8:15 am

"At approximately 7:05 am, two Dementors came upon a group of four students and three staff members.  There were four cast Patroni from Strangely, Storm, and Donovan, and students Joshua Harcroft and Theodore Whitman.  The Dementors left shortly thereafter and headed north.  The six subjects present returned inside school grounds and Aurors were contacted.  Did I miss anything?"

Auror Roh had read the report in a bored monotone as she'd already done three times during three previous interviews this morning.  She and a partner had been dispatched from Auror HQ at 7:26am when word came in that red sparks had been fired.  There had been a delay to ensure the sparks were from an emergency - red sparks reports came from the school routinely and usually proved to be misfires or practice. 

Since then, Zora had been taking statements while two of her comrades and two agents from Level Three patrolled the grounds on broomstick with help from Hogwarts staff.

"Zelig Trumble cast the Patronus Charm," replied Branwen Strangly who was sitting across the table.  She'd been shaken before, but now she sat straight up in resolution.  They'd saved their own lives and would now act to end this scourge by cooperating fully.  "Twice. He deserves credit for that.  Be sure to write that down.  He was the first to spot them.  They came for him first.  Then I cast, then Joshua, then Ignan.  Professor Storm.  Then Whitman, then Zelig again, then Donovan"

Auror Roh noted the changes without comment.  Her quill scratched in her notebook.  It might not end up being useful at all, but there was great value in completeness.

"Why were you outside of grounds?" Zora asked then, again without passion.

Branwen looked offended for a moment and proceeded to scold the Auror.  "I should hardly think that's relevant! Since when does a body need permission from Aurors be out of doors? I do believe that Hogwarts is autonomous.  Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful you've done your job and responded to the threat, but perhaps we can take it from here, hm?" 

She stood up then, very ready to show the Auror out. 

Zora rolled her eyes.  Honestly.  "We're not done, madam.  Answer the question."

When Branwen defiantly kept her feet, Auror Roh sighed again, relenting.

"Look, we're trying to determine what's setting them off.  Figure out where they're coming from and what attracts them.  If we can log details of each sighting we might be able to find a pattern."  Was that good enough for the old bat?

It was.  She sat down and proudly responded, "we were hanging rowan, if you've heard of it.  Hogwarts has been amending our defenses.  As you can see, all students who came with were trained in the Patronus Charm, and three staff members were present.  Including a lion."

Zora looked genuinely confused.  The most emotion she'd shown so far.

"A lion?"

Branwen had plumb forgotten.  "Mr. Woodward! The caretaker! I haven't seen him since we got back...he's stuck as a lion you know.  An animagus.  We really can't go anywhere without our caretaker.  He's indispensable.  Surely, you've accounted for him?"

"No.  Kesali, Strangely, and Storm."

"No no no, it's Kesali, Strangely, and Woodward!  Ignan responded to my red sparks, Auror Roh! And of course there was Shona Donovan who arrived presently."  As Branwen said this, she stood and leaned across the table, eager to see and then correct the Aurors notes. 

"And I hope you've got the students right then," Branwen went on.  "It's Zelig Trumble, Josha Harcroft, Theo Whitman and Ligeia - that's E, I, A - Ligeia Canterbury.  Have you got that straight at least?"

Annoyed now, Zora said that yes, indeed she did have that straight. 

Josh had received a message at Breakfast to report to the antechamber off the Great Hall to be interviewed about the Dementor attack. Therefore, he turned up at the time he had been given, not entirely happy- he had Arithmancy at 9, and suspected this would end up making him late. He was shown into the Antechamber, and told to sit down. He could see the two Aurors who were doing the questioning- apparently his father was not one of them, though he wasn't sure of their names.

* This occurs immediately after the attack.  The Aurors would have arrived at the castle around the same time as the group and quickly kept them all together.  They'd be taken one-by-one into a different room for an interview.

"Joshua Harcroft."  Zora Roh followed the Herbology professor out of the room and looked at her notes to call the next name.  When she saw him, she immediately noticed the family resemblance.  Not just in the face, but in the serious, business-like way of standing and walking.  She sighed.  Auror's kids were either delinquints (like her own was toying with) or little know-it-alls.  She didn't know what she'd prefer.

"Come on."

She sent him in and had him take a seat at the big table.  She stood on the other side. 

"You're not any trouble," she began without as much compassion as that phrase might normally deliver.  "I just need to ask you a few questions so we can find out what happened."

She flipped to a new page and started in.

"Can you tell me what happened this morning?"

She'd already asked theses questions three times already, and she'd ask them again of each person. She had to get stories straight for her report.

Josh could tell that whoever this Auror was, she didn't like him or some reason. He guessed she was one of the Aurors who had clashed with his father in the past. He ignored her reassurance he wasn't in any trouble-  he knew full well that he hadn't done anything wrong. " I was in a group of Prefects that had gone out to help Professor Strangely put Rowan branches around the entrance to the grounds- it's supposed to repel Dementors, although I don't know how. I had suggested having Patroni up, in case we were attacked, but the suggestion was shot down. Professor Strangely didn't think we could preform the Charm, you see. Anyway, we had just attaches the branches when the Dementors attacked. Zel attacked first, casting his patronus, then I was, and cast mine-  I had not yet returned from putting up my Rowan branches, so was cut off from Zel. Then the staff intervened, calling for us to return to the grounds. I would have, but we were still separated, so I waited until, after the dementors had been pushed back by the various Patroni, we could actually regroup- had I headed straight for the grounds, I probably wouldn't have made it- the Dementors were between me and Zel." Josh said, wondering how the Auror would respond. It was true he had done a couple of things that could be criticized- you weren't supposed to ignore the orders of Professors- but he thought he had explained why he had.

Zora raised her eyebrows as she took notes.  His calm was impressive.  Business-like, clear, straight-forward.  Another student had had trouble keeping it together, which was to be expected.  But young Mr. Harcroft seemed to know just what to.

"Thank you," she said as she finished up a few more notes.

Also to be expected, Josh's interpretation of the events wasn't completely congruent with how others had described it.  Zora was experienced enough to know this wasn't about lies or lack of attention - things like that just happened so quickly and the mind had different reactions to that kind of fear and stress.

"How long were you able to maintain a corporal Patronus?"

The Department of Mysteries had been asking.  Trying to gather more information, apparently, on the effects of multiple Patroni on multiple Dementors.  Dementor flocks had previously been very rare.

"I had a coporeal Patronus up from when the dementors attacked me, and I dismissed it when we got back to the castle, so probably about 20 minutes all told, of which probably only about 5 was with Dementors attacking. However, I was struggling to hold it by the time the Dementors were finally driven off, so I'm guessing that I'd have been able to hold it for no longer than another couple of minutes had the dementors not fled." Josh replied, hoping that would help them. If they were looking for information about how patroni reacted to multiple dementors, his might be of limited use, since it lasted throughout the confrontation.

Zora write it down as he spoke.  Reports were that a few of the students had had success with a Patronus - good.  They'd need it.

Next. 

"Did you feel a sense of sadness during the attack?  Unusual cold? Did you relive any upsetting memories, encounter abject despair," she continued to rattle off symptoms in a disinterested monotone as if she'd done it too many times already.

"goosebumps, general malaise, depression, chills, or a feeling that life is ultimately meaningless and it would be better to stay in bed?"

She looked up when she was through, but looking at the stoic teenager she rather doubted he had.  Although that many dementors? It'd be surprising if he'd come out feeling chipper.

Josh chuckled briefly. " Unusual cold, sense of sadness- I got a Patronus up then, since if they'd made me recall  my worst memories, i wouldn't have been able to concentrate well enough to cast a Patronus." Josh shuddered briefly. "Unless you count the anger I felt after we got back inside the grounds.I think that was due to Professor Strangely criticizing us for fending off the Dementors rather than sprinting for the grounds- which, I should note, would have required me to run towards the Dementors, not to mention would probably have resulted in at least one of us being Kissed." Josh said, his voice having an edge to it. It was obvious that Professor Strangely was not his favourite teacher at the moment.

Well that was a bit of news.  From young Mr. Harcroft's evaluation, a professor had ordered them to do something dangerous... that certainly warranted more questions.

"So you were separated from the group?  You were further ahead along the wall? The Dementors approached between you and the others?"

Zora wasn't out to prosecute anyone, but she needed as much information as possible to put together a complete report. 

"not exactly- I wasn't far away, but the Rowan branches I had to tie were supposed to go the furthest away from the gate. It was supposed to prevent the Dementors staying just outside the gate. When the Dementors attacked, they came from directly in front of the gates- and spread out from there. That's why I couldn't head for the gates- it would have meant passing too close to the Dementors for my sanity. Would I have been Kissed? I don't know. Depends on how fast a Dementor can move, and if they thought I'd make a good snack, I suppose. I'm not sure Professor Strangely deliberately put me in danger-  she may have either not noticed the Dementors were too close for me to run to the grounds- It IS highly individual how close someone can get to a Dementor- or forgotten that I had been tasked with attaching the furthest bunch to the wall. I got the impression she thought I was trying to be a hero, not acting out of self-preservation." Josh said, he was developing a headache from thinking about what happened.

He was much more descriptive this time and Zora sensed that he'd had to deal with a significant amount of conflict in the moment.  Joshua was rambling on quite quickly as he told it and at a certain point, Zora stopped taking notes just to listen to his thought process.

"You...you did your best, I'm sure."  She didn't often speak words of encouragement, but it seemed like a good idea.  She smiled stiffly.  "Brave lad." 

She flipped back through her notes then and said without looking back up.  "There anything else you think I should know, Mr. Harcroft?"

Josh smiled at the Auror's reassurance. " Thanks" he said, smiling briefly. "No, there's nothing else." Josh said, rubbing his eyes, covering a yawn with his hand. He was tired and distinctly not looking forward to the rest of the day.

Zora nodded.

"Good then.  Thank you, Joshua, you've been a great help.  On you get."

She opened the door for him and stepped out.  There were still a half-dozen more to get to, she and her partner. 

"Next!"

End