Chapter:17 Auror's Department

As the end of August drew closer, Victoire's training came to a standstill. 

According to Isabelle, she had mastered all the charms to be taught in the first year and a half of what the second-year syllabus entailed. Her scores in Transfiguration tests had reached an 'O' standard and she was only a couple of chapters away from finishing her second-year course.

As for Herbology, she could identify, name, and recite the properties of almost one hundred and fifty herbs from the book 'One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi'. In addition to this, she also learned to plant, nurture, and harvest fifty herbs. All of which were used for brewing Alcohol.

Her botanical garden's harvest was promptly confiscated by Lyriel, according to her, she was 'too inexperienced to make proper use of them' and she never again saw what her two-month efforts had brought about.

As for potions, she learned how to brew all the potions in the first, second, and third-year textbooks. Andrea was a strict teacher, but she was also an effective one.

By the end of their lessons, Victoire's efforts had softened Andrea enough to be able to sit on her lap while being taught theory lessons. Quite the accomplishment, if she took into account the maid's usual stoic look and sharp eyes. 

 And just so she knew, Victoire also peeked at her through the observation ability,

[Andrea Silverstein: Grandmaster Potioneer: Level 65: Resplendent Stage Mana Core]

The weakest person in the Lefevre Household, and probably the least influential too, after not counting Victoire and Tiffy in the tally.

Anyways, Victoire excelled in potioneering as well. 

Hector's subject was the only one that gave her quite a bit of trouble. Her 'intent' to harm was not strong enough to fuel the usage of powerful attack spells. A problem easily solved through learning Occlumency. 

Speaking of which, her study of mind arts was also coming along nicely. In just half a month, she could keep her mind blank for one hour straight, not much of an accomplishment considering she still couldn't speak or move or pretty much anything while exercising the art. She must still learn to keep the process going indefinitely, after which she must learn to resume physical activity while in that state.

Of course, her food's taste quality didn't improve. 

Despite the hardships she faced, she still had to eat a variety of foods such as boiled magical herbs, salad, broth, and raw vegetables with steamed meat. Her only solace was the stash of sweets gifted to her by the Veelas on her birthday, but even that pleasure was short-lived due to Lyriel's sudden interest in making her life more miserable.

However, it was not without proper benefits that her taste buds suffered. She experienced a growth spurt that made her shoot up a couple of inches, bringing her height to a 'towering' 4'11 making her somewhat tall for her age group.

Yeah... scratch that. She was tall for her age group.

But the surprises were not over just yet. 

Once she began systematic training, even her stat sheet evolved to adapt to all the skills she was learning.

{I am going to adapt a completely bold color scheme for the system from now on.}

[Name: Victoire Lefevre

Race: Half-human & Half-Veela

Blood Status: Pure-blood/Aristocrat Veela

Class: Witch

Level: 022/100 (Witch Student)

Experience: 540/3500

Health: (100%)

Mana: (100%) (Veiled Stage (late stage))

Spells(SP-36):

-Charms (Tier 1/5) (29/100) 

1)Lumos (Level 5) (1090/1600)

2)Verdimillious (Level 6) (1/10 SP)

3)Periculum (Level 6) (1/10 SP))

4)Alohamora (Level 4) (490/800)

5)Luminescence charm (Level 5) (100/1600)

6)Aquaflare Charm (Level 5) (120/1600)

7)Serenade Charm (Level 5) (300/1600)

8)Anchoring Charm (Level 5) (690/1600)

9)Incendio (Level 6) (0/10 S.P.)

10)Scourgify (Level 5) (1010/1600) 

11)Levitation Charm (Level 5) (901/1600)

13)...

29)Reparo (Level 5) (714/1600)

Transfiguration (Tier 0/1) (0/10)

1)...

DADA (Defense Against the Dark Arts) (Tier 0/1) (5/10)

1)Bombarda (Level 3) (100/400) 

2)Confringo (Level 2) (120/200)

3)Diffindo (Level 3) (012/200)

4)Protego (Level 3) (210/400) 

Sub-Classes: Potioneer

Level: 10/50 (Journeyman Potioneer)

Experience: 290/1000

Skills: (Skill Points: 10)

- Potion Brewing Techniques (Level 2) (0/100)

- Ingredient Identification (Level 3) (0/1000)

- Potion Ingredients Knowledge (Level 3) (0/1000)

- Potion Testing and Analysis (Level 1) (0/10)

- Potion Storage and Preservation (Level 2) (0/100)

- Potion Recipe (Tier 1/5) (49/100) 

Sub-Class: Herbologist

Level: 15/50 (Journeyman Herbologist)

Experience: 780/2000

Skills: (Skill Points: 20)

- Herb Identification (Level 3) (670/1000)

- Botanical Knowledge (Level 3) (971/1000)

- Cultivation Mastery (Level 3) (845/1000)

- Harvesting Efficiency (Level 3) (985/1000)

Sub-Class: Magizoologist

Level: 07/50 (Novice Magizoologist)

Experience: 0/200

Skills: (Skill Points: 6)

- Creature Identification (Level 3) (407/1000)

- Creature Care and Husbandry (Level 3) (230/1000)

- Beast Taming (Level 3) (400/1000)

- Creature Tracking (Level 3) (370/1000)

Items/Inventory:

- Grade 2 Potion x15 (Expand)

- Grade 3Potions x20 (Expand)

- Vial Of Healing Cordial(Grade ?) (Multiverse Grade Healing Item)

- Enchanted Jewelry x16 (Grade 1 to 3) (Expand)

- Potion Recipes x5 (Grade 1-5) (Expand)

- Suitcase x1 (Grade 3) ( 100x100x100 meters)

- Dragon's Roar (Wand) (Pseudo Grade?)

- Wand of Haunting Echoes (Wand) (Pseudo Grade?)

- The Enigmatic Tome: Secrets of the Eldritch Charms (95%)

- The Enchanting Cadence of Veela: Songs of the Enchanted Realm (25%)

- The Cauldron's Alchemy: A Guide to Enchanting Brews (10%)

- Enchanted Chronicles: Tales of Magical Creatures by a Veela Seer (0%)

- Veiled Secrets: Unveiling Occlumancy, A Veela's Guide (25%)

- Gaze of the Veela: Exploring Legilimancy's Depths (0%)

- Ethereal Elegance: A Veela's Guide to Enchanting Cosmetics (0%)

- Liber Apparati: The Art of Apparition (0%)

- Codex Defensorum: Mastering Defensive Enchantments (0%)

- Metamorphosis Mastery: A Primer on Transfiguration for Beginners (9%)

- Ward Against the Shadows: A Beginner's Guide to Defense Against the Dark Arts (15%)

Monetary:

- Wizard World x1705(G), 14(S), & 1(K)

- Muggle World x500(Euro)

Affiliation: NONE

Quests:

- Witch V: Learn Fifty Spell (34/50)

- Budding Potioneer V: Learn How To Brew Fifty Potion (49/50)

- Attending Hogwarts: Attend And Get Sorted

- Make Acquaintance II: Fellow Wizard Friends (1/5) 

********************

As clearly visible on the stat screen, the system is most likely malfunctioning.

Victoire nodded her head sagely as she walked out the front door of the mansion, accompanied by Lyriel who was, without her knowledge, chosen as her guardian. An age-long Veela tradition according to which every young one of the matriarch's family gets a guardian till they turn 16, a Veela's coming of age... age.

Which, somehow, also meant that there was a high chance that Lyriel would most likely try to get into her pants. An event noticed by many generations. 

Back at the front porch, Victoire shared a loving farewell with her mother and Andrea who, despite her icy appearance, was crying and the sight appeared to be even more unsettling.

After sharing a long, loving embrace with her mother, Victoire was dragged off into the ministry car by a slightly shaken Lyriel who had just been used as a stress doll by Andrea.

They could, of course, take the floo network but due to the sudden increase in the price of Floo powder, the French Minister of Magic imposed a strict restriction regarding its use. Only in case of emergency were the departments allowed to use it.

This policy not only disrupted international tourism but also made Hector's work ten times as hard and in the last week or so, he had not even returned home. 

It was partly because of this reason that Victoire was supposed to meet with him and partly because the portkey department was overrun and therefore Victoire was to travel to England with an ASF squad, Auror Strike Force, who just happened to be visiting the British Ministry of Magic to transport back a dangerous prisoner. 

The car was comfortable and the driver was someone she knew. Goftenziek, the short, portly wizard dressed in a brown leathery cloak that she had learned to associate with Aurors.

Figures, half the people she knew were some form of law enforcement or the others. Scratch that, all the humans she knew were from law enforcement agencies, the rest were either Veelas or house-elf. It was high time she made some normal wizard friends, ironic.

They reached the ministry in twenty minutes and Victoire now knew why Ziek, he said that's what people call him, had his car accident. He nearly crashed into a car, a building, a lamp post, and, strangely enough, a statue of Venus before finally reaching the ministry. This time, they took the entrance specially made for law enforcers and high-ranking ministry members. 

The car rushed straight toward a fountain before being sucked into its funnel and materializing in an underground chamber, a deserted underground chamber.

"We're here miss, looking as deserted as always. You don't see half as many people as there used to be during Grindelwald's era, he kept the ministry on their toe that one did." 

The portly wizard wheezed as he held open the door for the duo.

"No time to talk, gotta hurry!"

Lyriel burst out of the car, holding Victoire in her hands like a baby. She had just now realized that her watch was showing eleven in the morning and not ten, they were supposed to have reached the place an hour ago.

The Veela whizzed through the corridors with a surprisingly familiar sense of direction,

"Have you been here before?"

Lyriel didn't stop to answer,

"Almost a century ago."

She ran past the security stall, the wand registration office, the broom registration office, a house-elf drying the clothes off of a bunch of wet wizards, and a lingerie store labeled 'Muggle Disguises'.

She rushed down several flights of stairs, her cloak fluttering behind her and a stream of wizards gawking and gazing at her with weird looks on their faces. Finally, they reached an elevator that had a sign that read 'Floor 12 to 16, DMLE'. 

They waited and waited and two minutes passed by and the elevator was still closed. And it seems that her patience was running thin by now.

She marched back to a spiral staircase that went down the floors way down the floors. Peeking over the railings, a thoughtful look appeared on her face. A look that Victoire was most definitely not liking, not one bit.

And for the correct reasons too because the next moment Lyriel placed her free hand onto the railing and jumped off the floor.

As they were falling, Victoire wondered why she was there in the first place. 

Soon, they reached their destination... or more like fell to their destination, Lyriel used some sort of levitation charm to slow down their fall. 

As soon as they landed on the 17th floor, Lyriel once again began running through the corridors until they reached a dilapidated oak door. She rushed in only to get knocked back because of the protection charms applied all over the oak front.

The door opened on its own, revealing a whole wide world completely unknown to Victoire. Walking inside, thankfully no longer grasped like a child, she observed a wide variety of clever disguises employed to hide the surveillance devices.

A mousehole that was in truth an invisible tripwire, a mousehole, seriously? 

And then a sconce which was in truth a surveillance golem. And a light switch that was covered in paralyzing powder. And then a painting that held a boggart behind it.

Lyriel told her all about them as they walked towards what she hoped was the Auror department and not another fifty-meter fall. 

Her hopes... were spot on.

This time around, they burst into a hallway which was the main office of the Auror Department. 

How did she know?

Well, for starters, there was a giant disco-ish ball hanging from the ceiling with the words 'Department of Aurors' glittering off of it, and... there were pictures. Lots and lots of photos and portraits with three ever-changing lines of letters beneath them.

Beneath the photo of an exceptionally 'hot' witch, there was her name, 'Emilia Willows', and her current location, 'Rue du Mystère, Montmartre, Paris, France', and the last one indicating danger read... 'In Grave Danger'.

Hmmm, looks like they intruded at the wrong time.

Oh, would you look at that... the danger sign just changed.

The 'Grave Danger' sign that was blinking wildly with an orange hue suddenly stopped. The words swirled and the color churned into something darker. Moments later, the sign changed into 'Dying' and shone with a sickly bright maroon color. 

Even the witch's portrait changed. 

The woman smiling in the photo disappeared and in its place, a burning lounge appeared. There was fire spreading everywhere, onto the table, the reception, the bar, and even the liquor cabinets. And right there, leaning against the marble wall was that beautiful woman who once smiled so sensually in the photo. 

Her facial features were distorted between a scowl of disbelief and a gasp of pain. Blood was gushing down her white shit as she clutched onto her bleeding neck, and a chunk of flesh was blown clean off of her right thigh which was still somehow barely attached to her.

Looking around the now silent hall, Victoire noticed the reason for the woman's expression of disbelief. There, to the left of her portrait, was another photo of a small, petite, and pretty woman. 

Now Victoire never discriminated on the type of woman she found attractive, but there was a glaring difference between these two. While the bombshell's photo shone like a siren, the pixie's photo was black and white. 

The woman in the grey picture was unconscious or, more likely, dead. Quite obvious from the missing chunk of her skull that once would have been hidden under her left eye, and forehead. 

A gory sight no doubt.

*CRACK*

Without any prior warning, a loud crackling sound erupted from the grey portrait and the corpse appeared to have been blown to pieces since the photo just went white. Also, the bombshell just got covered in blood and flesh.

This little detail snapped the rest of the inhabitant of the hall out of their stupor and they started to rush to their post. A small group of four jumped into the fireplace and a green fire erupted from within, consuming them and transporting them to their destination.

On the wall, the photo of the 'Bombshell' went back to the usual sensual smile, and the 'pixie' too came back into focus, revealing a cheerful woman but with two dates beneath her photo.

Rémy Leclerc (KIA)

Born On: 21/09/1962

Died On: 29/08/1989

"Victoire! Lyriel! Over here."

A loud call cut through the hustle and bustle of the department and snapped the duo out of their stupor. Victoire turned towards the noise and saw Hector calling out to them from behind a desk covered in at least fifteen inches of paper. 

Not like Hector was looking any better, his eye had sunken in a bit and there was something wrong with his clothes which were covered in ashes and mud. 

"You two were supposed to be here almost an hour ago."

He spoke in a tone that sounded half worried and half tired instead of the anger that she expected him to display.

As the duo approached his desk, an inch-thick file whizzed past Victoire's head and landed on his desk, Its's first-page opened and revealed the same photo of the dead woman that hung on the hall. 

Hector took one look at it and sighed, 

"Looks like you caught us at a bad moment."

His voice sounded thin and worn, his eyes glazed over them and landed on the wall covered in photos.

"Did you know there are a total of Seven Hundred and Thirty photos hanging on this very wall? Every single one of them an auror trained with the best of the ministry's resources."

He said with something akin to pride in his voice but that too subsided below the fatigue that seemed to cloud over him,

"Seven Hundred and Thirty! And the largest number of portraits ever removed from its surface was when Grindelwald set Paris on fire. A total of Sixty-Seven portraits were removed in a single night."

He stood up and guided the two of them through a narrow passage right next to his work area,

"After that, was when Voldemort tried to cross into France. Seventeen photos in a single day. A tragic loss."

He spoke as they walked down the narrow passage and into a room lit with sickly green light,

"And yet in just five days, we had to remove another thirteen portraits from this wall. Thirteen! In five days!"

His rant grew louder as he paced the room. Randomly tapping the wall with his wand and with each tap a green smoke erupted from his wand top.

"Apologies for my outburst but I simply can't help it. You don't know how glad I am now that you choose to study outside."

His voice cracked and he coughed a little, wheezing and trying to catch his breath while simultaneously setting on fire the mantel that sat at the very side of the room.

He smelled the fumes and sighed before turning around slowly and embracing Victoire. His forehead rested on hers as he closed his eyes and hummed her a word of encouragement for school.

They were soon joined by a group of seven men and women who wore pitch-black leathery cloaks with most of their faces covered beneath a dark veil except for the man in the lead who hugged Hector and patted his back.

They exchanged words in a language she was not familiar with and Hector let go of the man who turned around and barked orders at his subordinates. 

Hector turned and gave her a final nod of encouragement before walking out of the room. Leaving the duo in the company of seven witches and wizards who were distributing brooms and vials amongst themselves.

The man introduced himself as the leader of this ASF squad and an old friend of Hector's. They didn't exchange any more words, and neither did the two parties seem particularly dissatisfied with this development. 

Soon, the man took out a pot full of blackish-green powder and distributed a fistful to everyone before walking into the fireplace and shouting, 

"Atrium"

The rest of his squad followed soon after and then Lyriel guided her into the flames where she shouted,

"Bones Manor, Emberwood Lane"

The world swirled around them as they hurtled through the complex transportation network called Floo.

They swirled, flowed, and crammed into various lines before the focus around their surroundings returned and they could barely make out an occasional rug or sofa or carpet that read 'Welcome' before being pushed into one such room.

The room was warm or cozy would be a better word to describe it. The walls were painted in a dark purple hue and a small chandelier hung from the ceiling, lighting up the room. There were three sofas positioned around a tea table and several others spread all over the room.

"Are you the Lefevre?"

 A childish voice called out to them and they turned to see a child, no more than seven or eight, sitting on one of the sofas. A copy of 'Wizarding Quiz' magazine in her hand and a platter of biscuits resting on the table in front of her.

"Aunty Amelia did say there would be two of you but you were supposed to be here half an hour ago."