Harry Potter and the Ties that Bind

Chapter 6

Amelia Bones sat in her office, going over several stacks of paperwork. Ever since Harry Potter had disappeared, she'd been inundated with nearly twice as much work as before. That work had tripled after Sirius Black escaped. So much of the aurors' resources were now dedicated to finding Harry and capturing Black that they barely had enough men left over to keep the peace in magical Britain.

Those two are causing me so much trouble right now.

The door to her office suddenly slammed open and someone lumbered in, the thunk-thunk of his wooden peg leg letting her know who it was before she looked up.

"Alastor Moody," Amelia frowned at the man, "aren't you supposed to be enjoying retirement?"

Moody's scarred visage shifted into the approximation of a scowl, which wasn't saying much because he always seemed to be scowling. "I am enjoying my retirement. I'm enjoying it about as much as I enjoy being sidelined during an investigation." The man thumped into the room until he stood in front of her desk.

Amelia set down the report she'd been reading and focused fully on Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody. "I can imagine. You're not the type who enjoys sitting around doing nothing. Just like you're not the type of person who would stop by the auror office for a visit. To what do I owe the honor of your presence?"

"There's been a strange sighting in muggle London," Alastor got right to the point. "Apparently, there's a jaguar running around in the middle of the city."

"A jaguar?"

"Big cat," Mady-Eye answered, "about three times larger than your average house cat, with sharp claws and even sharper teeth."

"I know what a jaguar is," Amelia snapped, "what's a jaguar doing in non-magical London, though? Did it escape from the zoo or something?"

"Negative," Mad-Eye shook his head. "I've already checked my sources in the muggle police department and they say that no missing jaguars have been reported at the zoo."

Amelia leaned back in her chair and regarded the man before her. Alastor Moody was one of the best aurors of recent years. He had put away more dark wizards in Azkaban than any other auror in history, and, unlike most witches and wizards, he knew a lot about the non-magical world. He'd even gone so far as to set up an intelligence network within the non-magical police department.

"Are you telling me that we're dealing with an animagus?" Amelia asked at last, having needed several seconds to make that conclusion.

"An unknown animagus," Moody confirmed. "I checked the animagus registry before coming here, and there are no licensed jaguar animagi."

Amelia took a moment to think about that. Less than a second later, she was waving her wand, sending a missive to her second-in-command, telling him to get his arse up there quickly.

"Have you informed Albus about this?" Amelia asked while they waited for the Head Auror to arrive.

"No," Moody answered, "if it were a matter of some dark wizard terrorizing muggles I would, but this doesn't seem to be the case. According to eyewitness reports and what I saw on the news, the jaguar isn't actually attacking anyone. It's just chasing after some dog."

"A dog?" Amelia frowned.

"A big black dog that looks like a grimm," Moody confirmed. "I suspect the dog is another unregistered animagus, though I can't be sure. It's simply a hunch."

Amelia almost snorted. "You don't have hunches, Moody."

Her words were met by Moody's toothy grin. "Aye."