Blood of Mud, Wing of Bat

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Chapter 24: A Flurry of Wings

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Mr. Duncan,

This is an emergency! Please send reinforcement for the B.U.M.M.E.R. squad on the scene at Batwing Alchemical and Pharmaceutical. We have one Auror down and one missing. Situation critical.

Betty-Francine Dogwater
Director, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Magical Animals

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Rudy,

Drop what you're doing and head over to Batwing immediately. The Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures apparently tried to take on Malfoy with less than pleasant results. We're looking at one missing Auror and one injured, both from the department of B.U.M.M.E.R. I'll be sending along some backup for you as well. Get the situation under control then let me know what happened. Thanks.

Daschel Duncan
Supervisor, Special Ops

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Mrs. Dogwater,

I have dispatched a crack advance-team and four backup teams to Batwing to deal with the problem. Will update you as I find out more.

Daschel Duncan
Supervisor, Auror Special Operations

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Daschel,

Bad news. Just as we arrived, Malfoy Apparated somewhere taking Hermione Weasley with him. Get me that destination ASAP!

The office is a wreck. There's a broken window, debris all over the floor, and three wands lying about (enclosed… please return IDs ASAP). No sign of the missing B.U.M.M.E.R. Auror. We're going to check around here for a bit then head over to the SPCMA. I'm told the injured Auror is there. He might have some more information we can use. Keep me posted if you find anything out on your end.

Rudeo Nesbitt
Special Ops

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Rudy,

I just had Jackson re-send the tail end of Malfoy's Apparition records and it shows no further Apparitions on his part since you confiscated his wands yesterday. Either he's using someone else's wand to Apparate - and we still have no solid proof he can actually do that - or that Jackson witch is jerking me around. Damn it, I thought we had her on board!

Regarding the three wands you sent over, we have identified them as belonging to B.U.M.M.E.R. Auror Beretta Sue Bangor, B.U.M.M.E.R. Auror Charles Bendover Jr., and Salazar Lucius Malfoy. I have enclosed the transcripts of the Priors we performed on them.

See what you can do on your end and we'll keep working on this. I'm afraid it's not looking good for Mrs. Weasley at this point - it's going to take quite a while to locate her if we can't trust the Apparition records. I only hope that Mole #1 is correct and Malfoy needs her too badly to harm her seriously.

Daschel Duncan
Supervisor, Special Ops

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Daschel,

Hold everything! You may owe Jackson an apology. Malfoy's definitely not using his own wand. We got a hold of one of his house-elves and questioned her, and it turns out he hadn't signed the paperwork and gotten his wands back from Weasley yet at the time all this happened. In fact, I think I saw her carrying the evidence bags just as she disappeared. I'll have to check back when I get a chance.

Also, we found a woman out in the waiting area who says Malfoy took her wand sometime yesterday and has been using it to Apparate with. Tell Apparition Enforcement to run the search on Gina White instead. Get a 24 hour record. If she's telling the truth, and is willing to testify, we finally have the proof that he can and does Apparate using other people's wands. That makes it a sure bet we'll get approval for the new restraint charm once his license is revoked.

We're done here. I'm leaving two alarm wards and two backup teams in case he turns up again. Heading over to the SPCMA now.

Rudeo Nesbitt
Special Ops

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Rudy,

You're not going to believe this, but Jackson just sent us Gina White's complete Apparition record and guess what - White doesn't have an Apparition license at all! In fact the record begins with three failures of the licensing test some years ago, and then there are absolutely no further records until the last twenty-four hours when there have been a flurry of 30 Apparitions. Two of them, the first and the last, were to Malfoy Manor.

And we do have precedent - from the Farnborough trial - showing that the Manor's wards ordinarily prevent a non-Malfoy from Apparating there. We've got him now! I'm simply beside myself with excitement. We could have that second restraint charm on him as soon as Monday if Arthur will cooperate on pushing a trial through quickly.

I think it's a safe bet Hermione Weasley is at the Manor. Some of those trick Apparitions can play hob with the Apparition sensors, but this looks like it was a straight shot from Batwing to the Manor's secure entry point.

I spoke to Mole #2 as well and he seems as convinced as #1 that Malfoy wouldn't do anything to harm Weasley. I'd feel better knowing for sure that she's all right, however. I've had people trying to owl and floo the Manor for ten minutes now but nobody is responding.

Daschel Duncan
Supervisor, Special Ops

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Daschel,

Thanks for the info. It's a pretty ugly scene here at the SPCMA. I debriefed the injured B.U.M.M.E.R. Auror. Apparently a junior Auror - the one who's missing now - spooked Malfoy and he fired off an Expelliarmus using that Gina White witch's wand. There were some side effects, including a fire that partially gutted the SPCMA's main offices (since extinguished). However the Auror who was hit by the curse, Bendover, (can you believe that name?) says he believes it was an accident, and doesn't want to press charges.

As for the junior one, Bangor, she was in the middle of trying to subdue Malfoy when Bendover last saw her so I am beginning to fear the worst. These chickenshit ickle-Aurors are no match for him. I don't know what possessed them to take him on in a wand duel. They should have just grabbed the owl and ran. Idiots!

Rudeo Nesbitt
Special Ops

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Rudy,

We've located Beretta Bangor. The floo records show she made a trip from Batwing Alchemical & Pharmaceutical, Batten Sr. Office, to the Old Mill Ruins, Haverford Swamp. Guess who called the destination? I've sent a team to pick her up. We'll debrief her here and let you know what she says.

Go back to Batwing and see if you can get that house-elf to get Malfoy and Weasley on the floo. We need to find out if she's all right. If we can't talk to her, our only other option may be to request to move the raid up to tonight. And I really don't want to be the one to have to tell Arthur his daughter-in-law has been kidnapped.

Daschel Duncan
Supervisor, Special Ops

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Daschel,

I just dumped my memory of our arrival to a Debriefing Bowl and took a closer look at the moments before they Apparated. First of all, he was definitely using Gina White's wand. It's a clear-finish oak designer wand, kind of unusual looking so she was able to identify it on sight. Secondly, he didn't take Weasley along intentionally. She grabbed his wand arm just as he was about to Disapparate. If it was anybody but Malfoy, the two of them would be scattered in bite sized chunks all over England by now. As it is, he probably managed the trip, but he'd have been none too happy with her when they arrived.

I sent the house-elf to fetch them both back. I don't think we could trust a fire conversation - there'd be no way to tell if Weasley was under Imperius or something. I'll wait here until they arrive. It might take a while. That elf is a Freed elf and apparently there are issues with the other elves that still live there. However she's probably our best bet to extract Malfoy and Weasley without a fight.

Don't even bother asking about moving up the raid. Gina White says she's willing to testify. Unless she changes her mind, we've got Malfoy in the bag, so there's no point in messing things up now by charging in there half cocked. I agree with Jones and Zabini that he probably wouldn't harm Weasley, at least not very badly. Not once he's calmed down at any rate.

Rudeo Nesbitt
Special Ops

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Rudy,

Brilliant! In that case I won't contact Arthur at all, for now.

Daschel Duncan
Supervisor, Special Ops

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Daz,

Where are you? I thought you said you were going to come home at a reasonable hour tonight. Did you forget we were going to go out for dinner? I know. Work again, huh. Sometimes I think you are more married to your precious Ops than you are to me.

Cheri

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