It was early morning. A group of muggles were walking through a forest in the north of England. Since it was morning, the weather was cold and foggy.
Two people from the group were left behind.
The girl was now having difficulty walking, so her boyfriend took her arm. They were both out of breath trying not to lose sight of the group.
They were arguing at the same time.
"I told you not to come!" said the boy. "But you didn't even listen to me."
"I know why you are grumpy. Because he has that blonde girl on his mind! Sorry for slowing you down!"
"Allison, you really drive me crazy sometimes!"
Their discussions gradually reached an impasse.
The land became even more sloped, making it even more difficult for them to walk.
"Am I infuriating? Remember, I didn't beg you to come with me!"
"I don't understand why we're still arguing-" He stopped suddenly. His face turned white as if he had seen a ghost. The girl realized that something was strange. Her lover was looking straight ahead.
"W-what happened?"
"There's something there." Said the he.
The girl turned her gaze in that direction with fear and suddenly her breath disappeared.
Someone was lying under the tree. A girl with a white face, as beautiful as a fairy. There was a knife in her heart. There was no soul in her eyes. She was dead.
When the elevator opened, the magic notes in the air flew out.
Others waited in the air to enter.
Since Hermione was a little behind, she waited for the aurors in front of her to leave before leaving. Everyone was fast and planned.
When she got out of the elevator, she was the only one who didn't know what to do. She didn't know where to turn, which doors to pass through. She took a deep breath.
It doesn't matter, you will learn everything.
She made good suggestions to herself.
She had been waiting for this moment for two years. And now… here I am.
She looked at the wide square before her.
Auror Department.
Everything was clear before her eyes. It was as if a cauldron was boiling somewhere inside her.
She looked at the view in front of her with excitement.
Elevators were on the east side. Ten doors lined up side by side. All the doors were constantly opening and closing, dozens of aurors were coming out of them or someone was getting into the elevator.
There were fireplaces on the south side. Dozens of fireplaces lined up side by side. When she looked in that direction, she saw lights flashing from time to time.
Pitch black fireplaces with aurors in hats and cloaks emerging from them.
Her stomach pulled like a rubber band. Yes I'm here.
While taking a deep breath, she rolled up The Daily Prophet in her hand and put it into her bag.
She hadn't even read it. She was so excited that she knew she wouldn't understand anything even if she read it.
She just took it casually. Maybe to add some self-confidence or to look like you're messing around with something.
She was wearing an anthracite gray jacket and black trousers underneath. In fact, she took Daisy as an example when dressing. Daisy usually wore a simple, solid-coloured T-shirt and loose-fitting, comfortable trousers. On her feet she would wear comfortable sneakers, either white or black.
In fact, she thought of Clary while she was getting dressed in the morning.
She dressed very differently from Daisy. She had t-shirts of all colors and always wore jewelry. She would sometimes curl her ashy yellow hair with her wand and sometimes straighten it.
Oh, and there was makeup. She also loved doing make-up. Hermione thought about the last time she wore make-up. Maybe at Hogwarts graduation? She remembered using only foundation and mascara.
Daisy's simple style suited her better.
Her eyes sparkled with concern. This place was very lively. It would take time to get used to it.
She cleared her throat slightly and moved forward. At the same time, she tried to think of something funny to relax.
For 2 years, her mother had been strongly against the idea of her last remaining child becoming an auror. But in the morning, she entered her room as if she had given up.
"What will you wear?" she asked.
Hermione was surprised. Was it really that important what she wore?
"I don't know." When she lied, the woman said to her daughter, "Wait," as if she got the answer she wanted. And then she showed up with a few sets in her hand. The first suit - skirt and jacket - was white in color. The second set was gray with long silvery stripes.
"I bought it from Madam Lavender." she said, pointing to the jackets. "It's perfect for your size. What do you think dear?"
Hermione knew her mother wanted to give her a message. "Even if you were an Auror, you could still do a desk job, right?"
She didn't say it, but Hermione knew.
That's why she wore this simple jacket, comfortable trousers and sneakers as if to prove that she thought differently from her mother.
And she tied her hair into a ponytail and put her bag on her back.
Her mother almost burst into tears when she saw her. She couldn't find these things suitable for her daughter.
Hermione's excitement increased as she walked.
When was the last time she felt this nervous? Maybe on your first day at Hogwarts. Because at that time she felt like she was in great uncertainty. Just like now.
The square of the Auror's office was made of almost black stone. When she raised her head slightly and looked at the ceiling, she thought how many meters it was.
It was so high up, maybe there was magic. But the ceiling, the floor and the walls, everything was as black as it could be.
There were no windows. The only source of light was the light emitted from the three-armed torches suspended in the air. But it wasn't dark inside.
At the top, in the middle of the ceiling, was a drawing of a wand with light emanating from its tip, representing the Auror Department. The staff and the light emanating from its tip glowed golden.
On the western façade, there was a wide, high platform. Behind this platform were the team rooms. And important meetings and press statements were held on the platform. Hermione had seen this platform in the newspapers.
Hermione walked up to the platform steps, examining her surroundings. Then she climbed the stairs and turned into the corridor leading to the head of department's office.
Carol Spains, head of the Auror Department, was appointed to the position after Clary's incident. She was an attache in countries such as France and Spain. When she returned to England, she was elected as the new head of the Auror Department by vote.
Spains knew about Hermione. Even though Robert doesn't like to inform her about these matters, he did mention it at dinner yesterday.
When she told the secretary, she was immediately taken into the room.
Spains congratulated her on her success and they talked a little about , in less than five minutes, they left together and headed to the room of the team to which Hermione had been assigned.
"Come this way," Spains explained as she guided her.
"I know they entered the meeting. An incident was reported early in the morning. They must be talking about it."
"If I had known, I would have come early too," said Hermione excitedly.
Spains laughed slightly. She was a cold woman. She had a long, thin, bony face. She was generally a tall woman, with masculine facial features and bright slanted eyes.
"Don't worry, you'll be here early. Ah, those first excitements..."
"Mrs. Spain... Does Daisy know about me?"
She remembered hiermeeting with Daisy a few days ago.
"I informed her yesterday." said the woman.
Hermione wondered what Daisy's reaction was when she first heard it, but she couldn't ask. She wanted to look professional in front of Spain.
Hermione nodded. She wanted to appear calm, but her excitement almost peaked as she walked behind the woman.
They walked down a long corridor and stopped in front of a large metal door. A brass plate next to the door read "Territorial Crimes, Team Eagle."
Spains opened the door and stepped aside to let Hermione through.
Calm down, everything will be fine... Calm down... She held her breath and went inside. She clenched her teeth.
"Daisy."
"Oh, Mrs. Spains."
When Hermione turned in the direction of the voice, she came face to face with Daisy, who was standing at the head of a long and wide table.
"How's it going?" Spains asked.
Daisy walked around the table, smiling slightly - it was a suggestive smile.
"We are still in the information gathering phase. Longbottom and Lovegood have just returned from the scene. We were sharing information." the woman said.
"Good good." muttered Spains.
Hermione wasn't looking at the table. She took a breath to calm herself, her heart pounding and looking down at her own feet as hard as she could to calm herself down.
"I mentioned it yesterday." said Spains. "Granger, new recruit."
Hermione looked up and bravely looked at Daisy again.
"Yes," Daisy said with a slightly harsh smile. "New rookie," she said.
Spains turned to Hermione and introduced her: "Hermione Bella Granger. She graduated from the academy with honors. Her physical reports are quite high. Abraham was with me when her file came to me and he said he could take her to their team. But Hermione specifically wanted to be included in your team. And so I decided to have her on your team."
" Wow." said Daisy, raising her eyebrows. "I can't believe that I won a fight that I didn't even know about, luck is on my side."
Hermione understood the irony behind these words.
Daisy was uncomfortable. In the outside world they were friendsbut here…
"Well," said Spain, without losing any of her cheerfulness. "You can make introductions among yourselves, I'll go back to my room because other rookies are coming today."
She wished Hermione success on her first day of duty and left.
Nobody said anything for almost ten seconds. Daisy looked at Hermione with an expressionless face, and Hermione looked at Daisy with respect. She was now her boss.
Daisy took a deep breath. "Welcome, Granger."
"Thank you Daisy."
Hermione actually wanted to say something to Daisy and soften her up, but it wasn't the time for that.
Somewhere at the table, in that place she couldn't look at, was sitting the only person she wanted to see, talk to, and reason with for hours for two years.
If nonsense, illogical words came out of her mouth and affected her first impression, perhaps she wouldn't be able to change that for a long time. After all, she was the most important person in her life right now.
Someone stood up. When she turned, she saw a girl with blond hair, blue eyes, and too skinny to belong here, extending her hand.
" Luna Lovegood. Nice to meet you. İf you feel like you can't stand it for a month and need a shoulder to cry on, I'm always ready."
Hermione's eyes widened. He shook the girl's hand.
"Pleased to meet you." Nonsense.
"Come on, guys!" Daisy said as Luna smiled warmly. She clapped her hands. "Everyone introduce yourself!"
Hermione turned her head towards the movement. And she recognized the boy coming towards her. He was one of the red heads who played Quidditch when he was at school. He had two problematic brothers and a sister who was an excellent fielder.
"Ron Weeasyley." said Ron, laughing.
"I remember you from school. You used to play Quidditch, right?"
"You were also a hardworking student." said Ron. "You graduated from school as the top student, I remember the day you received the award."
"Oh," muttered Hermione. "Pleased to meet you."
"And I remember you being a terrible broom rider." Said one girl.
Hermione turned to see her sister.
She said, "Ginny," with an aggressive, stern face.
Hermione knew immediately that she didn't like her. So she just shook her head.
" I-I'm Lonbottom too. Neville."
When she turned to the red-faced, timid, tall Neville, Hermione seemed to remember him the same way. But vaguely. As if he wasn't getting out of trouble?
"Yes, is the introduction part over?" said Daisy from behind. "If you remember, we have a murder to solve."
Hermione turned her head in surprise and looked at the table.
Yes, she had met everyone. So where was he?
She turned around and scanned the room. He was not there.
Daisy cleared her throat slightly. She knew Hermione's purpose.
But she wouldn't tell her any more. Could she be enjoying this, enjoying Hermione's discomfort?
"Where were we?" she said with a suggestive smile. "Lovegood, can you summarize the incident on the board one more time for our rookie to hear it?"
Hermione struggled not to curse under her breath.
She had always prepared herself for this moment. Where was it?
I couldn't have gotten wrong information, right?
She looked at Daisy suspiciously and tried hard not to huff.
"Come like this." said Ron towards her, pointing to the empty seat next to him.
Feeling like she was going to vomit with rage, Hermione sat down and turned her eyes to the magic screen across the table.
There was some information and photos about the morning's incident on the white screen.
When she sat down, Lovegood, who was standing, began to explain in a clear voice.
"Bella Flora," She was a very beautiful girl with a white face.
"She was found by a muggle group in the early hours of the morning. First, it was reported to the muggle unit, but when the intermediaries
informed us that the girl was ours, we took over the case. When we went to the scene with Longottom, Bella's body was decomposed."
Hermione didn't understand. The dead body in the first photo belonged to a beautiful girl.
"Bella's body was fine when the Muggle representatives arrived at the scene. She was dead but beautiful. But then, suddenly, the body began to decompose and in just three minutes the whole decomposition was complete."
Hermione's attention was inevitably drawn in that direction.
Still tugging at her shoulders with her hatred for Harry not being here, she shuddered when she saw the image of the blackened and rotten girl in the photograph Lovegood had altered.
"Yes," Daisy said loudly from where she sat. "We need to stop here and talk. This is extreme. How can a body decompose in three minutes?"
"By magic." said Ron quickly.
"Well done, smart kid." said Ginny, raising an eyebrow. "No one had thought of it."
"Poison," said Hermione, unable to stop she allowed to speak? "There are types of poisonous potions that suddenly rot the body. But making them is very laborious and takes years."
" How many year?"
"At least three. But as I said, it is very difficult to make. These are potions that even potions masters cannot handle."
There was a short silence.
"If this is the case, and the result of the examination already proves this, then what inference should we draw from here?"
"Poison was injected."
Ginny grumbled. "Ron, please just play with your electronic toys."
Hermione looked at the photos on the screen. In the first one, the girl was like a fairy, a magnificent beauty. In the second picture, she was unrecognizable with poison, an ugly and disgusting image.
"The poison turned him into an ugly creature." She said, looking at Daisy. "First killed and injected with poison...or vice versa."
"The poison may also be on the dagger." said Ginny solemnly.
"Yes that's true." said Daisy. "Possibilities and probabilities. We do not know whether the dagger and the poison were given by the same person. Therefore, we can consider two possibilities. If they were given by the same person, it is obvious that the murderer had a great grudge. Murderer not only killed her with the dagger. Also gave her poison, making her unable to stand in the open coffin at her funeral. The other possibility is that... the person who killed the girl and the person who poisoned her are different people."
"If this possibility is true, there are two culprits." said Ginny.
A little silence.
"Now, we are splitting into two groups." continued Daisy. "Ginny and I are going to visit the girl's family. Go to the Luna Investigation Unit and pressure them to speed things up. Weasley and Longbottom stay here and wait for news from us."
Everyone moved.
As an afterthought, Daisy turned to Hermione.
"And the new rookie of the team… You just take a look around for now."
For a moment, Hermione couldn't comprehend what she heard. As everyone dispersed quickly, she turned to Ron, who was still sitting.
"What did she want me to do now?"
Ron grinned and shrugged. "What you heard."
"Merlin!"
It had been almost two hours.
Hermione had examined every inch of the room in their unit.
It consisted of four parts.
Hallway, kitchen, meeting room and Daisy's room. She didn't enter Daisy's room. The metal pleated curtains were drawn, and the inside of the room could not be seen. The entrance hall was quite large. It consisted of soft brown leather armchairs, a small library, a small table in the corner and a gray, iron meeting room was just a magical widescreen and a meeting table.
As Hermione stared at Da Vinci's The Last Supper in the foyer, she wondered how long she would have to wait idly.
Daisy had just sent out a Patronus. Thereupon, Weasley and Longbottom left the building. Before leaving, Ron had warned her not to leave. But how far? She looked like it was going to explode.
She couldn't resist any longer and climbed onto the stone platform.
She was wondering where Harry was. Daisy said clearly. "Potter is with me."
She thought as she went down to the square and looked at the fireplaces.
He was working with Daisy, but where was he now? Maybe they only called him when necessary. She continued to think as he walked to the sinks.
Or maybe he was helping another team because of the History Criminals. The History Criminals were on Abraham Turner's team. Crodile Team.
When she left the sink and returned to the stone platform, she turned her head and looked at the corridors that led to the back areas.
He should have been around. He was here, she was sure. Of course they would meet one day.
By the time the team got back to their room, Ron had returned.
" Where were you?"
"I went to toilet." said Hermione. "Any progress?"
"Daisy is about to come." said Ron. "We will evaluate the situation."
When Hermione saw that no one had arrived yet, she asked, "Can I get some coffee?"
"Of course," said Ron. "Please be comfortable. Try to get used to here, most of the time we spend more time here than at home."
"I'll get used to it." said Hermione in a low voice. Of course, she wouldn't tell him that she hadn't had a home for two years, or rather that she had lost the concept of home after Clary left.
The kitchen door had a ridiculous retro beaded curtain attached to it.
"Whose idea is this curtain?" she said, rolling her eyes. "Whoever it was must have gone to great lengths to find this terrible curtain."
Just as she was pushing the beads aside with her hand, another hand from the other side of the door pushed the beads to the left, and as the image opened, Hermione came face to face with a pair of deep, emerald green eyes.
"My opinion." said the owner of the eyes. His voice was sarcastic.
Hermione faltered. It was like the ground was shaking and she was going to fall.
Harry didn't move at all and looked at the girl with bright eyes while she supported herself on the doorway with her hand.
"As for the answer to your question... No, I didn't bother much, just wandering around the muggle markets a little bit is enough."
A short silence.
"Harry," said Ron, "Our new teammate is Hermione Granger."
Hermione should thank Ron later. Harry would probably have ignored the girl if Ron hadn't made any attempt to introduce them.
Harry had a disdainful expression on his face. Without saying anything, he passed her and went out into the foyer.
He had a cream-colored ceramic cup in his hand and steam was rising from the cup towards the ceiling.
Hermione was disturbed by his silence and faltered in her inner world.
Harry sat down in bergere and crossed his legs.
"How did it go?" Ron asked Harry.
Hermione stood in the kitchen doorway, her back turned to them.
"As always." he said indifferently.
When Hermione realized that she was standing there like an idiot, she got angry and went to the kitchen. The beads of the curtain hit the beam and made a çat çat sound.
Harry turned slightly to her.
"I am not responsible for what will happen if a single bead of my curtain is damaged."
Hermione turned around, squinting slightly. Since he was sitting right across the door, they could see each other through the gap in the beads.
"I'm sure I can afford it."
She waited for a moment, the shape of the boy's eyes and lips suddenly looking very serious.
Then he took a sip from his glass and said, "I don't think so."
Then he turned to Ron, laughing sarcastically.
This was definitely not the meeting Hermione was expecting. She was angry. Didn't he know who she was? Of course he knew. So why?
She moved towards the kitchen counter.
The other two started talking about something, but the girl's ears were ringing. She didn't even hear them. Her legs, arms, or rather every part of her body that had cells was numb. She thought her feet were like jelly and felt like she was about to collapse.
To avoid collapsing, she supported herself on the counter with her hands and stared at the kitchen cabinets for a while.
She couldn't remember how long she stayed like that until she heard the sound of the beads.
"What are you doing?" said Lovegood. "We are back, we will evaluate the situation."
" Really?" said Hermione. Her voice cracked.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes. I'm coming with coffee."
She decided to use the coffee time as recovery time.
When Lovegood returned, she said to herself, "Don't be stupid! Behave yourself."
Clary's picture came to her mind. This was enough to motivate her.
With quick movements, she poured herself coffee from the coffee machine, threw an angry look at the beaded curtain and went inside.
Daisy was nowhere to be seen, but the others were sitting together around the table. Harry was sitting next to Ginny.
While Hermione was walking in that direction, the door suddenly opened and Daisy walked in.
As soon as we entered, "Yes, can anyone solve the problem?" asked. "Who is guilty?"
Her eyes met Hermione's. Hermione took a deep breath as she sat down in an empty chair.
"Ex-boyfriend?" asked Ron. "He might have held a grudge against her being with a muggle."
"Or Hannah." said Ginny. "She shed beads of sweat as she spoke.
Even if she's not guilty, I'm sure there's something bothering her."
Daisy shook her head slightly. "They are both on our radar. Ginny, you have Hannah."
Hermione didn't understand anything. So, while she was wandering around here, they was talking to two people named ex-boyfriend and Hannah.
"The results of the investigation came." continued Daisy. "But first, let's start from the beginning."
When she waved her wand, the photo and other information appeared on the screen.
"Bella Flora. 20 years old. As you all know, it was found this morning by a travel team in the Northern forests. According to the investigation, the time of death was three in the morning. And again, according to the investigation, the cause of death was a stab wound to the heart. There was no trace of any spell or potion on the blade. So even though she was a wizard, the way she was killed was muggle-like. The most interesting aspect of this incident is the sudden decay of the girl's body hours after she died. Again, thanks to the potion science, we understand that there is "engola-muga" poison in her body. Yes, can anyone tell me how this poison works?"
Hermione waited a moment. But when no one heard anything, she said, "As I said in the morning, it is difficult and long to make. It does not take effect immediately, maybe 3 hours or a day depending on the body.
Daisy leaned her hands on the table and "What else?" asked.
Hermione exhaled loudly. "This potion will not kill a person. It turns it into a living, irreversible ghoul. For this reason, it is on the black list and its production is prohibited throughout Europe. In fact, some of the plants required for its production grow only on the African continent, and these plants are also prohibited from being grown in England."
Daisy sat up.
"True. The person who injected the poison into Bella wanted to turn her into an ugly creature."
"But did this happen before or after the dagger?" Ginny asked.
"We don't know." said Daisy. "If the duration of effect of the poison was clear, we could make an assumption. But even if the person who killed and the person who administered the poison were different people, there could be hours between these two actions."
A short silence.
"Still…" said Daisy, squinting slightly. "If we follow the poison, we will come across a few more names. Ron, investigate the black market. I'm sure you'll come across a few names selling banned materials. Ginny, I want you to talk to Hannah again and turn her on. Longbottom and Lovegood observe the girl's muggle surroundings. I will be with Legolas for a few hours."
She looked at Harry.
"Harry, I want you to go with the new recruit to the North Woods, to the girl's mother's castle."
Everyone moved quickly. But Hermione couldn't move for a moment. She stared at her coffee cup, from which she had not even taken a sip.
The sound of the chair she heard told her that Harry had also stood up.
"Did you come to sit here?" said Harry's voice. "You can only surprise us a few times with your memorization skills."
Hermione turned to him with a stern expression. She couldn't help it. The condescending tone in his voice annoyed her.
She stood up and looked at him silently.
"Since the traveling cloak has not been issued yet, we will go with fireplaces."
Renewed Travel Law Article 1.
The rule that will cause Fudge to lose in the next election. In England, except for certain professional groups, no one could teleport anymore. Due to reasons such as misuse of the teleport spell and damage to core magic. But Hermione knew that there was actually another reason behind this decision.
Verne Harris. Harris fireplaces.
It was funny.
This was a decision taken to enrich Harris fireplaces. This was how Harris received compensation for the hefty taxes he paid to the Ministry of Magic. It's mutual benefit. Aurors were among the various professional groups mentioned in the law. But even they couldn't teleport unless they had their auror cloaks on.
And Hermione hadn't gotten her auror ID, cloak and other equipment yet. Spains had said nothing to her about it in the morning.
She should discuss this with Daisy later.
She followed Harry. They left the room, walked to the platform and down the steps towards the fireplaces.
Hermione thought Harry would never talk to her. Why was he doing this? She looked at him suspiciously. He had entered one of the fireplaces.
He stepped aside to let Hermione pass. As the girl entered to the fireplace he took some powder from the plate that suddenly appeared in the air.
"Hold my jacket."
Hermione suddenly felt strange. She had become an Auror and was in a fireplace with Harry. Harry. Guilty. A criminal who uses the dark arts.
" Did not you hear it?" he said again. Then he counted quickly. "three-two-o…"
At the last second, Hermione caught the hem of his black suit and suddenly they flew away in flames.
Strange, dreamlike landscapes and… then suddenly Hermione fell to the ground.