Surviving Times

Lupin sighed as he loosened his bow tie. He felt the vague déjà vu and so did Chloe Smith, who looked at him with an amused yet exasperated look on her face.

"Okay, what's the count, Remus?" She asked.

"What count, Chloe?" Remus questioned innocently.

"The count of how many times I dress myself gorgeously before I get called for some last-minute emergency?"

"Well… let's see… I don't know."

"Oh, but I do know. Every bloody time, Remus. Every bloody time. Because you are utterly an honorable b*stard who couldn't say no! And this time, we've got to babysit the folks from the Ministry! And it absolutely had to happen on Halloween!!!" Chloe seethed in calm wrath as those words left her mouth.

"Again, I'm sorry about that Chloe. I really am. But on the bright side, this might not be as bad as it looks." Remus tried placating the lady.

"Do explain then."

"Thank you. You see, the person who's accompanying us is Alastor Moody. I worked with him and I can assure you that he is not someone who 'has a stick shoved up to their arses', according to you."

"As much I'd like putting my faith in your words; I might not be able to when the person in question brings an inexperienced teenage Auror to be with us. No matter." Chloe said as she pointed her sight to the figures moving towards them. It was Moody and Tonks. There was a slight frown on Lupin's face but it soon vanished.

"Ah, Moody. It's good you've come. And this young lady is?" He asked politely.

"She's my protégé. Her name's Tonks." Moody grunted a reply.

"I see. Please get into the car then; we'll depart shortly."

The group of four sat in black SUV and the car's engine started with little to no noise. Chloe sighed in silence. As much as she wanted to protest, orders were absolute and she knew what she signed up for fully aware.

…

The car was shrouded with an uncanny silence, well except for the song being played. Escape by Rupert Holmes. The Auror and Auror to be never heard the song but enjoyed it, nonetheless. But that didn't mean Moody would restrain himself from keeping quiet any longer.

"Where are we going exactly, Lupin?" He asked.

"Edinburgh." He said softly. And his words did make Moody and his young protégé speechless.

"Are we going by the train or apparate there?" He asked after a while.

"We'll be doing none. Don't worry, we'll reach there shortly." It was Chloe who responded to his question while Remus was busy fiddling with some buttons in his car.

Moody didn't say any further. It's not like he had any choice. His boss' orders were clear. Observe them. Keenly. And Moody would do that any time given.

"It's done. Do you have the coordinates with you, Chloe?" Remus asked as he removed his hands from some enigmatic keyboard on his dashboard. He stooped the car in some unfrequented alley in London.

"Yes, and I just sent them to your inbox." She replied.

"Excellent. Moody and Ms. Tonks, please put on your seat belts." Lupin requested. The duo obliged and soon, they were glad they did. Since, the car began flying in the air with twice the speed of sound and saying they were flabbergasted was an understatement. It was like they went supersonic within a minute.

And thus, they reached Edinburgh within a span of few minutes. After the car which puts fighter jets to shame had landed on the ground, Moody unbuckled his seat belt and jolted out of the car. While Tonks was still unable to recover from the shock of her very first flight which was not on a broomstick like she was used to but on some nice leathery seat of a car.

"What the bloody hell was that Lupin?" He asked.

"It's just a magical car, Moody. Don't worry, it's thickly coated with notice-me-not charms all over it. No muggle or wizard can see it easily."

"What-"

"Its Ministry approved my friend." And that was enough for Moody to stop talking, he just sighed in annoyance.

"Why not just apparate or use a portkey instead of this… car?" He finally asked.

"Because they are way too noticeable, like her majesty's crown." Chloe said as she looked at them while holding something that looked suspiciously close to a smartphone. She handed Remus a brief case while she carried one on her own.

"Everything's set. All the camera and the footage will be laced with confundus for the next 10 min, from now."

She said as the timer started. 9:59.

"Moody, in case of any mishaps, I want you to inform the authorities right away." Remus said and before Moody could answer, protest or question his intentions, Remus just launched a missile launcher on to the gates of Royal Bank of Scotland.

The door blasted into smithereens, but strangely, every piece of debris avoided people.

9:34

Chloe and Remus suddenly dashed into the bank, not wanting to let the surprise element go wasted. Getting inside, the situation was pretty clear.

"There's a total 6, four here while the two are inside the treasury." Chloe said.

"Understood. I'll take care of the two inside, you deal with the goons over here."

"Alright."

The 'goons' Remus spoke of were not the ordinary goons. They were fully grown dark wizards who specialized in robbing banks all over the world and never got caught, except for the one stupid time they broke into Gringotts and nearly became dragon food.

The goons, though just goons were quite cautious. They thought it was someone from the Ministry, but it turned out to a charming lady in her gown along with a handsome man in a tux. Their minds were blank for a moment and that was enough for Chloe to close the distance between them and land a solid right hook into goon #1's face and it broke a nose.

One down, three to go. 9:02

The remaining goons didn't have the time to react. Poor fellas, they didn't even have the time to take out their wands before they got knocked out of their senses. And here's come $100 question. Why was an obviously skilled witch engaging in close combat? Because 99.99% of the wizarding folks don't have a clue to anything without magic. Even the basic self-defense was out of question.

And let's not talk about the combat specialist that is Remus Lupin and Chloe Smith who are well versed in all kinds of fighting, magical or non-magical.

8:42

All the goons were taken care of. Now it was the turn to take care of the muggles who were the victims of a very potent sleeping potion turned gas. But how can Chloe deal with it? Simple.

She took out her favorite magical artifact these days – The Tune It In Triangle.

A little strike is what it took to repel all and every magical experience within the bodies of muggles. Anything which had to do with magic would be replaced by something more… rational, not that magic was not rational.

7:16

Chloe casted some repair spells on the gate which was currently non-existent due a certain magic missile launched by her partner. And it was good as new. Then she tied the goons with ropes. Not any random ones, but the ropes which were soaked in Draco's exclusive Magic Neutralizing Potion. Yep, the boy created it while watching Doctor Strange.

Thus, the thugs were now nothing more than the common thugs.

6:32

While Chloe finished her job, Remus too had ended it. He walked in with soundless steps. The two goons who were alerted by the sound from the blast earlier, were looking out for him. But alas, Remus made his move before they even saw it. Hence, they laid down on the ground, petrified.

The two thugs floated back of Remus as he walked out to the treasury where Chloe was present.

"All clear?" She asked.

"Crystal." He said.

"Good. Now all we have to do is delete some camera footage, and we can get back to the party when the muggles wake up, which would be anytime soon."

"If you say so but you know it's not that simple."

And like a devil, a receptionist in the bank woke up.

"Wh-Who are you?" He asked, a little scared. Because one moment everything was fine and next, everything went black.

"I'm agent Lupin and this is agent Smith, we are from the Mobile Agency for Governing Emergencies."

"Mobile Agency for what?"

"Never mind that, gentlemen, we're from the government, sent here to handle these criminals. It would be brilliant if you can call the police, but please do have some water before you do it."

"Oh, ok."

1:23

By the time everyone person in the bank woke up, everyone was confused but that didn't matter. The police arrived to the scene and Lupin talked with them.

"So you say you're going to have them come with you, is that it?"

"Yes, thank you for understanding."

"But I never said yes to that, Agent."

"But you never did catch them, Officer and please don't say you never had the chance. The robbery took place half an hour ago and you didn't know. So, you have no part in this matter. I have the authority to handle them. And now, if you please cooperate, it would be very much appreciated."

The police officer who wanted to snatch the credit for stopping a huge bank robbery was intimidated by the innocent looking Remus Lupin who was pressuring him.

"We will be taking a copy of the footage with us, and you are welcome to deal with the crime scene as you like. But please do send us an update if you ever find something unusual, officer. Now we shall take our leave."

With that, Remus and Chloe walked away and got into their car, along with the robbers who were now tucked inside a 'briefcase.'

0:03

The confundus was off and before anybody realized anything, the two agents from some mysterious government organization vanished from their eyes and they didn't even know anything about it.

Inside the car, Moody cautiously opened his mouth.

"What was that all about, Lupin."

"That? We just caught some wizards who wanted to rob a muggle bank."

"…It's an Auror's job to do that."

"I believe you are mistaken about that, Moody. An Auror's job is to deal with the crimes related to the dark and apprehend any such situations."

"They were wizards and they were robbing a bank. It perfectly fits my job description."

"And you've failed to that. No, I'm not talking about this particular case but every sing

le crime a wizard committed and the Ministry ignored. So, it's really not your job to worry about it."

"And what makes you think it's your job?"

"Well, for starters, it is mine and Chloe's job to take care of the magical crimes that are unworthy of the Ministry's Attention. In fact, that's whole point of the organization."

"It isn't justifying anything."

"But the Minister Fudge has a different opinion and doesn't really seem to be bothered by it as much as you are, Moody. I suggest you become fully aware before you say something offensively misunderstanding."

Moody didn't know what to say. He kept quiet. And Tonks was uncharacteristically quiet throughout the journey. It really was uncharacteristic of her.

…

The four of them returned to the party, though it ended by the time they reached. But they got in time just before the Afterparty. Remus and Chloe enjoyed it and danced to their hearts content. Because they deserve it 100%. What they did today was likely one of the least threating situations they ever faced.

Many a time they were in risk of loosing their lives but could never let go the thrill. The feeling when your life hangs by a thread and you could feel it swing and snap at any moment. The rush of the adrenaline, the loss of senses but also feeling them heightened, it was in simple sense addicting. But nothing could compare to the feeling they get when they knew they made a change. Or when they saved a life. An innocent life. It felt worth it when you could do something and do it freely.

…

Alastor Moody sat in front of the desk and read yet another file. A sigh escaped from his mouth. Every one in the Auror Office were bewildered at this sight. Because the man never sat still in his chair. He would rather inspect everything in the air than to sit and read something. But the only one who was unsurprised was Tonks.

"Honestly, what on earth was minister thinking when he signed those doc.u.ments?" Tonks said with despaired annoyance.

"How would I know? I'm not the minister. But it's better not to know anything about his bloody mind which put the entire wizarding world in such a mess and worse yet he doesn't know a bloody thing!"

"Hey, Moody, don't you think we should tell him or at least anyone about it? We can't just… leave it like that. We have to do something!"

"Sigh… No, we are not going to do anything. And stay out of it, Tonks."

"But-"

"No buts, young lady. It's an order."

"Alright." Tonks said grudgingly.

Moody sighed and shook his head again. About the events which happened during the Halloween night, he honestly didn't know what to do. It was complicated. The more he knew, the more confused he felt.

He started his research on the Magnolia. A simple business which sold some magical trinkets. Within a short time, it spread all over the world. But it was just the beginning. The start of Fiore was a silent start of a new era. An era of new magic.

Yes, Fiore, as they call it, sold 'magic' or at least the research worth some centuries, if not a millennium worth of effort. The magic they sold attracted attention of every wizard and witch in the world, both with good and bad intentions. But Fiore remained unscathed and still veiled in mystery.

No one knew who was behind it. But it grew. Talents from all over the world, muggleborns, purebloods, half-bloods, even half-breeds were gathered. Any other place, these discriminations amongst these people would've caused massive damage, yet the organization remained firm as it grw further. Within six years of time, it grew bigger than anything in the entire magical society on the earth. To stop it would require every country to unite, and even then, it might be hard, very hard and almost hopeless.

But Fiore didn't stop there. It spread its influence into one place where no one with magic flowing in their body dared to think. The Muggle World. Of course, the sanctity of magic remains unknown to the muggles, well except for very few. Like her majesty in Britain. Very few people knew. Very few. And now Moody stumbled upon this secret.

He didn't know what to do. Somehow, Fiore managed to make a joke out of the statue of secrecy. And there was nothing anyone could do about it. Honestly, Moody himself didn't want to do anything about it.

Because as much as he hated admitting it, he knew Fiore was definitely not bad, which means they are not good either.

The Mobile Agency for Governing Emergencies as the muggles should know or, the Magical Authorities for Global Espionage, or simply M.A.G.E. as the wizards should call is something which made him admire it and hate it at same time. It was a group of highly skilled wizards and witches armed to fight the things the Ministry wouldn't care or dare to.

It was only two years since the M.A.G.E.; a sub division of Fiore began operating. And the work it has done was marvelous, clearly making Moody to look at the things he chose to ignore. The crimes his fellow wizards committed and got away unpunished.

Like dishonoring a muggle woman and obliviating her. Putting an imperious curse on muggles and making them work as their slaves. Killing them for fun. Looting them. Expending them as test subjects. Disrespecting a muggle's every right.

The wizards did them. Not just the purebloods who hated muggles and worshiped dark arts, but also the muggleborns themselves. Moody knew the wizards were a little twisted in their heads, but the level of the atrocity they are capable of, frightened him.

He felt guilty he turned a blind eye to all this for a long time. And just when this thought passed through his mind, another frightening thought crossed, terrifying him even more.

The possibility, that, Fiore had it all planned. The plan to control the crimes, control the wizarding society, the people in it and their feelings. Just like how Moody felt guilty for his negligence, Moody was sure. Moody understood. Just like him at this moment, no one would want to stand against Fiore. For him, it was his guilt. In the same way, it could be respect, debt, fear or even free will that Fiore is able to control.

Each conclusion left him horrified. And just when he thought it couldn't be any more terrifying, he received a letter.

[To Mr. Alastor Moody.] It said as it appeared out of thin air.

He cast some detection charms, but it was futile.

With a frown, he opened the letter. Then the words began appearing on the parchment.

[Greetings, Mr. Moody

It would be favorable if you would station yourself somewhere more secluded.]

The frown on his face turned nasty, but the man took his quill and wrote, nevertheless.

'Why should I?' He soon got a reply.

[Because many people call me Lady Laurel.]

The mad eye Moody had become Wide eye Moody before he apparated with the letter in his hand to somewhere where nobody knew.