Akira's true parentage (Rewrite)

Platform 9 ¾, September 1st, 2002

Bill was ready for his second year at Hogwarts and had everything, what he needed. He arrived at the platform at 9 a.m. with his family apart from his mother and his youngest siblings, because his father was in a hurry. He needed to take Charlie and Percy to the primary school in France. For that reason, he had arranged international portkeys. Entering the train, he was lucky that there were many empty compartments in the train since he was early. Bill took a seat and looked out of the window, where his father and his siblings were waving at him. Bill waved back and after some time, he saw them leaving. He wasn’t as sad as last year, but he also understood that it is an integral part of his life. Furthermore, he didn’t want Percy and Charlie to miss their first day at school.

For this year, his father told him that his potion professor is going to tutor the DADA class. Bill was glad that they had someone competent teaching them DADA even though, he is only responsible for the tutoring sessions. His father told him that he should attend these sessions since Professor Snape is using the ICW curriculum and he would teach him, what he was supposed to learn in DADA. He is not looking forward, who the headmaster is going to introduce for the DADA position. Their last professor didn’t teach them anything worthwhile due to the problem that each year a new DADA professor was introduced. Thankfully, Professor Snape was going to take over the tutoring session and could teach them things that is taught internationally.

Bill had been thinking until a familiar person entered his compartment and Bill’s attention was drawn away from the compartment window.

Jaques Greengrass was nervous, when he entered the train for his final year at Hogwarts. He had taken his sixth-year exams in the ministry at the beginning of summer and passed them with flying colours. After the examination, Jaques and his uncle had a meeting with a board of six school board members from the school board, whether he should continue with his education in Hogwarts or if he will be expelled and would have to attend another school due to his actions last year. His uncle made sure that the members were his allies since from the dark fraction, Lord and Lady Malfoy were attending the meeting. From the neutral fraction, Lady Amelia Bones and Lord Bartemius Crouch were there and from the light, there were Lords Markus McKinnon and Dedalus Diggle. All six approved of his re-entrance in Hogwarts and he was informed or better to say warned by the board that he was going to return to Hogwarts for his final year since it was the law and all six were aware of his background, why he had run away. But he would be supervised by this board, so that he doesn’t run away again since next time, the school board would expel him. His head of house is going to be the one to file the reports. Furthermore, he would be sorted again since he didn’t attend his sixth year and was officially removed from the school’s records. Jaques was surprised that Dedalus Diggle voted in his favour and when he asked his uncle about Diggle, Cyrus told him that Lord Diggle was not as fanatical as he had pretended to be to Dumbledore and that he would tell him after he had graduated.

Jaques was looking for an empty compartment, but didn’t find one and he wasn’t brave enough to face anyone due to what had happened to him. Luckily, he found one, where a familiar face was sitting alone and he had hoped that he would have some peace and quiet.

Jaques knew William ‘Bill’ Weasley during the few meetings that his uncle had chaired in Greengrass Manor with his allies and he had found the boy to be friendly and kind. He became fast friends with Bill. He was surprised that Arthur Weasley was involved in those meetings, but then, he learned the truth about the Weasley Family and Jaques had been ready to curse Molly Weasley for what she had done to her family. Seriously, using potions, spells and blocks on her family, in order to control them for a manipulative, old fool, is the worst thing that you can do to your family. He is glad that the woman is punished severely.

“Hey, Jaques.” Bill greeted him. He was happy that his newly made friend would be able to attend Hogwarts after what had happened to him. “How are you doing?” He is also glad that Sarah Fenwick had graduated already and wouldn’t cause any trouble for Jaques, but her friends were still there since they had been in their sixth-year last year and they could make Jaques’ life in Hogwarts difficult.

“I am fine, Bill. I am just glad that the board allowed my return. I hope that this school year is going to go quietly and without any trouble.” Jaques really didn’t need more trouble than it was necessary.

Bill gave him a cheeky smile and answered: “I wouldn’t be so sure. Sarah Fenwick may have graduated last year with Anton, but her friends are still attending school and they promised retribution against you.”

Jaques sighed deeply. Great. Fenwick’s sycophants are going to be annoying in this school year and he was sure that Dumbledore and McGonagall are going to make up excuses for their behaviour. He really hoped that he doesn’t end up in Gryffindor or Slytherin, because his life was going to be hellish in those two houses.

Both had a quiet conversation and they were glad that no one had disturbed them apart from some of Bill’s true friends, who were not biased and bigoted against Slytherins.

Hogwarts

Albus was preparing everything for the students’ arrival. This school year, Jaques Greengrass was going to return back to his school and he knew that he needed to keep things under control. Minerva could be a problem since she still didn’t get over the fact that Anton chose the Greengrass brat over Sarah and he didn’t need the woman to target the boy since the small board was going to check up on everything, if she was truthful and honest. There would be a honesty ward in those meetings and Minerva could get in deep trouble, if she is caught to be dishonest about the boy. Looking up, Minerva was sitting in front of him. “Albus, is there something that you need to discuss with me before the students arrive?”

Albus took a deep breath and started: “Minerva, this school year, Jaques Greengrass will return back, in order to finish his final year.”

“I know.” Minerva had a displeased look on her face and Albus knew that he had to make sure that the woman didn’t do anything stupid. “Why did the small board allow his return? He should have been expelled. I can’t believe that Dedalus would vote with the other board members. He should have known better.”

Albus wanted to groan. Dedalus voted for Greengrass’ return since the criminal record had nothing to do with his academics and the background sounds to be foolish, but also understandable. “I understand your concept, Minerva, but the background of his criminal record and the reason behind his actions can’t be ignored.” Minerva thinned her lips. She couldn’t deny that Jaques’ actions and criminal record could be led back to Aurelius Yaxley and the boy’s father.

“For that reason, Minerva, I request from you to not target the boy and treat him like the other students. I know that you are not going to like it, but the small board is supervising him and any punishments that were assigned to Jaques needed to be explained in front of the board. And I warn you, Minerva, they use a honesty ward during those meetings. If you are dishonest, the small board will report it to the school board and either you get a warning or probation. We can’t risk that, understood?” Minerva nodded. She knows about the small board and she also knows, how they were operating.

She questioned: “Who is on the small board? Can we sway them?”

“From what I know from Aurelia, who had arranged it during the summer vacation, there are two from the dark, two from the neutral and two from the light party. From the dark, the Malfoys took over the positions, which is a setback since they are still the wildcards. From the neutral fraction, Amelia and Bartemius have taken over the posts and from the light, Markus and Dedalus have taken over. I don’t believe that the small board was biased since Amelia and Bartemius can’t be bribed and Markus and Dedalus are good friends of mine. Furthermore, the Malfoys are very distant towards the death eaters and are slowly separating themselves from Voldemort.” Minerva was rubbing her temples knowing that she couldn’t argue about the small board members.

“Alright, Albus. I will ignore the boy and will not pay him any mind as long as he doesn’t cause any trouble.” Albus’ eyes were twinkling and he popped another lemon drop into his mouth for a job well done. That was good.

He added: “Maybe, we could sway him to our way of thinking. I mean, he had seen, how bad the dark is with his experiences with Yaxley and his father and the Greengrasses could be swayed to our side since they were neutral and were staunch opponents of Voldemort.”

Minerva didn’t find the idea bad. Maybe the boy and the Greengrasses could be swayed to their side and the Abbotts would remain in the light. Both left the office making their way to the great hall for the sorting ceremony and the first day of the school. Albus was glad that the Wizengamot meeting in September was next week. He had a lot of time to think, what his next nomination would be, but he will not sway away from the veelas. Maybe he should ban those dratted creatures from getting jobs, where they have pro-longed contact with wizards and witches.

Phineas heard the conversation and planned to give Narcissa and Lucius a warning about their new plans.

For this school year, Bill was sitting in a carriage that was pushed by something invisible with Jaques, his best friend and an older year instead of a boat. Bill asked about it and the older year explained that a thestral was pulling the carriage. “Thestrals are invisible for the normal eye, but those, who had seen death, can see them. You will learn about thestral during the Care of Magical Creature class next year.” Bill noted that and thought that taking the COMC class would be a good idea.

The trip was quiet until the students got out of the carriages and were on their way to the main entrance, where they went in and went to their respective tables. Jaques had to remain behind since he would be sorted at the end. Transfer students had always been sorted after the first years, so, Jaques had to wait for some time.

Everyone took their seat and waited for the new first years, who arrived through the main entrance too. Minerva McGonagall was leading the first years like the year before to the front of the great hall, where a stool was placed instead of the pedestal. Minerva took out a list from her robe pocket and had the Sorting Hat in her other hand. She explained that the students would be called upon alphabetically and that the hat would decide, where they would be sorted.

Bill was not really paying any attention to the sorting until it was finished, but the stool wasn’t removed and Dumbledore stood up from his throne-like chair. “And before the feast can begin, there would be another sorting of a student, who had attended Hogwarts, but had dropped out due to familial reasons.” Many knew, who the headmaster was referring to. Bill noticed many looks that were a mix of pity, anger and resignation.

The headmaster glanced to McGonagall and she said: “Greengrass, Jaques.”

Jaques came from the entrance with a cold mask on his face and made his way to the seat. The boy took his seat on the stool and the hat was dropped on his head. With that, the sorting started.

Jaques heard the voice of the hat. “Ah, we see each other again, Mr. Greengrass. Running away was a reckless mistake and a bit foolish, you know.”

“I know, Hat, but at the time, I didn’t know that my aunt and uncle needed to be consulted in those matters. My father hid this information.” Jaques was honest in this part.

The hat snorted: “I hope that you have learned your lesson. Let’s see, where I should sort you. Last time, you were in Slytherin and I don’t regret it, but now, there is another house that has the potential for you. You would do well in Hufflepuff too, but Slytherin is also a good choice for you.”

“I don’t think, the other Slytherins will welcome me with open arms due to my betrothal with Anton. Many members in my former house are not going to accept this with ease.” Jaques was sure that the Slytherins would be very hostile towards him due to his engagement with an heir of a light family.

The sorting hat was thoughtful for a time being. He was maybe responsible for the sorting, but for that, he had to consider if the students do have the necessary traits. In this case, Jaques Greengrass had the cunningness and resourcefulness of a snake, but he is also hard-working and loyal like a badger. The hat made his decision, where Jaques would be sorted.

“Well, Mr. Greengrass. Let’s end this sorting and I know exactly, what house will be the best for you.”

The students were waiting for the sorting for some time. The Gryffindors and Slytherins were impatient since they believed that Jaques would be returned back to Slytherin, where he belonged. The Gryffindors hoped, he will end up there since a criminal like him shouldn’t be allowed to be sorted in the other houses and there is also his family’s background. Many Gryffindors believed that the Greengrass Family had some ties with You-Know-Who, but there was no real evidence apart from Alfred NoName, Jaques’ father, who was later disowned by his brother. The Slytherins were sure that Jaques would be sorted into their house. The blood purists were planning to convince the boy to break off the betrothal with that halfblood and get together with Atticus Mulciber, so that the bloodline of the Greengrasses remains pure.

The other two houses were not so sure, because the sorting was taking longer than a minute, but the hat made its decision.

“HUFFLEPUFF!”

The Hufflepuffs were cheering loudly that Jaques was sorted into their house and many of Anton’s close friends were glad that he was with them. The Ravenclaws were clapping politely surprised by the sorting, but the Slytherins and the Gryffindors remained silent. There were only some claps from the more neutrally inclined students. They were shocked that a Greengrass was not sorted in Slytherin or Ravenclaw. That cannot be.

Albus froze. What? The boy is in Hufflepuff. Albus had made many plans for that boy during this school year that were destroyed by his sorting. If he had been sorted into Slytherin, which he was sure, he would have tried everything to break the betrothal between Anton and him. But Hufflepuff was not in his plans. This was a setback. He should have put some compulsions on the hat, but he didn’t do it since he didn’t expect this outcome. Now, it is too late for a resort and Albus can only watch, how his plans were destroyed.

Minerva was not happy about the sorting. This was going to be problematic for their plans.

Jaques was stunned, but smiled happily and gave the hat back to his stunned transfiguration professor. The boy made his way to the Hufflepuff table with his other house mates, who greeted him friendly.

Minerva removed the stool and the hat with a wave of her wand and returned back to sit with the other staff members next to the headmaster.

Jaques was happily chatting with his new house mates and felt at ease. When he was sorted into Slytherin during his first year, it was cold, oppressive and dreadful during the feasts and the meals since the Slytherins were not as open and talkative as the Hufflepuffs or even the Gryffindors. The Ravenclaws were like the Slytherins, but the ravens were more talkative than the snakes and were more open. Jaques also noticed that they are not mentioning his criminal record out of respect and made sure that he is welcome.

Up at the staff table, there were mixed reactions. Pomona was happy about the sorting and she would do everything to help her new badger. Severus and Aurora were glad that Jaques was sorted into Hufflepuff, because in Slytherin, the blood purists would have made his life difficult. Severus was sure that they would have tried everything to convince Jaques to break his current betrothal with Anton Abbott and get together with Mulciber. He and Aurora would have stopped it, but the members would have been relentless. Albus and Minerva were frowning at the sorting. This wasn’t supposed to happen and Pomona is a tough nut to crack, when it is about her badgers. It was going to be hard.

The feast started, after the headmaster made a speech and gave them the same warnings like in the previous years.

After the feast was finished, the students made their way to their common rooms. Jaques went with the other Hufflepuffs to the common room in the kitchens. The password was given and the students started to mill in. When everyone was inside, Professor Sprout made her normal house speech and made sure that any misbehaviour here would be punished. She made sure that everyone received her hard look, which was intimidating. Afterwards, the students went to their dormitories. Jaques shared his dorm with the four other students. He had been talking with them until it was time to go to bed.

Albus was sitting in his office lost in thought. The sorting of Jaques Greengrass was a setback and he can’t fix this. He had called the Fenwicks to his office since he had to rework his plans again. He was waiting with Minerva until Tamara, Benjy, Adam and Sarah arrived.

The floo flared and the family stepped through. Benjy was the first, who greeted them. “Albus, Minerva, what can I do for you?”

“Benjy, my boy, please take a seat. Tamara, Adam, Sarah, you too. There are some distressing news that we need to discuss.” Albus knew that this meeting was not going to be funny.

After everyone took their seat and tea was served, Albus began. “I have bad news. Today, Jaques Greengrass was sorted and things have gotten harder for us to break Anton and Jaques up.”

“What do you mean with that, Albus? Greengrass is a dark and evil snake like the rest of his no-good family? He and his family had turned the Abbotts against us and are ruining us”, Adam questioned enraged.

Albus shook his head and answered in a soft voice: “Adam, Jaques was sorted into Hufflepuff.”

“WHAT?!” The entire Fenwick family screamed as one.

Sarah whined: “No, this can’t be. How did he end up there? He must have done something to trick the hat.” She realised that things really had gotten harder to prove that Jaques was a dark and evil snake.

The hat grumbled at that and their attention was on the old hat that was placed in the cabinet. Albus waved his wand, in order to summon the hat to his desk. The hat began: “Ms. Fenwick. No one can trick me. You should not forget that Salazar Slytherin himself had also created me with the other founders. Through his spells, no one can deceive me.” Albus smiled brittlely, because he knows that it is the truth. “Can you tell us why Jaques was sorted this time into Hufflepuff? I mean last time, he was in Slytherin. What changed?”

The hat answered: “I can’t go into the specifics, Albus, you know that, but I can speak in generalities. Mr. Greengrass was a Slytherin in his first year, because he had the traits of a true Slytherin, but he had also other traits that he had suppressed due to his father. But since his father is gone and he is under the custody of his aunt and uncle, his other traits came to light and it was more difficult to sort him. The Hufflepuff and Slytherin traits were more dominantly and I chose the house, where he could prosper appropriately.” Albus knew that if Jaques was sorted into Slytherin, the blood purists would have demanded from him to break the betrothal with Anton and get together with Atticus. He had counted on that, but now, everything was ruined.

Everyone was frustrated that the sorting hat caused so much trouble, but there was nothing that could fix this. Sarah swore that she was going to work harder to get together with Anton even if she had to use love potions. Maybe there the betrothal will break. Unfortunately, the betrothal contract wouldn’t break even there since the fidelity was changed that if either Anton or Jaques were forced or were coerced to cheat, the betrothal contract wouldn’t break.

Hogwarts, September 2nd, 2002

Jaques was excited for his first day back in Hogwarts. He had sent his aunt and uncle a letter before breakfast that he was sorted into Hufflepuff and had made many friends. The blond boy dressed himself in his school robes and prepared himself for the first day of classes. Making his way to the great hall, Jaques sat down at the breakfast table and started to eat.

Halfway through breakfast, Jaques noticed that someone was behind him. Turning around, he saw two Gryffindor girls, who were glaring at him. He can only suspect that they were friends of Fenwick. Jaques turned his back on them not wanting to deal with Fenwick’s sycophants so early in the morning. Both girls were even more annoyed and one of them demanded: “Greengrass, stop ignoring us and listen carefully, you husband-stealing bastard. You will stay away from Anton. He belongs to Sarah. I don’t know, what you have done to him that he agreed to be betrothed to you, but we will find out and make you pay for breaking Sarah’s heart and turning Anton into a freak. Anton deserves better and should be with someone, who is light and good and not someone, who is a death eater wannabe.”

“Ms. Donovan. Fifteen points from Gryffindor for threatening and insulting another student. And for your language.” Promona was enraged about those two. She had known that they would be trouble. But the punishment wasn’t finished. “Furthermore, you will spend this week apart from the weekend in detention with me. There are going to be some dirty cauldrons to be cleaned. You will be there for your first detention today after dinner”, Severus said coldly and came behind Pomona. He had overheard, what the foolish girl had said and had been angry about the girl’s behaviour.

Flora Donovan was furious. She didn’t deserve this punishment. There was no way in hell, she would spend this week in detention with Snape. That man is terrible and everyone avoided to get detention with Snape since they would have to clean cauldrons. Pomona gave them a stern glare and ordered: “Now, you two, return back to your table or more points are going to be lost. You already put your house in the negatives. And I will be writing to your parents. This behaviour is unacceptable.” With that, Pomona and Severus waited until the two lions returned back to the Gryffindor table and after they went back to their respective table, both teachers made their way to the staff table. The girls received many glares since they lost points already on their first day and were in the negatives.

Jaques knew that those two girls are not going to be the only ones, who are against his betrothal with Anton. He knew that Dumbledore’s fools and Riddle’s followers are going to react negatively on his relationship with Anton.

Severus and Pomona sat down at the staff table and started to eat their breakfast, but sadly, it wasn’t peaceful, when Minerva started to argue: “Severus, Pomona, there was no need to be so cruel to one of my lions. Ms. Donovan made a mistake and…”

“Enough, Minerva. The punishment is fair and warranted. I believe that you would have made the same approach, if Mr. Greengrass had started the argument.” Severus was getting tired and he doesn’t have the patience to argue with Minerva this early in the morning.

“I have to agree, Minerva. Ms. Donovan was rude and disrespectful. Furthermore, she should not interfere in betrothal contracts and family matters. You know as I do, Minerva, what the consequences are, if someone, who is not family, interferes in a marriage or betrothal contract or in familial matters of two old and noble families. In both cases, the punishments are harsh or deadly. For Merlin’s sake, the girl could be stripped of her magic, if she tries something against Heir Abbott or Mr. Greengrass.” Pomona made sure that Minerva is warned, what happens, if you mess up with a betrothal contract.

Minerva froze, when Pomona was finished. She knows full and well, what will happen, if someone tries to interfere with a marriage and/or betrothal contract and there is no way in hell, this could be covered up since the magic of the contract will make sure that the girl would suffer the consequences of her actions.

When they noticed that Minerva was silent, both teachers were glad and continued with their food. They had seen that Jaques was happily conversing with the other badgers.

Greengrass Manor

Cyrus and Danielle received their nephew’s letter and were surprised by his second sorting. Their nephew was sorted into Hufflepuff, but they didn’t care and were even glad since in Slytherin, he wouldn’t be safe from the other blood purists. Both were sure that the more bigoted Slytherins would have done everything to convince Jaques to break off the betrothal with Anton and get together with Mulciber. Thankfully, that would never happen.

“Jaques broke the tradition in the Greengrass Family. Many members of my family were either Ravenclaws or Slytherins.” Cyrus was practically grinning. Breaking the sorting tradition is an entertainment for most family, who were not biased.

Danielle just rolled her eyes at her husband’s statement and sighed. “Cyrus, we should be happy that he is safe. Ravenclaw is also a good option, but I had an intuition that Jaques would be sorted into Hufflepuff.”

“You and your intuition, Danielle.” Danielle glared at her husband and Cyrus remained quiet. “Let’s just write back to our dear nephew that we are very happy about his sorting.” Danielle agreed and prepared pen and paper.

In Hogwarts, Jaques was happy, when he received his aunt’s and uncle’s letter during the lunch period, where they stated that they were proud and happy about his sorting and that he had broken a sorting tradition. After finishing lunch, Jaques made his way to the charms classroom. On his way there, he heard someone calling him blood traitor. Turning around, he saw some Slytherins, who were glaring at him and were approaching him. Jaques sighed and thought: ‘Here we go.’

The leader of the group began. “Greengrass, you and your family are a stain to our respectable society. First, this betrothal to a filthy half-blood instead of a respectable wizard like Atticus and now, your sorting into Hufflepuff. It seems like that the Greengrass Family forgot its roots apart from your father. At least, he was the only one respectable in this family of yours. I didn’t understand at first, why Lord Greengrass would disown his own brother, but knowing that he approved this match between you and that filthy half-blood, we realised that your family are blood traitors.”

“Selwyn, you should know that my ex-father created an illegal betrothal contract without consulting my uncle, who is the head of the family. What would your head of the family do, if someone in your family creates a betrothal contract for you without the knowledge of the Lord of the family with one of the light families in the Wizengamot. You would hate it.” Selwyn became red-faced. He doesn’t have any arguments left.

Filius cleared his throat before Selwyn could continue. “Mr. Selwyn, for your degenerate language and disrespect towards a school mate, I will deduct ten points from Slytherin. You will spend the next three days in detention with me. I will also write to your parents.”

Killian Selwyn seethed, but remained silent and went into the classroom. He is already in a lot of trouble for losing points and getting detention on his first day of classes. His parents are not going to be pleased with him.

Hogwarts, Headmaster’s office, September 4th, 2002

Another order meeting was taking place and this time, it is in Hogwarts. Albus was surveying his followers and knew that they had many plans to work on. He had wanted to create another law against the veelas and this time, he wants to restrict the veelas from getting jobs in their society. When the meeting began, Albus announced that the veelas should be restricted from having jobs in their world that is demanding pro-longed contact with witches and wizards and practically and basically, made the nomination to ban them from getting any jobs in the wizarding world.

Arthur really questioned himself, why he didn’t notice that those that were on the side of the light could be as bad as Riddle and his death eaters. He will inform the others about their plans.

Phineas just shook his head in disappointment. He should have realised that something was wrong with Dumbledore, when he became headmaster.

“Albus, there must be something wrong with the sorting hat. I have heard that Greengrass was sorted into Hufflepuff instead of in Slytherin, where he belongs. What went wrong?” James stated his rather loud opinion, when it was decided that they made this nomination against the veelas.

The Sorting Hat let out a low growl at James Potter. He should have sent that brat into Slytherin, where he would have been toned down and he would have reached his full potential, but no, the boy had begged the hat to sort him into Gryffindor with the other light and good witches and wizards. Sirius Potter should have gone into Slytherin too. He would have done well in the snake house like the rest of his family. He would have prospered and he wouldn’t have been disowned now. When the hat turned his attention to Lily and Remus, he sighed and thought that it should have sent them both into Ravenclaw. They would have learned to be more open-minded and would have been exceptional in their classes. Pettigrew would have prospered in Hufflepuff and wouldn’t have become a death eater. Severus Snape would have done well in Gryffindor since the boy had true bravery and chivalry and was the best representation of a Gryffindor, but he never showed it to anyone outside his friendship circle. He would have managed to become the youngest potion master, but Slytherin was better, when he had sorted the Potters and Remus Lupin into Gryffindor since he would have been ruined by those four. The Sorting Hat is a very good strategist like Godric Gryffindor and currently, he knew that the sortings had to be strategic due to the old fool, in order to make sure that Dumbledore doesn’t ruin the students and stunt their magic.

Albus sighed. “James, Benji, Tamara, Sarah, Adam and I have talked with the Sorting Hat and it had sorted Jaques into Hufflepuff, because the hat couldn’t decide between Hufflepuff and Slytherin. So, the hat chose the house, where he could prosper more.”

James just huffed, but remained silent. He remembered his traumatic sorting, when the hat had tried to convince him to sort him into Slytherin. He was horrified and furious that the hat wanted to put him with the slimy snakes. James had argued with the hat defiantly until the hat gave in and sorted him into Gryffindor. He was a true lion, not a filthy snake. But he wasn’t the only one, who had suffered that. Sirius was also nearly sorted into Slytherin. Back then, the boy begged the hat to put him into Gryffindor since he didn’t want to be a slimy snake like the rest of his family. Remus and Lily remembered that both had protested against their sorting in Ravenclaw since they wanted to be safe from the ‘dark influence’ in Ravenclaw. They never told anyone about that since they would have been under suspicion by their friends and allies.

The others were not happy about this setback, but they had to accept it and they knew that things had gotten harder for them.

The meeting came to an end and Arthur planned to tell the others about their plans.

Malfoy Manor, September 6th, 2002

“We need to stop this nomination. I still can’t believe that the so-called light side is worse than Riddle and his followers.” Arthur had chosen to call Voldemort Riddle instead of calling him You-Know-Who since it is the safer option.

“I understand your problem, Arthur, but we can’t deal with them right now. We need to slowly chip off on their power base and make sure that they lose more and more influence over our world. Furthermore, Lucius, Thorfinn, Severus, Narcissa and all those including myself, who were associated with Riddle and his maniacs, need to repair their reputations and image, in order to make sure that our actions during the war are not questioned in a bad light”, Augustus said. Many agreed on that. Riddles’s followers and their associates were still mistrusted by more than 50% of their population no matter the background.

Everyone was discussing, how to stop this nomination until they came to the conclusion that they have to equivocate them and show the Wizengamot, for what jobs, the veelas are most qualified and where they would do best.

But for their plans, they need to make up a distraction and Narcissa made up a perfect plan, how to distract Dumbledore and his fools. “I have an idea. We could nominate to expand our medical field with the help of the muggle world. I mean, muggles have developed many healing techniques and explored the human body extensively, where they managed to find out all kinds of diseases and illnesses. This would distract Dumbledore and it would be beneficial for our society to expand our knowledge.” Many agreed.

Furthermore, they plan to put the current ban against the veelas, where they were forbidden from working for the ministry as employees. This would be another hurdle against Dumbledore and his followers.

Amelia had a feeling that something is in the air and that something terrible is going to happen. She was on guard since she found out that someone had been snooping in her files. She still didn’t know, who it was since she had to examine the magical signature and compare it with the other aurors, but for that she needed a very good reason. Amelia had a bad feeling and it was the same feeling like on Halloween 2001. But for now, she had to wait until the feeling is gone.

The others also noticed that there is something going on, but they are not sure what. Narcissa had a feeling that the case of Aurelius Yaxley isn’t still closed since the unknown, female accomplice hasn’t been apprehended. She suspected that it was Isabella Jugson, who still didn’t get over Corban’s decision of marrying Clara, but without proof, there was nothing Amelia can do. Not even a search warrant can be demanded since there was no evidence that is incriminating Isabella. But Narcissa was sure that the woman was going to do something stupid that would bring her down. She had known her since she was a little girl and Narcissa knew that Isabella was very cruel and reckless, when she was vindictive. She remembered back then, when her little sister, Evelyn, as an infant had broken her favourite doll, Isabella had given the poor infant the scare of her life by throwing a flobberworm in Evelyn’s crip. She was caught immediately and punished harshly, when Evelyn started to cry and scream. And that fact didn’t change.

Everyone went their separate ways, when the meeting came to an end.

Wizengamot, September 9th, 2002

Another Wizengamot meeting had started and this time, one of the members of the Anti-Creature Party nominated to ban veelas from working in any establishment, where they have prolonged contact with wizards and witches. They were excusing it with the fact that the veelas with their allure were a danger to their society. Many from the Grey Alliance were restraining themselves from rolling their eyes. Narcissa is really questioning herself, how those fools managed to become department heads let alone lords, when they were spouting such nonsense. She had seen that Dumbledore, his fools and the darker purebloods had supportive faces, but the rest was staring at the idiot blankly.

When the nomination was finished, Albus questioned the members of the Wizengamot, if there were any other nominations. Pandora was the one, who rose her wand. Albus frowned and hoped that her nomination wouldn’t be too troublesome. “Pandora, my dear.”

The woman in question stood up and gave Albus a fake smile trying to hide her distaste towards the man. “Dear members of the WIzengamot, I am nominating that we expand our healers’ medical knowledge with the help of the medical expertise from the muggle world. From what, I have learned, muggles have expanded their field of study in medicine massively and I think that we could learn a lot of things from the muggles.” From there on, an argument broke out and Pandora handed out the files about the illnesses and techniques of healing that the muggles had developed during the 19th and 20th century. It also shows, how the medical field has been divided in different departments. The light section was arguing and Albus was exasperated that such a simple motion can cause so much trouble in one row.

Albus quickly requested to speak with his followers in a privacy bubble, in order to make sure that his people were not embarrassing themselves in front of the Wizengamot with their lack of knowledge about the muggles. Why did this nomination had to come?

Narcissa saw the opportunity to strike and the Grey Alliance prepared itself to make the protest against the nomination. This time, Zachary Abbott would be the one to make the protest.

When Aurelia took over as Chief Witch, she questioned, if there were any other nominations or protests. When Zachary rose his wand, the woman had her attention on him. “Lord Abbott.”

“I have a protest to make about Lord Fudge’s nomination. This ban against the veelas would bring us more problems than they are worth it. First things first, Lord Fudge’s argument that the veela’s allure would distract the other workers from doing their jobs is complete hogwash since adult veelas can control their allure. Veelas in their childhood and in their early teens have trouble of controlling their veela allure since they had to learn it from their elders. In other instances, the allure is inactive especially, when the veelas are working or are studying. In that point, the allure is at the lowest. Furthermore, veelas are not aggressive. They only attack someone with their famous fireballs, if they are attacked or assaulted or their mate is in danger. Finally, I want to show you, how successful veelas are in certain fields like education, construction especially the branch of decorating, and organising events like weddings, balls or gatherings.” Zachary started to show them the decoration of the veelas that were working for Emily Poole’s construction company and many Lords and Ladies were reminded by the school board meeting in January. They remembered the few buildings that Emily Poole’s construction company had worked on and were stunned, how beautiful the decorations were. Narcissa was sure that they had the majority against Fudge’s nomination since many were reminded of the January school board meeting. Furthermore, he showed them the success rate of Lady Delacour, who was a well-known half-veela, in the International Department of Education and many were stunned that the woman had managed to raise the standards highly. Zachary returned the attention back and questioned the members of the Wizengamot: “Are you now sure that you want to ban veelas from working from any occupations, where they would have pro-longed contact with witches and wizards?” Many shook their heads, because they could benefit from the veelas, if they were treating them correctly. There were only a minority like the darker purebloods and members of the Anti-Creature Party that didn’t agree with Zachary, but they were now in the minority.

A chattering broke out and many had the opinion that the nomination sounded stupid. Aurelia banged with her gavel and managed to quiet the members down. “Is there another protest or nomination?” Clara Yaxley rose her wand. Aurelia had her attention on the Lady of the House Yaxley. “Lady Yaxley?”

The woman rose from her seat. There were many hostile looks from the blood purists, but Clara ignored them and nominated: “I propose to put the current working ban against the veelas in the ministry under question. Due to these revelations, we need to rethink our views about the veelas. Especially, when we think about the education of the next generation.” There were many silent agreements. She sat down and the members waited patiently for Dumbledore.

When Albus was finished, he retook his seat at the podium. “Aurelia, my dear, were there any new nominations?”

The woman’s demeanour changed to a brittle smile. “Yes, Lady Yaxley nominated to put the current working ban against the veelas into question.”

Albus’ face restrained a snarl. He will do everything in his power to make the nomination fail.

After Aurelia sat down on her respective seat, Albus moved to the voting and began with Dustin Fudge’s nomination regarding his ban to forbid veelas from working anywhere, where they would have a pro-longed contact with witches and wizards. The nomination failed since a majority voted against it. The next nomination regarding the expanding of the medical field received a majority, which infuriated those, who looked down on muggles. The final motion passed with a landslide vote, which infuriated Albus again. Why is nothing going his way anymore? Every nomination that he wanted to pass is failing and every motion that he didn’t want is getting a majority vote. What was happening? Since when did he lose control over the Wizengamot?

With the last votes done, the meeting came to an end.

Hogwarts, Great Hall

Minerva noticed that Albus was pensive and had a thoughtful look on his face, when dinner had started. Today, Lord Dustin Fudge was supposed to propose a nomination to stop those dreadful veelas from working everywhere, where they would be in a pro-longed contact with witches and wizards, but somehow, she had the suspicion that the motion had failed. She hoped that her suspicion was wrong.

“Albus?” Minerva tried to get his attention, which had worked in a way.

Albus was startled, when his name was called. Thankfully, it was Minerva and he was sure that she was curious about the Wizengamot meeting. “Yes, Minerva, my dear. What can I do for you?”

“Albus, I am a little bit concerned. You seemed to be silent and were lost in thought. What had happened during the Wizengamot meeting? The only thing that I know is that Dustin Fudge wanted to make the nomination to ban those veelas from working in any job, where they would be in a pro-longed contact with witches and wizards.” Minerva really wanted to know, what was going on. She hoped that the proposal didn’t fail.

Albus sighed deeply. “Well, Dustin made the nomination like it was expected, but we were distracted by Pandora’s motion to propose to expand our medical field with the help of the innovations from the muggle world. At one point, the nomination is beneficial to help us, but at the other point, I was conflicted due to my plans that we remain status quo.” Minerva understood the issue since it was a difficult decision for their side. Albus continued: “During our discussion regarding Pandora’s nomination, Clara Yaxley nominated to put the current working ban on the veelas under question.”

Minerva’s eyes rose in surprise. “What?! Why would she do that? She should have known, how dangerous veelas are?” Minerva was disappointed in Clara Anderson. When the girl had started Hogwarts, Minerva thought that she was the perfect representation of a muggleborn like Lily, but reality showed her the opposite. The girl started to read books that were too dangerous and dark and spent her time with the wrong people. She had tried to push the girl towards Stuart Fenwick, who fell in love with Clara, but the girl refused and rejected every advance from Stuart, which was annoying. Minerva reported it to Albus and he had the plan to create a marriage contract as he is the girl’s magical guardian. She agreed to that plan, because Minerva believed that Clara would realise, how perfect Stuart would be for her. When everything was filled out and the contract was signed, the results didn’t go the way, how they were supposed to go. The marriage contract blackened and the goblin explained that it only happens, if the contract was rejected since Clara has a soulmate. Furthermore, Albus was informed that he wasn’t the girl’s magical guardian, but Pomona, and to make matters worse, the goblin revealed that the magic from a soul bond is stronger than the magic of a marriage contract, which is also the reason, why the contract didn’t work. Stuart was crushed and furious. He demanded to know from the goblins, who the soulmate was, but the goblin said that Clara didn’t do an inheritance test and even he didn’t know, who the soulmate was. After Clara had graduated from Hogwarts, it was revealed that Corban Yaxley was her soulmate, which made her furious that a dark wizard was chosen to be her other half rather than a good and light wizard from a good family. To make matters worse, Clara had known it during her school years that Corban and her were soulmates and they had secretly dated until they were finished with their schooling. The reaction on the dark and the light side was volatile, when the couple announced their marriage and their bonding. Stuart had a meltdown and accused Yaxley that he had used spells, potions and even violence to make Clara his bitch, but no one really believed him apart from his close friends and acquaintances since Gerald Yaxley disinherited his eldest son from the heirship after the announcement. It was frustrating to see one of her lions being heartbroken and she couldn’t fix it.

“I understand your reaction, Minerva, but Clara had chosen her path and there is nothing that can be done to change it. At first, I thought that Dustin’s nomination would pass with ease, but it failed horribly and instead of Clara’s nomination had passed.” Albus paused for a few seconds before he continued: “I don’t understand, what is going on, Minerva? Since Voldemort’s defeat, nothing is going our way.” Minerva wished, she could help Albus, but sadly, even she doesn’t know, what is going on with the other Wizengamot members.

Bill had seen the reactions and he was satisfied that something didn’t go Dumbledore’s way. He was interrupted in his thoughts, when he heard two girls arguing about Jaques and Anton. Bill paid attention, what those two were going to do. “Anna, we need to do something. We can’t allow Jaques to get away with this. Sarah needs our help in this. Maybe if Greengrass suffers a little accident, then, he would learn that he should stay away from Anton.”

The other huffed: “Tara, I know that Sarah needs our help, but we would get into trouble. Professors Sprout and Snape are paying close attention to us and I am not a fool to mess with both of them. And don’t use the argument that Snape is a death eater and no one will believe him. Snape has connections in the school board and I don’t want to end up being expelled, because of you.” Tara fumed, but remained silent. She knew that the headmaster and their head of house may be able to protect them here, but the board is another matter. Regardless, they need to find a way to break this disgusting betrothal between Anton and Greengrass.

Bill sighed. He knew, what the girls were planning, but he is aware of the consequences, if you try to interfere in a betrothal or marriage contract. The worst thing would be the loss of magic. Bill continued with his dinner until he was finished and went to the common room.

Knockturn Alley, September 12th, 2002

Isabella Jugson was making her way through Knockturn Alley, in order to get rid of a nosy undercover auror. The woman was looking carefully for Christina O’Neill until she noticed the woman in front of Borgin and Burkes. Isabella saw the auror turning a corner to the left and she started to follow her, in order to find a deserted area, where Isabella can deal with her appropriately. Unfortunately, this chase will take some time, but Isabella will not give up.

After an hour of playing cat and mouse, Isabella was ready to kill. That woman is making everything difficult. When Christina turned right and was in a deserted area, Isabella had an evil glint in her eyes. ‘Finally, now let’s have some fun.’ That was her final thought and Isabella threw a crucio on Christina, who screamed in agony. The auror tried to erect a shield charm, but she was hit with multiple bludgeon spells and the conjunctivitis curse before she was able to get her wand. It was gruesomely painful and the woman was sure that her sternum was hit by the conjunctivitis. Christina was screaming in pain and agony and tried to yell for help. Isabella threw some cutting hexes and large gashes formed on Christina’s body. The auror was losing a lot of blood and she fell on the hard asphalt. The blood was reddening the brick stones and Christina was coughing up some blood. Isabella then crucified the woman for a full minute until Christina was convulsing.

Fortunately, Christina managed to get a coin out of her pocket, which was a portkey that would send her directly to St. Mungos’ Emergency Ward. The auror quickly activated the portkey, when Isabella was in the process of casting the killing curse. Isabella finally casted the killing curse, in order to silence the woman permanently, and the curse was thrown to Christina’s motionless body, but before the deadly spell could hit the auror’s body, Christina portkeyed away and the curse hit the asphalt.

Isabelle let out a scream of fury. She forgot that aurors had emergency portkeys that would take them away from a dangerous situation. She was sure that O’Neill was in St. Mungos and for now, she had to let it go since she would get caught. So, she left the scene.

St. Mungos Emergency Ward

The healers in the emergency ward had a calm lunch and were not expecting any emergencies. During the war, the Emergency Ward was active every day and there was no break for the healers, because of You-Know-Who and his followers. They have treated many injured aurors. The worst injury that they had to treat was the state of Alastor ‘Mad-Eye’ Moody, who had lost nearly half of his body through Bellatrix Lestrange and Antonin Dolohov. They had spent a month to save the man from death. But since the war had ended, the activity of the Emergency Ward had decreased.

It was calm in the ward until Christina appeared with a pop on one of the hospital beds. The healers were horrified of her state and started to heal her worst injuries. They quickly prepared blood replenishers and blood thickeners, in order to slow down the blood loss. The wounds were carefully closed and they gave her Skelegrow, because the bludgeon spells broke some of her ribs and they needed to regrow since they could puncture the inner organs.

The healers bandaged her up and had to wait for the Skelegrow to kick in. It was not going to be a comfortable night for the woman. They still had to repair the sternum from the conjunctivitis, but that would only work after the Skelegrow was gone from the system since the potion for the sternum and the Skelegrow react negatively with each other. There is also the cruciatus exposure. There is still no healing potion for that curse and unfortunately, Christina’s nerves on her arms were damaged, which would restrict her arms’ movement and is going to end her career as an auror.

One of the healers noticed the coin and knew that the woman is an auror. He quickly ordered one of the healers to get Lord Crouch.

Bartemius Crouch Sr. was less than pleased, when his presence in St. Mungos was demanded. Every time, he is entering a hospital, he had a bad feeling that something terrible had happened. The head of the Emergency Ward was quickly making his way to him. “Lord Crouch, one of your aurors is critically injured. Her name is Christina O’Neill. We have managed to stop the bleeding and gave her some Skelegrow potion, but we still had to heal her sternum and we will give her some pain potions against the cruciatius exposure. Unfortunately, Auror O’Neill will be restricted with her movements on her arms and will not be able to continue her job as an auror properly. The only duty, she could do is desk duty for now.” Bartemius sighed and was making his way to the intensive care unit. One of Amelia’s undercover aurors had been attacked and she is permanently restricted. Who could have done this and why? Did the person know that she was an undercover auror and if yes, how did they find out? There were many questions cruising through Barty’s mind and the more, he thought about this attack, the more, he thinks that there was a leak in the DMLE. This case needs to be classified and Barty will assign two aurors to investigate this attack. The bigger problem is that she wouldn’t be able to work on the field anymore and would be restricted on desk duty. Thankfully, the DMLE doesn’t have enough aurors on desk duty and he wouldn’t have any problems of transferring her there.

“I will transfer her to desk duty, but this would be done later. I am not going to fire one of our best undercover aurors. But first, I need from you and the other healers a secrecy vow. This attack will be investigated and there is a suspicion that there is a mole in the DMLE.” The head healer nodded in understanding and called the other healers in the ward. Everyone swore the vow of secrecy making sure that nothing does leak out from St. Mungos. “Furthermore, I request a death certificate. I can only speculate that the culprit wanted to kill Auror O’Neill. We need one until it is safe for her to return to the living.” The head healer fidgeted slightly. It is not uncommon to write false death certificates especially during the war, in order to protect those, who were targeted by Voldemort and his death eaters. This case is similar, but it is about the safety of a human life. So, the head healer quickly went to his office to write one, whereas the other healers went off to look after their patient.

With that, Barty made his way to check-up on the injured undercover auror. He entered the station, in which O’Neill was lying, and quickly checked up the state of the auror and was relieved that the woman’s injuries were not critical, but there would be lasting effects like the Cruciatius exposure. The formidable man quickly went back to the DMLE, in order assign Aurors Yaxley and Proudfoot to this case.

DMLE

Bartemius was storming through the atrium of the ministry and made his way to his office. He quickly sent two notes to Head Auror Yaxley and Auror Proudfoot demanding their presence in his office. He also sent a note to Amelia Bones. She needs to know that her undercover auror had been heavily injured. Entering his office, Bartemius put up secrecy wards and waited for the three to arrive. He had been doing some paperwork until their arrival.

Fifteen minutes later, Corban, Amelia and John Proudfoot made their way to Barty’s office. They were confused, what was going on.

Entering the office, Barty summoned three chairs and all three took their seat. Amelia questioned: “Bartemius, you wanted to see us?”

Bartemius let out a sigh and began. “Yes, there are some terrible news for you Amelia and a high-ranked case for you two, Auror Yaxley and Auror Proudfoot.” All three were sitting tensely on their seats. “Amelia, Undercover Auror Christina O’Neill was attacked in Knockturn Alley and was heavily injured. Currently, she is in St. Mungos and the healers managed to heal her critical injuries. They only need to heal her damaged sternum and she would be alright, but she is going to have problems with her arms due to the Cruciatus exposure. She will be on desk duty due to her lasting injuries.”

Amelia was shocked. That couldn’t be happening. Christina was one of her best undercover aurors and she had helped her in many ways possible during the war. Whoever had attacked her will pay for this severely. Corban and John were stunned that one of their own was attacked. They will find that bastard and bring him or her to justice. Amelia said: “Is there anything else? I need to go and check up on her personally.”

Bartemius heaved out a sigh. “There is something else that is concerning the DMLE. I suspect that there is a mole in our department that had leaked out classified information, but I don’t have any proof.”

Amelia’s eyes rose in shock. She remembered that someone was in her office during the summer holidays and had snooped into her files regarding the undercover aurors. Amelia said: “Bartemius, I believe that your suspicion has some grounds.” Bartemius rose his eyebrows to the woman and nodded for her to continue. “Last month, I noticed that someone was in my office, when I was finished with a report and went to hand it over to you. I was twenty minutes gone and left my office door open until I was back. When I entered my office, I noticed that something was off, because everything was clean. I noticed that someone had opened my cabinet, where I put the files about the undercover aurors in. I found out that the files were put in an incorrect order and there was a foreign magical signature in the files. I retracted the signature and put it in another file. I wasn’t able to determine, what spell was used and whose magical signature it was, but I bet my family fortune that this is connected to this case. Should I get the file?” Bartemius stared at the woman for a moment and nodded vehemently. This was a lead. Amelia quickly left the office, in order to get the file.

After Amelia left, Corban snarled: “It must be someone from here that had leaked out Christina’s status as an undercover auror. We also need to warn the other five undercover aurors that are working for Amelia. They are in danger.”

“Leave that to Amelia and me. We will make an announcement regarding Christina’s attack. Unfortunately, we will have to fake her death until the issue has been dealt with.” Bartemius said with a serious tone. Corban nodded, but he was still stewing in his thoughts.

John had to admit that Corban may be right, but the person must have outside help. “That is maybe true, Corban, but Amelia had six undercover aurors in her employ and three were stationed in Knockturn. Why weren’t the other five aurors attacked? Why did the person target Christina? Did this attack have something to do with Aurelius’ conviction? I mean, this was the last case that Christina had been working on and it was a big case unlike the other cases that she had worked on.” Barty had to admit that these were valid questions. Why O’Neill? This question was nagging on him the whole time.

Corban went deadly calm and both aurors were sure that the man looked ready to kill someone. The man said in a dangerous voice: “Isabella. She must be behind this attack.”

“How?!” Barty and John asked at the same time.

Corban explained: “Guys, do you remember that Christina had reported to us that Aurelius had a female accomplice?” Both nodded in acknowledgement remembering Christina’s report regarding Corban’s younger brother and both suspected that Isabella Jugson had something to do with this. Bartemius had interrogated Aurelius about the accomplice during the trial, but the man’s memories were removed. So, they had been stuck, but thankfully, the memories weren’t tempered since the case would have been dismissed. John questioned: “This is a valid point, Corban, but how could she have managed to gain access to this information? It was classified and it would have been too suspicious for her to spend a longer period of time here in the DMLE. She isn’t an auror.” Corban answered: “Her brother, Eric Jugson, could have helped her. He is working here in the DMLE as an auror. He must have been the one, who went into Amelia’s office and snooped into her files regarding the undercover aurors, and since he is an auror, his presence would have gone unnoticed. The foreign magical signature in Amelia’s cabinet must belong to that man since he is still a loyal follower of Voldemort. Additionally, it is strange that Eric had three Saturday shifts in Knockturn Alley, where Amelia’s undercover aurors were working, and that this attack had happened now.”

Bartemius grumbled: “I see. I will see to get an emergency appointment with the minister regarding this. I need a warrant to check up all the aurors’ magical signatures. Since there is a suspicion that one of our own had leaked out classified information and an undercover auror had been attacked, it would be easy to get one.” These were valid points. All three were lost in thoughts until Amelia arrived back with the file.

“Here is the file, Bartemius.” The man nodded and examined the magical signature.

Whereas Bartemius was busy, Corban and John brought Amelia up about their suspicion and their plans. Amelia was not a happy camper about those revelations and Bartemius’ plan, but she had to admit that Christina’s life would be in danger, if they announced that she had survived the attack. She also was reminded, what her other two undercover aurors had reported to her about Jugson. “That explains also Jugson’s odd behaviour during his Saturday shifts in Knockturn Alley. Aurors Wylder and McAdam reported to me that Eric was caught speaking with a crook named Alexander O’Connell, but they don’t know the contents of these conversations.”

Corban had a thoughtful look. “Maybe we should pay a visit to O’Connell and make him sweat a little. I remember that Eric and Alexander were close acquaintances and the O’Connells were sympathisers of Voldemort. This could be our first lead before we go against Isabella Jugson.” Everyone agreed. This would be their first phase.

“We should also add Eric in this. The man has some questions to answer after the examination of the signatures. It would be better, if we interrogate O’Connell and Jugson separately, but at the same time. One of them will surely talk about this case detailly.” John added. Everyone agreed.

Jugson Manor, September 13th, 2002

Eric was sitting uncomfortably on the couch in the living room. When he arrived home from work, Eric noticed that his sister had been smirking the whole day and her eyes were gleaming in mischief. He had managed to collect his bravery and asked her with a slight stutter: “Isabella, why are you happy? Since I have returned home, you had been smug about something. What did you do?”

Isabella closed her eyes and smiled. “Read this and you will know.” She handed him today’s newspaper with the title: AUROR DIED DUE TO AN ATTACK IN KNOCKTURN ALLEY! THE KILLER IS STILL ON THE RUN! Eric was trying to hide his panic. His sister killed the undercover auror and now things were going to get more complicated.

“What have you done?” Eric asked in a quavering voice.

Isabella sighed in annoyance. “I have made sure that this nosy bitch is silenced permanently and that our family is saved from ruin.”

Eric snapped at his sister furiously: “No, you idiot. You made things worse. Amelia is not going to accept this lying down. The entire DMLE is going to be in an uproar. Furthermore, my position is going to be threatened since an attack on an undercover auror is proving that someone inside the department had leaked out classified information and this could lead back to me. You should have left O’Neill to me. I would have removed her memories and made sure that no one can link Aurelius’ crimes with your actions, but now, you made things even worse and thanks to you, the situation became even more dangerous.”

Isabella wanted to scream, but was interrupted by their father. “Isabella, Eric, in my home office. NOW!”

Both children went obediently and silently to their father’s home office. The man sat down and looked at both children furiously especially Isabella. “Isabella, would you like to explain to me, what you have done?” The man threw the newspaper on the table.

“I have done us a favour by getting rid of this woman.” Isabella wanted to say more, but her father slapped her hard across her face.

“No, you foolish girl, you endangered us even more. Thanks to your actions, Eric’s position in the DMLE is threatened since an undercover auror had been attacked and many aurors are sure that there is a mole, who leaked out classified information.” Manfred was utterly furious with his daughter. How could she be so reckless?

“But, father-“

“No buts. We are now in a deep mess, because of you.” Manfred turned his attention to his son and softened a bit. “Eric, try to find a way to salvage this situation before things get worse. Do you understand me?” Eric nodded dutifully. He will try everything in his power to save their families’ reputation. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.

Wizengamot, September 15th, 2002

The trials of the Wizengamot were going smoothly, but Albus was lost in thoughts. Two days ago, the Daily Prophet reported the death of the auror, Christina O’Neill. He had let out a silent breath of relief that the undercover auror that had brought down Aurelius Yaxley was dead since she could have become a threat to his deals in the black markets.

Albus was sure that Isabella Jugson was the one, who did the deed. The woman wanted to get rid of a loose end and she had done it expertly. What the Jugson woman didn’t realise, was the fact that she also unintentionally helped him since the undercover auror would have brought ruin to him and his reputation, if she had discovered, what he and Dung were doing in the black markets. At least, he doesn’t need to worry about the woman any longer and he told Dung to continue with their business in Knockturn Alley.

But Albus was also concerned since he knew that Amelia was not going to let it go and he is sure that she is going to investigate the murder of her undercover auror. Furthermore, Albus knew that the investigation had started and from there on, Amelia would not allow any stone to be left unturned. He alerted Dung that he should not draw any suspicion towards him.

Unfortunately for Albus, Amelia isn’t investigating the attempted murder of her undercover auror since it would be too obvious and there is also the close connection she had to the woman. Amelia had accepted it, but she is helping both aurors with everything. For example, her cabinet was seized and filed as evidence. Amelia had ordered a new cabinet for the other files and this time, she put many locking charms and even a blood ward on the cabinet, so that only she can open it. She was grateful that the current ban regarding the blood wards was put under question and she was able to use the ward without any persecution. Corban and John Proudfoot were assigned this task and Amelia trusts them.

Corban and John managed to track the portkey location from where Christina had portkeyed to the hospital. Unfortunately, the street was deserted, so, there weren’t any witnesses, which was frustrating. But they found a dried pool of blood on the street and collected many samples. They also found on one of the brick stones residues of the killing curse and with that, they closed down the street as a crime scene, when the results of the blood samples came out that the blood belonged to Christina O’Neill. Corban had examined the residues and managed to retract a magical signature. Unfortunately, they needed a warrant, if they wanted to get Isabella’s magical signature for the comparison and currently, they have no leading evidence towards the woman, but they will question Alexander O’Connell and Eric Jugson since the circumstantial evidence is putting them both under suspicion. It’s time to rattle the cage on those two.

Manfred Jugson was nervous and was giving Amelia some subtle glances, but he made sure that they weren’t noticed by the woman. His foolish daughter made a big mistake and he knew that Amelia Bones was not going to let it go. Damn it. Why couldn’t Isabella be like her younger sister? Evelyn is cunning and in a situation like this, the girl would have had a cool head and thought things through before she would have acted. She would have followed Eric’s lead to remove the memories from that meddlesome woman and no one would have been any wiser, but killing the undercover auror is something that would not go unnoticed by anyone and the DMLE would suspect that someone had leaked out classified information, which is endangering his son’s position in the DMLE. This was a nightmare. He really hoped that his son would be able to salvage this mess or things would get worse for their family.

Narcissa and the other members of the Grey Alliance had read the article and had a bad feeling. They asked Amelia and Corban about the auror since both looked resigned, but both aurors said that the case is currently classified and it is in the works. No one liked to be left in the unknown, but they couldn’t really interfere since things are still dangerous and unstable.

The trials continued, but many members felt that something was in the air.

Minister’s Office, September 16th, 2002

Milicent Bagnold did not have a good morning, when she had to cancel some appointments. Bartemius had wanted an emergency appointment with her since there was a crisis in his department. Whatever it is, she hopes that the man has a good reason since she also had to set up secrecy wards on her office.

Bartemius entered the minister’s office with some files regarding Christina’s attempted murder. Arriving in front of the minister’s desk, the man greeted the minister and laid down the files in front of the minister. Milicent was even more displeased, when she had seen the thick files, but she was also curious. “Lord Crouch, what is going on that you have demanded an emergency meeting with me?” She opened the file and started reading the file’s overview.

Barty was flustered and sat down tiredly on the empty seat. There were some restless nights, where he had to take a sleeping draught to get some sleep. “There is an emergency in the DMLE. One of my aurors has leaked out classified information and it had nearly led to the death of one of the undercover aurors under Amelia’s command. Thankfully, the auror survived the attack and is recovering in St. Mungos’ Emergency Ward. Amelia Bones reported that last month an auror had entered her office, snooped in her files that were containing the undercover aurors and left leaving a magical signature in the files, whereas he or she erased any traces that he or she was there. I request from you, minister, a warrant that would allow us to examine all of the current aurors’ magical signatures that are filed in the archives and compare them with the magical signature that was found in Amelia’s files.”

Milicent was listening to Crouch’s request after she was finished reading the overview of the case. She had to admit that this was an emergency since it is undeniable that one of the aurors had leaked out classified information. Furthermore, the woman was nearly killed and the culprit is also aware of the other undercover aurors that are under Amelia’s command, which is putting a target on their backs. She questioned: “And what about the other undercover aurors? They also could be in danger.”

“Amelia and I dealt with the issue. They would work now officially as aurors since they would be in danger, if they remain in their current predicament.” Milicent nodded. At least, the other five undercover aurors are moved from their positions.

Milicent Bagnold went over the file and after some time, she decided that the request had some grounds. “Lord Crouch, I approve your request. After dinner you will come to my office to get your warrant. I want the check-ups to be done during this night, so that the culprit isn’t alerted.”

“Thank you, minister.” Barty was in a good mood. He also tried to restrain a chuckle since both John and Corban would have to do also a night shift today, but tomorrow, they would have the entire day off.

DMLE

Corban and John were less than pleased, when they were told that they had to do the examination during the night shift. They were on their feet since morning, but Crouch promised them that tomorrow, they would have the rest of the day off, so that they can rest. Both informed their spouses about the examination and understood it.

Bartemius had gotten the warrant after dinner and told the two aurors that they had to remain in the DMLE until they found a match with the magical signature that was found in Amelia’s cabinet. He also warned Corban not to be biased regarding the Jugson heir and that every auror’s magical signature had to be examined alphabetically until they found a match, then, they can go home to their beds. It shouldn’t look like that Eric was targeted specifically, but it also shouldn’t take too long since Jugson was with the Js, which would lessen their workload. Barty didn’t want to be called a sadist by his employees. John and Corban understood the situation and knew that the results of the examination should come out naturally.

Before the clock would strike midnight, Corban found a match with Eric Jugson’s magical signature. He quickly sent a patronus to Barty and waited for the answer.

Bartemius sent a message back that they have to clean up and put the results of the examination in the case file and lock the file very well, so that no one unauthorised can gain access. Furthermore, they were allowed to go home. Corban and John let out a sigh and quickly cleaned up. They put the results in the case file and locked the file in Corban’s cabinet since the man used blood wards on his cabinet.

“Corban.”

“Yes, John.”

John Proudfoot let out sigh. “When we return back to work, can I do the interrogation with Eric Jugson and you do the interrogation with Alexander O’Connell, so that we are not accused of bias? I mean, you have a personal past with the current Jugson heir.”

Corban was thoughtful. At first, he didn’t like the idea since he would have liked to have some choice words with Eric and make him suffer for his actions, but he also had to admit that John is right since it would look clearly biased, if he was interrogating Eric. “Yes. I find the idea good. It would also be funny to see his face that you are interrogating him and not me. I am sure that he is going to put a stink, if I were to interrogate him.” John nodded and couldn’t wait to see Jugson’s reaction. Both left the ministry at 2 a.m.

September 18th, 2002

Alexander O’Connell was making his way calmly through Knockturn Alley until he was stopped by two aurors. “Gentlemen, what can I do for you?” The man may be sounding polite, but inside, he didn’t like it one bit. What do the aurors want with him.

“Mr. Connell, you are coming with us. You are demanded in an interrogation regarding a murder investigation.” Alexander paled, what was going on.

Looking at both aurors, who were ready to take out their wands, the man sighed and surrendered. He has a bad feeling about this.

In the DMLE, Eric was unsure, what was going on, but something was in the air and he didn’t like it one bit. Entering the DMLE office, he was intercepted by Yaxley and Proudfoot. He asked: “Good morning, Corban, John. What can I do for you?”

Corban was hiding a smile. He is going to like it even though John would make the announcement. John said in a neutral voice: “Heir Eric Jugson, you are under arrest for leaking classified information and for the manslaughter of Christina O’Neill. You have the right to remain silent. Everything you say, would be used against you in court. If you have a lawyer, you can call him, if not, you will be provided with one.” John handcuffed him with magic-restraining cuffs and led the shocked man to the interrogation room.

Eric was inwardly cursing his sister. This was all her fault that he was arrested. If she had been patient and allowed him to deal with the issue, then, nothing like this would have happened. Everything would have gone quietly, but no, his sister had to go around and mess everything up.

Alexander was confused, when he was led in an interrogation and was told that he had to sit down and wait. The man was looking around until the door opened and Corban entered the interrogation room with some files. Alexander paled in fear, when he saw Corban. What the hell is going on? He really had a bad feeling. Whereas Corban was sitting and preparing the files, Alexander greeted the man: “Good morning, Lord Yaxley. It is a nice surprise meeting you.”

Corban just rolled his eyes and noticed the fear. He repressed a smirk and said: “I wish I could say the same, but due to the murder of one our colleagues, I am not in a good mood. So, do not test my patience, O’Connell.” The man nodded fearfully. He knows that things are going to be bad, if he is going to needle him further. Alexander asked: “So, what can I do for you?”

“You will answer some questions. I will start with the easy ones.”

Alexander swallowed hard. He really has a bad feeling about this, but Corban started: “Mr. O’Connell, according to two former undercover aurors, you had been caught having longer conversations with Auror Eric Jugson. What was the contents of these conversations?”

The crook let out a chuckle and answered: “Nothing. He only needed from me some information of what was going on in Knockturn Alley. Nothing more. Of course, the conversations were a bit longer as expected, but they were only some information regarding the residents of Knockturn Alley.”

Corban nodded calmly, but inside he was ready to snap. “Hmm, I expected more, but speaking of the residents, did you talk about these residents?” Corban showed the man the pictures of Amelia’s former undercover aurors. Alexander paled. Do they know? He answered in a tight voice: “No.”

Corban had a slight smile. “Really, because after your last conversation on August 31st, on September 12th, Undercover Auror Christina O’Neill was heavily injured and succumbed due to her injures in St. Mungos. I don’t believe in coincidences, Mr. O’Connell. Can you tell me something about this case?”

Alexander was pale liked a ghost. What the hell happened? Please let this be a nightmare. Did Isabella Jugson kill that woman? If she did this, then, he and Eric are in deep shit, because with enough proof, this could be linked back to them, but Alexander was sure that they had no evidence. He answered: “No. I don’t even know the girl. What is going on? How am I connected to this case.”

“You are connected in many ways through Eric Jugson and we know about your possible involvement since Heir Jugson made a big mistake of leaving his magical signature in the files that were in Amelia’s cabinet. He did a very good job at erasing his traces, but this one little mistake will cost him everything.” Corban was practically grinning like a cat that got its cream.

Alexander knew that they were bluffing about the magical signature. Eric couldn’t be that stupid enough to leave something damning like this.

Corban saw the look on the man’s face and knew, what the man was thinking. Alexander thinks that they were bluffing. Oh, how wrong, he was going to be. The head auror took out two files out of the pile. The one file was from Amelia, who had retracted the magical signature from the cabinet and Eric’s file, where he had poured his magical signature, when he had started to work as an auror. Showing both files, Corban explained: “In this file…“ Pointing to Amelia’s file. “…is the magical signature that Amelia had retracted last month from her cabinet. We have, of course, certified it, so that it cannot be said that it was tempered with, and we found magical traces in Amelia’s cabinet that were not matching Amelia’s magical signature.”

“This file…” Pointing to Eric’s file from the DMLE archives. “…shows the magical signature of Auror Eric Jugson and after an alphabetic examination, the magical signature matches with the magical signature that was retracted and with the magical traces in the cabinet. So, what do you say to this?”

Alexander was trying everything in his power to stop his eyes from shifting in fear. Damn it. Eric was stupid enough to leave his magical signature in the cabinet. This was going to bite them back hard. He answered keeping his stutter from his voice: “So, you have a crooked auror. What does it have to do with me?”

Corban answered: “Mr. O’Connell, you are not the only one, who is interrogated here. My assigned partner, John Proudfoot, is interrogating Eric Jugson and I am sure that he will confront him with the evidence that I have showed you. I know that he will remain silent, in order to protect a certain individual, but his silence would not remain forever. We are making progress in this case.”

Silence followed. Corban knew that for now, Alexander will not talk and legally, they can’t charge him with anything, but if they have something, then, he would face minor charges like failing to report a crime since he had known that the information was classified and he did nothing and espionage. “Nothing to say, O’Connell.” The man shook his head.

Corban said: “You can leave for now, but we are going to keep a close watch on you. Do not think that you are out of our radar.”

Alexander left the interrogation room pale. The man looked like he swallowed a lemon. He cursed Isabella Jugson. That woman caused more problems, then, they were worth it.

Eric had a worse time in the interrogation room. John Proudfoot waited for Eric’s lawyer to arrive. When the man came in, he looked through the evidence that they had gathered against Eric. Ignatus Vaisley was resigned, when he noticed that this case would be difficult to win. He needed to tweak some aspects, in order to make sure that Eric doesn’t end up in Azkaban for his actions. “Auror Proudfoot, can I speak with my client privately?” The man nodded his head.

A privacy and a silencing ward were erected and Ignatus immediately said before the man can say something: “Eric, this case is going to be difficult to win. The evidence regarding the leaking of classified information is impossible to dismiss, so, this charge will stick. I would suggest there to plead guilty, but we could work on the manslaughter charges. I know that your sister is behind this crime and I am also aware that you didn’t know, what she has done. Either you tell Auror Proudfoot about your sister’s action, so that we can work on lessening the charge to involuntary manslaughter or-“

“No, even though she caused this mess, Ignatus, she is still my sister. I can’t sell her out like this.” Eric was terrified. Isabella will kill him, if she ends up in jail, because of him. His father. Well, he wouldn’t be too angry since he blames Isabella for the mess, but he would be disappointed.

Ignatus sighed: “Eric, either you will get a small sentence like a house arrest for a few years or you will get a decade in Azkaban. You could share a cell with your elder brother, if you go this path.” Eric swallowed hard and was pale. This gets worse and worse from his perspective, but he shook his head. “I will plead guilty on both charges. I will do everything to protect my family.” The lawyer shook his head. In his opinion, Isabella is not any worth to go to jail for, but family is important.

The privacy and silencing wards were dispelled and Ignatus told John: “My client is pleading guilty on both charges.”

John was surprised by this course of action from Jugson, but he knew that despite everything, Eric didn’t know, what had happened to Christina until the Daily Prophet had reported it. The man had been pale, when he came to work after the news. He also knows that Eric wouldn’t have done this. The man didn’t have the guts to kill someone. John was sure that Eric would have just obliviated Christina and be done with it. The auror knew that Isabella Jugson was behind this crime and Eric didn’t know anything, what she had done. John shook his head. He will discuss this with Corban, Amelia and Lord Crouch.

John ordered two aurors in the interrogation room and ordered them to lock Eric up in a holding cell. “Mr. Vaisley, can you remain here? There is something else, I wished to discuss with you.” He didn’t want the lawyer to leave. The man nodded and remained seated.

After the aurors and Eric were gone, John said: “I don’t believe that Auror Jugson had known that Christina O’Neill was killed until the prophet had announced the news or that he did the deed himself. I suspect that your client is hiding something and is protecting someone closely related, but currently, the evidence is pointing that Auror Jugson leaked out classified information to someone close and that person went around to kill Undercover Auror Christina O’Neill regardless if he had known, what the individual had done, or not. Even if we prove that he didn’t know, he would still face charges of involuntary manslaughter. Do not think that your client will get off easily.”

Ignatus nodded. He was thankfully that some aurors weren’t idiots. With that, the attorney left.

Manfred and Isabella Jugson were arguing loudly in the Lord’s study about Eric’s arrest. When their family lawyer came to inform them that Eric had been arrested for leaking classified information and manslaughter, Manfred had been ready to kill Isabella. That stupid girl caused his son’s arrest and he is now facing a penalty of being locked away for a decade. Even though, he didn’t kill the undercover auror, his son was still the cause of her death, because he leaked out classified information.

“ENOUGH!” Manfred took out his wand and put a silencing charm on his daughter. That girl had inherited her mother’s temper and he swore that this was going to be the death of him. When everything was silent, Manfred growled in rage: “This is all your fault, you foolish girl. I warned you that you should let your brother handle this, but no, like a Gryffindor, you go around and kill the woman. Now, your brother had to pay dearly for your actions. For a certain time, you will remain here and will not contact anyone, not even your friends. Do you understand me? I will speak with Ignatus, in order to find a way to fix this. If you dare to break this order, then, I will hand you over to the aurors and expose you. I will not allow that the heir of our family suffers, because of your behaviour. Do you understand me?” The woman nodded miserably.

“Good. Do something and you will regret it?” With that final warning, Manfred left. There were a lot of things to be done.

Later that evening, Amelia, Bartemius, Corban and John were sitting in Barty’s office discussing today’s arrest and Eric’s course of action. John said: “I think that it wasn’t Eric’s intention to kill Christina or have her killed. More than likely, he would have just obliviated O’Neill and left her be, but his elder sister is a vicious and impatient beast. I believe that she is the one, who had nearly murdered Christina.”

Everyone agreed begrudgingly. Even Corban would not believe that Eric wanted her dead, let alone he had killed Christina himself.

“I can delay his trial until November, but until then, you have to have evidence against Isabella Jugson.” Corban and John nodded. Both knew that time is of essence now.

Hogwarts, Headmaster’s office, September 22nd 2002

There was another order meeting regarding the school board meeting and Albus was in a good mood. The undercover auror that had brought down Aurelius Yaxley is dead and he is complacent that his and Dung’s black-market business is safe for now. But he had another issue and it is the history class or better to say the material of the class. Albus turned the attention to the witch hunts in the Middle Ages and during the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th century. He can’t allow the students to learn that most muggles hated magic back then, because of the Christian religion, and that they had killed hundreds of magical children with the excuse that the witches and wizards were devil worshippers. It would allow the students to be led away from the belief that the muggles were simple creatures that needed the guide of wizards and witches.

Albus had impressed into his followers that the witch hunts were just the fun and games of adult witches and wizards back then, who were caught and pretended to be burnt for entertainment. It was easy to escape the pyre by casting a flame freezing charm. “I mean Wendelin the Weird allowed herself to be burnt thirteen times during the witch hunts and managed to escape the pyre unscathed by casting a flame freezing charm.” With that, Albus knew that he had his followers hooked.

Phineas just shook his head in exasperation. The fool is going to shoot himself in the foot with that story since many would question, what had happened to the children back then. Adult witches and wizards were able to escape the pyre with ease, but children weren’t able to cast a simple flame freezing charm and weren’t able to escape the pyre. Most likely, many children died due to the witch trials and witch hunts. Phineas looked at Armando Dippet’s portrait. The man had thinned his lips at how stupid his successor is. His followers were even dumber. He is still questioning himself, how his cunning and dangerous great niece, Dorea Potter, could have given birth to such an abomination like James Potter. He had known Charlus Potter and the man was a decent pureblood. A bit brutal towards his enemies, but nonetheless a good match for Dorea and a well-known grey wizard. The man wasn’t a Dumbledore fan and he made his statement clear during the war against Grindelwald.

For Merlin’s sake, even Arthur Weasley is smart enough to not believe this gospel. He may have been at first foolish and a naive idiot, when he had first met him and his wife in the headmaster’s office, but thankfully, he had the excuse that he was under potions and spells. When he had met the man later after he was purged during the meetings in Malfoy Manor, Phineas was proven completely wrong about Cedrella’s spawn. Arthur was a mama’s boy and was as dangerous as any other Black. The former headmaster remembered Cedrella very well and the girl was a hell spawn, when she was young. Anyone, who dared to cross her, had suffered hell under her wand or her position in the elite circle. If Cedrella had been alive, he was sure that Molly Weasley would have been flayed to death by her mother-in-law. She would have dragged the old fool’s and his pet-cat’s name through the mud and disgraced them so badly that they wouldn’t have been able to show their faces in front of the public anymore.

Arthur could have been capable of doing the same thing, but he was content with waiting until the old fool is ruined, which he had inherited from his father. Septimus Weasley, even though the man was a Gryffindor, was a patient man and like a lion that is hunting his prey, the man waited for the perfect opportunity to strike. He was proud and disappointed, when he compared James Potter and Arthur Weasley.

When everyone agreed on the nomination, Albus asked the present aurors in the office: “James, Hestia, do you know, what is going on in the DMLE? I have read about the murder of an auror and that the killer was still on the run. Do you have any information regarding the investigation that has been conducted?”

James shook his head, but Hestia nodded and started to explain: “Bartemius classified the case and the only ones, who had access to the file, were Amelia, Yaxley and John Proudfoot. And those three knew about the progress of the investigation.”

“Let me guess, the progress is going slow, because of Yaxley, who is trying to make sure that his blood-supremacist friends are not under the radar of the DMLE”, James commented rudely.

Albus withheld a groan. That man can be such an idiot. Didn’t the article in May prove that Corban Yaxley had distanced himself from the blood supremacists? Is the man blind or thick in the head?

The rest of the order rolled their eyes even the younger ones, who had harshly realised the truth that Yaxley was finished with the blood purists. It seems like that James is the only one that is holding himself on the belief that Yaxley is secretly a death eater or a death eater sympathiser.

Hestia huffed: “If you had paid any attention in May instead of being a nuisance, James, then, I can tell you that they had already made an arrest.” James wanted to snap, but remained silent, when Albus rose his hand to stop James from talking.

“Who did they arrest?”, Albus asked and the other members started to chatter, who it could be.

Hestia sighed. “I wished I knew, but even the arrest has been classified.”

Many groaned and Albus was displeased. This was not something that he wanted to hear. He said with a brittle smile: “I hope Hestia that you can keep your ears and eyes open for us, so that we are aware of the situation beforehand.”

“Of course, headmaster”, Hestia replied dutifully.

The order had chattered for a bit and when they were finished, the order meeting came to an end.

Bones Manor, September 26th, 2002

The meeting of the Grey Alliance had started and many had questions regarding the murder of the auror, but Amelia announced that currently, the investigation is classified and they would find it out during the trials in November. She knew that many didn’t like it, but they had to let it go.

Narcissa changed the subject and turned her attention to Arthur. “Arthur, please tell me that Phineas wasn’t joking, when he told me that Albus is planning to change the material regarding the witch trials and witch hunts. I mean, any idiot knew that adult witches and wizards had no problems of escaping the pyre with the help of the flame freezing charm, but what about the children? Children couldn’t cast the charm until they were in their third year in Hogwarts.”

“Unfortunately, it is the truth. He wants to portray the witch trials and the witch hunts as fun and games, where adult witches and wizards were intentionally caught and pretended to be burnt by the pyre like Wendelin the Weird.” Arthur grimaced, when he finished with his explanation.

Callidora just shook her head. “Thankfully, Augusta isn’t here. She would have chewed our ears off, if she had heard, what you had said. She has a mastery in history and she knew that the witch trials and the hunts were not games or anything funny done by adult witches and wizards. This period was the most dangerous in the history of magic and it was about the survival of wizardkind until the Statute of Secrecy was signed in 1689 and was ratified in 1692.” Many knew that this was the real reason why the Statue of Secrecy was passed, because the magical world was done allowing muggles to blame them for every simple thing that is going wrong in the muggle world and that the muggle rulers did nothing to help them or even encouraged the Christian fanatics with their crusade against magic like Maria Tudor. The Clearwaters knew that the muggle world had done many things wrong with the magical world, but what can you do, if a majority of the population was analphabetic, had no education and were listening to the churches back then. When they were introduced to the magical world the first time around, they had thought about a world, where everything was possible, but they were proven wrong. Magic has also its limits and even witches and wizards have no cure against diseases like cancer or AIDS, but they were sure, if they combine their knowledge and efforts in the medical field, the magical world could introduce a cure soon. Jeremy told Augustinus about his idea to combine the efforts and their knowledge to improve both worlds. The man was at first thoughtful, but he agreed since it would solve a lot of problems in the magical and the muggle worlds.

But in order to continue with that, they needed to stop Dumbledore’s motion, they needed to distract the old fool and Narcissa had an idea. “We will return back to the topic from July regarding the homeroom classes and the subjects. I think that we should nominate that the theory part of Herbology, Potions, DADA, Transfiguration, Charms, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and COMC and the theory classes like History of Magic should be taught in the homeroom classes. Except Astronomy, Flying and Divination. They would remain, where they are normally taught. It’s only about the location of where the other classes will be taught.” Many nodded. It sounds maybe small and innocuous, but it can distract Dumbledore and his fools greatly.

“And we can nominate to introduce the Flying class for the primary school.” Everyone nodded in agreement.

School board, September 30th, 2002

The school board meeting had begun and as usual one of Dumbledore’s followers nominated to change the material regarding the witch trials and the witch hunts in the ICW curriculum for the history class appropriately. The fool is downplaying that the witch hunts weren’t that bad and explained that they were only fun and games that were orchestrated by adult witches and wizards, who liked to pretend to be burnt. Narcissa thought that they didn’t need the distraction, but to be on the safe side, they made out, so that Dumbledore doesn’t interfere.

When the fool was finished, Albus questioned, if there was another nomination. This time, Muriel Prewett was the one, who rose her wand. Albus chose her thinking that the nomination would be easy. “Esteemed members of this board, I nominate that the theory part of DADA, Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and COMC and classes that have no practical portion in their exams like History of Magic should take place in the homeroom classes. Flying, Astronomy and Divination are exceptions from this change. It is only to change the location, where the students would be taught.”

An argument broke out in the light side. Dumbledore’s followers were already arguing about this nomination since some liked this motion, but the others didn’t like the change and wanted the status quo to remain. Albus really hated this. This nomination is simple. He had nothing against the nomination since it doesn’t interfere with his plans, but his followers were making things needlessly hard.

Requesting a privacy and silencing ward, Aurelia took over. The woman was amused, how Dumbledore’s chickens were always making things needlessly harder than it was necessary. She didn’t like Dumbledore due to her job in the Department of Education as a tester since the man was dumbing down each generation. It was about time to make some changes and make sure that the children receive the best education they could ever get. She asked: “Are there any other nominations?” Callidora rose her wand. “Lady Longbottom?”

The formidable woman stood up and announced: “Lords, Ladies, I have a protest to make regarding Lady Vance’s nomination.” Aurelia nodded and gave the go-ahead. “What Lady Vance had neglected to mention to us in her nomination was the fact why did witches and wizards get burnt on the pyre. I can tell you all that these times were not any fun or games. My daughter-in-law would have chewed our ears off, if she had listened to this stupidity.” Everyone chuckled at the statement about Dowager Longbottom. They couldn’t disagree since most knew that the woman has a mastery in history. “The witch trials and the witch hunts were the most dangerous times in our history. Adults had no problems escaping the pyre with the help of the flame freezing charm, but what about the children back then? They also were there and they were always in danger especially the muggleborns. For that reason, the adults also let themselves caught, in order to cause a distraction, so that the other witches and wizards were able to save them from their so-called homes. Wendelin the Weird had allowed herself to be caught thirteen times, but her reason is quite darker than what we were told in the history books. The woman had done this to save the children that were to be executed by the muggles. She tortured and killed many priests and nuns and confessed to her crimes, when she was caught. She also admitted that she had used magic to torture and kill them. When she was set to be executed, the children were saved by her friends and during her execution, she used the flame freezing charm, in order to escape. And she had done that thirteen times. So, I am asking you all, do you still believe that the witch hunts and trials were fun and games.” Many shook their heads and were horrified about this part of the history. Even the darker purebloods were sickened by these revelations.

Narcissa smirked at her great-aunt. Now, they have a majority to oppose Emmeline Vance’s nomination. Callidora returned the smirk with a slight smile. Dumbledore would get a rude awakening.

“Order, please! Order!” When everyone was quiet, Aurelia asked: “Are there any other nominations?”

Narcissa rose her wand. “Lady Malfoy?” Aurelia moved the attention of the board to the woman

Narcissa stood up and proposed: “I will make it short. I nominate to continue with the primary school curriculum and I motion to introduce the Flying class for that reason.” With that, she sat down. Aurelia added it in the docket and many were supportive of this nomination.

The other members were chattering until Dumbledore was finished with his fan club. He looked exhausted, but he retook the podium and asked Aurelia: “Were there any nominations, Aurelia?”

The woman nodded stiffly and said: “Lady Malfoy nominated for the primary school curriculum the Flying class.” Albus nodded and Narcissa was glad that the man didn’t look opposed to this nomination.

When there weren’t any new nominations, Albus moved over to the votes. The first nomination from Emmeline Vance failed epically. Emmeline was enraged and Albus looked furious. This wasn’t supposed to happen. The second nomination passed unanimously and the third was the same. With that, the board meeting came to an end.

Hogwarts

Albus was disappointed at the outcome of the board meeting. Emmeline’s nomination failed, which irritated him greatly. Why does nothing work, when he or his followers were making the nominations? Today, things weren’t that bad. The location of the theory classes wasn’t interfering with his plans, but he wished his followers were not making things difficult for him, and the introduction of the Flying class wasn’t as bad as the ICW primary school curriculums for the primary school that had passed during the last board meetings. But the failure of the first nomination was a setback.

Albus had a feeling that there was something going on, but he didn’t know what. For now, he was brushing it off, because there were more important matters.

The death of the undercover auror, who brought Aurelius Yaxley down, was a blessing in disguise for him since the woman would have brought ruin to his reputation, if she had discovered his and Dung’s dealings in the black markets, but he was still in the unknown, who was arrested. He knew that the DMLE is in a crisis since there was a leak-out that had led to the death of an undercover auror, but did they really find the mole? Had the DMLE really arrested the mole already and if yes, who is it? There were many questions, but no answers. Hestia is keeping an eye on Amelia, but unknown to the woman, she had set her sight on the wrong person, because Corban Yaxley and John Proudfoot were leading the investigation regarding the ‘death’ of Christina O’Neill. Albus needed to know, what was going on. He knew that Bartemius was not going to tell him anything and Amelia is the same, which is annoying. He could salvage the situation, but without any information about the case, things were harder. Albus suspected that Isabella Jugson was the one, who killed the auror, but how could she have gotten the information about the female auror?

Suddenly, a realisation hit Albus. Isabella is not an only child. How could he have forgotten that? She had an older brother, who is a convicted death eater, and two younger siblings. Her younger sister is still attending Hogwarts. And he also knows that her younger brother is working in the DMLE. Is he the mole? Was he arrested? Yes, it must be him. How else could Isabella have gotten classified information from the DMLE? But he had to keep it to himself since confronting Amelia and Barty with this information would lead to questions that he would not like to answer. Hestia’s position could be endangered and that would be the last thing, he needed.

But something is still missing. He is sure that Eric knew, who the killer is, but maybe he is keeping quiet since he knew that he would do everything in his power to protect his family even going to jail and it would have made big news, if Isabella was arrested for the murder of the undercover auror. Additionally, Albus doesn’t believe that Eric Jugson murdered the undercover auror himself or wanted her dead since he doesn’t have the guts to do this and it would have brought too much attention to the public. He is sure that the man would have just obliviated the woman and be done with her. This means, the investigation was still on-going, but he doesn’t know the details and he didn’t like it one bit to be left out like this.

Albus sucked on another lemon drop again and had his thoughts on to the Wizengamot meeting on October 7th. He had a nomination to make that would surely work this time against the veelas, but he needed to work on the details. There would be an order meeting in few days.