Harry Potter and the Winters After the War

Chapter 35 - Muggle Memories

Harry strode back to the muggle hospital with fellow Auror Trainee Susan Bones at his side, determined to make up for the problem he'd managed to create. He had acted on a whim, influenced by Dudley's suggestion without thinking it through.

'It was Dudley's suggestion!' Harry chastised himself mentally. 'How could I possibly think anything coming from Dudley was a good idea?'

And yet he had, born of the belief that wizarding and muggle law enforcement officers should be helping each other out. Harry genuinely believed that, and despite this setback he still did. But clearly implementing such cooperation within the confines of both wizarding law and the policies and practices of his own department were going to make it more difficult. Wizards were used to using muggles for their own ends, not that in this case the plan to use muggle police to guard other muggles against possible kidnap had been such a bad idea. It was in fact brilliant, and Harry recognized that it was. Still there had to be a way. The French did it to some degree, and the more he thought about it, the more he was convinced that it should be possible to do here too, maybe even to a greater degree than the French did. So deep in thought was he on this problem that he didn't hear it the first or even the second time Susan spoke to him.

"Harry ... Harry?" she nudged his arm to get his attention.

"What? Oh, did I miss something?" Harry asked with a start.

"Just everything I've been saying for the past minute or two," Susan said with a smirk.

"Yeah sorry. I was thinking about something," Harry told her truthfully.

"Obviously, was it anything important?"

"Not of immediate of importance, no," Harry replied. "What were you saying?"

 "I was trying to tell you about what we found on our patrol," Susan answered. "Edward never got to that after he received that owl from Robards."

"Edward got an owl? About me?" Harry asked.

"I assume so. I presume that's where that information from Robards came from," Susan told him.

"What information?" Harry asked. "Other than about me."

"Auror teams in both Britain and France are reporting suspected sites that seem large enough to conceal a Death Eater operation of the size we uncovered. Wendy and Edward are going out with senior Aurors from the French team to check out two of the sites tonight," Susan explained.

Harry's expression went from pleased to annoyed at the information.

"Don't you think that's good news?" she asked puzzled by his expression.

"It is, but I wish Edward had thought to tell me that. It would have been good to know," Harry told her.

"Well now you do," Susan said.

Harry nodded as he looked at her gratefully. "Thanks Susan. Thanks for telling me."

Susan smiled at the intensity of Harry's expression. She remembered him being the same way at school sometimes too, back in their Hogwarts days. But Ron and Hermione had always been around him then to temper that intensity and to help him tone it down. These days she knew Harry was more or less on his own.

"So how do you suggest we do this Harry?" Susan asked as they approached the muggle hospital. "Conceal ourselves?"

"Let's just try to blend in. Let's figure out what the hospital staff is wearing and try to look like we belong," Harry suggested.

"Or we could pose as muggle police," Susan suggested. "At least that way we could talk to people. Who knows? Maybe the muggles that were kidnapped know something that could help us with this case."