Quarrels and Quills

Eve Travers and Cambria Morehouse

"Shall we go to the Ministry, then?" Cambria said. She tried to keep her voice light and cheerful, but she was anxious.

Eve was too. Her demeanor didn't show it, but she was quiet and distant.

"Have you ever been here before?" Cambria asked her, just trying to make conversation.

"Once," Eve replied absently. "My trial."

Well, Cambria thought. There it is. She has even more cause than I do to wonder how today is going to go.

When they arrived - for a moment it wasn't clear if they had arrived.

"Pretty sure this is the visitors' entrance," Cambria said doubtfully, gesturing to an old and apparently disused red phonebooth. She picked up the receiver, and dialed 6-2-4-4-2.

For a moment, nothing happened... and then suddenly they were in a the huge atrium of a massive building. Busy employees bustled here and there, and owls swooped through the air above them. Huge fireplaces lined the walls; apparently these were connected to the Floo Network, because witches and wizards in professional attire were stepping out of them at intervals and walking purposefully to some destination.

As visitors, however, they were expected to sign in at the front desk. They gave their names - the young wizard on duty didn't even flinch at 'Eve Travers,' either not recognizing or not being concerned that he had just admitted a former Death Eater - and were given visitor badges.

When they were asked to state their business and said they were here to see Auror Barclay, however, the plan started to go awry.

"Barclay isn't here today. He's on an investigation in Scotland. If I may direct you to another Auror...?"

Scotland. It struck Cambria as a little ironic that they might have crossed paths with him if they were back at Hogwarts instead of in London. And no - another Auror wouldn't quite do. What if they were sent to someone who was in on the plot?

"Any idea when Auror Barclay will be back?" Cambria asked a little desperately.

The wizard shrugged. "He didn't say. Maybe a few days? A week?"

That was too long. By then the evidence trail would have gone cold. They were going to have to chance it.

"We're here to report a crime," Cambria said. At least they could get it on the record, make it harder to brush under the rug.

"Oh? What kind of crime?"

"We really need to speak to an Auror..."

The wizard adopted the bored but polite mien of a public servant having to give the same answer he had given a hundred times. "Not all crimes require the specialized services of an Auror. You'll need to tell me the nature of the offense, so that I may direct you appropriately."

Eve stepped forward. "The uncle of my son's girlfriend was attacked in his shop. He was beaten and the shop was vandalized."

A slight flicker of interest appeared on the wizard's face, and he pulled out a quill and parchment. "And what was the victim's name?"

"Granrod."

The interest immediately died. "Granrod? Goblin name." The bored tone had returned.

"Yes, he's a goblin--"

"You need the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures," the wizard said, gesturing in the appropriate direction. "Being Division, Goblin Liaison Office."

"But he was attacked..."

"He's a goblin. You have to go to them."

He turned away, offering no other choice.

The Goblin Liaison Office was not particularly helpful either. When Eve repeated what had happened, the witch at the desk just said a short, "We'll look into it," and turned back to her paperwork.

Rosemary Bain

At least this time she was going to the Ministry of her own accord - not to plead her case with the powers that be regarding the disagreement between her and Auror Barclay - but she still felt distinctly uncomfortable. The bustle was unlike that of the school. Official. Self-important. There were no clusters of people chatting, no distant sounds of laughter. It was a cold, lonely place in an entirely uninviting way.

The reactions they received to reporting the incident at Granrod's shop were even more disheartening. Not only was this place impersonal, it was downright dismissive of anyone other than a human magic-user. It irked her that they would still consider goblins 'creatures' when they also clearly labelled them as 'beings'. If goblins were beings, why were they still considered as lesser than humans? It didn't make sense to her. Never had. She'd actually removed the lecture in her class on goblins because she thought it was inappropriate for her to teach about them.

"There should be a course on goblins - history, literature, politics, that sort of thing. There's one for muggles, why not goblins?" she thought to herself, while starting at the part on top of the of the rather unhelpful witch's head.

It occurred to Rosemary that this was about as involved as anyone at the Ministry was going to get. Certainly their little group had done some sleuthing on their own and had come to some startling conclusions, but they'd come to the Ministry because there was nothing they could do to punish the people responsible. But now she had to wonder if there would be any repercussions at all for assaulting a 'magical creature'. Especially for a bunch of children from well-to-do wizarding families. Perhaps they needed to take matters into their own hands after all...

"Well, I suppose we have done our civic duty in reporting the crime. Let us know if you want our statements. Good day!" Rosemary said, in an overly chipper tone. A dangerously chipper tone, her friends would realize. "We might as well get on with our day, ladies!" she added, strutting away in the direction of the lobby.

Once out of earshot of the desk, Rosemary slowed her pace and spoke in a normal tone and volume. Something fit to be ignored.

"So, we're agreed that's going nowhere, right? What do you say we do some research while we're here? I want to know just how far Granrod's 'allowed' to go to protect himself - and his shop. If we act within the letter of the law...well, with interpretation of course, then he shouldn't get into any trouble with the Ministry because of us, right?"

Eve Travers and Cambria Morehouse

"It certainly seems that way," Cambria agreed with a sigh. "I suppose we'll just have to--"

Eve made a motion with her arm - a pretense of adjusting her sleeve - with a slight inclination of her head, and Cambria stopped talking. She now saw what Eve had noticed before she did... Auror Andrew Darby himself had entered the foyer and was making his own way to the desk. Eve turned toward the window, as if she were admiring the intricate stained glass, as the conversation became semi-audible. She didn't want to risk getting closer and attracting attention, so she could only catch snippets.

"...Was told three witches were trying to report a crime against a goblin..." Darby was saying.

The woman who had been at the desk pointed in their direction, and Eve's heart started pounding - but she carefully avoided looking directly at them, observing only with her peripheral vision.

"...Say anything about the goblins having wands...?" Darby went on.

Careful, Eve thought to herself - and willed the message to Cambria and Rosemary. Be very careful. Apparently someone was now interested - but that someone was the person they were pursuing, and he was asking questions that could lead to the trouble falling back on Granrod instead of himself.

A moment later, the Auror approached with a cheerful smile on his face. "Good morning, ladies," he said with a small bow. "My name is Andrew Darby. Please accept my deepest apologies that your concerns have not been given adequate weight. Unfortunately outside of the Aurors, crimes are not always treated with the gravity they deserve. Let's find a quiet spot - over there, say?" He gestured to a small group of chairs in the corner. "And you can tell me exactly what happened to poor Granik."

"Granrod," Eve corrected absently.

"Yes. Poor dear Granrod. Of course. Shall we?"

Rosemary Bain

While getting some additional information on one Andrew Darby had certainly been something she had wanted to accomplish today, this wasn't exactly how she'd envisioned getting that information. An interview with the man himself. Whereupon he was hoping to work them over for information he could use again Granrod and goblins in general. Lovely.

It also didn't escape her notice that he was all too willing to throw his co-workers under the bus. As tempting as it was to start a debate on why local enforcement was unwilling to pursue crime reports, Rosemary was also well aware that this was a precarious situation that Darby himself had set up and thereby assumed control. They were in his den, so to speak, and so they would simply have to focus on the steps they made and hope for the best.

Once seated, Rosemary took the opportunity to clearly state the basic facts. "Last night, Granrod's shop was vandalized and he was beaten by a group of young wizards and witches. We wished to report the crime - and quite honestly, we as teachers are quite concerned that some of our pupils might have been involved in something so violent."

She decided to play the teacher card early, as a sort of 'added incentive' for the three's concern that Mr. Darby might understand. He didn't seem the type to share concern for a goblin as a family member of a dear friend. Rosemary hoped that it would buy them some more time with Mr. Darby when he might not have all his defences at the ready. He was 'at home', after all.

Auror Andrew Darby

Darby listened carefully as Rosemary said her piece, nodding with understanding or sympathy at the appropriate times.

"I understand, Professor Bain. Your devotion to your charges is admirable. We do hate to see youth stray from the straight and narrow into the paths of criminality... which they seem to do so easily, don't you think?"

His gaze rested on Eve just a beat too long. She dropped her eyes and folded her hands in her lap.

Darby went on, "But I would beg you consider all possibilities with me, and not draw conclusions hastily. There is another alternative here, is there not? Young people also have such an admirable sense of justice and fairness. A sense that the cynicism and harshness of the world will eventually beat down, of course, but in our teens we often see the purest expressions of idealism. Is it not possible that this Granrod may, in fact, have been doing something illegal? Something these young people - however coarse and regrettable their methods - may have been seeking to set right? Perhaps this goblin had in his possession something ill-gotten? Something dangerous, even? Something like... for example... wands?"

His eyes became steely for a moment, and he surveyed each witch in turn, before returning to his previous relaxed posture and smile.

Rosemary Bain

Well, there it was then. At least Mr Darby was the sort to get to the point, though she supposed most Aurors were. Now came the place where they needed to tread carefully. They needed to craft a defence for Granrod, certainly, but also clearly draw a line in the sand regarding how justice should be served. Of course, Rosemary couldn't directly speak up against vigilantism - they had participated in some last night, albeit more of the investigative variety (with a smattering of thievery). Perhaps honesty might get them somewhere...

"Well, we certainly didn't see any wands when we went to see the shop for ourselves. We wanted to make sure we knew the facts for ourselves before reporting it." She added the second sentence as though it were an explanation, hurrying to defend their presence at the scene. It seemed that such a thing would be expected, so she played along with her imaginary role.

"The amount of damage was so shocking - I'm sorry Mr. Darby but I simply can't condone it as an act of justice. We must be failing our young people if they feel they cannot trust the justice system - the Aurors - or their teachers - with suspicions of a troubling nature. We simply must do better, Mr. Darby."

She was laying it on a little thick, Rosemary knew, but she could think of little else that might turn the discussion in a direction away from blaming goblins. Blame. But why the blame? How were they going to get to the heart of Darby's game?

Eve Travers

"Ah, yes," the Auror said. "Investigating to make sure you were reporting only the truth. Very prudent."

The words were correct. But somehow, they flashed warning lights in Eve's brain.

He went on, "I believe such fair and prudent witches as yourselves, then, will understand that when Aurors investigate, we must also consider all possible avenues. We will certainly pursue information about the youth who became so... overzealous... in the shop. But it is our duty to seek out any and all exculpatory evidence that may exist - for example, what Granrod may have been doing to provoke the attack. With that in mind, I will ask again: is this a matter you wish the Aurors to pursue?"

"No," Eve said. Her voice was calm, though she seethed inside. "We were mistaken about what we thought we saw. Good day, Auror Barclay."

She turned and walked away.

When she, Cambria, and Rosemary were alone again, Eve said quietly. "Not worth it. He was going to 'find' wands in Granrod's shop if he had to plant them himself, and it would have been Granrod in trouble, not his attackers. I never thought I'd say this, but we must find Barclay."

Barclay might be many things, most of them negative, but Eve was confident that he would not allow a crime to go unpunished because of the identities of the victim and the perpetrator.