Look Alive, Sunshine
Intro
Gladeous Burt yawned for a third time, fixed his reading glasses, and continued to go over the paperwork he’d practically memorized over the last three months. Clipped to the front page of it was the picture of an Auror, like himself, but much younger. With her brown hair tied in a messy braid, the girl’s face beamed and giggled with the excitement that only one who’s gone through three years of stringent training, and is about to have their photo plastered to their name file under the ‘Auror’ division can related to. Unfortunately, next to the picture of the pretty girl the word “MISSING” was stamped in bright red.
Burt sighted, and turned the page. ‘Harker, Emma. 21 years old. First year Auror,’ read the first few lines on the file, and then went on to ‘Current Status: Unknown.’ A pang of resentment, and even guilt, made his stomach crumble up. It was now three months since Harker’s disappearance.The Ministry of Magic went from almost exhausting all resources to find the Auror, to assuming she’d gone rough. Practically everyone in the Ministry was convinced she ditched. Right after all hell broke loose in the Quidditch World Cup, Harker was suppose to apparate on the field. Instead, the Ministry found traces of her in the nearby forest, and only a few feet away from there, her ripped cloak. After that, all traces of her disappeared.
First, Burt considered the possibility that she was killed. It takes a very skilled wizard to take down a trained Auror, no matter how young. There would have also been signs of struggle, which, besides the cloak, were none. Then, he considered the possibility that she’d been abducted. Putting aside the previous two reasons, there was no reason for the Death Eaters to do so. She was in no way of use to them. Being newly initiate, there was very little she could tell them about the workings of the ministry that they didn’t already know. Finally, there was the possibility that she ditched. It happened in the past. Students that couldn’t take the rigorous routine, would pack up and leave. Since he started serving, however, Burt never heard of a graduate Auror going rouge. He was her assigned advisor for the three years Harker was in training, and not once did he see her flinch. If she were going to break, she would have done so during training.
“Still looking for the her?” Tonks leaned against the doorframe, admiring the paper mess inside Burt’s office. “You know, your chances of finding her get slimmer with the amount of sleep you miss on, Glad.”
The man smiled, almost pathetically. “You’re starting to sound like my wife,” he joked, “she wont let me hear the end of it.”
“I know this case was assigned to you specifically,” Tonks said, stepping inside. “But that’s only because you were the only to work with her so closely in the past. Her loss hurt everyone in the department. Harker was the first auror we’ve had in years.”
“And yet there’s a rumor going around, calling her as a traitor,” Burt responded bitterly. “Did you know even the seeker owls have been recalled for other duties?”
Tonks nodded, “I spoke to Dumbledore. He said he’d have a word with the head of the ministry, but as you can guess his plate is full right now.”
Meanwhile, somewhere in England, a tall brunette kneeled by river, wondering how long I’d been since the last time she ate a full meal, or had a real shower, or good sleep. But neither hunger, or those very dark circles under her eyes, or the smell of carcass that was permanently stuck to her compared to the lack of mental tranquility.
There was a soft crackle nearby, and she snapped instinctively in that direction, with her wand gripped outward. She stood firm for a second, then sat back down.
Slowly, she reached to the only thing traveling with her: a small brown bag. Using her wand, she pulled a bulky bundle of black cloth, unwrapped it, and stared at the object in her hands. Whenever she had some time to herself, she’d go through the same ritual. She lifted the bronze mask up in to the sun, seeing the light go through its eyes, mouth, and small nose dentures. Looking at it in that perspective, the Death Eater mask looked less malevolent, almost beautiful.
Burt sighted, and turned the page. ‘Harker, Emma. 21 years old. First year Auror,’ read the first few lines on the file, and then went on to ‘Current Status: Unknown.’ A pang of resentment, and even guilt, made his stomach crumble up. It was now three months since Harker’s disappearance.The Ministry of Magic went from almost exhausting all resources to find the Auror, to assuming she’d gone rough. Practically everyone in the Ministry was convinced she ditched. Right after all hell broke loose in the Quidditch World Cup, Harker was suppose to apparate on the field. Instead, the Ministry found traces of her in the nearby forest, and only a few feet away from there, her ripped cloak. After that, all traces of her disappeared.
First, Burt considered the possibility that she was killed. It takes a very skilled wizard to take down a trained Auror, no matter how young. There would have also been signs of struggle, which, besides the cloak, were none. Then, he considered the possibility that she’d been abducted. Putting aside the previous two reasons, there was no reason for the Death Eaters to do so. She was in no way of use to them. Being newly initiate, there was very little she could tell them about the workings of the ministry that they didn’t already know. Finally, there was the possibility that she ditched. It happened in the past. Students that couldn’t take the rigorous routine, would pack up and leave. Since he started serving, however, Burt never heard of a graduate Auror going rouge. He was her assigned advisor for the three years Harker was in training, and not once did he see her flinch. If she were going to break, she would have done so during training.
“Still looking for the her?” Tonks leaned against the doorframe, admiring the paper mess inside Burt’s office. “You know, your chances of finding her get slimmer with the amount of sleep you miss on, Glad.”
The man smiled, almost pathetically. “You’re starting to sound like my wife,” he joked, “she wont let me hear the end of it.”
“I know this case was assigned to you specifically,” Tonks said, stepping inside. “But that’s only because you were the only to work with her so closely in the past. Her loss hurt everyone in the department. Harker was the first auror we’ve had in years.”
“And yet there’s a rumor going around, calling her as a traitor,” Burt responded bitterly. “Did you know even the seeker owls have been recalled for other duties?”
Tonks nodded, “I spoke to Dumbledore. He said he’d have a word with the head of the ministry, but as you can guess his plate is full right now.”
Meanwhile, somewhere in England, a tall brunette kneeled by river, wondering how long I’d been since the last time she ate a full meal, or had a real shower, or good sleep. But neither hunger, or those very dark circles under her eyes, or the smell of carcass that was permanently stuck to her compared to the lack of mental tranquility.
There was a soft crackle nearby, and she snapped instinctively in that direction, with her wand gripped outward. She stood firm for a second, then sat back down.
Slowly, she reached to the only thing traveling with her: a small brown bag. Using her wand, she pulled a bulky bundle of black cloth, unwrapped it, and stared at the object in her hands. Whenever she had some time to herself, she’d go through the same ritual. She lifted the bronze mask up in to the sun, seeing the light go through its eyes, mouth, and small nose dentures. Looking at it in that perspective, the Death Eater mask looked less malevolent, almost beautiful.