Chapter 21: Aftermath

A/N: Please! Leave a review and read the author's notes at the end. Anyway, thank you sooo much for all the support. :D

December 24th, 1989, Interlaken, Switzerland, 11:10 A.M.

From a bird's-eye view, one could witness the grandiose Swiss Alps, the part that still retained some of the greenery.

A silhouette was seen pacing past the leafless trees, creating a snowy trail stained with small droplets oozing slowly from her wounds.

The effect of such potent Expulso was by no means easy for her to get away unscathed. This resulted in the woman's outfit being in a somewhat sorry state, yet the coldness of Switzerland seemed to not affect her.

Upon finding a rather secluded area surrounded by dense leafless trees and boulders, the woman allowed herself to take some rest.

Breathing out hot air, she leaned against a nearby tree as she assessed the damage from the previous ordeal.

No doubt the hideout would have been flooded with the local authorities, hit wizards, Auror, and such, though more importantly, whatever that man—the magician—wanted, he would have already achieved it.

Looking down at the trembling right arm with small scratches and bruises, the woman pulled out a vile of Wiggenweld Potion in one of her pouches attached to the belt.

'Merde! Where did he come from? Such prowess!' Enduring the sizzling pain, she applied the potion to her wounds as her mind drifted back to the class with that wizard.

It was just one man, yet he managed to pass through at least 20 advanced protective wards with ease and even had time to meticulously set up a grand performance at the centre of the lowest floor. What he needed next was simply to lure them in and blast them off with his 'quirky magic' and a little element of surprise.

She admitted that she had never witnessed such a potent substitution; perhaps it was a combination of surreal illusion and transfiguration, thus creating a seamlessly human smoke boom figure.

Then those devasting cards, Ugh! Her face contorted into a grimace as she recalled the way her subordinates were plunged all over the place, the sounds of their screams and bones breaking.

It was absolute chaos.

Next, it was the way he tore off those on the second floor with just a few basic duelling spells, yet his starlight blinking' added so much to their defeat as one was bombarded with colourful spell coming at them from the most unexpected corner.

She only managed to at least keep herself from being knocked out by his barrages of attacks after carefully observing the man's movement from the beginning.

Though it didn't last long, exhaustion, both physically and magically, had taken a heavy toll on her. Even having deflected his spell with her impressive Potego, her arm showed signs of trembling from sustaining his potent spells all that time, while the magician was seemingly unaffected, as if it were just a child play for him.

"What was he aimed for, Surely such a powerhouse couldn't care less about a few magical creatures that serve no more than materials for some potions…Test subjects?... Or was it truly in the name of justice?"

The woman scoffed at her own words

'Or could he come for that beast?' She shook her head as she tried to clear up her speculations. For now, she had no solid evidence and more importantly, she needed to catch her breath quickly as they would be-

The slightly tattered woman raised her head to look at the tree branches above her, for in her perception, the invisible fluctuation of magic was stirring the surrounding atmosphere.

A small streak of popping sounds reverberated in the air, accompanied by the appearance of the distinct Wizard/Witches dressed in black formal winter attire, either standing or squatting firmly on the sturdy branches. They were no doubt Aurors sent by the French Ministry of Magic.

Most of their visage was hidden under the shade of their hats. Yet their hostility was permeating the area as the wand was pointing directly at her.

There was a brief, deadly silence before a woman in black raised a soft yet demanding voice, and her face flashed with a hint of amazement.

 "Céder!"

In return, the three French Aurors were slightly taken aback by the gesture of the tattered woman, and for the next moment, she gently waved her wand hidden in sleeve of her unscathed arm, dangling behind her back.

Immediately, the scattered dry leaves on the ground, as well as those few that remained on the trees, transformed into numerous firecrackers bursting out wondrous orange sparks, hindering the view of the three Aurors for but a moment.

Sensing the fleeting presence of the woman, the three immediately got rid of those sparks and smoke, yet what greeted them was a barrage of conjured blue flames spreading at a malevolent speed.

Catching the precious distraction, their target once again performed another Apparition.

However, once she landed, the tattered woman took no time to rest as she rushed forward to her destination. Just a few seconds later, all three Aurors apparated on nearby tree branches. It seemed like those tricks were too much trouble for them, as they still managed to trace her magic.

The four enter a state of exchanging blows of spells, hexes, and jinxes, with the tattered woman being prone to using transfiguration, while the Aurors carefully hold back lest this be a trap.

Yet things came to an erupted end with the woman sending out a barrage of avalanches towards the three as she bolted to grab what seemed to be a symbol of Altxorra Braconier slowly etched out on the boulder surface, acting according to some sort of ritual.

The three Aurors's senses were alarmed by a furious and malicious aura permeating from where the inconspicuous boulder was located. They pulled back into a full-defense stand, watching the figure of their target disappear into thin air.

Tsk! A man in black's face darkened as the surrounding area began to collapse, the earth splitting and trees swaying furiously. They needed to resolve this situation first, lest anything happen to the innocent.

…

Meanwhile, back at the hideout, just an hour later, this place was filled with a Ministry's Auror Squad and local authorities investing what in the world had happened here, for this place seemed to have witnessed a formidable Bombarda.

Debris, small clumps of fire, and billowing smoke were what remained of a fierce battle.

Fortunately, those magical beasts remain in one piece, peacefully sleeping in their cages.

A middle-aged man dressed in a beige coat, dark trousers, and a scarf of the same colour on the outside while wearing a linen shirt with no tie on the inside.

He bore a slightly lean face with a tinge of stoicism, and his dark brown hair was unkempt, yet his moustache was nicely trimmed.

Taking a puff of a cigarette, the man watched all of these with his sharp turquoise eyes, assessing the various scenarios in his mind.

The man was the squad leader, Senior Auror Gautier Blanchard. He was supposed to be on his precious winter holiday enjoying the hot chocolates and cheeses of Interlaken, yet trouble managed to find him somehow.

As he was strolling around the low altitude of the mountain range, he sensed a wave of thundering magical fluctuation coming down his spine, shortly after a small but undulating quake struck nearby.

His gaze pieces deep into the source, as he had already announced to the local authorities via Patronus and even the Ministry via a special token—the Alchemy product.

Just a few minutes later, a whole auror squad was assembled outside the tent. It was also when they spotted a fleeing figure apparating quite a distance from there.

He immediately ordered a small team to chase after whoever it was, while the rest of the squad, together with the local authority, would go in and sweep the tent.

Gautier keenly noticed the local authorities seemed to be in an overly nervous state; something was amiss about them

What greeted them inside was such a mind-bending scene as it was. Gautier let out a long sigh as he saw the emblem of the Altxorra Braconier etched on the ceiling, as well as the mountain of magical beasts sleeping peacefully in enchanted cages.

"This is going to be cumbersome."

Back to where he was, the senior Auror was standing in what used to be the office of some high-end figures at his place, holding what he could gather—some scattered pieces of paper on the ground.

Most of them were beyond repair even with Reparo, but it was enough to let him know this was one of the important hideouts of the infamous organisation of poachers that had operated for more than a decade. Other than that, there were some incomplete records of their illegal transactions as well as their recent operation regarding a rather XXXX beast, Re'em.

Pining the bridge of his nose, Gautier decided to leave this for later assessment, prioritising handling whatever was left as well as those magical beasts first before conducting any officially in-depth investigation. It was then that he perceived another quake, albeit smaller and far away.

Minutes later, the three-person team came back unscathed; their faces weren't so pleasant. The three marched towards the centre, as that was where their squad leader resided.

"Putain! Those annoying Altxorra Braconier always prepared all sorts of tricks up their sleeve." One of the female team members exclaimed in frustration; another was patting her shoulder, seemingly calming her comrade down, while the male team member proceeded to recount the event.

Gautier narrowed his eyes at the man's words. 'She does not seem to be like these that lay unconscious here; at least with her prowess, she's no doubt the leader of this place and very likely the one who survived whatever was attacked the hideout.'

It was then that he keenly noticed one of the female subordinates had been meaning to say something. He calmly gestured for her to speak.

"Uhm, captain, it seems like I know who she is." She spoke in a soft voice, yet it was full of determination, which indeed took her teammates aback while Gautier raised his eyebrows.

Well, this information would save them a lot of time by not having to look through hundreds of personal files looking for this woman.

The female in black continued to speak in her heavy French accent. "Well, I did go to Beauxbatons and so did she, although she dropped out of school just a month before graduation. I remember it did cause quite a ruckus as students and even professors were discussing her reason for doing so, for it was quite mysterious.

"At first, I wasn't sure it was her, mainly because she had changed a lot, but when we exchanged blows with her and saw the way she fought via transfiguration, I knew for sure it was her. She did have a name for her gracious transfiguration back at school.

"Her name was Rachelle de Frautois."

The squad leader nodded in satisfaction. He then ordered her to look further into the woman's past; maybe they would find something useful regarding her presence within this notorious organisation.

Sigh. Now Gautier must get back to handling this mess as well as having a chat with those suspicious local authorities.

"Merlin's beard! There goes my holiday." Gautier exclaimed helplessly, while his three comrades only nodded in pity for their capable leader.

Yet, unbeknownst to all who were either busy examining or cleaning up the scene, a pale owl was sitting quietly in one of the cages, its large eyes focusing on Gautier as it was carefully picking up the conversation from the beginning.

No doubt it was one of Ethan's tricks, as he is now sitting comfortably back in the hotel, sipping hot chocolate while getting interesting pieces of information. It is certainly unlikely that the French Ministry wouldn't get a hold of him, as well as details regarding Re'em's whereabouts.

Although Ethan would love to point Altxorra Braconier towards dealing with the Auror, doing that would also create more difficulties in getting that beast.

With a wave of his hand, Ethan dispersed his Patronus quietly as he turned to notice Harry, who had been excitedly watching the golden egg.

Ethan deliberately took this one back as a reward for his efforts in helping the ministry locate one of those notorious poachers's hideouts as well as saving a lot of poor magical beasts from their demise.

Ethan nodded in acknowledgement of his noble acts, which earned him a slightly confused look from the boy.

"Uncle Ethan, what creature's egg is this, It looks 'exquisite'," Harry asked with utmost curiosity as he assumed Ethan didn't just bring a random egg back with little value for his research

The man's mouth curled up into a bright smile as he came closer to look at the pale golden egg placed on a pillow in the middle of the table, near the crackling fireplace.

"This, Harry, is the egg of a Golden Snidget." Harry's big emerald eyes further widened at Ethan's words as the man began to elaborate more about the bird.

The Golden Snidget was an extremely rare, protected species of bird. Completely round, with a very long, thin beak and glistening, jewel-like red eyes, the Golden Snidget was an extremely fast flier that could change direction with uncanny speed and skill, owing to the rotational joints of its wings.

They were once common in northern Europe, but because of their aptitude for hiding and the extreme speed that they used as their survival strategy to avoid predators, they were difficult for Muggles to detect. Though with extensive Snidget-hunting came their near extinction in the 1890s.

From then on, with the apparent notion that the Snidget was close to extinction, Elfrida Clagg, then Chief of the Wizards' Council, declared it a protected species. The Snidget was classified as XXXX, not because it was dangerous but because severe penalties would apply if any were captured or injured. Clagg also founded the Modesty Rabnott Snidget Reservation in Somerset, England, named in honour of Modesty Rabnott's early efforts at protecting Snidgets.

Harry quickly managed to make a mental note in his Mind Palace, this was one of Ethan's ways of practising this mind art given to the boy.

"And lucky for us... This egg is about to hatch!"

Both of them bore a look of genuine excitement as they focused on the egg; their eyes sparked with interest. No sooner did small cracking sounds resound within the egg from top to bottom.

Harry and Ethan exchanged smiles as the rare moment finally came.

With a final pop, the egg shelf collapsed, revealing a beautiful bird coated in golden fur; its shape resembled a small ball with two prominent, gracious wings.

"Wow…" Harry let out a long exclamation as he stared at the newborn.

The boy was slightly startled as the small bird made a few dashes around the room, yet it quickly hovered in front of the boy's face. Four eyes locked onto each other.

Instinctively, Harry held out both of his hands, a gesture for the bird to land, which it did!

The boy was thrilled to see the bird scratching itself against his palm. Harry tried his best to be as gentle as possible while holding the graciously fragile creature, remembering Ethan's words. He then showed it to Ethan with sparkling eyes

The gentleman was also smiling contently at such adorable scenes.

"It seems he is very fond of you," Ethan said calmly as he ruffled the boy's hair.

Harry was even more thrilled to hear that, but soon a realisation struck his mind. "But won't he need to be handed over to the authorities for them to return him somewhere safer and more suitable?"

Nudging his glasses, Ethan said, "Well, I see no harm in keeping him with us for the time being. I will contact the authorities to find him a suitable habitat once we're back home. Besides, I believe you can use this opportunity to learn how to care for magical creatures; it is not an everyday opportunity."

Ethan finished with a wink, and in turn, Harry nodded vigorously in agreement.