"Are you alright?" Tonks asked when Rachel flooed into the MLE at seven thirty in the morning on Monday.
Madam Bones' return letter to her had arrived at dinner on Sunday and promised that she and Robards were looking into the situation and that she could meet Rachel before the aurors met Monday.
"Been better," Rachel said. She was not looking forward to seeing people after that article. It wasn't as bad as it was at Hogwarts where she had students looking at her and whispering about her after every article, but it was still uncomfortable.
"I bet. How's Theo handling it?" Tonks as they walked into the MLE proper.
Rachel refrained from sighing. "I think the article hurt him," she said, feeling guilty because the article never would have happened if she wasn't taking him to Ministry events.
Tonks nodded solemnly. "Understandable. I know it doesn't fix things, but we will figure out how Skeeter got that information."
"It had to be someone in the MLE."
"You seem pretty sure of that," Tonks said.
"The only people who knew were Severus, Sirius, Remus, my closest friends who were in the study group, and the people in the MLE who were part of the investigation into Selwyn. I know none of my friends and family would talk to Rita Skeeter. I know that without any doubt whatsoever," Rachel said firmly. "They have never broken my trust."
"Well, I hope it was someone in the MLE and if it was, we will find them."
Rachel knew it was someone in the MLE. She couldn't bear to imagine that someone she trusted so much could betray her.
Stella was just arriving at her desk when Rachel and Tonks made it to the hallway that housed Madam Bones' office. "Let me run down and make sure she's ready for you. I'm sorry that happened, Rachel. Any of it. I know Madam Bones will do what she can to help," Stella said, hurrying away.
Rachel resolved that while she was speaking with Madam Bones she would find out the results of the interviews with the clerks. She wanted to like Stella, but right now she felt wary about being friendly with anyone who might be passing information about her.
Stella returned two minutes later. "You can go in, Rachel. Tonks is going to stay out here."
"I'll be waiting for you," Tonks promised.
Rachel went down the hall and into Madam Bones' office from where Stella had left the door open.
"Go ahead and shut that, I want to deal with this with as much privacy as possible. I don't want people knowing we're coming for them," Madam Bones said from her desk.
She shut the door and went to sit on the opposite side of Madam Bones' desk.
"I'm operating under the assumption that what Rita Skeeter wrote about was privileged information. Can you give me a list of people that you told?" Madam Bones asked, picking up a quill.
"Severus Snape, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin. My Mind Healer, but I can't tell you her name because the fact that I see her is held under the Fidelius charm and I'm not the secret keeper," Rachel began.
Madam Bones nodded. "Good. That's a good precaution. I'm glad you thought of it."
"It was Severus' doing. We were worried the Dark Lord was going to torture her for information about me."
"Still, it's a good precaution," she said. "Who else?"
"Theo Nott, Millicent Bulstrode, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Draco Malfoy, Ginny Weasley, and Luna Lovegood. All people I trust implicitly and who I told specifically because I wanted them to be prepared in case it was revealed at the trial. And, I suppose, every Death Eater who was at Malfoy Manor that night."
"If Skeeter is getting information from Death Eaters and publishing it then I'm charging her under the Death Eater Activities Act," Madam Bones said as she finished writing. "I have a list of seven names here in the Ministry who would have had access to this information. Myself, Minister Scrimgeour, Head Auror Robards, Unspeakable Lloyd, Auror Weir, who helped Robards with investigating the memory and identifying other Death Eaters who were present that night. And two clerks, Marshall Peters and Amy Patrick, who work on coordinating Death Eater information. They would not have seen the memory itself, but would have access to the written accounts of Robards and Weir as they described and identified the actions of different Death Eaters. I'm having Auror Weir and both clerks questioned this morning. If one of them doesn't show up for work, I'm sending aurors to bring them in for questioning."
Rachel nodded. That seemed reasonable to her. "What about Rita Skeeter?"
"I have a writ from Minister Scrimgeour to bring her in for questioning. I have two of the MLE patrol guarding the Daily Prophet offices with instructions to detain Skeeter and bring her to the MLE. If she doesn't show up by noon, I will send aurors to collect her. Rachel, I take this very seriously. Rufus, Gawain, and I could not be taking this more seriously, I assure you. If someone in the MLE passed this information to Skeeter, then they committed a crime. If Skeeter received this information from someone in the MLE and published it, then she committed a crime. If she is meeting with Death Eaters and working with them to discredit you as an auror and Wizengamot member, she has committed a crime. Rufus and I are launching a joint investigation into the editor of the Daily Prophet, because if he knew where Skeeter got this information and agreed to publish it, then he committed a crime. Even if he didn't know where she got the information, he should have asked for sources before publishing. I think it's likely we will be able to remove at least the editor in chief from his position, possibly some of the other editorial staff, and potentially charge the editor in chief."
"Why do people care so much now and not when she was publishing other things about me?" Rachel asked, even though she was relieved that something was finally being done.
"Because until now she hasn't left the realm of speculating on publicly available material. When the circumstances of your childhood were revealed by the Daily Prophet we also launched an inquiry and found that the editor had his memory altered and was placed under the Imperius Curse in order to place that article on the front page. Given that he was a victim of a crime, no further sanctions were pursued. The rest of what Rita Skeeter has written falls under opinion and conjecture, both of which are allowed to be printed, though we will certainly use the body of her articles in the trial to show that she has been harassing you since you were a child," Madam Bones explained. "A few things are going to happen next."
"Okay," Rachel said when it was clear Madam Bones was waiting for her.
"First we will question everyone in the Ministry who was involved with this. I'm anticipating one of the clerks. If we don't get resolution there, I will work with Scrimgeour and Sumner to be able to question Esme Lloyd, which is a little more dicey, but we can do it. If none of those bare fruit, I make my case to Scrimgeour that Skeeter is colluding with Death Eaters and we can use Veritaserum to question her like a Death Eater. That will give us a conclusive answer to who gave her the information, unless she has had memory charms used on herself to prevent herself from recalling. If that is the case, we cannot pursue restoring those memories without her agreement, which she will not give, but we can charge her with criminal memory tampering. I am also going to have Scrimgeour call for giving Rita Skeeter the mark of censure. Skeeter has enough enemies in the Wizengamot that it should pass easily. I expect that will happen at the next Wizengamot meeting near the end of April. The Daily Prophet will not employ someone with the mark of censure, just as the Ministry and the Guilds won't. Even if she's found not guilty at a criminal trial, she'll struggle to find an audience for her articles. Is everything clear? Do you have questions?" Madam Bones asked.
"It's clear," Rachel said, hoping that things would go as Madam Bones said they would. "What happened when questioning the clerks from the Wizengamot and the MLE?"
"Nothing conclusive, I'm afraid. Everyone agreed to be questioned under Veritaserum with the limited scope of questioning. Under Veritaserum, every one of them testified that they were not passing information to anyone that they knew was a Death Eater or a Death Eater sympathizer. The people they admitted to passing information to were other clerks, the Wizengamot member or staff member they clerked for, family, and friends. When asked for specific information about you, most of it was rumor. You have a large number of fans among the clerks that seem to believe that you can accomplish pretty much anything you wish to. When asked about your schedule, a fair number of people were able to approximate the information in the letters."
Rachel considered that for a long time. "Were they asked directly if they were writing the letters? Or if they knew of any threats towards me?"
"We asked about their correspondence over the past two weeks and about threats to yourself, the Minister, and myself, as we didn't want to give anyone the information that you were being threatened. Booker and Stella were the only two clerks who knew of the threats to you, and that's because they have both helped coordinate your security. No one's correspondence fits the timing of the latest letter being sent. Also, in general, they were too calm. If we were questioning the letter writer, we should have seen more erratic behavior. We received attendance and discipline records for every clerk in the Wizengamot and the MLE, but found nothing suspicious. I know this is not what you wish to hear, I also wish we had discovered more during this part of the investigation. We're expecting another letter soon as articles about you in the Daily Prophet seem to be a trigger for the letters being written."
She shook her head. "It's alright. It was a long shot and I'm glad we checked. I feel better knowing I'm not in danger from the clerks and that no one is purposefully passing information about me to Death Eaters. I think we need to consider the possibility that the letter writer isn't a Death Eater."
"It's absolutely a possibility we're considering, but the way that they responded to you killing Lestrange suggests that they have a connection to Death Eaters somewhere. Rufus, Gawain, and I are considering the option of spreading false information about you and seeing what we can discover. We can plant specific pieces of information with different clerks and see what winds up in the letters. We can also write an article for the Daily Prophet, but I'd like to see how the letter writer responds to this article first." Madam Bones looked thoughtful.
"What sort of article?" Rachel asked. She didn't want any more rumors about her than there already were.
"Likely something about your work with the aurors, saying you captured a certain number of Death Eaters or that you have found success here. While those things are certainly true, we would exaggerate a little to try to provoke the letter writer to come out into the open while you are protected," she explained. "I believe our safest resolution here will be to lure the letter writer out in a controlled situation. I understand you have a Quidditch match on Saturday."
"I'm not playing, but I'll be in the team box. I don't think a Quidditch match is a safe place to lure someone who is trying to kill me. There's too many people who could get hurt by accident," Rachel said.
"I fully agree. I intend to make you too difficult to attack at the Quidditch match so that they won't even attempt it. You'll have Tonks and Johansen with you in the box. I'm spreading undercover members of the MLE patrol nearby to watch the crowd to see if anyone is moving towards you or paying you undue attention. All of them have been briefed on people we know to be Death Eaters or Death Eater sympathizers, and their families. We're hoping that we'll recognize someone on our list. Keep your guard up. Be ready to draw your wand and defend yourself," Madam Bones instructed.
"Are we at the point where I shouldn't be in the box at all?" She knew it wasn't ideal, but she thought Seren would approve of that if it would prevent people from being killed at the match.
"Not yet. This is good, actually. We want you to be in a controlled public space where the letter writer will know that you'll be. The best outcome is that we see someone moving towards you and we arrest them without anyone getting hurt. If doing this at a game doesn't work, we'll have to set up something in a more controlled public space for them to show up at. I know it's not ideal, but we don't want the letter writer to reach the point where they're acting erratically. That could lead to a lot of people being hurt."
Rachel nodded her agreement. If the best way to get the letter writer to stop before they hurt anyone else was to present herself as a target, then she'd do it. "Anything else I should know?"
"That's it for now. I will keep you up to date on both investigations. We anticipate questioning everyone involved with the Daily Prophet incident today, assuming we can find them."
"Can I ask you for one thing?" Rachel asked.
"Yes, please do," Madam Bones said, her expression softening.
"If you find the person who gave the information to Rita Skeeter, can you ask why they did it?"
"Money or blackmail," she answered immediately. "Skeeter would have either paid for that information or she blackmailed the person, probably about revealing some secret to the public. But, yes, we'll find out why."
"Thank you. And thank you for taking this seriously. I really appreciate that. I appreciate someone actually doing something about this. For a lot of things in my life, it seems like I just had to deal with it on my own, because nothing was happening to the person who was doing things, or no one knew who they were," Rachel said, feeling slightly guilty as she said it. She knew Severus had done his best, but there had been some things he hadn't been able to fix.
"I am sorry about that, Rachel. I know you have had a difficult life. I know that Rufus and I are invested in trying to keep you safe and protected, but there are situations that are outside of everyone's control. Is there anything you need that I can provide?" Madam Bones asked, looking slightly pained.
"What you're doing is more than enough, thank you." She'd settle for just having this situation with the Daily Prophet and Rita Skeeter resolved.
"Alright. If you do think of something, let me or Rufus know. I'll let you go about your day. I'll send Stella to Booker as soon as I have something for you," she said.
"Thank you," Rachel said again, standing and excusing herself. She found Tonks and Stella waiting for her, both of them looking worried.
"She's taking care of things?" Tonks checked.
"Yes. She outlined her plan to me. Hopefully we'll hear more in the afternoon."
"Good. Madam Bones moves fast when it's urgent," Stella said. "I hope they find the person."
"Me too," Rachel said, feeling more relaxed around Stella now that the MLE and Wizengamot clerks had been cleared. "Time for class?"
"Yep, if we rush we should just get there in time," Tonks said.
"See you around, hopefully soon," Stella said.
"Thanks, you too," Rachel said to Stella, managing to give her a small smile. Stella smiled back, seeming relieved.
Rachel set aside the last page in her document on the Azkaban proposal. It was finished, after seven full revisions. Now she could send it to be copied and bound and then distribute it to the Wizengamot. That meant spending the next six to eight weeks approaching the members of the Wizengamot who she didn't think would listen to her and pleading her case. It wasn't something she was looking forward to doing, but she had decided against excluding anyone from the people she was speaking to. She wanted to give people a chance, even if she thought it was likely that they'd oppose anything she did.
She felt hopeful that the proposal would pass. She couldn't tell whether or not that was because she thought it was a very obvious solution or if people were actually convinced. They wouldn't really know until the votes were cast and she needed to schedule with Professor Dumbledore in advance about which meeting she'd be speaking at. She felt the last meeting in June seemed like enough time for everyone to read the proposal and to decide how to vote.
That also gave her enough time to interview with Daphne and introduce the proposal to the public. She was hoping that pressure from the public would increase the likelihood that people would vote for the proposal.
There was a knock on her outer office door and Rachel lifted her head from where she'd been going over her upcoming calendar.
"I've got it," Tonks called, but Rachel heard the door open before Tonks could move.
Rachel stood and went into her outer office and found Booker carrying a letter.
"Stella delivered this about five minutes ago with apologies from Madam Bones that she couldn't meet with you in person this afternoon. Things are apparently hectic in the MLE right now," he said, passing Rachel the envelope.
"Do they need me?" Tonks asked.
"No, your instructions are to stay with Rachel and to keep her out of the MLE until tomorrow," Booker told her.
"What exactly is happening in the MLE?" Monty asked.
"Stella indicated there were arrests made. The letter should tell you more," Booker said.
Rachel opened the letter, torn between whether or not she wanted Rita Skeeter arrested or the person sending threats by letters to have been discovered and arrested.
'Dear Rachel,
As we discussed earlier this morning, we have questioned the people who were potentially involved.
MLE Clerk Amy Patrick admitted under Veritaserum to selling Rita Skeeter the contents of a document describing the memory you shared with us and identifying the people involved and their actions. She has been arrested pending trial under charges of releasing confidential information in an ongoing MLE investigation. According to her testimony, she sought Rita Skeeter out and was paid two hundred Galleons for the document. This occurred on Friday, as Amy Patrick had heard from another clerk that you planned to attend the Minister's Easter Dinner on Saturday with Mr. Nott.
Rita Skeeter was brought in for questioning and refuses to take Veritaserum or to speak in her own defense. We recovered the document from her flat. We are charging Skeeter with distributing confidential MLE materials to the public. Arrangements have been made with Professor Dumbledore to bring Rita Skeeter to the Wizengamot meeting on April 24th, at which time the Wizengamot will vote on whether to give her the mark of censure.
Both criminal trials will take place in May with a subset of the Wizengamot. As the victim, you have the right to attend these trials
We are still approaching dealing with the editor in chief of the Daily Prophet. I will send more information as the situation develops. Please be aware that these arrests will likely be made public in tomorrow's newspaper.
At your service,
Madam Amelia Bones
Head of the MLE
Wizengamot Member'
"They arrested Rita Skeeter and MLE Clerk Amy Patrick. It sounds like they're charging both of them. There will be a Wizengamot vote on giving the mark of censure to Rita Skeeter on the twenty fourth," Rachel summarized.
"Good," Tonks said.
"Did you know Amy Patrick?" Rachel asked Booker as she pocketed the letter.
"In passing, but I was not personally acquainted with her. They're going to have to question her again to see if she's leaked anything else," Booker said. "Does it say why she did it?"
"Money. Two hundred Galleons, which honestly seems like a very small amount of money considering mine and Theo's privacy," Rachel said, more than a little annoyed about that. "How much do clerks typically make in a year?"
"Two hundred and fifty Galleons a month, for a clerk on Amy's level. She's been with the MLE for at least ten years," Booker said.
Less than a month's salary then. Rachel found her mind going dark places about her uncle selling her for money, on top of the money he'd already been getting to care for her. She discovered that she was shaking and went back into her inner office and sat down.
Tonks and Booker followed, both looking worried.
"I think there's some good news here," Tonks said almost hesitantly. "Skeeter can't write about you from a prison cell. And they found the leak in the MLE. I know it would have been better if it hadn't happened at all, but at least they found the people responsible."
Rachel nodded, pressing her lips together and breathing through her nose.
"We know that this doesn't fix everything. But it's a step in the right direction. Did Madam Bones say anything about the editors of the Daily Prophet? They should be held responsible as well," Booker asked.
"They're still working on it," she said. She looked down at her desk and tried to decide if there was anything that urgently needed to be seen to today. She didn't think there was. She scooped up her final draft of her proposal. "This is ready for copying and binding and distributing. We should put together a schedule for the Wizengamot members I haven't seen yet so I can talk to them about it in person."
"I don't want you seeing some of them alone," Tonks said. "Either Booker or I need to be there."
Rachel nodded. She had no intention of being murdered inside the Ministry and some of the people that remained she wouldn't trust to be with alone anyway.
"I'll make arrangements," Booker said. "Anything else?"
"Not today. I'm going home," she said.
"We'll walk you to the floo," Booker said, sharing a glance with Tonks.
Maybe Rachel was being childish, but she really didn't want to be at the Ministry at the moment. They walked her to the Wizengamot floo access.
"I'll see you tomorrow as usual?" Tonks asked.
"Yes, I'll come in with Draco just before eight, as usual," Rachel promised.
"We'll see you tomorrow then," Booker said.
Rachel flooed home. "Is anyone here?" she called, wanting to know who was in the house with her.
"Kreacher is here, Miss," Kreacher said, appearing next to her.
"Dobby is here, Miss," Dobby said, appearing just a moment later.
"Who else is in the house?" she asked. She could practically feel her skin crawling.
"Gladys and Ulysses are on the perch in the kitchen. Crookshanks is sleeping in the library. Midnight is sleeping on Miss Millie's bed. Feverfew is on Miss Rachel's desk. Master Neville's toad is in his terrarium," Kreacher listed.
"No humans?" she asked. "No one else?"
"No, Miss. No one else. Miss is upset. What is wrong?" Dobby asked.
Rachel made it over to one of the sofas, took off her shoes, and curled up into a ball.
"Miss wants one of her friends? Or her godfather? Or her father?" Kreacher asked, both of the House Elves standing in front of the sofa.
"I'm fine. I'm just being…" Rachel scowled to herself, knowing what Torey would say if she actually finished that sentence. "I'm just struggling over a random reminder. I don't understand people."
"People are hard, Miss," Dobby said.
"Kreacher can help. What does Miss not understand?"
"Why people do terrible things for money when they don't actually need the money." For all Rachel knew, Amy Patrick had actually needed the money, perhaps there were extenuating circumstances, but she didn't think that excused what she'd done.
"Money is power," Kreacher answered steadily. "The more money a person has, the more power they have. Sometimes the knowledge that they did a terrible thing for the money gives them the feeling of even more power."
"If money is power, then why won't you accept money?" she asked.
"Kreacher has all the power he needs, it is the power of being a House Elf. Any House Elf who accepts money does not understand being a House Elf," he said, with a hostile look at Dobby.
"Dobby knows that money has nothing to do with a House Elf's power," Dobby said firmly, his head held high.
"Can I say something that might hurt you?" Rachel asked. "Not intentionally, but because I want to understand."
"Of course, Miss. Kreacher will not be hurt."
"They kept you locked away for ten years. They weren't feeding you. They forgot about you. How is that having power?" Rachel felt slightly nauseated at the parallels to her own life. Severus and everyone else talked about the power that she had, but they didn't understand that she had experienced being completely powerless. They didn't understand that real power was the power to protect herself and prevent someone else from having power over her, and that wasn't power that she had.
"Kreacher survived, Miss. That is power."
"Just as Dobby survived the beatings and being locked away. And now Dobby is here. And Kreacher is here. And Miss is here. Miss survived."
Rachel pulled her limbs tighter as she shook. "Is that all there is? Survival?"
"No. That is not all. But it is first. First the power to survive. Then the power to decide. Kreacher chose to serve Miss. Kreacher decided his path."
"Dobby chose to be free. But Dobby also chose to serve Miss," Dobby said, glaring back at Kreacher, who was giving him a dirty look.
"Miss has made many decisions, even decisions others did not want Miss to make," Kreacher said. "Miss has the power to make decisions for many others now."
She supposed that was what the Wizengamot was about, making decisions for the entire country, because it was impossible for everyone in the country to decide. This Wizengamot was clearly better than the last - the absence of active Death Eaters, for one thing - but there were still a lot of problems, problems she didn't know how to solve.
"Thanks." She didn't know that she had any answers, but she no longer felt like she was about to fall apart either.
"Miss is sad," Kreacher said.
"Miss is tired of people thinking they have the right to know private things about her. And is talking in the third person." She sighed. Maybe she was more tired then she thought if she was having such a bad reaction to this. She hadn't slept well at all last night. And she was on call tonight.
She looked up at the kind of airy crackling sound the fireplace made when someone was about to step through the floo and watched as Theo came home. He brushed off his robes and looked at her. "Alright?"
"We should talk," she said before looking at the House Elves. "May Theo and I have some privacy please?"
"Yes, Miss," Kreacher and Dobby said in unison before disappearing.
"I'm almost afraid to ask what now," Theo said as he sat down next to her.
"How were things with Master Jorgensen?" she asked.
"Fine. He was worried about me. He said that I could talk to him about things and said that if things were getting difficult for me, he could suggest a Mind Healer that he knew."
"Are you considering it?"
"I don't think I'm struggling enough to need a Mind Healer," he said after a moment.
"It doesn't have to be about struggling. Sometimes it's just a person you can talk to who you know can't talk to anyone else about what you say. Sometimes it's just having someone you can tell about things that you don't want anyone else to know, but it helps to talk about them," Rachel said. She used Torey for a lot of things. Having someone to talk to who she could say pretty much anything to was actually really freeing in some ways.
"Maybe I'll get to the point where I'm ready to do that, but I'm not right now. Did something else happen?" he asked.
Rachel nodded. She could respect that. "I talked to Madam Bones this morning. She launched an investigation. This is the outcome so far." She dug the crumpled letter out of her pocket and passed it to him.
Theo sat quietly, his head bowed as he read the letter.
She watched him, trying to read his reaction. Theo was well controlled. It typically took something serious to rattle him visibly.
He nodded to himself as he handed the letter back. "I'm glad that was the outcome. There's part of me that can't believe they actually arrested Rita Skeeter. She's been a problem in our life for nearly eight years now."
"I'm still adjusting to the idea myself," she admitted. "I need to talk to Madam Bones and find out what the sentences are for the crimes listed. In my research I don't remember seeing anyone sentences for these specific crimes that she listed, which probably means they're not crimes people are sent to Azkaban for."
"Usually people aren't sent to Azkaban unless they're considered a danger," Theo said.
"Not anymore at least." She wasn't sure what had happened in the early 1900s, but many of the crimes she saw Azkaban sentences for had changed around that time.
"Are you worried about Skeeter retaliating against you?"
Well, she hadn't been until Theo had brought it up. "What do you think she would do?"
"I don't know. I don't feel like I know her well enough to judge what she might do. If she receives the mark of censure, which I think there is a good chance she will, that ends her entire career. People tend to react negatively to things like that. Your reputation might stop her from attacking you directly, but I'm not sure what she might think to do."
Rachel pressed her lips together and slowly exhaled. She already had one person who was trying to kill her. She supposed another wouldn't make that much of a difference. "I guess we'll have to deal with whatever happens when we get there."
"We will," Theo agreed, taking her hand. "How are you doing with it?"
She didn't want to admit the cause of her difficulties this past thirty minutes. That was a subject she wasn't sure she ever wanted to talk about with Theo. "A little annoyed that this was all about money," she said, since that much was true.
"Having people willing to take bribes in the MLE is not a good thing, but it's not surprising either. There have been allegations of corruption in the Ministry for probably as long as there has been a Ministry," he said with a slight shrug.
"I suppose I don't really see it when I'm there."
Theo smiled at her. "No one in their right mind is going to try to bribe you, Rachel. You killed the Dark Lord, you're an auror hunting Death Eaters, and you're practically a paragon of youthful innocence and virtue in everyone's eyes. The worst that is going to happen around you is trading votes, and that's barely corruption at all."
Rachel suspected that was at least partially true, but found that she didn't quite mind. She had no idea how to stop corruption in the Ministry or even where to look. That one might just have to be someone else's problem to contend with.
"Did you want to talk to Professor Snape or Sirius before this hits the newspapers?" he asked.
"I talked with Severus yesterday. He's fine, just worried about both of us. I think he'll be glad to see that Skeeter has been arrested. I'll chat with Sirius later in the week. I don't think it will bother him to see the arrests in the newspapers." She covered up a yawn. "I might lay down before I'm on call tonight."
"That might not be a bad idea, but you need to eat something too," he said, looking her up and down. "Do you want a light early dinner and then you can rest for a few hours?"
She didn't feel particularly in the mood to eat, but she knew he was right that she should. "That sounds good. We should do that."
"I bet by the time we make it to the kitchen the House Elves will have something for us," Theo said as he stood.
Rachel thought he was probably right about that.
Naturally Rachel was called out on Monday night, because that was just the way her day was going. She had actually managed to doze for about five hours, so she felt only slightly groggy when she apparated with Draco to the site of the attack.
"What do we have?" Draco whispered as they approached the team.
"Not sure yet. Jenkins was monitoring the floo. He got a call saying someone's wards were being attacked but hadn't fallen yet," Johansen whispered back.
Emelia and Ron approached, which meant they now had their full team.
"Ready?" Tonks whispered, getting nods and quiet affirmative answers all around. "Stick together. We know they've been trying to force us apart. If you're in danger of being separated, call out to us. We're approaching from the front, but as far as we can see they're around the west side or the back."
Rachel gripped her wand as they crept closer to the house. Hopefully this time there wouldn't be any anti-apparition wards or randomly appearing buildings. She flexed her left hand as she considered what she was about to do. Bellatrix dodging like that had taught her something, even if it probably wasn't the lesson she was supposed to learn.
She already knew she could stun wandlessly, and she'd been practicing using her left hand to cast wandlessly, with this idea in mind. She could point her wand at a Death Eater to cause them to dodge or shield, and when they moved or dropped their shield, she could cast with her left hand because they wouldn't be expecting it. She thought between the darkness and the chaos of the fight, no one would notice.
There was part of her that was tempted to go without her wand at all - it was faster - but she thought that would be noticeable. Maybe one day, after she decided it was safe to reveal what she could do.
As a group they snuck around the side of the house and found a group of five Death Eaters, with one of them bent down working on the wards. There were lights on inside the house and Rachel hoped they had flooed to safety rather than remaining to defend their home.
The fight started immediately. Rachel targeted the nearest Death Eater, getting them to dodge just as she'd planned and then knocked them off their feet with the Stunning spell from her left hand. Tonks followed up with the Incarcerous spell and they moved onto the next Death Eater. Rachel took down a second Death Eater, the one who had been working on the wards, using the same trick. She thought that this would work until people realized she could do it, then they'd find a way to prepare for it.
Tonks took down a third Death Eater and from the corner of her eye she saw Johansen take down a fourth. The fifth apparated away. It was all over in maybe three minutes.
Rachel exhaled and lowered her wand.
"Bletchley and Collins, do a perimeter search," Johansen ordered as he made his way over to the Death Eaters and began pulling off masks to see who they captured. The rest of the team followed.
"That went fast," Ron said.
"It was good. Either they were unprepared or they're new," Ralph said. "Who took down that first one?"
"Me," Rachel said.
"She got the second one too," Tonks said, looking at Rachel with raised eyebrows.
Rachel blushed and nodded. Maybe she hadn't been as subtle as she thought she was being.
"Anyone recognize anyone?" Johansen asked.
As a group they peered down at the Death Eaters.
"Rowan Fernsby," Draco said, pointing to one of the young men. "He was a Slytherin five years ahead of us. I have met his father through my father. Don't know the others."
"Can we assume other relatives of his are Death Eaters? As far as I know we don't have any Fernsbys in custody," Johansen asked.
"His father and older brother would be a good bet. Maybe his sister as well," Draco said. "I don't know what became of them."
Miles and Emelia returned. "Everything's quiet. Just those five from the looks of it," Miles said.
"Looks like the wards held, but we should have a curse breaker follow up with the family tomorrow just in case," Tonks said, lowering her wand.
"Let's get this group booked and be done for the night," Johansen said.
Rachel let the people who were taller and stronger than her grab the Death Eaters - apparating holding a dead weight was a little difficult and she preferred not to do it unless it was necessary. They went as a group to the backdoor and began sending people through the floo to the MLE.
"Bletchley and Roberts are helping us log the arrests, the rest of you are free for the night," Johansen directed once they had everyone in the MLE.
Rachel went with Draco, Ron, and Emelia back towards the floo.
"Why can't they all be that easy?" Emelia asked.
"I think from now on they're going to be very easy or very difficult," Ron said.
"Why?" Draco asked, turning to look at him.
"Because we've gone through just about all of the regular Death Eaters at this point. The people who are left are either strong enough and smart enough not to get captured, or people like this who they weren't sending out before because they're not trained," Ron explained.
"If they're smart, they should be leaving Britain or going into hiding," Rachel said. "I think the fact that we haven't been called out in a month suggests they're at the point where they can't sustain regular attacks."
"Some of them probably already have," Draco said. "I'd be surprised if we caught anyone else notable at this point. They're going to disband the teams soon. If we're not being called out once a week, then the regular aurors on call can handle it."
"Do you think they're going to ask all of us to join the auror training program?" Emelia asked, looking worried.
"I don't see why they wouldn't," Ron said. "We've all proven ourselves, haven't we? Are all of you planning to join?"
"I am," Emelia said quickly.
"Not me," Rachel said. "I'm going to start my Potions Mastery soon."
"I want to join," Ron said, nodding.
They looked at Draco.
"Not sure yet. I'll decide when it's time," Draco said.
"Jenkins, did that family floo through?" Rachel asked as they arrived back at the floo.
"They did and they took refuge with relatives. I already flooed them to let them know the situation was resolved, but they're going to wait for a curse breaker to look at the wards before they go back home," Jenkins said. "How did it go?"
"Four out of five, not bad," Draco said.
"It went fast," Ron said, shaking his head slightly.
"Well, good work. Every Death Eater we capture means fewer people are in danger from them. Go get some sleep," Jenkins said.
Rachel and Draco waited while Ron and Emelia flooed home and then went home themselves. The sitting room was mostly dark when they arrived, but Feverfew meowed to let Rachel know she'd been waiting for her and her absence had been noticed.
"Not bad," Draco said again. "How did you wind up taking down two of them?"
"Faked them out using wandless magic," Rachel admitted.
Draco nodded his approval. "I might have to try to learn the Stunning spell wandlessly then. I've almost got the Summoning charm, and stunning isn't that much higher powered."
"Disarming is another good one to have wandlessly," Rachel said.
"One spell at a time. It took me months to get locking and unlocking," he said, looking slightly annoyed. "Are you going to be able to sleep?"
"I think so. I'm still pretty tired. You?" she asked, wondering if he needed someone to stay up with him.
"I'm going to bed then," he said. "Being on call and then having to be back at the MLE at eight in the morning reminds me of when we were taking Astronomy. I was so glad to drop that class. That class should be an elective. When do we ever use it?"
"That's a good point. Maybe Astronomy could be switched out for Muggle Studies, with Astronomy being the elective and Muggle Studies can be the required course," Rachel suggested as they went towards the stairs, Feverfew darting ahead of her.
"Good luck with that one. The Department of Education will never go for it, let alone the Board of Governors."
Rachel thought that was true, but one step at a time.
"Would you autograph my program for me?" The little girl, who couldn't have been more than seven, was dressed up in a Junior League Quidditch uniform and had wide eyes as she looked up at Rachel.
"Of course," Rachel said, accepting the program and kneeling down. "Who should I make it out to?"
"Sasha Campbell. Sign as the Girl-Who-Lived, and then the Girl-Who-Seeked, and then your name," she instructed.
"Sorry," her father said, clearly embarrassed.
Rachel did as instructed, both embarrassed and trying not to smile. "Campbell. Are you related to Alexandra Campbell."
"My sister. She says she supports your upcoming proposal," the father said.
Rachel looked up at him and nodded. "I'm glad to hear that."
"I want to be a Seeker like you when I grow up and join the Harpies too," Sasha said, leaning in to watch Rachel sign.
"Are you a Seeker right now in the Junior League?" Rachel asked.
"No, they said I'm too young. I play in the seven to eleven division now. I play Chaser right now," Sasha said.
"Let me tell you what my first captain said to me when I started playing. He said a good Seeker can play both as a Seeker and as a Chaser. Having Chaser experience will be valuable when you go to Hogwarts, and if you're too young now, there's nothing saying you can't take the Seeker position in a year or two. Did you know I played Chaser for a year at Hogwarts?" Rachel asked, finishing with the program and handing back to Sasha.
"Did you really? Why?"
"We had some students from other schools at Hogwarts and Viktor Krum was our Seeker that year. If I'm not mistaken, he's still playing on the Bulgarian National team."
"Wow," Sasha looked at Rachel with something akin to hero worship. "I want to be in Slytherin like you were, and be their Seeker, and be their team captain."
"We'll see about that. You may be a little too earnest for Slytherin," her father said, looking mildly amused.
"You never know. I've known some earnest Slytherins," Rachel said as she stood up again.
"Thank you. She's been talking about this for weeks," her father said.
"No problem. Good luck to you," Rachel said, taking a breath of relief as people backed away. Seren had been gently shooing people away from Rachel and to the rest of the reserve team after they'd gotten her autograph. Now most everyone was settled in to watch the game.
"You're good with the kids," Tonks said quietly. She had stayed by Rachel's side the entire time, her wand drawn. Across from them Johansen was standing with his wand drawn as he looked over the group in the box.
"I don't mind the kids and I don't mind when it's about Quidditch. It's the adults fawning over the Girl-Who-Lived that I'm not comfortable with," Rachel said. Thankfully most of the conversation today had been about the start of the Quidditch season, the upcoming game against the Falmouth Falcons, which would be Rachel's first official League game, and how the training season had gone. She didn't mind doing that sort of shop talk with fans.
"That makes sense," Tonks said. "Take a slow look around the stands outside the box. I want you to see if you recognize anyone or if you think anyone is paying you undue attention."
Rachel rested her hand on her wand and began looking. There was the general bustle in the stands of people getting up and down for refreshments and souvenirs, but most people's attention was focused on the game. She paused for a moment when she saw a tall man in a dark cloak walking toward the box, but he diverted into the nearby stands and sat down. "Not seeing anything."
"Me neither. That's interesting," Tonks said.
Rachel wandlessly cast a small privacy ward around them. "You really think the letter writer is here?"
"I do. First chance to see you in person in a scheduled appearance since we started receiving the letters. Yes, I think they're here, even if they're not planning to act today," she said, her gaze moving over everyone in the box before looking back at Rachel.
"If they can't reach me in the Ministry, why are they so fixated on my schedule there?"
Tonks was quiet for a long moment as she scanned the crowds. "Maybe they want us to focus on our protections there. Maybe they just want us to feel that you are vulnerable. Maybe they want to prove that they're watching so that we'll take them seriously."
"Why would they care if we're taking them seriously? Wouldn't it be better for them if we weren't?" Rachel asked. If she was trying to kill someone, she wouldn't be sending them letters, she'd want them to have their guard down so she could sneak up on them.
Tonks shook her head. "Whoever this person is, they're not well. I've seen the letters. Their writing is erratic. We can think about the problem rationally and recognize that sending the letters makes achieving their goals harder. Right now, for whatever reason, they can't do that. That's why we want to resolve this as soon as possible. This person could be a danger to more than just you and the sooner they're in custody, the better for everyone."
"But we're not going to help them," Rachel said, finding herself thinking of Bellatrix. "They'll just send them to Azkaban."
"Depends on what they've done. If all they've done is write letters, then we have more options open to us. If they've killed or tortured people, that takes it out of our hands a little bit," Tonks said.
"Should it?"
"What do you mean?" Tonks asked.
"Say this person is ill and they aren't in control of what they're doing. Say they have killed someone. Can we really hold them accountable for what they did if it was out of their control? Would we hold someone accountable for killing someone under the Imperius Curse?" Rachel asked. "I'm not saying they should just be let free to potentially harm someone else. I'm saying maybe they can get better and not be in danger of harming someone else. But that's not going to happen in a prison, maybe not even in the prison I proposed." She had included a Mind Healer on the proposed staff for the prison, but maybe they needed more than that.
"I don't know," Tonks said after a long moment, her eyes moving briefly to the game. "I think it's really hard to determine how much control a person has. My aunt was badly ill. My mom has told me stories about when she was growing up with her sisters, and Bellatrix had some disturbing behavior even as a young child. But I still think she chose to be a Death Eater. No one forced her to do that. Just like no one forced Narcissa to be a Death Eater. Her marriage with Lucius Malfoy was arranged, but they had both agreed to it and my mom says Narcissa was in love. She knew in advance what she was marrying into. I don't know, Rachel. I don't think it's just as simple as sending everyone to prison, but I don't think it's as simple as saying people will simply get better with help either. I don't know that anything could have made Bellatrix better."
Rachel nodded. It was a complex and difficult subject and there was no one solution that would fit every case. She didn't exactly find herself feeling bad for the letter writer, but she hoped they could capture him without anyone being killed, including the letter writer themself.
Seren approached and Rachel dismissed the privacy ward with a motion with her hand. "See anything?" Seren asked, looking tense.
"Nothing so far," Tonks said.
"Do you and Auror Johansen feel confident that the box is secure?" Seren asked.
Tonks took another look around the box. "I don't believe the threat is in the box with us."
Seren nodded. "Would it be safe for Rachel to join the team if you are with her?"
"As long as Rachel feels comfortable with that, yes," Tonks said.
Rachel nodded. "That's fine."
They moved to the front of the box and Rachel took a seat next to Cadie and near where a few people were watching the game. Tonks remained standing but looking out over the box.
"Everything good?" Cadie asked.
"Pretty good," Rachel said. She didn't exactly feel at ease, but she felt reasonably sure they could prevent an attack on the box if they needed to.
"Watch Puddlemere's Seeker," Cadie said. "He's been on the team for seven years now; he's pretty good. Not a match for Glynnis, but pretty good."
Rachel watched, taking a moment to watch Puddlemere's Keeper make a save. "That's Oliver Wood, isn't it?"
"It is. His first year on Puddlemere's main team, though he's been taking more and more games these past three years," Cadie said.
"I played against him at school," Rachel said. "He ran a tight team."
Cadie nodded. "He's a good Keeper. I hear he wants to be on the national team, but it will be a while before Bartles retires."
"Rachel, are you hoping to join the national team?" one of the people in the box asked.
"No, I'm happy on the Harpies," Rachel answered easily.
"Damn right you are," Cadie said, nudging her and smiling.
Rachel smiled back and settled in to watch the game. Next time it would be her out there.
"How was the game?" Draco asked when Rachel came down into the sitting room on Saturday afternoon.
Rachel sat down next to Millie and let Midnight crawl into her lap. "Pretty good. We won, so that's nice. I'm looking forward to playing in May."
"Did people mob you again?" Theo asked.
"A little bit. Having Tonks at my side helped prevent people from getting too close." Rachel almost wished Tonks could do that for her at every game, but she was hoping that with time people would become less intense about her.
"Did the aurors spot anyone?" Hermione asked.
"No. We didn't see anyone, but there were people from the MLE patrol in the audience. Maybe they recognized someone that we didn't," Rachel said.
"Unless they were using Polyjuice, which we know the Death Eaters have access to," Theo pointed out.
"Or if they're just wrong about who it is," Neville said.
"All possibilities," Rachel agreed.
"Well, can we assume nothing dramatic happened?" Hermione asked.
"Other than Glynnis nearly knocking Puddlemere's Seeker off his broom, everything was mostly drama free." It hadn't been Glynnis' fault, the other Seeker had swerved in front of her trying to block her from the Snitch. Rachel was planning to ask Glynnis to practice that with her so that she knew what to do, just in case.
"Just an ordinary League game then," Draco said.
"What's been happening here?" Rachel asked.
"I saw Hannah this morning. She was wondering when you and Theo might be free to go on a double date with us," Neville said.
Rachel looked at Theo, who shrugged. "Your schedule is much more complicated than mine. I'm free pretty much every evening and weekend, you're not."
She thought about it for a moment, going through the next few weeks in her mind. "Probably not until after my Quidditch game in May. I've got the Wizengamot on the twenty fourth. I've got a meeting with Callum Fletcher the Saturday after that. Then Quidditch the next Saturday. Then a Saturday off, then the next Wizengamot meeting for May."
"Let's aim for your free Saturday then," Neville said.
"Did Hannah have somewhere in mind for us to go?" Theo asked.
"She knows you don't want to be public right now, given the situation with the Daily Prophet. She can get us a private dining room at The Leaky Cauldron. You can go into The Leaky Cauldron in disguise and then remove your cloaks once we're alone," Neville suggested.
"Works for me if it works for you," Theo said, looking at Rachel.
"That should be fine, as long as Hannah knows not to tell anyone we'll be there. I don't want to bring Tonks to this, which means we need to be certain no one knows we're there," Rachel said.
"I'll make sure she knows," Neville said.
"I'm going to lunch with Natalie next week. Not a date, just lunch, but I think it's a step in the right direction," Millie said.
"Makes sense to get to know her first. You can't really know just from meeting someone in passing," Draco said.
"It does," Hermione agreed. "Nothing new for me, I'm afraid. I had a study session with Susan this morning. We're approaching summer exams to move to the next level in the training program."
"I'm so glad I don't have exams in my Mastery," Millie said.
"Me too," Neville said.
"Do the aurors have exams?" Theo asked.
"They do, but not for us. We won't have exams until we join the program for real," Draco said.
"Are you planning to join the program?" Hermione asked.
"Haven't decided yet."
"What are you waiting on to make your decision?" Millie asked.
Draco sat quietly, his expression fixed. "I like the aurors more than I expected to. I'm not sure I want to do two more years of classes and studying. And being an auror isn't exactly dignified for someone in my position."
"Dignified? I thought aurors were well respected?" Hermione asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Depends on who you're talking to," Theo said. "There have been rumors of corruption in the MLE for a long time."
"Which is what I'm trying to get away from," Draco said. "There are enough rumors about the Malfoy family being corrupt without me adding to them."
"I think over time, as people deal with you, they're going to realize that you're not corrupt, aren't they?" Rachel asked. "And would anyone else in your family line have joined the aurors? Could joining the aurors be acting in opposition to those rumors?"
Draco shook his head. "If my father wasn't already dead, he would have died upon learning I joined the auror team."
"Well, isn't the solution to there being corruption in the MLE to have more non-corrupt people join?" Hermione asked.
"Maybe. I just don't know yet. I still probably have a month or so to make a decision. I guess I'll see how I feel when the time comes," he said, clearly wishing to be done with the conversation.
"Pick whatever makes your life livable," Millie said. "It's your life, not your family's, not your reputation. It's just your life."
Neville nodded. "You're the one who has to live with whatever you decide, so it should be something that you want to do."
"We should pick something fun to do in these upcoming months. I feel like we've been shut in all winter," Hermione said.
"Maybe the beach again," Millie suggested.
"We should wait until Ginny and Luna can join us before we go to the beach," Rachel said.
"And the new Star Wars movie is coming out around that time. We could have a fun weekend," Hermione said.
"Why do they need a new one? What else is there left to say?" Draco asked.
They'd wound up renting the Star Wars trilogy twice so that everyone could be less overwhelmed by watching movies the second time around and understand more of what was happening.
"It's supposed to be a prequel, it's the events that happened before those movies," Hermione explained.
Theo shrugged. "I wouldn't mind going to another movie or to the beach. Or both."
"We said we were going to try to see a musical at some point," Rachel reminded Hermione.
"We could go see Phantom of the Opera," Hermione suggested.
"Is it as depressing as Les Miserables?" Millie asked.
"Well…fewer people die," Hermione said, causing several of them to laugh.
"I'd be willing to try it," Neville said.
"Me too," Rachel said. She didn't mind if it was depressing or if it was about opera.
"Well, that's a few things for us to try at least," Hermione said. "I'll look into getting tickets and we can see if we can find a less crowded beach for us to go to."
"I know a good beach," Draco said. "It's private, but it shouldn't be a problem."
"Private is good," Rachel said. She was not ready for another public appearance just yet.
She settled deeper into the sofa as she stroked Midnight. Sometimes her life was chaotic, but she was glad to be able to come home to her friends.
"How are you, Severus?" Miranda asked once they were both settled with tea.
"I am well," he said, a little surprised that it was the truth. While he was working on brewing and inventing, he had also been taking a fair amount of time to rest and recuperate from the last several years. He hadn't realized how stressed he'd been until some of that stress had begun to ease away. "How about yourself?
"Well enough, busy as always. The Guild is never quiet. We're very glad to have you back," she said with a smile.
"I never left the Guild," Severus reminded her.
"But you were hardly an active brewer while you were at Hogwarts either, not that I can blame you, I understand what the workload is like," Miranda said, nodding as she set down her cup. "I've heard about your new potion. What else do you have up your sleeve?"
"A number of projects are in the works. I'm finding that I finally have time to sit down and pursue projects that I have had had on hold for years." Truthfully, he was considering writing a book, but no one needed to know that until he'd actually written it.
"I'm sure. Are you considering starting to take apprentices?"
He didn't sigh, but it was a close thing. "Eventually. I need a few years away from teaching first."
"I'm sure students will be clamoring to be your apprentice when the time comes," she said, giving him a knowing smile.
Severus expected that it would take until no students recalled him being a professor before anyone wished to apprentice with him, but that was fine with him. "How is Ethan?"
"Also busy as ever. Between the Guild and the Wizengamot it's amazing that we get any time to ourselves. We're making arrangements to see Getrude in Australia for a week in June."
"I'm certain she'll be glad to see both of you." Severus hoped Rachel never decided to take a job on another continent. He wasn't sure how Miranda managed the worry of having her daughter so far away.
"She's old enough now that I think she'll be happy to see us rather than having it be an embarrassment," Miranda said. "How is Rachel? We heard about everything with the Daily Prophet of course."
"Rachel is managing admirably," Severus said, wanting to present Rachel in the best light possible since she would be joining the guild in a few years. "I'm told that Amelia led the investigation and that everything was very promptly taken care of."
"That's what Ethan said as well. The entire Wizengamot is buzzing right now with the possibility of being rid of Skeeter for good. There should be no problem with the vote to give Skeeter the mark of censure, and Ethan says that there's very little doubt she'll be found guilty in the criminal trial as well. Have you heard about the editor in chief of the Daily Prophet yet?"
"Not yet," Severus said. He was working on renewing his guild connections, but at least guild members were much freer with their gossip than the Death Eaters were.
"Sacked," Miranda said with a nod. "And rightly so. Should have been done years ago. Ethan says Rufus has charged the remaining editors with cleaning up the Daily Prophet or he'll take the newspaper back under Ministry control again. Obviously we don't want that, but Rufus doesn't make idle threats and they know it."
A government controlled newspaper was far from ideal, but Severus was just glad that someone was finally doing something about the Daily Prophet. Hopefully Scrimgeour would not have to follow up on that threat. "We'll have to see what they do with that, but I have to think that any changes made will have to be an improvement."
"I can understand why you feel that way. The Daily Prophet has not been kind to Rachel. If it was my daughter, I can't say that I would have handled it as well as you have."
In retrospect, Severus wished he had quietly taken Skeeter out years ago. It would have saved Rachel a lot of pain and he had no moral qualms about stopping a person who was hurting her. "I only try to support Rachel. If I could take this burden from her, I would."
Miranda shook her head. "She seems like a strong young woman. I don't think you need to take any burdens from her. From what I and Ethan have seen of her, she seems very determined and forthright. You've done a good job with her, which is something I don't think parents get to hear enough."
"Perhaps," Severus allowed. Over his years as a teacher, he could certainly see that parents played a role in where their children wound up, but he had also seen that children needed a drive from within themselves to succeed. There were some children from excellent families who languished, and some children from more desperate circumstances who thrived. Severus thought that the drive and determination he saw in Rachel had always been there. He'd certainly seen her stubbornness over the years. He had simply provided a place for her to grow and fought to keep her alive and safe.
"What are your plans for the future, Severus? I didn't anticipate you resigning from Hogwarts, but now that you have, where are you going?" she asked, looking at him steadily.
Severus had been many things in his life. An abused child. A struggling teenager. A Death Eater. A spy. A member of the Order. A teacher. A Potion's Master. And a father. He still carried all of that with him. Each of those journeys had shaped the man he was today. But where was he going? "For now I will do the inventing that I have not had time to do in eighteen years. We will see where it takes me from there."
"Big day," Anyssa said when Rachel moved to take her seat in the Wizengamot chamber.
"Guess so," Rachel said, taking a look around the room as Wizengamot members gathered in small groups before the session. Everyone she'd spoken to seemed confident that Rita Skeeter was going to be given the mark of censure. Judging from the buzz in the room, she thought that was probably true.
Only two days ago the Daily Prophet had written an apology article, naming her, Theo, Professor Dumbledore, Madam Bones, Minister Scrimgeour and a number of other people as those who had been maligned in the paper. The Daily Prophet announced that they had a new editor in chief and new policies moving forward about what they would be publishing. Rachel was skeptical for the time being. She didn't expect they would stop writing about her, but maybe the newspaper wouldn't be actively hostile to her any longer either.
"What do you think?" Anyssa asked.
"About what?" Rachel asked, turning her attention back to Anyssa.
"Rita Skeeter, of course," Anyssa said, arching her eyebrows. "Are you going to speak against her?"
"No. Madam Bones will be presenting the evidence," Rachel said. She and Madam Bones had agreed that it was better if it didn't seem like Rachel had a personal vendetta against Skeeter.
"Must be handy to have the head of the MLE in your pocket. Scrimgeour favors you as well."
"Not in my pocket," she said firmly. "Actually, she's essentially my boss while I'm in the aurors. If the Minister seems to favor me it's because he wants to have my approval."
"He's using you. If the Girl-Who-Lived supports the Minister, that pretty much guarantees him his seat," Anyssa pointed out. "Other people will use you that way too."
"I know. I figure it works as long as I'm using them as well." She felt safe enough admitting that to Anyssa. That seemed to be what was expected in Wizengamot politics.
"Good. When are you presenting your proposal?"
"June. I wanted to give everyone a chance to look through the material and ask questions if they have them," Rachel said. She'd already had Booker send a letter to Professor Dumbledore to confirm which session she'd be speaking in.
"You realize it's not a school assignment, right? You basically wrote a book on the prison system," Anyssa asked.
"I thought that was what proposals were supposed to look like?" she asked, thinking of the proposals she'd looked through. Yes, they'd all been a fair bit shorter, but the format had roughly been the same.
"I just don't think any of us were prepared for a breakdown of the deaths in Azkaban for the past three hundred years. There were a lot of numbers in there. I had to have my clerk do the math to check it because I didn't believe your conclusions."
Rachel perked up. That meant Anyssa had actually read at least some of her proposal. "Did your clerk's math support my conclusions?" she asked, knowing that it must have. She'd had Booker check her numbers just in case she'd messed up somewhere.
"It did. If you told me about this proposal before, I would have told you that you didn't have a snowball's chance in hell to get it passed. But if people are really dying like that, you might actually have a chance to convince people that something needs to change. It's a little disturbing. More than a little, actually. I don't know if people actually knew this at some point and didn't care, or if no one ever cared to look," Anyssa said. "And, if you actually succeed at this, it would mean my father wouldn't be suffering in Azkaban. I don't condone the things he did, Rachel. Not to you or to anyone else. But I don't want my father to die in agony. Even after everything, he's still my father."
"That's understandable," Rachel said. She didn't know what Anyssa's relationship with her father was like, but she very well understood that you could still care about people even after they did something horrible. "The estimates that everyone has given me say that if my proposal passes, it will be in committee for two years finalizing the plans, then we'll present the final plan to the Wizengamot. If that passes, then we can begin building and staffing a new prison. So, maybe five to seven more years before we can actually house prisoners there."
Anyssa nodded, looking thoughtful. "I hope my father can last that long. I saw the section you put in about visitors. I know that would mean a lot to a lot of people. Can I ask you a personal question?"
"Sure," Rachel said, impressed and pleased that it seemed that Anyssa had actually read her whole proposal.
"Is someone you know in prison? Is that why you care so much?"
Rachel looked down. "I know a number of people who are in prison. Because they hurt or attacked me. But I know what it's like to live like that. To be suffering and to have no escape. No one should be tortured, no matter what they've done. What we're doing is wrong. It doesn't have to be because I care about someone there personally, it's just that they're people and we're systematically torturing and killing them." She managed to look at Anyssa and found her looking back with a pained expression.
"Well, I think it's impressive that you don't want the people who hurt you to suffer. I would. If I was you, I'd be hoping that Skeeter wound up in Azkaban," she said with a small shrug.
"There's part of me that does," Rachel admitted. She still felt a cold anger at Rita Skeeter that bordered on hatred. "But the larger part of me believes that adding suffering onto more suffering doesn't make anything better for anyone."
Anyssa nodded, seeming sad and pressing her lips flat. "I'm starting to think the things that people say about you are true."
Before Rachel could inquire about what people were saying about her, the chime sounded to bring the meeting to order. Rachel took a seat at her desk and looked around the room as everyone settled and looked toward Professor Dumbledore.
"At nine o'clock on the twenty fourth of April, 1999, I, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot Albus Dumbledore, call this session to order," Professor Dumbledore said as the room fell silent. "We will begin our session concerning the matter of whether or not to assign the mark of censure to Rita Skeeter. I call for Rita Skeeter to be brought into the chamber."
This was the first time they had a visitor into the Wizengamot chambers since Rachel had become a member and she was curious about how all of this would work. Auror Julie Masterson brought Rita Skeeter into the chamber and led her down into the central circle of the floor. It was a little bit of a shock to see Skeeter like this. Every time Rachel had seen her, she'd been done up in bright robes with her hair flamboyantly coiffed. Now Rita Skeeter wore plain black robes and her hair hung lankly around her face. Rachel thought she looked diminished, maybe even frightened.
"Rita Skeeter has been accused of the following: knowingly revealing information in a confidential MLE investigation to the public. This charge is criminal and will be dealt with in trial by a fifth of the Wizengamot on the third of May of this year. Rita Skeeter has also been accused of public harassment of Wizengamot Member Rachel Snow, both now and when she was a child. The accusations also read that Rita Skeeter has perpetuated a campaign of misinformation regarding the Ministry and the Wizengamot itself. We will begin with a statement and evidence by the accuser, Madam Amelia Bones."
Madam Bones stood and began to speak, starting with an overview of the accusations and then moving onto specific incidents. She directed them to follow along with the packet that had been placed on each of their desks.
Rachel slowly flipped through hers, starting with a copy of the article claiming that she was a squib. That seemed like forever ago now. It was a little upsetting to see all these articles laid out like this and to recognize that while Rita Skeeter engaged in a lot of speculation about her, that there was an ebb of truth beneath the articles. A lot had happened in the past eight years. There had been a lot of pain. She felt almost separate sometimes from the person who had experienced these things, but she could also recognize that she had dealt with some of it, and some things she still needed to find a way to deal with. When she was ready.
She was relieved when the discussion and the articles moved on to examples of Rita Skeeter spreading misinformation about the Wizengamot and the Ministry. That was a little easier to sit through. Rachel looked at Rita Skeeter and tried to imagine what had brought her to this point. Part of the problem was the Daily Prophet's willingness to publish whatever she wrote. Without that, Rita Skeeter never would have walked down this path. But part of it was that for whatever reason, Rita Skeeter had wanted to write these articles, and Rachel couldn't understand that. She couldn't understand hurting people in the name of money and fame. To her, hurting someone in anger or by accident was more forgivable, because she understood how that could happen. But hurting someone to gain something was anathema to her.
After about an hour, Madam Bones sat down.
"Would anyone else like to speak before judgment is cast?" Professor Dumbledore asked.
A few other Wizengamot members did speak, citing articles Rita Skeeter had written against them, their family, or their guild.
Finally the room was quiet and Professor Dumbledore stood again. "We will cast our votes. To assign the mark of censure to Rita Skeeter, please raise your hand. To vote against assigning the mark of censure, leave your hand unraised."
Rita Skeeter was looking around the room as Wizengamot members raised their hands. Her gaze found Rachel's.
Rachel kept her gaze, held her chin high, and raised her hand.
After a moment, Skeeter lowered her head briefly and then turned to look around the room.
Rachel looked as well and was surprised to find that every hand was raised. It seemed that the Wizengamot could unite on something after all.
"Thank you, you may lower your hands," Professor Dumbledore said. "This Wizengamot has voted unanimously, for perhaps the first time in half a century. The mark of censure has been assigned to Rita Skeeter. She will continue to be held in a Ministry holding cell until her trial on the third of May. Rita Skeeter is dismissed from the chamber."
Rita Skeeter looked almost dazed as she was led away by Auror Masterson.
"Now, moving on. Wizengamot Member Janice Hawthorne will introduce a new proposal," Professor Dumbledore said before sitting down.
Rachel turned her attention to Janice and slowly exhaled in relief. She caught Sirius' eye across the chamber and he gave her a smile and a thumbs up. Rachel let herself smile back. She wasn't convinced that all of her problems with the Daily Prophet were solved, but she was grateful that people had finally stood up and agreed that what Rita Skeeter was doing was wrong. That was good enough for now.