The FBI's Secret Involvement

Jade had been so shocked and upset at finding out Sean´s true identity that she never got dressed that day. Even though she had suspected a false cover, she hadn´t expected Sirius Black!

Jade scanned page after page of criminal record on GMSS´s database. Twelve innocent bystanders were killed when he attacked one wizard. Now Jade remembered. Sirius Black betrayed the Potters to Voldemort. Peter Pettigrew attempted to avenge their deaths, but Black used his dark powers and killed him along with a street full of muggles. Then four years ago, the news of his escape from Azkaban rocked the magical world. But since America forces weren´t really affected, this information faded away from their worries. Only now did she remember that no other man had ever escaped. She printed out the copy of his photo and in a daze, she scribbled a few of her thoughts on the photo´s margins.

She continued to read his file. `According to a Ministry official, Black had been speaking in his sleep prior to his escape. He kept saying "He´s at Hogwarts....He´s at Hogwarts..." A little known fact is, Black was appointed Harry Potter´s godfather. The Ministry caught Black a year later at Hogwarts, where he had confunded young Potter into thinking he was innocent. Oddly enough, Black escaped for a second time. The Ministry´s opinion was Black, believed to be insane, thought by killing Potter, You-Know-Who would return.´

"Whoa," Jade breathed. She sat stunned a moment, letting this info sink in. The Famous Harry Potter, whom had saved the world from the evil clutches of Voldemort, had the fugitive Black for a godfather who had basically killed his parents.

But something didn´t make sense. If Black was going to kill Harry Potter, why mess with making the boy believe him innocent? Why not just curse him and be done with it? She scribbled the note on her printout `Harry Potter´s godfather. Supposedly tried to kill him three years ago.´

Jade then remembered his alias, Sean Potter. That was one sick, and rather bold, calling card to use. Call yourself the name of your best friend that you betrayed and the name of your godson that you hope to kill.

Immediately after making her discovery, she sent Kori with an urgent letter to be mailed to the Daily Prophet archives. She requested copies of the newspaper for the first two weeks of November from sixteen years ago and July issues from four years ago. She hoped, without revealing all her cards, to gain first hand info of his crime and escape.

Only after sending Kori on her way did she realize she should alert the Ministry at once about this wanted Death Eater hiding next door. He was far more dangerous than the Flints ever could be. But somehow she found herself more curious about him and longed to keep the mystery to herself for the moment than feeling the necessity to be a good girl and turn him in.

Although she was curious, that didn´t stop her from being utterly repulsed. How many families had he ripped apart when he massacred thirteen people? Had he even cared?

But Jade felt even more disgusted that she had been attracted to him! Imagine, a proud FBI agent acting coy and playful with a mass murderer! That doesn´t happen outside of Hollywood!

She was too strong to allow herself to feel betrayed and misled. Jade had only known him a week, that´s hardly time enough to get to know someone. `That charismatic personality is only a front hiding his true, dark self,´ she thought. `Typical. All hot men are asses.´

Jade was lost in her musings when Kori bounded through her special doggie window entrance over the fire escape. The dog had a leather pouch strapped on her back. She yipped enthusiastically at Jade.

The agent hastily opened the pouch and pulled out a stack of papers. They were yellowed with age and had worn edges.

Jade acted like a child on Christmas, spreading out her loot of new gifts around her as she curled up on the sofa. Although there were many periodicals to work through, Jade scanned and skimmed through the stacks quickly looking for key clues.

She began to scan through the copies from sixteen years ago. Bold headlines rang out "The Potters Killed!" and "The Fall of the Dark Lord." She skimmed the articles but most of the details were already part of the legend every wizard and witch knew.

Jade turned the pages and at the end of a section, a title read "No Clues at the Destroyed DC School. Memorial Service at Noon on Sat." She winced and flipped the page closed violently.

There was a large cover story on the November 4th issue devoted to the brave young wizard who had gallantly stood up to Black but had been killed by the fugitive Death Eater. The funeral tribute would be held the following day and his mother would receive the Order of Merlin in his name. A small photo showed the smiling plump young man.

Jade felt the waves of deja vu wash over her. Just as she had felt certain about seeing Black beforehand, without making the connection to Sean, she now believed that little Peter Pettigrew looked like someone, too. But that was impossible because Peter died at the hands of Sirius sixteen years ago. Jade dismissed this ridiculous idea almost immediately as resulting from stress and fatigue.

Besides the sugary tribute to Pettigrew and his picture, near the bottom of the page, there was a photo that had escaped her earlier notice. It was a picture of four teenage boys, all smiling with carefree ease at the camera. Being a wizard picture, they were animated, blinking and waving ceaselessly. The caption read `Pettigrew´s School Friends: (left to right) Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, James Potter and Sirius Black.´

`Was Black already planning his friends´ murders when this picture was taken?´ she wondered.

Jade finished flipping through the stack of newspapers but all the excitement of the Potters, the Dark Lord, and the massacre of the thirteen people diminished rapidly. Only short-recapping stories concluded the spectacular events of so long ago and the last few issues had little to no mention of Sirius at all.

The agent was puzzled. It sounded as if Black was already imprisoned in Azkaban. But there was not a single word about his trial or defense. He couldn´t have been shipped off to prison without a trial, could he?

Jade remembered as a small child overhearing her parents talking late at night after Starboy had returned from a visit to Azkaban. Normally so steady and calm, her father had trembled and stuttered when he spoke of "that hell on Earth." He described evil creatures called Dementors that gave her nightmares for a week. No one, except perhaps Voldemort and Lucifer, deserved Azkaban, Starboy had adamantly declared and Jade trusted his judgment unquestioningly.

She grabbed the photo again and added new notes to the margins. `Was he even given a trial? It seems he was shipped straight off to Azkaban. I guess, guilty until proven innocent in this case.´ And then, as almost an afterthought, she hastily marked `No one deserves Azkaban.´

`But why the hell hadn´t he been found by the Ministry yet?!´ Jade wondered and scribbled the question down on her photo printout of him. He certainly had some nerve getting an apartment without even worrying about being caught. It would serve him right if the Ministry happened to show up at his door and shoot out a million spells at him.

Spells......that triggered a question in her mind. Traditionally, the Priori Incantatem spell was placed on the confiscated wand to reveal the previous charm or curse it had caused. In Sirius´s case, it would show the curse that blew-up the street. But no where in any of the newspaper articles was this mentioned. A shred of doubt was forming in Jade´s brain. She added another note about the Priori Incantatem, or lack thereof, to her printout.

Jade was exhausted. It had been almost 36 hours since she had had a good night´s rest and her body was screaming with fatigue. The confusion of her new DE neighbor could wait until tomorrow, she decided. Sirius Black would still be there. Jade headed to bed groggily.

The agent kicked off her slippers and pulled her comforter up to her shoulders. But she hadn´t been lying there for more than five minutes when her eyes burst open and she sat up right, the covers slipping down around her waist. She sprang out of bed and raced to her tape from Marcus Flint´s conversation with the unknown informer the night before. Had it only been the night before?! To Jade, it felt like eons ago.

She pulled the earphones on and rewound the tape to the point the mystery man started talking to Flint.

"He wants this message sent to your team members regarding the next assignment," the new voice squeaked.

"Sirius Black! But he´s wanted by the Ministry. It´s not like a true Auror almost caught you."

"This is not good news. He´s worse than any Auror."

Jade rubbed her eyes and stopped the tape. She had forgotten this part of their conversation and it now hit her upside the head like a two-by-four.

The Death Eaters flat out said Sirius Black was not one of them. That he was `worse than any Auror´ to the DEs.

She wanted to scream, she was so confused. Nothing was clinking in her mind anymore but instead, whirled and spun around in a big blob.

Jade stood up brusquely and stomped across the den to her bedroom´s doorway. She angrily slammed her fist against the frame and snarled out loud to no one in particular, "I´m going to bed!!"

Kori raised her head and quizzically cocked it to one side at Jade´s peculiar display, before she returned to the squeaky toy she was chewing.

~*~

The next morning, she clicked on the mail icon and viewed the newly received note, RE: URGENT!

It felt like opening up a ring box and finding an engagement ring, only with a disturbing excitement in place of sheer bliss. She was going to look straight in on Voldemort´s plans! And this gave Jade a tangible exhilaration.

It read:

The Others

might know...

No longer

Eve´s Hallow.

Artemis forgets

In the ninth.

Girl of Maize

And Chocolate.

Park and Hide.

2230.

With Daughter of Foe,

Return to Riddle.

Blood Will Flow.

`Jade, here´s the translation of your email. It was in Old English, such as Beowulf was originally written in. Our translators, though fluent in almost every modern language, had to seek help in the Eng Dept at Georgetown Uni! Sadly, Vold seems to take every precaution, hiding his message in a riddle as well as an ancient dialect. I hope you can make some sense of this and if I can help you in any other way, let me know. Russell.´

"Damn." Jade groaned, feeling her bubble burst.

Kori nuzzled her hand, not understanding the content of the email, but knowing `Damn´ wasn´t a good sign.

Jade kept rereading the riddled code. Kori worried about her and grabbed her sleeve gently, tugging her to the apartment´s door. Besides, the dog wanted her walk! The agent followed, in a daze, never taking her eyes off the printed out email.

They went to the park, a couple of blocks from their apartment. Jade spread out her jacket on the damp grass and sat cross-legged upon it, chucking the gooey tennis ball to her large puppy.

Sirius Black had been completely driven from her mind. Voldemort and his hellish plans (whatever those might be) were a far higher priority.

It was mid August and Jade worried about how much time she had before Voldemort did something drastic. Unfortunately, Jade didn´t have the slightest idea what that drastic plan was. But the tone of the note bestowed a sense of urgency and dread in Jade.

`Blood Will Flow.´

That couldn´t be good.

~*~

The sun began to set. It had been hours since the agent and dog first came to the park. Kori lay dozing in the grass while Jade continually read and reread the email.

She had figured out, as far as she could tell, the first and last lines, at least. `The Others might know...´ she was fairly certain referred to the Aurors. The Aurors might know what, was the question, though. `Blood will flow.´ That just gave her chills. It also imparted a strong sense of importance and fear of what could be planned.

Even though the day was pleasant, Jade shivered. `Blood Will Flow.´ Damn.

"Oh Voldie, dammit, you couldn´t make my life a little easier, could you?" she grumbled angrily to herself.

But the rest of the message was just bizarre. `Girl of Maize´? What the hell was that? `In the ninth?´ It wasn´t referring to baseball and its ninth inning, was it? `Artemis forgets?´ Was that a negligent Death Eater? Wizards did have weird Latin based names, after all.

Kori had gotten up and was standing anxiously beside Jade. The agent finally looked up and noticed in shock, how late it was. The last purple streaks of the sunset were fading while the first stars began to twinkle.

"C´mon, Kori, let´s head back," Jade said, picking up her jacket.

They hadn´t gone more than a block when Kori stopped in her tracks. Her hackles began to raise and her body tensed. Jade followed the dog´s line of sight.

They were in a depressed side of the city, it was growing dark and the street was deserted. Jade felt her own body tense with alertness and precaution. She wasn´t in the mood to have to mess with gangs, muggers or the like. She knew Kori was capable of scaring most creeps away, when she went on attack, but the glock Jade had holstered as always around her ankle added a bit more confidence.

In the shadows on the other side of the street, something was scurrying into the alley, hunched over like the bell ringer of Notre Dame. A few seconds later, a tall man marched up the street from the opposite direction and followed the first into the alley. Just before he turned, the yellow glow from the street lamp, reflected off of his white- blonde hair and chiseled Icelandic features.

Jade´s curiosity was in full drive. "Stay Kori," she commanded her pet in a firm whisper. Kori, although unwilling, heeded her request and sat guarding the alley from the shadows at the safe distance.

The agent casually walked down the street a ways before doubling back to the alley the two figures had disappeared onto.

The buildings on both sides appeared to be deserted. They were old, nondescript, three-story constructions with all their windows boarded up. The front stoops were sagged and weathered, posted notes condemning the building were stapled to the walls.

On the opposite side of the alley, a fire escape ladder clung to the building. Jade stealthily leapt up to the first floor landing and continued up as silently as possible to the third one.

The two men were on the other side, in the alley. She walked to the edge of the black iron landing and was able to look around to the backside of the dilapidated building.

There were three broad windows that ran across the width of the third floor. Each had a thick window ledge covered in dried pigeon droppings. About three feet of space separated each window. The roof´s ledge overhung about seven feet above the windowsills.

Without thinking, Jade swung herself over the side of the fire escape railing and reached her leg around the corner. Her foot hit the solid brick window ledge. With her arms clinging onto the roof´s gutter and her stomach pressed against the wall, she shifted her weight unto the ledge and swung her other leg around the building.

Jade thought, "Well, that wasn´t too bad. Thank God for long legs!"

Working with remarkable speed, Jade balanced along the windowsills, grasping the roof with her hands above her head. When she reached the first gap, however, her courage ebbed away.

"What the hell have I gotten myself into?!" she thought, staring straight down three stories. Slowly, controlling her breathing, she threw one leg forward and straddled the gulf. She then pulled the other leg across to join the first.

It only took about two more minutes to reach the far side of the building and overlook the alley.

It was pitch black. Jade couldn´t be seen from the alley, but she also couldn´t see much below her, as she clung to the side of the building. But the darkness didn´t swallow the voices that drifted up to her perch.

"Well, Pettigrew, this better be highly important to drag me away from my evening at home into this filthy muggle neighborhood," a cold voice sneered.

"His Lordship wanted to make sure we weren´t overheard, Mr. Malfoy, sir," a trembling voice sputtered. Jade assumed it belonged to the squatty figure. Where had she heard that voice before? And Malfoy! Jade vividly recognized that name out of the DE file. "There aren´t even homeless muggles here, sir; I checked already."

"That´s about all you´re good for, isn´t it, Wormtail?"

There was a pause before the squeaky voice answered, "Mr. Malfoy, His Lordship is concerned about the Aurors being informed of the Ritual. He doesn´t want to risk their interfering in his plans. They might ruin everything for the Dark Lord!"

"What are you implying, Pettigrew?" the cold, calculating drawl responded.

"His Lordship wants you and your team to....to disable the Aurors. The rewards for you would be great, the Dark Lord promised."

Another pause.

"When is their next meeting?" came the curt reply.

"Tomorrow evening, 6 pm."

"Tell His Lordship it shall be done."

Jade was trying to absorb every word spoken. She didn´t even realize she was holding her breath as her heart hammered in her chest.

There came a snap and pop, echoing off the walls out of the darkness. One of the figures had disapparated.

The other started to grumble under his breath. Jade couldn´t pick up on any of his words though. Carefully, she leaned around the corner and peered below into the shadows.

The squatty man, with his cloak swishing quietly, was headed back out of the alley. The pale light from the street lamps silhouetted him.

Suddenly, a stray cat jumped onto the fence at the back of the alley, three floors under Jade´s feet. It gave a lonesome meow, calling for more company.

The sound had startled the smaller DE and he had whipped around to see its cause. The yellow glow played across his round face and glistened on his sweaty, baldhead. His eyes shifted nervously and his chest rose and fell rapidly as he neared hyperventilation. Even his sharp, narrow nose seemed to twitch as if sniffing the night air in fear. Not a second later, he had disapparated.

Realization dawned immediately on the agent. Her held breath exploded out of her lips. There was Mr. Rat again.

What happened next, took place in the span of seconds.

In her surprise at seeing Mr. Rat, her foot slipped. She had been precariously balanced as was, and now all her support was left in her hands that clung to the roof´s edge. She hung from the roof, three stories above the ground.

Jade wildly looked for a foot hold, but a sickening crack sounded above her. The rotting gutter snapped under her weight.

Her eyes widened in disbelief and fear; her jaw fell open in a silent scream.

She fell.

~*~

Across the street, Kori´s ears pricked forward as she heard the loud thunk and crash echo out from the alley. The Newfie abandoned her post and galloped across the deserted street.

Jade had fallen luckily into a large open dumpster. The bags of trash broke her fall and saved her life. Although not a cushy landing, Jade had never been so thankful for garbage before.

Kori raced up to the dumpster where she heard a low moan. With her head pounding and a bruised body, Jade slowly stood up and looked over the rim. There was a burning throb in her left wrist. Jade glanced at her already swollen arm and groaned.

When she had fallen, her arm had smashed into the side of the solid, metal dumpster. A snap, like a gun backfire had sounded. Jade´s left wrist was broken.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" she angrily cursed through gritted teeth. She closed her eyes tightly and forced away the tears.

Kori `woofed´ sympathetically. Jade moved to the side of the dumpster, holding her injured arm to her chest. Methodically, she leaned against the edge onto her stomach and swung one leg over. Then the other leg. She balanced on her abs, holding with her good arm, and pushed off backwards. She landed off centered and toppled ungracefully into a heap on the littered ground. Four lettered words ran loose in place of tears.

The dog nuzzled her hair gently and sniffed at the wrist Jade cradled.

Through the intense pain, Jade´s senses returned slightly and she fished out a scrap piece of paper and pen from her pocket. She scribbled a note barely legible. "Death Eaters plan `to disable the Aurors´ at their next meeting, `tomorrow evening, 6 pm,´ according to a couple DEs in an alley. Good Luck!"

With her trembling good hand, she gave the note to Kori. "You know the drill, Kori. Send this to alert the Ministry. Go!" She pushed her pet forward. Kori just looked at her worriedly.

"Go!" she shouted again. This time the dog loped out of the alley, note clenched between her teeth.