{Head Office, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, British Ministry of Magic}
{5th Oct 1991}
{Amelia Bones POV}
Amelia slumped back into her chair as she closed her eyes. The fatigue was piling on top of her, and it's been over a month since Sirius's escape. Just yesterday, she had to endure Fudge's useless yelling and berating of her capabilities when the man himself was responsible for cutting down the auror numbers.
'What was he expecting was going to happen when he cuts off the funding of my department every year. Now we barely have enough Aurors active in the field who not only need to maintain security and deal with the sudden increased crime rate, but at the same time, he expects the department to search through the entire magical Britain completely... setting aside for the fact that Sirius could be hiding in the muggle world. They would be none the wiser.'
The headache and conflict she was feeling were something she couldn't ignore. She hated Sirius Black with a passion. Before his initial incarceration, she had been a trainee auror under him. She had learned a lot about being an auror and justice from him, and to one day see him brought back chained and screaming had robbed her of a sense of innocence that was left during the war.
The sweet whispers that now were just twisted memories, small moments that were now buried deep. The desire to see him once again locked up, all while trying to ignore all of these memories and feelings of rage, had been hard on her.
'Now, though, although the muggles are cooperating, it would be too easy for someone like Black to hide in there. Even though we cover most of the locations with the magic detection artifact, Black knows exactly how this works,' Amelia thought. She debated sending squads to some blackholes outside the artifact's range. Some new towns that have popped up after the artifact was created might be her only clue.
The problem is that she simply doesn't have enough manpower to cover these holes in the net. Even if she used all of her resources, it would take her Aurors around a year, maybe even two, to comb through these blind spots.
'I should send an estimated budget to the minister. If the funds improve, I can authorize double shifts, and we can maybe redu—' Amelia said as the bracelet she was wearing suddenly vibrated before it started becoming hotter. The temperature change was swift, and although it was not enough to burn her skin, she could feel the discomfort if she didn't see the message.
'Why is she sending me a message right now though? Well, it is Saturday, so she won't have any classes. Is something wrong?' The thought, once it popped into her mind, didn't go away. She stood up from her desk and walked toward the fireplace.
"Bones Manor," She spoke clearly before throwing the floo powder into the fire, and then quickly she walked into it.
...
The journey was short and disorienting, like always, but when she stepped out of the fireplace, she made sure to put her wait on to counteract the slight spin that came with floo travel. Her thoughts were still stuck, wondering and worsening as she thought about what might possibly be wrong for Susan to send a message during the day.
Not for the first time, she criticized the size of the manor. All the unnecessary space made it take her a few minutes to reach her room. A parchment was sitting on her desk, and she quickly rushed to it. She pressed her wand at the parchment and pushed some mana into it.
...
'''Aunty!!! Rigel Black contacted me today, seeking your help. Apparently, he knows where Sirius Black is hiding. He is requesting a meeting with you, and I told him you would likely meet him tomorrow. Tell me if you want something arranged.'''
...
The words that emerged from the parchment were shocking. A wave of relief passed through her at the fact that Susan was safe and then at the fact that there had finally been a breakthrough.
'Of course, Rigel Black is the perfect POI. Although I expected this to happen, the chances of it were low. Plus, Dumbledore insisted on Aurors not having any operational authority inside the Castle grounds, like always. Now, though, this might be a chance...' Amelia thought. Since it had taken her barely a couple of minutes to reach the message, Susan would likely be waiting for a response. She sat down on her chair and picked up a quill.
The words flowed onto the parchment as she began writing, after finishing her message she put the tip of her wand back onto the bottom end of the paper and pulsed a wave of her mana. As she watched the disappearing words, she started planning for both responses.
...
''' Does he want to meet me in my capacity as the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement right away or just as an advisory meeting for now?'''
...
'My approach would change drastically depending on the option. If he wants to meet me in my official capacity, it will take a while. I would have to jump through a lot of bureaucratic hoops and involve both Fudge and Dumbledore.'
The vibration once again caught her attention as she put her wand back onto the parchment. A slight annoyance rippled through her as she sighed.
...
'''...I forgot to ask...'''
...
She could just imagine the sheepish look on Susan's face as she read her reply. Still, that meant that the choice was up to her since the boy didn't specify his request.
'I could go now since it is a weekend. I should go through Sprout's fireplace if I don't want to tangle with Dumbledore.'
'''Alright, I'll be outside the common room in half an hour. Don't reply'''
...
After writing and sending the message, she closed the parchment and walked back to her fireplace. Strategies for ensuring Rigel's cooperation went through her mind as she once again arrived at the fireplace in the living room.
'Should I send a patronus first to warn her? No time is sensitive on this, If the boy knows where Black is then we need to move quickly.'
"Sprout's Office" Amelia shouted before she walked through the fireplace.
As she entered Pomona Sprout's office in Hufflepuff, anxiety and a faint hope emerged in her heart. The head of the Hufflepuff house raised an eyebrow at her.
'Yeah, I was hoping she won't be here...'
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AN—As some of you may have noticed, I changed the background story for Amelia a little, or maybe I inserted some of it since she was not a well-known character in the story!
P.S- 50+ Chapters on P.atreon!
{Pomona Sprout's Office, Hogwarts}
{5th Oct 1991}
{Amelia Bones POV}
"Sorry about that, Pomona, family emergency." Amelia apologized, getting a concerned look from Pomona.
"Do you need my help with anything?" Pomona immediately asked. They were both quite close, which was one of the reasons she was able to sneak into Hogwarts like this.
"Yeah, don't tell Albus that I'm here..." Amelia replied, getting a frown from the herbology professor, "...I'll meet with him after, I promise."
"...Alright," Pomona agreed after a moment.
"Thanks!" Amelia smiled at her and then indicated to her door before she walked out. The main door was open as always, and Pomona was one of the few teachers in Hogwarts who had an open-door policy sans curfew.
She walked out of the office and arrived at the Greenhouses. The walk to the Hufflepuff common room was quite long, as the Greenhouses were isolated at the northeast end of the castle. She had to walk through a courtyard and then a handful of moving staircases just to arrive at the central part of the castle. A sharp left took her to the Viaduct Bridge, and even though she was just halfway to the common room, it had taken her over five minutes of walking already.
'I should have asked Susan to meet me here. At least the Slytherin common room and the Hufflepuff common room are quite close, so we don't have to take a detour,' Amelia thought. She kept her mind off the topic discussed in the letter. Too much thinking about any possible wording that Susan had written could cloud her judgment.
'Susan is a second-hand source. Even though I always taught her to pay attention to the words, she could have missed something.'
She didn't want to mess this up since it was an important clue and her final lead. As she walked through the Hogwarts hallways, the paintings were already eyeing her, and by the looks of it, quite a few of them recognized her before they disappeared from their frames.
'Dumbledore would soon know that I'm here. I need to wrap this up quickly before I go to meet him... I don't want him to intrude on this meeting and force Rigel to hide some stuff...'
Amelia understood that if Rigel wanted to meet her instead of Dumbledore, he likely wouldn't talk with the old man around. Her eyes traced the large wooden doors of the entrance hall as she took the staircase going down, one floor underground, and followed the hallways to the Hufflepuff common room and the kitchen.
During her time at Hogwarts, she hated and loved the fact that Pomona's office was so far from the common room. Before she took the position as the Head of the Hufflepuff House, it wasn't a problem, but the stubborn woman didn't want to leave her plants behind to occupy the original office that all the Heads of Hufflepuff House used, creating this large gap.
'The only reason she could manage is that most of the Hufflepuff aren't a mischievous bunch...'
Amelia's eyes caught Susan standing outside the entrance to the common room. She seemed unable to contain herself, considering the magnitude of the information she knew.
"Not here." Amelia instructed immediately as she swished her wand and chanted, "Expecto Patronum~"
'''Meet me in the abandoned classroom number 212 on the Second floor.'''
A white glowing rabbit burst out from the tip of her wand, and after a few hops, it disappeared through the castle walls. With the message sent, she motioned for Susan to follow as she double-backed on her footsteps and started walking back.
"You arrived quite fast," Susan murmured as she ran the last few steps to meet her steps.
"Of course, any information he might have could become useless any second," Amelia replied. She could see that Susan was fidgeting beside her.
"Speak!" Amelia instructed. Seeing the heir to an Ancient and Noble house hesitating was quite unsightly.
"Can I sit in the meeting with you?" Susan finally asked after hesitating some more.
'Hmm, I guess I am to blame for her curiosity. But not on this one. This one is a little too close.'
"Not this one, sweetie," Amelia replied, she didn't want to sound too harsh and crush her curiosity, "Any other case and it would have been fin-"
"But please... I got you the lead. I talked to him, and I won't say a word about it in the meeting or to anyone else." Susan pleaded.
Amelia stared at her briefly, then sighed, "Fine, but you will have to ask Rigel for permission."
"Don't worry about it. He owes me a favor," Susan grinned cheekily.
"...don't waste a favor on this right away. First, ask him about it. Only if he declines initially should you mention the favor," Amelia replied. She had taught her niece a lot about the world and magic, but it seemed like some lessons in politics and bureaucracy needed to be put on her schedule for the term break.
"Alright, tell me about Rigel. What do you know about him?" Amelia asked. This would give her some information and keep her mind busy.
"Well..." Susan hesitated, "...he's quite reclusive, and there are a lot of rumors surrounding him, from being the next dark lord to being a pervert to everything in between."
"Pervert? Is this about the ritual?" Amelia asked. She told Susan that it was up to her if she wanted to do the ritual or not, and although Susan had tried to be nonchalant about it, she could tell that her niece was quite interested in that.
"Kind of. He has been linked to a couple of witches already, and rumors are that either Evelyn Rowle or Pansy Parkinson spends the night in his room daily." Susan shrugged.
'Daily? He's quite active, and his reputation is quite similar to that of Blacks.'
Before her thoughts could plunge into another depressing sea of memories, she saw him. He had the same hairstyle and cheekbones, even though his eyes were slightly different, like Sirius's little brother.
"Aunty?" Susan's voice broke her dazed expression as Amelia controlled her emotions.
'He looks so much like him, no wonder there are so many rumors going around...'
...
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AN- Switching back to Rigel's Perspective, next chap!
P.S: 50+ advanced chapters on P.atreon, along with Amelia's dress and photo!
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