The Day After Tomorrow

A MANDATE

34 - A MANDATE

"WE can do this the easy way or the hard way Mr Fletcher, the choice is ultimately up to you." Said Dawlish curtly as he stared down at the sole survivor of the hooded figures from the Malfoy Manor attack. The rest of them had been blasted to bits by the same people they'd tried to kill.

Mundungus let out an undignified snort, rubbing at his nose absently. "Don't you have any original lines?"

"I beg your pardon?" Dawlish's eyes flashed a stunned expression at Harrison beside him, who gave him a subtle shrug.

"I'm just saying if you're trying to intimidate someone properly, you should try being more creative." Mundungus smirked, this time peering down at his dirty nails.

Something in Dawlish bristled, strangely insulted like this man had questioned his ability to be an effective auror. He had to fight to sound professional. "I assure you Mr Fletcher, that my originality is the least of your problems." He let the words hang in the air, a warning and saw to his pleasure, Mundungus wilt visibly in his chair. Being a good auror wasn't about what you said, thought Dawlish smugly, but how you said it.

"Well then." Things appeared a lot less amusing when the auror put it like that thought Mundungus.

Dawlish let his lips tilt into the smallest of grins. "Well then."

It was Harrison who spoke next, his tone a stubborn cutting thing in the tension of the room. "Mr Fletcher you were caught attacking a private estate -."

"Of Death Eaters." Interrupted Mundungus quickly, his tone indignant.

Harrison tried to be patient. "Yes, that's been established, though some of them have since been reformed -."

"Reformed?" Mundungus' face was the picture of disgust, his expression twisted into something bitter and cold. "That's thick, what do you suppose they were all doing there, canoodling with the likes of Bellatrix and Avery." When neither auror responded, he carried on, his words a sneer. "Having tea, is that what you thought? The lot of you are daft idiots, thinking it's possible to reform a Death Eater. What rubbish."

"That is a separate issue Mr Fletcher and shall be investigated and addressed accordingly-." Began Harrison, leaning forward across the desk to scan the face of the accused. He looked sleezy with small bloodshot eyes and a deeply furrowed brow like he was in a perpetual state of disapproval. In all cases, Harrison would have found him too petty to be of consequence. But he was their biggest lead since this whole string of attacks had begun, this was the closest they'd come to closing in on the truth.

"Accordingly?" Repeated Mundungus letting out a rough grating chuckle that echoed about the smooth walls of the processing room. "Listen to yourselves, do you actually do anything here or is it all just sitting on you lazy asses all days using fancy words pretending you're actually doing something."

"What we are discussing now is your actions, your involvement in the attack on Malfoy Manor and the identities of your accomplices." Ground out Harrison through his teeth. He felt close to blowing up in this little man's face.

Dawlish glanced from his college to Mundungus' face, feeling dismayed. They were steps away from knowing something that could change everything and yet it felt like they were oceans away. He drew in a deep calming breath. "Mr Fletcher, the fact that your targets were Death Eaters does not erase the fact that you attacked a private estate. The casualties you caused alone with your accomplices are enough to get you sentenced to a lifetime in Azkaban, let alone the obvious connections to previous target attacks."

He was switching tactics, appealing to Mundungus' sense of self-preservation seemed like it might yield more results than the empty warnings they'd tried. This would be a delicate dance of push and pull, of threats tied up in a neat bow of charm and charisma.