"Ní mhaireann solas na maidine don lá." // "No morning sun lasts all day."

The following morning, the remaining four members of their group found themselves back inside the German Ministry, following a low-level official down a long, but otherwise empty corridor.

“The man that I’m inquiring about is the Head of the British Auror Office-” Newt was trying to politely explain to the man who was very overtly pretending as if he could not hear or understand what they were saying.

Tara’s anger had only festered over the night. She had barely slept, and simply did not have the patience for any of this. Shouldering past Newt, her eyes flared as she stormed up to the official herself.

“How can you have misplaced the Head of the British Auror Office!” she shouted, her voice echoing off of the walls and down the hallway ahead of them.

The official finally stopped walking and turned to face their group for the first time since they had entered the building that morning. His face seemed void of any and all emotion.

“It’s our contention that since he was never in our custody, we never misplaced him.”

“Sir-” Lally implored, arriving at Tara’s side. “There were dozens of people there. Any one of them can corroborate.”

The Ministry official just turned towards the witch with an angry scowl.

“And your name is?”

Tara saw red.

“You son of a-”

Lally quickly held her back before she could leap forward and throttle the short wizard with her bare hands.

“Let’s get outta here.” Jacob huffed, turning around to start heading back the way they had come when suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks. “Hey! Wait, that’s the guy!”

The rest of the group snapped their heads over to look in the direction that Jacob was pointing. There, they watched as none other than Helmut himself emerged out of a distant office door, flanked by a tall Auror bodyguard. The two had begun a leisurely stroll down the hallway, in the complete opposite direction from where their group was standing.

Jacob had been all too quick to dash off after them, a panicked Newt, Lally, and Tara following close behind.

“Excuse me! Hey! That’s the guy! He knows where Theseus is! Hey! Where’s Theseus!” the Muggle was shouting as they ran. “That’s him! He knows about Theseus-”

Suddenly, a large sheet of what appeared to be glass fell from the ceiling high above their heads. It cut the hallway in half, and forced the group to skid to a halt as Helmut continued to walk further and further down the hallway, ultimately disappearing from their sight.

Tara shoved a side door of the Ministry open with her shoulder, the rest of the group filing out behind her. They had only made it the first few steps down the main staircase, when Lally suddenly stopped short.

“Newt-” she called out. 

When the Magizoologist, and the rest of the group, turned back to look at the professor, they found her pointing at something a few feet away from their position, back up by the marble pillars that stood at the front of the Ministry.

It was a black, leather glove. Just floating there in the air. 

As they continued to stand there, staring back at it in silent confusion, the glove then slowly waved at the wizards, before pointing towards the corner of the building that it was hovering a few feet in front of.

Newt quickly jogged back up the steps, snatching the glove out of the air. Almost immediately after he did so, a second one appeared further down the stone path in front of him.

The other three members of their party followed after the Magizoologist and the second glove. And when they turned the distant corner, they watched as it floated gently down towards another one of the large pillars that lined the building. 

Out from behind it, a figure emerged into the gray sunlight.

It was Dumbledore.

The professor casually plucked the one glove out of the air. And as Newt approached, he wordlessly offered him back the second. 

Without a word, Dumbledore gestured for the group to follow him further, beginning to lead them down the side of the Ministry and into a rather busy alleyway. The man’s head would occasionally glance over each of his shoulders as they went.

“Albus-” Newt finally dared to call out as they caught up with the wizard in the shadows of the buildings that now encased them on either side.

“Theseus has been taken to the Erkstag.” Dumbledore quickly interrupted.

Tara felt her heart drop into her stomach. 

“But- but the Erkstag shut down years ago.”

Dumbledore let out a soft sigh.

“Yes, well, it’s the Ministry’s secret little bed-and-breakfast now,” he said. “You’ll need this to see him-” he said, taking off his hat and dropping his gloves down into it before in turn pulling out several pieces of parchment paper. “And one of these. And this.”

Newt had taken the items without question.

Dumbledore continued to lead them down another sharp corner, walking straight up to and ultimately through a dark, brick wall. Newt and Tara had promptly followed suit, whilst Lally had been forced to push Jacob forward in order to make sure the Muggle wouldn’t fall too far behind.

“Wait, wait, wait!” the man had stuttered fearfully, only to find that they had already safely appeared on the other side.

“I trust you’re enjoying your wand, Mr. Kowalski.” the professor finally said, turning around to face their group for the first time since he had begun walking.

Jacob swallowed awkwardly. 

“Me? Oh, yeah. Thank you, Mr. Dumbledore. It’s a real pip.”

“I advise you to keep it close.” Dumbledore replied, fishing a pocket watch out from within his coat and passively checking the time. “Professor Hicks, assuming you’re not otherwise engaged, and frankly even if you are, I’d encourage you to attend tonight’s Candidates' Dinner. Take Mr. Kowalski. I’m quite sure there will be an assassination attempt. Anything you could do to scotch that would be greatly appreciated.”

“It’s my pleasure.” Lally said in response. “I shall welcome the challenge. Besides, I’ll have Jacob with me.”

As they spoke, the Muggle looked back and forth between the two wizard professors with an expression of semi-alarm.

“Not to worry.” Dumbledore immediately attempted to assure him. “Professor Hick’s defensive magic is superb.”

“Such a flatterer.” Lally said, waving her hand dismissively out in front of her. “Well…not really. It is superb.”

Tara shook her head, turning towards Newt, who was still flicking through the papers that Dumbledore had given him.

“I’ll go to the Erkstag with you.”

Newt looked back up at her, blinking once in surprise.

“I don’t think-”

“Newt will be fine.” Dumbledore was quick to interject. “You should accompany Professor Hicks as well.”

Tara immediately whirled on the professor, her eyes flaming in an instant.

“He’ll be ‘fine’ going, alone, into a prison that shouldn’t even exist?” she spat. “We have no idea what’s going on in there! He could be-!”

Newt suddenly grabbed a hold of Tara’s arm. She turned back towards him with an accusatory glare, only to find an uncharacteristically pointed expression on her best friend's face. He didn’t say a word to her, simply stared back at her in a way that made her quickly come to the realization that she had begun to shout.

And if the people in their party hadn’t taken much notice of the erratic way that she had responded to the events that had taken place in the Great Hall the night prior, they certainly were now.

And so was Dumbledore.

Tara turned back to her former professor, just in time to watch a slow, soft expression of recognition move across his face.

Swallowing harshly, the witch took a step back, slipping her arm out of Newt’s grasp.

Dumbledore placed his hat back on his head.

“Until next time.” he said, turning to begin walking down the road once more.

Newt shuffled forward in response.

“Albus!”
Dumbledore glanced back over his shoulder.

“I was just wondering…” the wizard trailed off, lifting up his right hand and folding his fingers over in a mock resemblance of holding onto some sort of handle.

“Ah, yes. The case.” Dumbledore said with a nod.

“Yes.”

The professor began walking again.

“Rest assured it's in safe hands.”

He shot the party one last look before disapparating.

Tara let out a huff of air in the silence that followed his absence.

“Well, we better be off.” Lally said with a definitive clap of her hands. “Miss Kelly?”

Tara glanced back over at her for a fraction of a second before turning her attention back to Newt.

“Bring him back.” she demanded softly.

Newt nodded.

“I will.”

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