16 May 2009

LONDON -- The Ministry courtroom is packed, the benches abuzz with activity. Ministry officials, foreign delegates, Aurors, and a few Hogwarts professors watch with grim faces and hushed voices as the trial unfolds before the Wizengamot. Only one remains silent throughout.

Azorma Hyskos, otherwise known as Atalana Kanika, evoked her right to silence when faced with multiple charges, including the attempted assassination of Azize Mulogo. The Egyptian assassin and metamorphmagus was arrested on March 15th after assaulting Aurors Jonas Trevelyan and Adon Eleor, and Hogwarts Governor Vedir Prideaux. Prideaux and Eleor suffered injuries, while the Ministry's Visitor Entrance and surrounding muggle area incurred significant damage. Hyskos was held in custody for two months due to issues with foreign ministries.

An MLE source said that Hyskos had disguised herself as a Ministry official from the Department of International Magical Cooperation to kill Azize Mulogo for his involvement in Trevor Reid's arrest. Though Mulogo escaped unscathed, Hyskos stabbed Auror Eleor with a runespoor venom-coated dagger. Whether that move was solely Hyskos' artistic flair or a blunt message from the runespoor smuggling ring remains to be seen.

The trial was swift but brutal. Hyskos was sentenced to life in Azkaban for two counts of assault and attempted murder in the first degree. Her other suspected crimes include up to 100 counts of murder, assault, and theft across Europe and various countries. Before wrecking havoc in England, she was last seen in Italy, where she assassinated several prominent families and Magical Law Enforcement Officers.

Upon receiving her life sentence, Hyskos drew one finger across her throat and gave Auror Trevelyan and Auror Eleor a parting warning: "See you in five years."

The Aurors appeared unfazed. "Well, it would have seemed a lot more like a threat if she hadn't had to jangle her handcuffs to do it," Auror Trevelyan quipped after the trial.

Azorma Hyskos had nothing to say to her son present at the trial, Tapendra Trishna, the current Hogwarts Professor of Astronomy. Trishna was the result of an affair Hyskos had with a muggle in 1976; his halfblood status caused Hyskos to be cast out of the pureblood Kanika clan. When the Kanikas were mysteriously killed in 1995, Hyskos inherited their vast fortune. Now, Trishna gains the riches.

The investigation indicates that Professor Trishna is not connected to Hyskos' crimes. Trishna, though visibly troubled, had no comment on his inheritance or his mother's sentence. Ignan Storm, the Hogwarts Defence professor, stood silent nearby.

When asked if this is the last we can expect to see of the Runespoor assassination attempts, Auror Trevelyan answers, "Naw, I reckon it's not the last of it.  We saw how far they're willing to go back in 1994.  But as always, the Ministry continues to vigilantly and soulfully keep watch for illegal operations, and the public can expect that Level Two will pursue any and all ongoing leads."