Trouble
Kingsley was sitting in his office, awaiting his news from Azkaban, when suddenly, his Floo turned green. Moments later, Dahlia Skydancer stepped out and smoothed out her slightly wrinkled dress.
"Hello, Dahlia. What can I do for you today?"
“Oh, I do hope you aren't busy," Dahlia said, taking the seat in front of him.
“Not at all,” Kingsley replied, beaming.
"Severus and I had a picnic this morning, and I managed to get some information on the conditions in Azkaban."
"Lovely!" Kingsley exclaimed. "Er- he's alright, isn't he?" He added tentatively, spotting Dahlia's stricken expression.
“Well, he’s sort of…emotionally overwhelmed. He’s probably sleeping. But Minerva wanted to talk with him for a while anyway, so I let her and I came here, just so Severus isn’t alone. Who knows, maybe she can coax a smile out of him.”
Dahlia looked saddened for a moment, and then seemed to shake herself out of it.
“He said a lot,” she warned Kingsley. “Do you have a Pensieve?”
“Can’t be Minister without one, can we now?”
Kingsley waved his wand and the basin floated over.
Dahlia smiled slightly, raised her wand to her temples, and extracted a silvery strand of memories.
When it was in the basin, both of them stood.
“After you,” Kingsley said politely, and Dahlia nodded.
Both of them landed somewhere in a field. Kingsley looked around, recognizing where in Hogwarts they were.
Kingsley sat down next to the actual Dahlia and watched the memories of Severus and Dahlia talk, his stomach growling as he stared at the sandwiches.
Dahlia snickered, and he shot her an embarrassed grin.
A minute later, Kingsley wasn’t smiling at all.
“'...Two months after the Battle, they started bringing in torturers. We had to ‘suffer as the population suffered’, the guards told us. This was instructed by Eugene Macmillan, the person who runs Azkaban. And it was only directed towards the Death Eaters…'”
He watched in growing horror as Severus began to talk more about his time in Azkaban and could hardly believe his eyes as the man started to cry…Pieces of armor were falling off of Severus, and he was witnessing it before his very own eyes.
They returned back to his office moments later, Dahlia with wet eyes.
Kingsley didn’t know what to say.
“That- that’s horrible. I mean- what Macmillan is doing-” Kingsley stumbled over his words.
“You have to do something,” Dahlia urged him, wiping her eyes.
“I’ve got Aurors coming back today, telling us news on Macmillan. Perhaps you’d like to stay, so you can hear it too?”
“Yes. Yes, I’d like that, thank you.”
Dahlia hurriedly sent a Patronus message to Minerva, a silvery panda.
Having nothing else to do, she plopped back down on the chair that she sat on before the memory was viewed and watched Kingsley work.
Half an hour later, Kingsley was frowning.
“They’re supposed to be back by now,” he said in a low, worried voice.
Another twenty minutes later, Kingsley was up and pacing.
But finally, at five in the evening, the Aurors arrived, knocking hurriedly on his door. Kingsley rushed to let them in.
It was Korman, Shelley, and two other Aurors Dahlia didn’t know. She only knew the first two because they were quite close to Kingsley and she saw them frequently at parties.
“Minister.” Korman stood forward, handing a folder containing papers to Kingsley, who accepted them gratefully. Shelley nodded warmly towards Dahlia, but she couldn’t help but feel as if something was wrong.
“Apologies for the delay, Minister,” a tall, stern-looking man said.
“Not at all, Becks- though is there a reason for it?”
“Well-” Shelley glanced at Korman, who sighed.
“What’s the matter?” Kingsley’s eyes narrowed. “You did make it to Azkaban, didn’t you?”
“Yes, sir, we did. But…”
“Merlin’s sake, spit it out,” Dahlia said impatiently. She noticed the tall Auror glaring at her.
“We failed to find Eugene Macmillan,” Korman said simply.
“What do you mean, you can’t find him?”
“He’s gone. Vanished.” The fourth Auror heaved a sigh. “We arrived as usual, through that Portkey man. We entered the building, asked the guards, and searched that place from top to bottom. Even checked his office. There was no sign of Eugene Macmillan.”
“And when we went back to the Portkey man,” Shelley added, “he was gone. Not there anymore. We had to- well, we had to sail all the way back and ask for reinforcements to get us back to London. That’s why we had to take this long.”
“Both gone?” Kingsley repeated, looking shocked. “But…”
“Maybe Macmillan knew we were coming for him,” Korman said. “So he escaped, along with his friend the Portkey man.”
“Have you got the data?”
Korman nodded. “In that folder there.”
Kingsley opened it and scanned the papers. All six of them leaned over his desk, reading the information.
“There’s a charm that they place in Azkaban, informing the head of who goes in and out,” Shelley explained.
“It’s a very simple charm. It scans the person’s face and transfers their name into our system,” the fourth Auror added.
“Eugene Macmillan left the building on November 31,” Kingsley mused, pointing at the small name printed on the paper. “That was two days ago.”
“And he never returned.”
“But that can’t be right,” Becks, the stern Auror argued. “The guards report to him every day.”
“Well, let’s look at all of the evidence here, shall we? On November 31, Macmillan left the building at…4:35 p.m. At 8:29, Phillidia Johnson entered…then, five minutes later, Kaitlin Abraham, then Carter Ashlynn, and then the Portkey man.”
“Johnson is a guard,” Shelley said, running her finger down a list of guards on the clipboard she was holding. “Abraham is supposed to be there, she’s a worker. And Ashlynn is the scheduled Healer. Also, the Portkey man lives in Azkaban.”
Catching Dahlia’s horrified look, Shelley explained further.
“He’s the only way people can get in and out, so he stays at Azkaban year round.”
And then Shelley gasped.
“He must’ve let Macmillan out! Mayer, check your chart!”
The fourth Auror dug out her paper and scanned the list.
“No…Eugene Macmillan never left through Portkey,” she said, holding up the paper. “We can see when Johnson, Abraham, and Ashlynn arrived, but at 4:35, when Macmillan left, there is no evidence of anyone that left or arrived through Portkey.”
“So…he just vanished,” Dahlia said dumbly. “Gone. Without a trace.”
“That seems like the case,” Shelley agreed.
Dahlia just continued to gape at her.
“We need a team of investigators there immediately,” Kingsley said. “Dahlia…I’d advise you not to mention this to anyone. At least, anyone who you aren’t familiar with.”
Dahlia gave him a nod.
“Well, thank you,” she said shakily. “I hope you’ll be able to find him soon. He’s obviously hiding from imprisonment.”
With a nod, she stepped to the Floo, shouted, “Headmistress’s Office, Hogwarts!” and disappeared.
She arrived back at the Infirmary to find Minerva watching over Severus as he slept, occasionally glancing up from the book she was reading.
“Well,” Minerva looked up at her shocked face. “Oh, dear.”
“He’s gone,” Dahlia said blankly. “There’s quite literally no trace of Eugene Macmillan whatsoever.”
“What?” Minerva sounded scandalized.
Too late, she seemed to realize her mistake. Severus stirred and woke.
“Hello,” he mumbled, his words slurred with sleep. “How’d it go?”
Dahlia sighed and repeated everything, from beginning to end, for both of them to hear. By the end of her explanation, Severus looked fully awake.
“Oh,” he said sullenly. “This’s bad, isn’t it? I mean, the man runs away to avoid being locked up in his own building because he tortures the prisoners.”
Minerva looked shocked, and then turned her head to Dahlia as if asking for yet another explanation. Dahlia shook her head. Severus can tell her himself when he’s ready.
“Just as we get Severus back, something else comes up,” Minerva said angrily. “Oh, it’s not your fault, dear,” she assured Severus, who was looking anxious. “We are very glad that you’re alive and well.”
After she left, Severus glowered at his trembling hands.
“‘Alive and well’. Sure,” he snorted.