It had been an easy task for Antonio to extract whatever information he had wanted from the imprisoned Death Eater. But the information he managed to obtain was of a very limited nature. The man was hardly aware of anything significant within the Death Eaters' organisation.
This particular Death Eater had no real standing in their ranks. His status was not high enough for him even to participate in the Dark Lord's gatherings. In fact, he had met the Dark Lord only once, when he had been branded with the Dark Mark. He was the lowest rank of death eaters and most probably this was the reason the ministry was so comfortable in keeping him in prison and then sending them to Azkaban.
Even so, Antonio had been able to garner some information. It was sufficient enough to proceed to the next step of his investigation. And although the information was limited and not especially detailed, it would serve as a crucial link for Antonio.
Call it fate if you wished, but Albus Dumbledore and Antonio had pressed their wands to the foreheads of their respective Death Eaters at almost the exact same time. And they had used almost the same method to pull out what they needed.
Antonio stepped out of the prison cell while the Death Eater lay crumpled on the stone bed in an unconscious state.
"Is it done?" Amelia asked as she turned around. She was still standing at the door, keeping watch in case someone approached them.
"Yes," Antonio nodded, walking toward the gate.
"Did you get the information you were searching for?" She asked further.
Antonio nodded in response.
"We should leave first," she said, not pressing him for details.
Quickly, they stepped outside and moved through the Ministry corridors toward the exit.
"You made sure they would not remember anything? All three of them, including the prisoner?" she asked as they weaved through the dim corridors of the ministry building.
"Do not worry about that," he replied. "They will have no idea that anyone was ever there."
"Good," Amelia said with a relieved breath.
It took them a few more moments before they were finally outside the Ministry. As soon as Amelia was a safe distance from the entrance, she heaved a deep sigh of relief. The entire time she had been inside, she had been tense and anxious.
Antonio smiled. "Why were you so worked up?"
Amelia shook her head.
"I have never done anything like this," she said. "My whole life I have followed the law religiously. And now I have illegally intruded into a Ministry prison cell, the same Ministry, in fact the same department I work for."
"But still," she added. "It was an exhilarating experience."
Antonio gave a small chuckle in response.
"Now," she continued, "tell me, what did you learn from him?"
"I did not learn a lot of information," Antonio replied. "But enough to move to the next step of my plan."
Antonio then offered a brief explanation of what he had learned.
"Great," Amelia said, satisfied. She was relieved to know that the risk she had taken had been worth it.
"What do we do now?" she asked next.
"Now," Antonio replied, "we return home."
Antonio and Amelia exchanged farewells before both of them departed for their respective houses.
.
.
.
Amelia arrived in the main hall of the Bones manor to find her father sitting at the dining table. The food had already been served, but Edmund was not eating. He was sitting with his plate still turned over.
"Father," she said in a low tone as she approached the table.
Edmund nodded. "Have a seat."
Amelia took her seat, and both of them served food onto their plates.
"You were quite late today," Edmund remarked after they had begun their meal. "Was something happening in the Ministry?"
Amelia shook her head.
"No… not Ministry work," she replied. "Lord Olario asked a favour."
"Oh!" Edmund responded. He seemed a bit surprised and intrigued. "Lord Olario."
He did not ask for further details, and Amelia was not certain whether she should tell him. Although Antonio had not explicitly asked her to keep it secret, she wondered if he had simply assumed she would. Whatever they had done was not a thing to be discussed widely.
Fortunately, Edmund did not press the matter, and she did not elaborate.
"Father," Amelia said, "you seemed quite worried yesterday. Is there some matter?"
It looked for a moment as if Edmund would avoid the issue, but he stopped and looked at the serious expression on his daughter's face. And he realised that had to be truthful.
"I was worried, yes," he agreed.
"The attack on Hogsmeade has made me nervous," he accepted. "I was wondering that if they were courageous and bold enough to directly attack Hogsmeade, what is stopping them from launching another attack on the Bones Manor."
"It would not be wrong to think that they would be thirsting for revenge," he continued. "And after what happened last time, they will surely send a much larger number of Death Eaters. Large enough that we would be helpless in front of them. And Lord Olario would not be there to save us when this happens."
Amelia looked thoughtful. Whatever her father was saying made complete sense to her. It was only because of Antonio that they had survived that night. On their own, they might have lived the previous time with a bit of luck but if a larger force came, they had no other option.
"But why do you think they targeted us in the first place?" she questioned. "Surely, you or the Bones family was not the only one opposing them."
Edmund shrugged.
"It is hard to say. But maybe they felt that we were their fiercest enemy. And the largest tree faces the strongest winds. And they must have had other considerations too."
"What do you have in mind?" Amelia questioned. "Headmaster Dumbledore too has made his stance clear. With him in full opposition and open conflict with the Death Eaters, the Death Eaters would surely be pushed on the backfoot."
Edmund nodded but did not comment. Like many others, he too had reservations about whether Dumbledore actually meant what he had announced.
"Lord Olario," Edmund remarked after a few moments of silence. "What do you think of him?"
"Lord Olario?" Amelia appeared confused. "He is a great man and a powerful man."
"Why are you asking me this?" she questioned.
Edmund shook his head.
"I was just asking your opinion since we are in a long-term alliance with him," he replied, but inwardly his mind was churning with the plan he had come up with after a full day of contemplation. He did not know if it was possible or not, but he had to try. This was his best bet to keep his family safe.
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