Chapter 37: The unpleasant side of work

We did a lot of paperwork in the morning, took a break for lunch, and then got back to it.

At one point in the afternoon, just like the first time, we called each other for field work. This time it was not as complicated as the previous one, it was more to show us the different parts of this job. We were going to investigate a crime scene.

We were called back to Knockturn Alley, but under the command of a different team. When we met with the team, made up of at least 7 people, we were not very well received by their leader, it seemed that he did not care in the least and just wanted to finish this job. The others were kind enough to introduce themselves and explain a bit about what this is all about.

After our trip up the chimney and a short walk down the alley we reached our destination, a large abandoned store hidden amongst the others. When we entered we could see that unlike the outside it was very clean to be abandoned, the only thing that stands out is that it seems completely vacated, the little that is still maintained are a few very large but empty pieces of furniture. It seemed that the people here had taken everything.

While our current boss went outside for a smoke, the other Aurors started on his work. By different means they looked for evidence or traces, they were something impressive and Tonks and I made an effort to learn everything we could from them while they were commenting on the work.

"They left here at least a day or two ago, the traces of magic are very weak, but the place is clean and we check that there are no self-cleaning spells in the place, this way we can quickly estimate how long It's been since the last appearance of a mage" I didn't explain a bearded Elder who was checking the dust on the ground.

"So it will be easy to follow them if I don't spend so much?" Tonks asked.

"Not necessarily" said the old man, somewhat depressed.

"We almost never do it" commented a woman who with her wand was recreating a scale model of the place in the air adding things to it that were not there now "Usually we do not get to catch them and if we do it is one or two fish that did not escape from the network, they are never important people"

"How is that?" I asked confused.

"They are a wandering organization, they do business for a very short time in the same place, when they do they spend a lot of time studying the terrain, they know very well when to appear and when to leave, so it becomes difficult to catch them when they are so well organized" he said a man in his twenties taking photos with a camera.

"What kind of business?" Tonks asked.

"Smuggling, and illegal sales of materials regulated by the ministry or anything else that a buyer may have, sometimes they are also involved in kidnapping or murder, but it is rare" Explained the photographer "They are all over the world"

"Is it an organization that works all over the world?!" I asked surprised.

"No... rather that in every part of the world there is an organization like this"

"Ohhh…that's a lot less scary" I sighed.

We continued to see how the Aurors worked and even helped a little, but there was something that made me feel uncomfortable and I couldn't figure out what it was. We were almost done when our boss came in for a moment to hurry us up, and in that instant I could feel him more clearly.

"Wait!" I yelled causing everyone to stop.

"What's the matter?"

"Are you sure they're gone from here?" I seriously asked them.

"Pretty sure, they won't stay long even if they can't transport all the merchandise, so we've recovered some of them, it's almost impossible for them to be here" replied the old man "Why do you ask?"

"I'm sure there's someone else here besides us...under the ground"

When they heard that they became serious, they each used different spells on the ground, they even used their own hands to check if there was something different on the wooden planks they lifted, but they didn't find anything, so they just stared at me.

"There is nothing, it is wood on a solid floor, without spells or secret doors"

At that point our boss came back in to see why we were late.

"What are you doing here wasting your time? Let's go back to the ministry, I hate this place" he yelled at us.

The others just bowed their heads and started to walk away, but I knew I wasn't wrong, my [Sense Life] ability let me know that there were other beings in this place big enough or powerful enough to alert me.

"I'm sure they are here" I said, but many were unhappy.

"Kid, you can't always find something, sometimes it's too late, don't bother with it anymore. We have years of experience in this" said the cameraman.

"I swear on my mother's grave" I exclaimed.

At this moment I managed to draw a little attention from some, but even so they were not convinced, except for one of them, it was the witch who created the scale model of the building. She was one of the people who, when we got to the minister of magic, heard part of my tragic story with my deceased mother, so when she heard me say it, she believed me a little even if I was wrong.

"I suppose we could dig the ground under the planks" she said, but without the approval of the others.

"Stop wasting your time listening to these children, I will reduce your salary if you don't obey my order again" complained the leader, who has wanted to leave since he arrived, then went out the door waiting for them to follow him.

The old man who has helped us until now upon hearing what his boss said about him got angry, it seemed that he was very dissatisfied with him, so he turned his eyes towards us and said.

"I think we can do it, at least it will allow the new generation to learn a lesson even if we fail."

With that the old man and the woman with their wands, under the eyes of the others who did not understand why they were doing it, recited their spells and raised all the floor boards in the center of the room, revealing a stone floor.

They then both looked at each other and again cast spells, causing the stone on the ground to break into small pieces of debris and move sideways, revealing some long thick logs going from side to side across the floor, forming part of the base of the building, beyond that was just dirt.

When they saw it they sighed, but they didn't care too much, since they didn't expect to find anything. But I, on the other hand, was able to better feel the position of what I was looking for.

"Here" point to one of the soil logs.

But nobody believed me anymore, they thought that I was looking for some attention because every time I changed the direction in which I was pointing, which was not my fault, since I was only able to discern the place well.

But there was someone who never doubted me, that was Tonks, she approached with her wand and pointing to the trunk, she made it crumble slowly, revealing a small cloth bag among the sawdust. When the others saw it they were somewhat astonished.

I put my hand in the bag and took out a chest, the bag had an extension spell because otherwise there would be no other way for it to fit in there. The chest was not high, but very wide and long. When I put it on the ground and opened it, I could see some stairs.

Everyone already understood that he was not lying, even our boss who came back in and was about to yell at us once again, his jaw dropped when he saw it. Everyone was preparing for a future battle, but I didn't take the time to settle down and just jumped into the chest to the surprise of everyone who quickly ran after me worriedly.

Already inside the chest I could see what I was feeling with my ability, but now I think maybe it wasn't such a good idea to know. The inside of this chest was a room where several people were trapped inside that wooden board with holes for the head and hands whose name I can't remember. They were a diverse group, from the elderly to children, men and women, some of them already decomposing corpses, accompanying the mountain of bodies and loose parts of people against the wall.

The whole place smelled like death due to the putrefaction, the blood and the es of the prisoners who seemed to have been here for a couple of days imprisoned, some longer.

I ran over to one of them who was a grown man who had a beard and the remains of a robe that seemed to be of high quality. I cast a spell on his support and opened it letting him fall, but I caught him before he did.

"Hilfe…" he tried to say, but he was weak.

The others came in behind me, surprised at what I found. Tonks on the side began to vomit after finding the cadaverous remains of a 4 year old boy whose skull was being eaten away by maggots... and she wasn't the only one who took it badly, as our boss also started returning her lunch, but more because of the smell than because of what was here.

When the old man approached me, his eyes widened at the sight of the person in my arms.

"He is the ambassador of the German Ministry of Magic!" I exclaim surprised.

"He was reported missing a few days ago" another person commented.

When the man in arms heard that, although weak, he tried to nod. Seeing the importance of the matter, we all cooperated as best we could. Except for our boss who went out to report to the ministry and Tonks who still wasn't over what he was seeing.

I took care of taking the ambassador out of the suitcase, since it was already in my hands and I dragged it outside to get some air, there I secretly used some blood magic to try to stabilize it because I felt that we would lose it if it left him in this state, which he felt so he looked at me for a moment before closing his eyes to try to rest.

A short time later the ministry's emergency team arrived with the support of St. Mungo's staff. They took control of the situation and took care of the wounded, Tonks and I had to stay there for another two hours while everything was resolved until they let us go.

It was already 10:20 at night when we got back and even though it wasn't that late we decided not to cook, Tonks wasn't feeling well and couldn't eat anything in this state. We both went to take a shower and then go to sleep.

I was changing in my room when I heard someone knocking on my door just like the night before and even with the trauma I opened it because I knew Tonks wouldn't be in the mood to joke around.

When I opened the door I found Tonks in mauve pajamas, hugging his pillow, which she was carrying in front of his chest.

"Can I sleep with you" she asked without the usual emotion that he always showed.

"Sure" I replied.

I didn't mind missing a night of work, I knew she was in pain, so I wouldn't let my friend down. I myself am surprised that it didn't affect me so much, I thought I had passed my stage without feelings, but it seems that there is still some coldness left inside me. Maybe that's why I do things that are clearly bad, but I don't realize it because I don't feel guilty.

We magically stretch the bed so we can both fit in and lie down. Tonks laid her head on my chest and shortly after we turned off the light she began to cry.

"It's ok...everything will be alright" I tried to comfort her as she stroked her hair which changed color from pink to light blue.

"They were just some children..." I sob remembering the image of the child's skull being devoured by worms next to another that was missing limbs, his condition, his expressions...

"That's what aurors are for... to prevent those things from happening and to save people in that situation" I said while humming a song while listening to it with my ability [music] "In the future I know you'll take care of that things like that don't happen... you have to be strong to be able to achieve it"

We continued chatting a little more, I comforted her with what I could and with my ability I was able to calm her down a bit so that she wasn't so upset that she couldn't sleep. When I realized that she fell asleep with her head on me, I used my skill on her more so that she can have a peaceful sleep, hoping that tomorrow she will feel better.

We both woke up the next morning, Tonks had to wake up for a while before getting up, then she went to the bathroom to wash the dried tears from her face. When he finished getting ready I already had breakfast waiting for her. States already at the table eating...

"Are you better?" I asked.

"Yeah... it was just a bad time" he said listlessly, but clearly more stable "But you're right, I'll be an auror to avoid things like that, so let's hurry up, I'm sure we have a lot to do today. Besides... I don't want you to If you think that by having me sleeping in your bed you have a chance with me, it takes more than that for you to subdue Nymphadora Tonks" he scoffed weirdly.

She was in higher spirits than she was last night, I don't know if she's holding back her feelings or if she's really getting over it, but either way I can only wait in case I need to offer my shoulder again.

We left for work and when we arrived we saw that everyone was very excited, I guess yesterday brought a lot of work to the whole department. Tonks and I arrived at our offices and in addition to the paperwork we dropped off yesterday, we also had an additional report to fill out on what had transpired at the warehouse.

We finished most of the debriefing by noon and as we left our offices we passed a group of people who seemed to surround our previous mission chief who was passing by, seeming to congratulate or fawn over him.

When he walked away from there we could hear the aurors talking to each other, but I heard something that derailed me. I paused for a moment and approached the group of Aurors.

"Sorry, why all the commotion?" I asked feigning curiosity.

"You didn't know, Garrick Rotenrot rescued the missing German ambassador from a drug gang" a bearded man told us, causing Nymphadora beside me to widen her eyes in surprise.

"Yes, it's impressive, they say that when they searched the abandoned base of the group of smugglers, he was the only one who stayed until the end doubting that his work was finished. If it wasn't for him who refused to leave, they wouldn't have been found and who knows what could have happened" Gossiped an old and somewhat fat auror.

"I heard that it is possible that I will win an Order of Merlin for his contributions and his persistence at work, since thanks to him better relations between both ministries can be established" Said the youngest of the three.

When Tonks heard this she was very shocked and then furious. I, on the other hand, didn't show any expression, I heard everything I had to hear. I walked away from the place but not in the direction of my office. Tonks followed me too, only he didn't realize where we were going.

"Can you believe it? If it wasn't for you no one there would have been saved" Tonks ranted, but he ignored her "Tenebrius? Do you hear me? ... where are we going?" He finally realized that we are in the opposite direction of our destiny.

I didn't reply... Approaching the inner offices I asked a person passing by for directions so I could find the office I was looking for. When you arrive, don't knock on the door and force your way in, scaring the person sitting in the desk chair.

"What are you guys doing here?" Asked our angry boss after he spilled the tea he was drinking because of the scare.

"I want to know what it is that you were the one who found the hostages?" Ask without beating around the bush or expressing any emotion. Tonks behind me finally realized what she was doing and stood next to me to show her support, since she also wanted to know what was going on.

"It's not something kids should care about" she replied as she cleaned herself up.

"I want to know when my exploits became his exploits?" I narrowed my eyes.

"You still have a lot to learn, that's the way things are here... I heard that they recognized your previous capture, that should be enough for you, don't think that we are going to congratulate you for everything you do. If you want to stay here you will have to understand some things, here are not their achievements but the achievements that we want to give them, they are just a couple of practitioners who should understand their place and stop questioning the decisions of their superiors" He said without showing the slightest cordiality "If you don't want to be kicked out here not to return, better stay quiet in your office and do what you are told, it is not difficult for us to expel you from Hogwarts if that is what we want, so lower your stupid heads from the pedestal where they thought they were "

Tonks next to me was about to jump to yell at her, but I put my hand in front of her preventing her, she held back, although annoyed she trusted me.

"Are you sure of this?" Throw my last question.

"Get out of my office already!" She yelled at us annoyed.

I ignored him and dragged Tonks out of his office towards ours.

Along the way Tonks kept complaining, telling me how much she would love to kick his ass, how much she didn't understand how this could happen, how there could be a person like him in the ministry.

I appeased her with a few spare words until we reached our office. Before we could even sit down at our desk, Garrick came rushing in and stared at us. Tonks looked more and more confused.

He walked over to our desks and looked through them, when he located them, he picked them up and read them, they were the reports from the previous mission.

"You lost your reports because you were careless, you understand" she smiled at us mischievously "You are very clumsy... if you want to continue having a future here" she said before leaving with the reports.

"AAHHH…" Tonks yelled as she threw the rest of the reports from the table to the floor "damn… that bastard of a Troll" She was shaken and furious.

"Tonks..."

"I can't believe he threatened us..."

"Tonks..."

"Now we have to pretend that we failed in our work just to please him"

"Tonks..."

"Don't try to calm me down now, let me insult him until I run out of saliva, he doesn't deserve our silence. Although we can't say anything to the others, let me at least complain to you... if I don't feel like I'm going to explode"

"Tonks!"

"Than?!"

"Do you remember well what it looked like...?"