Blindness

Chapter 19: Schemes of Green

Vaughn apparated him directly into Diagon Alley. The swirls of magic and color coalesced around them, lighting the sky with golden wards and the buildings with layers of purple, white, yellow and blue.

Under his feet, the purple stone gleamed in mismatched patterns. Harry focused on it a moment, gathering his boundaries from the chaos of apparition.

Vaughn, accustomed now to his employers habit, waited exactly thirty seconds before gesturing them forward.

"They're this way."

It must be very, very early morning. Harry mused. There is no one here.

No one, that is, except the aurors.

Harry saw the Minister's pattern, and alongside him the salmon pattern of Gawain Robard, who had taken over as Head Auror when Scrimgeour was elected. The two men stood slightly apart from the aurors around them, at least a dozen witches and wizards, half of which were waiting in obvious guarding poses.

Harry knew where he was. He had been here four times before.

The House-Elf Registry.

"Lord Potter. Glad you could join us at such short notice."

Scrimgeour's voice was strained politeness. Robard had none.

"If you would excuse us, Vaughn. I'm putting up a privacy ward."

Harry appreciated that Vaughn waited for Harry's acknowledgement before the man stepped back.

A golden ward shot through with deep red rose about them at once, masking the surroundings completely from his sight, and blocking any sound that might have echoed down the empty streets. Harry could only smell the signature mix of magic and owls and potions to remind him that he was still in the Alley at all.

"Lord Potter." Scrimgeour began. "We are under a very strict time limit, or I would not have contacted your security. The Ministry would like to ask you for a favor."

"A compensated one." Robard interrupted. "One thousand galleons for successful retrieval if there is no loss of life."

Harry frowned. "Maybe you should explain the circumstances, first."

The Minister waved one yellow-green hand. "We have nearly lost our time window. The Hit Wizards have Mr. Burke's stronghold in Knockturn surrounded, but the wards would require at least four more hours to dismantle. We have good information that the entire building is wired to detonate, some new form of magical explosive, in exactly two hours. In one hour, the wizard we believe killed Mr. Burke has an emergency international portkey to take him from the country, the kind that must have a preset activation time. He is a wanted criminal for at least five other murders on our shores, and multiple counts of smuggling illegal substances in and out of Britain and France."

"Will Dagel is arrogant. He thinks to thumb his nose at us when he leaves, no doubt taking valuable information and goods with him. We do not have time to implement enough multiple anti-portkey wards to stop him from leaving, because of both the specialized wards already in effect on the building, and the uncertainty of his exact location within a large multi-plex space. " Robard added. "Our informant was certain this was planned so that the body would be found to give the Ministry just enough time to attempt and fail at capturing Dagel."

"Why kill Mr. Burke?" Harry asked numbly, feeling as if the two men were speaking a different language. What was going on?

"Mr. Burke was up to his neck in various illegal practices. We have been building a solid case against him for years, and were nearly ready to make a move. Someone tipped him off and he was about to rabbit. The threat to the Elf Registry was apparently the last straw. But the people he works with do not tolerate failure. They had a potential liability removed, and used an assassin the Ministry is familiar with."