Know the Enemy || Dorcas & Alastor || January 8, 1980 || Puppet Strings
Merlin, what a shit day. And the worst part about it, he had a feeling it was going to get worse. The meeting with the Head of DMLE hadnât gone very smoothly. According to the Head, the Auror Department was still not putting enough pressure on the Death Eaters. The attack yesterday, and the ones that had cropped up since then showed a real possibility of something terribly wrong. Alastor simply chalked up his bossâ words as the standard message that he received in just about every meeting. At least they both agreed on something: Death Eaters were responsible and something had to be done before things got out of hand. Aurors were already stationed at major locations around the Ministry and Diagon Alley, patrolling the areas.
All day, Alastor had been paying close attention to the people around him. He was looking for signs of odd behavior, which was harder to do since he wasnât sure how each person normally behaved. There were certainly a few odd quacks in the Ministry, which didnât make things any easier.
Just how many people are imperiused, he wondered. As he walked by a group of wizards, he looked behind him to make sure none of them were following him. All the Unforgiveables were terrible, but the Imperius Curse was his least favorite of the three. It was something about seeing someone you knew, but they werenât themselves. The curse really messed people up even afterwards, as they werenât sure if they could trust people or even trust themselves. And for Alastor, it only heightened his paranoia.
Pulling open the doors of Auror Department, he saw that there were a lot more people than there had been when heâd left. He turned to the secretary, âMore attacks,â he asked. She simply nodded with a grim expression. âSeemed to have gone up since yesterday.â He nodded, matching her grim expression.
A lot of Aurors were standing at their desks, taking statements from shaken wizards and witches. Alastor ran his hand through his hair before motioning for two Aurors to come over. âEdwards and Lee, start compiling a timeline and map of the attacks. Us the break room, if you need to.â The two Aurors nodded and set off to their task.
Alastor was about to head to his office when he saw a familiar face walk through the doors of the department. He always gave fellow Order members priority, when it came to his attention. Has she seen something? âMeadowes,â he called out, waving to her.
In a way, it was a bit like being drunk.Â
Dorcas was vaguely reminded of those mornings spent lazily curled up in bed after a night out -right before the hangover truly hit when everything still felt fuzzy and good- as she walked through the Ministry.Â
It seemed to have fallen into a bit of chaos. With the department being filled with Aurors, nobody was outright panicking but even in her distant state, Doe noticed the grim expressions all around her. Be rational, act like them logic told her. At least she thought it was logic, that little soothing voice at the back of her head.
Right now it was urging her to continiue with her mission; find Moody and dispose of him. It seemed right, everything inside of her wanted to follow that little voice that urged her to do so. Just do it, nice and easy. It was like a steady little hum, like having her favorite song stuck at the back of her brain. Yeah, she wanted to do that.Â
Moody was at his desk with a group of Aurors gathered around as he barked instructions at them. Something must have been happening then, she realised, but that thought was quickly drowned out. Such unpleasant worries would just ruin this nice calm feeling so why think about those? Not when she had so much more important things to worry about, such important missions. Dorcas hovered at the back while the Aurors dispatched after instruction, only moving forward when he called for her.Â
âMoody,â she simply said calmly. Stay normal, be clever, Yes, Moody was very clever and a bit paranoid- everyone knew that. Dorcas had to be clever too, had to act normal and catch him off guard. But it was hard to make her face into a frown when she felt this calm, so instead she simply kept her expression serious as she looked at him. Her hand was hovering over her back pocket where her wand was residing. Attack the second he is distracted, the little voice reasoned. âWhat is going on? Are we under attack?â












