10 January 2012
Noon, about 3 hours after The Ruin of Many a Poor Wolf and 1 hour after I Feel It In My Bones
St. Mungo's Hospital, Spell Damage

Figaro was dozing in the bed, really no worse for wear but exhausted and shaken up. His mother Zelda Sellaphix and a lawyer called Talisha Crowe were standing outside his room talking quietly. Zelda leaned against the the wall, arms crossed. Talisha had her hands in blazer pockets and she nodded along rocking on her heels. Talisha had already been in to speak with Figaro alone about what had happened and she felt that he'd been at least 87% forthcoming and 90% honest. In her professional legal opinion, that wasn't anything to be concerned about - everyone held something back. However, they'd have to be clever. Figaro Sellaphix was a material witness and potential suspect in what was not officially but definitely would be, Talisha was sure, a multiple murder case. Not to mention all the other nastiness. False imprisonment, impersonation, assault, kidnapping, blah blah blah. 

"He's in a far better position than last time," Talisha told Zelda with a blithe smile, referring to when Figaro was nicked on a silly burglary charge. She'd made it go away. "Relatively speaking. Helps a great deal he's been attacked. That's all kinds of lucky."

Zelda knew better than to take Talisha's strangeness as callousness. "I suppose. Do you think they'll charge him?"

Talisha blinked her left eye hard a few times. It was green today and trying to wander. "Nah, not today. If at all. It's only been a few hours, they'll still be working through the scene. Details ... are ... scanty..." she hummed. "Scanty ... scanty ... scanty ..."

"Do you ever switch it off," Zelda snipped and took a small jar from her pocket, balm for her hand.

"What's that, Zelda? Say something?" Talisha asked. "Oh, right though, I was thinking you should probably wait out here when they come."

Zelda scoffed. "What? Why?"

"Because you're scary," Talisha said with what looked like a wink. Zelda glared at her a second before a tiny smile tugged at her cheek.

"I am a bit," Zelda said, just a little proud.

"I think it's this way," Tessa said, peering at the room numbers on each door as she led the Auror down the hallway.

It had already been an exhausting morning.  The events at the safe house had left her feeling strangely; even though they hadn't found any dead werewolves, it seemed clear that Bagnold was convinced that they'd turn up so eventually.  She'd been tasked with getting the six that they had rescued back to the Ministry.  Once they were returned and safe, attention turned next to the two attendants.  In the interest of interdepartmental cooperation, it seemed to make the most sense for her to accompany Auror Xin  to St. Mungo's, so that both Levels Two and Four could complete their questioning at the same time.

Except now she was left looking like an idiot in front of a witch that she somewhat wanted to impress, because even though she was familiar with the Creatures Injury ward at St. Mungo's, apparently the Spell Damage ward on the fourth floor was laid out with a completely different floor plan.

Tessa froze at the intersection of yet another pair of corridors, looking first one way and then the other.  Where in Helga's name was Figaro's room?  Finally, just in the nick of time, when she had been about to pull out her wand to try to perform a silent finding spell and hope that the Auror somehow didn't notice, she spotted it down the hallway.

"There," she said, starting towards it.

Then she noticed that there were two witches standing outside.  Tessa stopped short. 

She'd let Auror Xin handle the initial introduction.

Werewolves! This wasn't going to end, was it? Having a few flashbacks as they stepped into the hospital, she let Fenneken lead; her mind was too busy going over the moments of having to confront the kin of victims and patients, figuring out the questions she had to ask while trying to forget the other more emotional details. She'd always hated this sort of thing.

She'd at least managed to formulate some list of sorts when Fenneken's voice broke through her thoughts. "There." Adrianna looked up and saw ahead of them the hallway - and the two figures. Splendid, exactly how it used to be, doesn't make it any better.

They reached the witches. Adrianna dipped her head in acknowledgement and respect before remembering she wasn't in China. Well no taking it back, she'd done it again. "Afternoon, I'm Auror Xin and this is Fenneken of the Werewolf Capture Unit," she said. "We're here to question the attendants of the safehouse from the events of this morning. We were there at the site earlier. I take it you are--?"

Two witches approached, both with badges: an intense-looking younger witch in dark leather and an Auror in red robes. The Auror spoke first and Talisha found herself staring over-long at the vivid scares on her face. There was a history there! Aurors always had such interesting, brutal stories.  Talisha was acquainted with many on Level Two because most of her clients were accused of crimes, but she hadn't met - who was it? Auror Xin.

Talisha took up her soft, worn briefcase and extended her hand.

"Talisha Crowe, hello hello, I'm Figaro Sellaphix's counsel. This is Zelda, mother of Figaro."

Zelda stayed were she was, quiet. She was cynically relieved that they hadn't sent one of the juniors, Blake or Almasy. Figaro couldn't seem to keep his head around them.

"He's been through quite an ordeal," Talisha said, "and he wished to cooperate fully, completely. That is, he does his rest, so I'll insist we be brief."

Her manic, cheerful face went sort of blank then, like her soul stepped back from the door.  "That is, unless he's under arrest. He's not under arrest, I gather."

Zelda stood up from the wall and took a step in front of the closed door. She kept her quiet as Talisha had said, but she had no intention of letting a couple of badges just have at him.

At the mention of the other witch being the boy's mother, Adrianna expression softened. She would make it no secret that she sympathised with the family of those involved, every single time. No wonder she was so guarded. It was never a good time for both parties involved - she wasn't looking forward to informing the families of the missing, that would be just as bad.

"He's been through quite an ordeal, and he wished to cooperate fully, completely. That is, he does need his rest, so I'll insist we be brief. ...That is, unless he's under arrest. He's not under arrest, I gather." Crowe's expression had, to put it in short, dropped off her face. Adrianna admitted to herself she'd feel exactly the same. She'd been watching the lawyer with interest since she caught her staring at her scars; the auror was not a fan of being reminded they were permanently there.

"He's not under arrest," she reassured the two. "We have inconclusive evidence that he or the other attendant were the culprits. There will be no sentencing, not until we can gather enough information from witnesses and victims alike from the scene of the crime. While both attendants are suspects, under the law they are innocent until proven guilty - and we can't make an arrest of the true perpetrators without leads." She drew breath from saying all of that, and then added, "I swear on my word that's all we came here to do. I'd rather not risk a healer throwing us out for disturbing his rest for too long either."

She turned to her companion. "Fenneken, I assume you have questions of your own?" she asked curiously, just in case.

She wouldn't have predicted it, because Figaro Sellaphix had always struck her as a bit of a goof, but her much younger housemate's mother looked scary.  Tessa was happy to stop a few paces behind Auror Xin, well out of range of the intense-looking woman with the white streak in her hair who seemed to have taken up a guard outside the door.

She'd gone on investigatory probes before after werewolf attacks.  Bagnold had always told them that the trick to an investigation was to pay attention to details and then to decide when you needed to be intimidating and when you needed to be nice.  Some people helped because they wanted to help; most victims of werewolf attacks, both magical and Muggle, were so shocked and so anxious that they were quick to share what they'd seen.  Others were more recalcitrant to talk; those were usually your Suspects.

At the safe house, both Figaro Sellaphix and Ji-Won Kim had been extremely helpful.  Bagnold has also seemed to know Figaro; he at least knew him well enough to ask about something that had happened at Christmas, which in retrospect had been shocking to Tessa.  She hadn't considered either of the safe house attendants as a suspect.

So, when Auror Xin explained politely to the witch with the crazy eye that Figaro might be a suspect, Tessa looked suddenly taken aback.

"Um..."  Auror Xin had put her suddenly on the spot with a question.  Tessa looked uncertainly at Figaro's counsel (why did Fig have a counsel, anyway?), and then back at Auror Xin.  She definitely did not look at his terrifying mother.

"Yes, a few," she said, drawing herself up.  "I don't think we think he's a suspect though.  We just want to find out what happened in the safe house."

Just then, the door opened a crack. Standing there in a spotted hospital gown and bathrobe was nineteen-year-old Figaro Sellaphix. There were dark circles under his eyes, a lump above his eye, and his hair was going every which way. He looked like he was about to say something to Zelda but then noticed that there was a crowd.

"Oh," he blinked. "Time for that. I was just - uh-kay."

Figaro recognized Fenny of course, and the uniform of the Auror was enough for the other witch. He wiped his mouth with his hand. He'd been sleeping but he didn't feel rested.

Talisha seemed to returned from her dark place, satisfied at the apparent discordance between the Auror and WC. That was always helpful, a little disorganization on the other end. Of the two of them though, they had the most to worry about from Level Two, who'd need convinced.

She looked at Figaro. "You ready, Fig? Need to pee or anything, first?"

Fig grimaced at Talisha - no? -  then looked at Zelda who nodded nearly imperceptibly. She had to let go of a little control now. Do as she'd advised Figaro and trust Talisha. By all appearances, Talisha Crowe was scatterbrained and harried but she'd done good by their family. And well, Talisha was right. Figaro was a victim this time, and he deserved a bit of justice. They'd do better if they showed a bit of cooperation. Slamming doors wouldn't stop the knocking.

"Nah, s'fine," Figaro responded and opened the door the rest of the way. "Come on in."

He returned to the bed, clearly favoring a leg and Talisha stood beside him, hands in her coat pockets again. She touched her eye again. Then she did the courtesy of introducing the two Ministry agents.

"That's Auror Xin. And Fenneken, one of Bagnold's. Just do your best, okay, okay? Okay. They've promised to keep it short."

Ignoring the atmosphere would be cold of her, but she did have a job to do. She retrieved a notepad from her coat and a quill from the inside of her sleeve, flipped the pad open and let the quill settle on top of it, while she also retrieved her wand from her coat and summoned two chairs to arrange themselves neatly beside the bed.

"Good to see you're doing well, Mr Sellaphix," she said, sitting down in one - the other chair being for Tessa. The notepad descended to hover next to her shoulder, quill patiently waiting. "We're just here to find out what happened last night, and this morning from your perspective. Both the Capture Unit and Level Two need the information, so we'll be asking questions together. if at any point you feel that answering may cause some discomfort, you're not under pressure to answer in detail, though we do advise retelling as much as you can remember." She didn't doubt for one moment that Figaro was not the perp, but SOP was SOP.

"If you need us to repeat a question, just ask, or let me know if you can't understand me," she added. "All your answers will be recorded, as you can see from the notepad. If you have any questions, you can ask them at the end."

She tapped the quill with her wand; its nib hovered a tiny distance above the parchment at the ready. "What time did you arrive at the safehouse last night, and did you make sure that everything was secure beforehand in the safehouse?"

Everyone but his mum crowded into the small room and Figaro felt the nerves building up. He didn't want to mess this up, and the pressure to make sure everything he said was true was immense. He was worried he wouldn't be able to remember, make some mistake, and then he'd be in even more trouble. But Talisha looked calm, standing there like some weird wax statue. It was oddly comforting.

"Uh. Sure."

The Auror - Auror Xin - was starting simple.

"I got there at two. Maybe a few minutes after. Sun starts setting so early in winter, so."

The quill had jumped to life and the moment he stopped talking it froze. Figaro looked away and back to the Auror.

"I didn't have time to start the checklist, though. Soon as I walked in, I ... " Figaro laughed nervously. "I know how it sounds, but I saw myself. He looked exactly like me, dressed like me. He was there behind the desk when I got there, just quiet. And I didn't see Ji-Won."

Ji-Won Kim was the other attendant. Figaro didn't know what she'd tell Xin and Fenny, or if they'd already spoken to her.

Auror Xin was all business and efficiency.  She led the way into the hospital room, summoned two chairs for them to sit, and then pulled out a quill and notebook which helpfully arranged themselves so that they would be prepared to record Figaro Sellaphix's answers.  It was a very different approach than the Capture Unit usually took, when they usually tried to set friendly witnesses at ease.

Tessa lowered herself to sit in the extra chair, looking a bit uneasy.  If it had been simply her and Sellaphix alone, she might have tried to crack a joke or lighten the mood a bit.  But Auror Xin launched straight into her questions.

This first part, she sort of knew.  There had been a doppelgänger that looked like Figaro who had broken Ji-Won Kim's leg and then signed all of the werewolves into the safe house last night.  Bagnold had checked Figaro's identity with that ridiculous question about Christmas pranks, so at least they were relatively sure that the current Figaro Sellaphix was the real one.

"What happened once you saw him?" she asked the safe house attendant, frowning.  "He saw you too?"

"He fucking attacked me," Figaro blurted. Next to him, Talisha lifted her eyebrows at the two Ministry agents. See there? Uh-huh, that's right! Figaro tried to remember his temper and shut his mouth for a moment. He knew he needed to keep his shit together. Despite Talisha's reassurances that the had nothing to worry about, Zelda's skepticism burned brighter. Just being in the room with an Auror was intimidating especially after his last few brushes with the MLE.

Figaro leaned forward and put his hand in his hair, trying to remember. "Used a spell to throw me back into the wall. I couldn't move. And he comes over and says something to me, and then um."

His leg ached in remembering and he straightened it out a little.

"Then he broke my leg." How were those words that could be put into a sentence. Sounded about as normal as saying, 'then he ate a log' or 'then the horse became minister'. Who just ... breaks legs? How do you work that into a story properly? Figaro didn't know how we was going to prove any of this. Talisha had told him not to worry about that either.

"I didn't have time to start the checklist, though. Soon as I walked in, I ... I know how it sounds, but I saw myself. He looked exactly like me, dressed like me. He was there behind the desk when I got there, just quiet. And I didn't see Ji-Won."

This didn't seem foreboding at all, oh no. She listened to Fenneken ask questions, noticed the tension on the room. Some Aurors would have definitely tried to break the atmosphere into something less resembling the density of custard, but she wasn't so used to trying to inject humour into a situation. She probably wouldn't have pulled it off anyway.

"Used a spell to throw me back into the wall. I couldn't move. And he comes over and says something to me, and then um. Then he broke my leg."

She ignored the swearing; she'd heard worse and Figaro had been in enough undue stress for a lifetime. Polyjuice potion. It must have been, unless someone had designed a clever Dark spell while she had been away. But she needed more information to confirm.

"Can you... recall what he said to you?" she asked him in curiosity. "If not, that's okay, don't sweat it. But..." She looked at Fenneken thoughtfully. "I think there might have been something our perp wanted to have said to someone, clearly."

She mulled over the events he'd told her, forming a mental timeline in her head. "So you walk in, see this clone of you, no time to check anything - you didn't have time to see if anything was out of the ordinary." That was a shame, because the safehouse was in such a mess most obvious traces of anything wrong would be buried under the blood and rubble. "He breaks your leg, and then...? Anything after that? Or do you just remember waking up afterwards? It's not your fault if you don't remember," she added, as her way of comforting him. "Head's got a funny way of blocking out bad memories, and you'll not be the first."

Talisha had kept her casual when Figaro initally breezed past the foul manifesto delivered to him. What was she going to do, give him a sharp elbow to the ribs? Auror Xin certainly wouldn't miss it. Figaro's hesitation, whether he meant it that way or not, would serve a helpful illustration to his horror at having been told such a thing amidst such an ordeal. The words could never have been invented from someone as sweet as Figaro Sellaphix, son of Hufflepuff, friend of friends. He was also utterly artless. Level Two had records to prove that.

Sure enough, Auror Xin knew her duty, and she knew it with skilled tact. She didn't push, she cajoled. It was a shrewd tactic, no doubt, but it gave Figaro some space and comfort, Talisha suspected.

Indeed, Figaro scratched at his neck. Talisha's stray blue eye noted it, swiveling in Talisha's head.

Auror Xin walked back through Figaro's statement for him, leading him up again to the moment again. His mouth felt dry.

"He said," Figaro started. "He said he wanted to eradicate all werewolves. No, eradicate the werewolf 'threat'. He said he was doing this for all of wizarding kind."

He rubbed his face in his hands. "Then I don't remember. I think he knocked me out. Next thing I remember is waking up in the closet with Ji-Won."

Eradicate the werewolf threat.

The words were chilling.  Tessa had heard Figaro say something similar back when she and Bagnold had first arrived at the safe house, but she'd been halfway between fox and human at the time, and she hadn't had time to really recognize what that meant.  Clearly, whoever had disguised themselves as Figaro and attacked the safe house had come there with an agenda.  The idea that they thought they were on some sort of mission to eradicate all werewolves sent a shiver down her spine.

She sat back in her chair, somewhat at a loss for words as she gave a worried look to Auror Xin.  The Capture Unit wasn't usually involved in dealing with werewolf hate crimes; they'd stayed well clear of the mess involving the werewolf fighting ring, not long after when Tessa had first started with them.  But this attack, staged as an assault on a safe house that was managed by the Ministry, somehow felt more personal.

"He said he wanted to eradicate all werewolves. No, eradicate the werewolf 'threat'. He said he was doing this for all of wizarding kind."

Adrianna stared into the distance. She didn't hear what he said about finding himself bundled with his colleague in a closet, no, another memory had filtered into her head with those words. Eradicate all of man. I am but a wolf, they are the real monsters. Except this time this was an ironic reversal, but the sentiment remained.

As much as she believed in keeping a tight rein on werewolves, eradication was a whole 'nother matter that she wasn't sure quite where she stood.

She pulled herself back to the here and now. "Okay. So we have a crime with a motive." The auror chewed on her lip for a moment. "Have you... told anyone about your taking up this job recently? Say, two months back at least. Maybe told them that you were coming specifically here, and what or how you would be doing things?"

If Figaro hadn't told anyone, then they would have to look elsewhere - possibly within the Ministry or any other of Figaro's contacts, or Ji-Won herself. She did not want to entertain the thought of internally investigating the Ministry either - she had had enough of that while in China as well. It wouldn't be too hard to look up werewolf safehouse procedures - it wasn't exactly hidden information if you were driven to necessity - but she just wanted to make sure.