“From what you’ve said, perhaps it’s best I do the talking first, Zora?” The couple of currently conspiring witches were finishing up their drinks in Auror Roh’s now overcrowded little cubicle. A small chair had been dragged in for Eva to park her rear and discuss the petition and their strategy with the auror’s boss. For about ten minutes, they’d updated each other, Zora with her flask of coffee, Eva with her herbal tea. The meeting she’d booked had been for 9:30am that morning. Eva hadn’t given a reason. As the Minister’s chief aide, she wasn’t necessarily expected to. But, however Carstairs would react when she showed up with one of his aurors, she didn’t dare to presume.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Eva grinned after taking a sip of tea. “It’s interesting, getting involved in something on Level 2 again.” She’d not returned to level 2 after the war when she’d come back a couple of years before. Fear and a wish to avoid her history had kept her away. But she missed the rush, the excitement of being part of the real action. Even if it was simply with her quill and her wits. The grin was quickly schooled, and the witch placed her mug down on the overcrowded desk, starting to gather the sheets of parchment back into a sensible order.

“You happy? Have I covered everything?” It was rare Eva hadn’t. She was scrupulous. “It’s a tight argument, but he has to think of public opinion and those pulling his strings. We might have a challenge on our hands.” Evangeline Kuester loved a challenge.

Using Theodora Kingstreet's name on paper, speaking it out loud, even thinking it had become commonplace for Zora Roh in the last couple weeks, but she didn't think she'd ever get truly used to it. You can get used to anything - she knew the saying - but she didn't want to. She'd preferred the normal of Kingstreet being locked away, unseen and unheard of. When she'd started investigating the death of Azkaban guard Gilgamesh Shahidi, she had no idea they'd end up here. Geneveieve Garcia-Gamp was terrified for her life, the infamously enduring Leo Gamp was scared out of his wits, and Fauna Blake had been prudent enough to warn off even Garcia-Gamp's bystander of a lover, Kurby Bagnold.

Whether she'd murdered Shahidi or not Kingstreet had them all running. That couldn't continue. But to stop it, Zora would have to move some pieces around above her pay grade. Thus: Evangeline Kuester in her cubicle. Eva would know how to get the Wizengamot to ban Kingstreet from appearing in court in Leo Gamp's re-trial. Better still, Eva also knew how to speak Politician.

Zora stood and took a last drink from her coffee cup. It was impossible to predict how Sol would go and, if he approved the recommendation, if the Wizengamot would agree. But she had to try.

"Public opinion?" Zora said wryly. "Never met her."

As she straightened her collar for the boss, she elaborated. "I've just got to do my job. We can't just let her out on a walk whenever Enid Jingleberry things it will be a laugh."

“Most aurors haven’t.” Aurors, to Eva, had always been an intriguing species. For most, their beliefs and morals were a driving force that led to recklessness and a lack of thought for their speech. Aurors had a tendancy to throw themselves into something without the prior consideration of how it could turn out. Lawyers? They cleaned up the mess left by the aurors. They picked holes in the cases hastily thrown together by aurors. Evangeline used to work against the aurors, now, she worked with them. Funny how things came about.

“But Solomon is about to insist that she’ll be on a very short lead.” Eva was quite convinced she’d considered every argument he would make and more. Whether they could influence him or not, that was the real question. After a final gulp of tea, Eva stood from the chair and smoothed down the skirt of her dress. She collected the papers in hand and rose her eyebrow at Zora, a smile twisting her lips. “On y va.” The chair was pushed out of the way and the two witches departed the cubicle.

It only took a few moments to leave the Auror Headquarters and arrive at the outer office for Solomon Carstairs. A couple moments still before they were directed inside. Eva first, heels guiding her in swiftly. She fixed Sol with a warm smile, that of an old friend.

“New assistant seems to be settling in.” Then she frowned, amused. “Not sure what to think of the memos printed on unicorn shaped parchment, though. It doesn’t really scream Level 2 professionalism.”

Festive cheer was distant from Solomon's mind this December. He'd barely had time to spend with his wife, between the imminent trial with level four, Leo Gamp's trial, Musgrave's nonsense, the pentral nonsense, and so on and so forth. What was it about crime and holidays? Last year they'd had to deal with the fallout of the Leaky Cauldron exploding, among other things. This year it was a whirlwind of legal tensions coming to rise.

And now he was receiving a visit from Eva Kuester, with Auror Roh in tow. He rose slightly, indicating the chairs before his desk, but there was a glimmer of scepticism in his eye. Eva was being friendly, maybe friendlier than she normally would around an auror.

"They add a touch of colour around the place," he smiled back at her, dryly. Abby Reid was another headache for him - and not because of her penchant for unicorns or glitter. "Speaking of professionalism," Solomon continued with a gesture towards both witches, "You both appear to be dripping with it."

They didn't look like natural friends, no. He could more or less guess at their reasons for being here but a man can sometimes hope to be wrong about these things. Maybe Roh just wanted to file a harassment complaint against Childs. Wouldn't that be lovely?

"How can I help you ladies?" Sol rose his eyebrows, in the real world, cutting to the chase.

Zora took a seat and got comfortable. She leaned back and rested her booted ankle on her knee. It was nearly two months since she and Carstairs had had a go and there hadn't been an escalation, so Zora opted not to rankle at being called a 'lady'.[1] No reason this had to be contentious.

"Sir, I'd like for us to recommend to the Wizengamot that Theodora Kingstreet be barred from testifying in person at Leo Gamp's retrial," she said, immediately forgetting that she'd agreed to let Eva do the talking.

"She's psychotic and having her out of Azkaban could endanger my witnesses."

Remembering herself, Zora smiled crookedly. She nodded towards Eva.

"Kuester...?"

1.	Oct 19 - Each on Their Own Strict Line

Eva was slower than her colleague to take a seat, and sat far less relaxed. She may have been on familiar terms with the Head of Law Enforcement, but this was still work. This was still serious. She was just opening the file on her lap when Zora violated their agreement and opened her reckless auror mouth. Eva’s eyes darted sideways to Roh, her lips pursed in disapproval. So much for leaving the lawyer to do the talking. This was why Eva didn’t work with aurors. Never work with animals, children, or aurors.

"Kuester...?" Too late, Zora clearly remembered the agreement and Eva rose her eyebrows as if to say ‘really?’

“What Auror Roh is trying to suggest,” Her gaze once more met Sol’s, warm smile gone, business face on. “is that we would like to raise concern with the Wizengamot over Kingstreet appearing publically at the trial of Leo Gamp. While we are aware of the safety measures that will be undertaken in the aim of protecting the public, Theodora Kingstreet is presumed to have orchestrated the murder of a prison guard from within the confines of her Azkaban cell. An attack believed to have been to personally threaten Leo Gamp’s wife.” It was all delightfully messy; the sort of case Eva may have enjoyed sinking her teeth into in her youth. Now, she had other priorities.

“Level 2 should be taken measures to further restrict her network and abilities, not bring her into the public domain for the day.”

Like any sane person, his heart sank slightly at the mention of Theodora Kingstreet. So it was her they wanted to talk to him about. Of course it was. Sometimes Solomon wished a good soul in Azkaban could do them all a favour and murder the bloody witch to save him the trouble of having to think about her living and breathing. The paperwork would be worth it, too.

"Firstly," he glanced at Roh, "endanger your witness in what way exactly?" Solomon recalled Genevieve coming to him early morning not too long ago, furious and fearful about Leo Gamp - and here she was in spirit, only it was Kingstreet she was afraid of. "As Kuester says, we will be trying our utmost to stop her from harming anybody at the trial. Including having as few people at the trial as is possible."

More people meant more variables, which ultimately meant having a more unpredictable situation on their hands. Solomon wasn't blind to the dangers that Kingstreet posed but he also didn't want to have to explain himself to the public once it got out that level two was meddling in Gamp's trial.

"Kingstreet isn't going to be in the public domain for a the day," Sol frowned at his friend's phrasing. "She's going to be questioned once by each side, with no chance of being called to the stand for further questions. And then she's going back to Azkaban," he leaned back in his chair, shrugging. "We aren't even keeping her in our cells. But your concern is noted, of course."

Oh, good, things were immediately contentious. Zora returned Eva's look of disapproval and was quickly reminded why she'd agreed to just let Eva handle this. Zora didn't like a debate and she wasn't particularly good at it.

"If I had Kingstreet's imagination then this case would be solved," Zora said. "I have no idea what she'd do, only that she's both capable and motivated to do it. The single greatest risk factor concerning Kingstreet seems to be contact with her. We bring her out, that's more opportunities for her to act."

Zora went on and crossed her arms. "And you know Jingleberry's just carting her out for the publicity. I strongly advise extreme caution. As Kuester said."

"Kingstreet isn't going to be in the public domain for a day," Carstairs countered.

The lawyer didn’t look convinced. Despite the somewhat salty acceptance that her concern had been noted, neither did she look ruffled.
Fortunately, to Eva’s relief, Zora sounded far more reasoned when she continued.

“We three all know that you can’t guarantee that Kingstreet will be in and out with no problems or hold ups. Trials don’t run that way, Solomon. Even if you could, every person she interacts with, every word she says on the stand could be a clandestine missive shared amongst her network. The wizengamot are about to give one of Azkaban’s shrewdest and most neurotic criminals a platform.”

The file that had been in her lap was lifted onto the edge of the desk and Eva leaned forward in her chair. “We make no suggestion of her being side-lined from the appeal, or in fact, the trial. It would do irreparable damage to the transparency and trustworthiness we’ve built up within the ministry for the public. I, for one, would never recommend such ridiculousness to the Minister. But what I do suggest is a far more cautious and acceptable method of limiting this witch’s opportunities.”

Everything that fell out of Roh's mouth was standard auror talk - more gut feeling than facts, and a clumsy attempt at alluding to politics by playing Jingleberry's publicity card. She wasn't wrong but she wasn't telling him anything he didn't already know, either. When he first heard about them carting Kingstreet out, he'd had to pour himself two whiskeys: one for himself and one for the headache.

            "Trials don’t run that way, Solomon," Eva reminded him.

"No, they don't." Sol muttered sharply, remembering what had gone down when Wolfgang Storm[1] had been called to the witness stand last September. It would take more than whiskey for him to forget that - being infiltrated to the extent of murder in the Wizengamot itself, in an era of supposed peace.

Truthfully, Leo Gamp's trial hadn't garnered much of his attention until Kingstreet started getting involved. He'd assumed it was some messiness of Genevieve's and that she probably deserved the stress of it. Now, however, things were looking different.

"You have my attention," he narrowed his eyes at Eva, reaching out for the file she was holding. "What's your proposal? Spare no detail, I can't go to the Wizengamot with half-answers and a gut feeling."

1.	27th September - Song to Say Goodbye

The tiniest glint of a smile came when Sol took the file and she knew she’d broken through the first barrier.

“When we have an underage witness, we can keep them from being brought before the Wizengamot due to our legal obligation to protect them. The lawyers and a selected few elders will meet together with the child and…” she paused. “Well I hardly need to tell you, you’ve been around the block enough.” Carstairs knew the drill, so did Zora. But he had said for her to share all details.

“I’m proposing a remote interview in Azkaban.” As far as Eva had looked into it, it was possible, just not having been done before. But then, they’d never had Theodora Kingstreet before. “There are certain restrictions on her visitors, as Mrs Gamp found out,” So Zora had informed her. “No quills, no parchment, no ink, no wands. That is enough, surely, to keep her from a courtroom and securely sealed within 4 stone walls. Not enough, though, to stop us from setting up a system in which both sides can question without being put in danger.”

Eva stood, leaning over the desk to the file in his hands where she turned a couple of pages for him to see the list.
“Possible options include recording devices, floo, simple quick quotes quill and I’ve detailed a few others with pros, cons, practicality, legality and ethicality. A pensieve thought may even be an option if both sides agree and vouch for the memory’s authenticity but that’s my least favoured option. Too many variables to derail the authenticity and its power in court.”

There were a thousand and one reasons Zora was an Auror and not a lawyer and they were laid out in litany demonstrated by Kuester and Carstairs. The particulars and precedents and when to give and what to take, it was all numbingly arcane. And Carstairs was needlessly acting the twit, petty and pedantic. She leaned on her elbow, pressing two fingers into her temple.

She already had what she'd come for: some consideration. Kuester was pushing to keep Kingstreet in the prison and she had Carstairs' ear. Whatever he did now, and whatever the Wizengamot did with that, at least the alarm had been sounded. Personally, Zora still didn't understand how the Wizengamot would deign to let a word of Kingstreet's loose in a court of magical law, and what Leo Gamp could possibly have to gain from same, but as powerful a witch as Zora was she lacked potency here.

Eva laid down a compelling argument - and equally compelling alternatives to the circus show bound to manifest with Kingstreet on the stand. He did not like to express apprehension towards her abilities; they were formidable and real but Solomon, better than most, knew that you had to limit the extent to which a criminal inspired fear. Better to focus on the good. For every bloody Kingstreet, there were at least five Zora Rohs getting ready for a fight.

But he was going to listen to Eva's caution anyway.

"I agree, pensieve wouldn't be a good idea," Sol nodded, flicking through the folder calmly. "This looks in order. Personally, I favour a privately recorded cross-examination, though we'd have to present all options if I'm going to propose anything at all. To cover our bases."

He closed the folder and set it aside before considering the two witches in his office. Roh was being quiet now - clever girl, letting the lawyer do all the talking.

"Alright. I'll suggest it as soon as is possible," he glanced from the auror, smiling dryly at Eva. "It can't be an official petition, you understand, but it'll go on record. If something does happen, it'll only weigh in level two's favour next time." And that was the one thing they could rely on where the MLE was concerned: there will always be a next time.

Relieved, Eva smiled. Before coming into the office, she’d been decidedly unsure as to whether her old friend and colleague would take this seriously enough to pass on. Kingstreet presented a significant threat, but the politics behind the whole situation was rather ridiculous. This was one of the most significant cases in recent history, and it needed to be handled correctly. The Ministry, now under the spotlight, needed to be untouchable when it came to the way they went about Leo Gamp’s appeal. Eva had chosen to involve herself for as part of her responsibilities in keeping Glass’ reputation squeaky clean, but also for her own personal reasons. As far as any of them knew, Gamp was a Death Eater and Theodora Kingstreet was a maniac that did not need to be given another audience.

“Understandable.” Eva crossed her arms, frowning. “It would be better if we could prevent anything from happening, but it’s not the best political move. I suppose we’ll see how narrow minded those in charge are.” She rose an eyebrow and glanced between the two with a knowing smile before rising from her seat.

“You can talk now.” Eva joked to Roh before turning back to Carstairs. “Let me know, Sol? All they have to is remember why she got put back in there in the first place.”

Zora had reached her fill of administration about nine years ago and this meeting was another in a series of vexing indignities. Asking for things was a chore especially with Carstairs who seemed to enjoy being withholding. Even Eva was having her on. The last thing she needed was Eva undermining her in front of Carstairs.

The Auror rose from her chair same as Eva but with more brusk intent to be finished, her restrained irritation probably clear. She didn't really care what procedural gymnastics the politicians agreed to, as long as something was done to mitigate the clear threat. And he'd agreed to do something. How hard he'd actually push, how much political capitol he'd expend, Zora wasn't really optimistic.

"No, I'm good. Thank you, sir."