"But, why?" she plaintively asked. "If Dumbledore's been Obliviating her left, right and centre she's really not at fault for any of it."
"According to Madam Bones her mind's been too badly compromised," he replied. "Plus, she also apparently asked to be allowed to retire and move to one of the colonies. She's utterly mortified Dumbledore was able to do to her what he did. It seems she's lost complete faith and confidence in herself."
Hermione sighed and nodded. "That makes sense, I guess."
"Of course, there's also Sirius's trial to slot in there somewhere," he continued, returning to the letter. "She has a Senior Auror by the name of Shacklebolt and an Auror Second Class by the name of Nymphadora Tonks on the case of finding him. She's also asked if we have some way of finding him."
Confused, he looked at her and asked, "Haven't these people got a lick of sense? Just send him a bloody owl! How do they think I get in contact with him?"
Harry heard the auror standing closest behind him suddenly groan in dismay.
When both teens turned to look at him he was staring back at Harry and shaking his head in exasperation. Without a word he then cast an almost silent Patronus and said to it, "Madam Bones, Potter suggests sending an owl to Black."
The Patronus, a small bear, then galloped out through the wall, heading south.
Harry just snorted in amusement and said, "Really? Is everyone in magical Britain that daft?
"Won't he have up owl redirection wards?" asked Hermione.
"Any and all wards, including an owl redirection ward, can only be set up on a place - a fixed position," he replied. "As Sirius is on the move, he will have no such ward set where he is; unless, of course, he's passing through one at the time."
Turning to the auror again, he asked, "You realise that, since you can cast a corporeal messenger Patronus, you could also send him one of those, right?"
The look of pain on the auror's face was, in Harry's book, 'priceless'.
Not waiting for a reply, Harry turned back around, Hermione was only a fraction of a second behind him.
"That's daft," she muttered.
That's when Harry caught out of the corner of his eye a second corporeal Patronus gallop out through the wall.
"They're also forgetting they could use a house elf to take a message to Sirius, as well," he snarked loudly enough for the auror to hear him.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake!" the auror exclaimed.
Neither teen bothered to look, they just smiled at each other.
That had a third messenger Patronus sent.
Realising she had another issue to raise, Hermione asked Harry, "Any word on when classes are going to start again?"
Surprised at the question, though he knew he really shouldn't be based on the girl's personality, he replied, "Well, a lot of it depends on which staff members find themselves cleared of the charges; somewhat cleared of the charges, but ordered to give up their teaching positions; flat-out dismissed by the School Board anyway or even incarcerated. Only the first of those will see them returned to teach. Based on that I cannot see more than one or two, if they're lucky, returning to be professors.
"For the rest, they'll need to source and contract replacements. According to this, Madam Marchbanks of the WEA - that's the Wizarding Examinations Authority within the Ministry - has been tasked with immediately finding replacements for all the positions, just in case. She's now working with the School Board to recruit those replacements.
"Well, if she's not now, she will be starting as of Monday."
"That could take months," she whined.
"It could," he shrugged. "But that's only to have all the positions filled. They may choose to recommence classes if they have... say... all bar two positions filled. We don't know.
"Actually, I wouldn't mind having someone like Madam Marchbanks come and teach here for a while," he added. "I dare say she has a great deal of knowledge she could share with us. She's one of the very few people I know of who's actually older than Dumbledore.
"Plus, she apparently thinks rather poorly of our so-called esteemed Headmaster. That puts her as someone I believe I can like, right there."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Having just arrived and now sitting in her office, even if it was a Saturday, this time more closely reading Lord Potter and Miss Granger's official statements and taking notes, the Patronus of a small sun bear leapt into her room through the wall.
It spoke with the almost ethereal voice of one of her aurors; one she knew to be currently stationed as one of Potter's bodyguards, "Madam Bones, Potter suggests sending an owl to Black." Before it faded away.
Giving her own groan of exasperation, the Director of the DMLE set aside the statements she was reading and notes she was taking and practically face-palmed herself before she pulled a sheet of parchment before her, together with quill and ink, and set to writing.
A few seconds later, a second sun bear Patronus entered the room from the direction of the first.
"From Potter again, a messenger Patronus should also reach him."
That time she definitely face-palmed herself and groaned. "Damn. Bugger. Shit. Damn!" she vehemently muttered.
It took her a good ten to fifteen seconds before she could return to her writing.
Then the third Patronus entered.
"Potter also just suggested using a house elf to take Black a message."
"Oh, for Merlin's sake!" she more vehemently sighed, unknowingly echoing her auror's own remark. "This is getting ridiculous!"
Once she'd finished writing she pushed the rune stone button on her desk that would summon her personal aide to her.
When the young woman entered Bones said, "If they're in, please send in Shacklebolt and young Tonks."
The aide softly said, "Yes, Ma'am." And walked out, closing the door behind herself again.
Two minutes later, there was a double knock of knuckles on her door before the door opened and both aurors walked in.
"Yes, Ma'am?" asked Shacklebolt in his deep baritone. As senior auror of the two, he spoke first.
"Have either of you thought to send Black an owl asking him to come in?" she asked.
The look of surprise on both faces before they sheepishly glanced at one another gave her the answer. "No, Ma'am," they both replied.
Looking sternly at both, trying to wilt them with her eyes, she then asked, "Do either of you know how to send a messenger Patronus?"
"Errr... yes, Ma'am," replied Shacklebolt as Tonks silently shook her head.
She then waited to see if it would twig to them what she was getting at.
The looks from both of sheepish confusion told her they didn't.
"If you can cast a messenger Patronus, have you thought of sending Black one of those?" she sarcastically asked.
That was the first time she'd ever seen a black man blush in embarrassment.
She knew she shouldn't be hard on them. After all, even she hadn't thought of that communication option. She was just dirty on herself for not thinking of it; and having a fourteen year old school kid, who wasn't even in his OWL year yet, reminding her of it.
"On top of that," she snapped, "What about giving a note to a house elf and having the house elf deliver it?"
Again, both aurors blushed back.
With a sigh, she handed the sheet with the letter she wrote to Black to Shacklebolt and said, "Send this to him using an International owl. The man might not even be in the country, at the moment.
"Then, once you've done that, send him a messenger Patronus and a house elf with a written message."
"Errr... yes, Ma'am," he quietly replied. And both exited again.
She muttered to herself, "We're looking like complete idiots before this young man. And it's our own bloody fault."