章節 23: Setback
When Scorpius woke up the next day, he felt good. His headache was almost gone. He remembered so many more things, as if he had recovered them in his sleep.
When the Healer came in, Scorpius gave him a smile. The Healer seemed to like it when he smiled.
"How are you feeling today, Scorpius?"
"Much better. My headache is not as bad today. I remember more and more. But still not the important things."
"What would you say are the important things?"
"Who the woman is. I know Albus knows her, but he won't tell me. I think she was also at the school, at Hogwarts. But I don't know what happened after that. How I ended up here, how Albus got hurt, how I got damaged."
"These things take time, Scorpius. You are doing very well. We must be patient."
"Can I meet her now?" No need to say who. There was only one "her" he cared about.
"Not today. But we have another guest for you today, someone who is very anxious to see you."
"Who? Albus?"
"No, not Albus today. But someone that you know even better."
The Healer left and came back with another man. He was an adult, with blonde hair like Scorpius' own. He looked very familiar. Yes, he knew him now. It was his father!
"Father?" the man looked up, surprised. But then he smiled and even seemed close to tears.
"You shouldn't be here," Scorpius said. "You are in danger; you shouldn't be here." He didn't know why he said this, or how he knew it, but he knew that it was true.
"It is okay now Scorpius" his father said, walking over to him. "The danger is past."
"No!" Scorpius shouted, rising up. "They want to kill you. I need to kill you. You must go! They made me… made me…" Then he didn't remember anything else.
***
The next day in Azkaban went much like the previous one. No talking and very little change in pace.
Rose was not walking people back and forth today. She got her first actual prison job feeding some of the regular prisoners. She reacted more strongly than she thought, seeing people behind bars. It reminded her of her own imprisonment, Scorpius' arrest, and more recently, Albus being beaten and left to die in a cell. But she quickly banished such thoughts. These people were not innocent. True, they were not as bad as the Death Eaters, but they had done something wrong and were suffering the punishment. And they would be released when their sentence was up.
A few of the prisoners had noticed the change in guards and the general hush that had descended and asked what was going on. They weren't sure of what to reply, so they just said something generic, that they were assessing some issues, but that it shouldn't affect them.
On the third day after their arrival, there was anticipation in the air. Hermione had told them all the evening before that she had finished with the last interviews and would discuss the results with Perrot. They would be informed about their fate the next day. She had, however, reassured them that most of them seemed to do a very good job, and would probably be allowed to continue working here, if they wished. Many seemed relieved at this.
That night, the recruits finally got to talk to some of the other guards. Most of them seemed to be quite jovial men with a strong sense of duty and discipline.
Rose wondered how a seemingly bumbling man like Perrot had managed to make such a tight and well-organised crew. But she soon found the truth behind the façade. The second-in-command, a man named Barnsby, was the one that was really running things. He had refused the offer for the top-job however, leaving the path open for Perrot. No one seemed to dare to ask him why. Rose wondered about that. It could seem like Barnsby wanted someone else to blame when something went wrong. She would mention this to her mother if she had the chance. She doubted very much that her mother would leave without having at least one more private conversation with her. That was the whole reason Rose was here at all.
The next morning, Perrot and Hermione came into the dining room together. The crowd hushed and got to their feet. Perrot seemed like a different man; it was like a huge burden was lifted from him.
Hermione went up to the podium.
"It appears" she said in the firm authoritative tone she used when she addressed the whole group. "That Perrot has not been informing you of exactly what has occurred here in the last few weeks. That would certainly explain your reactions during the interviews in the last days. This is not only about the Death Eater breakout that occurred a year back. This is about the escape of ten Death Eaters only three weeks ago." At this, a gasp went through the guards. Had they really not known? The other recruits had known about it. Didn't they get newspapers here? Hadn't the investigators from the Ministry interviewed the guards?
"Ten Death Eaters escaped, and no one here even noticed. They were replaced with Dark creatures, most likely a variety of ghouls. This was not a small breach of security; it was a well-executed plan. That is why I am here." No one said anything.
"These Death Eaters proceeded to kidnap my nephew and torture and beat him within an inch of his life. Then they kidnapped my daughter and my son-in-law. It is only thanks to my daughter that all the Death Eaters, sans one, are again captured. But before I can return the Death Eaters here, I need to be sure that they will be secure. I need to be sure that my family, all of our families are safe from them. That is why I am here."
There was complete silence. It was as if no one even breathed. Rose fought back tears. She would not cry, she would not! Kevin wouldn't cry; Kevin didn't care all that much about any of this! She was Kevin. Her mother did not look at her. She just stood up there, letting her words sink in.
"Now that we've cleared that up" Hermione continued in a friendlier voice. "I have good news to share. I find that most of you are quite good at your job. In fact, most of you will be able to keep your jobs, and I will offer some of you promotions. But be aware, the job will be tougher from now on. One change that will be made effective immediately is the guarding of the perimeter. At all times, we will have guards at the top floor watching for incoming traffic and we will have security at the docks, checking all the vessels coming in, among other things. Some of you, more than I thought, knew that there was an Apparition spot here to be used in an emergency. That is now gone. I will be staying here for a few more days, to help make this transition go more smoothly. I will also do a follow-up interview with all of you, to give you a chance to elaborate with more information if you wish, and to let you know what changes may come to your workday." Hermione started to leave the podium, but then seemed to remember something. "Oh, yes, one last thing. Mr. Perrot and I have had a long, constructive conversation. He feels very embarrassed that these breaches of security happened on his watch, so he has tendered his resignation, effective immediately. He has been given one last evening here to say his goodbyes, but he will leave tomorrow together with the 5 top-security guards that have also lost their jobs." And with that last comment, she left the podium and was out the door.
Perrot just stood there, not looking at any of them. Barnsby stepped forward. "I think we all wish to say thank you for your service, sir, and good luck on whatever job you have next." He tried to start a round of applause. A few of them clapped their hands a few times but stopped fairly quickly. There was an awkward silence, when Perrot seemed to try and say something, but eventually he left the room. On the opposite side from where Hermione had gone.
Rose started to feel a little uncomfortable. No one seemed to want to be the first one to leave, or even to sit down. Barnsby was the first to collect himself. "Right then. Until we get told otherwise, we are continuing as normal. Breakfast is done, you all have your duties and workstations. Move along."
Everyone started moving at once, clearing the tables and moving to their ward of the day. But it didn't take long before Hermione's three Aurors came and picked out people seemingly at random for their interviews, though Rose suspected the order was deliberate. Most of them were gone for only about 5 minutes, though some stayed longer. And no one said anything about what was said in the interviews.
Rose, or rather, Kevin, was called in the middle of the pack. It got her out of doing the dishes after lunch, which she didn't mind at all. When she entered her mother's office, she made the perfect bow, just as she had seen the others do. The door closed behind the Auror who had followed her there.
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