Capítulo 353: The Paper Slip
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"We need to find a new place to meet," Sirius sighed as he closed the door to the lounge behind him. "You guys can't convene here every time the Death Eaters do," he said to the Order of Phoenix members sitting on his well-curated furniture. "What would you all have done if I had a lady at home with me?"
"We would've asked her to leave," said Hestia Jones, "well, you would have."
"Uh-huh, if you think that, it would've been awkward for you when I would've shut the door in your face," Sirius took a seat, dressed in his nightclothes with a glass filled with a golden liquid. "I'm not cracking a joke. If I have a lady with me, I'm going to turn you all away," but then he winked at Hestia, "but if you want to keep me company, you're always welcome at 12 Grimmauld Place, Hestia."
Hestia snorted, not gracing Sirius with a response.
"Enough mindless chatter," Moody's gruff voice with a knock of his walking stick. He turned to his left and said, "Get on with it, Albus. We don't have all the time of the day."
All eyes turned to Dumbledore, who was sitting at the 'head' of the group. The man was dressed, as always, in his eccentrically bright-colored clothes. In the group of regular clothers, he stuck out like a peacock in a sea of peahens.
"I'm sure all of you are aware of why we have gathered here," said Dumbledore, his voice disjointed from the reason behind the meeting. "Today, the Death Eaters targeted the Hogwarts Express and the students. . . as we expected they would." There was a wave of nods and murmur among the group, "Fortunately, both us and the Aurors Office expected them to do so and planned safeguards against them."
The Hogwarts Express always had a professor or two onboard during the trips, but today, the train harbored five professors, all expecting Death Eaters to attack.
"I disliked the idea to run the Hogwarts Express this year, but neither the Ministry nor the Board of Governors wanted the centuries-long practice to break," sighed Dumbledore. "I hope they'd be more receptive to my suggestions after today. However, the reason I called all of you is not because of the attack itself, but the unforeseen thing that happened during the attack. . . Bartemius Crouch Junior unexpectedly disappeared after being hit by a spell."
"Who cares what happened to father-killer?" spat Elphias Doge(coin).
"I care, Elphias. I care," said Dumbledore. He gave a look to Elphias, which had a smile, but his eyes were nothing but somber. "Bartemius' disappearance is an anomaly in a situation that is easy to understand. I'm trying to understand how did he disappear, where did he go to, and who or what made him disappear."
He swept his eyes to his group as if expecting them to offer something, but none spoke.
"Then let us start with the Aurors Office," Dumbledore turned to James and Kingsley. "Was the Aurors Office behind the disappearance?"
"No," said James, exchanging a glance with Kingsley, "as far as the DMLE is considered, we haven't participated in the disappearance."
Kingsley chimed in, "I have confirmed with the Hit Wizards. They, too, weren't involved. I can say that this wasn't orchestrated by the Ministry—"
Moody cut Kingsley off, "Don't come to that conclusion yet, Shacklebolt. You might have done so, but that doesn't mean the Departement of Mysteries wasn't involved. Those sneaky bastards behind their locked doors might have taken Crouch's kid to. . . study the Dark Mark for one."
Everyone's eyes widened, and some sort of realization dawned on them.
The Departement of Mysteries, a section of the Ministry of Magic that carried out confidential research. Most of its operations were carried out in total secrecy. Few wizards within the Ministry actually knew what was located within this department. Various mysteries of the world were studied there. Wizards who worked in the Department of Mysteries were known as Unspeakables because of the confidential nature of their work. Due to the highly classified nature of this department, it was granted a great deal of independence, being the only one within the entire Ministry that did not need to answer to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Even the Minister for Magic had very little authority over the department's operations, as the fifteenth Minister's attempt to shut down the branch was ignored by the Unspeakables.
"Did they take Death Eaters during the war?" came as a question from Nymphadora Tonks.
Moody grunted, his artificial eye rolling in its socket. "Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. Some of the Death Eaters had gone missing during Barty Crouch. . . Senior's hunt— most assumed that they ran away, but who knows. . . they might just have been abducted by the Unspeakables for experimentation. Last time, little Barty had his daddy, so they couldn't pick him up, but this time he was alone and ripe for picking. . . . What do you say, Albus?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "There's no use in discussing what they did during the war. We have no way to prove it. . . . By saying that, I'm not subtracting the possibility of the Department of Mysteries being involved today. If they did. . . we might not see Bartemius for a very long time, if anytime. I do not think the Unspeakables were involved; it's not like them to act so publicly— secrecy is their bread-and-butter."
But the question of who took Barty Crouch away still remained. It remained in everyone's mind.
"How did he get taken away?" asked Tonks.
"Apparition, I reckon," said Lily. "The train is loud enough to hide the sound."
No one raised any opposition to that conjecture.
"No one saw anything," James turned to Lily. "Did the students say something unusual on the train? Because whoever took Barty away was either on the train or following it."
Lily shook her head, "None of them reported anything unusual. It can be assumed the perpetrator wasn't on the train."
Tonks, who listened to everything, kicked her feet forward and stretched back. "Death Eaters, an unknown suspect, and an open mystery— I say it is the Invisible Vigilante."
"Possible, but just a speculation," said James, and the group parked the choice and moved on.
"Someone who had his loved ones killed by Crouch?"
"Too broad, but it's an angle we are working on," said Sirius, his glass clinking with ice. "The case is assigned to the newest batch of rookies; they'll be looking into the missing Crouch."
"Robards didn't assign it a higher priority?" asked Dumbledore, peering from the top of his glasses.
Sirius shook his head. "He doesn't want to waste precious resources looking for a missing Death Eater. It is busywork for our rookies to learn things. And no, he won't change the status even I ask him to— I also don't want the priority status to change."
Dumbledore shook his head.
"What if it was the Death Eaters themselves!" Tonks said as if she had a revelation. She yelped the next moment as Moody hit her with a stinging spell.
"Think before you speak, lass!" he rebuked.
"I was thinking!"
"Think better then."
The conversation derailed then. The group began bouncing off ideas and theories about Barty's disappearance. Conspiracies were born. Imaginary plots were weaved. But in the end, the group wasn't able to come to a conclusion about Barty's disappearance.
. . .
"Albus."
Dumbledore turned back and saw Moody standing behind him. Everyone was talking in the lounge while he had stepped away to have some quiet thinking time while admiring the old Black-heritage paintings that Sirius had still kept.
"How are you feeling, Albus?"
"Where did that come from suddenly?" Dumbledore asked with a confused smile. "What would be wrong with me?"
"I'm talking about Grindelwald," said Moody bluntly. The man was never one to mince his words.
". . . So?"
"Avoid it or not, Albus, but that man— Dark Lord or not— was a big part of your life. You're clearly not feeling well."
"And why do you say that?"
"You ended up joining the ICW investigation without a single word of objection. They approached, and you gave them what they wanted, knowing well that the investigation is more of a publicity stint rather than an actual attempt to find the truth. They don't want to find out how a Dark Lord who has been locked away for half a century died."
"Thank you, Alastor, but I'm fine. As for the ICW investigation. Even if it's only half an investigation, I want to be a part of it. Grindelwald's death was sudden and without a hint of prior warning from any sources of any Ministerial agency across the globe. So if there's someone searching for an answer, I would like to be kept in the loop."
Moody wanted to say something, but he was stopped by Dumbledore.
"End of discussion, Alastor."
But as Dumbledore was about to step away, Moody put his walking cane in Dumbledore's way. Dumbledore looked at the cane and then at Moody, "I have some work to do, Alaster. Now is not the time."
"I hope you know that we need to focus on the current Dark Lord. Chasing an old one isn't on the top of the list right now."
"I know that better than anyone."
Moody pulled his cane back, "I hope you do," he grunted before stalking away.
Dumbledore watched Moody for a bit before he shook his head. He turned away and eyed Sirius, who was bothering Hestia Jones. Dumbledore called out to him.
"How may I help you, Dumbledore," asked Sirius.
"I have something I'd like to show you," Dumbledore took out a half-slip of parchment and handed it to Sirius.
"What is this?" Sirius asked just before his eyes began reading the words.
[
To the Dark Lord,
I know I will be dead long before you read this, but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more.
R.A.B.
]
"This R.A.B. is he. . ."
"Regulus Arcturus Black," Sirius uttered. "My brother. . . he often signed his name like that."
Dumbledore's eyes flashed. He was right. It was Regulus Black who had written the letter.
"Where did you find this?" asked Sirius.
"Regulus had replaced something Voldemort had valued," Dumbledore couldn't bring himself to change the letter, but he wasn't going to be the one who gave out essential information. "He deceived Voldemort and replaced it with a fake. I think that something must be here, where he lived. . . . I was wondering if you had his belongings."
It was a reach that Sirius would keep his brother's belongings after such a long time period, but he had to try, just in case he did.
"I-I have some of his stuff. It is all in his r-room," said Sirius, his eyes glued to the paper.
Dumbledore didn't say anything. He let Sirius process things. Finding that the Death Eater brother, who was the image of everything Sirius stood for, had betrayed Voldemort.
"I know this is hard, Sirius. But do know that your brother was a brave who saw the truth of the situation and did his best to remedy the situation. Be proud of him," said Dumbledore.
He could wait for a few days longer to search Regulus' belongings. Maybe then he would be able to get his hands on another one of Voldemort's Horcruxes.
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Sirius Black - Proud Owner of a Bachelor Pad - Feels like his life foundation has been shaken.
Albus Dumbledore - Order of the Phoenix - Making his way, piece-by-piece.
Alastor Moody - Madeye - Perceptive as hell.
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Capítulo 354: Recruitment
If you want to read ahead, you can check out my Patreón @
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The link is also in the synopsis.
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Quinn sat in his favorite cafe with a book in his hand. He neither drank coffee nor tea, but he did like eating cakes, and while Polly and Ms. Rosey made perfectly delicious cakes, this cafe baked delicacies so addicting that Quinn had suspected them of adding drugs as an ingredient. He had gone as far as to check there was anything suspicious— but other than some great quality ingredients, he had failed to find any other strange things.
The fork cut a piece of his lemon yogurt cake and floated itself to Quinn's mouth as he continued to read his book. He let out a teenie bit of food moan as the lemony goodness exploded in his mouth.
"This is so good!" He turned to the shop counter and threw a hearty thumbs-up to the employee behind the counter, who thumbs-upped back with a smile.
He returned to his book with forkfuls of cake gently placed into his mouth. But then suddenly, a man came and sat in front of him, at his table.
Quinn didn't look up from his book as he said, "There's an empty table there; if you don't mind can you vacate my table. That'd be much appreciated." Another forkful of cake landed on his tongue.
"I actually meant to sit with you, Mr. Quinn West," said the man. "I've heard a lot about you and wondered if we could have a little chat."
Quinn finally looked up at the uninvited man and chanced upon the clean shaved man dressed in a brown suit with a darker tie and a Panama hat, looking at him with sparkling eyes that stood out as the only defining feature of the man.
"And who might you be?" he asked.
"Apologies for that. How rude of me to not introduce myself. My name is Croaker. I'm pleased to meet you."
"Croaker. . . and?" asked Quinn, but he already had an inkling. . . now he already, for a fact, knew who this man was.
"Just Croaker for now."
"Well then, Mr. 'Just-Croaker-for-now,' if you want to have a chat with me, please schedule a meeting with me through my secretary."
"You don't have a secretary. . . do you?"
"No, I don't have one."
"Then there's no way for me to schedule a meeting."
"Exactly. Finally, you get it; I thought you were simply slow on the uptake. While I would like to return by saying that it was a pleasure to meet you, it would be a lie if I said so. Now, if you'll please leave me alone to my cake."
Quinn returned to his book, but Croaker didn't move from his chair; instead, the man called for the waitress and ordered himself the same thing that Quinn was having.
"Good choice," said Quinn, "but what're you doing? If you want to enjoy your cake, do so at another table."
"If you'd just listen to me, I'm sure you'd be interested in what I have to say."
"Not interested."
"Would you lose anything if you listen?"
"Yes. My incredibly precious time."
"I have a job offer for you, Mr. Quinn West."
"Thank you for the offer, but I'm not interested in entering the working society yet."
"Have you heard of the Departement of Mysteries?"
Quinn clicked his tongue and put down his book on the table. "You had to say it, didn't you, Saul Croaker."
"Oh, you know me?" asked Croaker, briefly surprised.
"Of course, I do know you, Professor Saul Croaker. You're a premier researcher in the study of time. Have a law named after you," Quinn said to Croaker, who kept smiling. "Professor Saul Croaker's law. It states that five hours was the longest someone could travel back in time without the possibility of serious harm to the traveler or time itself.
I have varying thoughts on the matter, but your research was a fascinating read."
"Why, thank you. But what about your varying thoughts. Where do you disagree with my theory?" asked Croaker.
"There's no mathematical logic behind my thinking, but I believe that a person doesn't need five hours to send time and the future events into disarray. One rash decision made under rash emotion or an action taken in the heat of the moment," he snapped his fingers, "that is all it takes to plunge everything into chaos."
"Ah yes, the human factor," Croaker nodded. "I used a base assumption for my research. Actually, I'm currently trying to study how the spectrum of human behavior and actions affects the stream of time."
"Interesting."
"It is, isn't," smiled Croaker. "Are you interested in the research of time, Quinn?"
"Can't say I'm not."
"Then would you like to join the Department of Mysteries?"
"No, thank you."
". . . Quinn, you realized what this offer represents. A very few people ever get a look from our department, much less an offer to join."
Croaker reached into his coat and took out a black leather folder/binder. Quinn's eyes lingered on Croaker's coat, which shouldn't be able to hold a large folder. It made Quinn think that Croaker(or even most Unspeakables) had pockets similar to him. Then his eyes went to the black leather folder— it was something he recognized fairly well.
"A Hogwarts record folder," said Quinn. Room of Rewards, the entryway to the Sin vault, held records of every student that ever studied at Hogwarts— everything from report cards, achievements, professor's recommendations, behavioral accounts, among other various things. Quinn had seen his own black folder, and he was pleased to read what was written there.
"I have to ask who gave you this?" Quinn pointed at the folder. "Who's the one inside Hogwarts who has the in with the Departments of Myster. . ."— he paused mid-sentence— ". . . it is Professor McGonagall. She's the one who recommends students and provides you with black leather folders."
Minerva McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts. Except for the magical privileges that Hogwarts bestowed upon the Headmaster, she was in control and had access to pretty much everything in Hogwarts. She would be the most likely person to provide the information to the Unspeakables. Moreover, it was McGonagall who provided Hermione with the Time-Turner, something strictly controlled by the Department of Mysteries— that one incident was all Quinn needed to form his conjecture.
"Man, who knew McGonagall would be the," he made air quotes, "recruiter inside Hogwarts— who knew the upright Scottish witch would be the one."
Quinn watched Croaker, who sat with no change in expressions, which confirmed that he had been correct. Everything from Croaker's face to his body language was perfect— too perfect— which itself became a fault.
"I don't blame her. For a clock to function properly, all the cogs must be placed in their appropriate places."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Croaker denied Quinn's conjecture at once."We don't usually recruit straight out of Hogwarts. Children who come out of school are still too immature and inexperienced to be part of our operation but," he opened the black folder, "you-you. . . I have never seen this from someone just out of Hogwarts. When I first saw it, I thought it was a joke, but after confirming twice and vetting it thrice, I couldn't see it as a joke. Prefect. . . Headboy. . . Organized a multi-school Quidditch League. . . Hosted the Tri-wizard Tournament. . . Perfect grades. . . and there's Aid In Distress— or AID— the last one was is a shining star on your record. You have done so much in seven years, Quinn. And the thing that binds everything together— your aptitude for magic."
Croaker stared at Quinn and continued after a pause, "After seeing all of this, I, on behalf of the Department of Mysteries, extend an offer to you to join us as an. . . Unspeakable."
Quinn breathed out, leaning into his chair. Unspeakable. He knew what power that designation held. It was a department with autonomy within the Ministry— so much so that even a Ministry of Magic couldn't shut down. It was the place where mysteries of magic were studied, with the envelope being pushed forward.
With all that, Quinn responded, "I appreciate the offer, but I'll have to refuse."
". . . Quinn, we're a very exclusive organization and wouldn't extend this offer again. If you chose to refuse this offer now, it'd be gone like sand in the wind. . . it won't return. Do know what you're missing is something you'd regret missing. We are at the bleeding edge of magic. We have direct sight to the truth.
So, I'll extend this offer for the second and last time. Join the Department of Mysteries."
There was a silence between them. Both sat in the outside area of a cafe with people walking by them, unknowing about the conversation that was happening just a few paces away. That an Unspeakable and a member of the wealthiest family in the country were sharing a table beside them.
"I still refuse," said Quinn.
Croaker sighed as he closed the folder and put it back. "May I know why did you refuse?"
"I won't lie by saying that if I had accepted your offer, I would've gotten access to resources which would be tedious for me to procure. . . a culture of research and innovation. . . but all of that would've come with its restriction— I would've lost the freedom that I have right now." Quinn stopped Croaker from interjecting, "Whatever you say, it is still a ministerial department with a budget— and I'm sure the Department of Mysteries have their own deliverables that they need to meet to maintain that budget because I'm sure the bureaucrats and politicians would've chewed down the flow of money with how your department operates.
I don't want to spend the next decade as a grunt who is stuck with handling those mandatory tasks. I want to learn whatever I want— travel whenever and wherever I want— pursue whatever interest I want to overtake— and if I join you, it will take me a long-long time, maybe never even, to reach that level."
". . . And you're saying that you'll be better of on your own."
A smile stretched on Quinn's face that could only be described as self-confident. "I'm a West, Mr. Croaker. I have no shortage of funds." He pointed at the black folder, "What you have in that file is not all of me. It's just one side of me. Yes, I spent seven years in Hogwarts, but that doesn't mean that Hogwarts was all I did in that time. I'm going to travel and meet people at the very top of their fields— learn from them and improve."
Quinn's expression turned to a half-smiling- half-serious. "I'm going to recreate the golden age of magic in this era— my era." He then smirked, "And about this being the last offer, I don't think so. You'll approach me again. Even if you don't, I'm sure your department and I will be collaborating on some projects."
"That's some arrogant thinking. The golden age? That's some big talk."
"It's only arrogance if I'm wrong. As for the big talk? I only aim for the best."
Quinn stood up. He had finished his cake, and the discussion had also come to an end. "Mr. Croaker, please have anything you want. I have a tab here; ask them to put everything on there."
"That's nice of you."
Quinn smiled and was about to leave when a thought struck him and spoke to Croaker. "If you're looking for new blood. I'd suggest that you target Ivy Potter. . . I'm sure you know who she is. Ask Professor McGonagall for her file, I'm sure she'd be a valuable asset to your organization."
"Thank you, but you don't need to consider yourself with."
"I'm just pointing you to a good recommendation. You don't want to have another Augustus Rockwood situation."
Croaker's eyes turned sharp as he looked at Quinn, who chuckled, "Oh, that hit a nerve. I'm sorry."
Quinn didn't wait for a response and walked away with Croaker watching him from his chair.
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Quinn West - MC - I shall not be part of the secret organization.
Saul Croaker - Unspeakable - Has studied time magic.
FictionOnlyReader - Author - I have been wanting to write something like this for a long time. Maybe, Croaker will return later.
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If you have any ideas regarding the magic you want to see in this fiction or want to offer some ideas regarding the progression. Move onto the DISCORD Server and blast those ideas.
The link is in the synopsis!
REFLEXIONES DE LOS CREADORES
FictionOnlyReader
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Review, comment, add to the library, and share this fic.
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