Who: Aberforth, Pepper and Gumboil When: Thursday afternoon, 19 June Where: The Hog's Head What: Hitwizards doing hitwizardly stuff! Rating: PG Status: Complete
It had been a while since Pepper had been up this far north, and even in early summer the air was chiller than he liked. Luckily his robes kept him fairly warm, but he had his hands shoved in his pockets as he and Alastor walked towards the old pub where Aberforth worked. Since talking to Millicent Pepper had discovered, or remembered, or something, that Agnes O'Hare worked in the pub as well, and his feeling that there was a connection had only grown. Things seemed to be getting on track again after his half-drunken fit on Tuesday evening.
He pushed the door open and entered ahead of Alastor, blinking a bit as his eyes accustomed themselves to the darker interior before looking around for the barman. There were a couple of patrons, people who reminded him of the Banshee's Scream, and he felt a moment of nostalgia for Knockturn Alley. "Aberforth Dumbledore?" he greeted the old man. "I'm Pepper, this is Alastor Gumboil."
Aberforth leaned against the bar and scratched at the bandage around his arm. His healer friend had set and healed the bone as much as he could and ordered Aberforth to behave until it was fully healed but the bites were a different matter. They were still in the process of healing and the healer had simply shaken his head and said they'd have to heal naturally. It was not an answer that had pleased Aberforth, especially given how much the arm had ached on the full moon.
The door opened and he looked up idly to see who was coming in. he straightened slightly when he saw a familiar face and waved them over to the bar. A small bit of wandless magic tightened the privacy wards around the bar and another bit of wandless magic sent two of the men sitting in the back corner scuttling out the back door. He didn't think Pepper and the other hitwizard would be particularly interested in the men but it was probably better not to tempt fate.
He nodded a greeting to the two men. "That's right. Have a seat. Can I get you anything?"
Alastor only offered a nod in greeting to the old man behind the bar. His attention was caught by the two anonymous men as they hurried out the back. He even stared after them for a moment, before turning his attention back to the matter at hand. That wasn't about to be forgotten though. He could understand wanting a bit of privacy, but he wasn't about to take anything for granted on this one. There was too much far out of the ordinary with it.
He eyed Aberforth's bandage for a moment, making a mental note to ask someone down on the taskforce about werewolf bites that didn't take place during the full moon. And perhaps he'd talk to Ted as well. He was bound to know something.
At the offer, Al shook his head, "No, thank you." He was busy again, taking in his surroundings. He didn't recall ever having actually stepped inside the Hog's Head before. But even that only took a few seconds, and very suddenly his eyes were back on Aberforth, watching with thinly veiled interest as he scratched his arm. He would have asked, only this wasn't really his case. It was a nice change, actually, to be the one to take the passenger seat and simply be able to listen. He would, of course, interject if there was a question going unanswered, but he was more than happy to let Pepper get things rolling. It gave him the opportunity to watch and listen, more or less uninterrupted.
It was tempting, very tempting, but being on duty Pepper was pretty much obliged to turn down the offer of a drink - especially as he was working with Alastor, who was probably about the most straight-laced person in the squad. Rules, in Pepper's opinion, were meant to be bent, but for some reason not everyone agreed with him. It was frustrating at times. He offered Aberforth an easy, apologetic grin, putting on a casual air like a cloak in the hopes it would make everyone more relaxed. Walls up tended to inhibit things. "Not while on duty, sadly. I like this place though, it reminds me of my old local."
He pulled a pad and dictaquill out, not wanting to bother actually writing himself - easier and more accurate this way, and he'd be able to pay more attention to the things that were being said far more quietly. "If you could start with a description of the pair, that would be great. I've requested a list of related werewolves from Reg and Control and the more information we have to narrow it down the better."
Aberforth watched the two hitwizards closely as they sat down. It seemed that Gumboil was playing the observer role while Pepper would take the lead. Not surprising and he would have to take care not to forget that Gumboil was watching if he got caught up verbally fencing with Pepper.
He chuckled at Pepper's grin and waved his left hand. "Not to worry. Perhaps you'll come back some time when you're off duty and have a drink then. The pub is open to all, even Ministry officials." His eyes twinkled at the implication that gave.
He settled against the bar when Pepper asked his question and scratched at his bandage for a moment before snatching his hand away suddenly with a sheepish grin. "Healer told me not to scratch at it and Agnes has taken to slapping at my hand when I forget." He chuckled again. "She's small but very spirited."
He sobered and closed his eyes picturing the two werewolves. "Scruffy pair but that's nothing unusual for werewolves. Most can't get a job and that takes its toll on them. The woman was about average height. Had a bit of muscle on her. Red hair, messy as though she hadn't combed it for a while, blue eyes, definitely Muggle and smart enough to go for my wand straight off. The man was about six feet, average sort of build, brown hair, hazel eyes. He was a bit less involved than the woman though he favours breaking things, such as my arm and my wand. It was the woman who bit me. She was a savage one."
Still more or less silent, Alastor mentally noted Aberforth's claim to be open to everyone. It was a broad claim and especially in these days, a dangerous one to uphold. Not to say that Al didn't think that everyone needed a place to drink. But simply thrusting open your doors to the public allowed for a lot of different types of people.
He was less interested in Agnes than he was in Aberforth's Healer. If it didn't come up, he'd be sure to ask for a name. And suggest that they talk to the Healer next. Or hell, he'd go on his own if he had to.
As for the werewolves themselves, Alastor played close attention. "How old?" he asked after a beat. It sounded almost offhand the way he asked, but it would have a lot to do on whether or not their pair were related or married. From the description, he already didn't think they were related, not by blood anyway. They should have shared more superficial characteristics, especially a thing like dark hair.
Pepper was less surprised than Alastor at the "open to all" claim. He'd seen how things worked in the seedier parts of the country, after all, and had learned how to survive in them despite being known as a member of the DMLE. Aberforth's establishment actually seemed a notch above the Scream, not in who they let in, but perhaps in who chose to go there - still some of the dregs of society, but dregs who at least had some form of self-respect and class.
Like Alastor, though, he agreed with the suggestion that it was a married couple rather than brother and sister. Probably turned together, which was unusual but not, he suspected, completely unheard of. Admittedly he didn't work with dark creatures often, but still.
He was tempted to ask more about what Aberforth had done to get them so interested in him, but decided against it while listening absently to him answer Alastor. If he was connected to the Hardy Boys, he was going to need to play this carefully. "And... can you give us an overview of what happened, exactly?" he asked instead. Staying on topic was safest.
Aberforth frowned thoughtfully at Gumboil's question. "Late twenties, early thirties. No older than that."
These two were interesting. They were working very hard to be casual and disinterested, something which Gumboil was doing a better job of than Pepper. Then again Pepper had been sticking his nose into Order business so he had to be a little more suspicious of why Aberforth had asked for him rather than going to the Aurors than his partner. This was going to be an interesting interview.
He scratched idly at the bandage on his arm as he put together the events of that evening. "They came in early, before that wretched curfew. I thought they might be trouble from the first look at them but they bought their drinks and settled into one of the booths at the back and were quiet as churchmice. I dismissed them. I had a few hotheads in that night and I was busy keeping an eye on them. The couple were still here when I was closing and that was when they made their move. The woman was the instigator. She made the first attack and she went for my wand. I managed to fend that one off but..." He shook his head and grimaced. "If ever I wanted a reminder that I'm getting too damn old those two gave it to me. I probably could have fended off one of them but not both and especially not after the man broke my arm and my wand. Once that happened it just degenerated into a garden variety beating."
Alastor was not so much concerned in what Aberforth was saying as to how he was saying it. Pepper's dictaquill ensured that his answers were being taken down, but no quill was getting the nuances in Aberforth's voice... the way he paused before answering his question, the shake of the head, the grimace. It might well have been nothing, but Alastor didn't want any detail to slip by. So what if it wasn't his case? An attack was an attack was an attack.
Another second passed while Al frowned down at the ground. "But they didn't kill you." It wasn't a question. "Why d'you think that was, then?" It wasn't really a question that needed answering. An old man, wandless and in pain at the mercy of two werewolves. And they'd left him alive. He himself was almost sure that it was a warning, but he didn't know why yet. What could this old man have done to elicit such an attack? And obviously one so well planned, so well thought out, that the pair could sit quietly in the pub for most of the night and wait all the way to closing hours?.
'Garden variety beating' was interesting, Pepper thought. The implication in it was that they didn't do much in the way of explaining themselves, and when theft or sexual assault wasn't a motive, that generally implied that the victim knew exactly what they'd done to bring hell down on themselves, unless they were Georgina Wilkes. But then Aberforth had implied as much the previous night. He kept his poker face steady, masks up and in place, though the old man's eyes were piercing and bright with intelligence and he'd most likely be looking for any tells to betray what Pepper was feeling, the same way he was. "They didn't speak much?" he clarified, tacking it on to the end of Alastor's question. "Even to each other? Did they move as though it was planned?"
Aberforth snorted and looked amused. "No, the intention was never to kill me. Two reasons. One, my brother and I may not exactly see eye to eye on many issues but that doesn't mean either one of us wouldn't take steps if the other was threatened... or killed. My brother is a powerful wizard, Mr Gumboil. Would you want to make him angry?" He shifted slightly then looked both speculative and thoughtful. "As for the other reason..." He looked amused again. "I may have irritated Fenrir Greyback a little."
He arched an eyebrow at Pepper and cocked his head to one side a little. "So as you can see, it was planned. The attack and the fact they left me alive. They spoke to each other to coordinate but they knew they wanted to do, they delivered their message, both verbal and physical, then they left."
Aberforth knew he'd laid one card on the table, a high stakes card too. It would be interesting to see what kind of reaction he'd get from both Hitwizards to his little revelation. He'd intimated to Pepper that he knew why he'd been attacked when he'd invited him to take on the case but nevertheless his reaction would be interesting.
Alastor let the smallest frown crease his face. He had of course, been in school under Aberforth's counterpart. Had sat in his office once or twice, even. But that was hardly the point. "No," he answered, "But if they were muggles, then they wouldn't know much of your brother first hand, would they." Again, it wasn't really a question. Al was only making a point, and he fell silent again once his initial question had been answered, listening to Aberforth answer Pepper. He didn't miss the look of amusement on the old man's face before admitting to have possibly irritated Greyback, and he certainly didn't miss that little tidbit of information. That implied quite a lot, and Alastor was dead silent while he processed the information.
Once again, he was glad he was just tagging along. It absolved him from the responsibility of asking the next question. In the mean time, he kept his expression carefully neutral, the only hint of any actual reaction being the slightest raise of the eyebrows. His chest however, suddenly felt as though it were going to burst with impatience. It took quite a lot of self-control to keep himself from fidgeting and asking all the questions that sprang to mind. Most of them could probably be inferred anyway. Until then, he kept quiet, letting his eyes roam the room again.
It was almost a pity that Alastor didn't ask his questions, as it would have saved Pepper. His reaction, though, was rather conspicuous by its absence - if Aberforth had wanted to see it, he oughtn't have told him anything the previous night. He'd quite expected Fenrir's name to come up and showed no surprise at it. Used to Aubrey's restless energy, Alastor's shiftiness didn't bother him either, and he didn't tear his eyes away from the polite interestedness of his gaze towards Aberforth. "You mentioned investigating rumours," he commented, voice even. "I assume you don't often leave here - was there anyone else involved we should check in with? They may be at risk of attack as well." The phrasing was ridiculous, really, as assuming he was correct in his assumption that Aberforth was involved with the vigilantes, Aberforth would assume that he assumed it. If he'd been a Gryffindor the necessary pretension might have grated on him, but as it was he couldn't quite bear the concept of just coming out and asking who his colleagues were. It was more natural for him to play-act like this.
"They might not," Aberforth said with amusement. "But Greyback does and I do believe I said that these two were sent by him. In truth they're rather irrelevant except inasmuch as arresting them would rob Greyback of two operatives he clearly trusts. Don't forget the bigger picture, Mr Gumboil. If you spend all your time examining the cracks in the pavement, you won't see the curse that takes your life."
It was mildly oblique but he wasn't actually going to come out and mention Voldemort's name here. Mind you, he shouldn't have to. The DMLE of all people should know that Greyback wouldn't do something like this on his own. He'd been happy for years to stage his little full moon attacks then disappear into the woodwork. He'd even turned up at the Hog's Head from time to time. That he was aiming for bigger and better things was proof enough that he had someone behind him that he considered more powerful than the Ministry. And right here, right now, that could only be Voldemort.
He could see Gumboil start looking around the room again. He did it subtly, without too much obvious movement, but it was an interesting sign. Pepper was far calmer, keeping his attention on Aberforth. They were an intriguing contrast and he wondered how much it was costing them in self-control to stay so still. He was tempted to drag this out as long as possible and see which one twitched first. He was also rather wished he'd asked Aknot and Marcus to lurk around the place. That could have added a nice element to this.
He arched an eyebrow at Pepper and let the amusement show on his face. "Mmm, yes, I did, didn't I?" he said a little absentmindedly. He then chuckled dryly. "My source is at no risk from Greyback and he will remain anonymous. And before you complain, cajole or threaten, you have your sources, yes? And you protect them to the best of your ability? The stuation is the same." He looked amused again. "Not that he's likely to speak to you even if I asked him to. He dislikes the Ministry intensely."
It certainly was grating, and the way Alastor's eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly, how his jaw clenched just a bit, might have given it away. But he managed to keep quiet and even at Aberforth's subtle rebuke, he only looked mildly interested. He wasn't here to antagonize the victim. So he swallowed his temper, along with the urge to snap that of course he could see the fucking big picture, thank you very fucking much. He didn't like this beating around the bush bit. It wasn't his style. He was just too damn impatient for it. Alastor would fail miserably at any attempt at a career in politics.
However, he managed to stay carefully still and quiet, and when Aberforth started talking again, his eyes snapped right back to the old man. He suddenly felt as if he were being toyed with, and it wasn't a pleasant feeling. Who the hell could stay so fucking good natured after they'd been attacked by a pair of werewolves? Never mind the fucking motive and forget the sodding contact. Alastor was suddenly very interested in just what made Aberforth tick. How could he laugh, when the bites were still healing?
But still, Al was silent. They weren't going to get a name, and in all honesty, he hadn't really come in and expected to get one. The fact that whoever it was was in no danger from Greyback was enough to convince Alastor that it wasn't entirely important anyway. There were only a handful of people that could claim so much.
On the contrary, that fact made it very important. Pepper glanced down at the pad absently to check it was all in order, more a habitual double-check than anything conscious, and nodded in acknowledgement of Aberforth's reply even as possibilities ran through his mind, piecing facts and stray comments together. Unlike Alastor, he thrived on this sort of thing. "I wasn't going to press," he replied mildly. "You're doing us a favour by actually reporting this and co-operating, I just wanted to check that no one else was in danger. The last thing we need is more attacks, I think we can all agree on that." Especially considering who a large number of them were targeted towards... though he hadn't got hold of the names of those who were involved in the attacks the night before, yet. Things had moved too fast for them to be random civilians, and he didn't like that.
"Can you think of anything else that would be of help?" Standard question, really, and one that actually did turn up something useful on occasion.
Ah, he'd gotten a reaction from Gumboil, the furrowed brow and clenched jaw spoke of irritation though whether it was at Aberforth's subtle rebuke, the fact he refused to name his source or that he perhaps felt the case was trivial was an unknown factor. Pepper managed to hide any reaction much better and in truth he was the one Aberforth was most interested in. Gumboil was of little interest; he was just acypher in the DMLE. It was Pepper who had been drawing attention to himself.
He gave a nod of satisfaction when Pepper didn't push on the subject of his source. He'd have protected Rhisiart even if he was likely to agree to speak to someone from the Ministry. Vampires were an even greyer area for the Ministry than werewolves and he certainly wasn't going to put Rhisiart at risk. And for that matter, he wasn't going to put the Ministry at risk either. He wasn't quite sure how powerful Rhisiart truly was and there was a possibility he could do some serious damage if he felt threatened.
He arched an eyebrow. "The attacks will continue to come while Greyback thinks he's operating from a position of power. I've already heard the talk about what happened on the full. Probably a lot of it's a load of rubbish but there's stories coming out of a couple of areas that are gruesome enough to have a ring of truth."
He paused and directed his attention fully on Pepper, giving him a long speculative look. Unfortunately he wasn't a legilimens like Albus or he might well have made the effort right now. He wasn't sure if giving over the small amount of information he had was worth it. It might well cause more problems if Pepper investigated clumsily... or worse, if someone else was given the information and they investigated poorly.
"Greyback seems to be gathering werewolves to him," he said bluntly. "Creating a pack. My source says he's also collected vampires, hags and trolls. That turns his pack into something a little more serious." He didn't mention the speculation he, Rhisiart, Aknot and Marcus had done. That the enlarged and varied 'pack' could almost be called an army. "Makes me wonder what he's up to. What he wants with all those Dark creatures. Whether it's really him who wants them." He gave Pepper a look of bland interest. "What do you think, Mr Pepper?"
None of the above, actually. It Pepper himself that was suddenly grating Al's nerves, and it wasn't even anything specific. The two just had extremely different styles of interviewing, and that was simply that. But again, it wasn't his case. He was here to double check the details, observe the nuances and maybe put in a question or two. It was his own fault that he was letting Aberforth get to him even a little, and he could admit that. But he wasn't likely to see the old man in the near future. He had to work with Pepper.
Alastor certainly didn't miss the way Aberforth's attention was suddenly solely on Pepper. And he didn't much like being shut out of the exchange. These two, he realized, were familiar with each other. And why? From where? It suddenly became very clear to him just why this had been dropped directly into Pepper's lap, and he felt a flare of his temper again. Alastor only let an icy gaze settle between the pair for a moment longer before looking away. His frustration was getting the better of him, and he had to force himself to simply listen, to just absorb the information and draw his own conclusions. It was actually asking a lot, considering the mood he suddenly found himself in. But he managed, finding said information more interesting than he had anticipated as answer to Pepper's doorknob question. He had to work to keep his expression neutral.
This was taking too fucking long. Alastor needed a walk. He needed to think. And he couldn't do it when he was itching to move, fighting the urge to pace. But not just yet. Not when there was clearly something being passed between Pepper and Aberforth. As the old man posed his question, Alastor finally looked back up at them, eyes shooting between the pair, but this time, lingering longer on Pepper.
Under other circumstances Pepper might almost have felt sorry for Alastor. They didn't work together often, their styles too different to mesh properly, and he had to admit that of the many reasons he'd chosen Gummy for this, very few of them actually had a basis in who he thought would be best for the case itself. Some were more about intradepartmental powerplays. Some were about emphasising his own control in comparison to Alastor (and that one really wasn't terribly kind). Some were about distraction. And right now, he was playing into all of those reasons quite perfectly.
Gazing back at Aberforth, he shrugged easily. "I have to admit I don't know much about the current state of the dark creatures. I'd have to read up on the situation to make any judgements. I assume you keep your staff appraised of anything that might cause trouble, at least." That was, how much did Agnes O'Hare know, and had presumably passed on to the rest of the vigilantes. "I'm sure there'll be quite a lively discussion about who's best trained to deal with the problem, at any rate. We don't underestimate Greyback."
He allowed himself a glance sideways at Alastor to gauge his levels of frustration. They seemed to be getting fairly high, but then, they'd probably got most of what he'd come here for. He couldn't care less about the two werewolves that had attacked Aberforth, he'd just wanted to see the man face to face and see where he stood. The information about the pack was just icing on the cake.
Aberforth kept his concentration on Pepper even though he could almost feel the frustration coming off Gumboil. Shame really that he'd been dragged into something without having the full information but that was Pepper's concern, not his own. It was also Pepper's problem to deal with once this was finished. Aberforth's interest lay with Pepper. He was reasonably confident that the man wasn't a Death Eater. Not fully but enough that he felt he could relax a little. Not that he trusted Pepper. There were very few who got that particular honour and those were generally people he'd known for a long time. Pepper wasn't one of them.
But he'd achieved what he'd been after. He'd seen the man, spoken to him, now he would need to go and think on what had happened. Play back the conversation and review what Pepper had said and done. He doubted the man was truly a threat to the Order except in a bumbling idiot sort of fashion. It was highly likely that Pepper could end up arresting one of the Order while a Death Eater walked away right under his nose. All because Pepper was too busy concentrating on the wrong thing. He was looking to be more of an irritant than a true threat and irritants could be dealt with. A few decoys to lead him away while the Order got down to business could well be effective. Let him follow Sirius and James around for an evening or two. He would have to suggest that to those two. They'd enjoy that sort of thing. He could rely on them to lead Pepper up hill and down dale while keeping him away from the important business. They'd also likely know who else might enjoy playing decoy.
"Mmm, you do that," he said with a sage nod. "Important information to know, especially in the current climate." He chuckled merrily at Pepper's concern. If the man hadn't felt the wards around the pub that wasn't any of his concern. "Oh, Agnes is a clever girl with a good head on her shoulders. And she's damn good with a hex. I've warned her about those two and she knows they're barred from the pub. I wouldn't normally forbid a werewolf entry, they get precious little welcome anywhere else, but even I have limits." He arched an eyebrow and did his best dotty old man impression, nodding his head. "You don't underestimate Greyback. Good to hear, good to hear. I was beginning to wonder but you've set my mind at rest, lad."
Oh fuck, this was just beginning to be too much. Alastor crossed his arms over his chest, hands curled into fists. He had lost interest in this interview, realizing it was simply a formality. He wasn't even listening properly any more, simply concentrating on keeping himself as under control as was possible. And as the minutes ticked by, he could very nearly feel his control starting to slip. The frustration and pure anger at having been pulled into this simply so Pepper could do... whatever the fuck it was he thought he was doing.... was tight in his chest. Alastor kept his eyes glued to a spot on the floor, the barbed silence coming from his direction speaking volumes.
Alastor was nearing danger point. Pepper could recognise the signs, knew them well from working with Aubrey, and he doubted Gummy would be anywhere near as hilarious as Aubrey when he lost it. Calmly he set the quill to stop writing, flipping the notebook closed and putting both items back into his pocket. "Well, I'll be in touch if we need anything else," he told Aberforth, rising smoothly to his feet. Get the goodbyes out of the way, and then hopefully they'd get out of sight of the pub before Alastor tried to punch him in the face or anything stupid like that. Honestly, you'd think he'd done something actually wrong, rather than just bringing him along on a case without filling him in on possible tenuous links to classified information. They weren't even in any danger.
Aberforth watched the two Hitwizards leave then leaned against the bar and chuckled. He certainly didn't envy Pepper having to deal with his colleague given the fury and frustration that was radiating off Gumboil. It had been obvious enough to have the few patrons in here getting wary and tensing a little. His regulars had been infuriated at what had been done to him, partly because of the tenuous friendships they had and partly because it had closed their favourite pub. He suspected any stragglers in the future would result in one or more of his regulars lingering as well. He shook his head as the door closed and ambled over to greet one of those regulars who was coming up to the bar now that the Ministry men were gone. He'd have a think about the interview later and report to the Order when he'd come to his conclusions.