20 November 2009
11:50pm

It was nearly midnight and Zora was up on a roof with Auror Trainee Brett Abraham.   As much as Zora expressed her impatience with trainees, she actually found working with them to be pretty satisfying so long as they stayed out of the way and did as they were told.  Trainees were the future of the Corps and it was on the experienced Aurors to make sure they could make the grade, because eventually they'd have to rely on each other.

The Wizengamot had approved a warrant to intercept owls heading to and from The Black Chimaera.  Owl-catching was a routine assignment: get in position, keep your wand ready, and snag owls.

A flutter of wings alerted Zora and she got to her feet and took aim.  "Accio Noctuam!"  The barn owl flying by appeared to take a sharp turn in their direction and Zora caught him deftly, holding his wings to his body.  The owl didn't struggle much.

"Here, now take it off his leg.  Check the sender, recipient, and log it.  If it matches the name on the warrant we confiscate the whole thing, bird and all."

It had been a slow night - this was the first owl they'd seen coming up from Knockturn at all.  Zora was relieved they'd got at least one on their shift.  At midnight the warrant ended and would have to be renewed with another round of signatures and approvals. 

Brett was exhausted. She hadn't slept much the night before. A misadventure into Dion's bedroom instead of her own had ended up with a lot of lost sleep. And now she was stuck on a roof with Zora Roh intercepting owls as part of her training. It was the last place Brett wanted to be right now. She had been hoping for a good night of sleep. And the house doors not doing stupid things- like opening into the wrong room. Ever since they'd made that room for Adelia in the house, it had been acting out. That was what happened in Wizarding locations, though. Hogwarts had been equally annoying.

With heavy lids, Brett scanned the night sky looking for owls. Zora was quick to her feet at the flutter of wings. She watched as the auror intercepted the bird, holding tightly. Brett slowly crawled to her feet and took the letter off of the leg.  She checked the sender,and then the list that was on their warrant.

"No match," Brett told her, retying the letter to the leg after writing down the names of the sender and recipient.

"So how do you confiscate the whole bird?" Brett asked, sitting back down on the roof. Perhaps she should have been a bit more lively- but it was late and the first owl they had found since the night began. They didn't have cages up on the roof. At least, not that Brett had noticed.

Cripes.  No match.  And it wasn't the only disappointing bit.

"What is it then?  Past your bedtime?"

Zora re-secured the still-sealed note to the owl's leg, gave it a treat from her pocket and tossed him up in the air to continue his journey.  Then she paced a little ways away from the trainee as she checked her  pocket watch.  Ten til. 

At the moment, she wasn't just ready to answer the Trainee's question.

"Look alive.  How d'you think we'd confiscate an owl?  Use your head."

Roh was an old vet.  In her 40s with 11 years on the Corps.  Her arrest record was solid, and her discplinary record spotty.  But she could be relied upon, and she knew the procedure.  She took comfort in it.  It supported her.  And so teaching the kidlets was important.  But mother hen she was not.  They needed to stop thinking like students and start thinking like Aurors sooner or later. 

Brett frowned. "Still not used to the lack of sleep, but I will be fine," she reassured Auror Roh. So what? She was sitting on the roof. It was late. There weren't any owls. And if people from the Black Chimaera were dumb enough to send owls in and out of the businessthat were incriminating- well, that was on them. If Brett was a criminal she would be smarter than that.

She pulled herself back to her feet, fighting the urge to glare at Zora. Instead she stretched and stifled a yawn. Brett knew she needed to be more lively. She would try to be a bit more peppy if it would make the night go by quicker, and with less bumps. This was all the fault of the twins. She was going to kick them right where it counted later.

But her teacher wasn't ready to just answer the question. Brett looked at Zora and gave half a strug. "I dunno. Snap it's neck and stuff it in a sack?" Brett groused. "Seems a good way to keep them still and quiet." Probably not the appropriate answer. But Brett was too tired to think about the proper way to restrain wayward owls. And if Zora didn't want to tell her- then why was she here trying to teach her something?

Roh's lip curled into a scowl of apalled disappointment.  She about slapped the Trainee upside the head. 

"No!" she barked.  Break its neck? "It's an owl! Put it in your pocket with a snack! Merlin!"

Zora was still glowering at the Trainee who seemed like she was just coasting along tonight.   She paced around a little bit, ticking on her gloved fingers the reasons why a light touch was the best touch in this situations.

"Post owls are trained but if they do put up a flutter than you use a nice little Petrificus or a sleeping spell.  We want the owl and the parcel intact; sometimes we decide it's better to send it back on its way, so as not to tip off the recipient.  Procedure is certainly not to kill it..."

The older Auror tried to get eye contact.  "Got it?"

"Alright, we're done here.  C'mon."  Zora turned her back on Abraham and began walking across the roof.

"Pocket?" Brett repeated. "How do you fit a big owl and a package in a pocket?" Obviously magic hadn't occurred to her. A simple enlarging charm would do the trick to make the owl fit. But Brett didn't know that particular charm so it hadn't occurred to her. She didn't go about altering her robes, after all. That wasn't exactly regulation.

Trained. Sleeping spell. Blah blah blah. "Yeah, I got it," Brett agreed. "No killing owls to gather them for the warrant. Simple enough." Brett wouldn't have really snapped the necks of any owls. But it would have just been easier to tell her that to begin with.

Then Zora announced that they were done here. She arched an eyebrow, but dutifully followed her instructor across the roof. "What are we doing next then?" Brett asked. "Chasing some nargles?" The owls were just about as existent as a nargle tonight.

"So have you found anything useful from monitoring the owls in and out of here?" Brett asked. "Is it worth the time?" If every night was like tonight, she couldn't imagine that it was.

"Don't be smart.  Meet me on street level." 

Zora turned and with a snap and then a crack, she'd Apparated from the rooftop into a side alley below.  They were somewhere near Bourgin and Burke's, still on Knockturn. 

When they were both present, Zora continued their conversation, albeit in a close volume.

"Sometimes it is.  You know about Theodora Kingstreet, I assume.[1]  Owl-catching was what broke open the bust in December where we caught her lackey busting into St. Mungo's on a frame job." [2]

She paused at the narrow arched mouth of the alley, taking an eyeball down the dim, cobbled streets.  Even Aurors had to watch their step in Knockturn.  Vampires and hags didn't like to be surprised...

"Just takes patience is all.   Being an Auror's not just about busting down doors.  C'mon."

She strode out into the street.

"Wand out.  We're going to go bust down a door."

1.	Notorious AO murderer and government saboteaur.  Currently on the lam.
2.	Truthbomb!  Nov 28, Cracked Wide Open

Brett watched as Zora apparated to the side alley. Brett followed suit, her snap and crack a little louder than Zora's had been. Brett didn't apparate on a regular basis. The idea of splinching herself was terrifying. That, and she just used floo for the most part. But she wasn't going to be shown up by her trainer.

She nodded. Of course Brett knew about Theodora Kingstreet. Everyone did. "Didn't know that," she said. "Guess that's why you keep on with it." It seemed like the sort of job that would be passed on to trainees since it was so boring and time consuming. Brett couldn't imagine any of the aurors enjoying owl catching. Especially in the dead of winter. She had a feeling she'd end up on a few roofs come December and January.

Brett kept in close with Zora, and rolled her eyes in the darkness when she was told that being an auror wasn't just about busting down a door. She followed her down the street- and paused when Zor announced they were going to bust down a door. Brett pulled out her wand on command, and looked to Zora.

"Why?" she asked. Seemed a logical enough question. Also seemed a jump to go from owl catching to bursting down doors in Knockturn.

"Our next assignment."  Zora had paused them against a wall, plastered in Nola & the Knockturnals posters lovingly defaced. 

"Arrest Humunculus Bletchly.  Scabby fellow who's missed his parole meetings.  He's drunk most of the time and his wand's snapped.  Pretty easy," she said keeping her voice low.

"You know the drill.  Wand out, but don't cast anything unless I say so, got it?"

She looked at Abraham's face for confirmation and then nodded.  "He's upstairs, room 447.  And, if intel checks out? Drunk as a skunk. Let's go."

Zora led the way, her lit wand down at her side, through a tiny dark side door.  Right away up steep stairs that turned in a tight, angled spiral.  The building was quiet as a grave and on the fourth landing, the Auror paused, taking another look back at the Trainee, and laid a finger to her lips.

A drunk with a snapped wand needed to be arrested. This seemed like a pretty easy task. And a little more interesting than bagging owls from a rooftop. She wondered what he had done to get his wand snapped in half.

"Got it," Brett said with a nod as Zora instructed her wand out and not to cast anything. Brett wasn't an idiot. She could manage tagging along on a simple arrest. She followed Zora closely through a side door and up some stairs. As they came upon a landing, Brett looked down as she felt her robes catch on her foot.

... But it wasn't her robes. "Ach! Godric's garters!" Brett yelled, kicking her foot- which send a plump rat flying down the hallway. It thudded against a door. Brett gripped the frame of the doorway with white knuckles, breathing deeply. That had scared her to death. She looked up as one of the doors down the hallway flew open.

Brett could see the numbers on it- 447. She raised her wand and pointed it at him. If he was going to go anywhere- she would stop him. But instead of bolting at the sight of them, he ducked back into his room, slamming the door. Brett could hear the sound of locks sliding into place behind him.

Roh had heard Abraham stumble, but had not expected her to crow like an over-sexed cat!  Roh pinched her eyes shut and bit back her own frustrated oath.  Abraham could have woken the entire block!  But for now, discipline would have to be restricted to a loathsome stink-eye. 

But Bletchly had made his move.  He'd seen them and had locked himself in his room.  The element of surprise was blown and there was no way to know what they'd walk into.  A sloppy sot trying to climb out a window?  Or a splash of corrosive potion to the face?  Was he wanded?  Or was he wasted?  This arrest was no longer a simple matter. 

Zora strode down the hall, assuming Brett would follow.  She kept close to the wall and stopped an arm's length away from Bletchly's door. 

"Keep an eye out," she hissed quickly to Brett.  "Don't let anything surprise us."  There were a dozen other doors in the corridor and in this part of town, who knew what kind of uggos lived there who might be happy to take a pot shot at an Auror and her pup.

Then, "Alright, Bletchly - open the door and come out with your hands up.  You've done this before."

That never worked.  But it was Step One.  And without Step One, there was no Step Two.

A quiet moment passed.  Step Two. With a snap of her fingers she alerted Brett.  Then she stepped off the wall just enough to get a good angle.  "REDUCTO!"  The door was blasted from it's hinges, numbers 4, 4 and 7 jumping loose like confetti.  Before the bits had even hit the floor, Zora was moving into the flat with her wand out in a defensive stance. 

The flat was dark and the door had knocked over the sparse, shabby furniture.  Two dark doorways and a window showed three possible places he might have gone, and while there'd been no Apparition crack, there could be a Networked floo in another room. 

She checked over her shoulder to see if Brett had followed.

Even though Brett felt like a total fuck up after calming down- she wasn't going to admit it, especially not to one of the experienced aurors. That only made you seem weak, and you couldn't be weak in the auror office. She followed on Zora's heels as she continued down the hallway. When she stopped near Bletchly's door, and instructed Brett to keep an eye out- she nodded. She could do this! Brett knew she could!

Brett somehow managed not to snort when Auror Roh told Bletchly to come on out. She had a feeling it wouldn't be that simple, otherwise the old fart wouldn't have ducked back into his room and locked all of the doors... And it didn't work, but then Auror Roh was snapping her fingers and blasted open the door. It took Brett a few moments to catch up to her instructor, following her inside the flat only after the debris had settled onto the ground.

She looked around the apartment- glancing at the doors and the window. It was easy enough to look around a room- see the options. But Brett had no idea what came next. She lit her wand, hoping to give both herself and Auror Roh better vision in the dark, dank, dingy room. She scrunched up her nose at the smell, and she could see multiple empty bottles of firewhiskey littering the floor- along with half-eaten meals that had started to gather bugs. Disgusting. How did people live like this.

"Which way?" Brett asked quietly, keeping her ears perked for the sound of movement. But the room was eerily quiet. She had a gut feeling this was going to be far from a simple task now that she had mucked the whole thing up. Brett wondered how much trouble she'd be in, and whether or not blaming it on a rat was going to be an acceptable excuse. Probably not.

Roh didn't know what was worse - going into an unknown situation alone, or going in with a greenie.  No.  She knew.  Accomplishing the mission and babysitting was worse.  She couldn't totally rely on Abraham to make the decisions, but the extra wand was a necessary asset.  She'd just have to trust her, or risk losing the nab.

"We clear the apartment.  I'll go right, you go left.  If you see him, stun him.  If the room's clear, keep moving and find me."

It was the barest of instructions for a scenario like this.  There was an entire chapter on this kind of procedure in the training manual and week's course.  But this was field work.  The best classroom.

"Go."

Roh carried her lit wand low and crept slowly away from Abraham to the window (it was shut), then to the door on the right.  It was ajar and a little kick of her boot was enough to swing it silently open.  Another room, another window.  It was a bedroom and it was even messier than the main room.  At the back she could see a wardrobe and a bathroom.  And no Bletchly.  Not immediately.

She entered the room, shining her light in all the corners.  But she hadn't forgotten about the wardrobe or under the bed.  Without giving away her intentions, she got in good position.  Then, she took quiet aim at the wardrobe and uttered the spell as quietly as she could.

"Abrisessami."

The wardrobe doors sprang open revealing - oh god.  Zora recoiled in disgust.  It was a pile of shrunken heads way past their 'Sell By' date.

Brett nodded at Zora when she was told to go left. See him, stun him. Simple enough. She split off from Zora, going to the door on the left. She was shaking- Brett couldn't feel it, but she could see the light from her wand wavering against the wall.

Her door opened into a very, very dark kitchen. Even the light from Brett's wand did little to illuminate the room. Taking a tentative step into the kitchen, she swung the light around. She didn't see him- anywhere. As her wand swung to the right of the room, she saw the glint of another door knob. Brett approached it. Must be a kind of pantry.

But in her haste and inexperience- Brett had made a fatal mistake. As soon as her back was turn to the doorway, and she was half way across the kitchen- about to reach for the pantry door- Bletchley lept from behind the door Brett had just opened. He had been hiding oh-so-cleverly behind it- and Brett hadn't noticed.

The next thing she knew, his heavy and putrid form had flattened her to the floor. Brett's wand slid across the mildewed tile and she let out a loud scream. He reeked of firewhiskey and body odor. Brett could feel his heavy frame stradding her lower back, as his arms kept hers pinned to the floor. Just thinking about the gunk on the floor touching her face made her want to wretch.

The thought that she had mucked up so badly was also making her sick to her stomach. She should have known better! But it was her first time out doing a real arrest. This wasn't going to doom her career as an auror was it? Frustration was building.

Moments after landing on the floor, she could feel the man breathing on her neck. Immediate she slung her head back, and felt her skull connect with his face. The man bellowed, and his hands released her wrists as they went (presumably) to his face. Even without her arms pinned, she didn't have the body strength to throw him off of her, not from her was perched on her mid section.

"Abraham!"   

The Trainee's scream reached Zora and she jerked away from the reeking hoard of heads and flew out of the bedroom.  She heard a man's angry shout - had she stunned him? She didn't see the red flash of Stupefy.  A second later she was in the kitchen doorway and treated to the sight of Humumculus Bletchly a stride her Trainee.

Auror Roh did not hesitate.  She leveled her wand with good form and blasted the man in the back with a stunner.  A flash of crimson light lit the kitchen for a split second and Bletchly collapsed onto Abraham, unconscious and immovably heavy.

Quickly, Zora swept through the kitchen to secure it, check the corners and closet for any other surprises.  And when she was sure they were safe, a couple moment later, she went to check on Abraham.

"Hey - all you alright? What happened?"