Chapter 2

Friends and Foes

Harry reached for his wand by instinct but the chair swiveled to face him before he could get it out. Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, it's you."

"And who were you expecting?" asked Hermione.

"No one, actually. Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?"

"I knew you had to give the news on the Hogsmeade Huntsman today and I figured you would rush straight back here afterwards to have some firewhisky by yourself." Harry wasn't sure he liked where this was going. "And what kind of friend would I be", Hermione continued, "If I let you drink by yourself?" She lifted her hands to show two glasses filled with amber liquid.

Harry grinned and took a glass. "Hermione Granger having a drink during office hours, I never thought I'd see the day." Hermione glared at Harry and nodded at the door, conscious of Harry's security outside. " Muffliato", Harry said waving his wand at the door.

"Oh, Harry that's even worse, now they'll think we're doing something indecent!"

"Hey, you were the one that was hiding out in my office. Besides these guys are sworn to secrecy. They have to swear oaths and everything. Personally, I think it's way over the top, but Kingsley is security-conscious to an alarming degree."

"Oh fine, whatever. Who was that you were talking to out there anyway?"

"Allec Flint. Fantastic Auror and possibly the Ministry's best duelist. Also, a huge pain in the ass."

Hermione smiled and said, "wasn't there a Flint in Hogwarts with us?"

Harry nodded. "Marcus. Captain of the Slytherin quidditch team for a few years." It was exactly like Hermione to remember absolutely everything unless it was related to quidditch. "Allec is his uncle, he's a Slytherin as well. He rattles on about pureblood heritage now and again, but he's alright enough and certainly great at what he does. Although, I like him a lot better when we communicate via owl rather than face-to-face." Harry shrugged and took a sip of drink.

Hermione nodded at this, took a sip of her own drink, and then leaned forward. "How'd the announcement go?" She sounded eager.

"As you'd expect. I read the speech they gave me. Played up the crowd. Revealed that 'we' had caught the Hogsmeade Huntsman. Showed the real heroes for about 15 seconds and then the crowd chanted my name like I had just caught the snitch in the Quidditch World Cup. So, I took credit for something I had basically nothing to do with and the general populace still thinks I'm the "Chosen One" who can do no wrong." Harry drained his glass of firewhisky.

"But you did catch her? She was the one?" Hermione seemed genuinely anxious and Harry felt ashamed for taking the conversation in such a selfish direction. Ron was working in Hogsmeade. He'd left the Auror Office a few years ago to work with his brother George at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. They opened a Hogsmeade location and Ron was in charge of it. One of the victims was found with Weasley merchandise in her pockets and Ron had been the last person to see her alive. That's when Harry wanted to take the case himself, but Kingsley had said Harry was too valuable. So he didn't – he stayed here, behind his desk.

"Yeah, it was her. The evidence is clear as day, we have her dead to rights." Hermione gave a sigh of relief and took a sip of her firewhisky. They sat in silence for a moment.

"Any chance you can tell me about it? The evidence and how they caught her, I mean." Harry was even more surprised by this question than by Hermione having a drink. Harry wasn't allowed to disclose any information on cases that had not gone to trial yet – and Hermione knew that. Harry had broken this rule a handful of times and told details of particularly interesting cases to Ginny and Ron, but Hermione had stubbornly refused to listen, claiming she had a responsibility to uphold the integrity of the Ministry.

"If I tell you, will you do the paperwork for me?" Harry asked with a smirk. Hermione responded with an icy glare and Harry's smile widened. "Oh alright, I'll tell you anyway just out of the kindness of my heart." Harry poured himself another firewhisky and his face grew serious as he thought about the case. "She was hiding out in a cave just north of Hogsmeade. Actually, the exact same cave Sirius was hiding in during our fourth year when he came up after my name came out of the Goblet of Fire. She had a very clever hiding place worked out – she used an Illusion Charm to create a fake wall of rock. Anyone who entered the cave would see the illusion and think they had reached a dead end. But she made her base behind the illusion. She had one of those magical tents that is far larger on the inside than on the outside – like the one we stayed in at the Quidditch World Cup all those years ago. So – unlike Sirius – she was living in comfort, if not in luxury. She had defensive spells placed all around and inside the cave such that you wouldn't have been able to find her unless you physically bumped into her.

"With the increased security presence around Hogsmeade, she had very few chances to leave that cave. Without boring you with too many details, our Aurors knew she was still in town and had at least one resident still under the Imperius Curse. They staked out the town and picked up on one resident returning to the cave frequently, at night and under a Disillusionment Charm. Our aurors picked him up – poor bloke by the name of Malcolm Jones. Barely a year out of Hogwarts, he had a job working in the Hogsmeade post office. Apparently he met Miss Greengrass at the Three Broomsticks one night, she batted her eyelashes at him, suggested a midnight stroll and the next thing he knew he was Imperiused. While we were looking for her, Belvina had Malcolm looking at us. She had him report everything the aurors were doing, including noting where they were stationed, when they changed shifts, everything. That certainly explains how she kept evading them.

"Well once the aurors had lifted the Imperius Curse, Malcolm agreed to help us bring her in. Her plan was to sneak back into Hogwarts, she was looking to abduct another kid." Hermione gasped. "I know. We had Malcolm go back to her pretending he was still Imperiused and fed her false information on Auror movements and locations. This false information made it clear that the only way to Hogwarts we weren't guarding was the secret passageway under the Shrieking Shack. She took the bait and walked into a room filled with Aurors, she didn't stand a chance. We examined her wand using priori incantatem. It took a while to go back through that many spells, but that wand cast every Killing Curse, every Imperius, and every Cruciatus Curse. She'd left Phoebe, the girl she'd already kidnapped, in that cave in an enchanted slumber. But we got her too and woke her up without issue. She's scared and very confused but, as far as we can tell, she's unharmed and is back with her parents."

"Oh, Harry, thank you. This has all been so horrible, I'm just so relieved it's over." Hermione finished her firewhisky and Harry poured her another. "But why did she do all this? Did she say? What did she want with the kidnapped students?"

"No idea", Harry said with a frown. He hated when he couldn't figure out a motive. "Our original theory for her kidnapping students was either to ransom the parents or use as leverage if we got her cornered. But we don't know who the second kidnapping target was and Phoebe Fawcett's parents aren't particularly wealthy – her father is actually a guard at Azkaban, so he'll get the satisfaction of literally seeing his daughter's tormentor behind bars. The only thing Belvina has said since the arrest is 'I want my lawyer'. Hasn't even asked for a glass of water or to go to the bathroom. But we'll find out more next week at her trial."

The conversation then turned to more pleasant topics. Hermione's oldest child, Rose, was doing wonderful in school and Hermione spent several minutes bragging. This seemingly usual parent talk was odd for a couple reasons. First, Rose was only four years old - did they even have exams for four-year-olds? Next, Rose was far too young to attend Hogwarts, but Hermione insisted that all her children go to muggle primary school. She'd even lobbied, unsuccessfully, that Hogwarts start giving Muggle Studies credits for good grades achieved in muggle school (Hermione had since become Head of the Department of Education, with Harry's recommendation). Her teacher thought Rose had such an incredible imagination, always talking about her parents doing magic and the one time she flew on a broomstick. Harry knew for fact that Ron thought muggle schooling was a waste of time but he "knew better than to pick a fight with Hermione about education".

Harry shared some family stories too. The other night James (also four) had gotten his hands on Harry's Invisibility Cloak and had spent the entire day pretending to be a ghost and terrorizing his younger brother. Albus, only two, was convinced he was being haunted because he refused to eat his vegetables the day before. Harry was tempted to borrow this as a parenting technique but got James to stop by wondering out loud to Ginny whether James would take off the Cloak before he was stuck being invisible forever.

Harry got himself another drink. It was good to be among friends again. Someone he could actually talk to.

"You know, Hermione, as I get older -", Hermione choked on her own firewhisky and it took Harry a second to realize she was laughing.

"'As you get older'", Hermione said in a mocking tone. "Harry, you're only 27! How old do you think you are?"

"Can you let me finish!?" Harry said, smiling despite himself. "I'm having a sentimental moment here."

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "Then by all means, Harry, please go on."

"As I get older, the more I realize that I took it for granted seeing you and Ron every day. I always felt that Hogwarts was my true home and that you guys were my family. And now we're actually family and you know I wouldn't trade Ginny or the kids for the world. But I miss us at Hogwarts. Sneaking around, getting into trouble, you yelling at us for not doing our homework properly. I mean, it turns out that being Head of the Auror Office just means you have homework every day. At least at Hogwarts I did it next to you and Ron."

"Oh, Harry – ", Hermione started but Harry cut her off.

"Let's go see Ron now. I've got the Cloak here. We could slip by the security detail, sneak out of the Ministry, and Apparate to Hogsmeade. We'll surprise Ron at work and then all grab dinner at the Three Broomsticks like it's a Hogsmeade weekend. What do you say?"

Before Hermione could answer there was a pounding on the door. "Mr. Potter! Mr. Potter! An unknown individual wishes to enter your office. She claims to be your new assistant."

Harry rolled his eyes, they were always so dramatic. "Well, is she my new assistant?"

"Yes, we believe so, sir."

"Alright, well send her in."

The office door opened and young woman entered. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, violet robes and was currently wearing a smile that covered her entire face. "Mr. Potter it is such a pleasure to meet you in person. I am so honored that, out of all the applicants, you chose me to be your assistant!"

Harry vaguely remembered Percy telling him he had to pick his new assistant from the hundreds of resumes that had come in. He'd been told that his open assistant position had set the Ministry record for most applicants ever. Harry had taken them home, not sure what to do (actually reading them all was not an option). Ron had been over that night and, after a few firewhiskys, offered some sage advice "Throw the whole pile in the air and hit them with confringo. The resume that survives is meant to be."

"And it's a pleasure to meet you as well Miss?"

"Boot. Amanda Boot. I'm so excited to work for you Mr. Potter!" And she sounded like she really meant it. Before Harry could say anything else, Amanda looked at Hermione and emitted a shriek so high-pitched Harry was surprised his glass didn't shatter. "You're Hermione Granger!" Amanda said in a tone of wonder.

"Yes, I am. It's nice to meet you, Amanda."

Amanda appeared too excited to respond. Her mouth was open but no sound was coming out. Harry couldn't stand this much longer.

"Amanda, Hermione and I will be leaving for the day. Can I trust you to man the desk and collect any messages for me?"

"Yes, Mr. Potter you can!" she exclaimed as she saluted him. She really saluted him. Then she backed out of his office, still wearing that impossibly big smile.

"Harry, I'm sorry but I think I'm actually going to go. Ron's been staying at home the past few days with all the craziness in Hogsmeade. I want to tell Ron the good news myself and I'm ahead on work for once. I'm sure you have some loose ends to tie up to get this case to trial", Hermione said picking up her bag. Hermione was ahead on work all the time, but Harry said nothing. He should've told Ron this news himself, right away – instead he'd just stressed over the press release. When had he become so selfish? Hermione left and Harry was alone in his office. Exactly what he'd originally come here for, but suddenly solitude wasn't so appealing.

Harry poured another firewhisky and drank it in silence. Once he finished, he collected his things and got ready to go home – Podmore and Nigellus might be dropping by to leave a message and he didn't want to be around when they did. Harry stopped by the bathroom on his way out of the Ministry and his security team attempted to follow him in.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa – where do you think you're going?"

"We've been charged with protecting you, sir. A bathroom is an excellent place to stage an ambush."

"You left me alone in my office!"

"Yes, sir, that's one of the few safe locations we've been instructed as not requiring our physical presence. Your office has protective enchantments and defensive spells preventing entry by force. A public bathroom has no such defenses, we have to –"

"I don't care. You are NOT coming into the bathroom with me. That's not up for debate."

"I'm sorry, sir," the lead security wizard said taking a step forward, "But we have to –"

Harry had had enough. He pulled out his wand and aimed it at the approaching wizard's heart, who stopped dead in his tracks. "What happens if I hex you? Does your training call for you to just stand there and take it? And if you defend yourself and fire a spell back, well you'd be attacking Harry Potter – surely that means they would have to intervene and subdue you," Harry said nodding to the other three security wizards. "Or what if I just told each of you that I thought the other three were a threat to my life? Would you all have to duel to the death?"

"Um, er – I don't know, sir."

"Well if you take one more step we're going to find out. Understood?"

The security wizard gulped. "Yes, sir. Understood, sir"

"And another thing, stop calling me 'sir'!"

"Yes, s –", the security wizard cleared his throat. "Got it."

Harry turned and entered the bathroom with a smile, blessedly alone. His victory for privacy was short lived, however. As he was washing his hands, Harry heard raised voices from outside.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot allow you to enter."

"This is rubbish, we need to speak to Potter right away. This is urgent!" Harry recognized Abraxas Nigeullus' voice and groaned in frustration; he'd been so close to going home. Had he not had the argument with his security over the bathroom maybe he'd be home already. He briefly considered throwing on his Invisibility Cloak and running away from the whole lot of them out there. But no, he wasn't a teenager anymore. Harry sighed and walked outside to face his responsibilities like an adult.

"It's alright, they can talk to me. Abraxas, what's so urgent?"

The security wizards stepped aside, and Abraxas and John practically ran to Harry. "It's Belvina Greengrass, the Huntsman. Her attorney has requested that her trial be expedited. They want to have the trial tomorrow."

"I didn't even know she'd met with her attorney yet. She's only been in custody a few hours!" Harry took a minute to process this information while the two aurors hovered next to him. "She has been read all of her rights? Particularly around the legal proceedings, her right to review certain evidence, and her right to confer with the lead prosecutor? She knows she is not required to be put on trial until she has adequate time to prepare her case? Who is her attorney anyway?" The last thing Harry wanted was a mishandling of this case – they had ironclad evidence, the only thing that could prevent a guilty verdict was a mistrial.

It was John who responded this time, in his quiet yet firm voice. "Oh yes, the arrest and reading of her rights was done by the book. And she has certainly been properly informed of how wizarding trials work – her attorney is Orion Doxon."

The trial expedition request had made Harry curious, but this truly surprised him. Orion Doxon was a former auror himself but had made a career change a few years back. He knew the laws surrounding Dark magic inside and out and had leveraged that knowledge to become the most successful trial lawyer in the country. He usually prosecuted against accused violent criminals, though he did defend them on occasion too, if he thought they might be innocent. "Well that's not good. Did we make a mistake anywhere? Is there any hole in our case?"

"Not that we can see. Abraxas and I thought this just might be our most airtight case ever – but, with Doxon defending, the public may doubt that. We already spoke with the Minister and he's confident in our case. He is willing to grant the request and have the trial tomorrow – under the condition that you agree to it as well." John and Abraxas fell silent, but they looked like Harry felt – nervous but excited. The last thing Harry needed was something to go wrong with this trial, but…

"Let's do it." John and Abraxas broke out into grins and Harry found himself smiling as well. "Do we have a prosecutor lined up yet?"

"The Minister has volunteered to preside over the trial himself."

"Excellent. Gentlemen, please follow me to my office. We need to prepare."

This time the walk to Harry's office seemed to take only a few seconds. "Oh, Mr. Potter!" Amanda exclaimed, jumping to her feet when she saw him approaching. "I thought you'd left for the day."

"Change of plans, Amanda. Please prepare a message to the Minister and say that I approve Belvina Greengrass' request to expedite her trial and make sure to mark it with my official seal. Once you've done that, draft a message to my wife letting her know that I'll be home late. Lastly, can you round up some coffee? We've got work to do."