The Boy Who Lived

Madame Gide Again

'Do we know for certain it's Finch-Fletchley's signature on the paperwork?' Harry asked.

'Yep. First of all, it was him that took the paperwork down, told them you wanted him to go in person because of the sensitivity to the request and didn't want paperwork like that going missing. The office clerk was very vague about the facts and I get the feeling the paperwork was buried, that's why it took so long to dig out. Second, when I pointed out that it wasn't, indeed, your actual signature, all shit kicked off. Bosses were called in and someone from the Department of Mysteries was called up: the Unspeakable did some weird-shit spell, and the letters unravelled and re-spelt themselves as Triple-F's name. So, no doubt. He tried to forge your signature, albeit badly.'

'Cocky shit!'

'Yep. The clerk's been sacked and escorted from the premises.'

'Might they go straight to Triple-F?'

'No, they've been temporarily re-located to Germany until the case is closed, if they try to make contact with anyone other than their handler they go straight to Azkaban.'

'Shit!'

Neville shrugged, 'part of the work contract when in that department.'

'Shit!'

'Yep. So, I stopped them sending out an arrest warrant on Triple-F. I've let them know he's already under investigation. They want a part of it, of course, so Talbott Cholmondeley from P.M.P. has been assigned to the case. I've also been doing some cross referencing with any vigilante attacks post the date of these requests...'

'And?'

'They tie up, every attack has been against someone on these lists, none have been outside the names written down here.'

'So, he's targeting Voldemort's inner circle of Death-Eaters?'

'Looks like it.'

'Nev, this is great, call the others in, including Talbott. I'll ask Robards to come in too. Time for a full team meeting.'

The team's room was packed, not just with Harry and his team, but Kingsley, Robards, Hermione, Talbott, and Bill Weasley were also in attendance.

Harry summarised the case to date. Starting with the three fires and Draco's rescue; then going through the names of the five definite suspects who were arrested at the Malfoy London House which were up on their case board. He detailed their missing wands; their release; the meeting initiated by Triple-F (Harry didn't explain the code name and no one asked, though he was sure Robards's started to flush slightly on his neck); their blood status; the use of the pseudonyms; the finding of other deceased wizards bearing the same names as Dickens's fictitious characters (the flush definitely crept up Robards's neck to his cheeks); Mundungus and the stolen wand; closing with Neville's latest news regarding the request and the links between it and other attacks in the last fourteen months.

'Right,' said Angelina, 'I can add to this that Maximus Barnaby, Guy Maupassant, Edward Pierce, and Deidre Rotherham have all received sporadic payments amounting to something in the region of 200 galleons each time, glancing through now, it would appear that each payment occurs a matter of days after each attack. Triple-F is fucking loaded so it's a pebble in the ocean for him, however, it hasn't come from his Gringott's account and I left Bill,' she nodded to Bill Weasley, 'tracking that one. All four suspects have had minor fracas with the D.M.L.E. in the past but nothing major, you know, drunk and disorderly's, shop-lifting, gambling debts, and the like. They all profile as being bitter and twisted at the upper classes and Purebloods for one reason or another. All were broke until fifteen months ago: both Maupassant and Barnaby had repossession orders on their houses which were suddenly dropped and Rotherham had taken a job in a strip club which she quit two weeks in, Pierce had a G.M.H. charge against a Muggle dropped after the victim disappeared. It's possible that Triple-F specifically targeted people in vulnerable positions and then bought their loyalty for the tasks ahead.'