The Epilogue : Part I - The Shadow Army

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Gevaudan

    New Year's decorations were still in the Atrium when Harry came back at the Ministry of Magic. All along the day, Harry took part in many meetings regarding national security, signed countless of Acts and Decrees.

    He had just enough time to rest a bit  before he met with the Armenian Minister of Magic for a state lunch that lasted until late afternoon. He then attended another pointless Auror Office meeting during which Harry gave a thoughtful look at the group of Aurors in front of him: among them, at least one spy was hiding, but who were them? During that meeting, Harry noticed that the tension between Ron and Sykes was now close to unbearable, supplying the meeting with enough animation to keep the assistance from sleeping out of boredom.

    Harry then used the hour break he had in his tight schedule to rest in his office. During that time, someone knocked at the door.

    "Yes?" Harry unwillingly answered, as he didn't want to be uselessly bothered.

    Surprisingly, it was Sykes who stepped into his office, and sat in front of him once invited to.

    "I would need to talk to you about some important, do you have time now?" asked Sykes without further introduction.

    "I have about... twenty minutes I'd say, what it is about?"

    "I think Ronald Weasley is the spy," Sykes said, straightforward. "And I can prove it. Actually, there are many clues that prove it."

    "Yes?" Harry replied.

    "I have reasons to think Ronald joined the Auror Office for personal reasons."

    "You also did join the Auror Office for personal reasons Liam, you wouldn't have considered this career if your brother wouldn't have been killed during the First Wizarding War," reminded Harry.

    "True..." admitted Sykes. "But ever since he entered the Auror Office, his attitude has been... suspicious, to say the least."

    "What do you mean by that?" asked Harry.

    "I mean that I've heard some noise, some rumours that I believe to be true: he have been seen discreetly hanging around the corridors at night, and some files disappeared: I'm almost certain he stole the archives."

    Harry simply nodded and Sykes continued.

    "Besides, I've been following him: he went to Knockturn Alley at many occasions, where he had some very disreputable encounters."

    "— there could be many reasons why he would have done it," Harry answered, caught off guard.

    Liam Sykes looked at Harry closely, with a look that could be either thoughtful or suspicious.

    "Does it mean he didn't tell you about it?" asked Sykes, whom level of interest raised.

    Harry, puzzled, decided not to answer once more.

    "I know you trust him Harry," confessed Sykes on a more sympathetic tone. "I also guess he told you about some of the things I just said, but there are things you don't know about him, and we can't afford to put our trust into the wrong sort of people. Please be careful Harry, and take the good decision."

    "I will."

    Sykes thanked him for his time, leaving Harry alone with his thoughts.

    Harry had few other meeting before he came back to his office in the middle of the night. Exhausted, he sat on his delightfully comfortable chair, and hesitated a bit before briefly writing a note to his wife, informing her he wouldn't come back home become of the tone of work he had to catch up on.