Author's note- Two chapters in one post. Second post has themes of violence, but no gore.

Thank you for your comments.

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Copy and Charges

Tonks opened his bag. Working together, the two wizards spread his notes across the table. He carefully explained to the Senior Auror what they were looking at, folder by folder and sheet by sheet. His early interviews with Lord Black. The blood test with the goblins to verify the Godfather Oath. Buying the basilisk and then buying Bagman's debts. The conversations with Crouch and with Bagman. Then there was the meeting in Dumbledore's office when they found out that Director Crouch was Imperioused.

Of all the dark characters who'd once claimed to be Imperioused, it was a shock to find someone who was under the curse.

All the documents were there. Seeing it laid out gave him a new appreciation for the amount he could fit into his expanding bag. It also shocked him that he'd been so careless as to only have one copy in case anything happened to him or to his bag. All his cares and worries for the last month were condensed into a stack of parchments a few inches high.

Each of his attempts to help Harry and Sirius were reduced to an item number and a terse description. He wasn't allowed to do the copying himself. There could be doubts if he had omitted pages or edited his notes as he copied them. The Senior Auror made several duplicates of each document to ensure that both the judge, the prosecution, and the defense were all reading from the same parchment. When they were done, Tonks collected his files and asked for a signed receipt that he'd completed the judge's request. He had done his best. Unfortunately, it took them more than an hour to copy the documents, create a manifest, and then deliver the copied parchments to the appropriate offices.

It was technically true that Tonks work was done when he presented his files to the Aurors. He didn't have enough history with the Ministry to trust that the parchments would get to the right people at the right time. It was also fascinating to walk from floor to floor and watch the inner wheels of justice turn.

He was thinking about the evening he'd spend at home with his wife. His job was done, at least for now. It wasn't his case to prosecute or to defend. He turned to leave when he remembered that Director Bones wanted to talk with him. He'd never been to her office before. He asked for help, and the directions from the Senior Auror got him most of the way there.

He chatted with Amelia's executive assistant. Elizabeth preferred to be called Liz. She and Tonks went back to work as he waited. She was sending out a meeting notice and he was reviewing his notes. Another man came into the outer office and they were both waved in to see Amelia.
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Ted was in a room full of strangers so he stood still not knowing where to go. The meeting was in Bones' office, but it looked like a judge was going to run the meeting for her.

"Please sit here," the man said. "I'm Judge Gonson. I'll be the special master in the case and work between the three defendants and the presiding judge. Thank you for getting us the case documents so quickly. We're on a compressed schedule. We don't have a time-turner so we would like to use you as an oracle. Greer is prosecuting for the Crown, and you recognize Robbins for the defense. The three defendants will be charged together but will probably want to be tried separately. Robbins will either represent the defendants or brief the barristers they select.

"What do you know about Dumbledore?" the judge asked.

The question may have sounded like the one he'd been asked an hour ago in the meeting downstairs. This was different. Now he could say what he knew to be true even if he couldn't prove every statement in a court of law.

"He has a fatherly demeanor but is careless. He puts other people's children at risk. His ego is the size of the castle. He has more secrets than the house elves at Malfoy Manor. He spends other people's money like it was his own. He has no respect for the law."

"Why do you say that? Is that observation or speculation?" It was Greer, the Crown Prosecutor, who asked.

"I can sort that for you. I've seen the headmaster make excuses as to why his students were injured or endangered. He is a phenomenal wizard, but if any of us had a fraction of the problems that he faces, then we'd be shouting for help. I've seen that with my own eyes. I suspect that Dumbledore can't ask for help because he is hiding too many secrets."

"What is the worst thing that Dumbledore has done?" Judge Gonson asked.

"He and Minister Crouch put an innocent man in Azkaban for 12 years. He left students petrified for months and never called for help. He left abusive professors on the staff at Hogwarts because they are personally loyal to him. He put Lord Potter's life at risk several times, as it is again now. With what I've learned, I'm angry at myself for sending my daughter to Hogwarts."

Several of the people in the room squirmed in their chairs. Perhaps they had school age children.

"Why do you think they put Lord Black in Azkaban?" Judge Gonson asked.

That question was beyond the current case. Ted gave the best answer he had. "I can't prove it, but I think the motive was to control the Black family fortune and his Wizengamot seat. They also wanted to control Lord Potter. I'm not sure why."

The barrister for the defense spoke up. "How about Bagman?"

"The goblins don't like him. He has a compulsive need to gamble. Lord Black has assumed Bagman's gambling debts. Bagman is in default and I could force his parents from their home tomorrow, yet all he cares about is his next chance to roll the dice. Bagman has a long list of former friends who've loaned him money they couldn't afford to lose."

"What do you know about the Director?" Greer asked. That was the prosecutor again. He probably thought that bringing Bartemius Crouch Senior, the former D.M.L.E., to trial would be a tough case.

"Other than sending Black to Azkaban, I don't know Crouch very well. We only met for a few minutes and he kept saying that Potter had to compete in the tournament. I'm not sure I really met the man. I may have met what his puppeteer wanted me to see. It will be fascinating to find out who was pulling his strings."

The Aurors and one of the barristers shifted in their seats. A lawyer, even a lowly solicitor, learned how to read the room. They knew more than they were telling him.

"Why do you think Director Crouch put Black in Azkaban?"

"Again, I'm guessing. Dumbledore and Crouch might have different motives. Crouch needed someone to blame after Voldemort murdered someone as socially prominent as the Potters. Black showed up at a convenient time. I don't know which political faction wanted Black out of the way.

"Judge, may I offer a personal observation?" Tonks asked.

"If it is germane to this case," judge Gonson said.

"I negotiate for a living. Most people would have made a deal and moved on. I understand Bagman's problem since he is an addict. I understand Crouch being Imperioused and doing what he was told. Why did anyone go to all that effort? Why would someone work so hard to force an underage boy into a school contest? That doesn't make sense."

The Aurors nodded. Ted had done what he could. The meeting broke up and the rest of them headed their separate ways. Shacklebolt and the Crown Prosecutor still wanted to talk with him.

"I saw your face when the judge spoke. You hadn't considered the charge of attempted murder and extortion," the Auror said.

That was true. He hadn't. He was struggling to do the best he could in the wrong job. "I understand it now, but I'll admit it's new," Ted said.

Ted turned to the prosecutor, "What are you seeking as a remedy if the defendants are found guilty?" Tonks asked.

"The charge is that the defendants used a magical artifact to coerce another wizard. We'd seek to have Lord Potter's magic unbound from the magical contract. He is temporarily protected since we bound the defendants magic yesterday. In the short term, we'd ask that the defendants remain in custody so their magic remains bound and Lord Potter is not at risk.

"If the defendants want their own barrister, then I'll have to release some of their funds. I'll have the parchments ready.

"You said there were a number of ways to release Lord Potter from the magical contract. What do you think?" the prosecutor asked.

Tonks again took his notes from his bag. He copied the sheet he'd given to the tournament judges a few days ago.

Prosecutor Greer scanned his way down the list and then went back and studied each item. "You've thought about this." Greer took off his reading glasses and looked at Tonks. "Let me know if you want more work."

"Thank you. I hope you see options I've missed." Tonks was sincere, but he ignored the job offer. He had the privilege of only having a few clients at a time. He enjoyed the freedom to choose his clients and his terms. In contrast, the Crown Prosecutor had to work on whatever horror the Aurors dragged off the street.

Ted Tonks enjoyed his life and was eager to return to it. He rather liked the view of his garden from his office window.

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Night School

The vest was tight around her chest. The first person who learned how to fit thick dragon hide with flexible elastic would make a fortune. She would help fill their vault. They had all heard the excuses. Dragon hide was supposed to be comforting, not comfortable. She wiggled inside the hide until the pressure points were somewhere bearable. The Aurors were warded, armed, and armored. Some of the Aurors next to her had staffs. All of them had wide-area stun spells ready to cast. Anyone or anything left standing was getting a piercing hex or an AK. Maybe a Reductor or a Bombarda spell, depending on the distance and the Auror's accuracy. She had seen it happen before; a slowly cast wide-area spell was better than a quickly cast piercing hex that missed. Only hits counted.

She knew they were headed well south of London tonight. The team would be scattered across the countryside if they tried to apparate that far. The portkeys were set for a graveyard on the coast. That might be important if she were separated from the team and had to make her way back alone. She knew a few places she could apparate to in jumps. Unlike apparition, the portkeys were silent. That was important. This time they would get to cast the first curse. That is why everything was on a schedule.

The timing of the Death Eater's blood ritual was set by the rise of the gibbous moon. It was a wonderful change for the Aurors to be preparing ahead of time rather than scrambling to arrive only half ready. They had hours to get dressed and would still have a few minutes warning before they took the portkey. She looked around the room. This was a big operation. Her Sergeant said they had wards and elves already spread out for a hundred meters around the target area. They wanted all of them. They wanted every Death Eater who came when their master called.

That was a choice. There were other ways to do it, after all. The Aurors could have moved earlier and tried to interrupt the blood ritual before it was completed. The thought was that stopping the resurrection ritual would only delay Tom Riddle's return. Riddle was Voldemort's real name. It surprised her that Voldemort was actually a half-blood. It surprised all of them. None of that mattered tonight. She didn't care where Riddle came from and neither did anyone else.

Riddle and his Death Eaters used guerilla warfare. They gathered, they killed, and then they disappeared. They hid in plain sight because no one could see their dark marks. One of the first rules of warfare was to never concentrate your forces in an unsecured location. According to their sources, Tommy was about to find out what happened when you broke the rules. She was glad to offer the munchers a lesson.

She looked around the room. She noticed the empty lockers that had neither an Auror in front of them nor civilian robes inside of them. Instead of the real lockers she saw fading faces and heard familiar names. She thought payback was overdue. Long overdue.

Their Sargeant had shown them magical photographs and a sand-table model of the site. The cemetery was set in a shallow ravine. The graves were oriented lengthwise across the shallow slope. The gravestones faced across the incline with most of them facing the center of the draw. There would be a moon rising in the east. She drilled that into her head. It was easy to get turned around in the dark. Every familiar feature would help her figure out where they were and where they were going. The team would attack from over the ridge and then drive the munchers down the valley. They had prepared the site. The pocket of security wards and elves would close off the munchers' escape.

There was a lighted skate park behind them to the north. Another team would turn off those lights so they were not backlit in silhouette as they came over the shallow rise. Shutting down the flood lights in the park served a second purpose. That sudden darkness was their "go" signal. The south end of the skatepark was also a rally point for the injured who needed treatment or evacuation.

She liked plans like that. She really did. It was comforting to know that she would be taken care of if she were injured or worse. She hated the idea of vanishing a body rather than returning a fallen Auror to his family. It didn't have to make sense. It was just how she was. Most of them would be back in the dressing room in a few hours. Some would be in the infirmary by sunrise. She knew that some of them wouldn't come home at all. That was the job. Those were the odds. She swallowed and went back to adjusting her kit and reviewing the maps.

The security wards were set downhill from the graveyard. The wards were like magical barbed wire. A no-mage could walk right over the ward stones and wouldn't feel a tingle. When they were activated, a wizard would splinch if he tried to move through the ward line. Everyone in the strike team carried two charmed copper tokens to reveal the wards. She had one in her thigh pocket and a second one in her breast pocket just to make sure she didn't lose them.

The wards, and the elves behind them, they were the immovable anvil. The squads of Aurors were the hammer. There would be sparks as they met. That was the plan, but you know what they say about plans. The plans would go to hell once the first spell was cast. She hoped her hell was better than theirs. Either way, tonight was a bad time to be a Death Eater in Little Hangleton.

They had been quiet for five minutes. That was part of the schedule, part of their orders. The Aurors sat still so they could actually follow the plan rather than rush to get it over with. They turned off most of the lights in the assembly room so their eyes became used to the dark. She heard the other Aurors breathing. She took a deep breath as well. She had just taken another deep breath when their Sergeant said it was time to go.

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Author's Notes- Feedback is appreciated. This is one of the slower chapters. I thought about deleting it but it contained important hints about Crouch Junior.

Ted Tonks was nice enough to let me look in his expanding bag. These are his notes about removing the magical binding from the Goblet of Fire. Like Tonks, I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas.

Remove the existing judges from the tournament and have the three schools appoint new judges. If the schools can't come to an agreement, then have the presiding Crown Judge appoint new officials for the Tournament.

Submit a letter to the Goblet from the imaginary school that entered Lord Potter. Declare that Potter has been expelled due to lack of attendance and is no longer allowed to represent the school.

The contestants have to compete, but they do not have to win. Deliberately violate the terms of the tournament by having Lord Potter help one of the other contestants. He is therefore disqualified and his magic should be unbound.

Ask the Goblins to destroy the magic in the Goblet of Fire. The goblet hadn't been used in over 200 years. Magical society should be able to go on without it.

If the goblins can't help, then destroy the goblet and its magic by throwing the goblet through the Veil of Death.

Complete the terms of the tournament and release Lord Potter after playing three rounds of a game like Gobstones or rock-paper-scissors.

Hold the Triwizard Tournament events with Lord Potter observing the competition and find out what happens to the judge's magic if the goblet tries to take Lord Potter's magic.

I'm not sure if the second part of this chapter "night school" worked. It wouldn't make a good movie because nothing is on fire yet. Setting that aside, the tension during preparation is intense even during training exercises. How did it feel for you?

I looked at a map of Little Hangleton. Today there is a cemetery and a skate park as I've described. I don't know if the skate park was there in the mid-1990s.

Slow