Thursday, October 29
11 AM, just as the History of Magic third year class lets out

Jowd.

That had been Nathan Briggs' one-word response to Jonas's query.[1]  It hadn't taken the Auror long to figure out what it might mean.  Sissel Jowd, part time consultant to the either the Department of Mysteries or the Department of Magical Transportation, though what he did for either floor seemed to be a little foggy; now the recently-hired full time History of Magic professor at Hogwarts School.  And, evidently, a full-time cowboy and maverick at heart, judging by the way he had taken it upon himself to bully a man who had confessed to a crime and was currently serving his Wizengamot-mandated sentence in Azkaban Prison.

That maverick spirit alone would have been enough for Jonas to clear time in his busy schedule to pay the man a visit.  It was not necessarily that he felt protective of Briggs, though he did.  The thought that anyone, particularly a wizard currently on the Ministry's payroll, would use their position to bully someone who was already serving a legal sentence for a crime set the Auror's teeth on edge.  That was not how anyone representing the Ministry of Magic should operate.

And so he hadn't been particularly thoughtful of Sissel Jowd's feelings when he had planned out this meeting.  Jonas hadn't written ahead.  He had come dressed in full Auror robes -- a rarity for him.  And he had not been particularly quiet as he checked in with the Minister, and then made his way through the hallways to Professor Jowd's classroom.  If the bloke had to field questions from his boss and colleagues over why he was getting paid a visit by a particularly unhappy Auror, so much the better.

Jonas had arrived at the History of Magic classroom just as one of the classes was letting out.  He'd timed the visit around lunch -- that way, he was more likely to be able to impose on the professor's time.  It wasn't just the incident with Briggs that he owed Jowd a conversation over; the bloke's name had come up this week as a good friend of Terrence Dawlish, the Gringotts arithmancer who had been found murdered earlier that week.[2]  That did not mean that he had to be nice necessarily, but it did mean he had to be civil and sympathetic, at least to start out.

Jonas lurked just outside the door as the students began to pour out into the corridor.  The normal chatter of third years on their way to lunch vanished into wide-eyed silence as they caught sight of the red-robed Auror.  Jonas smiled patiently back at them, waiting until the rush had turned into a trickle of twos and threes before finally stepping into the classroom.

The History of Magic classroom itself was well-lit, with large open windows and tapestries lining the walls.  Jonas gave it a careful glance over as he stepped inside, his gaze playing over the room, before finally focusing on the only other wizard present.  Sissel Jowd: Canadian born and a Hogwarts graduate.  He knew from checking the records that the man had been a couple of years behind him in Gryffindor at school. 

"Professor Jowd?"  He flashed him a friendly smile, his manner relaxed and easy.  No need to start this off as a confrontation, whatever he might intend for later.  Jowd had just lost a friend, even if he didn't quite know it yet.  He could save the hard edge for the discussion about Briggs.  "Sorry to interrupt, Professor.  Do you have a few minutes?" he asked, his forehead creasing as he frowned.  "I'm Auror Jonas Trevelyan.  I'm afraid I've got something that I need to speak to you about."

1.	Call Off Your Dogs
2.	Westminster Victim Identified

"Ok, so remember, we aren't always going to have Thursday classes like this. And no scoffing off when I'm not going to be here tomorrow. So what does that mean you do?"

"Study in the library?" came the one Ravenclaw voice as everyone got up to leave.

"Study in the library! Your reports on Being and Beast relations are due on Monday. Chop chop!"

Sissel gathered his materials off the lectern. It had been a near logistical nightmare finding new times to teach tomorrow's classes a day early. At least the third years, surprisingly, still had this hour open with no conflicts with an elective course. By far better a replacement than fifth year. Not to mention all the memos he had to send out at breakfast.

All this to clear up his morning on Friday. He had an 'out of office until the one o'clock class' notice to stick on the door. Sticking it on the door was delayed as he found auror red robes in the doorway.

"Damn, Trevelyan, I'd forgotten you were back on the force." Jonas had been in Gryffindor just a few years above Sissel. Guy was as stubborn as they come in Gryffindor House. "No need to be so formal though, call me Sissel. I'm still not used to the whole professor thing myself," he chuckled.

"I have the rest of the day free. In fact, I'm surprised it's you for the briefing. Must have gotten a promotion. So is this about the TPT notice logged this morning? They activated my status temporarily but they won't tell me what it is. Must be serious if they sent you."

Jonas blinked at the other wizard.  It wasn't often that he felt baffled by someone else's exuberance, save for his run-ins with Abigail Reid or the rare instances when Adon was excitedly energetic instead of fussy, but Jowd's rapid-fire sentences and comfortable use of acronyms were enough to throw him for a loop.  The bloke must have been right at home in the Department of Magical Transportation.

The Auror breathed in, and then gave the other man a steady look.   It was all he could do to restrain himself from corrected Jowd and saying no, it was Auror Trevelyan, and they would rest on formality, but it wouldn't do any good to set that limit right now.  He was here to convey his sympathies and get information first.  Making it clear that no one messed with his suspects came second.

"No, it's not about the TPT," he said precisely, his eyebrows raised.  "But it is serious, Professor Jowd.  You want to take a seat?" he offered politely, gesturing towards the empty desks that filled the room.  "I'm afraid I have some bad news."

Sheesh, he never knew Jonas was this serious. "TPT? Tomorrow's Paper Today? I mean, it doesn't always work but there's a newspaper that will give you the next day's Daily Prophet, although the exact process involves a kneazle that has to mew at a certain decibel level and deliver the paper before a framed door between the minutes of 6:59 and 7:07 am, so it doesn't always work, but when it does there's an office wide ban to all sport betting as they analyze the articles..."

At this point Sissel realized he might have said too much. Jonas may not be related at all to the orders he had received earlier.

"Hold that bad news for one moment. We'll take our seats in here." Opposite the entrance to the History Classroom was another door that was always locked with a bit more than just Colloportus. With some swift spells Sissel opened the room and sent some chairs scurrying into the space. The room was cubic, with no windows and the only light was from torches that automatically came to light. The chairs rested at the edge of a depression, a sunken section of the floor three feet down. There were steps on the edge by the door.

Gesturing for Jonas to take the other seat, Sissel reset the security on the door. "This gives us some privacy to talk. So...I take it you haven't had any promotions or recent upgrades to your security clearance and you have no idea what I've been talking about? My apologies."

"So what's the bad news that meets me with not the ministry visitor I was expecting?"

There was something teeth-grittingly annoying about this wizard.  Maybe it was the fact that he came off as so arrogantly blasé -- Jonas could completely understand how he could have upset Nate Briggs so much over the course of a visit that the Azkaban prisoner would have seen venting over an owl as his only recourse.  It was only the importance of the current conversation that kept him from verbally lashing out at the man.  Who the bloody hell was so careless that they brought up security clearances?  Did Jowd think he was living in a bad Muggle spy novel or something?

He glanced idly around the room as they entered, silently letting his gaze play over the interior. 

"Well, it's a bit of a long story," he said politely, folding his hands behind his back as he stayed standing.  He eyed the other man thoughtfully; bad knee or not, there was no way in hell he was going to take Jowd's invitation to sit.  "It might be easier if I start with a question, Professor.  One of your old mates from school is a bloke named Terrence Dawlish?"

"Terrence?"

Now this was just getting weird. What would an auror want about Terrence by going around asking his friends? "As much of a true statement as you make it sound. We were all in the same house." Some years different, each with their own group of friends, but if Jonas wanted to find out about Terrence he may as well open a yearbook. Not expecting much from this question Sissel relaxed with a crossed leg.

"Studied together, traveled together, I was the best man at his wedding. Suppose that handles the definition of 'mate.' What about him? A member of the crimson and gold as any of us but not with the heart of the biggest lion. Last time he did something extreme he was eating BBQ ribs without a napkin tucked in his collar."

"Don't tell me there's something screwy about his work with Gringotts. Terry's more of a whistleblower than getting into anything shady." He once nearly outed Sissel in a Potions incident even though it had all been an accident.

Or...

Sissel's face sunk. His crossed leg, foot tapping the air, stopped. Surely not that...

Jonas raised his eyebrows, his face expressionless.  The look on Jowd's own face was enough to give away that he had at least realized something.  The Prophet article hadn't made any mention of Gringotts in connection to the Westminster murder -- he had made certain of that -- but the fact that Jowd's expression had fallen made it clear that he thought that something could have gone wrong. 

What he was thinking could have gone awry would be interesting.  If his reaction was simply in response to the presence of an Auror, then he wouldn't be helpful.  Dawlish's family hadn't had any idea of what the murdered wizard could have gotten involved with.  But this idea of Terrence Dawlish as a whistleblower -- that might be minutely helpful, even if Sissel Jowd didn't know anything else.  There was something deeper going on at Gringotts.

"Yeah," he said quietly, giving the man a nod.  "He was found dead a few days ago.  I'm sorry, Professor Jowd."

"DEAD?!"

Sissel was standing so fast that his chair fell over into the sunken section of floor with a clatter. He stared wild eyed at Jonas, briefly, then set about in an agitated pace. Head down, hard pressed fists stopping inches from the wall. Trying to think.

If he had his time turner right now he would out of this timeframe in under a minute to see if Terrence was still alive. Sissel could save him. There was leg room, wasn't there? If Jonas wasn't sure, if there was even the slightest detail the MLE had overlooked in there investigation, there was a way to save Terrence without invoking a paradox.

Then Fate decided to sucker punch Sissel for the second time.

His head was spinning as he fell back against the wall, leaning on his heels with the tops of his sneakers inning into the air. At moments like these Sissel knew that coincidences were powerful things. What would he be willing to bet that the TPT notification he received this morning was related? That tomorrow's Daily Prophet featured Terrence's obituary as further proof that his early death was part of the whole never-ending story.

"Are you sure it's him? Absolutely one hundred percent sure? Corpse identified and authenticated to be Terrence Dawlish?"

"Yeah, mate."  He couldn't help but keep the familiarity from creeping in to his words.  The stages of grief -- Jonas knew them too well, both from personal experience and from watching others as they went through them.  Jowd did not seem like a man who had had any idea that a good friend had died.  The obvious denial, the sudden burst of emotion -- apparently the professor's 'security clearance' had not given him any sort of head's up in this instance.

"We're sure it's him."  Jonas spoke clearly and calmly, his eyes still on the other wizard.  It wasn't as hard to sound sympathetic now -- obnoxious or not, he had to feel for Jowd at the loss of his friend.  Innocent people shouldn't die without reason.  Not like this.  "One of his coworkers identified him for us, and then his parents.  They were the ones who gave us your name."

Mentioning that they had firmly identified both halves of the corpse seemed too crude for the moment.  Jonas waited a beat, clenching his jaw and then relaxing it, watching Jowd silently. 

"Look, I'm sorry to throw this at you all at once," he said, quietly grave.  "But we could use your help, Professor Jowd.  Do you have any idea why Terrence might have gotten killed?"

Well, as big of a cliche as it was it was true. When someone in an executive authority told you to sit down you better. Sissel had to sit. He had enough magic to lift the chair out of the pit and mend the busted leg. A triple rotation of the time turner in the same segment of time didn't even exhaust him this much.

"No, no idea. We rarely talked about each other's work. Whenever we would meet up it would be to shoot the breeze, take our minds off work for leisure." Beyond the fact that Sissel only had so many Department of Magical Transportation stories to feed his friend in order to not talk about the TTI events. As they both would joke, their respective work was 'utterly boring.'

A joke that wasn't going to get retold.

"If he was killed for something at work, I wouldn't know. Unless..." Sissel couldn't say why the nearly forgotten notion entered his head. Maybe because he had thought something was fishy at the time, or it had been one of the rare instances Sissel and Terrence talked business over a butterbeer.

"You remember back over the summer, when each branch of the ministry was getting scrutinized for different budget cuts?[1] We talked briefly about it, one of those topical things." However that depended on how intensely MLE had faced the chopping block of  budget form. "I thought it was strange for the time of year. Zephyr wasn't minister yet and it was off from Annwyl's annual reviews. I could see a new Minister like Zephyr wanting a full financial review of the ministry, but that's not something she can do when she's only a candidate."

1.	really oblique reference - July 3 - I am exhausted from living up to your expectations of me.

It was curious that Jowd immediately jumped to work.  Jonas raised his eyebrows, but otherwise kept any reaction from showing on his face.  Taking one's mind off of one's employment was certainly an understandable pursuit, but most individuals spent a good third of their time there.  It was impossible not to say anything about it.  The trick would be to see if Jowd was speaking in broad terms, or if he really knew nothing about his friend's work.

But then Jowd seemed to have some sort of realization.  Jonas's forehead creased as he regarded the other man.  This seemed like a clear non-sequitor.  If Dawlish had been murdered because of some business involving work, he would have expected it to involve the dead man's doings at Gringotts, not anything happening at the Ministry.  But the bloke was -- had been -- an Arithmancer.  Maybe budgets were something of a personal interest to him.

"You talked to Dawlish about the Ministry budget cuts?" he asked with a frown.  "How did those come up in conversation?  Was he involved in them somehow?"

"Not specifically, like 'How do I fill out clause 328-F?' or something like that. Like I said, topical."

The fingers of Sissel's right hand pressed hard into his forehead, a premptive measure against any headaches. "He noticed I'd been carrying more paperwork than usual in a briefcase and I told him general specifics. Entire department being scrutinized for every expenditure."

He sighed. "I joked that it must be the result of goblin bureaucrats instead of the regular ones." Sissel paused. There was a vague significance missed during the original moment without the gift of retroactive recollection. "Only he didn't laugh."

"How did he die, exactly?" Sissel prepared himself for the grim news.

The Auror paused.  "It was a spell," he said after a beat.  "I'm afraid I can't say much more than that at this point, Professor.  It could be relevant to the investigation."

So the bloke hadn't laughed at a joke about goblins.  It could be relevant to the investigation, or it simply could mean that Dawlish felt as kindly to them as Raizel Cohen seemed to.  The creatures who ran Gringotts certainly did not seem to do a very good job of inspiring positive feelings in their employees.  Still, it seemed an odd connection to make -- a bit of a stretch to think that one show of poor humor several months before could be a hint as to why a man had been brutally murdered in October.  But Jowd knew his friend far better than Jonas ever would.

Which brought them full circle again.  He needed more information.  Running a hand tiredly over his face, Jonas turned his gaze back on the professor.

"What did Mr Dawlish do at Gringotts?" he asked, his forehead creasing. "Do you reckon that he enjoyed his job?"

Jonas was being irritatingly minimal on the details of Terrence's death. Even if there was nothing that Sissel could do with any amount of time travel he wanted concrete evidence of causality that it was important that Terrence Dawlish die at this point of the timeline. Saying 'Avada Kedavra' had done in Terrence was an unchangeable lynchpin. Saying 'a spell' that somehow also ended in death was not specific.

"Deskwork. Could never stomach travel the times he had business trips. I guess his position was one of liaison between the bank and business owners. Goblins always told him what to do but on the customer end you'd be spared talking to a goblin up on their high seats by working with Terrence." Compensation, that was Sissel's explanation as to why the front counters at the bank were so bloody high you had to look up at the goblin managers. "He was kinda like Granger in that way, when she and Potter showed up just before we graduated. Found more excitement out of completing complicated homework and keeping to the rules."

"As for enjoying the job I suppose he did. Like I said we either stayed topical or avoided talking about work." Sissel sighed. You never think that people you know could cease so suddenly. "Say his career turns nothing up. What explanation is there then for him getting 'spelled' down? Unless there's a deranged freak or dark artist about killing people for no reason."

Jowd's account more or less matched what they'd discovered about Dawlish so far.  The life of an Arithmancer was hardly the most glamorous of professions; it hardly had the exotic or exciting reputation that a Gringotts Cursebreaker did, but all that meant was that Arithmancers were much more likely to live longer while retaining full use of all of their limbs.  There was something that could be assumed about the personality of anyone who could remain happy in such a role.  Jonas thought of them as the Gringotts equivalent of an accountant, only with more magic and fewer fancy calculators.

That was the problem, though.  As Jowd had stated, Dawlish had been in charge of clients' accounts, but Gringotts was being decidedly unhelpful in communicating what those might have been.  Certainly, there was something being hidden there.  The questions were what and how relevant, and Jonas shuddered to think of the mountains of red tape that likely lay between them and the answers.

But Jowd again was not satisfied with sticking only to the facts.  Jonas paused, giving the other man a sharp look, his expression already somewhere between exasperated and bemused.  It had barely been five minutes since the news had been broken, and already the historian was jumping ahead to conspiracy theories that were no more likely in the magical world than the mundane.  Clearly the man liked to play detective; that might explain why he'd crossed the line in the incident with Nate Briggs as well.

It was a potentially amusing character trait, and one that he certainly held plenty of understanding and sympathy towards, but it could also make the current case very complicated.  Relations with the goblins were difficult enough as it was; having a Hogwarts professor attempt to insert himself into the investigation was not what he or Archer wanted to deal with.  If he hadn't been with Jowd, Jonas would have rolled his eyes at the irony.  For the first time, he felt a bit more sympathetic towards how Tamis or Adon must have felt when he'd first started poking around the Runespoor investigation.

"Professor Jowd," he began, each word clear and crisp.  "As I said, I'm afraid that I can't speculate on the case.  Whatever explanation there is, I promise you that we'll find it." 

He leveled a look at the historian, trying to lighten his tone.  "I know that you're concerned about your friend's death," he said apologetically, "and I know that being patient is difficult, especially when you've only just gotten word.  If you have any thoughts about Mr Dawlish or events in his life, please do let me know.  You were friends; your insight is going to be very valuable.  I promise you, we'll follow up on every lead quite thoroughly."  Even the ridiculous ones about rampaging dark artists, although Jonas was going to do his very best to make certain that Archer Radley ended up responsible for those.