Level One of the Ministry of Magic seemed much more hectic than the last time Harry was here, if that was even possible. The Minister's support staff were running around wildly like chickens with their heads cut off while easily a hundred interdepartmental memos flew overhead. Given the level of chaos, one would assume that there was a national crisis going on somewhere that required a timely and professional response, but the truth was something much more mundane than that.
The Minister was trying to hold onto power.
With the next session of the Wizengamot taking place tomorrow, everyone was in high gear. Word of an impending vote of no confidence was swirling around the Ministry like Fiendfyre. And, like all politicians, Kingsley Shacklebolt wasn't willing to go down without a fight.
Honestly, Harry wouldn't be upset if Kingsley was ousted from his position. The man was ultimately responsible for the ineffectual punishments the Death Eaters and their collaborators faced after the war. However, there wasn't exactly a good replacement candidate at the moment. More than likely, if Kingsley was ousted, he'd be replaced by a dark-side sympathizer. That was something that could not be tolerated.
Harry weaved his way between frantic aides and secretaries, giving Percy a quick wave hello as he passed by the redhead's desk. Percy didn't even seem to notice, as he had his nose buried in a thick, leather-covered tome with a sheaf of parchment at his side and a magical quill taking down his dictation.
A pair of Aurors flanked the double doors to the Minister's office. Elwyn, the Auror Harry had met the last time he'd come up to see the Minister, perked up as he noticed Harry.
"Sir," Elwyn nodded sharply and grabbed the door handle to the Minister's office. He pushed it inward at Harry's approach.
"Thanks," Harry nodded back to the man and stepped through the threshold.
"Ah, Harry!" Kingsley perked up with a smile as he spotted the last member of the quintet. He looked tired, even more tired than Harry had seen him look after the final battle at Hogwarts, but he seemed to be in good enough spirits given the circumstances. "Come in; we were just about to get started."
"Sorry," Harry replied as he took the last available seat around the round table that had been set down in the center of the room in front of Kingsley's fancy desk. "There's so much press down there that it's hard to get through the Atrium," he explained, gesturing to the blind-covered windows behind the Minister's desk.
"Yes," Kingsley muttered, walking over and peering through the white blinds to the Atrium below. "It's been quite hectic with all these rumours swirling about. Even the foreign press is bandying about down there with the rest of them while they wait to see what happens. But enough about them." Kingsley swept back around towards the table. "We're here to discuss your plan you sent us yesterday."
"Our plan," Harry corrected, looking pointedly over at Daphne, who was sitting to his left.
Daphne flashed him a brief smile in thanks, looking every bit as professional as he imagined she'd be in a situation like this. Still, it was hard to get the mental image of her pinned up against her shower wall screaming his name while he fucked her just over an hour ago out of his mind. "Yes, our plan," Daphne said in agreement.
As ever, Daphne was dressed in only the finest robes. Thankfully, her outfit was more conservative than her usual low-cut, fancy dress robes. These robes still clung to her figure wonderfully, but they didn't show off as much cleavage or any of her legs. That didn't diminish her beauty in any way though, as Harry found her just as intoxicating as she'd been to him since yesterday.
"My apologies," Kingsley chuckled good-naturedly. "Please, Miss Greengrass, do go on with what you were saying earlier."
"On the matter of collecting votes to oust my father as the head of my family," Daphne said with a look towards Harry, ensuring that he was caught up to speed with the discussion. "The family's who have supported my family in recent months are more wary than I expected of any significant changes. Many of them are still invested in seeing you taken out of your position, Minister, and are quite concerned that any other major political moves could throw your removal into jeopardy."
"All the more reason to see your plan done," Kingsley grinned. "Beyond the obvious benefit to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's case, I'm quite grateful that it could help me shore up my own political career."
"Yes," Daphne smiled back at the Minister. "It is quite fortuitous."
"Be that as it may," Amelia Bones cut in, leaning forward as she readjusted her monocle. The stern-faced woman had an unraveled scroll of parchment in front of her, littered with scrunched up writing to maximize the amount of information on the available space. "We're still at least seventeen votes short on the two-thirds majority we need to get approval."
"I had an idea about that, actually," Daphne explained as she leaned in too, passing over a small scrap of parchment to Amelia.
As Amelia took the parchment, the last member of the quintet, Susan Bones, leaned over to whisper in Harry's ear. "Tonks checked out all of the magical pet shops in Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley. None of them have any Augureys. Apparently, the Ministry regulates their trade heavily. She's going to visit some of the smaller magical towns to see if any of them have ever gotten a Ministry permit, but the odds of her finding that are slim. She suggested that we try going to see Amos Diggory instead to see if he can give us a list of permits that the Ministry has given out and any records they have on any smugglers bringing Augureys into the country."
Harry nodded along, having expected as much. After they'd learned that it was an Augurey feather that Cyrus and Nerys used to get past the guards to meet with the mysterious woman in The White Wyvern, they'd realized it would be a long shot to find out where it came from. Despite them only being an XX creature by the Ministry's standards—meaning that they were considered harmless and allowed to be domesticated—there were few Augureys left in the wilds of Ireland after they'd been hunted down for their prized feathers and used for predicting rainfall on farmlands. The Ministry granted them protection status and limited trade on Augureys and their byproducts as a way to help the population regrow to its former numbers.
"We'll go visit Amos in his office after this then," Harry whispered back to her.
As much as Harry was concerned about Amos's mental state, this was too important a lead to give up on. Even if Daphne's plan succeeded and she gave Harry any private documents her father had kept in her office, there was no guarantee that they'd name the mysterious woman who he'd met with. Without her name or location, it'd be much harder to find Bellatrix Lestrange.
"-all it would take is one word of support for Gaspard Shingleton's bill on loosening the restrictions on self-stirring cauldrons and we'd have the votes we need," Daphne finished her explanation to Kingsley and Amelia.
Kingsley let out a long sigh. "That man's been hounding the Ministry for years over this. We already found that his products didn't have enough safety charms placed on them to stop any accidental explosions."
"That examination was done back in 1994," Daphne argued. "He claims that he's addressed the Ministry's concerns since then."
"Not to our satisfaction," Kingsley pointed out. "Last I heard, while there were more safety charms in place, it wasn't a foolproof system."
"Is anything?" Daphne countered. "Even normal potion making can go awry if one isn't careful. The same is true with self-stirring cauldrons. Look, Minister, supporting this bill will get us the votes we need to win. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement will get any documents it needs to help take down my father and Nerys, and anything else related to this case, and this shakeup will get some heat off your back. Is this an ideal situation? No. But it's the best option we have."
Harry almost laughed at the way the corners of Daphne's lips twitched as she reclined in her seat. That smug smile that knew she was right was trying to come out, but she didn't want to antagonize Kingsley with it. Harry had to admit, Daphne knew her stuff. She was quite the deft politician. Even though she was allied with them today, Harry had no doubt in his mind that she'd be able to cause a world of trouble for Kingsley when their interests no longer aligned. Kingsley probably knew that too, but it wasn't as though he wasn't already getting a world of trouble from Cyrus Greengrass.
"It seems like it," Amelia agreed after a few moments of silence. "Shingleton's control over the potion-making industry is quite sizable. He'd get his supporters to vote with us if we voted with him."
Kingsley rolled his head around. He looked stressed. "Then I suppose there's nothing left to do other than to propose this deal to him."
Daphne glanced at the clock. "He should still be in his office for another half hour before his infamous 'early lunch.' We could go pay him a visit right now."
"That sounds like a plan," Kingsley said as he got to his feet. Everyone else stood up with him. "I must say, Miss Greengrass, that you've really impressed me today. I hope that this can be the start of a long friendship between the Ministry and the soon-to-be-head of the Greengrass family."
"I would like that, Minister," Daphne replied as she shook the man's hand. She was all smiles, but Harry knew that those expressions were all meticulously crafted to get what she wanted.
"Harry and I need to keep working on our case," Susan explained to the group before anyone could leave. She addressed Amelia. "We'll report back to your office before lunch with an update."
"Good," Amelia nodded sharply.
Daphne looked curiously at Harry, but she didn't ask him what he was up to. Harry just shrugged in reply, and that seemed good enough for Daphne. She just smiled and started off out of the office with the Minister and Amelia.
As the doors closed behind them, leaving Harry and Susan alone, Susan jabbed his side with her elbow. "You were staring at her arse."
"So?" Harry replied as he swiftly moved out of her reach. "So were you."
"That's because I actually appreciate how nice it is," Susan said teasingly. "You're just being a lecher."
"A lecher who scored with her twice last night and once in the shower about," Harry paused, making a big show of looking over at the clock whilst he took in Susan's look of surprise. "An hour and twenty minutes ago."
"Merlin," Susan laughed, shaking her head. "How did you manage that?"
"The same way I won you over back in Venice," Harry explained. "With my classic Potter charm."
Susan rolled her eyes at him, but she still had a smile on her lips. "Alright, let's go see if you can work your 'classic Potter charm' to get Amos to tell us what we want to know."
"Actually," Harry interrupted her. "There's someone I want to talk to first."
PAGE BREAK
"Harry!" Rita squealed from the back of the dark alleyway deep in the bowels of Knockturn Alley. She lunged forward and threw her arms around his cloaked figure, squeezing her ample breasts firmly against him.
Harry wanted to chastise her for calling out his name, but he knew she'd never risk him so openly like that. More than likely she wanted to be called out on it just so that she could reveal that she'd already placed a silencing ward around the alley.
"Rita," Harry greeted her in response. "Do you have any updates on what Dawlish wanted with Amos Diggory?"
"So quick to business," Rita purred teasingly as she looked up lovingly into his eyes. "You won't even do me the courtesy of a quickie first?"
Harry glanced around them, noting the waste and filth on the ground. Evidently, no one had bothered to clean up here in years, if not decades.
Seeing where his gaze went, Rita just grinned at him. "The filth makes it all the hotter."
"I'll have to pass," Harry declined. "I'm on short time right now, and I need to go see Amos. What do you have on him?"
Rita humphed as she let go of Harry and took a couple steps back. "He's unwell," she stated plainly. "I've overheard him ranting and raving more times than I care to remember, and not one of them has been coherent. He drifts from topic to topic, crying about his son one second to raging over the thunderstorm two weeks prior. Honestly, he's a complete mess."
Harry grimaced. Despite remembering the man to be quite the braggart, Harry didn't like to hear that he was so unwell like this. Cedric wouldn't have liked it, and Harry still felt somewhat responsible for his death all these years later since he insisted that they take the cup together.
"That's a shame," Harry muttered.
Rita nodded along. "It is. Most of his coworkers give him a wide berth; he's got his own private office far away from the main part of his department. He gets all of his reports delivered via interdepartmental memo, and he doesn't go out into the field anymore. The only visitors he gets now are from people from other departments who need his help on something, but they usually leave him alone and find someone else once they see the state that he's in."
"Is Dawlish one of the ones who visit him?" Harry asked.
"Not that I've seen," Rita answered tentatively. "But Diggory did have a fit one night over something Dawlish said to him recently. It wasn't really clear what it was though—asking for a favour, maybe."
Well, that wasn't particularly helpful. It didn't mean that nothing was there, but it didn't give Harry anything more to go on. "Well, shit," Harry sighed.
"Sorry," Rita shrugged. "If you find anything worthwhile, I'll get a juicy story published in the Prophet."
"Did you manage to dig up anything from Dawlish himself?" Harry asked. "Anything else that could be relevant at all?"
Rita paused in thought for a moment before she shook her head. "He recently beefed up the security wards at his house," Rita told him. "I figured it was a prudent move given the fact that there are still Death Eaters roaming about. And," her eyes gleamed as she eyed up Harry, "I heard the most interesting rumour that Bellatrix Lestrange was back in-"
"Focus, Rita," Harry interrupted her. He didn't like her fishing for information like this, especially when it could lead to his case becoming more exposed than it already was.
Rita carried on without missing a beat. "I couldn't get past his wards without triggering them—they would have identified me as a person rather than an animal—so I didn't manage to actually go inside of his house to find anything in there."
Well, it was a longshot to try to find any good dirt on Dawlish. Maybe he'd just have to go back to making Dawlish gaff in public more often again, so long as he could stay under Proudfoot's radar.
"Thanks for trying," Harry said as he ran his hands through his hair.
"Anytime," Rita winked at him. "Just give me a call the next time you need something. I'd love another night with you and your lovely pet Metamorphmagus."
As Rita disapparated away, Harry let out another sigh. It looked like he and Susan would be stuck dealing with an unstable Amos.
PAGE BREAK
When Harry apparated back to the Ministry, Susan was already waiting for him in the Atrium. She helped get him past the crowd of reporters to the lift, which they quickly shut behind them.
"So," Susan said once the lift doors closed. "Get what you need?"
"No," Harry answered honestly. "But I did learn that Amos is more mentally unwell than I thought."
"Lovely," Susan smacked her lips together. "Guess we'll have to be careful."
"Do you have anyone else in the department we could ask instead?" Harry asked. He didn't have anyone inside of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures he trusted himself. Plus, he'd rankled enough chains there over Werewolf legislation to have made quite the off-putting reputation for himself for any workers who were trying to stay on the straight and narrow.
"No," Susan shook her head. "I used to have one when Rolf Scamander worked there, but he wasn't exactly fit for Ministry work. Amos is our best bet; he's in charge of the birds in the Beast division after all."
Harry's lips twitched upwards from the fond memory of Rolf announcing his resignation by trying to smuggle out all of the dangerous magical creatures that were set to be put down. He didn't manage to get through the Atrium before he was stopped, but his actions brought about a wave of protest from the public over the treatment of these creatures. Kingsley reluctantly overrode the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and allowed those dangerous creatures to be released to various wildlife reserves throughout Europe and North and South America. Rolf left then, but not before taking his new girlfriend Luna Lovegood with him on a whirlwind trip to all of those reserves to check on the animals. Last he'd heard, the two of them were somewhere in the magical part of Parque Nacional do Itatiaia in Brazil.
"Level Four," the lift announced. "Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, incorporating the Beast, Being, and Spirit divisions, Pest Advisory Board, Office of Misinformation, and Goblin and Centaur Liaison Offices."
The gated doors slid open and Harry and Susan stepped out onto a quiet corridor. It stretched out horizontally in front of them with seven different doors strewn about with no logical placement.
"Down here," Susan directed Harry. They started down to the right and took the second door on the left that read "Beast Division Offices."
Upon opening the door, they were met with a cacophony of sounds from what seemed like hundreds of different magical animals. Harry cringed and covered his ears to block out the noise, but it still seeped through. They were stood just inside of a massive room that was lined with hundreds of animal pens. Neatly organized rows of desks sat in the center of the room with wide lanes in between them, presumably to allow for the magical creatures to walk through.
A young man rushed forward upon seeing them. He yelled something, but Harry couldn't hear it over all of the noise. Realizing his mistake, the man instead pointed to the wall to Harry's left. There was a cauldron hung up there, filled to the brim with tiny yellow pieces of cork. The man pointed at them and then at his ears where two pieces of cork already resided.
Letting go of his ears for a brief moment, Harry snatched up a couple pieces of cork and jammed them into his ear canals. They immediately molded themselves to him and filled in all of the gaps, leaving Harry in blissful silence. He grabbed another pair for Susan and passed them over to her. She shot him a thankful look and jammed them into her ears too.
"Sorry about that," the young man said, and somehow Harry could hear him perfectly fine. "It's transfer day this month, so we've got loads of creatures ready to get shipped out."
"You didn't think about putting silencing charms over their cages?" Susan asked, flabbergasted.
The man shrugged. "I just do what my boss tells me; I don't get paid to make all the big decisions."
"Right," Susan pinched the bridge of her nose. "Can you just point us in the direction of Amos Diggory's office?"
There was a sudden shift in the man's demeanour as he suddenly became quite sheepish. "Oh, are you sure you want to see him?" He chittered nervously. "Maybe someone else can help you instead? Mr Diggory, well, he's a bit…"
"We know," Harry assured the man. "But we still need to speak to him."
"Right," the man nodded slowly. "Well, he's just down through there." The man pointed right at the opposite end of the large room to a staircase leading down. "Go down there, take the first right, and he'll be the very last room down that corridor."
"Thanks," Susan smiled at him.
As they started off past the man, Harry's head swiveled around as he looked at all of the caged creatures. There were so many different varieties spread around without any apparent rhyme or reason. They had a Bundimun clinging to a log in one cage right next to a caged baby Graphorn. Then there was a Quintaped glaring maliciously across the room at a Kelpie that was stuck inside of a massive fishbowl. It was incredible to see so many of these creatures that Harry had only ever read about, but it was also a little disheartening to see them all caged up like this. Most of them just looked sad and angry. Hopefully they'd be off somewhere better whenever they were transfered elsewhere.
"Do you see any Augureys?" Harry asked Susan as his eyes scanned for that creature.
"No," Susan replied after a few moments. "Wait! There!"
Susan pointed almost straight up at the ceiling. Harry followed her finger to see the gray-brown-coloured bird perched high up above them.
Known as the Irish Phoenix, Augureys were beautiful magical creatures. It was definitely larger than Fawkes the phoenix had been, but not by much. It had a sharp-looking beak and three greenish-black feathers atop its head. They were known to cry when it was about to rain, but there was a superstition around them that the sad cry of an Augurey foretold someone's death. As such, many people avoided them.
The Augurey seemed to be aware that it was being watched as it craned its neck and looked down at Harry and Susan. It examined them closely before squawking and flapping its wings.
"I don't think it likes us," Harry muttered.
"Maybe it just doesn't like your face," Susan commented lightly.
"Funny," Harry replied in a deadpan tone.
They passed underneath the Augurey and slipped on through to the staircase at the end of the room. They followed it down several feet before reaching the landing below. They followed the man's directions, taking the first right into a dingy-looking corridor and started down it. Now that they were away from the noise, they pulled out the cork from their ears. They could still faintly hear the sounds of the creatures behind them, but it was much quieter here in this isolated corridor.
The corridor stretched on for quite a while. It was long but straight, so Harry and Susan were able to see the door to Amos's office long before they reached it. The door was isolated away, at least fifteen feet away from the next closest one, and looked quite depressingly drab. The picture could have only been more complete if the lights had been flickering.
"Do you want to talk first or should I?" Susan asked Harry as they neared Amos's office.
"You start," Harry suggested. "You are in charge of this case after all."
"Right," Susan muttered as she rapped sharply on the door with her knuckles.
"Come in!" A nervous voice sounded from within.
A/N: Hey, thanks for reading! If you are interested in reading more or supporting me, check out at p atreon .com(slash) ashox