harry studied the right side, the faes and names he didn’t know his eyes skirted over their harateristis until he saw something he did reognise one of the men in a photo wore a neke that harry had seen before the pent was the infinity symbol, only eah side had a pair of eyes with the irles he’d seen it before on a few of the men in the pons ring he’d been iigating merlin, he’d seen them only a few weeks into his iigan that felt like a lifetime ago
he whispered his reven to ron as his best friend opied down the ase board to a small notebook ron drew the symbol from the photo and then put the notebook away in his robes “sorta looks familiar, yeah?” he whispered to harry
“not really”
felix dropped the stak of parhments on his desk and sat bak in his hair “it’s offiial, stramitz arhibald eversworn has only been on the ministry’s radar for the st eight months”
“iing,” igora nodded
“you were wrong then” felix ouldn’t hide his smile and ignora snorted
“how’s that?”
felix eborated on his theory that eversworn was a poorly piked rmant, or even underover auror igora shook her head, “no, there’s something else going on with him don’t fet that it was drao malfoy we saw limb into eversworn’s ft the man has a department of mysteries tail on him!”
that reminded igora to hek the files she’d requisined from the main offie she didn’t want to jump to her own biased onluns in regards to malfoy, but the young man was a known former death eater she found the unnervingly thin stak on him and flipped through it sine his trial and release, malfoy only ame up in ministry paperwork with an lian into the auror program and subsequent removal from said program the reason for his expuln simply stated shows promise, unlikely to progress
“what does that even mean?” felix asked
igora shook her head and read on the ministry traked malfoy’s haritable donans, of whih, there were many but the most iing find in his file had to be the opied pages of the minister’s alendar, and the four offiial meetings malfoy sat with him “doesn’t that strike you as odd, if he’s involved in riminal ativity? he’s not fgged he’s not on some wath list he’s meeting privately with the minister of magi, for sazar’s sake!”
felix frowned “so what are you saying?”
she was about to lose the file and admit that she didn’t know, but a familiar ting at the window stole her attenn she got up and let the owl in, grabbed the note, and fed the reature a treat the note had been hastily sribbled, but she ould tell it was from their rmant at the ashtyl hotel she ripped it opened and sanned it
“why are you smiling?”
“felix, get your loak” igora ouldn’t help it she was grinning madly they walked to the floo chamber, felix nagging her to tell him “our girl says she saw drao malfoy enter the hotel with a red kneazle”
“like the one eversworn saw? e on, stramitz, that’s nothing”
she liked her lips “not long after, pansy parkinson met with him in the lounge and then they went up to a room they were followed by ronald weasley, herne granger, and harry potter”
“the golden t?”
igora stopped and held up her hand just as they roahed the oversized firepe “remind me again what floor eversworn asked about in his initial interview?”
her partner stared at her in disbelief before finally answering, “the fourteenth”
“all five of them and the kneazle are on the fourteenth floor right now”
herne gned at harry and ron as they studied the ase board she and malfoy had little lukor denying that the kneazle was bertie, although the reature had only positive responses to everything pansy parkinson said, whih spoke volumes to herne it had to be her goddaughter
“granger,” malfoy said in a low voie herne turned to him “do you uand any of what’s hened to us?” it was in that moment herne fot the details of the ase all thoughts of the potential that fshed between malfoy and harry diseared it was easy to get distrated from the fat that they had been ursed, espeially when the others present in the a room seemed to get the worst of it the worst of it, she ringed maybe she didn’t have a gon-urse, but she still felt the grave despair of someone held hostage to an alien fore herne was about to ask if malfoy had heard from anyone else, but parkinson leaned in
“herne,” pleading eyes met her own “what do you make of this?” parkinson pulled out a folded parhment and handed it to her still in a bit of a shok that she’d used her given name, herne eventually grabbed it when she opened it, she gasped, and it drew the attenn of harry and ron
herne asked if she ould read it aloud parkinson onsidered it and then nodded she read:
to whom it may onern:
we have bertrie zivantus and we won’t return her until our demands are met
10,000 galleons
the agreed upon amount of inquollis arpus folia
guinevere, the kneazle
marwan zivantus’ timepiee
herne’s voie faltered after that for a brief moment she loked eyes with malfoy, before learing her throat and ontinuing:
the drop off will be on the main field at the aubigny sports tre in haddington,
1 o’lok in the m
do not involve the ministry
“what—when did you get this?” herne asked
parkinson frowned “the owl showed up as soon as i heked into the hotel”
“if anything,” ron joined the huddle and sat in one of the armhairs “this proves that his death and her kidning are oed i’d rekon marwan had ontat with them before…”
《宅书屋》om
