"Luna," Laetus Lovegood called his only daughter. "I have another assignment for you."
"What is it father?" The spacey young girl walked in, "do you want me to go to Germany?"
"No, I'll cover that." There was no way in hell that he was going to send his daughter to Germany with what had been happening there for the last few days. "I have something more important for you to report on."
"What?" Luna blinked curiously. "Did we finally get proof that the Malfoy family was descended from house elves?"
"Not yet," Laetus frowned. "The Ministry still won't let me have one of them for testing."
"Oh," Luna's shoulders dropped in disappointment. "That's too bad, what do you have for me then?"
"I want you to go to Holland and get some more information on the Snorlacks."
"Ok father," Luna nodded. "I hope you don't get too bored writing a story about all those murders in Germany."
"I hope so too dear," Laetus nodded. "But someone has to do it and since you have the good article, I'm stuck with the boring one."
Luna walked over to the fire, tossed in a handful of floo and shouted out her destination. Then she squealed in happiness as she felt herself get thrown around on her way to her destination.
"Welcome to Holland," a bored looking man greeted her upon her arrival. "How may I help you?"
"I'm supposed to meet with someone from the Department of Magical Creatures to get information on an article for the Quibbler." Luna smiled brightly.
"Oh yes," the man nodded, checking his list. "We've been expecting you."
"Really?" Luna asked delightedly, "have I been declared an enemy of the state? Are you going to put me in your secret prison on the moon?"
"Hunh?" The customs agent shot her an odd look, "hey Doc, your reporter is here."
"Good afternoon Ms. Lovegood," the man identified as Doc walked up. "I'm Doctor Wim Cornelissen. I understand that you have some questions to ask me?"
"Yes I do," Luna nodded. "Why hasn't anyone been able to get information on the existence of Snorlacks before?"
"We've discovered that the males put out a natural Wizard repelling charm which has until now kept them from being noticed."
"What about the females?"
"Snorlacks like to den in large hills, and the females rarely leave the nesting sites." The Doctor smiled, "and they also emit a natural muggle repelling charm. We believe that this is why muggles think that Holland is a flat country."
"Because there are snorlacks living in all the hills?" Luna asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes," the Doctor replied with a laugh. "Fascinating isn't it?"
IIIIIIIIII
"Come in Hans," the chief pulled a bottle out of his desk. "And have a seat."
The rather pale faced office sat down, "what do you want to know?"
"I have the reports," the chief made a motion towards a stack of paper on his desk. "But I'd like to hear what you experienced."
"I took Mr. Black to the Blut Hexe, Mr. Black broke down the door and walked in walked in . . ."
"One quick question Hans," the chief interrupted. "Did he have his wand out when he broke down the door?"
"I . . . no," Hans looked at his father in shock. "I remember him drawing his wand as he walked into the bar."
"I see," the chief nodded. "He's been known to use wandless magic before, and I was wondering if he used it this time. Continue."
"Yes papa, he came out a few minutes later and told me to take him to Tierparkstrasse. He ordered me to wait at our point of arrival and walked up the street." Hans took a deep breath, "I called the men and we arrived at the house about two minutes later and found Black standing over a dead man and staring at a room full of corpses."
"I see," the chief nodded. "Thank you Hans, I understand now."
"Understand what papa?" Hans's eyes were filled with confusion.
"Why he was so overt." The chief poured himself a drink and motioned for his son to do the same. "When I decided to ask for his help, I did it on the assumption that he would . . . solve our problem the same way he's done such things in the past."
"You expected them to die in an accident?" Hans took a sip, "or for it to be a clear cut case of self defense?"
"Yes I did," the chief nodded. "And I was more than a bit surprised when I found out what he did. Now I want you to think, did you see him do anything illegal?"
"I . . . no," Hans shook his head. "The worst thing I saw him do was break down a door."
"Which is punishable by a fine at most," the chief smiled. "Forensics spent quite a bit of time in that house, do you know what they found?"
"I'm not sure," Hans shrugged his shoulders. "What did they find?"
"Nothing," the old man smiled. "They couldn't even prove that any spells had been used, let alone that Black cast any. So what we have is no physical proof and a room full of dead witnesses."
"But I saw Black go to the house," Hans took another sip. "Doesn't that mean anything?"
"You saw him walk towards a house," the old man nodded. "But you didn't see him commit any crime, he would say that he found the house like it is. How long was he out of your sight?"
"No more than five minutes."
"So you expect me to believe that a man was able to kill several blood purists without leaving any evidence?" The chief smiled, "and was able to do it in less than five minutes."
"I see," Hans nodded. "But why didn't he do things the way he normally does?"
"Some things," the old man rubbed a spot on his arm. "Some things leave a mark on you, I think that your file brought up too many old memories."
"What do you . . ." Hans stopped as he realized why his father was rubbing his arm. "I understand papa, thank you for explaining things."
"I'm always glad to explain things to you Hans," the chief nodded. "It looks like Black is calming down."
"Why do you say that papa?"
"In the past few days, there have been several murders." The old man gestured towards a stack of files on his desk, "some of them were messy and some of them were clean and professional."
"And?"
"The last two looked like accidents," the old man smiled. "And another looks like suicide. One man got so drunk that he passed out and drowned in two inches of water, another walked into traffic and was hit by a large truck."
"What about the suicide?"
"Found with a rope around his neck in a locked room, though there are some people that think Black didn't kill that one." The old man laughed, "they say that he killed himself because that was the only way he could think of to escape."
"I do have one more thing I'd like to ask if it's not too much trouble?"
"What is it Hans?"
"Were they able to identify any of the spells he used to eliminate the men in the house?"
"There were no signatures but one of the forensic technicians said that the damage was similar to several of the old Russian battle spells."
"I see," Hans nodded. "That does fit some of the things that people have been saying about him."
"What are you planning to do now?" The chief finished his drink and pored another, "now that your case has been closed."
"I still have one loose end to take care of before I finish my case," Hans smirked. "And I plan on having a bit of fun with it."
"Then you best get to it Hans," the chief waved his hand in dismissal. "It's always best to get things done early."
"Good bye sir," Hans stood up and opened the door.
"Goodbye son," the chief replied to his son's retreating back.
Hans walked down the corridors until he found himself in front of the door to one of the interrogation rooms. "Well?"
"He's ready for you sir," another officer replied. "Are you sure you want us recording this?"
"I'm sure," Hans nodded. "Don't miss a second."
"Ok," the other officer shrugged. "If that's what you want."
Hans walked into the bare room and took a seat across from the suspect. "Good afternoon sir, how are you doing today?"
"You've got nothing on me," the ugly man sneered. "My arrest wasn't legal and you have to let me go."
"Arrest?" Hans asked with a shocked expression, "you weren't arrested. You were brought down here to swear out a complaint against the man who broke the door to your business. Unless of course you'd rather let things go?"
"No," the ugly man replied smugly. "He broke the law and I want him to go to jail for it."
"Well," Hans shook his head. "I don't think that he'll go to jail, but he will have to pay a rather large fine and for the repair of your property."
"Good," the ugly man nodded. "What do I have to do now?"
"Just sign these papers," Hans slid a stack of papers across the table and we can start things.
"You trying ta trick me?" The ugly man carefully checked the papers. "I mean, this all seems to be in order."
"Good," Hans nodded. "I wouldn't want you to be displeased by the service that you've experienced during your stay as our guest."
"Can I go now?"
"One moment," Hans stood and walked towards the door. "You still have to identify the man who damaged your property."
"Oh," the ugly man grinned. "Be nice to be on the other side of the mirror for once I guess."
"I'm sure," Hans nodded and knocked on the door.
"What do you need?" The officer from before stuck his head in.
"I've got a complaint for you to process," Hans handed over the stack of papers. "And I need you to pick up Mr. Black for me, I need him to stand in a line up."
"No problem," the officer fought hard to keep his amusement hidden. "I'll try to get him here as soon as possible."
"What did you just say?" The ugly man had a look of terror on his face, "did you just tell him to get Mr. Black?"
"Why yes," Hans nodded. "Or didn't you know that he was the man that broke the door to your bar?"
"You didn't say anything about Mr. Black," the bartender shook his head. "I don't want to complain, I want to leave things alone."
"I'm afraid we cant do that sir," Hans shrugged. "The papers have already been filed and there is nothing I can do to stop the process now."
"I don't want go to court against Mr. Black." The ugly man's eyes darted around the room, "I don't want to swear out a complaint."
"The only way I could stop things is if you told me that you had sworn out a false complaint," Hans kept a helpful expression on his face. "And I would advise you not to do that because the penalty for swearing out a false complaint is rather severe."
"I admit it, I lied." The ugly man screamed, "and I done a lot of other things too. Just stop that complaint."
"Really?" Hans had a predatory look on his face, "what other things?
IIIIIIIIII
"Welcome back everyone," Dumbledore gave the room a grandfatherly smile. "I call this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix to order. My first order is that those members of the Order who have been searching for Mr. Potter on my orders stand up and address the Order and tell us what you have learned."
"Really Albus," Minerva frowned. "Couldn't you have found a way to phrase that without saying the word 'order' so many times?"
"No, no I couldn't." The headmaster ate a lemon drop, "if nobody has anything to report . . . then Alastor has something he'd like to share with us."
"Black's back," the scarred man leered. "And he's been busy."
"What did he do?" A random Order member asked to get the plot moving.
"In Italy he managed to convince the Mafia that backing the Dark Lord would," Moody paused. "Not be to their benefit."
"How did he manage to do that?" Dumbledore asked with a raised eyebrow.
"He told them that if they didn't comply, then he'd kill them all." The old Auror gave a wheezing laugh, "few of them didn't think he could do it and broke into his hotel room."
"Well?"
"He tossed one of them out a window, another down a staircase, and the last he gutted like a fish." Moody's eye spun around, "after that he went to Switzerland. The Dark Tosser must've found out because he sent a group of men to make an example."
"Was anybody injured in the attack?" Dumbledore's eyes turned serious, "do the Swiss authorities need any help to contain this outbreak?"
"No one was hurt," Moody shook his head. "Least no one important was hurt. Death Eaters all died in an accident before they could do anything, off the record Black messed with their portkey but nobody can prove anything."
"Were any of the Death Eaters identified as being members of the inner circle?" Dumbledore asked cautiously.
"The Swiss believe that one of the bodies might belong to Lucius Malfoy," Moody's voice held a trace of satisfaction. "And if it does, the I say it couldn't have happened to a better target."
"That might be why the Minister ordered a team of Aurors to go on a twenty four hour alert." Shacklebolt entered the conversation, "he also mentioned that there may be some international travel involved in our 'secret mission.'"
"I see," Dumbledore nodded. "Where's Mr. Black now?"
"Germany," Moody dropped a handful of newspaper clippings on the table. "And in the time he's been there, he's virtually wiped out any base of support that Voldemort might have been able to draw on.
The Order spent several minutes reading the articles and passing them around.
Die Unduldsamkeit
We the editors are sorry to say that this is the last issue of 'Die Unduldsamkeit, the newspaper for people who hate muggles.' Unfortunately things like rising cost of production, the fact that due to Mr. Black the Obituary page is larger then the size of the last three issues combined, and the fact that we are in fear of our lives. Have caused us to reach the decision that it's time to end before we suffer an accident or are killed in a bizarre and painful way. We would like to note that 'Die Toleranz the newspaper for people who love muggles and fear Mr. Black.' Will be coming out next week to fill the gap created by the loss of Die Unduldsamkeit.
Bloodbath in Germany: see page A14
By Laetus Lovegood
Death is in Germany and his name is Black. Over the past week, Germany's morgues have been filled with blood purists and other Death Eater sympathizers. They've been stabbed, beaten, hexed, poisoned, their deaths have been quick and clean, slow and painful and everything in between. After learning of this situation, we at the Quibbler found ourselves possessed by the need to know what started this chain of events, what we found may shock you. The trigger that caused what many are calling the 'Black Massacre' was the death of a young muggle born girl that was scheduled to begin school at the start of the next term. Sources close to the investigation have revealed that Mr. Black is not being sought for questioning due to the lack of evidence connecting him to any of the crimes. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one Law Enforcement official gave the following statement. "The death of the little girl angered Mr. Black, and I only have one thing to say about that. Don't make him angry, you wouldn't like him when he's angry."