分卷阅读16（1 / 2）

Harry studied the right side, the faces and names he didn’t know. His eyes skirted over their characteristics until he saw something he did recognise. One of the men in a photo wore a necklace that Harry had seen before. The pendant was the infinity symbol, only each side had a pair of eyes with the circles. He’d seen it before on a few of the men in the potions ring he’d been investigating. Merlin, he’d seen them only a few weeks into his investigation. That felt like a lifetime ago.

He whispered his revelation to Ron as his best friend copied down the case board to a small notebook. Ron drew the symbol from the photo and then put the notebook away in his robes. “Sorta looks familiar, yeah?” he whispered to Harry.

“Not really.”

Felix dropped the stack of parchments on his desk and sat back in his chair. “It’s official, Stramitz. Archibald Eversworn has only been on the Ministry’s radar for the last eight months.”

“Interesting,” Igora nodded.

“You were wrong then.” Felix couldn’t hide his smile and Ignora snorted.

“How’s that?”

Felix elaborated on his theory that Eversworn was a poorly picked informant, or even undercover auror. Igora shook her head, “No, there’s something else going on with him. Don’t forget that it was Draco Malfoy we saw climb into Eversworn’s flat. The man has a Department of Mysteries tail on him!”

That reminded Igora to check the files she’d requisitioned from the main office. She didn’t want to jump to her own biased conclusions in regards to Malfoy, but the young man was a known former Death Eater. She found the unnervingly thin stack on him and flipped through it. Since his trial and release, Malfoy only came up in Ministry paperwork with an application into the auror program and subsequent removal from said program. The reason for his expulsion simply stated Shows promise, unlikely to progress.

“What does that even mean?” Felix asked.

Igora shook her head and read on. The Ministry tracked Malfoy’s charitable donations, of which, there were many. But the most interesting find in his file had to be the copied pages of the Minister’s calendar, and the four official meetings Malfoy sat with him. “Doesn’t that strike you as odd, if he’s involved in criminal activity? He’s not flagged. He’s not on some watch list. He’s meeting privately with the Minister of Magic, for Salazar’s sake!”

Felix frowned. “So what are you saying?”

She was about to close the file and admit that she didn’t know, but a familiar tapping at the window stole her attention. She got up and let the owl in, grabbed the note, and fed the creature a treat. The note had been hastily scribbled, but she could tell it was from their informant at the Ashtyl Hotel. She ripped it opened and scanned it.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Felix, get your cloak.” Igora couldn’t help it. She was grinning madly. They walked to the Floo Chamber, Felix nagging her to tell him. “Our girl says she saw Draco Malfoy enter the hotel with a red kneazle.”

“Like the one Eversworn saw? Come on, Stramitz, that’s nothing.”

She licked her lips. “Not long after, Pansy Parkinson met with him in the lounge and then they went up to a room. They were followed by Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter.”

“The Golden Trio?”

Igora stopped and held up her hand just as they approached the oversized fireplace. “Remind me again what floor Eversworn asked about in his initial interview?”