Harry Potter and the Ties that Bind

Chapter 42

Amelia sat behind her desk. It was late, but she still had a lot of work to do. The recent string of disappearances in London had increased, although it looked like the killer had changed locations again. This time they were on the opposite side of London, leading Amelia to believe that whoever the killer was, they must have been a witch or wizard. The only way anyone could have changed locations so quickly was if they used apparition or a portkey.

She had several of her best aurors on the case, including Kingsley and his partner, Tonks. While Tonks was still wet behind the ears, Kingsley had been an auror for over two decades, and he'd fought bravely during the war against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The number of times he had saved her life was uncountable. If it weren't for him, she'd have probably died after her husband had been killed.

Some people had once joked about how Kinglsey had been her rebound. Those people were fools. There had never been any romance between her and Kingsley, just a respect between two people who had fought together during one of the worst war in recent history.

Rubbing her eyes, Amelia tried to decide whether or not she should take a pepperup potion. She had several on hand. However, they had a notorious habit of causing people to crash when taken in excess, and she'd already had two.

It was while she debated on the merits of downing another pepperup potion that something happened; someone called her by floo.

"Amelia," a voice crackled from the fireplace. "Amelia Bones."

Standing up, Amelia moved around her desk, and walked past the table to her feet. Her feet padded along the soft carpet as she wandered past a comfortable looking couch, which she used quite often to sleep on when she stayed overnight at her office. Finally, she reached the fireplace and knelt down.

"Professor McGonagall," Amelia said in surprise. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

The haggardness of Professor McGonagall's face was visible even through the flame. Sunken eyes. Hollow cheeks. It was enough to worry Amelia.

"Has something happened?"

"Indeed, something has happened." Professor McGonagall sighed. "I know you have been busy, but would it be possible for you to come over to Hogwarts? I'd rather not speak of this using the floo. Someone might be able to overhear us."

While it was a unique skill, there was a magical ability known as "floo tapping". By following the magic pathways that connected one fireplace to another with a thread generated from the tip of a wand, a person could overhear a specific conversation. Talented witches and wizards could even link their wand to multiple fireplaces at once.

It was a constant worry for Amelia. As head of the DMLE, there were always people trying to tap her fireplace. Since floo tapping created only a thin, invisible thread, it was nearly impossible to detect, and no one had been able to create an enchantment that blocked people from tapping someone else's fireplace.

That said, a tap would be disconnected once a floo call ended, and it wasn't like anyone would know when Amelia was receiving a floo call. Still, there was always the risk of someone overhearing something potentially disastrous. That was the reason she never spoke of anything that could cause problems if they came to light over the floo.

Amelia glanced longingly at her pepperup potion sitting on her desk, sighed, and then said, "that's fine. I'll be right over."

She arrived at Hogwarts five minutes later. The floo network had been connected to the headmaster's office... which was a disgusting shade of pink and full of kittens. Amelia would've shuddered in revulsion, but something about the room stopped her cold.