Relief Effort

[Sir Kaltao]

It looked like the Director had understated just how much of a mess England was.

Kelly Dellon had been to the Ministry of Magic only once before. It was a class field trip to gain a more global perspective. Or something. He couldn't remember much. But he did recall enough to know there had once been a set of statues greeting you as you stepped out of the green flames and into the main area. The center of the fountain was empty and in the chaos of everything else, it would probably remain.

The poet in Kelly found some significance in that particular thought. He saved it to write down later when he got back to his room at the Leaky Cauldron. Which was a lovely place. Could use a thorough cleaning in his opinion.

He hoped he stood out in the chaos enough for his guide to take notice of him. He was likely the only Native American man in the lobby, the country probably. He was dressed in simple black robes with a small American flag pinned to the side of his fedora. He stroked his small black goatee as he leaned against the wall and waited.

 

[Thirteen]

The Ministry of Magic, what remained of the prior establishment, continued to crumble beneath the weight of Voldemort's destruction. Even after an entire year, with the assistance of Magic, the underground building still displayed the tragic state of a war torn community. Thankful Voldemort's statue depicting Muggleborns in their rightful place was destroyed, a celebratory moment by Hermione Granger, one the world's most renowned witches since the war.

For now the main objective was to rebuild the devastated society and to ensure the suffering of its people ended. What lingered of the Ministry assigned its specialized witches and wizards to the reconstruction squads, this included Annabella Jackson. Although Pure Blood, a proud heritage of British natives and a family known for its rather non-traditional styles of Magic, Annabella was happy to assist. She accepted the assignment, retiring from her prior position as an Oblivator for the Ministry. Her previous employment duties mandating that she erase/manipulate the memories of Muggles that have been exposed to the Magical society. Considering Annabella's rare skills in Legilimency, Annabella was a perfect fit for this job.

The Jackson clan is famous for their specialized Magic, their young heir, Annabella, is a promising practitioner of memory/mind-related spells. Today she would be introduced to her new partner. Apparently someone transferred in from the States. Annabella discarded the piece of parchment which informed her that the mysterious stranger would be waiting at the Ministry.

Ringlets of white hair, not from age but rather a genetic condition, spilled across her shoulders and dropped to her hips. She gripped the door's handle with slender fingers, each sporting a sliver band a various heights. Annabella gracefully walked inside, seeming to glide across the floor with feet concealed behind her long robes. She wore the traditional robes of the Ministry, entirely black and with an attached hood. A simple shirt and pair of jeans of the same color underneath. Annabella's eyes, a periwinkle-shade of blue, curiously surveyed the area. Thick lashes, curled upwards just slightly, blinked gently as she finally located the only man seeming not to belong in the building.

Native Americans aren't exactly common in England. She extended her hand, a smile lifting one side of her lightly painted, pink, lips. "Hello, I'm Annabella Jackson, call me Anna. I trust you're my new partner, yeah?" Her accent spilled easily from each word, British and very polite.

 

[Sir Kaltao]

"You trust right, Ma'am" Kelly took off his hat and gave a little bow. His hair was short and black but a fringe of hair dangled over his eyes. He appeared not much older than his guide, even a year younger maybe. But he was one of those blessed with the kind of genes that made him age much better than most.

Wow. I bet they don't get much more British than her, Kelly thought to himself. There was always something alluring about the British accents for him. Especially Cockney. Which he was slightly disappointed wasn't hers.

"Kelly Dellon, Agent of the Magical Law Enforcement Bureau" He introduced himself and extended a hand, his voice deep but not so much as to be foreboding. The black tip of a tattoo peaked out from under his robe sleeve.

"The Director told me you were all in bad shape," He did another look around "but he obviously hasn't been here himself. Looks like you were thrown out a window and dragged through the mud by your collar to me."

 

[Thirteen]

Annabella allowed herself to chuckle, hiding her full and shapely lips from behind a free hand. "I suppose you could say the Ministry is still attempting to conceal the length and extent of the damage." It wasn't a lie, she knew this to be the truth. Annabella released Kelly's hand, her eyes having caught the evidence of his tattoo, but she said nothing. Her own forearm wore a tattoo, but this mark was not obtained by choice. "Please, come along." She motioned him to follow. "We'll discuss things over in my office."

Ascending the stairs, Floo networks and the elevators no longer functional, Annabella quickly reached the top within seconds. Even while walking in the uncomfortable black flats she wore on boot feet, boots and heels having been forbidden. She opened the door, gesturing for him to go inside first. Annabella followed, closing the door and took a seat behind her massive desk, dark wood and cluttered with various documents. "So, is this your first visit to England?" With a nonchalant wave of her right hand, a steaming kettle of sweet tea suddenly appeared, levitating above her desk. She grabbed it carefully at the handle, summoning two cups and poured an equal amount in both. "Honey, sugar and milk?" Not knowing the tastes of an American, she offered all three.

Annabella dismissed the kettle, dropping two cubes of sugar and a teaspoon worth of milk into her designated cup. Rising the steaming cup to her lips, she blew softly at the surface, her pink mouth forming an 'O' shape as she tried to cool the liquid. Annabella smiled, sipping at her tea politely.

 

[Sir Kaltao]

"I came here when I was in school but haven't since" Kelly took a seat and considered the offer. He was more of a coffee man, but he should partake in the culture while he was over here.

"Uh, one of each will be fine" He said after a moment and did his best to mimic her delicate drinking of the tea, but being so used to it made a slurping noise when he drank anyway but did his best to ignore it.

"Well let's get down to business" He sat straight in the chair. "The Director of the Bureau was kinda of vague on what exactly I'd be doing. I imagine I'll be needing some kind of...deputizing to operate here as law enforcement?"

If Kelly was going to be honest with himself, he had taken the assignment on a whim of humanitarianism and a desire to see a little more of the wizarding world. He was, as the Brits would say, a Mudblood and so had far less exposure relative to others born into it.

Out of habit he took his wand out and twirled it in his right hand. It was birch, eight inches long and sturdy. Dragon heartstring core. Good for dueling. The handle had a sleeve of handmade red and yellow beadwork on buckskin, enhancing his dueling ability as it afforded better grip and the sentimental value a small but important degree of focus to his spellwork.

 

[Thirteen]

Annabella set her cup aside, rising from the desk and presented a sparkling dagger from her drawer. "I do apologize for this," she whispered softly. Suddenly Annabella sliced the palm of Kelly's right hand and held out a blank parchment. "Press your hand here," she instructed, pointing directly in the center. Immediately after wards, script appeared in the background of Kelly's bloody hand print. "This is a legally binding agreement. It states that you are pure of all evil intentions and swear yourself to the Ministry. Should you commit any violation or crime well under this jurisdiction, you'll be murdered by a Dementor's Kiss."

Placing the bloodied paper safely in a locked safe, Annabella sat back down at her desk. "Since the war, our Ministry has become extremely paranoid. All employees and sources for the Ministry are required to go through the same documentation progress." This included herself. Annabella tossed him a jar of mint-green gel and suggested applying it generously to the wound. "It will heal within an hour and leave no scar."

"I must ask," Annabella dropped her bright eyes to the paperwork, avoiding seeing his own. "What is your heritage?" It was truly for his own safety. England is not very favorable towards Pure Bloods, since a majority of them supported Lord Voldemort. Annabella shifted uncomfortably, nervously placing a hand to the hidden area of her forearm.

 

[Sir Kaltao]

If he had been out on the field, no matter how pretty Annabelle was she would have been a stupified mess on the floor soon as he saw the flash of a dagger. They were both lucky he had been relaxed and had a high pain threshold.

"Just for future reference, miss," Kelly signed the agreement "more warning beforehand makes for a better start to a working relationship." He applied the ointment as instructed and resumed his seated position,though with a more rigid posture and a tighter grip on his wand.

The question of his heritage had come as a surprise. But then he remembered a big part of this mess was a man with genocide on the brain.

"My heritage? Well as you may or may not have noticed I'm Native American, Ojibwe specifically. But I'm not very in touch with it since my parents were a couple of drug-addicted Muggles who didn't take much notice of my time at wizarding school" He rattled off these few quick facts then followed it up "How about yours?" he had formed a few, superficial impressions of the woman upon seeing her. By her demeanor he could only infer she was from a background of privilege. Probably played cricket, or some other sport reserved for rich folk.

 

[Thirteen]

"A Muggleborn?" That would offer him protection from hateful witches and wizards. Having the question directed back at herself, Annabella rose from the chair and simply muttered two words beneath her breath, "Pure Blood." She did not wish to divulge any further information. Nor did Kelly need any more information than that. Annabella grabbed her wand from the desk, placing it safely in her pocket and walked towards the door. "We have a meeting with the Minister of Magic, come along."

Annabella's wand was rare. Hazel wood is not common and for good reason. A sensitive wand, hazel often reflects its owner's emotional state, and works best for a master who understands and can manage their own feelings. Others should be very careful handling a hazel wand if its owner has recently lost their temper, or suffered a serious disappointment, because the wand will absorb such energy and discharge it unpredictably. The positive aspect of a hazel wand more than makes up for such minor discomforts, however, for it is capable of outstanding magic in the hands of the skillful, and is so devoted to its owner that it often 'wilts' or refuses to perform in anyone else's hands. Hazel wands also have the unique ability to detect water underground, and will emit silvery, tear-shaped puffs of smoke if passing over concealed springs and wells.

"Our Minister is named Loren Hendricks." A Muggleborn Minister for the first time since before the first Wizarding War. "Society felt it was about time we elected a Muggleborn to the Minister's position, to show no anger towards the Muggles." Annabella sighed, knocking gently at the large, wooden, door and waited to be let inside.

 

[Sir Kaltao]

"We have blood purity issues across the pond ourselves" Kelly said to try and fill the silence of their walk to the Minister's office. With that bit of unpleasantness behind them, he felt it best to dive right into building a working relationship with the lovely and bright young woman "But lucky for us they're mostly wackos sitting in bunkers muttering to themselves than in any position of power"

Part of the logic behind coming here was to pick up a few tricks from the Brits on how to further impede the influence of America's own blood purists. That binding agreement, while dirtier than his Director would like, would certainly make it into his field report later.

"I'm no stranger to those wackos myself" Kelly pulled his sleeve up to reveal the tattoo as they reached the door. It was a simple symbol meant to look like a wand that had been crossed out. "A little souvenir from a purist cell I took down from the inside. Tell you the story over another cup of tea later, eh?" He watched her knock on the door and added, just before it opened

"Promise not to stick you after the first sip though" He said with a smile.

 

[Thirteen]

Kelly's tattoo may have been earned through unpleasant circumstances, but he'd never be able to understand the mark beneath Annabella's sleeves. Since her sixteenth birthday it has haunted her everyday, the mark continuing to burn and be painful even years afterwards. Annabella keeps it wrapped with medical gauze and tape, not exactly comfortable, but necessary. Anyone caught with the mark of Lord Voldemort was immediately sentenced to Azkaban and Annabella did not belong there, despite the tattoo on her skin.

"Do not upset him," she warned, walking inside and offered a smile to the Minister.

He was an elder man, about somewhere in his fifties. Welcoming Annabella with a polite kiss on each cheek, he turned his attention to Kelly and raised a brow curiously. "A Native American in my Ministry?" The question was not intended to be rude, but rather a motion of surprise. "Welcome, my boy." He extended his hand to Kelly and shook it kindly. "I see you've been paired with Miss Jackson." Loren smiled, gesturing for them to be seated.

"She's a fine witch, brilliant and beautiful!" He boasted, earning a blush to Annabella's cheeks. "So, my boy, are you familiar with Tom Riddle Jr?"

Annabella shifted nervously in her seat, unsettled to hear the Dark Lord's legal name in her presence.

 

[Sir Kaltao]

"I was given the cliff notes" Kelly took off his fedora and set it on his lap, adjusting the flag pin. He was in full Agent Dellon mode now. "He's one of the nastiest purists I've read about, but I know his type well enough"

Kelly showed his tattoo to the Minister "This is from a purist group convinced they were on the verge of developing a way to hex the magic out of Mudbloods, and Muggleborns like myself. This was the tattoo they used to mark their test subjects" He pulled the sleeve back down "I'm prepared to perform any mission your Ministry needs to clean up house" He looked into the Minister's eyes with determination.

 

[Thirteen]

Loren smiled, satisfied with the determination he found in Kelly. "Well then, I believe we can began with your first mission." Returning her focus to the conversation, Annabella lifted her eyes to the Minister and awaited the orders. "Many families have been stricken with deaths and we are having a difficult time locating everyone. I am assigning you and Miss Jackson to recovery duty. I want you both to visit each family listed on this paper and gather information on all relatives. If they list someone as deceased or missing, we will provide the necessary treatment and benefits for them to recover from their unfortunate loss."

Annabella was handed the list and she quickly scanned over the names, finding her own clan near the top. She immediately paled, all color draining from her face.

 

[Sir Kaltao]

"You can count on us, sir" Kelly rose and gave The Minister a salute after putting his fedora back on. He turned and saw the expression of Annabella's face and raised a brow.

"Are you okay, Ms. Jackson?" He asked, concerned. He hadn't seen that kind of dread since looking in the mirror after the first time he'd been forced to kill a man in the line of duty.

He went behind her and looked at their list. "Oh…." Kelly put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and, at a loss for something else, decided to appeal to her sense of duty.

"Come on Ms. Jackson….we have a lot of work to do"

Being distant from his own family, and for good reason, he couldn't imagine what was going through her head right now. The closest he had probably come, aside from the moment after his first kill, was when it appeared that one of his best friends had gone too deep undercover and had been converted.

 

[Thirteen]

Annabella snapped herself back to attention, loyally following Kelly outside of the Minister's office and began descending the stairs. Once they returned to her office, she poured herself another cuppa tea and sipped it hesitantly. She knew they needed to begin, but the tea helped calm her anxiety. The Jackson clan, well, prior Death Eaters and avid supporters of Voldemort, are not exactly welcoming to the daughter they disowned. Annabella, although the heir to her family's fortune and status, was cast out when she refused to murder an innocent Muggle family. She hasn't held any communication with her family since then.

"Let's start with the Richards family in Godrick's Hollow," Annabella suggested, discarding her cup and readied herself for Apparating.

 

[Sir Kaltao]

Kelly had watched Annabella with worry. He slowly started to get an inkling of what she may have been experiencing. Maybe she also had a complicated if non-existent relationship with her family? Only time would tell.

When she was prepared to Apparate, Kelly approached her and once again put a reassuring hand on her left shoulder but played it off immediately.
"I don't know England so...I'll be tagging along your Apparation"

Godric's Hollow sounded like a foreboding place to him. He would be following Annabella's lead, as he had little to no information on the formalites of even his home country's social services. Annabella appeared very capable of taking care of herself, but his skill would certainly be welcome if and when danger presented itself.

 

[Thirteen]

Apparating to Godrick's Hollow would not be difficult, so long as Kelly did not manage to get himself splinched. Annabella waved her hand, enforcing a few protective enchantments on her office and personal belongings, than slowly reached for Kelly's hand. "Ready to go?"

When they arrived in Godrick's Hollow, the streets were vacant and even the houses appeared to be broken down. This area has sustained much damage, it's prior residents having been Muggleborn witches or Half Bloods. Annabella straightened out her clothing, dropping Kelly's hand and adjusted her long hair into a messily made bun. "We best start right away." She looked down to the list, "The Richards live in house 56."

 

[Sir Kaltao]

"I feel like I've seen this kind of town in a travel brochure" Kelly mused aloud soon as they touched down in Godric's Hollow. "Only in much better shape"

Kelly followed close behind Annabella, taking in the town. He hadn't seen this kind of devastation in his line of work. Maybe once when he and his mentor had been tasked with hunting down a young wizard who wasn't so much malicious as reckless.

"Any chance we'll be crossing wands with these Death Eater's I've been hearing about?" Kelly said with a hint of eagerness. He personally would relish the chance to knock one of them on their ass and put them in whatever dark hole the Ministry had for them.

 

[Thirteen]

"That's highly unlikely," Annabella crushed his hopes of encountering a Death Eater. "Since Azkaban is currently housing a majority of the those left." She carried on, wand within reach in her pocket for an emergency, should it arise. "The Richards family consists of Mary, Emma, Louis and Arnold." The list informed her and Kelly of their blood status and recent information.

"Arnold is the only known Muggle of the most current generation." Annabella frowned, "Apparently Mary is his wife. She's a Pure Blood and their children, Emma and Louis are Half Blood with prior education at Hogwarts."

This would not be a pleasant visit. Annabella sighed heavily, the weight of this assignment finally dropping onto her shoulders. "Alright then, let's go." She approached the sidewalk, slowly moving along as she searched for the house.

 

[Sir Kaltao]

"I see" Kelly kept his hand on his wand anyway. The briefing had been careful to specify that there was a lot of distrust for the government after this Lord Voldemort made its officials his unwilling lackeys, and as such he should be prepared for the possibility of violent resistance. It was obvious Annabella was also aware and prepped for this possibility.

"My old partner back in the States is marrying a Muggle woman" Kelly chuckled as he walked beside her and twirled his wand "I wish I had been there for that conversation." He could sense the tension in the area around Annabella. Since the visit to the Minister and receiving their assignment, he noted a stark change in her demeanor. She didn't even appear to have enjoyed her cup of tea before Apparating her. And her hand had been slightly clammy.

 

[Thirteen]

Annabella dreaded confronting the Richards family. Addressing them with her Pure Blood name as an attachment was horrible enough, her own family is responsible for a majority of the deaths in England. Her deranged relatives, firm supporters of the Dark Lord and obedient to his every command. To her, they were nothing beyond puppets. Expertly played puppets in Voldemort's sinister plans. Annabella sighed heavily, her breath seeming to take a weight of its own.

When they arrived at the door, she raised a hand and knocked gently against the wooden frame. Immediately the curtains, which had been covering a large window, were pushed aside and a faint pair of amber eyes searched through the darkness. Suddenly the door opened, another set of identical eyes belonging to the elder woman that greeted Annabella and Kelly. Well, she greeted Kelly.

"Mrs. Richards, we're from the Ministry of Magic and we've come to complete a..."

"How dare you speak to me," the elder scolded, hand raised as she was preparing to reach for a wand. "You filthy heir of the Jackson clan!"

Annabella cleared her throat, trying to remain professional at the woman's outrageous behavior."Ma'am, I am no heir to the Jackson clan and this personal information regarding my family has nothing to do with our visit."

"I'll speak with him," the distraught woman pointed to Kelly and allowed him to pass through the opened doorway. "I will not have a member of the Jackson clan in my house!"