the projects tomorrow. I see you got the signet ring, so access will not be a problem."
"Thank you."
Feeling rather excited about her small victory, Claudia waited for her next meeting. She looked at her watch. It was now five past five, then quarter past. This was odd, Cassius was not known for his lateness.
Claudia popped her head out of the office. "Is Cassius not coming?"
"He can't leave his office today for some reason," Evelyn replied. "He asked if you could meet him there. I'm sure I've mentioned-"
"You did not," Claudia hissed and hurried away. That was meeting number two she was late for today! This would never have happened if she still had Auberon.
But Cassius was understanding, and the meeting ran well. Once it was over, Claudia headed back to her office. Finally, she could tackle those reports that have accumulated on her desk during the day! She made it home around nine o'clock and collapsed into bed, not even having the strength to go brush her teeth. When her clock rang, she had no idea whether she was asleep for ten minutes or ten hours. But it turned out it was in fact the morning….
When she came into the office that day, Evelyn was nowhere to be seen. There was no diary for the day, not papers ready to be read.
"Where is Evelyn?" Claudia asked Agrippa's secretary when it all became a little suspicious.
"She's quit."
What a blessing, Claudia thought but had enough courtesy to keep that remark to herself. "Could you ask Auberon from the Mind Room to cover?"
Agrippa's secretary said nothing. Just looked up at Claudia and frowned.
"Alright, I'll do it myself," Claudia sighed and made her way to the Mind Room.
It did not take Claudia long to find Auberon. He was sitting at his desk, sorting out letters that the Mind Room got that day, with his shoulders in a rather depressed slump.
"I need a favour-" Claudia said without as much as a hello.
"Anything, I'm so bored."
"My secretary quit. I need you to, you know, do what you do. Organise my life."
Auberon's eyes lit up. "Really? You want me to come with you?"
"Yes," Claudia smiled. "Now, please."
Within the hour, Claudia was sitting on a new chair, with her papers all neatly ordered, and a passable cup of coffee. All was well in the world again. Finally, she could concentrate.
And she needed to. It was now her job to understand what was going on in all twelve rooms of the Department of Mysteries, rather than just one. And, if the papers, were to be believed, they were all up to something of utmost importance.
Clotilda in the Healing Magic room sent Claudia a report about different treatments for petrification. The easiest and most straightforward were mandrakes. Alas, there was a global shortage, and none were available on the open market. The explanation as to why that happened went on and on, stretching even Claudia's ability to concentrate. She nearly put it away but was glad she did not. Right at the end of the third annex was a short footnote.
'Healing Magic Room is keeping a small supply in reserve for emergencies, but we do not believe the situation in Hogwarts merits these being used as yet.'
Claudia picked up her quill, dipped it into her familiar green ink and circled the footnote. That made sense. What if the Minister of Magic got petrified on a trip to Hogwarts, the Ministry needed a way of reviving him. But why did Clotilda feel the need to bury this information in the annex, Claudia did not know.
'Useful. Footnote in the third annex - put that kind of information up front next time.' She scribbled across the top of the report.
She did not have to write any more, she knew that Auberon would make it sound a lot politer before passing that feedback back to Clotilda.
The promised papers from K.P. had also arrived. However, no matter how excited Claudia was by the prospect of reading about the experiments with muggle technology, she knew she had to read the report on petrification experiments first. She only had to get halfway down the page to know she was right.
Division Twelve identified three known dark spell that could cause petrification, with no known remedies (other than the mandrakes) for any of them. But they have been working on that, with the help of couple of stray cats they took from the streets of London. The good news was, they managed to find a counter-curse for one of the spells. The bad news was contained in the last sentence of the report.
'It is yet unclear whether the lifespan of the revived subject will be shorter. Petrification should not impact this, but the counter-curse is untested and its side-effects unclear.'
Claudia grimaced, counting herself lucky she was no cat person.
'Want daily updates on the wellbeing of the cat. Will not tell broader Ministry for the time being,' she scribbled on the report and sealed it with her signet ring. Auberon could not help her with this one. She trusted him, but this was her eyes only.
By the time Claudia read everything she wanted to read that day, it was two o'clock in the morning. Auberon (and everyone else) have long gone home, and she could barely keep her eyes open. She went into her bathroom to splash some cold water on her face before she could even face the journey home, but on her way, she tripped on the bed that her predecessor used for afternoon naps. It was so very tempting. If she could just rest her eyes for a few seconds…
"Miss Avery?"
Claudia peeled her eyes open to see Auberon towering over her. "What time is it?"
"Eight-forty."
"Crap… I can't believe I fell asleep here." She sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"I brought over some of your stuff from your old office. I think you have some spare clothes there."
"I can quickly swing by home."
"I'm afraid the Minister has called the Departmental Board. It starts at nine."
"Crap. Crap. Crap." Claudia jumped to her feet and rubbed her eyes. "Alright. Are there any papers for the meeting?"
"No papers."
"Better get ready," she mumbled and went to locate her fresh clothes. Even though Auberon managed to find her some coffee, Claudia's stomach tingled all the way to the Ministerial floor. She was hoping to have more time to prepare for her first ever Ministerial board. Or at least not to do it on an empty stomach.
She was properly nauseous by the time she reached the Minister's office. "The Board meeting?" she asked one of the private secretaries in a voice that was unusually high-pitched.
"You are?"
"The new Deputy Head of the Department of Mysteries."
"Ah, of course- They've just gone in."
Claudia took a deep breath and opened the door. The moment she entered the room, everyone looked at her. The sounds died down.
"Minister, I believe-" her throat was closing. "I believe Agrippa told you he appointed me as his new deputy."
Fudge looked at his Principal Private Secretary, who nodded. "Yes- I bet he's pleased he doesn't have to come to these anymore," Fudge replied. "Miss-" he trailed off.
"Claudia Avery."
"Of course, Miss Avery," Fudge said and pointed at a free chair. "Take a seat."
Claudia sat down and pulled all her papers on a neat pile in front of her. Then, she finally summoned enough courage to raise her head to look around. She knew of everyone around the table, of course, but only ever interacted with a few of them. Dolores Umbridge, who she came to see with Aidan when she was still at the Improper Use of Magic Office. And then, of course, there was Barty Crouch Sr. He was scribbling something vigorously on a piece of parchment. When he was done, he threw Claudia a nasty look, folded the parchment and passed it to the Minister's Principal Private Secretary, who skimmed it and nodded. Claudia did not have to try very hard to guess who was the subject of this note.
Fudge, however, remained oblivious to this exchange. "I received word this morning," he began, "that another muggle-born boy was petrified in Hogwarts. I do not have to tell you how serious the situation is. Amelia-" he turned to the Head on the Department of Magical Law Enforcement – "how is it going with the search?"
"We have three teams over there, our best dark art specialist, best curse-breakers and they found nothing. No trace of any spells or monsters," Bones replied. "That said, the castle is huge and we only had a few weeks-"
Umbridge cleared her throat. "Few weeks should have been more than enough, Amelia."
Claudia studied their faces. Bones' jaw was clenched and her eyes narrowed, but the Minister was nodding slightly. Umbridge continued.
"I have been having a word with Albert," she gestured towards Albert Runcorn, the head of the Department of Magical Transportation (and thus Frederick's boss). "And he thinks that your aurors are not taking seriously the suggestions from his department about how an attacker could be getting into Hogwarts."
"No one can get into Hogwarts," Bones hissed. "Not even her lot-" she gestured towards Claudia.
"That's true," Claudia said but it came out as more of a whimper. And she did not even have to lie this time. The cabinet she managed to conjure while in Hogwarts only worked one way – from anywhere in the world to the Department of Mysteries - and was not fit to transport humans.
But Umbridge was not deterred. "Then, there are the creatures. Roderick, have the aurors been letting you do your job?"
Roderick Haworth, the Head of the Department for the Regulation of Magical Creatures took a few seconds to respond, his eyes darting between Umbridge and Bones. "They are all doing their best. The creatures that we're considering are extremely dangerous and not easy to conceal."
Claudia could feel that Umbridge was getting ready for another round of attack, but before she could launch it, Ludo Bagman, outstretched his arms. The Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports was wearing bright yellow canary robes and leaning back in his chair, and he could not look more out of place among the grey and humourless officials (or in the case of Umbridge, pink and humourless) who surrounded him.
"Surely we can just wake these boys up and ask who petrified them?" he asked lazily.
"We covered this, Ludo," Crouch barked. "Do you ever listen to what I say? There is a global shortage of mandrakes, and the new ones haven't grown up yet!"
"Keep your hair on, Barty!" Bagman said with a laugh and reached for a biscuit. The were plates scattered across the table, with the one nearest to Bagman almost empty now. "You say so many things, sometimes it's hard to keep up."
Crouch looked like he was about to rise to his feet and throttle Bagman, but Fudge intervened. "It's a dead end, unless Claudia can tell me there is another way to wake these kids up."
"Not that we have found, Minister," she replied without missing a beat.
"Very well," Fudge said. "Keep looking."
"Of course, Minister…"
"I was talking to my Chief Obliviator," said Leopold Sallow, the Head of Accidents and Catastrophes, "given the magical ability needed to petrify them, they would probably be obliviated anyway. So, it doesn't matter if we manage to wake them up or not." For a second, Claudia contemplated correcting him. Most obliviation spells could be broken. And even if the subject did not remember, a skilled legilimens could access their subconscious memories. But before she could decide whether starting an argument at her first Board meeting was a good idea or not, Fudge spoke again.
"Is that really the best we can do?" he mumbled.
Claudia saw an opening. She took a deep breath and got the Minister's attention. "We can put a team together to search the castle," she began, summoning all the composure she had to keep her heartbeat under control. "We have beast specialists, dark arts specialists. They're second to none. This-" she patted the pile of parchment in front of her- "is the research we have done just on the off chance you will ask us to look into it."
"I will need these papers," Umbridge jumped in.
"You can have a summary tomorrow," Claudia replied, barely looking at her.
This seemed to have annoyed Umbridge. "I'm the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic. I do not require a summary. I have a right to be privy to all the information, even from the Department of Mysteries."
"And of course, you will be," Claudia replied with a false smile. "All the relevant information. I would not want to bore you with unnecessary detail."
"Fine," Fudge intervened before Umbridge could reply. "Give the names of your specialists to Amelia. They can join the search."
But that was not good enough for Claudia, who still had K.P.'s words ringing in her ears. The Ministry must never know what the Department of Mysteries are truly capable of. "That's not how we work," she said. "Our specialists report to me or Agrippa only."
"That's ridiculous!" Roderick Haworth exclaimed. "If I'm going to allow Griffin to meddle, I want him to report to me."
"Roderick is right," Umbridge piped up. "The line of accountability has to be clear, Cornelius. We cannot allow fragmentation of our efforts."
Claudia ignored them both and looked straight into Fudge's eyes. "I do not want to appear unreasonable, Minister. But we are not going to compromise how we have been working for centuries. And as for accountability," she threw a side-glance at Umbridge. "We are not going to hide anything from you, Minister. We would of course report to you directly. How could one be more accountable than that?"
"That settles it," Fudge said after a few seconds of looking into Claudia's eyes. "The Department of Mysteries will send in a team in the new year. And the rest of you will stay out of their way." He turned to Claudia. "You will report directly to me."
From the corner of her eye, Claudia could see Umbridge shifting and scowling.
"And for security reasons," Claudia twisted the knife further still. "We would prefer those conversations to remain privileged."
"Sure." With that Fudge slid his chair back. "This meeting is over. Back to work."
Claudia collected her papers and started to shuffle towards the exit. She could hardly contain her smile. With one glance at Umbridge and Crouch, however, who both stayed behind to talk to the Minister, she was sure her victory was going to be short-lived.
"You did well," Bones interrupted Claudia's train of thought as he caught up with her. "The Minister liked you. I can tell."
"Does everyone get such hard time, or is it just newcomers?" Claudia asked with a smile.
Bones laughed. "Ignore Dolores. She's like that to everyone the Minister might listen to, especially women."
"Are they, you know, a thing?"
"I hope not-" Bones replied with a grimace. "Anyway, I'm going that way."
"See you around."
Agrippa was just as delighted with Claudia's triumph at the Board as she was. Together, they selected a team of about a dozen Unspeakables that should be equal to any task thrown at them. But before they could them loose in the Hogwarts castle, there was the small matter of Christmas to get through.
Claudia hated Christmas. And this one was bound to be just as miserable as the last eleven. Having someone to share it with may have made things better. Édith made plans months ago, but those plans were now in tatters, just like their relationship. And the weather was not likely to help Claudia's mood. Rain was lashing against the windows when Claudia woke up on Christmas Day.
She had some coffee to warm up and spent the next half an hour trying to wrap Neville's present as neatly as she could.
Once she did, she took a quick shower, threw on some jeans, her warmest jumper (a dark green turtleneck) and her leather jacket. Looking out of the window, she decided to apparate. It was too wet to enjoy the drive over, as the roof of Claudia's car had a nasty of habit of leaking during heavy rainfall. At least she would not be late-
Once she knocked on the Longbottom's door, Neville opened it in seconds. "You're early," he said with a shy smile.
Before Claudia could respond, she noticed Mrs Longbottom frowning at her from the shadow of the hallway.
"I brought some mince pies," Claudia said and passed them to Neville's grandmother as a peace offering. "Merry Christmas."
"Will you stay for tea?" Neville exclaimed.
Claudia looked to Mrs. Longbottom, who gave the slightest nod of the head, before replying. "Sure."
Mrs Longbottom went to the kitchen to make the tea, while Claudia and Neville settled themselves in the sitting room. Claudia took out her godson's present from the pocket of her jacket. "Since you won't let me buy you a new wand," she said. "I had to improvise."
Tentatively, Neville tore the packaging apart. "Wow!" he gasped as he pulled out a rather pricey pair of dragon-hide gloves trimmed with Gryffindor colours. "These are amazing. Can't wait to show them to Professor Sprout!"
"I'm glad you like them."
Neville jumped to his feet. "I've got you something too. It's in my room." He run up the stairs, tripping on a couple, and quickly returned holding a potted plant.
"What is this?" Claudia asked as she examined it closely.
"I grew it from a seedling. It's very rare. When in bloom, it sings in the moonlight."
"That's sweet Nev, thank you."
Neville sat down next to Claudia and rubbed the palms of his hands. His excitement about the presents had dissolved. After a while, he whispered. "Did you find out any more about the Chamber of Secrets? With Colin and Justin-" he trailed off when he notices Mrs Longbottom entered the room.
"He isn't bothering you with the Chamber of Secrets nonsense," she barked. "Is he?"
"It's no bother," Claudia replied and patted Neville's shoulder. "In fact, some of my colleagues and I will be heading to the castle in a few days to look around. I will tell you if we found anything."
Mrs Longbottom shoved a teacup to Claudia's hands so forcefully, some of it spilled. They drank tea and chatted for a few minutes before Claudia started to feel uneasy. She bit her lip. No, not now. Not in front of other people.
But her hope that this was a mild episode of Dementor-torture were soon extinguished, when she suddenly felt pain so clear, it was as if someone drove an icicle through her heart.
"Are you alright, Claudia?" Neville mumbled. "You've gone a bit pale."
Claudia set down the cup on the coffee table before her shaky hands spilled any more of it. "I need to go, sorry."
She stood up and slowly made it towards the front door, barely able to take in anything Neville or Mrs Longbottom were saying. All her strength was expelled trying not to throw up. Somehow, she made it out of the door and round the corner, before collapsing atop a neighbour's garden wall.
Neville's singing flower was still somehow in her hand. Claudia set it down and reached into her pocket for some cigarettes.
She burnt off three of them before the pain gradually subsided and she was strong enough to apparate back home. There was no point going back to see Neville – it would have been hard, if not impossible, to explain her absence and why she smelt like she had crawled through a chimney.
Having dropped off the signing flower at home and picked up another box of mince pies, Claudia was on the move again, this time apparating to Moody's small, terraced house in East London.
Moments after she knocked, Moody opened the door looking utterly bizarre in an apron covered in pink roses.
"Merry Christmas, boss," she said cheerfully and planted a brief kiss on Moody's cheek, before passing him a box of minced pies.
"You should stop calling me that," Moody smirked. "I gather you'd outrank me now." He examined the box Claudia handed him. "You baked?"
"I was going to but run out of time."
"I know better than to lecture you on the danger of overworking oneself."
"Thanks. Not feeling up for a lecture."
"Do you want some lunch? You look like death." His nose contracted. "Smell like death too."
"Please…"
Moody smirked. "Come in, then, come in. I could use an extra pair of hands finishing it up."
She wiped her shoes dry and followed Moody inside, looking around his cluttered house. Between the books, and what Claudia was pretty sure were official Auror Office papers that he somehow managed to hold onto, there was barely a place to sit in the living room.
The kitchen was not any neater. It was hard to say which bottles and jars were for cooking, and which were potion ingredients.
"Chicken's already in the oven. You can peel the potatoes," Moody pointed towards a brown bag that lay on the kitchen counter.
Claudia opened it. "Yikes!" she screamed. "These are fucking dried frog heads!"
Moody chuckled. "Sorry. This bag then."
Claudia opened the second bag, this time more carefully and to her relief found some potatoes to peel. She drew her wand, and the potatoes flew up in the air and began shedding skin. "Thanks for having me."
"How come you're not with- What was her name again?"
"Édith…" Claudia sighed. "She's in the Department of Mysteries too, so it was either her or the job. You know the Ministry rules…"
"And you chose the job?"
"Of course, I chose the job." She began cutting the now peeled potatoes.
"Smaller chunks," Moody hissed, before watching for a few seconds. "Ah, give it here. These need to be even."
Everything was now in the oven and Moody invited Claudia to his study to look over his defensive artefact collection. It was indeed impressive - foe-glasses, probity probes of all kinds of shapes and sizes, secrecy sensors, sneakoscopes.
"You can pick whatever you want for Christmas," Moody quipped when Claudia opened a chest with dozens of smaller artefacts.
Her eyes landed on a signet-style ring with a sizeable opal. "What does this do?"
"The stone shows potential danger nearby."
Claudia narrowed her eyes and fixed them on the opal. "Why do I see Oscar?"
"Ah, he said he might pop by. Must be by the door," he began descending down the stairs. "Take that ring, if you'd like!"
It was far too big for her ring fingers but fitted on the thumb. The opal ring now added next to her engagement ring and her Department of Mysteries signet ring, she made her way downstairs. Oscar was giving Moody a hug, then let go off their old boss when he spotted Claudia and stared at her with a frown on his face.
"You two better work out how to get through a lunch together," Moody said jovially. "I'm going to go check on the chicken."
As if by unspoken agreement, they both waited until Moody was gone from earshot.
"What are you doing here?" Oscar hissed. "Shouldn't you be with your girlfriend?"
"None of your business."
"Let me guess… She saw sense and dumped you," he said with that annoying smirk Claudia knew so well.
"I'm not going to take lectures from you on relationships."
Oscar sneered. "She did, didn't she? Got sick of your lies, I presume?"
"Arsehole."
It was at that point Moody called them to the table. They sat down, arms folded, still scowling at each other while Moody plated up the food.
"Right," Moody sat down too. "Tell me more about the new job, Claudia."
Oscar scoffed. "Yeah, like who did you stab in the back to get it?"
"I'll stab you if you aren't careful-" Claudia snapped.
"ENOUGH!" Moody's voice rang around the room. "I have just about had enough of this!"
"But-" Claudia tried to protest but was quickly shut down.
"I don't care what happened between you two in the past," Moody continued. "It was eleven years ago for heaven's sake! Get over it."
"But-" Oscar tried to interject.
"Both of you!"
"Don't treat us like children," Oscar barked.
"I will treat you like children if you act like children!" Moody yelled. "Now, eat your bloody chicken."
Neither one of them dared to speak for five minutes. Then, Oscar finally summoned enough courage to-
"That's for sending that quack healer my way, by the way," he mumbled.
"You knew it was me?"
"The Department of Mysteries is not known for its law enforcement nous," Oscar replied. Claudia would swear he even raised a smile. "Everyone else's tips are garbage. The ones I get are gold. Almost as if they are coming from someone with law enforcement background."
Claudia returned the smile. "What happened to him?"
"Oh, it caused a whole thing. The Head Auror did not want to touch it. I think he half-agreed with the guy. We had to get Amelia Bones involved to overrule him. Eventually, all his stuff was confiscated and he's on his final warning."
"That's good…"
They finished the lunch in relative peace and ate the mince pies, while Moody and Oscar tasted the apparently excellent whiskey that Oscar brought. They chatted about old cases for a while and raise a glass to old friends here and there.
At around three thirty, Moody stood up. "Alright, I was going to go light some candles on Aidan's grave before it gets dark."
Oscar and Claudia looked at each other. They both knew what they had to do. "Can we come with you?" she whispered.
"Sure."
They all apparated to the village where Aidan was buried. It was dusk, the rain has finally stopped but the wind had picked up, chilling Claudia's bones. They walked through the graveyard in silence until they reached a simple grey tombstone.
'Aidan Malcolm Barraclough'
"Didn't know his middle name was Malcolm…" Oscar whispered.
"My middle name too," Moody said, kneeling down and trying to keep the flame on the candle alive with his wand. "Not a day goes by when I don't wish he was here with us." The candle was lit but the old auror stayed on his knees.
"And we never even got the bastards who did it." Oscar was choking on his words.
That broke Claudia's resolve and she began to cry. Of course, he was right. Her father was not only responsible for Sirius' imprisonment, but for Barraclough's death too. And the Ministry let him go! No punishment she could inflict on him could ever compensate for both of those things.
Hot tears rolling down her frozen cheeks, Claudia felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked at Oscar, who's eyes were glimmering too. He squeezed her tighter.
"Truce?" she whispered and wiped her eyes.
"Truce."
He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on top of Claudia's head. She exhaled and gripped onto his arms. Instinctively, the ever-present tension left her body, and she leaned into Oscar, letting him support her. Her load suddenly felt a little lighter, and she felt a little warmer.
They stood like that watching Moody. But soon, the tears came back in Claudia's eyes. Barraclough should never have died. He would have never had died if it was not for Claudia's father and Marcus' betrayal. All the emotions she felt when Barraclough died were back- She gripped tighter onto Oscar. At least he was with her again…
Moody turned around. Seeing his two former employees in an embrace brought a smile to his face. "I should get going," he whispered.
"Me too," Claudia mumbled and freed herself from Oscar's grip. The serenity of the moment was gone, and her temper was rising. "I have stuff to do."
"Look after yourself," Oscar whispered.
Claudia shot him a weak smile, apparated home and ran straight to the attic. She was furious with herself, allowing herself to get distracted with her job like that. That had to end now. Her father had to pay. For everything he did!