The clock on the wall chimed midnight. Sameera looked up at it as she locked the door to the office, making sure the lock clicked. She took a step back, pulling out her wand and tapping the wood, muttering under her breath. The door glimmered for a quick second.

Now in the silence, only broken by the sound of the clock ticking away, she stepped back, eyeing the door carefully. Mordecai often requested that the security measures on the door be absolutely perfect. This was not unreasonable, by any means. The Office itself was now where important, sensitive discussions took place, and many of the more sensitive records were locked away in here. Not the cabinets, which would be so tantalising to anyone breaking in. Somewhere only Mordecai knew.

Finally satisfied, she turned around and headed to the little corner of the room where there was, oddly, a coffee table, a sofa and a couple of armchairs. During lunch Office employees made use of it to eat, if they were working in there. Sometimes someone would leave a jar of biscuits there for anyone's impromptu snack. Other times the coffee table served as an additional surface for stacks of books.

Her coworkers were there now. Mordecai was scanning through a file on the sofa, Dieter watching him in silence next to him. It wasn't every day she got to lock herself in the office with these two, but as time had passed they had found it necessary. There was no other place Mordecai trusted enough than here, and she understood. This was his realm, where things were safe, secure and under his control.

"The door's done," she announced, sitting down in the armchair opposite them. "That should keep this place quiet for now." She leaned forward to pick up a file upon which the cover was scribbled 'Nov 5'. It wasn't the only one - there were others, marked 'Werewolves', 'Hannah Bombay', and 'Lawrence Musgrave'. "Which one are we starting with?"

It hadn't started out as midnight meetings in the office, but frankly their choices were few. There were the courtrooms on Level Ten, but Mordecai personally disliked the cold, stony atmosphere down there that permeated every inch of his joints. Level Nine would have places, but even Level Nine had something the Office dared not touch or enter. And when it came to Office matters, nothing was more sensitive than what they did, other than the Trace and the Registries.

He always made sure to tell Lydia that he was away to these meetings. Aside her jokes about leading a cult, she understood - and it wasn't often that the Office had these late meetings. And just to cement it in, he recorded attendance down with the Security Desk and the Watchwizard for the night shift. Judging by their annoyed reactions they were most likely not happy to do some extra work, but Mordecai made sure they did anyway. Dieter had once suggested threatening to investigate their backgrounds on official business, partially as a joke, but the Head wasn't so ready to start throwing that around.

"First things first, I want the Nov 5th findings," he said, lowering the file onto his lap. "Morgenstern, what did you get from all of your analyses of the scene? Was it really deliberate or not? We've had letters in the Prophet and callers on the WWN on this. Don't even get me started on the Quibbler."

"I can definitely say it was deliberate." Dieter flipped through his notebook. "First part of evidence was that there were charges in the first place. If they weren't, then how could three very explosive substances of the same composition - with no reason for being in a pub in the first place - be in the same place? Second part is that they were all strategically placed. Third, strange parcel sent to Head Auror. Fourth, and this is the biggest piece of all, we may have an idea of who set the charges."

"Who?" She leaned forward. "I haven't been told this. Is this from the interviews with the Leaky Cauldron staff? Well, at least the people who were able to talk to us after all of that fiasco."

"Kitchen staff in the pub reported a man with long curly hair, fairly scraggly, and a longcoat on. May have snuck in under the pretence of delivering alcohol - there was a shipment of wine and such arriving that night to the Cauldron. A few of them noted his left hand is missing." Dieter turned a page. "The description of his appearance matches a Lawrence Musgrave, ex-Azkaban convict, who did not turn up for his weekly parole reporting since then. If anything, we have some lead on that."

Sameera leaned back. "What kind of lead, however?" she asked shrewdly. "Do we know where he ran to? Do we have any trace of where he'd left? Apparation makes it difficult to track someone unless we place some spell, and even that isn't foolproof. Do we know anything else about him?"

"Former auror."

Sameera's eyebrows lowered into a frown. 'Auror' didn't interest her as much as 'former' did. It suggested contacts within the Ministry. For all she knew, relationships could have been severed and communication halted, but she was never that trusting of anyone, nor did she cross out the option that none of that had happened. But Mordecai had advised her, no, warned her that the IUM did not interfere until the time was right. There was no such thing as running into the foray head on; they had to watch and wait.

At that point they might as well. There was no reason to get up all in arms. Yet.

"So we have a possible lead, but no idea where it goes." She made a face. "Is that all we have?"

He watched Sameera carefully. Taking on Sameera and then Dieter had given him the additional task of gently informing them of how things were run in the Ministry. Certainly things had changed for the better, but progress was a debate left unspoken, and not his business.

"In the way of solid evidence, that's all we do have," he replied. "But we still have questions going unanswered. Would Musgrave be the only one involved in the November explosion? Was he the one who came up with the volatile mixture? Morgenstern, I think you have an answer for that one, you were telling me before you stopped yourself the other day."

"Quite," said Dieter, looking contrite that Mordecai remembered. "It would depend, I suppose. If I'm not wrong, the requirements to being an auror includes a top grade in the Potions subject, yes?"

"If I wanted to be assured that an explosive charge would be reliable, I would be looking towards an actual potioneer, not an auror," Sameera interjected. Mordecai nodded.

"We have two routes here at that point. The first route is that the explosion was solely planned by Musgrave. The second is that Musgrave had help. Which one is more likely?" The Head of the office leaned over and picked up the file marked 'Lawrence Musgrave' on the table, waving it at the other two. "These are his records. Word on the street and notations mark him as not as much of a potioneer. Can we confirm this?"

"The potions are a complex mix of ingredients that require a touch of dark magic over them," Dieter remarked. "We've established Musgrave was no skilled potioneer, and this sort of potion would need serious dedication and skill to brew. The spell used is advanced enough for an auror, but the potion? No. Someone else made it. He had help."

"And if it's indeed the case, either way we have no leads on those unless we find Musgrave himself." Mordecai grimaced. "Let alone knowing if he had accomplices - or if he's just a pawn in a grander scheme."

The woman picked up the file and glanced through it. Mordecai was right, there wasn't much affiliation with potions in there, but still - a margin for error would be required.

"Do we have any aurors on his case? Following him, perhaps?" she asked, picking up the file and looking through it. "Oh. Why is this so? Surely people would have considered him a valuable source of information?"

"Hard to find? You said apparation is difficult to track yourself. Moves around a lot? Hides well?" Dieter shrugged. "When you have several million people's problems to deal with and not enough people to do the dealing, you do have to prioritise. I suspect that's what the Aurors have done."

Sameera sighed. "Fair enough. But leaving that loose thread flapping around..."

The Head let the Nov 5th file drop onto the table. "I know what you mean," he said. "Former employees tend to still have contacts within the Ministry in some form or fashion, friends, family, and so on. That's where the werewolves come in."

"Oh, no," Sameera uttered. Mordecai didn't say anything to this as if he'd not heard her, but he'd agreed with her. As soon as Johann Storm had left the office[1], she had gone to check out the records from the archive. As Mordecai had predicted, the records were on such low accessibility that even Morgenstern, who was only an investigator, would have easily walked in and checked the files out with no restrictions whatsoever.

They had been dismayed to find out that the information was fractured at best, with so many questions that all three of them had to pore over notes for a while. Sameera had put forward a suggestion that made Mordecai's insides twist every time he thought about it. What if someone within the Ministry had dealt with the information in some way so that its fragmented state was too much to deal with for a case with a dead end? With how Wolfgang Storm had died, the question was more than sinister, but he had conceded the need for keeping all options open even if he didn't like the sound of them.

"He was indeed involved with the werewolves," said Mordecai. "We have the hospital records for when Wolfgang was admitted, and the internal records for his jailing. But there are no discrepancies, at least from what has been recorded. We really should have watchers in the Ministry." He cursed silently in his head. An oversight, but one that had been easy to make.

1.	Though I Don't Like You Anymore, Nov 29

"We must also consider Hannah Bombay's involvement - that is, if we can bring her in for any reason other than waiting for her at the cells on full moon night," Dieter added.

"That's true," Sameera said, though her tone was uncertain. She had never really liked dealing with werewolves. Studies from books she'd acquired from Flourish & Blotts as well as from Johann Storm himself had indicated that werewolves were a touchy subject in the legal field, even moreso in ethics. She had not managed to learn of Mordecai's opinion of them - there had been no chance for her to, not in public - but one of her father's phrases had come to mind in her midst of reading. What was it again? It's going to be a legal minefield.

Of course, he had to explain what a minefield was in the first place, but once he had it had clicked for her. And the landscape here was very much pockmarked with pitfalls and traps placed in unknown locations.

For the first time since she had joined the Office, she felt that she was starting to swim out of her depths.

"But we can't just walk into her home and demand she come in for questioning," she said. "That would require her being a threat, which she isn't anymore if the file on her is anything to go by, and a judge. A Wizengamot member. Who isn't you," she added quickly as she pointedly stared at Mordecai. "Because if it were you, the bias would be there."

"I most likely wouldn't have the jurisdiction," said Mordecai. "I really was not going to suggest doing it myself, I am not confident on being able to take that sort of action in the first place on my own. I just sit on the jury and make decisions."

"No, indeed," Sameera agreed. "We're the lawyers, the third parties, the defendant's spokesperson, and all we do is provide the evidence and reasoning to make a verdict. That would be tricky, short of...bribing an auror, I guess."

Mordecai gave her a look. Though Sameera made inappropriate jokes occasionally, it was usually in a lighthearted manner in a simple situation. But she had to agree with that look he gave her. That one wasn't a great joke by any stretch of the imagination.

"So what else is there otherwise? We have Storm's statement here that at least has something, but after that it ends up like a broken mirror." She put the file back on the table. "He states it was already happening, matching up with the Dunnigan brothers and the dead unregistered werewolf. We've got someone - Eleor? - noting that there is most likely a connection in all of this, possibly someone higher than Storm senior, Musgrave, Bombay - but no other lead has been followed up since he made his statement."

"No, because there isn't any...that's visible, or at least obvious, relevant to that," Mordecai replied simply. He picked up the file marked 'Werewolves' and checked. "After that was the trial with Wolfgang. Morgenstern, you're better with hospital records than I am. What does that say, then?" Mordecai gave him the file, massaging his temples. He was having quite a lot on his mind right now, and frankly if he had someone to help him gather thoughts together then so be it.

"There's still one more thing otherwise with Musgrave. On September 30 two brothers were found in chains, wearing wolf masks with the Head Auror's name painted on them. Musgrave's work, apparently that was his way of proving Bombay's innocence. They admitted straight up to kidnapping her, but I don't see why--"

"It's proof that Storm had Bombay kidnapped rather than her going to the fights herself with motive," Dieter pointed out. "Yes, she had motive, which makes her a prime suspect, but the way she was involved? Hardly. The records in the file indicate that the poison is also of the Dark Arts, and she has no affiliation with that in her file. The notes state that she is related to Musgrave, so that means he's looking out for her. If anything, we should be giving them something in exchange for information. They're out on the ropes time and time again, but in order to survive they have to turn to less than scrupulous means. Don't you think so, Meera?" He turned to the witch frowing at the notes within Musgrave's file.

Sameera hardly heard Dieter. She was staring at something in the notes, something that had caught her eye while she had been listening to him talk.

"I think that this should be more of a concern, Mordecai," she said, pulling out a note and handing it over to him. The older man read it for a moment, and then looked up.

"Are you saying we investigate this closer?" he asked her. She shrugged.

"It could get us somewhere. It's easier than having to hunt down either one of the two, and I doubt they'll be willing to come close to us. But as to exactly why Musgrave sent a note informing, of all people, Edwin Glass, about the werewolf fights? Maybe we could try that angle first, see if we can fish for something out of there before we stick our noses into other people's businesses."

"By our role alone we're already doing that," Dieter pointed out.

"Not so far that we can get the tips cut off, then. It's within the Ministry. We're not going to interfere with the Aurors and what they found about this case, that's their job and like Mordecai has said we're not going to tell them how to do their job." Mordecai nodded silently in agreement. "Something safe and easy."

"You know that any move of ours might have unwanted parties taking interest anyway, right?" Dieter said warily. He looked at their superior. "Surely you're not just going to charge into this."

"I'm not going to charge into anything, for a start," Mordecai replied. "Both of you have equally valid points. Edwin has had contact with Musgrave. Perhaps there's something he can tell us about him. But at the same time, Musgrave himself is a loaded topic that may attract the interest of parties that we don't want. We need to tread carefully. Musgrave is of some interest to the IUM as a whole, because of misuse of magic in particular. Work with that. Do not touch the rest of the issues involving him. Our aim is information and nothing more, we're not taking any action if anyone asks. That's it."

His gaze turned down onto the stack of files on the coffee table. "Whatever ugly mess we turn up, we're going to have to stay neutral in this. I'm not going to demand that you - and me - act perfectly impartial, because this might be a situation that can hit very close to home, but at least view it objectively. The law only wants to know who's the culprit and why. We'll focus on that. Now, get these files off the table and back to the archives."

"I'll do it," said Dieter, getting to his feet and stretching. "I'll see you two in the morning, or at least around ten or so." He took his wand out, and with a sweep of his arm collected the files into one neat, hovering pile and headed for the door. "Meera, uh...I can't open the door, my wand's occupied."

"Hold on." The witch went to rectify the issue while Mordecai remained sitting on the sofa in deep thought, brow furrowed.

When she returned, he still had yet to shift from his position. She watched him for a few minutes before approaching him.

"Do you think Glass would catch onto us?" she asked, as she picked up her handbag and coat from the armchair she had vacated a few minutes ago. "Because the way I see it, people would have had the opportunity to do it then, but we're getting around to it now."

"No doubt the timing is questionable," Mordecai said, still gazing in deep thought at the coffee table, "but we don't appear to have much power. And indeed, we don't. Maybe we do, but I'm erring on the side of caution here. At best it'll just look as if we need to update the information and carry on with our lives."

"At worst?" Sameera queried.

Mordecai remained silent for so long that she was worried about bringing that question up in the first place. She knew Mordecai's history, done with a little digging and the rest of it questioning him as far as she dared go. There were some things you just didn't touch sometimes, and she could see those things still greatly affected him in some subtle, silent way. Perhaps right now he was considering the consequences of attracting the wrong attention, and when one knew that Mordecai had been close to attracting very wrong attention in the past he might not be so comfortable with going that far down the slope again.

She finally opened her mouth. "Okay, you don't have to answer that question right n--"

"At worst, we find ourselves at the mercy of the Ministry and other unwanted parties." Mordecai looked up at the witch, now silent from his abrupt answer. "You knew that was the answer all along, didn't you? The real question is, how far do we dare go?"