Carnival of Dark and Dangerous Creatures

A/N: Thanks again to Zarathustra and SortingHat47 for their help, corrections, and suggestions. I couldn't have done this without them!

Chapter 3: Interrogation

Wednesday, May 22, 1985

Remus' trip back to London proved two things. Firstly, if something is going to go wrong, it will. Secondly, whatever is going to go wrong will do so at the time when you really, really need it to go right.

He had intended to leave Greece in the early evening; but then he heard of the Alatza clan's plans for a formal dinner at a cousin's house that evening. Alesia had volunteered to stay home with Dominic and Isabelle, as well as two other small Alatzas, and her generosity had been well received -- especially since everyone thought the young British tutor would not be there to distract her.

He knew he would be cutting things close by staying to eat a late starlit dinner for two with Alesia after the children had eaten and been chased off to play, but his desire to lick her fingers clean of the sauce from the Soutsoukakia was too much to be ignored. When he finally left, it was fully dark.

Unfortunately, because of the lateness of the hour, that meant that several public Floo-registered fireplaces were closed. And, worse, the Floos that were open weren't open to any Floos in Britain. At the Floos that he did reach, which were usually in pubs and taverns, it took several minutes of arguing and debating with at least two or three half-drunken idiots--in any language other than English--as to the best way to continue through Albania and Croatia, over to Italy, Switzerland, and then on into France. And that didn't include the discussions about Macedonia and Austria and other points in between.

He tried Apparating as much as he could, but he could only do so much when he was tired; not to mention he had no idea where to Apparate to. With splinching an ever-increasing concern, he continued his quest for open Floos all through the continent. When he finally reached Calais, the sun was rising. He thought about waiting for the ferry, but dared himself into attempting something rather stupid. After all, he had Apparated from London to Blackpool a few times, and from Hogsmeade to London -- why couldn't he Apparate from Calais to Dover? It wasn't that far... "Don't think about splinching your idiotic, knackered self," he thought, closing his eyes and trying to find a last reserve of strength for the jump.

Miraculously, he made it to Dover in one piece. Or at least all the important pieces were there. After pausing at a small café for a quick breakfast, he found a Floo that would take him from Dover to London. He decided to take the time to stop at the Alatzas' to change into jeans, his favourite T-shirt, and leather jacket before heading to the Ministry. It was bad enough to be a werewolf during these inspections, and one wearing wizard's robes seemed to get even more grief. Remus was definitely not ready to bring any extra attention to himself today. Get in, get out is the plan, he thought, pulling on a pair of leather boots that ended just above his ankles. Not probable, he knew, but he could hope.

None of the Werewolf Registry personnel were there yet, but four other werewolves were sitting outside the door already waiting. He lowered himself to the floor next to the others, leaned his head back against the wall, and closed his eyes with weariness.

"Too bloody good to talk to us," mumbled one of the other men.

"Too bloody tired," Remus contradicted him gently without opening his eyes.

"Out howling at the moon last night?" another asked. The others snickered.

Remus smiled. "No. I was travelling. Took me hours to get here."

"Ooh, on holiday, were you?" There was no disguising the slightly nasty edge to the first man's question.

"As a matter of fact, no. It was a sort of -- business trip."

"How about that? 'A business trip.'"

"What kind of business?" the teenager sitting next to Remus asked.

Remus couldn't help smirking. "Business involving a beautiful Greek girl who knows how to make me howl."

The other men laughed in appreciation, and he felt the tension in the air dissolve. It was the same thing every time. Don't get too serious, don't act superior, and never let the others know you have a job.

"I need to be running with you, then, mate," the boy next to Remus decided. "Name's Ronnie Marclay."

The young teacher opened his eyes, and reached to shake hands with Ronnie. "Remus Lupin."

"I think I've heard o' you," the second man said slowly, his eyes narrowed.

"Probably nothing good," Remus commented with a sigh.

He sat quietly, listening to the conversations between the other men. There were the usual complaints about not being able to find work or keep a flat; though the second man, Davey, had recently found work at the docks with the Muggles. "They don't mind none if you miss a night or two. They all do, some point or 'nother. Drinkin', you know."

Two more men shuffled down the hall, along with a woman who had obviously been walking the streets for longer than Remus cared to think about. The woman sat next to Remus, and the cheap perfume she wore nearly made him gag. For the sake of keeping his breakfast down, he turned quickly to Ronnie and asked him questions about his family.

Talking to Ronnie passed the time until the first two Ministry workers came down the hallway. They stepped around the werewolves seated against the walls, barely keeping their sneers to themselves.

"I hate these things," Ronnie whispered, his eyes dropping when one of the Ministry workers looked down at him.

"How many have you been to?" Remus asked in the same quiet tone; he had refused to lower his eyes.

"This is my third. How about you?"

"Gods, you don't even want to know," Remus replied with a dry chuckle.

"Does it get any easier?" Ronnie asked.

Remus hesitated, and then shrugged. "Parts of it do."

"Which parts?"

Before Remus could answer, another Ministry employee came down the hallway. "All right, you lot, let's get you in this room down the hall here, so that no one is tripping over you."

They were escorted into a room two doors down which obviously served as a kind of meeting room, judging by the long mahogany table and the twelve chairs surrounding it. The Ministry worker transfigured the large table into a smaller table and conjured two more chairs. "Someone will be in with some forms. You can start filling them out while you wait."

"What time is it?" Ronnie asked Remus as they each picked up a chair and moved it against the wall.

"I'm not certain, but it's probably around nine." Remus raised an eyebrow at him. "Why? Have a girl waiting for you?"

"My appointment is set for nine," Ronnie said. "I was hoping to get in and out of here fairly quick."

"Mate, after doing this for two years already, you should know it's never that easy, and it's certainly never that quick," Remus told him. "They count how many registered werewolves there are, and then they divide that number by five, for the five days of the week. Then they draw lots or something to determine what day you're supposed to show up. They," he waved an impatient hand at the wall in the direction of the Registry Office, "schedule half of them for nine, the other half for two, and then pick and choose what order to take you. They might take you according to how soon you got here, or by alphabetical order, or if you're wearing the right colour trousers."

Ronnie looked confused, then absolutely worried. "I don't remember it being that way before."

"Oh, trust me. It was," Remus muttered.

Jane, from Werewolf Services, suddenly came barging through the door, her arms filled with papers. She let them cascade onto the table, and then conjured a cup full of Muggle pens. "All right, everyone. The interview teams are here, and the healers are on their way, so we're going to get started. Everyone will need to fill out Forms thirty-one A, ninety-six B, and ninety-seven A. After that, you can just hand them to me, and I'll let them know you're ready. So, if you please..." She started sorting through the papers, stacking the required forms so that it was easier for everyone to pick up the three that they needed.

Remus received a smile from Jane when he approached the table. "There you are! I thought you were going to reschedule?"

"I thought better of it," he told her.

"How do you like Greece?" she asked. She sounded wistful.

Remus thought of Alesia. "It's wonderful."

"Good," Jane said. It looked as if she was going to say something else, but was distracted by the female werewolf. "No, no, honey. You have two of the Form ninety-six Bs. You need one of these..."

Remus grabbed a pen and headed back to his chair, where Ronnie was staring at the Muggle writing implement with wonder. "How does it work?" he asked.

"Like this." Remus reached over and clicked the button on the top. "Now you write."

Ronnie eyed it suspiciously. "Where's the ink?"

"It's in a little tube inside." He started to write with his own pen, knowing that Ronnie was watching him carefully. "They're easier to use than quills. I'm surprised the Ministry didn't use them before this."

Ronnie clicked the pen several times before finally putting the tip to the paper. He stopped often to marvel at the black letters that appeared as if by magic. "I've never had to finish these forms on my own before," Ronnie admitted, once the novelty of the pen wore off and he started concentrating on the actual questions. "My dad was always with me before. Because I wasn't seventeen yet."

"Welcome to the adult world of lycanthropy," Remus wanted to say. Instead, he said, "I remember the first time I had to do this without my parents. Just think of it this way: you do it on your own this year, next year you'll know you survived it once, and you can do it again."

Ronnie regarded him with wide brown eyes. "You know, I hadn't thought of it that way. Thanks."

Surprisingly enough, Ronnie was the second one that they called. Remus wished him luck as he nervously followed Jane out of the room.

"You shouldn't have lied to the boy," came a voice from Remus' right. He turned his head slightly and saw the man who had been accused him of being too good for the others. "Telling him it'll be better next year." The man made a scoffing sound. "It's never better the next year. They keep changing the bloody rules and regulations."

"And does it help us to know that?" Remus asked. "No. We still come in every year, hoping things will be a little better, a little more organized, a little more fair. It never is. Why destroy what hope is left?"

"All hope was gone the moment we got bit," the other man said. "I don't expect it to be better the next year. And I saw your face when you were feeding him that shit. You don't believe it either."

Remus considered his words carefully before he spoke. "Maybe that's true. But we all need something to get through this whole bloody thing, and if hope is all he has, then I'll feed it to him. If hatred or anger or resentment, or even resignation, gets us through it, then we'll take it however we can."

"You sound as if you're fucking Socrates or something."

"What can I say?" Remus shrugged. "It gets me through."

The man stared at him for a moment, and then finally chuckled. "Guess I can consider myself told." He sat back in his chair, ready to ignore Remus all over again.

Two more werewolves were called out. Several others had come in, and they heard the same speech from Jane that the rest had heard before. Three more women were now in the room; one of them looked to be in her fifties. Remus stood up and offered her his chair, and grinned at her surprise. He settled on the floor beside her, leaning back against the wall, long legs crossed at the ankles. This was actually more comfortable than the chair, he thought, letting his eyes close and his mind drift. Alesia was foremost in his mind, and he devoted his thoughts to her and her soft, silky skin, and her dark auburn hair....

"Remus Lupin."

The voice tore through his dream, and the fragments melted. He blinked rapidly to bring his eyes into focus. Hennessey was standing in the door, smiling in a way that brought Remus to full awareness immediately. He hurriedly started to rise, but only got to his knees before Hennessey levelled a wand at him. "Stay, wolf!"

Two men wearing Werewolf Capture Unit badges pushed past Hennessey, their wands already drawn.

Remus couldn't have drawn a breath if he wanted to. His father's voice reverberated in his head...

"Remus, if the Capture Unit would ever come for you --"

His mother had cried out, "No, John, don't! He's too young! He's only eleven!"

"He has to know this. Remus, your life could depend on this --"

And so Remus did exactly as his father told him to do all those years ago after watching some Muggle television show. He stayed on his knees and held his hands slightly out to the side, palms out so they could see there was nothing in them.

The people on either side of him scrambled to get as far from him as possible. No one screamed or protested; they had all seen this before. The best thing to do was just distance yourself from the one the Capture Unit had declared guilty, and breathe a sigh of relief that it wasn't you this time.

"Remus J. Lupin, you are accused of violating the Werewolf Code of Conduct, Article three, Section one, Subsection c, and are to be taken in for questioning."

His heart was thumping so loudly, he found it amazing that he actually could hear what the man was saying. Still, he was not going to let the bastards see that he was frightened. And he wasn't so scared that he wasn't able to rapidly sort through his options. "I have the right to ask for someone to speak for me," he said as calmly as he could.

The two men wearing Capture Unit badges were now on either side of him. "Will you come willingly?" the one asked harshly. Hennessey was now only a few feet away, looking down on him with an evil grin as if he was just waiting for Remus to say or do the wrong thing.

"Yes," Remus replied, swallowing hard. "But, I would like --"

Hennessey snarled, "It doesn't matter what you like, wolf." He inflicted the last word with as much venom as he could.

"I do still have a right or two left," Remus snapped. "Regardless of what you might think. Or want, for that matter."

That was very definitely a mistake.

*******

10:24 a.m.

He came to with a gasp, feeling the sting of a Rennervation spell. It brought him to full consciousness, but there was a terrible disorienting moment when he couldn't place where he was or why he was there. It was a small room with only a small table along the wall to his right, and the door to his left. He was sitting uncomfortably in a wooden straight-legged chair with his arms bound behind him. There was a chill in the air, and he realized they had removed his jacket. Two other chairs were in front of him, though only one was occupied by a man in Ministry robes. The sight of a WCU badge on those robes brought everything back to him in a rush. And then he felt the burning around his wrists that told him they had chained him in silver.

The man sitting in the chair spoke. "Now, Lupin, if you're ready to be cooperative --"

He clenched his teeth to keep from saying that he had never been uncooperative.

"You are accused of violating Article three, Section one, Subsection c, stating that all werewolves must notify the Ministry when they plan to travel to another country outside the Ministry's jurisdiction, and must have two plans in place for full moon transformations. Witnesses say you recently travelled to Greece, on the fourteenth of May, to be precise, and had no secondary arrangements made. How do you plead?"

"I'm not pleading anything," Remus said, casting a sidelong glance at a wizard who had moved into his peripheral vision on his left. "I'm not on trial. And I'm not answering any questions until I have someone here to speak for me."

"In certain circumstances, a werewolf's rights can be revoked if he is considered hostile or uncooperative," snapped the first WCU goon. "You're not being very cooperative, are you?"

"I'm not being uncooperative," Remus countered. "I just want --"

"You're in no position to ask for anything," the second Ministry idiot, the one standing on Remus' left, said. "Now. Did you, or did you not, leave the country without secondary arrangements in place?"

"Yes, but there..." Remus was interrupted almost right away by someone behind him.

"So you admit that you broke Ministry law by --"

"I'm not admitting anything."

"You just said that you left the country without secondary arrangements in place." The man was wearing something that was new leather. By the overwhelming scent, it had to be something big, like a coat.

He tried to turn his head to look at the man. "I was told that -- OW!" He couldn't stop the exclamation from escaping; he hadn't expected to be cuffed on the side of the head as if he were a first-year who had just given McGonagall lip. Not that she would have cuffed him -- she would have assigned him detention. Something like cleaning the Transfiguration classroom floor with a toothbrush, or some such thing.

"Were you notified of Subsection c before you left the country?"

"Look, I came in to fill out the paperwork. I was then told about it, which was a surprise to me."

"Watch your tone, Lupin."

A muscle in Remus' jaw twitched as he fought not to say the words he was actually thinking. Instead, he said, enunciating every word carefully, "My primary arrangements have always been enough up to this point. The Services worker took that into consideration and told me that I could use someone from the Ministry to validate that my primary arrangements would be sufficient. I suggested Alastor Moody. He came down, we discussed it, he signed, I left. Everyone at Services thought it would be acceptable. I went over to Registry and did the same thing, though they didn't ask me about secondary arrangements."

"What do you mean, they didn't ask about secondary arrangements?" demanded the man to his left, who had badly pitted skin, as if from a cauldron explosion.

"What do you think I mean? I said exactly what I meant. They asked how I was going to provide for the full moon. They asked if I could have Pindar Alatza send a letter verifying all the information I gave them. He did. But at no point did they ask me what my secondary arrangements were."

"Did you fill out Revised Form twenty A there?"

"I don't know what the bloody form's number was. I just filled it out."

"Is this the form?"

The man behind him handed something to the man to the left, who then held it up for Remus to see. The werewolf scanned it quickly. "It looks... Wait. No, that isn't it. That isn't the form I filled out in Registry. That is the form I filled out in Services. The one in Registry didn't have the bottom part."

"Why did you go to both offices?" the man sitting in front of him suddenly asked. "You only have to go to Registry to do it."

"Because it seems to change every bloody time," Remus explained impatiently. "I was trying to save myself the hassle of getting arrested for not going to the right office in the first place."

"You would have saved yourself a lot of hassle if you had filled out the right damned forms."

"Well, if your people would have handed me the right damned forms in the first place, we wouldn't be having this discussion!" Remus snarled, leaning forward. The silver chains were suddenly twisted tighter around his wrists, and he gasped involuntarily at the fire that blazed through his arms.

"If you can't control your temper, Lupin, we'll resort to harsher restraints," warned the leather-wearing man behind him. His breath was hot on Remus' neck.

"I think that's what he wants," said the scarred man, his lips twisted in a smile.

"I have the right to ask for someone to be here if I'm being questioned," Remus said hoarsely, suddenly remembering that fact again and thinking it might be a good thing. "In fact, according to the Werewolf Code of Conduct, I am required to have someone here."

"You're going to quote the Code to us?" the man in front of him asked in disbelief.

Remus took a deep breath. Losing his temper would not help his situation, which was not improving anyhow, not even the tiniest bit. Still, there seemed to be nothing he could say that would not anger them further. "I would not presume to do such a thing," he began. "I am merely pointing out that, as a werewolf, my word means nothing unless I have someone to speak for me."

"And who will you request? Dumbledore? Moody?" the man sneered.

"Either one will suffice," Remus replied calmly.

"You think either one of them has time for someone like you?"

Remus shrugged. "I can hope."

The man behind him made a harrumphing sound and then said, "Gentlemen -- a word?"

They went out of the room. Remus turned his head to see who the man behind him was: long leather coat, just as he thought.

There was a sickening lurch in his stomach as he realized it was Carmichael.

Now what? Just for something to do, he twisted his wrists within the bindings. Definitely too tight to slip over his wrists, even as bony as they were. The burning was deepening. Remus closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the top of the chair. He took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself. There was obviously no way out of this unless they let him go. Pindar Alatza was not going to be happy. Neither would Alesia.

The door opened, and another Ministry worker entered, along with Carmichael. The werewolf hunter again moved to stand behind him. Remus suddenly wondered if the man had a silver dagger in his sleeve. He couldn't help the shudder that went through him. He thought he heard Carmichael give an amused snort.

"Mr Lupin, my name is Mortimer Higgins. I understand there is a problem."

"So they say," Remus said cautiously.

"You left the country without having secondary arrangements in place?"

"I did, but --"

"Well, then, what is the problem? Obviously, you've broken the Code, and Ministry Law."

Remus tried to forestall this whole conversation with the only argument he could think of, and to his way of thinking, the most degrading. Still, it had chased the Ministry workers out of the room earlier.... "Mr Higgins, with all due respect, the Werewolf Code of Conduct requires that I have someone here to speak and act for me. Someone fully human, that is."

"I know that, Mr Lupin." Higgins obviously didn't appreciate the fact that Remus brought that up. "I was hoping that we could clear this up without having to trouble anyone else."

"I'm sure it would be no trouble --"

Remus felt the chains twist into his arms, and he hissed at the surprise of it. "You don't seem to understand, Lupin," Carmichael said calmly into his ear. "We're not calling anybody for you. You're going to answer whatever questions we ask, and that's all there is to it. Understood?"

The werewolf glared at Higgins. "I've done nothing to deserve this."

"You're going to have to let us be the judge of that, won't you? After all, you've been Stunned once by a Ministry worker. There are some that might say you've given us plenty of reasons to have deserved worse."

Remus had always known when it was better to submit than to fight. He didn't like it, but what choice did he have? Something in his expression must have pleased Higgins, because the man smiled.

"Now that you've decided to cooperate, Mr Lupin..." I haven't decided to cooperate; I'm being forced to capitulate. "Maybe you can tell me why you decided to leave the country knowing you were in violation of Section one of Article three."

"I didn't know I was in violation --"

Higgins waved a hand dismissively. "Semantics, Mr Lupin."

"But that seems to be the problem," Remus began, trying to move his forearms so that the silver wasn't resting in the same place.

Carmichael grumbled something, and the younger man tensed.

Higgins shook his head slightly. "Alright, Mr Lupin, why don't you tell me then why you did not know you were in violation of the law?"

The werewolf sighed. "I was told by the Ministry --"

"Who in the Ministry?"

He knew Jane's signature was all over the documents, but it wasn't going to be he who mentioned it. "Whoever it was that helped me fill out the forms." He shifted his shoulders to work out a kink that was beginning to develop.

"What was her name?"

Oh, hell, they knew, but Remus had never been one to be a tell-tale. "I don't remember."

"You know we'll find out."

Remus shrugged. "Find out, then." The kink screamed at him not to shrug again.

The man jerked his head up and gave a sharp look at Carmichael over Remus' head. The younger man braced himself for more pain. Nothing happened. Slowly Higgins lowered his eyes until he was looking at the werewolf again. "Did the Ministry worker tell you about Article three, Section one?"

"The one in Services did, yes, but not --"

"You left the country without secondary arrangements, Mr Lupin. It seems quite clear to me -- and everyone else, I might add -- that you deliberately --"

"I was told," Remus said slowly, patiently, "that if I got a Ministry worker to vouch for me, I could satisfy the requirements." He shifted in his seat. "When I got to Greece, though, I did talk to their Ministry about my lycanthropy, and they gave me information about where I could transform if my original arrangements didn't work out."

"Why didn't you talk to someone in the Greek Ministry before you left? Why didn't you just owl them, and get them to fill out the necessary forms?"

"I've never been known for doing what's obvious," Remus muttered.

"What was that?"

The young man shook his head. "It didn't seem that obvious at the time. I came in to fill out the forms. The secondary arrangements thing surprised me. I didn't know how long it would take to get any kind of response from the Greek Ministry, and frankly, I couldn't take another day off from my employer to come back here to fill out more forms. I was given the option of using a Ministry worker to vouch for me. I asked Alastor Moody, and he agreed." He shrugged. "I thought everything was settled." No doubt about it: the ache in his shoulder was definitely becoming more painful. He sucked in a deep breath, trying not to react to what was becoming agony in his wrists.

"Except for the fact that you left the country with the full knowledge that you were in violation."

"No," Remus objected. "It was not with full knowledge. When a Ministry worker tells me that I can do something, I tend to question it. When two Ministry workers, one of them a veteran Auror, tell me I can do something, I tend to believe it."

Higgins shook his head slowly. "You should have known, Mr Lupin --"

"Known what?" The kink was now officially a cramp, and was not comfortable by any stretch of the imagination.

"Mr Moody is a well-respected Auror, but he is not the leading authority of the Werewolf Code."

"But Aurors have to know the current laws and provisions and whatnot, don't they?" Remus asked, raising his eyebrows in a questioning manner. "Otherwise, how would they know who to arrest and all?"

"Mr Lupin, there is no reason for that attitude."

"I haven't even begun to give you attitude," Remus said. He would have crossed his arms across his chest at that point, but seeing as they were still fastened behind him...

"Told you he was uncooperative," Carmichael growled.

"I resent that," Remus protested, glancing over his shoulder. "I've answered all of your bloo-- questions."

"But your tone, Mr Lupin, is not -- conducive," Higgins said firmly.

"Forgive the bloody hell out of me, then," Remus snapped. James would have laughed, but told him to be cautious. Peter would have squeaked and told him to be quiet. Sirius would have cheered and told him -- no. Don't think about what Sirius would have said.

Damn, his shoulder was cramped, and his wrists were on fire...

Carmichael stepped into his peripheral vision. "When's the last time you were in Bristol, Lupin?"

Remus' breath caught in his throat. He knew where this was heading. He remembered Moody's comment about a man being attacked in Bristol. He remembered his own thoughts about werewolf hunters needing to be creative in their accusations. Carmichael was a top werewolf hunter; he was, more than likely, very creative. "I haven't been to Bristol since I was fifteen or so. Why?"

"What's your wolf pelt like?"

"What's that got to do with me leaving the country?" countered Remus. Pain was forgotten with the onset of bone-chilling fear.

The two other men exchanged glances and Higgins took over again. "A man was attacked in Bristol this past full moon. We wonder if maybe you knew anything about it."

"Considering I was locked in a shed outside Reading during the last full moon, I rather doubt it was me."

"Who can verify you were there?"

Remus had had enough of this. He was tired and frightened, his shoulders hurt, and his wrists were burned -- to the bone by the feel of it. "Well, I suppose no one can. Pindar Alatza locked me up into the damned shed and came back in the morning to let me out. I have no recollection of him coming to get me, because I was a little bit unconscious at the time, due to my damned self-inflicted injuries. Though, of course, maybe the man in bloody Bristol scratched and bit me trying to bloody defend himself."

He was starting to enjoy the look of shock and disbelief on Higgins' face. "I really have no bloody way of knowing, and I doubt very seriously that Mr Alatza stood outside the shed all night, since he has a lovely wife and family at home. I guess anything he might tell you would be of no bloody help to you. So, if you're going to fucking arrest and execute me for attacking someone, then for Merlin's sake, get it over with already. If not, let's continue this bloody ridiculous discussion about my leaving the country --"

Higgins nodded suddenly, and Remus was yanked to his feet. His arms and the chains snagged on the back of the chair, scraping the flesh of his forearms and making the chains dig in deeper. He gritted his teeth, determined not to make a sound. Gryffindor pride, he thought. Too bad his Gryffindor knees wouldn't support him: he staggered into Carmichael.

The werewolf hunter shoved him against the wall and raised his wand.

"Oh, shit," Remus sighed.