บท 142: Tremors 2
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Next Morning
The news about the 'Earthquake' incident was shrugged off as a random occurrence in the year and was shoved under the rug. Not even reported as main news in the Daily Prophet.
2 people were not satisfied and one of them walked toward the man in charge of everything.
"Good morning, Minister," Lucius said with a fake smile. Fudge returned a broad one happily.
"Lucius. How are you doing, old friend?" Fudge asked cheerfully and Lucius nodded elegantly in reply.
"Was visiting some of my colleagues and saw you." He said his excuse and jumped right into the topic.
"What is this I hear about the 'Earthquake' incident in Birmingham?"
"It's nothing. An uncommon occurrence." Fudge shrugged it off.
"It doesn't involve any magical intervention right," Lucius asked, still with a small smile but his expression said Fudge a lot.
"I can't hide many things from you, eh. Well, it's some idiots attacking the city centre and our Aurors are doing their best. I just got a report of the incident from Madam Bones." He said as he walked into his office.
The Improper Use of Magic Head was waiting for him in the bland room. Fudge smiled happily upon seeing her. Though she doesn't work directly under him, she gives him excellent advice.
"Ah, Dolores. Nice of you to come here." Fudge greeted them and they just noticed a second woman to the side.
Dolores Umbridge was head of Improper Use of Magic Office. She is a short squat woman resembling a large pale toad. She had a broad, flabby face, a wide, slack mouth, and a little neck. Her eyes were bulging and pouchy, and in her mousy brown hair, she often wore a black velvet bow, further exemplifying her toadness.
She is wearing various green tweed outfits, with a pink fuzzy cardigan on top, giving her greater toad-like qualities. The head-to-toe matching outfit, in shades of pink, was clearly showing her like a sore thumb in the room.
"Thank you, Minister. Greetings, Lord Malfoy." She greeted and while Fudge nodded enthusiastically, Lucius gave her a fake smile, hiding his irritation.
He had enough of the Minister's stupidity and now if this woman was added to the list, he might lose it. So to avoid crises, he chose the safest option.
"Madam-" Lucius called, looking at the other woman and Hopkirk stood up and introduced herself.
"Mafalda Hopkirk, Lord Malfoy."
"Yes, Madam Hopkirk. Can you elaborate on what happened yesterday?" As they are from Improper Magic Use, they are supposed to keep track of where magic is used so that if underage magic is used, they can send violations and catch the improper users.
Umbridge is the head of the Office while Mafalda though being part of the Underage division is Umbridge's assistant and so followed her here. She knows what Lord Malfoy was trying to do.
"Yesterday, around evening time, we detected unusual magic activity in Birmingham and by the time our investigators reached, everything was in ruins. From what our Obliviators were able to gather, a group of wizards confounded the local police into searching for someone." She got confused looks and elaborated.
"The Police are Muggle equivalent to our Aurors and as the details of people they are searching were given after being confounded, they couldn't remember it. They did an admirable job of setting everything back up and silencing them." She ended, getting different reactions from the 3.
While Umbridge was proud of her employee's job, Fudge was surprised at the whole event and happy that he managed to shove it under the rug but Lucius was furious.
Many things are not clear about the story and he can smell something Potter in this. He turned to the woman and asked with narrowed eyes.
"Did DMLE confirm this?" In a high tone as if daring her to lie. Mafalda, though surprised by his expression, replied with confidence.
"Yes, sir. Aurora Shacklebolt got the approval letter from Madam Bones."
"Guess it's authentic then." Fudge said with a goofy smile. Umbridge nodded along.
"Well Cornelius, I'll be leaving now. Hope to see more efforts in catching Black as this issue is settled." Lucius said in a sweet tone and left. Everyone dispersed after that. Mafalda knew she thoroughly upset Lord Malfoy but didn't care.
Hogwarts
Though it's Christmas, the Headmaster is not happy. As soon as he got the news of an attack in Birmingham, he thought of many possibilities and found a likely result.
James told him many times about the Childcare centre the Potters owned and just before going into hiding, James asked him to visit there. Of course, he rejected it as it is risky.
But if Harry sued him, then doesn't that mean he read Lily and James will? 'But will Harry hide such a secret from me?' A stray thought came.
The boy was changing, he knew that. He knew how Harry topped his class last year and is continuing to top even now. The confidence he showed when he was called for the staff meeting didn't go unnoticed as well.
Dumbledore knew better than to underestimate Noble language speakers. Parseltongue is a unique language that allows the users to do many unknown things in the magical world.
Though he doesn't think the boy will fall to the dark, now he is not sure if he is on the light's side as well. The recent news he heard of Lord Greengrass is also concerning.
Dumbeldore got information that Lord Greengrass is trying to woo Harry to his side and then there is the matter of Andromeda Tonks.
Harry's appointment of her as his representative is doing wonders in the Wizengamot sessions. She is effectively shutting everyone's mouth, taking some crucial decisions.
She also had a hand in pushing for increasing the budget of the DMLE, though the Minister flaunted it as his success, it's the usual.
He knew Harry was not on vacation with his relatives but he was with the Tonks family, Mrs Figg confirmed it for him. He let it slide as there is no bad in it and Harry would benefit more from staying with them.
Then comes the matter of Sirius. Harry is using the Tonks family very well and Ted Tonks is wise to let Sirius be found guilty easily. He had no doubt the day of the trail would bring a storm to the Wizengamot.
Now that all these are happening, the old headmaster can't find who has a strong enough grudge to attack Harry in broad daylight in a bustling Muggle city.
'What can be done to achieve the Greater good, old friend?' He deeply thought, ruffling Fawkes. The Phoenix played a high tone to alleviate the mood.
"Enter, Severus," he said looking at the door and the resident potions master entered a second later. Seeing the young man in high spirits eased his tension a bit.
"How are you doing, Severus?" He asked cheerfully, offering a sherbet lemon, which the younger man rejected. Dumbledore happily ate it.
"I'm fine, Headmaster," Snape said in a relatively lighter tone. As no brats were killing his peace, he is in a good mood and his throat is relaxed as well. It's been so long since he felt this light.
"Excellent. How is your throat doing?" He asked with a gentle smile. Snape nodded in affirmative.
"I have some disturbing news that I want to talk to you about." He said, his demeanour changing into a serious one instantly.
"What did the brat do this time?" Snape sighed. Though he disdained his father for his existence, Harry is at least tolerable. But as soon as he saw his hair though, that's a trigger.
"If it's Harry doing some mischief, I wouldn't have brought it to your attention, Severus. 2 separate incidents occurred at different times and I think they are linked." Dumbeldore started.
"On the following day of the beginning of the Christmas holidays, I visited Hogsmeade on foot. I found traces of magic usage in a clearing some distance away from the village.
There are 3 traces and though I can't differentiate them, I can conclude that there is some fight that happened there. If not for a wide area spell, I would have discerned who's magic it was if I know it. Though it would be difficult.
They did it very well and covered their tracks. I can't find anything but a trace of magic. I know students used to fight there. But this scale of repair is not needed any time.
And the incident that happened in Birmingham also resembles the same style of attack. I know Harry was attacked for sure this time. But his wit and Ms Tonks's courage saved him.
I'm afraid something is happening that for once is not pointing toward Tom. They just wore robes and no use of the dark mark either. What are your thoughts?" Dumbledore explained
He gave some time for Snape to process and waited for his reply. His Occlumency was too advanced for Dumbledore to try something and his face was as blank as ever.
"I'll see what I can find from my house. But I'm not sure if the 2 incidents are related, sir. I'll investigate as well." He said and Dumbledore nodded.
"If that's all, I'll take my leave," Snape said and left the old Headmaster for his thoughts.
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