The Cathedral

Part II

The two agents were not only beaten by the terrible weather to Stratford-upon-Avon, but also by the Witch Watchers. When Charles Newhouse and George Rodric arrived at Henley Street, two ministry officials were already inside the undersecretary's home. Alongside agent Augustus Carrow, the two men sat down at a café across the street. Allfather had ordered Augustus to fly down from Credenhill and stand guard at Henley Street as soon as Charles had sent the first report the day prior. Upon arriving, Augustus told his colleagues that it had only been a few hours untill the Witch Watchers also touched down. Charles assumed that Allfather himself had informed the Ministry about the situation in Cambridge.

While enjoying a cup of coffe each, the three agents went through what little information they had. Luna Scamander had been murdered, stabbed. For all they knew, the perpetrator could be muggle as well as wizard. Luna did not even have to be the knifeman's target. But to wright off the murder of a government official as an accident would not only be misconduct, it would be treason.

"Why are we to interrogate him?" mumbled Augustus while force swallowing the last bite of the croissant he had ordered. "Wouldn't it just be easier if Allfather had someone at the Ministry snatch a copy of the Watcher's record?

Augustus was young and naive but an excellent wand duellist. The kid took great pride in his role as one of Allfather's berserkers, yet it seemed that most things the Agency was just a game for him. Sometimes, Charles wondered if Augustus really cared about anything at all. He was a dark orphan, one of the countless young children that lost their parents during the Second Wizarding War or the mass captivating at Azkhaban during its aftermath. The Shacklebolt administration had not prioritized the children, and the one year old Augustus Carrow had been imprisoned at the same time as both his parents. What differed was that the politicians had called Augustu's prison an approved school.

"I want to speak with Mr. Scamander myself." Charles replied. "The Ministry sent the Watchers here very quickly. I just have a feeling that there might be more to this, you know."

"More, like what?" asked Augustus.

"I guess we will find out very soon, agent Carrow." Charles answered and nodded towards Luna's two story villa. Two watchers had just left the building and were now walking down the street towards the city center. The three agents finished their respective cups, left money on their table and started to move across the street. Charles did not care to knock on the front door before he entered. Instead, he took a deep breath. Something felt wrong.

The interior of the Scamander family home resembled that of a space ship from a sci-fi tv show. It was modern, sterile and in every corner was atleast a household robot or a digital screen of some sort. While both Luna and Rolf were wizardkind, only one of their two son's had been sent to Hogwartz. However, the Scamanders had taken on a relatively unorthodox stance and position on the issue of squibs when they realized they would be parenting one. Luna's whole political ambition had been in the name of squib equality, and Minister Granger's decission to name Luna her undersecretary only half a year into her role as head of government was by all means a populist move. Allthough a move that fell completly in line with the minister's other sociopolitical endevours. The interior of the house was a result of this. His parents wanted young Lysander to grow up in a muggle home, a home with both feet steadyfast in muggle culture. In the morning, Luna and Rolf drove him to school in their muggle car before heading to Whitehall, and picked him up in the afternoon. The family was an integrated part in the local muggle community. Lysander's twin brother was said to study abroad. In the foreign land of Hogwarts. Fourth year, Charles remembered as he stepped inside the house.

Rolf Scamander's face was read and drained in tears. He looked at the trio with a at the same time tired and confused expression.

"I am very sorry to disturb you today, Mr. Scamander." Charles began. "We are very sorry for your loss, and we promise to not stay long. But we need your help to fill in some blanks in what happened yesterday."

"But your friends just left, and I told them everything." Mr. Scamander sighed.

"I know, Mr. Scamander. But they were watchers, they sort directly under the Minister. Me and my men come from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and..."

"Aha, you are Potter's boys." Mr. Scamander interupted. "You are aurors."

"That is correct, Mr. Scamander. Is it possible for us to have a seat? There are just a few questions we would like to ask before we are on our way."

Mr. Scamander escorted his visitors through a hallway and into a bright living room where he asked them to sit down. To Charles' delight, Mr. Scamander had the kitchen utensils prepare and serve the group real coffee. All four of them drank in silence before Mr. Scamander broke the quietude to ask what would happen with his family now. George calmly explained the details for him. How he and both of his sons would need to move and cut contact with their muggle friends and how the Ministry already had set up a fake muggle ID for Luna, since it would be too dangerous to let the muggles connect Luna in Cambridge with her life here in Stratford-upon-Avon. Even the wizarding world had no idea where the family lived. Both Luna and Minister Granger had prefered it that way. Mr. Scamander understood, he already knew the process. But the man probably felt a bit calmer by structuring things. Luna had been his and his family's safe space, and the man had yet to inform his sons.

"Sir, do you know what your wife did in Cambridge?" Charles asked after a lenghty conversation about Luna's political deed.

"Yes, of course. She was there representing the government, invited by the BRU. Peter, the man who was stabbed, was a squib-born muggle. Didn't you know?"

Charles felt taken by surprise, and so did George and Augustus, given the looks on their faces. Did Allfather know about this? And if he did, why had not Charle's group been informed? The agent did not any get time to cogitate what he had just heard for the wall behind Mr. Scamander suddenly seized to exist. The living room exploded in a shower of glass, wood and plaster as Charles threw himself over the coffee table and hauled all of himself over Mr. Scamander. As both men landed on the floor, Charles could hear Augustus scream "Perdereos!"

Silence. Charles could feel Mr. Scamander's heavy breathing under his body hut. More silence. Scamander tried to get away, but it was not safe to move yet. Charles was much stronger and pressed the journalist to the ground with his body weight.

"Clear, everything's clear!" shouted George, and Charles stood up. The living room had turned into a war zone and looked like a blown out skeleton of its former self. Augustus sat down, leaning against a part of the wall that was still intact. Further down the hallway, just a few meters from the main entrace of the house, lay a lump of blood and skin on the floor. Perdereos. Secret and forbidden to use by orders of its craftsman himself, Harry Potter. Charles knew the story too well. During his second year at Hogwarts, Mr. Potter had been involved in a sabotage during a quidditch game that resulted in a broken arm. Rushing to his help, the scam author Gilderoy Lockhart had failed to cast a Brackium Emendo spell on the poor student, resulting in the loss of all of the bones in the arm. Years later, it was discovered that the failed healing spell could be used in combat, completly dissolving the skeleton of an enemy. The lump before Augustus was dead. Nothing had protected its brain from splitting against the floor when the body lost its ability to stand up. On the other side of the room was George, with one knee steady and fast over the neck of a pale and dark haired wizard. George held a blade to the wizards throat. Very dangerous to bring a knife to a wand duel. Charles would have to speak to George about that later on. But for the time being, the intruders were defeated and one of them would soon be transfered to Credenhill for interrogation. Charles already had an idea of what this was all about. He needed to speak with Allfather.