My Godfather

Chapter XLIII: The Quidditch Match

"Two bodies, both male, middle-aged. Broken bones, probably because of the Cruciatus. Followed by a Killing Curse." The scribe scribbled all this down rapidly as Regulus rattled off his observations.

Last night, Borgin and Burke were murdered in their own shop.

The place was thrashed. The two counters were upturned, drawers and shelves had been ransacked, the glass doors of the cabinets and the entrance were shattered.

It was a mess.

The shop's assistant, Eric Runcorn was talking to the Aurors. He was about seventeen and the boy was thoroughly frightened of being next in line.

"I don't know what happened, sirs." He kept saying that line every two minutes. "I asked Mr. Burke for the evening off and he agreed but said that I had to be early the next day. This morning, I showed up and this is how they were."

"Well, judging by the state of the place, I'm guessing the attacker was searching for something."

"She didn't find it."

"She?" Regulus looked at him questioningly. "You think this was Bellatrix?"

"It's quite obvious, really. Borgin and Burke are– were the dealers of Dark objects. No one would come in here unless they meant business. Hell, even the other shopkeepers seem to hate the shop."

"It could have been someone who had a bone to pick with the blokes. They weren't the most respectable lot, were they?"

"True. But look at the bodies. Closely. Recognize the spell work? The Cruciatus Curse was used meticulously. Now, there's only one person I know to possess this particularly vile skill. The other one is dead. This was Bella, Regulus."

Sirius' points were correct. Both victims had been tortured almost systematically before being put out of their misery.

This was undoubtedly the work of their deranged cousin.

"She was looking for the locket, wasn't she?"

******

"Minister, are you certain that this is wise? The last time you voiced this idea to Auror Black, he... disapproved." An advisor nervously fiddled with his tie, recalling exactly what had happened the last time.

Fudge scoffed pompously and reached for another biscuit. "The situation has changed now, Wilden. We have a killer on the loose. The sooner she's arrested, the better. We need to take action now before she lets loose. I suppose you're too young to remember the kind of terror Lestrange had caused in the past."

"But what about Auror Black?"

Fudge squirmed in his seat, suddenly uneasy. When Black found out, he would be livid, there was no doubt about that. But, as Minister for Magic, it was his duty to act. Besides, with the elections so close, he couldn't afford to lose any influence.

"We'll deal with him later. Right now, put this into motion." While some of the advisors approved of the plan, other more sensible ones were against it.

Sending dementors to Hogwarts especially after Black had expressed his disagreement very clearly was a suicide mission. The minister was too thick skilled and pig headed to see that. As Black had mentioned, Fudge didn't know what it was like to be trapped between dementors. None of them did.