|
|
Post by Kryshna on Jun 18, 2010 16:34:40 GMT -5
April 18th, Ottery St Catchpole It was a quiet night in Ottery St Catchpole, not far from the living place of the future Weasley Family. The sky was clear, and the stars were bright. A sliver of a moon could be seen just above the horizon of the mountains. An occassonal owl flew over head as a breeze blew by. All together, it was just a nice night. But it was also late. Even those late night owls had headed to bed. It was in this most quiet and darkest hour before dawn that, with a snap, two shadowed figures appeared on the streets of St. Catchpole. One of the figures was distinctly of male shape. The other was covered in a cloak. The two quickly moved down the street, towards their destination Eventually, they stopped across the street from a house, in the shadows of two other houses. The cloaked figure removed the cloak and those that could see through the dense darkness could see a very female figure. But just as soon as she had uncovered from the cloak, she had disappeared again. For several, long moments, the male figure stood in the shadows of those houses, watching the house across the street. The lights remained out in the house and the street had grown very very quiet. Not even the hooting of an owl, or the distant barking of a dog could be heard. Then, very suddenly and piercing through the still night air, was a scream. All of a sudden, the street was alive with activity. Dogs were barking, lights were coming on with neighbors voices heard wondering what the screaming was. The female figure once again appeared beside her male counterpart. He turned to her, handing her the cloak, which she pulled quickly around herself. He pointed his wand into the air and shouting out, “Morsmordre!” A light flew into the air, then, in a bright flash, the Dark Mark appeared and the two figures disappeared with a snap. * * * An hour later, as the Ministry is called in to clean up the mess and investigate, the dark house, which the mark was positioned over, was opened. It was the house of one Tina Korenso, one of the few witches that lived within St. Catchpole. Within was a gruesome sight. Blood covered much of the floor and many of the walls within the woman’s bedroom. Pieces and chunks of body parts were thrown here and there, clean slices made with a very sharp knife or weapon. Her wand was missing and there wasn’t enough pieces laying around to fully account for the woman’s whole body. On the front door of the house was branded a symbol.  Tina had been a middle-aged witch who had worked at St. Mungo’s for much of her adult life. Even in her retirement, she still volunteered at the hospital on occasions. She always had a smile on her face and tried making friends with each of her co-workers and patients. Everyone had loved her. But in the past week, she had been acting a bit out of sorts, worried. She had been assuring those that were worried about her that all would be all right. Apparently, though, she was wrong. |
|
|
|
Post by Angelique St. Clare on Jun 19, 2010 13:07:55 GMT -5
After the discovery, Angelique was the first Auror to arrive, having decided that she should investigate the scene personally first. It seemed like scenes like this were becoming more and more common. Death. Destruction. Violence. If they couldn't do something about it soon, the people were going to demand changes in the Ministry, which could leave it open to the very forces that they were trying to eliminate.
Before she even stepped into the house, she could smell the scent of death in the air. She sighed and looked up at the Dark Mark, floating in the sky above the house. This was a largely muggle neighborhood, and this mark had been seen by nearly two dozen muggles. The Obliviator team would have their hands full trying to modify the members of these people, but at least the muggle media had not yet arrived. If they captured the Dark Mark on one of their cameras, it would be a lot harder to modify the memories of half of England...
With a wave of her wand, Angelique vanished the Mark away, leaving in its wake a grayish wisp of smoke. She left the mysterious symbol on the door, so that the MLE and whichever aurors she assigned to the job could investigate it. Besides, it could easily be used to convince any curious muggles that the killing was the work of the occult... which it was, but not how they might have thought. Finally, bracing herself for what she would find, she entered the house.
What she saw inside would haunt her nightmares for years to come. It more closely resembled the inside of a butcher shop than a woman's house. Practically every one of her belongings were covered in blood, and there were bits of remains scattered about. A cat, presumably the woman's pet, was huddled under a table, its amber eyes wide with fear and its white fur stained with red.
"Good Godric," she murmured, choking back the urge to vomit. "Who could do this?"
Her first instinct when she heard of the murder was that it might be the work of the serial killer Kate was tracking. But this didn't fit the M.O. That killer chose young women, left the bodies mostly intact, and never used the Dark Mark. Furthermore, Ms. Korenso had been a rather outspoken advocate of muggle rights, having been a muggleborn herself. This would seem to be a Death Eater attack... but this particular killer was more brutal than the usual Death Eater.
The MLE and a cleanup crew would be arriving soon, and she was going to have to assign one of her aurors--or a pair of them--to this gruesome case. Squeezing her eyes tight against the carnage, Angelique stepped back outside to wait for the MLE.
|
|
|
|
Post by Daniel Leviner on Jun 22, 2010 14:02:24 GMT -5
As usual, Daniel reached the scene first. He was always raring to go when it came to someone calling out. From what he heard, it was another murder but different a M.O. Quickly, Daniel apparated to near by so that he could remain out of sight, then started to approach the house.
He noticed Angelique straight away. There was a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach as he approached the house. "Angelique," he said greeting her with a nod of his head. This scene was far worse than he had seen before. Glancing at the door then back to her. "Not our same guy, is it," he said confirming it for himself that they were starting at a different point with a different person.
|
|
|
|
Post by Sean Leviner on Jun 22, 2010 18:30:43 GMT -5
Sean was not with his brother when they got the call, and he arrived on the scene not too much later, but later nonetheless. He spotted his brother and Angelique a few steps ahead. The scene inside was blocked from him, and all he saw were the looks on their faces.
"All right," he said quietly, stepping up next to his brother. "Fill me in."
He wanted to talk to Dan... alone. After all of this, but the attacks were making him start to realize that he should focus his curse... ability... whatever, and try and use it for something good. To prevent things like this happening.
|
|
|
|
Post by Daniel Leviner on Jun 22, 2010 18:36:24 GMT -5
Knowing that Sean wouldn't be far behind (it was not too often that they were seen a part), Daniel waited outside. It was almost like clockwork when Sean arrived.
"Another one," he replied looking to Sean. "But this is not the same guy. I haven't been in yet, but from what I heard this guy is not a neat freak." Daniel raised his eyebrows. "And apparently the Mark was shown above the house and I know that the Oblivators were called in to help take care of the muggles who witnessed any sightings of the mark."
|
|
|
|
Post by Sean Leviner on Jun 22, 2010 19:37:34 GMT -5
Sean nodded. "Well.... at least it narrows down what group we're working with, if the mark appeared." His thoughts went to the kidnapping case he was working on, wondering if was somehow connected. Or if there were just a bunch of isolated events to scare people.
And what if the little kidnapped girl was dead?
He sighed, looking to Angelique. "Let's go in."
|
|
|
|
Post by Angelique St. Clare on Jun 23, 2010 21:56:46 GMT -5
Angelique wasn't particularly looking forward to going back in there. In fact, the usually strong-willed woman was actually feeling a little queasy at the very thought of it. But it was a good idea to be with the MLE officers while they did their preliminary investigation.
"All right. I'm warning the both of you... this isn't pretty. It's actually pretty horrific. Before we go in, though, what do you guys make of this symbol on the door? Have either of you ever seen anything like it?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Kryshna on Jun 27, 2010 13:26:04 GMT -5
(Depending on how much research is placed into the symbol and how will give more information on it.)
|
|
|
|
Post by Sean Leviner on Jun 27, 2010 18:23:54 GMT -5
Sean wasn't too sure about the symbol. He'd never seen it before, anyway, and he glanced at his brother. It wasn't anything they had associated with Death Eaters up to now. But this had to be related since the dark mark had been seen. "Dan?"
His brother was being quiet. Sean could have touched it, tried to see something from that, but he didn't think he should. Not just yet, anyway. He wanted to see the damage inside, to do his job as a normal human for a minute, and then decide what he should do from there.
He turned back to Angelique. "I haven't seen anything like it before. But we can only assume it's linked to the Death Eaters." Naturally, they would do the research on it, see if it had ever shown up before, and keep an eye out for it again.
|
|
|
|
Post by Angelique St. Clare on Jun 27, 2010 23:33:12 GMT -5
Angelique nodded, staring at the symbol for another moment. Somehow, it was actually more chilling to her than the Dark Mark had been. The Dark Mark... well, it was a sign that something terrible had happened, that evil had touched that place... but at least she knew what that meant. She knew what to expect. This symbol seemed even more ominous, because it was still a mystery, and the only thing she had to associate with it was the scene inside this house.... a scene she hoped never to see again.
Except for now, when she had to take Sean and Dan inside. She took a breath and quietly pushed the door open again, this time closing her eyes to the carnage within.
|
|
|
|
Post by Daniel Leviner on Jun 28, 2010 15:42:23 GMT -5
As he glanced at the symbol, Daniel thought really hard. Usually it was Sean who had all the answers. He liked to pick on him and call Sean the walking encyclopedia of weirdness. However, this time his brother didn't have an answer and Dan didn't have a straight answer either. Somehow the symbol looked vaguely familar, but then again he had seen hundreds of symbols before, flipping through his father's books. There was no telling what this symbol was.
He shook his head after a long moment's thought. It was going to be research for the Leviner's. Daniel knew he wasn't going to really rest untill he figured out what it was and who put it there.
Following Angelique on into the house, there was a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. There was a slight smell that greeted him and he had come to know that as blood. Walking on into the house, it was the first time that Daniel had laid eyes on a body, or parts of a body, that made him want to be sick.
"This is definately not the same guy," he announced as he looked around. Stomaching the sick feeling, Daniel glanced at his brother. He wasn't sure if he wanted Sean to touch anything or not, not after they say the result of this madman. He moved closer to the body. "Who ever this is, they know exactly what they are doing."
|
|
|
|
Post by Elizabeth Shackleford on Jun 28, 2010 17:37:23 GMT -5
Upon getting the news of a wizarding murder with possible muggle witnesses, Elizabeth was sent out. Things had been going better for her and she was starting to become more confident in what she did. It was another mission she took and to her, missions were becoming more quickly than usual. It was a brewing storm out there and these were just thunderstorms before the big one, even she knew that. She didn't understand what was going on, but she was going to have to come up with something to alter the muggle's memories, that would be where the head auror would come in.
Apparenting to a nearby place that was muggle free, Elizabeth made her way through the neighborhood. She shed her robes before she left the Ministry so that she could blend in better in the muggle area. Keeping her wand in her pocket, she made her way to the address she was given.
|
|
|
|
Post by Angelique St. Clare on Jun 30, 2010 0:33:10 GMT -5
Angelique shut her eyes. She honestly wished she could scrub out her brain after this. Maybe she could just pull the memory out of her brain and flush it or something. What kind of person would do this? It was one thing when it was just the killing curse. Yes, it was still killing and it was still terrible, but to just leave... bits... of a person... And the fact that that it was someone who knew what they were doing... it wasn't just a random blast... it was horrible.
"Do you guys have this covered?" she asked. "I have a couple of other aurors coming to meet me, and I have a crew coming from St. Mungo's to.... clean up. I should go out and meet them."
It was a lame excuse and she was pretty sure they knew it. But she was having a harder time dealing with this than she would have thought. She couldn't quite shut down her humanity.
Without waiting for an answer, Angelique slipped back out of the house and stood on the steps, taking a few deep breaths.
|
|
|
|
Post by Kryshna on Jun 30, 2010 23:56:31 GMT -5
(Who ever is doing major research into the symbol, please PM me, thanks)
|
|
|
|
Post by Sean Leviner on Jul 9, 2010 15:10:51 GMT -5
Sean followed Daniel inside, the familiar scent of blood instantly filling his nostrils. He and Daniel saw a lot of damage, a lot of carnage- more than anyone their age should really have to see. But, like his brother, Sean felt this one hit home a little harder.
"Merlin," he breathed.
He nodded to Angelique, letting her know that they had it handled. She didn't need to be here- she already told them everything she knew. Sean definitely did not envy her job. He couldn't even imagine the stress she must be under.
When they were alone in the house, Sean let out a long, slow breath. "Dan... there are answers here. Clues, at least." There was something palpable in the air, and he felt like he was just bodering on seeing something, and he hadn't even come in contact with any of the evidence yet. Sean had never seen anything without touching an item, but he felt like he might be able to here, if he concentrated enough. "I can barely see straight." Dan would understand what that meant.
|
|
Alastor Moody
Inactive Character
[M:10]
Where vice is, vengeance follows
Posts: 10
|
Post by Alastor Moody on Jul 9, 2010 23:17:34 GMT -5
Alastor made his way down the street, having Apparated into an abandoned alleyway a few minutes walk away. The house was somewhat hard to miss, with all the movement around it, and so he made his way slowly across to the front lawn, trying hard to avoid being seen by any Muggles. The Obliviators were going to have enough work to deal with without him adding to it.
The Head Auror stood on the front step of the house, looking somewhat shell-shocked and unwell, and Moody offered her a sympathetic smile.
"Bad, is it?" Alastor asked. Branded into the front door was a strange symbol, and he frowned at it for a moment, before turning his attention back to Angelique. "Has anyone looked for traces of Dark magic, or are they still looking at the physical evidence?"
Not waiting for a reply, he let his magical eye remain fixed on the symbol, burning it into his memory as he stepped inside the house. The smell of blood hung in the air, and Moody tapped his staff against both of his boots, activating the charm that would keep them from disturbing any of the forensic evidence. As he turned down a hallway that led to the bedroom, he saw a pair of DMLE officers who looked quite familiar huddled in conversation.
Deliberately leaning more heavily on his staff so that the sound would announce his presence, he offered them a grim nod.
"Evening boys," Moody growled, "Mind if I take a quick look around?"
Reaching into one of his hidden pockets, he removed one of the Dark Detectors that he carried with him everywhere. Holding the crystal up to his normal eye, he gave the room a quick glance to search for any obvious concentration of Dark Magic, grasping in his pocket for a more sensitive tool as he did so.
|
|
|
|
Post by Kryshna on Jul 10, 2010 22:22:44 GMT -5
There is surprisingly no sign of major dark magics within the house. Actually, there was very little sign of any magics at all being used. Only the faintest traces of hiding magic. It appears as though the actual act of murder was done completely by non magical means.
|
|
|
|
Post by Angelique St. Clare on Jul 10, 2010 23:09:43 GMT -5
Angelique was incredibly glad to see Alastor Moody. Technically, he was retired, but she had called him in on this one because of the sheer graphic nature of the murder. It was the sort of thing he would want to be involved in. For her part, she really didn't want to be involved in the case. She was used to murders in the wizarding world being so much... cleaner. The killing curse was still murder, of course... but at least it wasn't messy. Even the one time she had seen the victim of an entrail-expelling curse, it hadn't been as vicious or as... gory... as this. This was inhuman. If the cuts hadn't been so precise, she might have thought that the victim had been attacked by some sort of magical creature.
Figuring she'd leave Moody to do his own investigation, Angelique walked over to Elizabeth, one of the Obliviators who had been called in to take care of the muggle witnesses.
"Elizabeth, right?" she said. "Listen... when you modify their memories, try not to obliviate the entire murder scene from them. They might have witnessed something important, and we need as many clues as we can get here."
|
|
|
|
Post by Daniel Leviner on Jul 11, 2010 14:34:14 GMT -5
Looking around, Daniel sighed. He didn't really want Sean to touch anything, seeing as the murder itself was extremely graphic. Dan got the feeling that who ever did it found a sick joy in doing it. Looking to his brother, he gave him a look that said he didn't really want him to touch anything. However, Daniel knew that it was important that Sean try to see something because it was the only way to see if there was something there.
He knew exactly what his brother was saying. "Just concentrate," Dan replied just as Moody came up. There was the unspoken words between them that they understood completely. "Go right ahead," he said to Moody looking back to Sean.
|
|
|
|
Post by Elizabeth Shackleford on Jul 11, 2010 14:39:38 GMT -5
Seeing Angelique, Elizabeth approached her. "I can see what I can find out," she said. She could ask a few questions to see what they saw. "And if I find it, I'll let you know which ones saw something." Elizabeth would cover her tracks of appearing at muggle houses. If there were a few that never saw anything, well they didn't need to remember seeing her there asking about it. If there were ones that did, she would allow the Aurors and MLE continue their investigations without problem. The only thing she was looking to change was any memory of seeing the Dark Mark or anything else magical.
|
|
