Forget Lions, Tigers, and bears..Centaur's.. oh my

[headauror]

(OOC: This thread is open to any ministry working character with a valid reason for being on the scene of the case. find a spot your character can fit into and jump on in *g*)

All forests had edges. The Forbidden forest was no exception.. though massive in scale it inevitably thinned out to four roughly defined boarders. One of them lay along the grounds of Hogwarts, the others spread out to various locations that had never been of much concern. The reason for that was that, like all forests containing large numbers of potentially dangerous creatures meant for the eyes of wizards alone, heavy wards and muggle repellent charms had been placed on the outer edges of the tree line long ago. Along with that defense they were also made unplottable to the muggle population in general. Which of course meant that without being told where the forest was by the secret keeper a muggle could stand directly on the boarder of the trees and see nothing but a boring stretch of vacant grass land. Grass land that thanks to the strong muggle repellent charm would cause any muggle unlucky enough to stumble onto the forest to suddenly have a strong desire and need to be elsewhere... So why then was he starring down at a violet memo with the words 'Urgent, meet with me immediately" magicked in glowing letters across its header in the hand writing of the minister himself that claimed a situation so unbelievable he'd found himself having to read it a second, and then a third time, to be sure he wasn't simply 'that' tired to where his eyes had begun to play tricks on him?

An attack on a family camping in the forest.. not something remotely of high enough concern to warn't the specialized involvement of his Auror's. They after all, had far greater worries these days right? Except that this attack had occurred in the Forbidden forest... it was on a whole'ly muggle family..not a wizard among the lot.. and the attacker was no random mundane forest bear but rather a centaur of all things..

Harry cursed aloud and was quickly on his feet, striding down between the rows of cubicles.. not stopping till he'd arrived at the door way of Ron's make shift office. Frowning he chucked the memo down on the desk under his best mates nose, covering up whatever case file Ron had currently been reading. Harry's face was grim and his words clipped. " We've got to move.. get Teddy if he's back,.. was out in the field on another case, and round up some others you've confidence in, will you? If their mentoring have them bring along their trainees,..be a good field experience for them. I've got to Inform Blake over in the Obliviator's department that we'll be needing them on this, and I don't trust a memo to get the job done quick enough. I'll meet up with you in the main conference room. " That said he turned with a faint rustling of his cloak and headed off to the office of the head Obliviator. Ron was nothing if not trustworthy to get what he'd asked done, his old friend knew him well enough that he'd likely known from the first glance at Harry's face the urgency of the matter. That said Harry didn't feel the need to stay long enough for confirmation from Ron that he'd see to it.

Heading out from the Auror department Harry set off briskly down the main hall, the rooms off of which were all interconnected in some way to the tasks of magical law enforcement. On reaching a door way bearing a plate on the wall beside it that claimed it the Obliviator's department, he turned in and strode through a room much like that of his own department. There were distinct differences though.. Blake liked to keep a close eye on his group, was all about the job.. which was saying something coming from Harry as he wasn't exactly a pushover to work under either. However cutting up when things were slow (not that that had occurred any time in the near past), having personal space in their own cubicles in which to make them selves comfortable, at home.. these were things Harry had always seen as a benefit to the high stress job that was the life of an Auror. They often spent more time at their desks than they did at home with their families after all.. unfortunate, but necessary given the current work load placed on his department as a result of happenings of late.

Blake on the other hand was of the mind that when at work your mind should remain on just that..work.. he wasn't an unfriendly man by any means.. and from what Harry had heard in the general chatter of the ministry population was a very fair wizard to work under. He just simply didn't tolerate some things that Harry might be more inclined to let slide.. but then it wasn't as common for Obliviator's to spend near the hours chained to their desks, figuratively speaking, that the Auror's did. All in all he rather liked the man.. Austin was an Order member and though he wasn't one of the small tight core Harry put his trust in above all others.. a core reserved for the dearest of old friends and those that were his own family.. he wasn't far off the mark from fitting in there. They'd had an easy acquaintance relationship outside of work for years due to the close friendship of two of their children and Blake's work with the Order had proved him an invaluable asset on more than one occasion.

Striding past the rows of polished desks of dark wood.. each with their own open space of carpet around them and a cheery scattering of personal photos aside from the occasional plant on most, he made his way up to an equally open desk in the corner. No walls here.. not even for the boss.. If his current reason for coming hadn't been so pressingly on his mind he might have grinned as the hard ass fairness of the personality of the man he could see sitting behind his desk. Apparently he was having a rather firm discussion with one of his newer Obliviators.. the younger bloke looked anything but pleased.. in fact his expression was flat out sulky and almost reproachful. The jest of the conversation was lost on Harry as he could see Blake's lips moving in tune to a firm lecture and yet no sound reached his ears.. at least then, he afforded those under him some way to save face. Must have a spell in place to block the sound from reaching the room at large. Pausing several yards from Austins desk Harry waited in full view until Blake's eyes had flickered to him, at which point Harry lightly tapped his watch to get the point across that what he had come about was of a rather time sensitive nature.. though the fact that Harry had taken the time to discuss it in person would likely have gotten that point across already. He then stood waiting for the blond man to tie up his conversation and signal him to join them.

[austinblake]

Austin's finger came down pointedly, thudding with force on the report in front of him. His face an angry mask.. " ..I don't care how many of them there were, or what your bloody plans were for the evening! You stay on scene until 'every' memory modification is accounted for!.. it only takes one, just 'one' muggle with enough curiosity to really dig for answers and you'll have brought down a world more work for every department on this level. All just so you could avoid being late for a bloody date! " He snorted .. haven't you ever heard of an owl?? You should have lettered her!.. now we'll have to launch an investigation into the matter.. "

Austin glanced up briefly catching a motion out of the corner of his eye.. only a handful of his Obliviator's were actually in office today, most were out on assignment.. there'd been an epidemic lately of muggles catching sight of everything from 'pegasus' to forked tailed 'mutant dogs'. He was about a wands length away from putting in a written request that the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures re-evaluate how they went about licensing owner ship rights for things such as winged horses and crups. What other excuse could there be for so many failed disillusionment charms other than a lack of responsibility in refreshing them as needed?

His eyes settled on harry for a moment before flitting back to the young man before him. ".. an investigation that will mean more work for 'his' department mostly.. and really he doesn't seem as though he'd be to keen on the added stress at the moment. " He nodded in Harry's direction beyond the kid and the young Obliviator turned a half interested, sour expression in Harry's direction. He stared for a moment before recognition dawned and the color drained ever so slightly from his face.. Giving a quick brief nod the young man hurried from Austins desk and blanched visibly as he cast Harry a quick nod, doing his best not to make eye contact as he hurried by.

A very subtle smirk played over Austin's features in satisfaction as he watched the boys reaction and then he looked back to Harry, waving him up to the desk encouragingly, a grin in place. "Come, please... have a seat.. " It was then that he really took in Harry's expression and recalled that the man had tapped at his watch while waiting. Austin's features crumpled and he himself slouched down into his own chair. A heavy sigh escaping him as he ran both hands over his face in weary preparation and then looked up to meet Harry's eyes again. " Alright.. what's happened now? "

[nicolas]

It was at days like this that Nicolas felt he was back in Hogwarts all over again, just waiting for the class to be over so he could sneak back into the dorms, have some sweets and take a light nap. The only major difference was that now he couldn’t make out any well-thought excuses to get out of work. Which work, was becoming very difficult lately, the Obliviator department had always been busy. But lately things had been even more so than ever, he could hardly remember the last time he had a full night sleep. He loved his job, he liked to be useful and following after his father’s steps to work in the Ministry, even if it wasn’t as an Auror. But his body didn’t seem to agree with him on that matter. Right now he had just finished a nasty job, with mutated animals that had caused more that one muggle and ministry employees distress.

Taking a look at his watch, Nicolas couldn’t help but sight and through his hand in the air in an overreacting manner, he had just missed half his lunch break and he still needed to deal with all the paperwork that came after this missions. For moment he wondered if he could maybe as if alleviators were allowed secretaries, he could use with some help right now. Plus he was sure that his dear sister wouldn’t be too happy with him, after having missed another little meeting with her, it was true that he had been avoiding anything related to the Death eaters lately, something that would probably piss Regulus up. At least he was sure that wouldn’t be new, Regulus had been very cranky later, he still had a hard time understanding the other man.

Having made it to his desk, Nicolas threw himself down, taking little notice of the meeting going on not that far away between his boss and the one and only Harry Potter. He had a few notes roaming around the desk, information about his other work today and other things that he couldn‘t remember having written. Nicolas looked around for a small black bag were he kept some food, he wasn’t going to bother to go down to Diagon Alley with so little time left. Plus he wanted to get his paperwork done, before he was called to another mission. Finally finding it, hidden away, Nicolas picked it up. Looking through it for something that would taste good with the pumpkin juice he was able to grab on his way. Deciding on some muggle pasties, Nicolas began to eat his way into the sweets.

Midway through his third one, he finally took notice of the man talking to his boss, his eyes lingered on the man before he took full notice of who it was. Almost spilling his drink, Nicolas tried to move against his chair, trying to blend into his surrounding. Been around the leader of the Order was not something that made him feel at easy, he had never hurt anyone in his life but he was still a Death Eater, the idea of Harry Potter finding out, only to be judged and taken to Azkaban was not one that he liked to have at the moment.

[ron]

He remembered what it use to be like, right after Hogwarts, when the world was still in chaos and disarray. Harry had went straight on to be an Auror, of course, fighting against the bad guys that had been left behind after Voldemort had disappeared. It would have been noble, he knew, if he too had went straight to being an Auror, because the Ministry could have used all the help it could get to become a better place, and to capture all of those nutters who were still running about. He couldn't say that he was noble, though--he had chickened out on becoming an Auror right then. The fighting, the danger, the injures...He hadn't been ready for that to be his life yet. So he had went in with George to help fix up Weasley Wizard Wheezes, and had worked in a fun job where the only danger was screwing up a potion to make a new product (which was pretty painful).

Now, as Ron sat slumped at his desk, he thought almost longingly of being in the shop with George, watching out for kids who were thinking nicking things and getting quite a few laughs. Instead, he was sitting here, pouring over a case that he was almost positive was going to lead to one more dead end, one more unanswered question or pointless mission that accomplished nothing. He sighed, running a hand through his hair, sending bright red locks everywhere--he needed a haircut. Why hadn't Hermione--Ron sighed again, remembering that his beloved wife wasn't waiting at home to tell him that his hair was too long and to ask how his day had been. She was at school, teaching Arithmancy, far away from him where he couldn't kiss her goodnight.

"Bugger, what am I, a priss?" he muttered to himself, leaning forward to look at the case file on his messy desk again. Ron's eyes skimmed it tiredly, and a small frown creased his face. Hm, maybe this one wasn't pointless. He could certainly see why one of the junior members had asked him to take a look at it--five disappearances in one general area, which happened to be by a dragon reserve up in the northern tip of Scotland. Usually, Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures would look into something like this, except the case didn't show any evidence of dragons getting out. Rather, people got near them...and they might be going in.

Ron rubbed at his eyes, which were itching in exhaustion from his recent lack of sleep, and continued to look over the file, feeling a bit of interest for once in a long while. At least this wasn't some cock and bull story of people missing that led to an affair being uncovered or some stupid shite like that. For all the times he was busy with dealing with Death Eaters, he had twice delt with a case that had nothing to do with anything. It was a bit nice to have a real case to use his mind on. So engrosed was he, sitting up straight at his desk, he didn't even hear Harry coming or notice him, until there was suddenly a memo being tossed in front of the article he was reading.

Lifting his eyes at Harry he raised an eyebrow, but one look at his face, and hearing the first sample of his tone, and he was grabbing the memo off the desk and speed reading it, his heart giving a lurch. He met Harry's orders with a small nod, his face becoming grim and his eyes narrowing as he read through what they were dealing with. "Damn it," he swore, standing up and squishing the memo in his hand. He closed the file he had open and grabbed his cloack, fastening it over his robes and snatching up his wand before hurring out of his cubicle. Harry was long gone, to talk to the Obliviators.

This was at least the fifth time he had heard cases of magical barriers being breached, and he felt a bit guilty for not going to Harry with some other cases that were coming to mind now. He had just thought...how could things that usually sent muggles running off stop working? How was he supposed to know that there might be truth to that muggle death being linked to the fact that it was around a charmed off swamp that held a kelpie? Cursing fluently under his breath, Ron's long strides helped him work his way through the maze of cubicles, arriving at Teddy's almost at once. Asking his neighbors, it was apparent that he wasn't around, and Ron resisted cursing even more. Right, other people then.

He worked his way around, locating a few trusted Aurors that he knew--he even burst into one of the rooms down the hall where a lesson was going on and pulled out a mentor and his trainee. As he led them back towards the department Harry was in he clued them in of what was going on, passing around the memo. Centaurs killing a group of camping muggles, who had found their way into the Forbidden Forest. The worst breach of magic yet, and something that now had Ron wanting to go back his desk and dig out those few files of muggles getting hurt or disappearing around magical sites. Now he had reason to believe that some puny lower Auror wasn't trying to make him explode from pointlessness.

Finally, they arrived at the desks where the Obliviators were supposed to be, although most were gone, probably out doing something. Ron frowned deeply, scrubbing his free hand over his freckled face as he arrived at Rory's father's desk. Harry was up close to him, and Ron firmly instructed the Aurors he had brought to stay put, and moved forward toward his best mate, crossing his arms over his chest, his wand tapping his arm in his agitation at this incident.

"Got some rounded up, Teddy wasn't back from his field work yet," he said in a low voice, unaware of the barrier around Blake's desk. His eyes switched between the two, as he let his arms drop and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I would ask how the bloody hell this happened, but I imagine we wouldn't be all on the case if we knew the answer to that."

[claudia]

The magical world was a mess. There was chaos everywhere, with muggles seeing things that they normally wouldn’t, with Death Eaters managing to make it through the magical barricade of Hogwarts and attack those within and making it known in ways that where better left in nightmares that they planned to stay around for a while, and where was Claudia in all of this? Claudia Antoinette Dawlish, daughter of an Auror and now and Auror herself, but also branded on her left forearm as a Death Eater, the same people she swore to protect the magical world, her world from? While she was making her way back from attending to one of her assignments in Diagon Alley where she had fought with a fellow Death Eater rather convincingly, but had done no major damage to him and had watched, while supposedly incapacitated on the ground, as he escaped. She had to admit that she had enjoyed casting spells at the older and more superior Death Eater.

As Claudia made her way into the office and toward her desk she noticed the bustle. There certainly had been a lot of bustle of late, but the atmosphere just seemed different to Claudia. Immediately her eyes darted to the Head Aurors office and took note that he wasn’t there and then her eyes started searching for Ronald Weasley and she found him scampering around the office rounding up Aurors and sometimes not even Aurors, but those that were still being mentored. She figured he had been told like he was normally told by the ‘famous’ Harry Potter. Round up those you trust and what not. It was something of a common occurrence of late, since the attack on Hogwarts, Claudia didn’t blame them. How could she when she was a Death Eater? It did annoy her though that it was never merit that they went by. How many other really good Aurors were they passing out on simply because they thought them sketchy? Claudia new better then to force her way in. It was doing things like that at the wrong time that could lead you to being found out and an unwanted trip to Azkaban.

So instead of trying to push her way into something that she was obviously not invited to, Claudia continued on her way toward her desk to write up the events that had occurred during the confrontation. Her inquisitive mind was wondering as to what had occurred this time. The night of the attack she had been fully aware as to what the commotion in the Aurors office might be like and she had been more or less correct. Of course just like Bellatrix she had been caught unaware by the fact that Harry Potter had been alerted to what was to occur that night. When the reinforcements had been called in Claudia had come as was her job. Bellatrix had not thought it important for her to attend the whole Malfoy Manor fiasco and had wanted someone with a keen eye to keep watch on what had occurred after the whole fiasco. So Claudia had played her part as was expected of her.

All in all Claudia didn’t know how that information had helped, since Bellatrix was now dead and the person in charge was now her nephew. Claudia didn’t know her standing with the man yet. He had not called upon her for anything, and she was merely being told what to do by his sub-ordinates. For all she knew she wasn’t even being told to do what he wanted her to do, but she didn’t care. If he was anything like his aunt than she didn’t want to see him anytime soon anyhow and she wanted him to stay as far away from Nicolas, her younger brother, for even longer. She still needed to find a way to get him out of the big mess that she had managed to get him in and she was certain that if a Lestrange managed to get their claws into him then there would be no way to get him out. She wasn’t concerned for herself. Her brother’s safety was all that mattered. As she reached her desk she slumped down in her seat and pulled a piece of parchment toward her as she began to write down the events of her assignment.

[.THEODORE REMUS LUPIN !]

Coming to work nowadays was like attending a never ending funeral. A really busy funeral where no one knew what they were supposed to be doing, except that the dead guy was really excellent at being dead.

The morose feeling was nearly tangible as Teddy stepped out of the fireplace, brushing the ashes from his jacket with a distracted hand. The worn, haggard faces that frowned with sunken lips were like Inferi in Auror's clothing; the colleagues Teddy had known and worked with for years now were nearly unrecognizable from stress and tension. Teddy paused for a moment in the annex, turning slowly on the spot as bodies rushed passed him, dead things in pretty robes that hurried to run errands vital to the protection of the wizarding world. One hand was tangled in his blue hair and the other gripped the wand in his pocket with a tenacity contradictory to the exhaustion he felt. But still the bodies kept moving, paying Teddy no heed as he stood lingering in doorways and stairwells on his way back to Auror's office, where paperwork had to be filled out for his latest field work. Still the eyes were shifting with stress, still the lips were drawn tight from nerves.

One foot after another Teddy made his way to his cubical, where he tiredly removed his jacket and tossed it on the back of his chair. A quick glance to the photos plastering one wall made his heart pang for Victoire--when had he even seen her last? Things were so busy now, and Teddy didn't have to opt for overtime anymore. It was nearly mandatory with the current set of crises, and Teddy longed for the lazy days that weren't considered wasted if they'd never gotten out of bed. He frowned a little at the longing he felt, but soon the noises of the office flooded his memory-plugged ears.Teddy had to get back to work.

He sat at his desk and pulled a few sheets toward him, readying his quill to start filling out forms. He couldn't focus. Twice he dipped his quill in the ink bottle and blackened his fingers with the ink by accident, but he kept looking up and getting distracted. Where was everyone? A quick scan showed that only the rookies were left in the office, and there weren't very many of those at that. Ron's desk across the way was empty, and Teddy could only assume Harry was long gone. Memos that floated around the ceiling circled the room, looking for their subjects' hands to fly into, but hardly a flapping note dove into one cubical or other as was commonplace and expected at this time of day. A few landed on Teddy's desk, but they were relatively unimportant in comparison to this mystery.

The dark circles that were now almost a permanent feature on Teddy's face ringed the tired eyes that searched the lonely office. Teddy stepped carefully to one inhabited cubical, peering over the edges of others for any clues as the where they could have gone. "Claudia..." Teddy said slowly, still looking curiously. "Where... is everyone?" If there was something important going on, shouldn't he know? Wouldn't they tell him? Teddy was hardly a terrific Auror by any means, but he had certain connections that made it a little more vital that he should know what was going on. Was the Order up to something? Suddenly it became very important to know what was happening, damned be his tired body. He was alert now, and nervous, and with every movement of Claudia's hands across the page Teddy grew more tense. "What's going on?"

[headauror]

Harry frowned as the younger man hurried past him casting a rather nervous look his way. Sighing a bit as he watched the bloke scurry off back to his desk, he then turned his attention to Austin again and moved forward to the other mans desk. " You know, I don't know what you said to that kid but I wish you'd not use me as a scare tactic Austin. Trying to down play the whole 'fame' rubbish and all that goes with it.. my family you know? He gave the other man a pointed look before shaking his head at the offered chair. "This won't take long.. the Minister has sent me a memo direct from him requesting our presence in his main conference room. Something... unsettling... has happened in the forbidden forest. " Harry watched as the mans eyes widened and he was quick to clarify his words.. " This wasn't anywhere near the schools boarder so there's no need to worry, I'm sure your daughters fine. Others however aren't. Apparently the defenses set in place have some how fallen and a muggle family was daft enough to go camping in a forest they knew nothing of. The.."

Harry paused in his speech as Ron stepped up to the desk. " Ron.. " Giving him a brief nod he continued, his gaze drifting between the two. " ...The memo didn't contribute much beyond that other than to state that the family had been attacked by centaur's. Which is an oddity in it's self.. because they just don't attack people without a reason.. they really just want to be left alone to live their lives.. " He mentally scoffed as the words left his mouth..that was something he found it rather easy to relate to. "So I'm not sure exactly what we'll be walking into.. I'm assuming anything more that's known the minister will fill us in on. Your lot will likely be needed though, Austin, if.. " Harry blanched as the alternative.. a situation in which there would be no need of the Obliviators crossed his mind and he sighed heavily. " ..if.. we're lucky... So gather up those you think you'll need and meet us at the conference room will you?"

Turning he motioned for Ron to join him. The rest of the Auror group falling into step behind them.. most faces set with grave concern.. one youthful bloke, a trainee, wore an expression lit up with excitement and curiosity. He was young though.. this was probably his first time out in the field.. he'd get past the glamor and settle into the reality of things soon enough. Harry kept his voice low as he conversed with Ron while they walked. " Don't really know much more than you on the details mate.. you read the whole of the memo just as I did, we'll have to wait and see what the Minister's got to say. " Reaching the conference room He entered and gave a respectful nod to the man waiting to address them. Moving over to the large table stretching the center of the room he pulled out a chair, and took a seat knowing the others would do like wise on his and Ron's example. Once settled his gaze swept over the table, which held only a leafless branch of all things.. and then focused his attention on the minister. Kingsley nodded to him in way of greeting, his features set in a grimly thoughtful mask, but otherwise he didn't speak. Waiting for everyone to arrive of course, Harry thought. His own bright green gaze took in the whole of the room.. roaming to the door on occasion while he waited along with the rest for the meeting to get under way.

[austinblake]

Austin shrugged at Harry's less than thrilled comment on the reaction of the young Obliviator. A small smirk working onto his face as he glanced beyond Harry after the kid and then centered his attention on the man before him again. " Hey, I didn't even mention your name.. just pointed out a simple truth, that's all. That kids disregard for his work needs to stop.. and if having him fret over just ' who ' might end up over worked and unhappy because of it gets the point across, well... " All the mirth died from his expression and it became quite chalky as Harry refused the offer of a seat and dove right into conversation. The mans mention of the forbidden forest and something that had transpired there had his heart in a cold grasp for a moment.. Aurora.. his daughter wasn't exactly known for staying out of mischief. His fears were quickly extinguished however as Harry apparently realized the results of his choice of wording and was quick to follow them with reassurances. Breathing out a silent sigh of relief, he focused as the man continued to speak.

Muggles in the forbidden forest? The place didn't exactly look warm and inviting from any of its boarders. Even with the wards down, which was unbelievable in its self, that a muggle could be daft enough to lead his family into its depths for a cozy weekend of camping.. well,.. it didn't do much to back his own beliefs that given the chance, muggles could come to not only understand but accept the magical world. He nodded in way of greeting as Ron stepped up to the desk, his attention quickly returning to Harry and his continued stream of information. Just wanted to be left alone.. right, well the muggles had lummoxed that
with the first toe they'd placed in the forest. He nodded as Harry finished and watched as the two men left his desk, followed by the other Aurors as they headed out of the department. Sighing he plucked his wand from the top of his desk and scanned the desks that spread out through the room. Two were still occupied. That daft fool he'd just been getting on to and Nicolas Dawlish who appeared to be trying his best to melt into his chair as the group of Aurors moved past his desk.. Sighing he rolled his eyes a bit and thought.. subtle kid.. subtle.

Nick was a unique case. Austin was aware the kid was a marked death eater.. he was also aware that he was still actively working for them..not simply a spy in their midst. But he was also certain through years of knowing the kid that Nicks heart was better than the lot in life he'd been drug into. The young fellow was the closest thing to a best friend Austin could valch for having.. though in a sense he had taken on more of a mentor/fatherly roll to the boy. He'd come into Austins department years before as a fresh and new Obliviator and had since worked his way up to being one of the best Austin had working under him. The man had a level of compassion that no one with the true drive of a villain could possess. This coming from an over protective father who'd seen Nick joke and play with Auror and the twins.. doting on them as any big brother would. He simply knew that with enough guidance and direction the boy would eventually come to realize he was playing chaser for the wrong team.

As for the other member of his staff, a glance at which showed the kid impatiently glancing at his watch and huffing sighs as he worked to correct the report they'd had words over. Austin was being to doubt the kid would work out as an Obliviator at all. He knew the spells.. knew the protocol.. but the dedication necessary just wasn't there, and to hell if he'd be taking someone who'd do a half arse job out on something this delicate. Just he and Nick.. the family couldn't have been that large..surly the two of them could handle it. Striding around his desk he headed over to Nicolas and rapped his knuckles lightly on the younger mans desk.. " Lets go Nick.. work to do. There's been an incident in the Forbidden Forest and we've a few nightmares to remove. " That said he waited for Nick to gain his feet and then headed off to the Ministers conference room. Once there he slipped in to the first vacant chair he found available that had a free one next to it for Nick to make use of and settled in for whatever they were about to be told.

[claudia]

Claudia hardly paid any mind to anything in the office as her hand furiously went back and forth across the page. There wasn’t much to pay attention to anyhow. The people left in the office were unimportant, merely those being mentored, in training to become those that protected the magical world from all dangers. Not only that, but the Aurors of late were like the dead walking. They didn’t seem to know anything except for the fact that it was their job to ensure safety. Day in and day out you saw Aurors come in from their assignments looking like death and it wasn’t a phase that passed, it merely got worse. Claudia had wondered if somehow because this was what they were mimicking constantly they would one day just find themselves attending to their job in ghostly from like Professor Binns, the professor of History at Magic at Hogwarts. He attended class day in and day out walking through the walls from his room to his class without the knowledge that he was dead. Was this to be the future of her fellow Aurors? Perhaps, perhaps not, Claudia just concentrated on ensuring that that was not what became of her.

When the voice of Teddy Lupin reached her ears she hardly recognised it. It seemed so different to what was to be considered normal for Teddy. So it was not without reason that she ignored it at first. It wasn’t like she knew where everyone anyhow, she was only assuming and certainly if her assumptions were correct than the likes of Teddy Lupin would not be wondering around his desk but close on the coat tails of his godfather. It was however impossible to ignore his question again when she heard the alert and tenseness that it seemed to be lined with. Immediately she stopped with her report and looked up to face an almost unrecognisable Teddy. She was certain that if it wasn’t for his shockingly blue hair that oddly seemed to work for him, she would have merely considered him one of her walking dead compatriots and nothing more. However as it stood Teddy Lupin was more significant than her other Inferi like compatriots.

The tiniest of smirks grew on her face before she bothered to reply. “Is that what passes as a greeting these days. I am well aware that the world as we know it seems to be crumbling in around us, but I believe that our manners should never be forgotten Theodore.” Claudia addressed him by his fully name instead of what he was recognised by to get across the importance of what she was saying, even if she was only having a go at the boy it was without a doubt that Claudia had lined some truth into what she had said, considering that she held being well-mannered in the highest regard. She then gazed around the almost completely empty office before her gaze returned to Teddy. “If you happen to be referring to the almost cleared out office and the urgency hanging in the air, I have not the foggiest idea about what is a foot.” Placing her quill on the table she continued, “I came back to this atmosphere from my own assignment, but I did notice Ronald Weasley rounding up a couple of bodies before he headed out the door. I can only imagine what might have happened that he was forced to pull quite a few rookies of the floor as well.”

Claudia eyed Teddy as she started wondering what seeds her words had planted in his head and which faces came to his mind first. She was certain that his new wife would be somewhere on the forefront if not the first, but who would come in second? Perhaps Albus Potter, his godfather youngest son. Heaven knew that it seemed that boy was more than capable of getting himself into royal messes more often than not. Perhaps it was the younger brood, Lily Potter and Hugo Weasley. Perhaps his mind wouldn’t even consider his loved ones first but the faces of those that could possibly be causing any anguish to his loved ones and all those witches and wizards that he had sworn to protect. Claudia knew he was a good kid and for the most part she didn’t have any problems with him. He reminded her slightly of her brother. He was around Nicolas’ age if she remembered correctly, but his life was almost on its way to being perfect being married and she was certain working on extending his own family, where her brother’s was heading in a totally different direction thanks to her.

So lost in thought Claudia almost missed Harry walking back into the office followed closely by Ronald and the hoard of Aurors and rookies that Ronald had been able to round up make their way into the conference room. “Well if you want to know what’s going on you could always follow that,” Claudia continued pointing out Harry, Ron and the rest to Teddy.

[nicolas]

(oh snap, scorp posted, lets kill him for taking him so long )

Nicolas was doing his best on keeping his head down, dark locks of hair hiding his face from anyone that walked by his desk. It was still a difficult job, his desk was only a few feet away from that of Austin, were all of the current talk was taking place. He was able to take a glimpse of Ronald Weasley, another Auror as he made his way to Harry and Austin. Right behind him another group of Aurors followed. He didn’t had to be a genius to know that something big was happening. He just hoped that he wasn’t going to dragged into whatever it was, something inside of him was just yelling trouble. The only thing that made him feel slightly better was the slight hope that Regulus could not be part of this trouble.

He did his best to ignore the fact that Regulus was not so trusting and could be working behind cover. That thought would only ruin his current hopes. To close himself from what was happening around him, Nicolas focuses all of his attention on the paper work he was supposed to be completed. After what to him appeared to be hours, the Aurors began to retreat. He continued to look down, hoping that he would be ignored. Of course his luck wasn’t that good and soon after everyone had left, Austin appeared over his desk. Nicolas sighted to himself, mentally applauding himself on his fantastic technique to keep out of people’s way. Really like it had ever worked before.

Nicolas looked over at Austin. The mention of the Forbidden Forest threw a questioning look to his face. Austin fortunately was already on his way, not taking notice of it. Without a word, he too moved from his desk and followed the older man. Nicolas was having a hard time understand how could something happen in the Forbidden Forest, it was true that it gave home to a few dangerous creatures. But for most of the time they kept from themselves, only attacking if they felt someone was trespassing into their territory. Not even the students in Hogwarts would get in far enough to encounter any of this dangerous creatures, those who dared to enter only went far enough to come across a few small beast and a few centaurs.

He decided that this wasn’t a good time to throw his questions, the right time would come soon. The Aurors would probably explain to everyone what had happened. When he noti9ced to what room they were going, a cold shill ran down his spine. He could not remember ever coming here, they only used it for important meetings. What ever happened was really something big, Regulus passed his mind but he moved the thought to the back of his head. Trusting or not Regulus was a proud Death Eater, he would love to brag to everyone if he was planning something big. It was just like him to do that, no matter what they would have know. Nicolas knew he was lying to himself, but he had been doing that for a while now. It wasn’t something new, it at least made him feel less guilty about the work he was forced to do.

As he made his way across the Auror headquarters he caught a glimpse of his sister. Smiling slightly he waved, hoping to catch her attention. It had been a while since he had really spoken with her. Both Aurors and Obliviators had been working their feet out, they hardly got any rest anymore. It was a bit of a surprise if they actually came across each other anymore. But he still loved talking with his sister, she was one pf the people he was closest to even in their differences. After all he had joined a cause he didn’t believe in just for her, Claudia had good in her, he knew that. She just needed someone there to give her a hand and even if he had to follow Regulus around and end up in Azkaban he would never torn his back to her.

Returned his attention to the situation before him, Nicolas finally made his way to a seat next to Austin. It was time to learn what was going on, hoping that it would help calm the uneasy feeling on the pit of his stomach.