ΔOl
Dumbledore's office was exactly what Danny expected. High ceilings arched into a magnificent dome, and the curved walls housed an eclectic mix of bits and bobs that occasionally hooted or whistled or dinged or rumbled. Dumbledore sat on the far end of the room with his desk raised on a marble dais, scribbling away with a fantastically red quill; the wall behind him housed a series of slumbering portraits. To his left sat a beautiful phoenix on a perch — its crimson and gold plume glistened like fire under the afternoon sun.
Carefully, he rolled up his parchment and offered it to the phoenix who obediently lifted its leg out before letting out a sorrowful note to disappear in a whirlpool of flame.
Danny flopped into the chair opposite Dumbledore. 'Your Potions professor is a total jerk.'
Dumbledore didn't look in any way surprised, 'Oh, really? I've always been under the belief that Professor Snape is one of the best potion masters in the country.'
'Liar.' Danny snorted, 'He's just run the rest of them out of Scotland.'
'A rather broad presumption but there are more important matters to discuss than my staff's infamy. A source of mine has alerted me that it is due time for Phantom's official meeting with the Ministry.'
Danny groaned, 'Seriously? How was I supposed to know that?'
'You weren't.' Dumbledore explained calmly, 'The Ministry will take any chance it gets to take advantage of its agreement with the MACUSA, even if it means slandering your name.'
Danny clicked his tongue, nonplussed. 'When's the meeting supposed to start?'
'My source has told me that the Ministry is to be expecting Phantom a quarter past four this afternoon.'
'How am I supposed to get all the way to London in ten minutes? I can't Apparate.'
'Nor could you on Hogwarts grounds.' Dumbledore waved a ring-laden hand at the far corner, where a fireplace with a brass dragon-head stoker stood proudly, 'However, you are certainly free to use my fireplace. You should find Rufus Scrimgeour on level two in the Auror department.' He smiled warmly, 'I suspect you'll be back in time for the Tetrawizard announcements.'
'You're not coming?' Danny frowned deeper.
Dumbledore crossed his hands in front of himself, 'I'm sorry to say that with the tumultuous relationship I hold currently with Minister Fudge, it is pertinent that I do not openly include myself in any further relations with you, lest the Minister begins to suspect that we are plotting against him, as he is wont to do.'
'Whatever, dude.' Danny pushes himself to his feet, striding over to the fireplace. A burlap sack sat on the mantle, filled to the brim with a chalky sand that he recognised as Floo Powder. Snatching up a handful, he flung it onto the fire as light enveloped him, transforming him from the inconspicuous Fenton into the notorious Phantom, and, without saying goodbye, floated into the green flames. 'Ministry of Magic, London!'
Instantly, he felt himself swept off his feet in a nauseous wave of spinning. Soot and flames rushed past his face in a whirlpool of heat, but as quickly as it started his boots slammed themselves firmly on the ground. With a small cough, he stepped out of the fireplace to find himself in a gigantic room with shining dark wood floors and a peacock-blue ceiling accented in golden symbols that swirled and shifted. Rows of fireplaces were organised systematically against parallel walls where Ministry workers were queued up in turn, preparing to leave after a long day's work.
'Get out of the way! Can't you see there's a line?' Grouched a particularly moody wizard, elbowing Danny out of the hearth and bellowed his location, disappearing in a stream of green flames.
Danny shoved a hand through his hair to dislodge the soot before delving deeper into the Ministry's atrium. A large golden fountain took up the centre of the room — it would have been beautiful if its figures were not so abhorrently put on display. He scrunched his nose at the sight of a wizard and witch standing proudly in the centre of the pool of water, wands arise, surrounded by magical creatures who stared up at them with an unbridled adoration that he bet solid galleons on that no real goblin or centaur would ever show.
Past the fountain was a collection of old, worn-looking lifts. Floating his way inside he found a rather meek-looking attendant who stared at him with startled eyes and a flurry of paper planes flitting over his head who were dive-bombing the floor buttons insistently before returning to float around the ceiling.
'W-which floor number... sir?' asked the attendant.
'Two.' Danny hissed as a plane clipped his ear while executing a loop-de-loop.
The attendant hastily pressed the button and the lift rose at a much smoother pace than the MACUSA's. More than once, much to the discomfort of the attendant, the lift would stop to let the paper planes off, only to be replaced by more. More than one wizard had moved to step into the lift, but after catching sight of Danny hovering above the floor with glowing eyes and a deep scowl, seemed to change their mind, instead choosing to wait for the next one.
Eventually, the lift slowed to a stop and the attendant opened the gate, nervously stuttering, 'L-l-level two, Dep-p-partment of M-magical Law Enforcement, the Improper Use of M-magic Office, Auror Headquarters and Wizengamot Administration S-s-services.'
Before Danny could ask where he was supposed to go, the bellboy had slammed the gate behind him and zoomed out of sight.
With another roll of his eyes, he began to make his way down the corridor that housed the Auror Headquarters. Heavy unmarked oak doors lined the rather plain passageway to curve out of sight. A girl who couldn't be more than a few years older than him with short, bubblegum pink hair was crouched off to the far side, hastily picking up a stack of papers that had scattered across the floor.
Danny leant down to pick up some of the papers closest to him and offered them to her. 'Er... here.'
The girl glanced up with a look of surprise that quickly melted away into a gleeful grin and she bounded to her feet, snatching the papers out of his hand to replace it with her own.
'Blimey, I can't believe it! You're Danny Phantom!' She said, shaking his hand furiously, 'I've read all your case-studies — you were amazing on the Castro case! Not that you got much actual mention in it, but you'd have to be daft to not see the holes in all that fodder Pinforth drafted up as the actual breakdown — as if he was able to perfectly mimic a banshee cry — man's more useful as a paperweight than an Auror. Don't think he'd know a Death Eater from his own mother! You're legendary around here.' She gave him a wink.
Danny's cheeks glowed as pink as her hair, 'Er, thanks. Who are you?'
The girl shoved the papers into her robes and stated, 'The name's Tonks. You must be here to see Scrimgeour, right?'
'Yeah, d'you know where I'm supposed to go?'
'Of course, come on! Pretty sure Scrimmy's got his whole calendar wiped for this meeting — that's rare, lemme tell you. Man would rather work than sleep. Me and a few of the boys have got a bet going on whether he's actually a vampire...' Tonks walked over to a door on her left, shoving it open with her hip and gesturing for Danny to follow.
He found himself in a large room separated by wooden partition walls that acted like cubicles — dozens of photos of wanted and suspected criminals floated overhead, trying desperately to slip away into mouse-cracks and duck behind desks to hide from the Aurors investigating them. Witches and wizards turned to watch as Tonks barged her way down the aisle, mouths agape. Danny nodded at them cordially, not completely comfortable with being stared at. The most experience he'd had with Aurors was with his MACUSA liaison, Auror McAlaster who was renowned for his moody disposition and relentless chain-smoking of goblin-crafted cigars.
They reached a reception desk where a man sat staring daggers at Tonks. 'Hey, Milford, mind letting us through? We've got an urgent meeting with Scrimmy right now.'
'For the last time, Tonks, the answer is no. You can't keep planting garlic in Mr Scrimgeour's drawers. It took nearly a week to find the last bunch. The whole office complained about the smell! And stop calling him 'Scrimmy'!'
Tonks huffed, 'That was an accident, I swear. I misplaced my lunch that day — anyway, I'm here on actual duty,' she jutted a thumb out at Danny behind her, 'Boss-man has a meeting.'
Danny gave a small wave at Milford who turned to him and jolted like he had been hit with a stinging hex. He sprung from his seat, dashing over to the heavy door off to the side of him, 'Of course! S-sorry, Mr Phantom, I didn't see you there! Let me go tell him you've arrived!'
Milford slipped into the room and Danny felt an elbow nudge him in his side, 'See I told you. You're legendary around these parts. Most of the department's been trying to convince the MACUSA to lend you to us for years.' Tonks grinned.
Scrimgeour's office door creaked open and Milford gestured for him to enter. Tonks clapped him on the shoulder with a cheery, 'Catch ya, Phantom! Don't worry about Scrimgeour, he's all bark.'
Danny waved at her as she slipped past the narrow cubicles further into the room, Despite her assurances he could feel the sweat start to gather on the back of his neck. Carefully he nodded at Milford and stepped through the door.
Scrimgeour's office was nowhere near as grand as Dumbledore's. Papers and news clippings were plastered to the walls, threads of glistening magic pinning together clues. A globe sat off to the side, making slow rotations on its axis; hundreds of thousands of tiny lights blipped merrily. Every so often one of the lights would flare red. A foe-glass was propped up next to it and Danny could make out the vague shadows of his face staring darkly back at him. In the centre of the room stood a war-ridden desk that looked like it had seen better days; a matching chair had been placed in front of the no-nonsense looking wizard who sat opposite.
Rufus Scrimgeour was very composed. Instead of the wild tenacity and paranoia that Moody had shown weeks ago — spouting on about war-stories and neurotic nonsense — Scrimgeour was calm and reserved, like an old lion slightly past his prime but adamant about maintaining his role in the pride.
He didn't look up as Danny swept his way into the room, staring in amazement as parchment stamped themselves systematically as 'approved' or 'denied' before folding themselves into planes and zipping out of the room. Scrimgeour, focussed on a large stack of parchment, waved at Danny to sit. The pair sat in silence, Danny barely breathing in fear of breaking the quiet before Scrimgeour heaved a sigh, placing down his quill to open a drawer and pulling out a surprisingly thin collection of papers.
'It was not my decision to call you in.' He started, sounding more than a little displeased, 'The Minister feels that all this nonsense with Sirius Black has affected people's trust in the Ministry — that the Auror Department is no longer capable of doing its job despite our records.' He flung the papers at Danny who caught them deftly, 'I can't tell whether they've hired you to make us look incompetent or to make Black seem like a criminal mastermind.'
'Could be both,' Danny offered humourlessly skimming through the package, unimpressed by the vague guesses on the potential whereabouts of Black. From what Danny could make of it, their most recent intel suggested Black was hidden away somewhere in the bowels of Paraguay.
Scrimgeour stared at him with a grim expression, 'The last thing this division needs is an upstart excuse of a shade pretending that it has any experience outside of sheer dumb luck.'
Danny's hands twitched into fists, his nails biting into the parchment. 'Funny. From what I've read you guys are in need of some dumb luck. Heard you couldn't even keep track of an entire clan of Death Eaters at the Quidditch World Cup!'
There was a long pause as Scrimgeour stared him down but this timed Danny refused to be bowled. The old man's lips twitched in annoyance before he placed his hands on the desk and lifted himself up, circling his way around to reach the globe where he pressed a finger against one of the red lights.
'I have on good suspicions that Sirius Black has left South America and has been making his way steadily back to England. We think it has to do with the Death Eater's showing up at the World Cup. If we're correct, It's more crucial than ever that we find Black before he reunites with You-Know-Who's followers.' Scrimgeour heaved a deep sigh, 'We're thinly spread. There has been an uproar following the Dark Mark and people are more nervous than ever.'
'So what do you want me to do?' Danny asked, slumping in his chair belligerently.
The Auror strode over to the door, pulling it open with a sharp bark of, 'Caldwell! Tonks! My office.'
An exuberant-looking Tonks burst her way into the room and Danny swore that her hair was shifting into a jubilant apple red. A man followed closely behind her, his robes clean-pressed and neat, his moustache trimmed and his hair parted in a manner that was meant to disguise his receding hairline.
'Wotcher, Phantom!' Tonks says with a small wave which he hesitantly returns. Caldwell simply sniffed in distaste.
'There have been sightings of a man that fit Black's description in the south of England, Auror Caldwell and Junior Auror Tonks are heading there to see if the rumours are true.'
'And you want me to go with them,' Danny surmised.
Caldwell sniffed again before pointedly turning to Scrimgeour, 'It's bad enough you want me to work with this hooligan,' he gestured to Tonks who rolled her eyes, 'But do you really expect me to work with that thing?'
Danny sneered, looking Caldwell up and down, 'I could ask the same. No wonder your Auror's are failing if this is the best you've got.' He quipped.
Tonks poorly hid a snicker as Caldwell's neck coloured a mottled puce, his hands gripping into tight fists as he glared at Danny. Scrimgeour raised his hands politically, 'That is enough. We don't have time for this. You have a witness to attend to. Junior Auror Tonks, if you would please?'
Tonks nodded exuberantly before striding forward and gripping Danny's arm, sending him a gleeful wink, 'Hold on tight.'
Apparition was not a pleasant experience when you were as pliable as Danny. His insides felt like they had been stretched the length of England only to snap back like an elastic band. The sensation made him feel like he had been turned inside out as he unhooked himself from Tonks.
'You alright, Danny?' He heard her ask from where he had doubled over, gasping for air.
'Yeah,' his breath coming out in cold puffs, 'A little warning next time though. Side-along isn't exactly my favourite.'
'Pathetic,' Caldwell muttered from where he appeared with a pop.
Danny sent him a glare, noticing vaguely that they had appeared next to a set of dimly-lit dumpsters behind a fish and chips shop. Heaving himself upright he glanced out to the grey-skied street where the smell of salt permeated the air. 'Where are we?'
'Just outside Hull,'
Danny jumped. A dumpy-looking woman with mousy brown hair had appeared next to him, looking up at him with dull grey eyes. 'Who're you?'
The woman's face twisted sharply and he was met once again with Tonk's face surrounded by the limp brown hair, 'It's me, silly!'
'You're a metamorphmagus?' Danny asked rhetorically, 'I've never met one before. How do you do it?'
'Born with it. Comes in right handy as an Auror,' she grinned cheekily, 'You can turn invisible, right? Might be best if we try to keep everything low-key.' Danny nodded before letting the cool rush of invisibility flood through his body and he disappeared from sight.
'Wicked.' Tonks muttered before her face morphed back into the bland-looking woman. Caldwell huffed indignantly at the pair but seemed to decide against commenting as he marched his way onto the dingy road.
The streets looked dirty and worn-down, granny-flats tagged in luminescent spray paint and Danny watched as Tonks's sprightly and bubbly walk transformed into an unwelcoming shuffle as to avoid the attention of the boorish locals who littered the streets. Caldwell expertly flicked his wand with a point-me spell from the sleeve of his robes, which surprisingly did not look out of place Danny noted, as one particular woman wandered past in only her dressing gown and slippers, a burnt-out cigarette hanging from her lips.
They took a left onto a narrow street where the street lights were flickering to life. Caldwell straightened out his robes primly before striding his way up to a house with a broken gate. The garden looked like it hadn't seen a lawnmower in years.
'What are we doing here?' Danny muttered low to Tonks.
'We got news that a squib caught sight of someone that looked like Sirius Black. We need to check out all potential sources to see if they're credible. Black is the Ministry's Undesirable Number One — we can't risk any chance of him getting away even if it's the slightest rumour.'
She looked a bit forlorn as she told this to Danny but before he got the chance to ask, Caldwell had rapped sharply on the door. They waited with bated breath as the door creaked open, clattering to a sharp stop by the security chain.
A watery, bloodshot eye peeked out through the narrow gap and a raspy voice asked, 'Who're you?'
'Good day to you, sir.' Caldwell began in the politest tone Danny had heard from him, 'Are you Mr. Dedforth, the squib?'
'Who's askin'?'
Tonks spoke up, 'We're delegates from the Ministry. We heard suspicions that you may have some knowledge about the whereabouts of Sirius Black?'
Danny frowned from where he hovered as the eye peered down at them. 'So wha' if I do?'
'Its highly important to our investigation for you to help lead us in the right direction. Sirius Black is a very dangerous individual—'
'I know who he is.' The eye grumbled.
There was a shuffling from somewhere in the depths of the house, Danny turned his head to see through the narrow gap into the entrance but saw nothing.
'Is there someone in there with you?' Tonks asked.
Dedforth licked his cracked lips, 'Naw, just the cat, s'all. Bloody noisy thing. Wait 'ere.'
The door was promptly shut and Tonks shared a look with a frustrated Caldwell, who in turn shifted his gaze to the left of the invisible Danny. 'Don't even think about getting in our way. You interfere in any way and I'm getting you labelled as a level four dangerous creature for immediate destruction. We don't need some ghastly thing trying to prove themselves.'
'Caldwell!' Tonks hissed, aghast. Danny sneered at the Auror.
The security chain gave a sharp rattle before the lock turned. Dedforth opened the door wide, revealing a dingy corridor. The house had a musty smell, faintly masking the off flavours of fish and everything was coated in a thin film of dust. Dedforth was no better. He stood by the entrance, back hunched from years of bad posture and looking like he hadn't bathed in weeks, his dressing gown stained and oily dark hair sat flat on his scalp. The two Aurors stepped forward into the house as Danny floated after them, settling himself by the foot of the stairs.
'We won't take up too much of your time.' Caldwell sniffed as he looked about disdainfully, poignantly avoiding touching Dedforth as he brushed imaginary grime off his pressed robes. Tonks looked less perturbed by the lack of cleanliness as she waltzed her way in. 'Perhaps we could discuss your claim in the sitting room?'
Dedforth didn't reply as he shuffled his way down the corridor, leaving the others to follow after him. The sitting room was a squashed collection of mismatched couches of varying levels of deterioration. Dedforth eased himself into a rather hideous-looking floral recliner with one of the arms missing while Caldwell and Tonks sat on the cramped corduroy couch opposite. Caldwell, much to Danny's amusement, was propped right on the edge, obviously trying to avoid touching anything as much as possible.
'Right,' he said, moustache twitching, 'Like we said Mr Dedforth, we're here on sources that you may have crucial information on the whereabouts of the notorious criminal, Sirius Black—'
'I don't give nothin' fer free.' Dedforth spat out.
Caldwell blinked furiously, looking rather off-put. 'I-I... right. Well, what are you asking for?'
'Twenty galleons.'
The Auror sputtered furiously,'T-twenty galleons? Are you joking?'
'Yeh said that my knowledge was crucial. The more crucial it is, the higher the cost. What if Black came after me next? I need a lil' compensation here.'
'Twenty galleons seems a little steep though, doesn't it?'
'Shut up, Caldwell.' Tonks muttered.
Dedforth raised a greedy brow, 'Yer righ'. Fer such a terrifying criminal it should be at least thirty. I can't be sticking me head out fer nothin'.'
Caldwell looked on the verge of apoplectic. Whipping out his wand, he bellowed, 'Now, see here you—!'
'Honestly Caldwell, shut it!' Tonks snapped, yanking the wand out of her partner's hand. 'Mr. Dedforth, we just need to know what happened, I can promise no harm will come to you by revealing Black's location.'
'After he jus' pulled a wand out at me?' Dedforth's voice rose to near-hysterical, 'I don' wanna give you any information now! Thinkin' yeh can intimidate me with yer magic and spells? Bah!'
'We can promise you, Mr. Dedforth, we would never use magic against you—'
'And I'm just s'pposed to take yer word for it? I'm not tellin' yeh nothin' unless you get rid of yer wands!' Dedforth demanded, 'Then I'll talk. I don't want none of you tryin' t' pull a fast one on me.'
'Our wands?' Tonks stuttered, 'We can't—'
'Fine,' Caldwell snapped, snatching up both his and Tonk's wand and tossing them at Dedforth's feet, who swiped them up in his gnarled grip. The man stared at the wands with a fervent want that left the hair on the back of Danny's neck standing.
'How much does the Ministry value their employees?' Dedforth asked in a low, even voice.
'I-I'm sorry?' Tonks was shifting her weight, sending glances at the front door. Dedforth's whole being had seemed to change in a matter of seconds. He seemed to be sitting taller, his bloodshot eyes now staring razor-sharp, fingers tapping on the remaining arm of the recliner in a calculated pattern.
'How much would the Ministry pay for the safety of two of their prized Aurors?' Dedforth repeated. 'Surely more than a measly thirty galleons?'
'How dare you—!'
'As if Sirius Black would be anywhere near here — he's probably halfway across the world by now.' Dedforth twirled Tonk's wand in his grip before pointing the end at the two of them, 'And if you had any sense you woulda been too. Incarcerous!'
Caldwell let out a sharp bark as thick ropes shot out of the wand, wrapping around him and sending him crashing to the floor.
Tonks gasped, jumping to her feet, 'You're not a squib!'
'Of course not, you stupid girl!' Dedforth laughed, aiming the wand at her. Danny heard the thundering of feet above him as two rough-looking wizards clambered down the stairs, grinning darkly.
'Anti-Apparation spells are up,' gloated one of the wizards, revealing crooked yellow teeth, 'There's no gettin' outta here anytime soon. Not even a ghost could sneak in 'ere.'
'Good work, Pegas. Squabs, keep an eye on the entrance, we'll be looking for a welcome party soon.' The other wizard, with long greasy hair swept his way out of the room deeper into the house.
Tonks looked out of her depth, sending horrified glances at Caldwell who was cursing furiously before Dedforth flung a lazy silencio at him, 'We really only need one Auror fer bargainin'. Don't really have a need for two, but now we have a choice on which one we keep...' Pegas sneered as they pointed their wands at Tonks.
Danny lunged, narrowly avoiding an organ liquifying curse to summon a shield that wrapped its way around Tonks and Caldwell. The room glowed bright green and Dedforth let out a small squeal as his ripping curse was flung back at him, leaving a deep gash in his recliner.
'The hell is tha'?' Pegas barked out. Danny flung himself forward, ramming Pegas into the wall and flooding it with intangibility. The wood slipped out from under him and Pegas let out a scream of fright. With another firm shove, Danny embedded him deep into the floral wallpaper, his arms trapped in the foundations of the house.
Squabs stood in the corridor horrified and slowly raised his hands in surrender. Danny rolled his eyes at the pitiful look on the man's face, sending a quick blast of ectoplasmic residue at him and sticking him to the door.
Danny froze at the sound of a sharp yelp, 'Tonks!' he yelled fearfully, flying back into the room, only to find the Auror in all her pink-haired glory standing above Dedworth grasping at a bloody nose as he grovelled pathetically at her feet.
Danny couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up in his throat from escaping. Tonks gave him a wry grin in reply. 'Can't let you have all the fun, can I, Phantom?'
ΔOl
The attendant looked close to fainting as Phantom and Tonks stepped into the lift, Dedforth, Pegas and Squabs flung over his shoulder like a sack of mandrakes.
'Talk about embarrassing.' Tonks groaned as the doors slid shut, 'Not even a single clue to where Black is. At this rate the Aurors are going to be the laughing stock of the Ministry. Couldn't even take on a few lowlife thugs without the help of the famous Phantom.'
Danny shrugged, 'Don't worry about it. Caldwell's probably already in Scrimgeour's office blaming me for all of this anyway.'
Tonks looked unhappy but didn't argue the fact. The lift came to a jolting stop, causing the three dark wizards on to groan in pain as Danny hefted them higher. The attendant hurried to fling open the doors before shoving himself into the farthest corner. Danny shot him a sardonic smile causing Tonks to slug his arm with a hiss, 'Be nice.'
'Ouch! Careful.' Danny moaned as they wandered they way down the corridor. 'I might drop them!'
'If you do, drop them on their heads,' Tonks snickered.
'There he is!' Caldwell shouted, storming his way over to the pair as they stepped into the office. Scrimgeour and a handful of other Aurors followed close behind as Caldwell stopped a few feet away from the pair and flinging an accusing finger in Danny's face, 'This creature disrupted our investigation! We were on the verge of finding out where Black was located when this thing nearly killed not one, but three potential witnesses! He's a menace, a disgrace!'
Tonks crossed her arms furious and stormed right up to Caldwell, 'Don't blame Danny for this! You're the idiot that gave up our wands — did you even double-check the files to see if he actually was a squib?'
Caldwell's skin turned a nasty shade of yellow before he skittishly turned to an unreadable Scrimgeour, 'See! I told you! He's twisted her mind with dark magic! Made her believe that we are the enemies!'
'If I had that kind of power, don't you think I would have used it on you instead?' Danny asked irritated.
Caldwell let out a gasp, 'Did… did you hear that? He threatened me!'
'That's enough, Caldwell.' Scrimgeour stated sharply, 'Head back to your desk for now and complete your report. You two,' he gestured to Danny and Tonks, 'Follow me. Leave those three out here.'
Tonks shared a nervous look with Danny as Caldwell gleaned down at the pair, confidently strutting over to the small cubicle and pompously pulling out a slip of parchment and waving it at Danny. Danny shot out a short puff of ice, freezing the ink jar solid before heaving the three wizards onto the floor and following after Tonks and Scrimgeour.
'Close the door,' Scrimgeour stated coldly from his chair as he slipped his way into the room. Tonks was already seated, looking nervously back at him, her hair flickering from pink to purple anxiously. Forcing himself to take a deep breath, Danny lowered himself into the remaining chair.
Scrimgeour yanked a piece of parchment out from underneath a Quick-Quotes Quill which had been scribbling furiously, its acid-green feather nearly a blur, before stretching it flat and bowing his head to read each letter clearly and concisely.
Tonk leaned over to Danny carefully and whispered in his ear, 'It'll be alright. Scrimgeour's fair — he's got a pensieve tucked away in one of his drawers that he uses to gather evidence, I found it when I was planting garlic the other week.'
Danny gave her a soft grin, before turning back to Scrimgeour who had lifted his head from the drafted report. 'Deadforth was not a squib,' he stated more than asked.
'Yes, sir.' Tonks answered, 'It was a ploy — he didn't really have anything on Sirius Black. Phantom was just protecting us! Without him—!' Scrimgeour raised a hand, making Tonks pause, before turning to Danny.
Danny met his eyes and nodded solemnly, 'I did get in the way of the investigation, but I couldn't risk anyone getting hurt.'
Scrimgeour rested his head on his fingers and stared deeply into Danny's face, seeming to measure each twitch of a muscle and blink of his eyes before he leaned back. 'Very well, I will assess this matter in deeper detail and organise for the arrest of Deadforth and his associates for hindering a high-priority case. Phantom, we will owl you when we have more accurate information about the whereabouts of Sirius Black. Tonks, bring Caldwell in here if you would please, I need to have a thorough discussion with him.'
Tonks and Danny stood, grinning to each other as they stepped out of the office. Tonks clapped him on the back and gave him a heartfelt, 'Thanks, Danny. We'll talk later, yeah? I want to learn more about the Castro case.' With a wink she wandered around Deadforth and his cronies, who were still lying splayed across the floor outside Scrimgeour's office, bound tightly with magicked ropes, over to Caldwell to smugly order him into the Head Auror's office.
With his own grin, Danny strode out of the Aurors office and through the Atrium into an empty fireplace, 'Dumbledore's office!' he bellowed. With a whorl of green fire he was flung into the circular room to discover Dumbledore standing beside a pensieve, a look of deep concentration on his face as a wisp of glowing string was pulled from his temple to fall into the bowl, upsetting the liquid inside.
He stood quietly as Dumbledore waved his hands, banishing the pensieve out of sight. Slowly, he turned to Danny with a serene smile, 'All is well, I take it?'
Danny shrugged with a small grin, 'They don't hate me, I think.'
'Ah, very good. I was concerned for a moment that you would not make it back in time for the feast. Hogwarts has not seen the Triwizard Tournament for over 200 years.'
'Is that what you're concerned about? Missing the feast pudding? Not that I'd be persecuted and labelled a dangerous creature?'
'Of course not, Danny. I never had any concern for that while Scrimgeour is in charge.' Dumbledore waved an arm towards the door, 'Come now, shall we walk down together? You can tell me all about what happened.'
ΔOl
It's been a weird year. First the bushfires destroying my family's home, then a two-part botched surgery, and now the whole world going through an enforced quarantine. Hope you're all safe and following the rules though, the positive on this quarantine is that it lets me focus more time on hobbies like this!