"No, it's not them," the distraught girl said softly with another shake of her head. She sat up a bit and dried her eyes, looking at the people who were dear to her. Taking a deep breath, she explained, "While I was sitting in History class, reading along with Professor Binns, I had a vision that Harry was going to be kidnapped. I didn't know if it had already happened, so I left class straightway and went to Sirius. He got ahold of Mr. Lupin, and we discovered that I what I saw was true. Harry has disappeared," she stated as fact. The tears started again and fell faster, but she was feeling a bit better to be surrounded by friends. She laid her head on Hermione's shoulder and closed her eyes, letting the older girl comfort her.
"Are you sure?" her only female friend asked delicately as she firmed her grip. She was both worried and disbelieving. Even with all the things the girl had predicted, Hermione still had a hard time believing that anyone could see the future. The fact that it was random, vague, and sporadic proved to the older girl that it wasn't real. "It's not that I don't want to believe you, it's just…" there was no way to word that without being condescending, and she didn't want to appear that way. Especially if Luna was right and Harry was in trouble again.
"I understand, I really do. You've been taught all your life that divination isn't real, and unlike magic you don't have the sight. However, Sirius has a mirror that he can communicate with. He called Mr. Lupin and confirmed it. Harry's gone," the smaller girl stated, snuggling further into the embrace. It was very rare that she felt such love as she did with these people. Even when Hermione didn't believe her, she still took the time to listen.
"Okay, is there anything we can do?" the bushy-haired girl asked, rubbing the other girl's arm. She looked at the boys to see how they were taking it. They seemed to believe the seer. Maybe it was something she should consider harder.
"No, Harry has to face whatever, or whoever, it is alone," was the watery answer as the girl in her arms started crying to the point she was near hysterics. The bushy-haired girl turned a bit and encased her friend in a full hug. Willing her to calm down, not that she felt much better knowing her best mate was in trouble, again.
"Shite," the three males said as they all looked at each other with worried faces. One thought ran through all their heads. 'Who? Dumbledore or Voldemort?'
"Yeah," agreed Hermione, thinking the same thing.
Remus's POV
The first thing that Remus did, when he got off the mirror, was run outside and start searching. He went around the entire circumference of the building. He started at the main doors sniffing and observing. He toppled over trash bins, pushed abandoned boxes and furniture out of the way, and put his nose to the walls and close to the ground. It was times like this he wished his wolf form was his Animagus form. Then he could really get down and dirty with the ground. But it wasn't, so he had to contend with leaning over.
When he had scented the whole area, his shoulders slumped, because he found no trace of Harry. Back and forth he paced along every wall, twice. Picking up trash to try and find the trail, but there was not even a hint. The only clue he had was the vague trace of the vile perfume at one of the back walls. He got up close and personal with said wall, but it was thick, and the smell was faint. Still, he made a mental note about it and continued with his search.
After he circled the building for the third time, still coming up empty-handed, he made his way inside. Starting on the ground floor and working his way up, he nosed around the entire building. He pushed into offices, searched in corners, and generally looked everywhere. The only time he smelled Harry was when he scented himself, except for the trail to the Minsters office. When he found nothing more, he gave it up as a bad job. Mostly his senses were overwhelmed by manmade fragrances. Perfume and aftershave were the prevailing odors.
Defeated he went to join Madam Bones, who was back at the crime scene. She had spent of her time questioning everyone and generally doing what Aurors did when confronted with a kidnapping. What she had found was that Umbridge had stood guard at the door and threatened anyone who came near. Amelia concluded that whatever happened, the toad like woman was involved. Right now, she was looking around trying to pick up any clue as to where the boy hero went, the only thing she had was the teacup. There was definitely a potion on the inside of it. Bagged and tagged, she gave it to an Auror she trusted to hold on to until she could examine it closer. She had no idea who brewed it, but judging from the note on the calendar, Fudge had talked to Snape in Azkaban. Heaving a weary sigh, she knew she'd have to question the man, again. It seemed that whenever it came to Potter being in trouble that vile man was near. Even now, when he was in the securest place in England.
Those were the only clues she could find. It was obvious that Fudge kidnapped Potter, but she didn't know why, or how they got out of the damn office. No one saw them leave, and as far as she knew the Minister didn't have an invisibility cloak, or any other means to make himself, or another, unseen. Umbridge was no better.
Making it logical that there had to be an escape route in this office. She had been tapping on the walls to see if they were hollow, so far they all came back as solid. She had thrown spells around, but they all came back as negative. She didn't believe it for a moment. There had to be a trick and she was just going to have to search harder. That was for later though. Right now, Lupin needed to be questioned on his search.
"Tell me you found a trail," she demanded of the werewolf as soon as he entered, even though she knew from the sad look on his face he hadn't.
"Nothing," the tired man confirmed. He stood in the doorway, so that he wouldn't contaminate the crime scene any more than it already was. "There is no scent of him in the surrounding area. The only trail I could find was from earlier. It's like he disappeared from this office," was his exhausted reply. "I did however catch the smell of the perfume which is heaving in the air here. It's at the back wall, just under that window," he added, vaguely waving his hand at the window on the far wall. He was still slouching in shame that he let this happen.
"Well, damn," was her rejoinder. "I know they didn't Disapparate, or use a Port-key, the wards are still up." That was the first thing she checked. There was no magical residue of either mode of transportation. The only spells she could detect were a mouth freshening spell and a Levitation Charm, which was faint, like it someone tried to cover it, but wasn't strong enough. "Thank you for trying. I'll see what we can find on that wall. However, I believe it is time for you to go home," she all but ordered the tired man.
"I'm not sure I want to do that," he confessed, very concerned as to how Sirius was going to react. His friend had a very volatile temper, and Moony hated being on the receiving end of it.
"You can't run from your mistakes," Amelia said kindly, putting a hand on his shoulder and giving it a squeeze. She then dropped it and started looking through the papers on the desk, again. She was thinking there just had to be something there to show who the mastermind was. All she had to do was follow the money, Fudge was well known to take bribes. Maybe she needed to get the Wizengamot to get her a court order to seize his vault. Something had to be done.
Seeing that she was now busy doing her job, the werewolf rose and made his way to the door. "You're right," he conceded as he walked. He stopped in the doorway and turned. "I'll get back to you if I hear anything. I know Sirius is searching the Alley. So, maybe he'll find something. Goodbye, Madam Bones."
"Farewell, Mr. Lupin," the head of the DMLE didn't even look up as the man left.
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