A war in the shadows
eachpieceapawn:
The lad certainly seemed eager, and had assured Friedrich that he was more than able. âI promise ya, you want her gone, she gone. Iâll finish âer, I know the curse I do, the one for the killing. AvadaâŠâ
âThatâs more than proof enough, thank youâŠâ
The lad certainly seemed eager, and had assured Friedrich that he was more than able. Not that this required much of a challenge, the target was a simple muggle-born girl. Only having passed her O.W.Lâs the year before. She meant little to Friedrich, little to anyone; this was purely symbolic, an act designed to provoke Dorcas Meadowes into investigating further. One must appreciate her ferocity, but ever since the Ministry raids, and their chance encounter, she had become a figure of increasing irritation. He would simply have to do something about it, she may believe herself competent, the only respectable thing to do is show her the error of her ways. Obviously her inclusion complicated his already intricate plans, but what fun was chess without a partner?
âAre you certain that you remember my instructions?â
âAhh yeah, Kill the girl, put the body in the alley, and put the chess piece in her hand. Drink the invisibility potion and escape back hereâŠâ
âYes, yes. Perfect. Here you are.â
Friedrich handed over the small carved piece of wood as well as the poison, the fellow remained too stupid to tell the difference between Deathroot extract and invisibility potions, how do the English teach so little to their students? If all went according to plan, this fellowâs ignorance would be perfect⊠His little assassin would approach and kill the girl, leave the message and do the lovely favour of killing himself after; all evidence of Friedrichâs involvement would die with the young thug. Ha! Obviously heâd have to ensure Dorcasâ involvement, but if his intuition played true, she wouldnât be one to miss a crime like this. Meadowes would worm her way onto the case by the morning, he smiled, knowing this would only be the first move in his game with the young witch.
âSo kill the girl, put the piece in her hand, drink the invisibility potion and then I meet you back here? You said that I could stay here to lay low? Gotcha! See you tomorrow Mr?â
âRook. Call me Rook.â
After fourteen long, boring days to think about how she had screwed up during the Ministry raid, Dorcas was finally back to work. Accordingly, it was time to move on. The young woman had lost control of herself and had used her authority to beat up a girl. It was wrong, and shameful. But Dorcas was tough, and not only physically : she would get it. She wouldnât fall into some kind of depression or let it change the way she worked. Maybe the whole thing was made easier by the fact that she could not physically feel guity for what she had done. But anyway, today was a new day.
As soon as the two weeks were effectively passed, she was inside the Ministry, ready to reclaim her spot as top Hit Witch. Of course it wouldnât be this easy, considering the arseholes that populated her department for whom two weeks had seemed enough to think that she was not the best of them anymore. Fools. She quietly walked back to her office, head held high. When she realized her superiors kept giving her paperwork to file and coffees to fetch, however, she understood that maybe she would have to find another way to prove that she still deserved to be there.
Thank Merlin, Barty seemed to be on her side â who would have thought ? As they were having lunch and catching up, he happened to mention the new case most of the department seemed to be working on. A young girl found dead, and a local thug too a few feet further. It seemed like they had no leads whatsoever yet, and the guyâs wand indicated that he had been the one to cast the Unforgivabe on the girl. That got Dorcas thinking â if she managed to find whyever that thug had killed the young girl before offing himself on her ownâŠÂ
In the back of her mind, she knew that it was a very bad idea. She was not supposed to start acting against orders on her first day back â but her instincts were way too strong on this one. She had to remind them all of who she was. And so as soon as her shift was over, as soon as she was done classing theft files and fetching afternoon teas for the whole floor, Dorcas made a detour on the way home. She got to the street where the murders had happened â but the bodies were already gone. She looked around, and the only thing she could see was a chess piece lying on the floor. More by habit than anything else, she picked it up and put it in her pocket. With a last look, she went home. There was nothing here ; she would have to work on the file the next day.
The letter arrived at the Meadowes household that evening, quietly dropped by one of Friedrichâs many ravens. An intricate, beautifully crafted note; sealed inside an immaculately clean white envelope landed on the doorstep, announcing is presence with an unexplainable silence.
âOh my, what could possibly cause such a conundrum? A dead witch, with a dead killer to match? Perhaps a disgruntled officer, high in his mighty position, took justice one step too far (a situation you are far too familiar with). Perhaps a lowly sewer rat, desperate to prove his position, was eliminating a rival thug. Perhaps the girl was the key, perhaps it was her killer. Either way Meadowes, you have a choice; be cautious however, as you may only choose oneâŠ
Up or Down.â
As the letter was read, sparks flew from the top of the page as the paper caught aflame, leaving nothing but ashes.
