A Story of a Short Ending | T.R

Chapter 49 - The Right Feeling

Darkerside - David Kushner 

"Hello, Anthony. Please come in." Dumbledore gestured for the young man to take a seat in front of the desk he was sitting behind. The big wooden table took up almost half the room in Dumbledore's office. He was back in town for the weekend, as that was the only time he left the castle during the ongoing study year.

"Thank you, Professor." Anthony closed the door with a soft click before accepting the invitation and sitting down in a soft armchair.

"I take it you come bearing news?" Dumbledore lounged in his leather chair, his hands interlinked on his stomach, watching the young man he once taught.

"I do indeed." Anthony looked as if he tried to bite back a smile, his hands in his lap as he sat up straight and started his monologue. "We took Viridian and Rosier for questioning. They disagreed at first, considering we had no grounds to detain them. We pressed with the fact that their refusing to talk only makes them look guilty. That worked, and they had been at the agency for several hours."

"Separate rooms?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, slowly thinking over what Anthony was saying.

"Indeed, Professor. We kept them separate on the way there, too, but I think while they refused to come by, they had time to get their stories straight." Anthony sighed and continued. "Both of them refuse any involvement, say that they have been staying at the Malfoy Manor together and have several people who have been there with them to prove it. We checked, and it's solid. They had some girls over, most likely for their own fun."

Dumbledore didn't look surprised; after all, he knew exactly why those women were at the Manor and the fact that they weren't there for one night only or whatever Goodwin believed in, right now. There was no surprise that the women would confirm what they were told to. Riddle held them in a metal fist and probably made sure they talked when spoken to and the words they were fed.

"Is that it?" Dumbledore asked him, finally sitting up straight. There was nothing he didn't already know from what Anthony had told him. What was the point of this conversation, then? Just wasting his time.

"I think you were on the right track, suggesting they are involved. I do believe we should've started with Lestrange and Malfoy; one is a known sadist, and the other owns the house. It would be wrong to assume he doesn't have any say in their decisions." Anthony spoke with a serious face, he was so focused that Dumbledore almost broke out in a laugh.

"Yet, they are the most protected families out there. Viridian didn't even ask for a lawyer, and Rosier had his family lawyer present, who barely let him talk. But their stories aligned, so we had no ground to move forward with our investigation into them." Anthony finally exhaled.

"What about the women?" Dumbledore asked, curious if the MLE were as stupid as he thought of some of them, or if they found it suspicious too.

"There was the wife of Avery and a couple of her friends, three more. All from respectable families, no previous trouble making. Their story aligned too; everyone was at the Manor, and they can pinpoint their whereabouts at any asked time. There was no reason to dig deeper into them."

Only when Anthony shifted under his gaze, Dumbledore realised he was making a face of disappointed disbelief, which he quickly schooled away, to not give out that he knows more than he is letting on.

"That makes sense. Thank you for entertaining me." Dumbledore nodded, tapping his fingers on the desk.

"If you want to know what I think..." Anthony started, and Dumbledore had to hold himself back from saying he didn't really care what the man thought, but he listened, gesturing for him to continue.