alt_bill | Order Only: Meeting with Auror Lamont

I've had a message from Rachel Lamont which I interpret to mean that she has been in communication with Dogstar and has permission to talk with us further. Specifically, Ridley wants to know what the Order is interested in obtaining from them.

Rachel has asked to meet privately with me. I am toying with the idea of suggesting we meet after work at a nice little beer garden I know of where the beer is reasonably priced and the company is agreeable. Of course, she'll expect we use muffliato when we converse, but the owners' friendly dog just might wander over to sprawl at our feet.

I'm not sure, though. Help me think through whether this is a bad idea or not. She's said outright that she's quite sure that Sirius is part of our group, and she's broadly hinted that she hopes to meet him. She's floated the idea that perhaps she could become our liaison with Dogstar, an idea which Alice in my briefing with her this weekend has indicated she's willing to explore. I'm really not sure how hacked off Rachel will be with me in the future if she learns Sirius' form and discovers I set her up to be spied on during this conversation.

(Rachel, by the way, is an animagus herself, and thus, like Minerva, she is resistant to legilimancy.)

What should we ask for? And should I suggest Doughty Conduit as a meeting place? It might ruffle your clientele to have an auror there, come to think of it, and is the chance for the three of you to look her over worth the risk of possibly poisoning relations in the future?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

alt_lupin

Well, I like the idea of Doughty Conduit simply because at this point, I'm curious about her.

From:

alt_lupin

The question of whether she'd scare off our regular clientele is a good one. How likely is she to be recognised?

From:

alt_bill

I don't know how well known she is outside the auror circles. She's more likely to be seen at an audit than a firefight, but then she was in a firefight just recently, at Saltash. I don't know how well your customers know the aurors by sight.

From:

alt_lupin

Will she be offended if you tell her not to wear her insignia?

From:

alt_bill

I can certainly ask. If she's offended, I can offer her another meeting place.

It does tell her something about the place I'm suggesting for the rendezvous, however. On the other hand, if she objects, I suppose in turn that tells us something about her too, doesn't it?

From:

alt_lupin

So, here's the thing about having Sirius spy on her.

Animagi can often recognise other animagi. Not always, but -- there's frankly an excellent chance she'd spot he wasn't a real dog.

If you want Sirius to be there, it would probably be better to simply let her know that you'd be joined by another Order member, and then have it be the dog.

From:

alt_bill

That's a detail I wasn't clear on, that animagi can recognise others. Thanks for saving me from a misstep like that.

Hadn't thought of that, telling her, and having Sirius sit in.

From:

alt_kingsley

It's a thought. It does demonstrate good faith, which is a plus if we're trying to build a mutually collaborative relationship with her.

From:

alt_lupin

Though Dora's hesitant about bringing Sirius out of the kitchen at all.

Honestly, it probably makes more sense to have it be me or ~~Dora~~ Tonks sitting in. So she knows who she can come find and talk to later, if she needs to tell us something and you're not readily available (which could happen easily enough). She can't very well come and demand a private chat with Sinbad, after all.

From:

alt_bill

Well, I did do my best to avoid naming or identifying anyone else within our ranks.

Maybe Alice should have the final word on that. At the very least I'd like to hear her opinion.

From:

alt_sally_anne

Well if you don't trust her you shouldn't take her to Doughty Conduit at all.

From:

alt_bill

It's not just whether I trust her, it's whether I have permission from the Order to do so. I'm trying to be careful about that.

We're sort of feeling our way along here, figuring this out, you know what I mean?

From:

alt_sally_anne

Sorry, that was the plural 'you.' If the Order doesn't trust her, the Order should not invite her to Doughty Conduit.

From:

alt_bill

Anyone else but me, I should clarify. She asked me point-blank if Sirius was a member, and I refused to tell her one way or another. But I think she's just about decided that he is. I did confirm Dad and Aloysius Archer, because they were already dead, and I told her that Dad recruited me.

From:

alt_sally_anne

Well, if she knows about you and your father she's probably at least wondering about Charlie, Percy, and Ron.

Especially Ron, since he's interested in a job with MLE. Don't you think?

From:

alt_bill

Yes, I certainly do.

The whole meeting was--well, the best way I can put it, I suppose, is that it was characterised as much by what was carefully left unsaid as what was said. I had to be painstaking, for example, to do nothing to tip her to the fact that the Order has just as much an interest in Justin, too.

But yeah, it stands to reason she must be speculating about Ron.

From:

alt_lupin

What do you think about having her come? Tonks, she's about your age, did you know her at all from school? Sirius -- is it true that animagi can sometimes spot other animagi when they're transformed? It's one of those things people say, but it might just be that people who can themselves transform are more aware of the possibility, and thus more inclined to be suspicious of an eavesdropping dog.

On one hand, I'd like a second set of ears. On the other...sometimes lying is more dangerous than honesty, and that might be the case here. If she guesses you're not a real dog, and thinks she's being eavesdropped on by MLE rather than by the Order, and she tried the spell that forces animagi into human form, that would be, hmm, 'awkward' doesn't even begin to cover it. It might be safer to let her know up front that the dog's another Order member.

From:

alt_nymphadora

Right. Lamont was a year ahead of me.

Why do you even ask? You know we weren't close. I ~~wasn't close with~~ No one wanted to be tight with the blood traitor's fostered-out daughter. Ravenclaw. Prefect. Flew straight. Had friends and seemed to enjoy being All That when we'd got to NEWT-level. Had younger Ravenclaws hanging off her elbows, wanting to be just like her.

Of course, she should come let us have a look at her. But I agree Sirius should probably stay clear of her. For now. I mean, I expect he'll still be able to tell a bit from the scent of her.

From:

alt_terry

She's an animagus, too?! What's her form?

From:

alt_bill

A hedgehog. She transformed in front of me.

From:

alt_terry

A hedgehog!? Really?

From:

alt_bill

Yeah, I know.

When she transformed back, she told me to sod off, I was laughing so hard.

From:

alt_sally_anne

Well. There's one person who's never going to be able to learn to transform, unless his animagus form is suitably IMPRESSIVE.

From:

alt_ron

Yeah. I'm imagining what you'd do if I laughed at your animagus form. ... Bite me, probably.

What do you think Bill's form would even be?

Hilarious if he turned out to be a caterpillar or a bundimun or something, yeah?

From:

alt_sally_anne

Do you remember seeing the armadillo at the zoo? What if I turned into one of those? Those are EXTREMELY funny looking animals.

Or a star-nosed mole. Those are even weirder.

I don't know what Bill would turn into. How about an anteater? Or a puffskein.

From:

alt_ron

Ahaha. A puffskein.

You'd make a nice armadillo. All armour-covered. Don't they roll up like hedgehogs, too? That would so be you! 'Ugh! Something dangerous is coming--quick! I'll just tuck up into a ball and they won't bother me!'

From:

alt_sally_anne

Totally me. Plus, they look like they're a snake's first cousin.

Right, we've settled what my animagus form will be if I ever learn to transform. ARMADILLO.

From:

alt_ron

You hope.

I mean you could still end up being something completely unexpected like a rhinoceros or a pelican or, um. Oh, I know! A rat, like Sebastian. Wonder what he'd do if you turned into a rat all of a sudden?

From:

alt_sally_anne

I don't know. Can animals tell animagi from actual other animals?

From:

alt_sally_anne

A rhinoceros, that would be brilliant.

Or an elephant. Even better. The sort with ENORMOUS tusks.

From:

alt_ron

'Those are some nice tusks you've got there, missy!'

I don't know. It's really tough to imagine you being something ginormous like that. And if you were an elephant, you'd probably be terrified of Sebastian and go stampeding off, crushing everything that got in your way.

I don't know if animals can tell animagi. I'll ask Professor Dumbledore when I go for Occlumency. Or I guess we could ask Mr Black.

From:

alt_sally_anne

So.....do you think anyone else is going to have ideas about what we ought to ask them for? Maybe they don't want to say 'don't be silly, portkeys are not a priority' because they don't want me to conclude that they don't care whether we live or die? I mean maybe portkeys SHOULDN'T be a priority at this point, you know? We've done fine so far and I think everyone but me knows how to apparate now.

Anyway, yeah, it's hard to imagine being something huge. I don't think I've ever heard of an animagus that turned into something huge but maybe that was the problem, they had trouble imagining it and so they couldn't accept it and so they never learned to transform.

From:

alt_sally_anne

Well I think you should ask if Dogstar has someone who can make unregistered portkeys, or if they have someone in Mysteries. Once you work out where you're meeting her and whether Sirius is going to spy on her in dog form or not.

From:

alt_molly

Oh, my....if they did have someone in Mysteries, surely they'd be interested in helping stop that dreadful Machine too, wouldn't they?

Except I doubt they know about it.

From:

alt_molly

Good heavens. Dogstar is quite ruthless, after all. If they did know about it, THEY might want the potion, too.

From:

alt_bill

I have no idea whether they would or not. But I'm rather afraid to find out.

From:

alt_kingsley

More to the point, I think it would be extremely unlikely for Dogstar to have anyone in Mysteries. In my time at the Ministry, the vetting process to join that Department was the most strenuous in the entire Ministry, and I can't imagine that it's eased up under the Protectorate.