~~Director's Office, DMLE~~ (July 13th, 1994)
Amelia Bones rubbed her temples with a frustrated look on her face… She wasn't having a good day. Fuck that!! She wasn't having a good week… First, she found that Peter Pettigrew was still alive and the man was branded with the Dark Mark, which probably meant that Sirius Black was innocent.
Thanks to that, her paperwork increased… Then she went and discovered that the Boy-Who-Lived was already a murderer, and Albus Dumbledore was back to his usual games… That wasn't the last of it, she even discovered that You-Know-Who was still alive and kicking. That wasn't the end of her miseries… Somehow Peter Pettigrew was able to escape while he was being transported to Azkaban.
Obviously, Fudge decided to place the blame on her and her Department while he tried to sweep the whole thing under the rug, not wanting the public to panic… While Amelia wasn't happy with him blaming her and her Department, she agreed that public outcry was the last thing they needed right now… Everything was already a mess, so it wasn't a surprise that she wanted to avoid public panic…
Then that bitch Skeeter had to go and splash Pettigrew's escape and her Department's failure on the first page… Amelia was planning to do some extremely painful things to that bitch… Obviously, Fudge blew the gasket when the news finally came out, and once again, he blamed her Department for the leak and Amelia had to agree… There was a leak in her Department…
Someone obviously talked and if Amelia ever got her hands on that person, then that person was going to pay…
Her only saving grace was the fact that none of the Aurors guarding Pettigrew during the transport were killed or she would have been thrown out of the office by her ears… Amelia grabbed the bottle of firewhiskey and started to chug straight from the bottle. After drinking almost a quarter of the bottle, she finally stopped with a gasp… Moments later, she burped and released a stream of flames from her mouth.
Amelia wanted to laugh at her own misery… If she kept going at this rate then she wouldn't be surprised if she became an alcoholic… That was always an option if her fourteen year old niece wasn't depending on her. Amelia kept staring at the firewhiskey bottle with a complicated look on her face and she almost jumped from her chair when someone knocked on the door, surprising her…
"Yes?" Amelia called out as she quickly hid the firewhiskey bottle. She was still on duty and her arse was already on fire with the Pettigrew fiasco and she wanted to avoid anything else piling on her plate. The door clicked open and Rufus, followed by Alastor entered her office… Amelia was really looking forward to some answers.
"You don't look so good, Amelia" Rufus pointed out and Amelia practically rolled her eyes at him in exasperation. "Sorry. Sorry… Stupid question" Rufus added drily.
"So, did either of you find anything?" Amelia asked when the two of them finally sat down. Alastor sniffed loudly and took a small sip from his hip flask.
"It was an inside job… Someone helped him escape and whoever it was, they are quite high up in our system or they have connections with someone high in the place" Alastor answered with a huff.
"Pettigrew's Wand is also gone" Rufus added unhappily.
Amelia stared at the duo for the next few seconds in complete silence… "Fuck!! Motherfucking stupid rat fucker!!" Amelia cursed loudly as she slammed her hands on her armrests. Rufus and Alastor cringed as Amelia continued to curse like a sailor… The whole scene continued for almost a minute before Amelia finally started to calm down. She closed her eyes and started to take deep breaths to get her temper in control…
"Is there anything else you can tell me?" Amelia asked in a defeated tone. She wasn't expecting to make any breakthroughs from snippets of information, but it was still better to have all the information in her hands.
"Yes, someone sabotaged the Anti-Animagus Runes placed on Pettigrew's shackles. That is how the bastard escaped" Alastor explained blandly. He was also unhappy with the whole incident and how it was being handled… He wanted to blame Amelia, but he knew that it wasn't her fault. She was doing her best to handle the situation.
"I see…" Amelia mumbled as she leaned back in her chair and started to contemplate… "Rufus, you are dismissed" Amelia called out after a whole minute of silence. The man gave her a respectful nod before getting up and leaving the room… As soon as the man was gone, Alastor stood up and started to inspect the room with his Wand. When he was finally satisfied with his inspection, he returned to his seat.
"Amelia, I think Albus is the one who helped Pettigrew escape" Alastor whispered in a low tone as he leaned forward.
Amelia opened her eyes and nodded her head. "I was also thinking the same… His escape was clean, too clean" Amelia agreed. "His Wand went missing and nobody noticed… There are a lot of people who could have done it, but there is only one man who won't be suspected by anyone" Amelia added with a scowl.
"He would also know how to sabotage the Anti-Animagus Runes on the shackles…" Alastor added venomously while nodding his head. "I think that the whiskered fool wants Voldemort to return" Alastor added with a hint of fear in his voice. Even Alastor was afraid of the man and Amelia could understand why he was afraid… She was afraid too.
"I also heard some weird rumors…" Alastor added unsurely after a minute of silence. Amelia simply urged him to continue. "I heard that they are planning to bring back the Triwizard Tournament. Apparently, Crouch wants to go out with a bang" Alastor snarked unhappily. The man's reputation took a huge hit after Black's trial. "And Bagman is helping him" Alastor added with a scowl.
Amelia scowled, but soon a look of realization struck her face… "The Goblet of Fire forms Unbreakable Contracts with anyone who is selected…" Amelia wondered aloud. She didn't know much about the Triwizard Tournament, but she had read a few things about the Goblet of Fire as the Goblet of Fire is still considered one of the most prestigious artifacts to be owned by the British Ministry of Magic…
When Amelia noticed the look of confusion on Alastor's face, she decided to elaborate. "If someone places Harry Potter's name inside the goblet, then he would need to participate if he doesn't want to lose his Magic" Amelia asked and a look of realization dawned on Alastor's face.
"The boy would be forced to participate…" Alastor mumbled in horror. "Albus is trying to use the Goblet to bring the boy back to Britain" Alastor concluded sourly. For the next few minutes, the two of them didn't say anything else and simply decided to contemplate in complete silence…
"Alastor, I want you to meet the boy. Take your protege if you want, but I want you to meet the boy… Get a feel. We know that he can already commit murders in cold blood, but I need to know more…" Amelia finally broke the silence.
"Alright… I will be heading out tomorrow or the day after tomorrow" Alastor also agreed with her. They didn't know the contents of the Prophecy, but according to Saul, the Prophecy probably entailed that only Harry Potter could slay Voldemort or something along those lines. It would be bad if the boy turned out to be another Voldemort and if that was the case then they needed to prepare so that they could deal with him.
Alastor slowly stood up and left Amelia's office while waving at her…
~~Fourth Floor, St Mungo's Hospital~~ (July 13th, 1994)
"Hello, my boy" Albus greeted Sirius as he sat down beside his bed. "How are you?" Albus asked softly.
Sirius stared at the man for some time… He was still angry at Albus. If Albus hadn't asked for leniency then that rat bastard would have been dead. "...I am getting better" He answered after a few moments of silence.
"I am sorry, my boy, for what you have to go through" Albus apologized while looking down at his hands. "If only I could have captured him earlier" Albus' voice trembled.
"It's alright… You at least caught him and got me a trial even though that bastard is out in the wind" Sirius growled as he clutched his hands in anger.
For the next couple of minutes, neither of them said anything and it was Sirius who broke the silence… "I want to meet my godson" Sirius said firmly while staring at Albus.
Albus looked away… "There might be a problem with that…" Albus trailed off and started to explain how Harry ran away from his house due to the abuse he went through. Minerva and Alastor already knew about the abuse, so there was no reason to hide it, but he didn't tell Sirius about the murders.
Sirius had spent almost one and a half decades in Azkaban, so there might be a chance that Sirius might try to justify Harry's actions. In that case, he will lose Sirius' support and for his plan to work, he couldn't have that.
Sirius was obviously angry at him, but he knew that it would pass… "Then it is your fault that he ran away! It's your fault that he had to suffer so much!" Sirius screamed at Albus, and Albus simply nodded his head in agreement with a shameful look on his face.
"I know I failed him…" Albus admitted sullenly. "That is why I never tried to reach out to him. If he is happy in that country, then I am fine with it… At least, he won't have to deal with the Pureblood propaganda in America" Albus admitted slowly with a heartbroken look on his face.
"Sirius, as the Supreme Mugwump, I will help you with all of my power, but I won't interfere in his life directly" Albus committed firmly, making Sirius stare at him in complete surprise.
Sirius wanted to scream at the man… It was his fault that Harry didn't have a happy childhood, but how could he be angry at the man when he looked so tired and defeated? He looked down at his lap as he was barely holding himself back from breaking down.
"Sirius, there is something else I want you to know… Voldemort is alive…" After a few minutes of silence, Albus finally started to tell him about the Prophecy. Giving all this information to Sirius was a risk, the man was reckless, but he needed to bring the man into his fold… Well, not completely, but he still needed the man's support…
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