Wand-Leader & The Spy

5- Doubts

London, Ministry of Magic, August 8th, 1999, 11.21 hours

Sitting on the bench near the Fountain of Magical Brethren in the Ministry's atrium, Hermione watched another Ministry employee walk past in the slight daze typical of someone who had just received the antidote to Veritaserum. The young Wand-Leader shook her head. She spotted Colin walking towards her, but there was no sign of Dean.

"Dean's coming in a few minutes, he was held up by Sally-Anne," Colin said as he reached her and sat down. "What's wrong?"

"Dawlish. He actually thinks using Veritaserum on anyone even remotely connected to the Floo Network Authority will help him find the traitor." She sighed. "As if the Memory Charm and the Fake-Memory Charm didn't exist." Amateurs.

"Fake memories can be found with careful questioning though, especially if the subject can't remember why they did something," Colin said.

Hermione nodded. The youngest member of her team had read the books she had given him last year. "Even if they pay enough attention to spot such signs, they would not catch the real traitor, but his imperiused patsy." And if the real traitor was as careful as Hermione suspected, they wouldn't have shown their face at all. Maybe even used polyjuice. "Though if they find the patsy, they could narrow down the number of suspects to those who both have the skill, and the opportunity to pull this off."

"That's a lot of wizards and witches."

"Not that many. We're either dealing with an old mole, dating back to before the Minister killed the Dark Lord, or a recent convert with the skills and talent for this." Not many of those were around.

"You've got a suspect in mind already?"

"Not a suspect, but a group of suspects. Former and present Obliviators." The number of Obliviators had been reduced in the last decade. There hadn't been a need for too many of them; with the blood traitors gone, very few wizards and witches in Britain were as foolish as to interact with muggles.

"The mole could have hidden his skill," Colin said.

"Unlikely. Delusional Fanatics believing that the Dark Lord returned from death are not the type to make such long-term plans. I think it's someone who has been turned recently."

"What would be his motive?"

"Gold. Blackmail. Threats to their family." All things a thorough investigation would turn up.

"Did you tell Dawlish that?" Colin watched another dazed employee walk past.

"He didn't listen." Hermione's mouth formed a thin line.

"Do you think we'll have to bail them out again then?" Colin asked in an eager voice.

"That's likely. The Minister wants that traitor found." And that was exactly the kind of task the Investigative Branch had been formed for. Hermione couldn't wait to show their worth.

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London, Ministry of Magic, August 9th, 1999, 16.40 hours

"Wand-Leader Hermione to see you, Minister."

"Send her in," Lucius Malfoy said to his secretary.