Soul Magic

As Sirius travelled back from Egypt, Claudia's life continued to be filled with the aftermath of the World Cup. The house elf was a dead end. There was surprisingly little in the Mind Room archives about using Legilimency on non-human creatures, and even Claudia had to agree that Crouch's ex-house elf was not the one to experiments on.

There was not such easy solution, however, to the Dark Mark problem. Every day and every night, Claudia spent locked in Division Twelve with half dozen of the best Unspeakables, trying to cast the spell that scared the life out of half the British population. And so far, all of it was for nothing.

After few weeks of futility, Claudia woke up late on the sorry little bed in her office. She rubbed her eyes, as she contemplated what would be the fastest way to source a coffee, when-

"Shit-" she groaned and sat up. Today was the day she was supposed to meet Neville for breakfast before he left for Hogwarts. She glanced at her watch. In fact, she was supposed to meet him in ten minutes! Ten minutes to get dressed, brush teeth and get him a present.

Having stolen Auberon's coffee, she legged it to Diagon Alley. She bought an expensive quill, the price of which would hopefully mask how little thought has gone into the gift, and then made her way to the Leaky Cauldron. Neville was already there.

After some small talk and another cup of coffee, Claudia's face lit up. "You're going to have a new teacher this year," she said, finally having regained her brain power. "My old boss, Alastor Moody."

"What is he like?"

"A little rough around the edges… He isn't the most pleasant-" Seeing terror on Neville's face, Claudia tried to soften the blow. "But he will be a great teacher. He was a great teacher to me when I was doing my auror training. And the closest I have to a father…"

Neville looked up, the terror in his eyes replaced with curiosity. "I never heard you talk about your actual father. Is he-" he paused. "Dead?"

"Not dead," Claudia replied and sipped her coffee. "Just not someone you'd want to spend time with."

Neville had an inquisitive look on his face but did not seemingly have the courage to ask the obvious question, so Claudia continued.

"Let me put it this way," she said with a sigh. "If my father wasn't lying in St Mungo's with life-altering injuries, he would've been leading that riot at the World Cup." She chuckled a little. "Ah, don't look so shocked, Nev. Do I look like I've been raised by nice people?"

Neville laughed nervously. "I suppose not-" he weighted his words carefully. "And your mother, also a Death Eater?"

"No. She just wanted me to be something I'm not."

Neville's face sunk. "I know what that's like…"

"You have the strength to be your own person, mark my words." Claudia had to bite her lip to leave it at that. She had her own thoughts about Neville's grandmother but sharing them with Neville would have crossed a line (and got her banished from the Longbottom household for life). So, she patted his hand and changed the subject. "Want to know a secret?"

Neville nodded.

"You mustn't tell anyone, but Hogwarts is going to be hosting an international wizarding tournament this year. Pupils from other countries will be coming to test their skills against all kinds of enchantment and creatures-"

Neville's face went ashen again. "That sounds-" he paused and swallowed dry, "-dangerous."

"It can be."

"Gran will want me to compete."

Claudia smiled at him. "Would you want to?" She never seen Neville move as fast, as when he shook his head just then, so she continued. "Well, then you'll be pleased to hear that there is an age-limit of seventeen. So, you won't be allowed to compete in any case."

Neville sighed with relief and tuck into his ice cream. Claudia had to bite her lip again. That boy was not going to survive Alastor Moody's teaching methods. Should she warn him? Should she tell Moody to take it easy? Perhaps… She'll have to think about this some more. But after she said goodbye to Neville, her attention was quickly drawn elsewhere.

Later that same evening, after several mind-numbing hours of re-reading and re-checking all their research, Claudia's eyes began to glaze over- How was it they were not able to crack it? Maybe it was-

"Merlin's bollocks!" a scream pierced the air and Claudia's concentration was broken. She looked up and just about caught a glimpse of a book flying through the air. Bode was scarlet in the face. "This is impossible," he groaned.

Claudia pushed herself up to standing and stretched in an attempt to get some blood into her brain. Maybe there was a reason none of them could do it… Mulling that over, she took a few steps to pick up the book and placed it carefully on the table again. "I am starting to think it's a good thing none of us can cast it," she said.

"How could this be good?" Bode growled at her.

"We're missing something-" she could not quite put her finger on it.

"Of course, we're missing something!" Bode's frustration has boiled over.

"Hang on," K.P. interrupted. "If we cannot crack it, it had to be someone or something that You-Know-Who taught them personally. It just cannot be self-taught."

"Exactly," Claudia continued his thought. "Which would mean that it was definitely a Death Eater- which answers Fudge's question." She looked at them, hoping for some enthusiasm but all she saw were bags under eyes and yawns. "Let's call it a day. I'll think about how to explain this to Fudge."

There was no opposition to that suggestion, but no thank-yous either. The Unspeakables just murmured in unison and began to pack their things. Claudia stood rooted in the middle of the room, watching them shuffle home. She looked at her watch. It was well past midnight. She would have killed to come home to a warm bed. Alas, it was not to be.

For a second, she imagined what she was missing. A warm embrace, a kiss on her shoulder. Her tired and achy body trembled at the thought of what she would do to Sirius if he was back.

She barely made it to her flat in Gower Mews and fell into the bed. She put up a little bit of a fight, willing her body to get up but failed. She was asleep before managing to take her clothes off or brush her teeth.

When she finally did manage to open her eyes, the sun was up. Claudia made coffee, showered and allowed herself the luxury of stealing a few minutes on the sofa with the Daily Prophet and some stale biscuits. The headline her eyes landed on made her regret the decision almost immediately. Her heart in her throat, she devoured the article.

'The Ministry was plunged into fresh embarrassment yesterday by the antics of Arnold Weasley, of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office...'

Her eyes sped up across the page, skimming the text.

'…rushed to the aid of "Mad-Eye" Moody, the aged ex-Auror who retired from the Ministry when no longer able to tell the difference between a handshake and attempted murder.

On another day, that may have been funny. But not today-

'Mr Moody had once again raised a false alarm.'

And breathe… Claudia threw the paper to the side. This was it. She was done keeping her distance. She told Neville that Moody was like a father to her. It was high time she acted like that.

Claudia downed her coffee and apparated to her old boss' house. She knocked and knocked but there was no answer. A peak through the curtains revealed nothing. The house seemed deserted. She was beginning to panic, when she remembered the date. It was the second of September. The Hogwarts term had started and that was where Moody must have gone.

She took a few breaths to stop her heart from racing and apparated straight to the Ministry. But she could not quite let the Moody issue go, so instead of heading to the Department of Mysteries like she did most morning, she made her way to the Auror Office.

"Seen the Prophet?" she barked instead of greeting Oscar.

"I have-" he replied slowly and raised his head from whatever it was he was reading. "But it's been sorted. He's gone to Hogwarts."

Claudia sighed.

"Nothing to sigh about. It could've been so much worse."

"I shouldn't have listened to you. Should have gone to see him." She sighed. "I miss him."

"You'll miss him more if you keep getting him in trouble till he ends up in Azkaban."

Claudia's eyes narrowed. "This is definitely not my fault," she barked.

She was fully expecting Oscar to argue, to give her some convoluted explanation as to why she was wrong. But instead, he sunk deeper into his chair. "I know… It's just-" he sighed. "This job is killing me. The hours, I can handle. But the politics! And does no one follow orders anymore?"

Claudia barely supressed a laugh. Who would not laugh at Oscar of all people complaining that someone was not following orders.

"Don't you dare laugh at me-" Oscar barked.

She sat down opposite him and stole one of his biscuits. Much nicer than the ones she had at home. "I have ten minutes. Your time to vent – who's your biggest pain?"

"Ludo Bagman," he replied through gritted teeth.

"Well, that's not surprising," Claudia laughed. "What's he done now?"

"It's more what he hasn't done." Oscar reached for a biscuit too. "One of his staff members gone missing on her holidays. We want to send someone to investigate, but he keeps convincing Amelia not to."

"Amelia? First name basis with the boss already?" Claudia teased him.

"Shut up. Normally, she'd ignore him. But Ludo somehow managed to get Fudge on side." He paused and his eyes narrowed. "Fudge likes you. How do I convince him?"

"Don't ask me. I'm on thin ice again…" Claudia said. "At least until I figure out how to cast that bloody Dark Mark."

"Shame you can't ask your father…"

That was a thought! Maybe Legilimency could- she thought… But her father's brain was soup, and he was relatively well-guarded in St Mungo's… Before she gave up on the idea completely, however, something occurred to her. Marcus would know! She jumped to her feet. "Thank you," she beamed, so excited that she would have kissed Oscar right there if that did not risk sending mixed signals.

Claudia took another of her old friend's biscuits and left his office in a much better mood than she entered it in.

It took her all day, but by about nine o'clock, she finally found him. He was drowning his sorrows at the Leaky Cauldron. Without a word, she sat down at the table. Any resemblance Marcus had to their father in his youth was gone. His features rounded up and Cassandra's eyes were staring back at Claudia from their deep sockets.

"You want something-" he mumbled after long silence. "I can see it in your smug face."

"Had fun at the World Cup?" she hissed at him, fully expecting her brother to fight back. But she got to be disappointed-

"Is that what you really thing?" he sighed instead and took a sip of his drink. "Low blow. You know I'm done with that-"

"Good for you," she replied through gritted teeth. He looked broken. Which was good, it meant he might talk to her. Claudia contemplated ordering a tea but decided against it. But maybe she was silent for just a second too long-

"Will you just tell me what you want or go? I have enough silent treatment from mother."

"Fine!" Claudia shifted in her seat. This was her idea. But it still felt very odd asking Marcus for help. "How do you cast the Dark Mark?"

"Switched sides?" he sneered into his drink.

"Marcus… please."

"Oh, you're investigating," he raised his eyes to meet hers. "I thought they chucked you out of the Auror Office after your boyfriend turned out to be one of us."

"Funny," she hissed. Sirius being free made these jibes easier to rise above. "We need to know if the World Cup incident was a prank or an act by a genuine Death Eater."

"Not a prank." Marcus did not even blink. He spoke with total certainty.

"How can you be sure?"

"Because you cannot cast it without the Dark Mark tattoo."

Claudia's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yes, really." Marcus' tone was becoming impatient.

"How does that work?"

Marcus shrugged. "You're the brainy one. Figure it out."

"Thanks," she said and began to get up. "Very helpful." The sarcasm was unmissable in her tone.

"Look, I don't know. Magical theory has never been my thing." He paused. "I would help you if I could."

"You could show me. Come to my office tomorrow."

"I'm not setting foot in there."

"We could meet anywhere else."

Marcus shook his head. "I don't want to cast it. You need to summon things within yourself…. And it's not a place I want to go to. Ever again."

She contemplated for a second whether she should ask him if he was alright (he very clearly was not) but decided against it. They never had a real conversation in the thirty-four years Claudia spent on Earth so far. Why start now? "I get it. Thanks anyway." She stood up and made her way home. It was time to forget about Marcus' sorrows, down a bottle of sleeping draught and report to Fudge in the morning.

"Please tell me you have good news," the Minister said in a tired tone when Claudia walked through the door of his office.

"Yes and no," she said and accepted his invitation to sit down. "No one can cast it. Dozens Unspeakables have tried. The Head of Division Twelve tried. If he can't…"

Fudge's face had fallen.

"But," Claudia continued, "we have intelligence that suggests one needs the Dark Mark tattoo to cast it. Which corroborates the conclusion of our fruitless efforts. It mean that-"

"That it was not an opportunist or a prankster."

"No."

"But which Death Eater?" Fudge said and sunk into his chair.

"Well, it was not Sirius Black," Claudia whispered before her brain could talk her out of this particular act of stupidity. Before Fudge could say anything, or call the aurors, she continued. "He does not have the tattoo, you see. And you don't have to take my word for it… The Azkaban records will tell you the same story, I'm sure of it."

"But how many tattooed Death Eaters are there?"

"More than you think," Claudia uttered.

Fudge said nothing, but his eyes darted to Claudia's sleeve.

"I'm not one of them," she hissed impatiently.

"I wasn't. I didn't mean to-" he stammered. "It's just-" he gestured in the vague direction of Claudia's arm.

"You never seen me in short sleeves?"

"No."

"Well, this is why-" she pulled her sleeve up and immediately had regrets. What was she thinking? It was either the sleep deprivation or the fact she was tired of Fudge assuming the worst. Whatever made her do it, however, did result in the Minister of Magic staring at Claudia's incriminating tattoo.

"Is that?" he asked, squinting.

"Yes, it is." She nodded. "And I am an idiot for showing it to you. But suppose it's less damaging to my reputation than leaving the Minister of Magic with the impression that I have the Dark Mark."

"How do-"

"It was fifteen years ago-" she interrupted. "I am not that person anymore. This tattoo reminds me that what does not kill you makes you stronger, and I am not going to apologise for keeping it." She stood up. None of that was strictly speaking a lie. "I should go. And sorry to be the bearer of this news, Minister."

"Cornelius," he whispered. "How many times do I have to tell you?" Then he looked up at her and smiled. "It's just one Death Eater, nothing the aurors cannot handle."

Sure, Claudia thought. Just one Death Eater… But she kept her scepticism to herself and, somewhat relieved Fudge bought her duplicitous explanation for her tattoo, she made her way back to the Department of Mysteries to tell everyone that the race to cast the Dark Mark was over. And not a moment too soon, it had been exhausting.

On Friday morning, Claudia woke up after a few restless hours to a message from Sirius that brought a smile to her face.

'Just setting off from Nantes. Will be home tonight.'

Claudia drunk two coffees on an empty stomach and run to the office, so that she could leave earlier and get to the Sandcastle before Sirius did.

But her day was derailed when Auberon walked into her office just before lunch and announced a surprised visitor.

"Did you say Augusta Longbottom?" Claudia asked once she processed what Auberon was saying to her.

"Yes."

"What sort of mood is she in?" Claudia mumbled. This could not have been good.

"Furious."

"Excellent," Claudia whispered to herself and mindlessly started to tidy up her desk. But she barely managed to put away a couple of rolls of parchment, when Augusta Longbottom burst through the door.

"What happ-" Claudia tried asking but she did not get to the end of her sentence.

"Neville's new teacher-" Mrs Longbottom threw her handbag on Claudia's desk and leaned over it. "Your friend, Moody; he scared the life out of him!"

"Moody is just-" Claudia started to defend her old boss but was interrupted again.

"He showed them Crucio in class-" Augusta's voice echoed around Claudia's office.

"Oh," Claudia froze as the realisation dawned on her. Neville knew what happened to his parents. And so did Moody. "Moody doesn't always think about stuff like this-" she paused, expecting Mrs Longbottom to yell at her, but the old woman merely scoffed. "What did Nev say?" Claudia added.

"Nothing, of course. Minerva had to tell me. I was hoping he sent a letter to you."

"He hasn't-"

"And Moody?"

"I'll write to him."

"Now?"

"Alright," Claudia mumbled and took out a fresh parchment from her drawer. When Mrs Longbottom showed no sign of leaving, Claudia shielded the letter from the women's piercing sight and began to write.

'Boss,

Congrats on the new job. I should have come and wished you good luck before you left. But my life has taken a fun turn again, and maybe it is for the better that I protect you from my troubles. Oscar certainly seems to think so…

I do wish though I told you about Neville before he got to pleasure to experience your teaching methods. He's a great kid and definitely smarter than he looks. But he is having hard time with confidence. And I do not thing that tough love – or showing him the Cruciatus curse to be precise – is going to do him any good. He needs encouragement. Try talking to him about plants or frogs. And please take it easy on him.

Claudia

P.S. And whatever you do, please do not compare him to either of his parents. He has enough of that in his life as it is.'

Once the letter was in Auberon's hands and Augusta finally left, Claudia started to write another letter, this time to her godson. But she tore up a draft about five times. No way would it have been helpful to tell him she knew about the lesson. So, she settled on a note that he should let her know when the next Hogsmeade weekend was, and she would come meet him for a tea. Hopefully, he was going to last until then.

The Augusta-shaped disaster meant that by the time Claudia walked through the Sandcastle's orchard, she knew that Sirius made it first. Her heart skipped a beat or two when she saw a faint light in one of the first floor's windows, and she picked up pace. She was forty-five seconds away from heaven.

The moment she entered the bedroom, her face melted into a smile. Sirius was half undressed, changing the bedding. He lifted his head and-

Before she had time to study his face, Claudia threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. There was so much to tell him- Neville, Fudge, the Dark Mark- all the things that have been consuming her brain for weeks. But all of them suddenly felt much less pressing… As if her worries had dissolved in the aroma of Sirius' cologne.

"How have-" he began, but Claudia placed her index finger over his lips.

"No talking about any of it till tomorrow…"

"But the Dark Mark. We haven't-"

"Please!" she groaned and sunk deeper into his embrace. "My brain has melted, and I barely slept since the World Cup. And-"

"Alright, alright," Sirius whispered and sunk his fingers into the short hair on the back of her head and-

In an instant, the world had disappeared. She forgot what she wanted to say. She forgot that anything but the two of them ever existed.

Sirius pulled away from the kiss for a split second. "Claude-"

"No, please- I mean it, I can't face it," she whispered and gripped onto his arm.

"Would you at least let me say hello to you?" he asked gently, stroking her cheek.

"Fine-" she chuckled. "You can say hello…"

"Hello–" he mumbled and kissed her again. "I missed you."

"I know you have." She hooked her thumbs on the back of his trousers and pressed her body into his. She had missed him too.

"I imagined things in my head," he whispered in her ear. Then, he lifted her up and threw her into the freshly changed bed.

"What things?"

"I don't have the patience to explain-" he said with that mischievous laugh she knew all too well. "But I would quite like to test if the reality lives up to my dreams."

Claudia laughed and sunk into the fresh bedding- she just about had enough presence of mind to notice Sirius' fingers working on the buttons of her shirt. Her own body provided no resistance and soon enough, the shirt – and the rest of their clothes - were on the floor.

Sirius lips travelled down her collarbone, chest, stomach, inner thigh. He had not even done anything and Claudia's breath was quivering as if this was her first time.

Wave after wave of pleasure wiped her brain. She let him do whatever he wanted – whatever position, whatever pace. His fast breaths filled her ear. He was so very - Claudia bit her lip – very good at this. Any hint of awkwardness between them was a distant, distant memory.

Claudia shut her eyes as Sirius' grip of her tightened. There was no one there to hear them, and Sirius took full advantage of that. He groaned so loud that it must have scared the seagulls within a mile. And then, collapsed on top of Claudia.

She purred and tried to push him to the side. "You're sticky-" she mumbled with her eyes shut.

"I am not letting you go," he whispered in her ear and squeezed her so tight it nearly took her breath away. "We'll stay in this bed until we're hundred."

Claudia laughed but her eye lids were heavy, and so was her tongue. But she intertwined her arms with Sirius' to make sure he could not let go off her even if he wanted to and drifted off before he could mutter a good night.

The heavy curtains of her deep sleep eventually twitched, and Claudia noticed gentle kisses on her shoulder. Her eyes peeled open. It was bright, too bright if anything, so she shut them again. Nothing was going to make her get up.

"Come on, I've been up for hours," Sirius whispered before planting another kiss on her shoulder. "And I made breakfast."

Claudia pulled the duvet over her head, nudging him away. "I don't want to get up. I want to stay in this bed until Mon-" She shrieked as the blanket flew off her body, making her shiver in the morning breeze.

"I made you coffee. It will get cold-"

He knew how to get her attention. Grudgingly, she followed him. They ate in silence and drunk the coffee pot dry. As Claudia sat her coffee cup down, Sirius straightened himself in the ratan chair. Claudia knew what that meant. It was time.

Before either of them spoke, however, he moved to sit right next to her and took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. "I need to know everything. It's been driving me crazy ever since I saw the picture of the mark in the Egyptian papers."

Claudia stretched and took out one of the cigarettes from Sirius' packet. "It had to be a Death Eater. No chance it was an imposter or a prank."

Sirius frowned. "How could you be that sure?"

Claudia blew out smoke against the bright blue sky and passed Sirius the cigarette. She might as well come out with it. "Only the people with the tattoo can cast the Dark Mark. Marcus told me-"

"Your brother?" Sirius nearly jumped to his feet. "I cannot-"

"He's not who he used to be..." she sighed and took the cigarette back. "You really have nothing to worry about."

Sirius frowned. "People don't change."

"I'm not saying he's some kind of saint," Claudia said and reached for Sirius' hand. "He's just not committed to the cause anymore. The war broke him." Sirius said nothing. Claudia ignored his scowling and continued. "Doesn't matter- What matters is that I think he's right. The best Unspeakables tried to cast the Dark Mark and nothing came of it."

"So they're back…" Sirius signed. "Do you have any idea who might have done it?"

"No."

"Do the Aurors know? Who are they investigating?"

"I don't know-"

"Well, we should find out. Do something about it. You still have some contacts in the Auror Office, right?"

Claudia grimaced. "What's worrying me more is that people were joining them. Shouting anti-muggle bullshit. After everything that happened during the war, there are still people that-" Claudia bit her lip. The tears started to force themselves into her eyes. "You don't seem surprised," she added when Sirius did not look at all phased by what she just told him.

"He fell at the height of his power," he said with a shrug. "Do you remember how outnumbered we were? It wasn't just Death Eaters who were on his side. And not everyone followed him because they were terrified either. The ideas were popular. And when the war ended, the Ministry swept all that under the carpet. Did not want to deal with it. No wonder it's resurfacing now."

Claudia sighed and dropped her head on his shoulder. "Not the only thing they tried to sweep under the carpet."

Sirius sighed and planted a long kiss in her hair. "Well, I'm here now…" he uttered. "Here, but no fucking use."

"Don't say that. I-"

"I can't just sit here and wait for the war to come get us again," he interrupted. "I want to get out there and blast the head of every single Death Eater who is still walking free. It's the least I can do for you and Harry."

There was no point arguing. "I will see what I can find out. But-"

"Yeah, yeah… I will be a good boy and keep out of sight."

"I'll get here as often as I can."

Sirius said nothing. He just sighed and hastily lit another cigarette.

They did not approach that subject all weekend. A weekend that was filled with cooking, cleaning and – at least for Claudia – brewing batches of her sleeping draught. When Sunday night came, the good-bye was heart-wrenching. She needed him and he needed her, but as long as Sirius conviction stood, there was nothing they could do but to make the best of a terrible situation. So, Claudia vowed to return every night that week, even if it meant very little sleep and very many hours on a tiny wooden boat.

One night, Claudia was getting some clean clothes and more potions ingredients from the Gower Mews flat when she noticed two owls sitting impatiently on the windowsill. Without a thought, she ripped the first envelope open only to realise the letter was addressed to Sirius.

The Sandcastle must have been impervious to owls, she thought as she began to read it.

"Dear Sirius,

I recon I just imagined my scar hurting, I was half-asleep when I wrote to you last time. There's no point coming back, everything's fine here. Don't worry about me, my head feels completely normal.

Harry"

The note brought a little smirk to Claudia's face. Harry was a terrible liar. And he was clearly yet to learn that telling Sirius what to do was only going to encourage him to do the exact opposite. She pocketed it to give to the intended recipient later-

The second letter was from Moody. Claudia was expecting something along the lines of 'stop meddling', or 'the boy is fine'. But instead- she had to re-read the message twice. An apology? Did Moody got hit in a head?

She picked up a quill and wrote a quick reply.

'A bit unexpected, but thanks for saying that. I want to come see Neville during the November Hogsmeade trip. Maybe we could grab a drink? You can tell me all about the new job.'

Claudia sent the owl back, and made her way to see Sirius again… But he barely noticed. He fed her, he held her in his arms as she fell asleep and even brought her coffee to bed in the morning. But she knew something was bothering him. And he knew she knew that. But for now, they both made an unsaid vow not to try and tackle it. If Claudia learned one thing about him since they were stupid teenagers, it was that pushing him to talk was the surest way for them to fight. So, she assured him she loved him no matter what and went back to London to give him some space.

The following evening, wandering through the Department of Mysteries corridors, Claudia bumped into Bode.

"I've been trying to get a meeting with you for days," he grabbed her by the elbow. "I've got an answer on the cube."

It took Claudia a moment to remember what a cube had to do with anything- "Oh, the cube. Borkin's cube! What is it?"

"We should go somewhere more private."

"That bad?"

Bode showed her into an empty meeting room. "The cube contains a fragment of a soul," he said as he passed her a role of parchment.

"Soul?" she uttered. "Whose soul?" She reached for it with her free hand, and her mind began to remember the things she saw in her father's mind about the Horcrux he made, and the strong implication that Voldemort had several-

"It's not human," Bode explained. "I think it's some kind of dark creature. My best guess it's either a twisted souvenir or an experiment of some kind."

Claudia exhaled. At least she was not holding a fragment of Voldemort's soul. "Thanks," she mumbled. I don't think Borgin is getting this back, she thought to herself and made her way back to her office.

The moment she sat back at her desk, she started to write a message to Sirius to say she was going to be late, just in case he decided to wait for her on the beach. Just in case his mood had improved…

'I just need to do one more thing-' SNAP. Her quill split under the weight of her hand. Claudia reached into the drawer for a new one. But then she spotted couple of those beaten-up books on soul magic that Borgin lent her. There was no harm in reading those again…

She squinted to study the pages that she previously discounted as gibberish. Her eyes raced across the pages until- 'Yamar – total control.'

Could that be Yamur? It must have been. But that meant…

Could the rest of these spells, the ones that she did not understand before, also be in Arabic? Her mind began to race. What if Egyptian magic was the key to the prophecy? But where to begin? Her urge to go back to Egypt on that sabbatical was stronger than ever, but alas, that was not to be. If only there was someone- She stood up so quickly her chair toppled over behind her. There was someone! Malika!

By the time Claudia found Malika in one of the rooms off the Hall of Prophecies, her heart was beating so hard she could hear it in her ears. "You went to school in Damascus, didn't you?" Malika nodded, but before she had a chance to respond with words- "I've got these spells, which I think might be Arabic," Claudia added and shoved the notebook under Malika's nose.

Malika stared at the neat handwriting for a long time – or at least it felt like a long time- and then, eventually, she pointed at one of the foreign words. "I don't know this spell, Asamalra, but you could derive something similar if you used one of the terms for splitting and for soul."

"That's great," Claudia beamed. "What about this one?"

"Adeltoha could mean something like reunification." Malika said tentatively. "But it's really butchered. Like someone wrote it down without really knowing Arabic. Or magic," she added sceptically.

"Do you think this second spell could be used on a soul that's been split?"

"Possibly. No idea. This really is not my area of expertise."

"Of course."

"But I'm sure you'll work it out."

Claudia gave Malika a weak smile, took the notebook back and spent the rest of the evening reading and re–reading every word. Under the Adeltoha spell – there was a barely legible footnote, as if the author wrote it in a hurry.

'Leads to alterations – caster seems to be able to control the soul they unified. No use.'

She picked up the cube in her hand. This sort of thing did not scare her. She could see the use in it – if you could merge a soul of an ordinary human with a fragment of a dark creature, you could really create something horrifying. Especially, if the resulting creature was under your control. It was a goldmine to a dark wizard.

"Not really sure how that's going to help me with the prophecy," she sighed. But there had to be something in it. This was the closest she ever got to a possible answer. Could this in any way help her understand the bond between hers and Sirius' soul? To help her fulfil her part of the prophecy? She had to keep going-

With a heavy heart, she wrote an apologetic message to Sirius that she was unlikely not likely to make it tonight, and reached for a fresh role of parchment.

She wrote down every toe-curling detail of soul magic from these notebooks and every other source she managed to get her hands on over the years, and threw her doodling and the books into her bag. It was well past midnight at this point. And no matter how much she wanted to, she could not face the boat trip to the Sandcastle. So with a lot of guilt and many apologies, she traded Sirius' warm embrace for couple hours sleep in Gower Mews.

Loud knocking invaded her dreams. Claudia rubbed her eyes, thrown on some clothes. When her fingertips were an inch from the doorhandle, the door flew open, and she stumbled backwards. "What's going on?" she asked hoarsely of the two men draped in dark grey robes who entered her flat.

"Permission to search this place," one of them waved a piece of parchment in front of her face.

Claudia snatched it, her brain immediately on high alert. But the document did not reveal any more details. "On what grounds?" she asked.

"We do not have to reveal these to you-" The man replied. "This is not a law enforcement matter. This is an internal affairs investigation."

"Do your worst-" Claudia replied, her throat closing somewhat. Why did she not move the stuff from upstairs to Guernsey when she had a chance? Before Claudia even finished that thought, one of them was holding her notebook in his hands.

"What is this?" he asked sharply, flipping through the pages and pages of soul research.

"Work."

The man's lips narrowed, but he did not say anything. Swiftly, he packed away all the books she got from Borgin as well as her notes, and – together with his colleague - left as fast as he came.

Well, she thought, this is the end of my partnership with Borgin. The last thing he wanted was for his books to fall into the hands of the Ministry's internal affairs investigators. Before Claudia could assess her options of how to deal with this latest blow – one that had Dolores Umbridge's fingerprints all over it – she sat down and wrote down everything she remembered from the research that was just taken from her. The soul magic had to be her priority.

Once she was done, she got dressed and made her way into the office. Somewhat tentatively, she knocked on the door of the Head Unspeakable. "We might have a little problem," she mumbled once he called her in.

"What did you do?" Agrippa asked in a bored tone. He was leaning over his desk and barely stopped writing.

"Internal affairs came to search my flat this morning-" Claudia said. "I have no idea why."

Agrippa looked up at her. "What reason did they give you?"

"None. It must have been Um-"

"Did they find anything?" Agrippa did not let her finish the sentence. His eyes were narrower.

"Like what? Sirius Black in my closet?" she hissed, annoyed he did not want to contemplate her theory Umbridge was setting her up. But when she saw Agrippa's tired look, she sighed. "Fine, just some research notes. I really don't know what they're after."

"Let me ask them-"

With a barely noticeable sigh, Agrippa stood up and shuffled out of his office. He looked much older than usual. The sight of him made Claudia squirm a little. Did she do this to him? Did all her shenanigans made him this old?

Second-guessing her contribution to the Department of Mysteries, she tried to go about her day but it was a struggle to keep focused. Mercifully, just after lunch, Agrippa returned.

"What did they tell you?" she jumped at him before he even had the chance to close the door behind him.

"Officially? Not much," he said and sat down on the sofa. "Unofficially, they were working off an anonymous tip off."

"Tip off about what?" she said quickly, pacing the room.

Agrippa shrugged. "In any case, Umbridge was pushing for a full hearing on why you would have that kind of material and-"

"Because that's what we do-" Claudia interrupted. "It was nothing compared to what K.P. does. And even in the Mind Room-"

Agrippa silenced her with a gesture. "I know- I spoke to Fudge too and he appeared to be convinced by my argument that if we do not keep up with this sort of research, we will be caught out."

"Well, he always agrees with the last person he speaks with…" Claudia grumbled and crashed into the sofa next to him. "Wait until Umbridge gets to him."

Agrippa patted her on the shoulder. "You aren't to blame for this one. This has been going on since before you were born. Just be careful for a bit, ok? Don't leave writing about dark magic on the kitchen table."

Claudia was fighting the urge to hug him, but contained herself, thanked him and they said their goodbyes. Once she was home, she debated how much of this to tell Sirius and decided best to do it in person when she went to the Sandcastle at the weekend. She was in no state to go tonight. Ans the internal affairs investigators could always return…

So instead of heading off to Guernsey, she drunk a large helping of sleeping draught and crashed into bed.

In the morning, still half-asleep, she unfolded the pages of the Daily Prophet.

'Dark Secret at the Heart of the Ministry'

'I thought I have seen it all in terms of the Ministry's mismanagement of your hard-earned galleons. But the latest revelations from what goes on in the infamous Department of Mysteries made even this season writer gasp. Your money is funding dark research that would made the Death Eaters blush. Hardly surprising since Claudia Avery, who has long been tainted by her association to You-Know-Who's cause, is the-'

That was enough. Claudia scrunched up the paper and threw it towards the bin, very grateful that Sirius did not have a subscription.

She missed… She knew exactly who was behind this garbage.

Plotting Umbridge's downfall, she spotted another letter on her kitchen table and ripped it open–

'Don't have time that weekend. Moody'

"Fine," she growled. "If you don't want to see me, just fucking say so…"

Moody's scrunched up letter landed right next to the Prophet. They were both garbage. The same could have been said about Claudia's mood.