It always feels strange to have a disillusionment charm cast over her, a cold chill running over her as she disappears, but there’s no time to linger on that part of it or on all the amusing stories having to do with that very same charm her dad has told her. She steps back slightly to give April room to try the door, and sure enough it seems like the doctor didn’t think to put any wards back up, at least none that made any obvious sort of alert.
She waits, giving April time to slip in, not actually able to tell when she does so, and then follows, April shutting the door very quietly behind her. It becomes clear as soon as they’re inside that this room is some sort of supply storage, bigger than expected, with dozens of shelves all over the room. Luckily, April takes her hand to make sure they can stick together despite not being able to see each other, and they move deeper into the room, closer to the sound of someone shuffling around, likely Dr. Wallis. Once they get to another shelf, a few of the boxes get shifted to the side, and they finally have a clear view of Dr. Wallis again.
It’s hard to guess what exactly she’s doing, but the fact that she’s bent over a desk in a storage room that was warded, when she’s certain that a prominent doctor of a zoo this large probably has her own office somewhere, tells her that it cannot be good. Emmy’s heart is racing in her chest, it feels like they’re so damn close to something helpful, but just far away enough literally that they can’t get anything from where they are. It’s a risk, she knows it is, but she really doesn’t know what the hell they can do but get closer, see something.
Before she can think the better of her idea, she gives April’s hand a little squeeze, as if to tell her she has a thought, and then crouches down carefully to move around the shelf and closer to the desk. She takes her time getting closer, making sure not to accidentally knock anything over, or disturb anything, barely even breathing, as she moves to get a better angle, to see what Dr. Wallis is looking at. And sure enough, she catches a glimpse. Her telekit is open, messages with someone displayed, and she can see the screen well enough to pick out the word eggs as she looks for it, but not much else as it goes dark. Maybe more importantly, though, there are papers, something that seems to be a schematic that she’s shuffling through, another that has a lot of writing on it, and she’s pretty sure it’s exactly what they need if she could just see better.
Emmy takes a cautious step forward, but the sweater she’s wearing, too fuzzy, too full apparently, gets caught on edge of a box, just enough to shift it, making an audible noise. She freezes in place as Wallis looks up, heart just about beating out of her chest, and glances around, looking directly at her but not seeing her thanks to April’s charm.
“Hello? Sam, is that you?” she calls tentatively.
She winces when the box moves, shuffling across the shelf loud enough it gains Wallis’s attention. She’s not certain just who this “Sam” is but she could take a guess it’s whoever the magizoologist has been messaging through her telekit with.
“No,” she calls out, figuring there was little else to do but expose themselves. Flicking her wand, she removes the concealment charm from the both of them, revealing both of their positions to Wallis.
“W-what are you two doing back here?” Wallis stammers out, her eyes growing large as she looks between the two aurors.
“We could probably ask the same of you,” April speaks up, moving closer towards Wallis and the collection of papers on the desk beside her. Some look to be letters- or more like handwritten instructions, others look like a schematic of what she can only guess was of an egg incubator, having seen one once before back when she was in primary school.
“We know you’re involved in this somehow,” she starts up again, hoping to get straight to the point and find these eggs before something were to happen to them. “And we know you don’t want to hurt the chicks either. But the smugglers who are interested in the egg shells won’t be, I can guarantee you that.”
“How...,” Wallis starts clearly confused just how her and Emmy made such a leap. She doesn’t seem interested in fighting it much beyond that though, as her shoulders slump again, and the look she gives them shifts to something closer to desperation.
“I did this to protect the chicks,” she says after a moment, “the theft would have occurred regardless, they told me as much. So when they asked for my help in teaching them how to incubate the eggs, I didn’t have much of a choice.”
She had a million questions, ranging from just how these smugglers got in contact with her, to how the heist was pulled off so seamlessly. What she was interested in most though, was where the eggs were in that moment.
“If you tell us where we can find the eggs, and how best to get them back safely, then I’m sure we can work out something out for you,” she offers, looking to Emmy for additional support before adding, “if you truly care about the chicks then this is the only way they’ll end up safe, and returned back to Tilly. I’m certain the smugglers have every intention of keeping the chicks, rather than turn them back over to you after they hatch.”
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