The Flower and the Badger

Chapter 14

Warning Animal Abuse

That following Monday, Anna woke up early so that she could get ready for her first day of internship at the Ministry of Magic. She showered, opting to use her strawberry scented shampoo, which just so happened to be her favorite. She dried her hair, and she used a curling iron so that her red locks hung in loose ringlets. 

She put on a knee-length blue pencil skirt and a white blouse. She took one last look in the mirror before going downstairs, where Remus and Sirius were making breakfast together. Anna was so nervous about the day ahead that she couldn't eat anything.

"You're going to do fine." Remus said, trying to soothe the girl, who was now pacing around the kitchen.

"What if he doesn't like me?" Anna fretted. "What if I'm the worst intern that he's ever had?"

"Considering that you're the first intern Dimitri's ever had, I don't think that's going to be a problem."

"What if I make a complete fool of myself?" Merlin's beard, she was starting to sound like Hermione during finals.

"Just make sure you keep that covered." Sirius pointed to Anna's clothed forearm, where the Dark Mark laid. "His parents were killed by Death Eaters, so needless to say, he hates the very air that they breathe."

Great, yet another thing for her to stress out about. 

"Not helping, Pad." Remus muttered before placing his hands on her shoulders. "Anna, you're going to be fine. I wouldn't have written to Dimitri if I didn't think that you would be able to handle it."

Anna nodded as she took a deep breath. Remus was  right, she had this.

After breakfast, Remus and Anna left for the Ministry. Dimitri Bianchi was of Italian descent, and Lord was he a looker. Anna found herself blushing darkly as she shook his hand. Dimitri seemed to be in his late twenties, maybe early thirties. It was a damn good thing that Cedric wasn't here, because he would most definitely be feeling jealous.

"Remus told me a lot about you." Dimitri said. "He said that you have some experience with Hippogriffs?"

"Yes sir, in my third year at Hogwarts, the Gamekeeper had a Hippogriff that I would help care for."

"Splendid, Hippogriffs are wonderful creatures, wouldn't you agree?"

"Oh, yes." Anna nodded her head. "They're among my favorites, along with Crups. I actually have a pet Crup named Cody, and my boyfriend Cedric has a Niffler named Christopher."

Dimitri grinned brightly. "That's Amos' boy, isn't it?"

"Yes sir, it is."

"Oh, quit with the sir, it makes me feel old. Feel free to call me Dimitri."

Remus chuckled softly. "It seems that you're in capable hands, so I'm going to take my leave."

"Don't worry about picking her up." Dimitri told Remus. "I'll bring her home once we've finished for the day."

"Oh no, it's alright, I have some business in the city later." Remus assured him. The last thing that they needed was for Dimitri to come to Grimmauld Place and discover Sirius. Remus hugged Anna. "See you tonight." 

"Yeah, see you." 

Once Remus had left, Anna followed Dimitri to his desk. There were papers scattered everywhere in what he deemed to be an 'organized mess'. Anna had the feeling that the two of them would get along just fine.

"So what happens first?" Anna asked him.

"Well, I handle the mistreatment of magical creatures, so if anyone is suspicious of a person mistreating or abusing their magical pets, then I go in and investigate. If I do find that the creatures have been abused, then I take them out of the care of their owners and try to find better homes for them."

"Where do you keep the animals?"

Dimitri grinned at her. "Follow me."

Dimitri led her to a pair of sliding glass doors. Once the doors slid open, Anna was greeted with the cries of Fwoopers, Crups, Nifflers and Augureys, plus more that she didn't yet recognize.

"This is where we keep all of the animals that we confiscate." Dimitri had to shout just to be heard. "Each creature has its own pen, and the room magically expands as need be. Once the animals have been confiscated, I make a report along with a suggestion of punishment for the owners and I send it to the Wizengamot."

They walked out of the room, and the deafening noise in Anna's ears decreased majorly. When they returned to Dimitri's desk, there was a letter waiting for him.

"Perfect, our first case of the day." Dimitri opened the letter and began to read it. "It would seem that Miss Amanda White thinks that her neighbor is mistreating his Hippogriff. Away to Devon we go."

Amanda White was a middle-aged woman with thinning brown hair and a pointed nose. Dimitri knocked on her door and she answered almost immediately. "Are you the man that the Ministry decided to send?"

"Yes, I work in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. I'm Dimitri Bianchi, and this is my assistant, Anna Potter. Now, from what I read in  your letter, you believe that your neighbor, Lawrence Montgomery, is mistreating his Hippogriff?"

"Yes, on one occasion I saw it limping, and on another it seemed to have an injured wing."

Anna suspected that Amanda White was a very nosy witch, although perhaps in this case, that was a good thing. They went next door, and Dimitri told Anna to check on the Hippogriff's condition while he questioned the owner. Anna found the Hippogriff chained in the backyard. The Hippogriff squawked when it saw Anna and backed up, as though afraid that she might hurt him. Anna bowed, and there was a moment of hesitation before the Hippogriff bowed in return. As Anna approached him, she noticed a burn mark on one of his hind legs, as though he had been branded at one time or another. He did indeed have an injured wing, and it hung limply at his side. There was no doubt about it, the creature had indeed been abused. It made Anna's blood boil to think about someone harming such an innocent creature like this one. Anna hadn't known Dimitri for very long, but he seemed like a just man, and she thought that he would do whatever possible to make sure that justice was served, and if he didn't, than Anna would.