There were so many questions unanswered. How had the disappearance been done? What was the purpose? Why hadn’t there been any ransom demands? Where was Leo now? Where was Dr Zaitseva now? Daphne wasn’t getting any answers from official sources. She just had to try her unofficial friends.
House-elves kept out of sight if they could. In the oldest wizarding families, they were modern day slaves. They weren’t human, of course, and had many strange characteristics, which when added together meant that they wanted to serve a family. If the family was cruel and treated them harshly, that was bad but couldn’t be avoided.
The new Ministry was campaigning to make house-elves lives more endurable and give them rights and protection. But it was the house-elves themselves who said that they were only happy if they were servants.
Daphne arrived at her great-aunt’s stately mansion in Norfolk. She was allowed into the grounds and the huge front door opened as she approached. The house-elf who bowed to Daphne as she entered smiled broadly as he closed the door behind her. “Miss Daphne, it is being so good to see you again after such a long time. Mistress is waiting for you in the upstairs sitting room.”
“Thank you, Pinky. How is Great-Aunt Ludmilla today?”
“She is happy in herself but complains about not being able to do what she once could be doing, Miss Daphne. She is one hundred and seventy-four on her last birthday.”
“I will take tea with Great-Aunt Ludmilla, and after that I need to ask you a few questions about other things.”
“Yes Miss Daphne, Pinky is always happy to be telling you what you need to know.”
Daphne was grilled mercilessly about her marriage prospects. The fact that she had no dowry was a matter of great concern. Daphne assured her Great-Aunt that anyone who would marry her for her dowry would be placed at the bottom of any list of suitors. Daphne knew very well that if Great-Aunt Ludmilla wanted Daphne to have a dowry then Great-Aunt Ludmilla could easily make the provision. Daphne knew when to talk and when to shut up.
When the ordeal was over Daphne invited herself into the huge kitchen attached to the rear of the house. Pinky and four other house-elves gave Daphne their undivided attention. The house-elf network was up to date with the strange goings on around Viscount Pimlico and the battle at the villa in France. It had only happened last night, but they already knew everything.
The reception for Leo was held in the Imperial College itself. Pinky told Daphne that the college was covered by a new outbreak of natural raw magic. No one in the Department of Mysteries knew why it was happening.
The project Leo was supporting was investigating the evidence of magic showing up in muggle technology. While this was happening in London, there was a report of something happening in the USA. MACUSA had asked for any information about any occurrences of unregulated magic being performed.
Daphne decided to use her contacts with MACUSA in California to see if they knew anything at all. They owed her something after her last visit.
As for the disappearance, the reception room at the college had been investigated. The traces of magic were unmistakeable. There had been a portkey activated in the room. The fire alarms had been set off at 10 pm exactly, no-one had seen Leo and Dr Zaitseva disappear. The fire alarm confusion allowed whoever set off the activation to escape unless it was a timed activation. Pimlico security had not detected a wizard at the reception other than those known to them. This was not right. In Paris there was no trace of a wizard using an Imperious curse on an official whose every step was traced and recorded. Yet he was Imperioused and then murdered in a muggle way, using a knife.
It was impossible, but someone who was not magical was setting off magical incidents.
The muggle scientist, Anastasia Zaitseva, hadn’t been seen since the reception. What about her? Was she suspected? The house-elf network extended to nearly all the senior Ministry houses. There were many opinions being expressed about Dr Zaitseva. Harry Potter had allowed her to be involved. Harry had allowed Leo to attend the reception with assurances that it was safe. There were now serious doubts about Harry and the open way he worked with muggles.
Pinky trusted Daphne not to use the house-elf information in a way that would betray them. House-elves never revealed family secrets. Nothing that Daphne heard was strictly speaking a family secret, but Daphne couldn’t put anything in her column which could be traced to a house-elf.
That didn’t mean that Daphne couldn’t launch her own investigation based on the news from her friends in low places.
The text message to Jane Goodman got an immediate reply, “Daphne, please come here as soon as possible. Call the MACUSA Co-operation Office in London. They will arrange a portkey for you.”
Three long portkey trips finished in the MACUSA California State office. Jane greeted Daphne, assessed her appearance, and took her to her hotel room to recover. Portkey travel was upsetting at the best of times. Daphne wasn’t throwing up but it was close.
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