Amy stayed the night at Number 12 Grimmauld Place for the time being, sleeping in one of the upstairs bedrooms that Mrs. Weasley had hastily but thoroughly cleaned and prepared.
When Adrian arrived early the next morning just after dawn had broken over London's rooftops, turning the winter sky pale gray and pink, he found Dumbledore and Remus sitting together on the main sofa engaged in serious conversation.
Sirius was off to the side in an armchair, reading through a newspaper with apparent concentration. He turned pages lazily, occasionally scoffing at something he read.
The Daily Prophet, from the headlines Adrian could glimpse, was full of the usual political articles and Quidditch scores. Nothing about last night's incident, thankfully.
Amy was eating breakfast quietly at the dining table, her small body was nearly swallowed by the large chair. She was carefully working her way through porridge and toast, taking tiny bites.
Tonks stood keeping watch nearby, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. Her hair was brown this morning rather than its usual pink—probably trying not to frighten the traumatized child with anything too unusual.
When Tonks noticed Adrian's arrival, spotting him in the doorway, she immediately pushed off from the wall and walked over to him. Her expression looked serious, and troubled.
"I looked after her all night," she said in a low, close voice. She glanced back at Amy to ensure the girl wasn't listening. "This child is absolutely covered in injuries, Adrian. It's... it's horrific."
"I suspected as much from what I saw yesterday," Adrian replied softly, his gaze falling on Amy's figure as she continued eating her meal with mechanical movements.
He had noticed hints of this before during the chaos and had deliberately left behind some potions specifically for treating scars and old injuries with Mrs. Weasley.
"Old ones and new ones both," Tonks continued, her voice was filled with suppressed anger. Her lips barely moved as she spoke, keeping her voice down. "Whip marks across her back and shoulders. Burns on her arms and legs—some look like they were made deliberately with hot metal. And what look like bite marks from something."
She swallowed hard. "There are also what look like cutting curse scars."
Adrian remained silent for a long moment, processing this catalog of cruelty. His hands clenched briefly at his sides before he forced them to relax.
It seemed that Bellatrix had truly, systematically used every means at her disposal to deliberately awaken and cultivate the Obscurus within Amy.
Just then, interrupting the heavy moment, a voice with a distinctive rough London dialect accent came from the doorway behind them.
"Good morning, everyone," said the wizard who entered with a swagger, his voice was hoarse but his spirits apparently high despite the early hour. "Took me all bloody night to get those troublesome matters sorted out... Hey, Sirius, good to see you up and about!"
Sirius looked up from behind his newspaper and glanced at the newcomer. "You too, Mundungus. And don't get any clever ideas about anything in this house. I'm watching you."
His tone showed friendly warning.
Adrian recognized the wizard who had arrived somewhat breathlessly. It was Mundungus Fletcher, also a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
He was an information dealer and small-time petty thief who operated primarily in the lower, shadier levels of the wizarding world. He had wide connections throughout the black market and criminal underground, which made him useful for intelligence gathering.
As for his character and trustworthiness, well... it was generally best to trust him first for his information, then question everything thoroughly later.
Upon hearing Sirius's warning, Mundungus immediately shifted his covetous gaze away from the expensive-looking antique silverware displayed on a nearby shelf. He'd been eyeing it with clear interest.
"I'm just here to report on my work, aren't I?" he muttered defensively, pulling out a crumpled roll of parchment from inside his grimy, stained coat. The coat looked like it hadn't been washed in months.
"Afraid I'd get the details wrong or mixed up, so I wrote down all the names carefully. Bellatrix hasn't been idle lately—the woman's been secretly meeting with quite a few dodgy people."
His expression became more serious. "Lots of activity for someone supposedly in hiding."
Dumbledore rose from the sofa and walked over, taking the crumpled parchment. He quickly scanned the list of names written in Mundungus's cramped, barely readable handwriting.
"Thank you for your diligent help, Mundungus," he said with a slight nod of appreciation. "This information is very useful indeed. It confirms some suspicions. However, do you know specifically what she actually did with these people? The nature of the meetings?"
"In such a short time, working alone, I couldn't dig up that many specific details," Mundungus said with an apologetic grin, pulling out a bent cigarette from his pocket by habit. "Unless there's sufficient compensation to hire more informants... Ah, I'm joking, I'm joking! Please don't mind me. Just a bit of humor."
He clearly wasn't totally joking, but knew better than to push.
"It's best not to smoke in front of children," Adrian reminded him from the side.
Mundungus instinctively looked around the room with confusion, as if searching for the mentioned child. Only then did he actually notice Amy sitting quietly at the dining table, still eating her breakfast.
"Uh... right, sorry about that," he apologized awkwardly.
He reluctantly shoved the cigarette back into his pocket, showing a sheepish, somewhat embarrassed smile. Then he asked with genuine confusion, looking between the adults, "Whose child is this anyway? Is she yours, Sirius? I've never heard anything about you having a daughter. When did this happen?"
Sirius looked at Mundungus with a completely flat, expressionless face. "What do you think, Mundungus?"
The implication was: use your brain.
Mundungus laughed dryly and rubbed his hands together nervously. "Just joking, just joking... didn't mean anything by it..."
Sirius put down the newspaper slowly and stared at him with intense eyes. "Stop with the useless chatter. Did you find anything of substance at Bellatrix's hideout? I remember that search was specifically assigned to you to handle."
Mundungus seemed suddenly reminded of something important. His eyes widened slightly and he hurriedly began rummaging through his numerous pockets with frantic movements.
After fumbling around awkwardly for a moment of checking coat pockets, inner pockets, even his trouser pockets, he finally pulled out a folded, severely crumpled piece of paper that looked like it had been sat on.
"Found it in the trash bin," Mundungus explained, handing the paper to Dumbledore with slightly grubby fingers. "Looks like regular Muggle stuff to me, though it's probably not that important. Just some paperwork."
Dumbledore took the paper carefully and meticulously unfolded it. His expression became more focused as he read.
"Is this all you found?" he asked after a moment. "Nothing else?"
"Yes, just this," Mundungus nodded quickly, perhaps a bit too quickly. "Nothing else worth mentioning."
Adrian couldn't shake the strong feeling that Mundungus seemed somewhat guilty, shifty. His expression was distinctly off, and seemed evasive. To be more specific, it was exactly the look of someone who had secretly sold valuable items he'd collected on the black market and made a tidy profit from the sale.
Of course, this was just Adrian's intuition based on long experience reading people. He had no proof.
"What does it say?" Sirius asked casually.
Dumbledore looked at the paper in his hand, studying it. His expression grew increasingly grave, and troubled.
"It's an official adoption agreement from a Muggle orphanage," he said finally in a heavy voice.
The room immediately fell into silence. Even the crackling of the fireplace seemed to quiet.
"Is it Amy's?" Remus asked at once, already knowing the answer but needing confirmation.
Dumbledore nodded slowly, and grimly.
The situation was now quite clear, the pieces were falling into place. Amy had been deliberately adopted by Bellatrix from a Muggle orphanage.
This wasn't particularly surprising when one thought about it. If a wizard wanted to secretly take a specific child from a Muggle orphanage, it wouldn't be difficult at all. A few Confundus Charms, some forged documents, a Memory Charm or two, it was that simple.
It was, however, a very serious criminal act under both Muggle and wizarding law. If discovered and prosecuted properly, it would be enough to send Bellatrix to Azkaban for life.
But for someone like Bellatrix Lestrange, someone already wanted for dozens of murders and torture cases, this was simply a case of many debts being no burden at all. One more crime meant nothing.
Adrian immediately constructed in his mind the probable story of a child ostracized in an orphanage for strange things happening around her. A child instinctively suppressing her magical abilities to avoid notice and punishment. Ultimately taken away by a dark wizard to endure months of inhumane torture specifically designed to create an Obscurus.
Though cruel and horrific, it wasn't hard to imagine. It fit Bellatrix's methods.
Dumbledore examined the adoption agreement carefully, his eyes were scanning every detail. His fingertips paused at the bottom of the page, where official stamps and signatures would be.
"There's an address here," he said, looking up and sweeping his gaze across Sirius and Remus. "The orphanage's location. I need you to pay them a visit as soon as possible and investigate thoroughly. Find out everything—how she chose Amy specifically, whether there are other children at risk, what the staff remember."
Sirius immediately stood up from his chair, looking ready for action. "We'll leave right now."
"Wait," Remus said, being considerably more cautious and logical as usual. He held up a restraining hand. "We need a proper reason and cover story. Two strange men suddenly showing up at a Muggle orphanage asking questions about a specific child will immediately arouse suspicion."
This problem was actually quite simple to solve.
Adrian offered an appropriate suggestion from his position. "Just disguise yourselves as workers from the government's child welfare department conducting a routine investigation. Say you're following up on the adoption to ensure everything was proper. I trust you haven't forgotten the incantation for the Memory Charm if things go wrong?"
Sirius showed a knowing, slightly mischievous smile. He appreciated simple and direct methods, even if they might not be entirely by the official book. "Perfect. That'll work."
"Do you need me to come along?" Tonks suddenly interjected, stepping forward eagerly. "Remus and I could pretend to be a married couple wanting to adopt a child. The orphanage would definitely welcome potential parents."
"Then they'll just think you're my daughter," Remus joked dryly, gesturing to their apparent age difference. "Not my wife."
"Don't forget I'm a Metamorphmagus," Tonks said, winking proudly and tapping her nose. Her eyes sparkled with confidence. "Changing my appearance is child's play for me. Watch."
Sirius looked at her with interest, leaning forward. "Can you make yourself look older? At least enough to appear to be Remus's age bracket?"
"Piece of cake," Tonks said confidently, her expression became focused and concentrated.
In just a few seconds as the transformation was remarkably quick: her facial features had completely changed in front of everyone's watching eyes. Fine lines and subtle wrinkles appeared at the corners of her eyes looking very realistic and matured.
The contours of her cheeks became more mature, less youthful roundness. Even her posture seemed considerably more composed, confident.
She stood there being completely transformed into a mature woman in her mid-thirties looking completely believable.
"How's this?" she asked with a smile, though her voice was noticeably somewhat lower and more modulated than her usual energetic tone.
"This is so strange!" Remus said, staring at her with some discomfort. "Unsettling, actually. You look like you could be... well, actually my age now."
"Now I understand why they made you an Auror so quickly despite your youth," Sirius said admiringly, circling around her to view the transformation from all angles. "This is incredible. You could infiltrate anywhere."
Adrian agreed completely as well. This kind of convenient, versatile ability was absolutely irreplaceable in investigative and undercover work. She could become anyone, and bypass any security based on appearance.
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