CH 215

"This is the last warning you will get from us, Skeeter," Harry firmly warned her, as he reached over and picked up her purse. He then tossed it into her lap.

"I'll take down the room sealing and anti-animagus wards for no more than fifteen seconds," said Hermione. "I will then tell you I've done so. At that time, you are free to leave by way of the window. After those fifteen seconds I re -erect the wards. If you have not sufficiently cleared them by that time, you will revert to your human form and plummet to your death. Do you understand?"

Skeeter nodded.

"Good," said Hermione, as she stood. "Just remember, Miss Skeeter; bother us again... write lies about us, our families and or our friends... and that confession, which could easily double as a suicide note, will become public."

"I understand," she quietly but fearfully said.

Hermione quickly took down the anti-animagus and room sealing charms before she looked back at Skeeter. "Go!" she said.

Skeeter

immediately

concentrated

and shifted into her animagus form.

The three watched it hover in the air for a moment before it flew out the window and away.

"Do you think she'll obey?" asked Harry.

"Yes," said Daphne, after a moment. "I do."

Madam Bones and her senior auror staff were steadily working through each office of each Department, including her own. Of course, it wasn't long before the Unspeakables learned of it and Croaker paid her another visit.

"I know what you're doing," said Croaker, as soon as he popped into her office.

"Bloody Hell, Algernon!" she again barked at him, after first "Stop doing that!"

jumping

fright.

"How bad is the problem?" he asked, completely ignoring her blustering.

"Bad enough!" she replied, grumbling and trying to calm down again. "Almost every office has at least one Death Eater working within it. And almost every office has someone accepting bribes and or supports Riddle on top of that. If Riddle does come back, as young Mister Potter and Dumbledore both firmly believe, if we didn't know about them all, we'd be in trouble.

"No, we are in trouble," she corrected herself. "If we moved to rid ourselves of those people, we'd find ourselves severely lacking manpower to prosecute another war."

"I noticed your questioning didn't include asking if my people had infiltrated those offices," he said.

"Of course not!" she grumbled. "I'm not an idiot."

"I never thought you were," he wryly replied. "But, I thank you for it, anyway."

"If... no, when... we have to clear house, I'm going to need the help of you and your people," she said.

"You'll have it and them," he replied.

"I will want the lifts, stairs and Floos all blocked; all internal and external communications shut down; but still allow me and my people to move through the offices and take away those we need to," she said. "I'll also be asking we place those who're 'Marked' into your cells... and I know you have them... to keep them separated from those we arrest just for taking bribes.

"I'd also like to summarily dismiss all those who would support Riddle... and will probably be Marked, if given the opportunity... but, I don't know if I'm going to be allowed to get away with that. Fudge will overrule me. He'll say, and he'll be right, we can't dismiss someone for something they might do. That's not a crime."

"We'll figure something out, Amelia," said Croaker. "He's not back yet. Now, I have a fair idea why, but I'd like you to tell me, anyway. Why haven't you arrested those taking bribes?"

"Because the ones doing the bribing would soon find someone else to bribe and continue on as they were," she replied. "I'd much rather take the whole lot at the same time."

"Wise," said Croaker. "And, for what it's worth, our own investigations confirm what you told me Mister Potter told you. The Dark Mark is definitely getting darker."

"Well, shit," she said.

"Do not act precipitously, Amelia," he warned. "Through your actions from the warnings of Mister Potter, we currently have an advantage. We don't want to lose that."

With a loud sigh, and before Croaker could disappear again, she said, "There is… another matter I need to discuss with you."

"Oh?" he asked.

"I'm also prophecy

reliably informed concerning Mister

there Potter

is a and Voldemort," she quietly said.

Croaker just went still. He didn't respond.

"I'm informed a copy of it resides in one of those spheres of yours in the Hall of Prophecy," she said. "Mister Potter requests… confirmation… that such a prophecy exists. To demonstrate he knows of it, he asks you look in 'aisle 97'. Then, he wants to talk to you about it."

"How does he know?" asked Croaker.

"No idea," she replied with a tiny bit of a shrug. "But, he says it will confirm that Vol… Riddle… is not as dead as everyone seems to think he is."

"Well, shit," said Croaker, echoing Amelia's sentiments of a minute earlier. Harry and his wives had returned to normal life in the castle, and were in their apartment soon after classes ended for the day, when they received a knock on the door from the statue.

Daphne, nearest at the time, went and opened it.

"Oh!" she softly exclaimed, stepping out of the way.

Harry and Hermione looked up in time to see a tall person step through in Unspeakable robes. However, the nature of said robes made it difficult, if not impossible, to tell if it was a man or a woman, or even what height they really were.

Not willing to take chances, all three drew their wands as soon as the Unspeakable was fully within the apartment.

Carefully, so not to cause the three undue alarm, the Unspeakable raised his hands and flipped back his hood.

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