A/N – Apologies for the slow update. I have been back at work for a few months now and my job is quite intense at times. That and my family life is basically consuming every minute of my day. But please do keep reading, I will finish this. I promise. And thanks to everyone who engages with kudos/comments – it makes it just a little easier to keep the brain awake enough to write for a bit each day.
One crammed tourist portkey later, Claudia was standing among the familiar shops of Diagon Alley. But it broad her no joy. London had seemingly forgotten that it was meant to be August. Chill was in the air and heavy rain was falling from the dark grey sky. The few people that were hurrying down the street all looked utterly depressed.
"Welcome home," she muttered to herself. The joy she felt in Egypt had evaporated. The dinners they ate on the warm terrace of the expensive Egyptian hotel seemed like something that happened years ago. Like those memories she had of eating chips with Sirius on park benches before the war really escalated. Like a mere dream.
By the time she got out of Diagon Alley, she could not even bring herself to go home. Yes, she could have used a shower, but she could also use the smell of Sirius' cologne in her hair for one more day. So, to the Ministry she went.
"Are you wearing sandals?" Auberon greeted her with a grin. "Isn't it a bit cold for that today?"
"Tell me about it." Claudia threw her travelling back at the foot of her assistant's desk. She was in no mood to engage with his attempts at humour.
"Did you get what you needed?" Auberon asked.
"Yeah-"
"That's great!" he exclaimed.
"Do I look like I'm happy to be back?" she uttered and made her way to her own office. Auberon followed her.
"These are the most urgent things-" he pointed at a huge pile of parchment right in the middle of Claudia's desk. It did not escape her attention that there were at least four other piles scattered around her room. "And Crouch want to see you as soon as possible, and Agrippa of course."
"Crouch first-" Claudia said down in her chair. It was not as comfortable as she remembered. "I'll leave the rest of it to your judgement."
"Do you want a coffee?"
"I guess."
But soon enough, Claudia regretted her desire for caffeine. She nearly spat out whatever it was Auberon made her. After the delightfully strong and delicious coffee she drank in Egypt, it tasted like water from a particularly muddy puddle.
Claudia could not help but sip it though and her annoyance peaked as a result. She opened up her notebook and picked up her quill.
'Made it back. But I wish I stayed in Egypt. The weather is terrible and the coffee sucks. And I miss you already-'
She stared at the page. How pathetic was that?
'It's not for long.'
It's long enough for you to lose your bearings completely, she thought. And for her too- She looked at the piles of parchment of untouched work. She did not even know how she was going to cope with this until the World Cup.
Luckily, Auberon managed to schedule her first meeting with Crouch swiftly, so she did not have to pretend she was working for long. By eleven o'clock, she was standing outside his office. She saw no assistant, so she knocked.
"What is this?" Crouch barked at her without as much as a hello, and waved a piece of parchment that Claudia recognised as her own letter. "You just casually tell me the referee is compromised. Was there nothing more useful you could've done?"
"No, not really-"
"This attitude of yours-"
"Look, I don't know what you want from me," she barked. "I've recognised a spell no one else would have recognised and saved you from a huge embarrassment. Just find another referee."
Crouch's demeanour had calmed a little. "I can't do it without causing a diplomatic incident. The Egyptians will be up in arms."
"Surely the Egyptians have another referee you could use…"
"Maybe…"
"Anyway. Came to tell you I got you the Sphinx-"
Crouch's temper had risen again. "What am I supposed to do with a Sphinx?"
"Doesn't the tournament have some kind of tasks?"
"I already have dragons-"
"Look, don't shoot the messenger here. The Minister wanted a Sphinx, I got you a Sphinx – it doesn't really matter what you do with it. Just make sure Fudge gets a picture with it and that the picture finds its way on the front pages of the Prophet. And we will both be off the hook."
Crouch narrowed his eyes – "Never had an Unspeakable give me political advice." No matter how pleasant he tried to sound, Claudia knew it was not a compliment.
"I've never been much of an Unspeakable," she hissed at him and disappeared as fast as she could.
Claudia did not even make it back to her office, as Auberon stopped her on the threshold. "Agrippa wants to see you."
"His mood?"
"Not sure. But he's been pretty peeved that you were gone for so long. You know how he feels about Fudge-"
Claudia sighed. "Thanks for the warning."
Auberon's warning, however, did not come anywhere near the reality of Agrippa's reaction. The normally mild-mannered Head Unspeakable frowned upon seeing his deputy. "Decided to grace us with your presence?" he growled. "Done being Fudge's messenger?"
"If you must know," Claudia replied wearily. "I got dragged into World Cup nonsense. The referee needed to be examined by a Legilimens." Agrippa's features lightened a little and Claudia continued. "And I don't think you have the right to be mad at me, considering that you vanish to do personal research all the time!"
"I just do not want you to forget what your job is. It does not sit comfortably with me that you are this close to the Minister. We are supposed to be independent."
"Do you not remember any of the things I told you about the tracking? I was the one who discouraged you from telling Fudge the truth."
"You had other motives…" He was back to the mood he started this conversation in.
"Sit down and listen to me," Claudia said and pointed at the sofa. Somewhat taken aback, Agrippa complied. "Fudge is a complete idiot. I suck up to him because it suits us. And it suits me. Do you think that if he disliked me, I would be allowed to walk free? Let alone sit on the Ministerial Board? My old boyfriend is the most wanted man in the country."
Agrippa collapsed deeper into the chair, which Claudia took to mean his resolve was broken and he believed her. "Do you want to hear about a great spell?" she changed the subject.
"Always-" Agrippa said, slightly less enthusiastically that one would normally expect.
"It's a lot like our Imperio, just much harder to break. Even if the caster dies, it can carry on."
"How?"
"If they get killed, the bond gets passed onto the killer. I wish I could have stayed in Egypt to understand the true potential of their Legilimency."
"You want to do more research?"
"Yes! I want to go back to Egypt. And then other places. Travel and study- there must be so much we don't know about mind magic…"
"Hold your horses. You aren't resigning, are you?"
Claudia chuckled, somewhat nervously. "Let me just go back to Egypt on a study assignment, start there."
"Alright – six weeks in Egypt. They we re-evaluate." Agrippa was beaming. It may have taken thirteen years but his protégé was finally interested in furthering her studies. Or so he thought-
Claudia had to try hard not to grin. She did not get far in thanking Agrippa before Griffin barged in. "Did you find her? Did you meet the Sphinx?"
Without a word, Claudia reached into her pocket, and gave him a piece of parchment with the details of when and where to meet the Sphinx. "She'll be waiting for you to transport her to Hogwarts."
"You want me to go get her?" Griffin's voice trembled with excitement.
Claudia nodded.
Griffin was staring at the parchment for a good few seconds, but then his face dropped. "It's only in May?"
"She did not want to come any earlier because of the cold winter!"
"But that's ages away-"
"Griffin..." she said impatiently, as if she was speaking to a three-year-old. "I can ask other people to go."
"Alright, alright," he said quickly and backed out of Agrippa's office, his back arching unnaturally.
"Did he bow to me?" she asked Agrippa once Griffin was gone.
"He did indeed…"
"I should go," she sighed. "The mountains of paperwork Auberon prepared for me will kill me if I don't."
"You'll get a break from it all soon enough."
That was true. In a few days, the World Cup will be over and Claudia will be back in Egypt, with her face buried either in parchments on Arabic mind magic, or in Sirius' hair. Her brain was just awake enough after her first day to detail her arrangement with Agrippa to Sirius, and to write a short note to Neville.
'I am back from Egypt and going to the World Cup after all. Do you want to come with me? I am sure I'll manage to find some good tickets.'
Claudia stumbled through her work for the next two days. Until, at last, one last Departmental Board and one Quidditch match stood between her and freedom. Normally, she enjoyed the politics of the Board. She enjoyed studying people's expressions and body language to see just how much they all despised each other. But today, it was not that much fun. Today, she just wanted it to be over.
Never would Claudia have thought that she could feel borderline disinterested on the morning of the Quidditch World Cup final. But that was exactly how she felt. Neville was not going to join to cheer her up – his grandmother was making him visit some relatives and it was too late to change plans. As a result, all Claudia could think about was being back in Egypt. The heat, the dusty, dry air… It was all going to be worth it because they would finally have it. They would finally catch a break. She rolled over in her empty bed, and reached for her notebook-
'I managed to get a space on one of the portkeys going straight back to Egypt tomorrow morning.'
She closed her eyes and decided to let her brain wonder. She would study for a couple of hours a day, and then get to live an actual life. Eat properly, sleep, feel loved. All the simple things she had completely forgotten how to do. When she opened her eyes again, Sirius had already replied.
'Is it not going to be one of those games that last a week?'
'Don't care-' Claudia wrote quickly. 'I'm coming back tomorrow even if it is. I should be at the hotel by eleven in the morning.'
'Leaves time for a short nap before lunch.'
She chuckled to herself before replying. 'I presume you don't mean an actual nap…'
'No, I don't- I miss you though…'
'You miss sex.'
'I can miss both! I do miss both-'
'Well, you'll see us both tomorrow.' She paused and chewed the end of her quill. What she really wanted to tell him would take her hours to write. And she did not have hours. 'Got to go.'
Claudia apparated to the World Cup site. Despite being in most of the meetings where the scale of the tournament was being discussed, her jaw nearly dropped. So many people, she thought and made her way to the camping plot assigned to her. There were perks to being on the Ministerial Board, for instance, she did not have to queue up with everyone else at the campsite office to find out where she was supposed to pitch her tent.
Having made sure no one was watching, she disregarded the Ministry directive not to use magic, built her tent in seconds, and then decided to go check on the stadium.
As she fought her way through the excited crowd in the camp site, her eyes landed on Arthur Weasley and a group of kids. Fucking hell, she nearly said out loud when she zoomed in on them. That must have been Harry! How was it possible for anyone to look this much like their father?
She tore her eyes away from the boy, conscious she must have been staring at him, and greeted Arthur Weasley.
"Kids," he said jovially, "this is Claudia Avery from the Department of Mysteries. She's been working with Mr Crouch to organise the tournament." He turned to one of the ginger kids, a girl who must have been about twelve. "This is Ginny-"
"How come you know how to dress like a muggle?" The girl hurled out. "The Ministry said we should dress like muggles, but most people look very odd."
"Do you know what malicious compliance is?" Claudia replied with a laugh. The girl shook her head, so Claudia leaned towards her and continued. "Then let me in on a secret… Most of these people know perfectly well how to dress as muggles, they just choose not to."
"Why?" the girl gasped.
Claudia looked around. "See him?" She pointed at an old wizard wearing an emerald dressing gown matched with golden slippers. "He's fulfilling the letter of the Ministry's rules, but not the spirit. Because not many like the Ministry controlling their lives by telling them how to dress. And personally, I don't blame them."
All of the kids' eyes darted to Arthur Weasley, who laughed nervously. "Wouldn't have expected a Department Head to incite rebellion."
Claudia shrugged. "They were going to find out soon enough-"
Mr Weasley gave an uncertain smile and continued to introduce the children…
Harry was not the only one that Claudia had met before. Hermione Granger, the girl who came for the time turner last year, was with them too. She, however, pretended she had no idea who Claudia was, presumably to save herself the explaining of why she knew a high-ranking Unspeakable. Claudia was more than happy to play along. If anything, she admired the girl's shrewdness.
"This is Ron," Mr Weasley pointed towards a tall red-headed boy.
Ah, the last one of the trio Neville told her about, Claudia thought. "Sorry about your rat, Ron," Claudia addressed him as casually as the memory of Wormtail allowed her. Treacherous bastard!
At the mention of the rat, Ron went bright red. "How do you- What do you-" his eyes darted towards Hermione, as if he was looking for an explanation. Then, he froze-
Claudia could not help but smirk. "Neville, my godson, told me you lost your rat last year," she replied to put him out of his misery.
"Course I did," Ron said and began to breathe again. That boy was not great under pressure, Claudia thought, unlike that Granger girl.
The last one to be introduced was Harry, but before Arthur got to him, three other Weasleys – or at least they looked like the Weasleys – turned up. One of them was rather familiar. Bill smiled at Claudia but before he could say a single word-
"Percy Weasley," another of the new arrivals extended his arm. "I work for Mr Crouch. I have been working on standardising cauldron thickness, and I think it is essential to cover the different materials used. Mr Crouch said how helpful your Department has been in assisting the preparations for this World Cup, so I was wondering if you have any research on metal that-" he paused for a second to take a breath and Claudia used it to interrupt him.
"I'm not sure Mr Crouch told you the whole story about the Department of Mysteries. We don't hand over our research to just anyone. Especially not to people who stops us in the street."
Her words had the intended effect and Percy went scarlet. Bill chortled, which drew Claudia's attention.
"Back from Egypt already?" Bill asked, ignoring Percy's misery.
"So are you, I see-"
"You two met?" Arthur Weasley asked.
"Yes, visited a museum together," Claudia said nonchalantly. That made Bill laugh again, and Percy went even redder. So red in fact, he was beginning to resemble a tomato. Claudia's job was done with that one – he was not going to bother her about cauldrons any time soon - so she finally turned to Harry. For a second, she debated her approach but decided on honesty.
"I don't suppose you remember me," she said quietly, the attitude gone from her voice, "since the last time we met, you could barely walk."
"You knew my parents?" Harry asked.
"I went to school with them," Claudia replied with a nod. "Your dad would have been so excited to be here. Quidditch was a pretty big part of his life." Understatement of the year, she thought as these words left her lips.
Harry's green eyes had lit up. "Did you see him fly?"
"Did I see him fly?" Claudia laughed. She was not much better than James when it came to containing her excitement about Quidditch. "We shared the Hogwarts' pitch many times."
"Was he a good player?" Ron pitched in.
"Not as good as he thought he was-" Claudia replied with a smirk. Then centred herself once she saw Harry stare at her with his mouth ajar. This was probably not the kindest thing to say to an orphan… "Your dad was alright, great really. But the rest of his team were pretty average." Claudia added.
"You were you not in Gryffindor with them?" Ron asked another question.
"Certainly not. I was a Slytherin- And we were much better. Anyway-" she glanced at her watch. It was getting late. If she wanted to make herself useful, she needed to go. "I need to get going. Enjoy the game everyone!"
"Bloody hell," she heard Ron utter once she turned her back. "You dad used to lose to Slytherin…"
"Do you think they were really friends?" a barely audible girl's voice followed with another question.
The rest of the conversation got drowned out by the noise of the campsite, and the memories of James that flooded Claudia's brain. It had been a while since she missed him this much.
Once Claudia focused back on the task at hand, it did not take her long to find Crouch, who was rather predictably yelling at someone. His mouth clasped shut when he spotted Claudia, but the reprieve was only momentary. "Ludo was supposed to pass on a message that I wanted Aurors covering all the entry points to the pitch," he growled in Claudia's direction. "And did he? No, of course he did not!" He barely took a breath before continuing. "I now need to reallocate someone else because every other auror is already stationed somewhere else, or drunk apparently- as it's the case with your Fernsby." He scoffed. "I thought you'd be pre-emptively celebrating with him."
"Is he not on duty?"
"Not anymore… Apparently, he deserves a few beers after being on duty for twenty-four hours straight," Crouch said with his mouth twisted. Was it meant to be a poor imitation of Oscar? If so, it was miles off the mark.
"I'm not sure you can really argue with that." Claudia said. She would be lying if she said watching Crouch suffer did not bring her some satisfaction. "But I came to see if you needed help."
Crouch's face froze. For a second, she thought he was petrified. "You completed your auror training, haven't you?" he eventually uttered.
"I have-" she replied carefully.
"Guard duty, then- The protocols have not changed very much."
"But I have really good seats."
"You will see even better from over there-" he pointed to the entrance of the referee's changing rooms. "Please-" he added, rather uncharacteristically.
"Fine."
"And if you could check over the new referee's-" he paused to choose his words carefully- "his state of mind as he enters the field. Just between us, no need to make an official report."
Of course not, Claudia thought. Still not giving people the benefit of the doubt… "Did you ever get to the bottom of who did it? Who cast the spell on the other referee?"
"No. I got a Division B auror watching him, but nothing." Crouch turned towards the stand. "It's beginning to fill up. I better go check on the main gate." And with those words, he vanished.
"A thank you would have been nice," Claudia grumbled to herself and went to her new post. Over the next several hours, Claudia watched people flood in as the noise level gradually increased. Finally, it was time for the game to begin. Claudia checked over the referee (he was clean) and even got an opportunity to practice some Occlumency against the Bulgarian's mascots. Who thought that bringing Veelas to a stadium packed with drunk men was a good idea? She would pay good money to see Crouch's face when the referee himself succumbed to their spell.
The game itself was interesting enough, as was watching from this particular vantage point. The superiority of the Irish chasers was clear even from down below. The team managers were screaming instructions from the ground that no one was sure to hear over the noise of the crowd.
She took out her binoculars, but her eyes were drawn away from the game and towards the Minister's box. Fudge was wearing his best robes and tried to look like he understood what was going on. Claudia doubted very much he was a big Quidditch enthusiast. The cast in the Minister's box was predictable. Hang on, she squinted, a house elf?
How did a house elf get a better vantage point of this game then she did? And how did Arthur Weasley managed to get all these seats there? She zoomed in on Arthur's little group. Harry was entranced in the game. With exactly the same expression that James would have had if he was here. The picture in her binoculars became somewhat blurry. She thought they were malfunctioning, until a lone tear rolled down her cheek.
If it wasn't for fucking Voldemort, Harry would not have been sitting up there alone. In another life, he could be sitting up there with his dad, both of them screaming on the top of their lungs. Or maybe James would have been flying for England. Maybe both James and Claudia could have been… When she did not let her personal feelings interfere with the games, she used to be pretty good.
When the final whistle went and the Irish supporters exploded with unbridled joy, Claudia was somewhat glad that the charade was over. One more sleep – or an attempt to sleep which the Irish sang all around her tent - and she would be on her way back to Egypt. That thought managed to do what even Quidditch did not today – bring a smile to her face, and she picked up pace.
But Claudia's night was not quite over yet. Just before she reached her tent, she bumped into Oscar. He did not even finish hugging her, the stench of booze hard to miss, when he grinned ear to ear. "Look who I found earlier!" he reached into a crowd and pulled out-
"Ewan?" Claudia asked and jumped into her old comrade's arms. "What are you doing here?"
"Do you think I would've missed the final?" he beamed.
"You even sound American!" Claudia laughed. "Where is your family?"
"Back in the States."
"Enough chitchat. Let's drink some more-" Oscar looked around, a little dazed. "Where is our tent?"
"No idea, mate-" Ewan exhaled and looked around at the crowds.
"Mine's just here," Claudia pointed at a tent just feet away.
"Do you have booze?" Ewan asked as he followed her in.
"No, but I have coffee," she replied. "And I think that's going to do both of you some good."
"Where the fuck did you get this tent?" Oscar laughed. "It's bigger than my flat."
Claudia ignored him and quickly prepared three cups of very strong coffee.
"You live in that dump by choice. The Ministry sure pay you well enough to afford a palace," Ewan exhaled and collapsed into the sofa. "Can you believe our Oscar is a bigshot- Head of Division! Who would have thought?"
"He'll be the Head Auror next," Claudia smirked and stuck a mug in both of their hands.
"And even if I was, you'd still outrank me, your majesty," he grinned and gave Claudia a slight bow.
"What?" Ewan sat up straighter.
Oscar gestured towards Claudia. "She sits on the fucking Board! Best mates with Fudge from what I hear."
Ewan shot up back to sitting. "How? Last time I saw you-" he paused- "you were kind of a mess…"
"She's still a mess," Oscar mumbled into his coffee.
"You know I can get you fired, right?" she hissed.
"Just because you managed to get rid of my predecessor, does not mean you'll manage to get rid of me."
Claudia laughed. "Do you want to see me try?"
"You're bickering like an old married couple," Ewan said with a chuckle.
And it took both Claudia and Oscar a few second too long to respond, which let to Ewan's loud interjection. "Oh my – you two are a couple!"
"We are not a couple!" Claudia replied quickly. "We-" but nothing else came out of her mouth. She had no idea what to say and sheepishly looked at Oscar. It was moments of social awkwardness like this, which made her wish she still drank.
Ewan's eyes narrowed. "What are you not telling me?"
"We came close to being a couple," she whispered before Oscar had a chance to reply, and actually spill the truth.
"A while ago…" he chose to play along. The coffee must have been playing its part and he was sobering up.
"What happened?" Ewan asked, failing to contain his curiosity.
"Life happened." Oscar mumbled. Then, he straightened himself and changed to subject to the Quidditch match they have all just seen.
One more cup of coffee each and they have exhausted that particular topic of conversation. "I forgot to tell you!" Oscar said when he set down his cup on the coffee table. His hand was not steady. "Moody is going to teach at Hogwarts next year."
"Is he?" Claudia said uncertainly- she was relieved about the change of topic, but she also remembered Moody's teaching methods from her auror training. And while they were certainly effective, they were not for the faint-hearted. Poor Neville- She will need to find a way to subtly warn him.
"What are you frowning about?" Oscar hissed. "It's good news. Finally getting his life back on track, again…" The accusation in his voice was not difficult to see.
"Oh, come on- That was not my fault. You said it to the Head Auror yourself."
"Right-" Oscar's mouth twisted in a frown. "You have definitely not committed any crimes recently for which Moody could possibly suffer."
"Are you sure you aren't an old married couple after all?" Ewan quipped.
"Shut up, Ewan-" Oscar barked.
Ewan started laughing. Claudia was about to tell him off too when-
"Shut up, both of you!" Oscar yelled. "Can't you hear the screaming from outside?"
They all jumped to their feet and run out of the tent.
It took Claudia a good few moments to even begin to make sense of what was going on. She could not see over the heads of the crowd. Every time, she found an opening between the heads, someone shoved her. One could not hear anything either over the screams. A few of the nearby tents were on fire.
"There!" Oscar said and pointed to his right.
"Can't see-" Claudia hissed and stood up on her tip toes. When that did not help, she jumped as high as she could. She caught a glimpse of something. "Are those people in the air?" she uttered to check she saw right.
"The muggles running the campsite." Oscar replied, his greater height offering him a distinct advantage.
"What was in that bloody coffee?" Ewan uttered. "Or have we gone back in time?"
"Neither," Oscar replied, also looking in the direction of the disturbance. "They are real. We have had a lot of reports about increased activities."
"Death to the Mudbloods!" someone in the crowd yelled. Claudia looked in the direction but saw nothing suspicious, just regular wizard-kind. Odd thing to shout about at the Quidditch…
"What are you talking about?" Claudia barked, frustrated that her below average height made her oblivious to what was going on. And the people pushing and shoving around her was not helping her mood.
"Death Eaters-" Oscar said.
"Real ones?" she gasped.
"Who knows…"
Oscar tried to push through the crown towards the commotion and Claudia held onto his jacket in an attempt not to get trampled on by some very tall and very confused Bulgarians.
"Ewan?" she yelled, unable to see him anywhere. He must have gotten separated. She manically looked around, then jumped – a man was staring right in her face, grinning.
"I've been waiting for his," he said between heavy breaths. "The Ministry have fucked up this country enough. But the-" he gestured towards the commotion- "they will bring us glory again."
"You don't know what you're fucking talking about," Claudia barked in the stranger's face.
He made a move as to launch himself at her but, right in that moment, the horrified screaming from within the crowd increased. And so did the pushing, which carried the disgusting bloke away. Claudia had no time to look for him, the screaming – interrupted by a few cheers here and there - was hurting her ears. Then, she heard a pop, and another, and another. People were apparating away left, right and centre.
What was going on? Claudia wondered and looked towards Oscar, who had frozen and was looking back over Claudia's head.
"Real Death Eaters…" he whispered and pointed to the sky. That made Claudia turn. A wave of nausea hit her by the mere sight of the green skull shining high above the crowd.
The unmistakeable sign of Voldemort.
"Coming with me?" Oscar asked and extended his arm.
Without a word, fighting back all the nasty memories seeing this brough, Claudia held onto his hand and he apparated them both.
"Stupify!" a sea of voices yelled the moment Claudia's feet landed on hard ground again.
Before Claudia could see where the spell came from, Oscar pushed her to the ground.
"Idiots," he whispered as he hit the grass next to her.
Claudia lifted her head from the ground. Half dozen Ministry officials were standing in a loose circle, pointing their wards towards the middle. Arthur Weasley, Crouch, Amelie Bones and a couple people Claudia did not immediately recognise were all there. "Not many aurors here by the looks of it."
"Clearly not- Who cast a spell when we're all standing in a circle." Oscar replied but Claudia was no longer listening. They were all surrounding something, or someone.
"Stop!" Arthur Weasley yelled. "Stop! That's my son."
"Out of the way, Arthur," said Crouch and pushed past Weasley. "Which one of you did it? Which one of you conjured the Dark Mark?"
Claudia got to her feet. Was it a group of teenagers at the centre of this? She took a few steps closer to the commotion. And immediately saw it was Harry, Granger and the youngest of the Weasley boys who were surrounded by the Ministry officials.
"We didn't do that!" said Harry, gesturing up at the skull.
"We didn't do anything," said the Weasley kid. "What did you want to attack us for?"
"Do not lie, sir!" yelled Crouch. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime." This was the Crouch Claudia remembered from the war, the deranged one.
"Barty," whispered Amelia Bones, who was in her dressing gown. "they're kids, they'd never have been able to-"
Claudia had enough of listening to Crouch accusing a bunch of children of casting treasonous dark magic and went to look towards the woods. Someone else surely had to be here. But she did not stray that far that she would not hear the occasional snippets of the discussion. Her wand alight, she searched through the undergrowth for any sign of a Death Eater. Any clue that someone had been there.
"Said an incantation, did they?" Crouch's angry voice had carried from the clearing.
She ignored him… There was not reasoning with that man until he got this out of his system.
"Amos, be careful!" someone yelled.
That sounded more promising. Did they found the culprit? She turned. Crouch's shoulders have slumped.
"This cannot be," he said. "No-"
Looked like they found whoever did it. Claudia walked back to the group and, to her surprise, did not discover a restrained Death Eater on the ground, but a house-elf. Crouch, seemingly distraught, was walking away.
"No point, Mr Crouch," said a wizard, presumably the one that was referred to as Amos earlier. "There is no one else there." He paused. "Bit embarrassing. Barty Crouch's house-elf…"
Was that really Crouch's house elf who was responsible for this? That was embarrassing indeed… How was he going to weasel out of that?
Amelia Bones leaned towards Claudia. "Find Fudge. Now." When she saw a slight moment of hesitation on Claudia's face. "He won't want to leave whatever hell is happening at the campsite. I need someone he trusts to get him."
Grudgingly, Claudia left. She would very much like to hear Crouch's explanation. And watch him suffer.
It did not take Claudia long to locate Fudge. The crowd was mostly gone and so were the Death Eaters. He was in the middle of a crowd of angry foreign officials who were barking at him in half a dozen languages.
"You don't happen to speak Russian, do you?" she asked when he spotted her in the crowd.
"You need to come with me," she replied shortly.
"I cannot-"
"You have to." She did not want to explain in front of all these people.
Fudge swallowed dry and nodded.
Claudia raised her wand, which bought her enough silence so she would be heard. "The Minister needs to attend an urgent matter. Please direct any further questions to–" she looked around to see if there was a Ministry official nearby– "Ms Umbridge over there." She had to supress a smile. Not only did this ensure Umbridge had a miserable evening but also that she was not going to follow them. Two birds, one stone, as they said.
When Claudia got back to the clearing, Fudge in tow, Mr Weasley and the kids were gone. Immediately, Amelia Bones took Fudge aside and they spoke in hushed voices.
Claudia found Oscar. "What happened when I was gone?" she whispered.
"Not much. I need to coordinate further search, and you need to get back to the Ministry with the rest of the Board. Urgent meeting. Suspect it'll last till the morning."
Claudia went back to her office first, just so she had a bit of peace to write a message to Sirius. She still had hopes that she would make that morning portkey… When she got to Fudge's office, Crouch was in the middle of pinning blame on Amelia Bones. Fudge was sitting slumped in his chair, looking grey.
"I was not in charge of security at the site, remember?" Amelia hissed at Crouch. "You and Ludo told me many, many, times to stay in my lane. So I did-"
"And you-" Crouch pointed his finger at Claudia. "If we had the tracking-"
"You don't know who the culprits today were, so what use would tracking be?" she replied and sat down.
"Surely-" Umbridge said with a nasty smile on her face. She clearly managed to free herself from those dignitaries sooner than Claudia had expected. "Surely, we know who is responsible. Voldemort's most loyal servant escapes from Azkaban and months later, the Dark Mark appears at the World Cup? That cannot be a coincidence-"
Umbridge ceased talking. You could cut the silence at the Board with a knife. Claudia could feel everyone's eyes at her, and her anger rising – there were actual Death Eaters on the loose tonight, and all these idiots wanted to do was to blame it on the least likely person in Britain to defect to Voldemort's cause.
Slowly, she rose to her feet. "I would strongly suggest," she said through gritted teeth, "that you investigate this properly. The easy answer is not always the right one."
Claudia backed out of the room and slammed the door behind her. Before she got her anger under control sufficiently to notice her surroundings, she was back in her office. Without any hesitation , she found the biggest box she had and began throwing things in it.
She packed and packed. But what started out as an outlet for anger, soon put a smile on her face – this was the best excuse to go on a sabbatical she could ever wish for. By the time she packed all her personal possessions, she was practically beaming. She was going to make that morning portkey after all.
Once she was done, there was a faint knock on the door. "Enter!" she yelled, expecting Auberon, but it was Fudge instead.
"You did not have to leave the meeting," he said quietly, looking around.
Claudia supressed a scoff. Would have been nice if he said that in front of the Board itself. "I did. The Board had more important things to debate tonight than my right to be there."
"I want your opinion-" Fudge moved towards the nearest armchair. "May I?" he gestured towards it. Claudia nodded and he sat down. "I want to know what you think happened out there."
Claudia sat down opposite him and studied his face. He seemed genuine. "Thing that worries me most," she replied, summoning all her resolve to appear like she cared about any of this, "was that people were joining the crowd, seemingly ordinary people."
"They may have just been confused. Thought it was a victory rally."
Claudia shook her head. "They were not confused. They were excited."
Fudge stood up and walked over to Claudia's desk. Silently, he picked up one of the books she packed earlier. "I need your help working out what Barty's house-elf really knows. Do you have any Veritaserum at the ready?"
"You cannot give Veritaserum to a house elf," she replied in a tired tone.
"Why not?"
"Because they are bound to obey their master's word. If that would conflict with the truth, and you were to give them Veritaserum…" Claudia paused, expecting Fudge to draw the conclusion himself but he did not. "It may tear their mind apart."
"Legilimency then," Fudge replied.
Claudia shrugged. "Never done Legilimency on a house elf. I think it might have similar effect to the Veritaserum."
"Can you look into it-" he tossed the booked in his hand. "Or were you going somewhere?"
She sighed. "I can look into it."
"I also need you to look into the Dark Mark spell. Can it be done by just about anyone? Or just Death Eaters?"
"Is this some kind of a test?" she smirked.
"No. But I want you to try your best to cast it," Fudge said without a shadow of deceit. "To see if someone who isn't a Death Eater could."
Claudia gave him a weak smile. So, he did not think she was a Death Eater after all.
Fudge gestured at her box. "I won't let you resign."
"I was only going to go on a sabbatical," she replied.
"I need you here."
"Clearly," she said and gave Fudge another feeble smile.
For three long days that followed the final, Claudia lived in her office and spent every waking hour trying to cast the Dark Mark. She nearly burst into tears when her most promising attempt came to nothing. Full of frustration, she picked up her two-way notebook.
"I might never make it back. This Dark Mark business will kill me."
Sirius' response was nearly instantaneous.
"I just got a letter from Harry about his scar hurting. I need to come back too. You know where we meet."
Reading that, the tears that were threatening to burst out of Claudia's eyes earlier had emerged and flew down her cheeks. They were not going to get their peace. The best they could hope for right now was that they would manage to avoid another war that would rob them of everything.