分卷阅读27（2 / 2）

Her partner shook his head. “And we have to wear these because…?”

Igora blinked. “They help the damned things distinguish between friend and foe, okay?” She knew how absurd the plan was. She also had worked sixteen other kidnapping cases with ransom drops and never felt as secure about the exchanges as she did now.

The kidnappers had enough sense to choose a Muggle recreation area for the exchange. A place with no inherent magic meant it was easy to detect traps, wards, and other useful Ministry methods of capture. It also meant the kidnappers could disapparate at any time. Igora was surprised no one at the Ministry had ever thought of using Fae magic before. Although the small creatures were notoriously temperamental, their magic was so intuned with the natural world that if anyone cast regular and even more advanced probes, they’d likely not even notice the Fae were there.

When Pansy Parkinson had owled her to meet at the hotel bar, Igora had never imagined the woman would have such a story to tell. Parkinson ended up admitting that there was a Department of Mysteries angle to the case, so she couldn’t divulge all of the details. There were still inconsistencies with the ransom demands, but Parkinson assured Igora that as long as they protected Bertrice, and—oddly—a red kneazle named Guinevere, everything would be fine.

Everything Parkinson disclosed matched what Igora and Felix had seen and heard, so Igora had no choice but to offer her services and agree to help in any way that she could. She’d never imagined that would mean donning a Christmas jumper and waiting on the roof of an indoor Muggle swimming pool for a signal that the Winter Solstice Fae were loose and terrorizing the kidnappers.

“Is this the strangest case you’ve ever worked?” Felix asked, rousing Igora from her thoughts.

She turned to him, smirking. She’d worked missing persons a long, long time. “This might be the strangest in recent memory,” she offered.

A flash in the distance caught her eye. She and Felix dropped to their knees and peered over the edge of the building. The field below was slightly lit by the electric lights of a Muggle parking area nearby. They could make out two groups of hooded figures standing on either end of the open field below. Then a woman’s voice uttered, “Lumos! ”

Two figures stood closest to the building while the other four figures made their way to the middle of the field. Igora’s mouth fell open when she realized one of the four was Bertrice Zivantus. Felix tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to his watch. When Igora looked back to the field, the figures were clearly performing the expected security spells and checks on the area.

From what she could tell, Bertrice seemed alright. She clung to the side of one of the figures in the field and looked around with wide eyes. The poor thing was probably terrified.

POP!

Pansy Parkinson and Luna Lovegood, who clutched the red kneazle, came into view, both wearing obnoxiously colored, flashing holiday jumpers. They were followed by a third woman holding a large plant. Was that—it was—Hermione Granger, in a similarly ridiculous outfit mostly obscured by the plant in her arms. Igora pulled on her pair of red Weasley’s Wireless Extendable Earmuffs, hoping Lovegood hadn’t forgotten to bring one of the wireless ears with her.

“…wands on the ground if you want her alive,” a woman commanded. It looked like the figure next to Bertrice was the one that was talking, judging by the animated movements of her arms. The three young women threw their wands into the grass. “Now, hand the Timepiece and the money to my associates here, and carefully put down the inquollis anicorpus. ”

Igora tapped her partner on the shoulder and motioned in the direction of the other hooded figures who’d stayed back. Felix nodded and edged to the far corner of the roof to watch the pair of them. Igora focused back on the scene in the middle of the field.

“And what about Bertrice and Guinevere?” Parkinson asked nervously and Igora blinked. How had she not noticed Parkinson’s jumper was so oversized? It looked absolutely ridiculous on her, as if she were wearing a dress for someone three times her size. Parkinson added, “Will you switch them back?”

“Hand over the Timepiece and the plant,” the woman repeated.

Parkinson narrowed her eyes and pointed to Bertrice. “We will give them to you when we know Bertrice is back where she belongs and safe.”

After a few long moments of silence, the woman finally said, “I didn’t want it to be this way, you know.” She pulled something out from under her cloak and took a step forward, leading Bertrice. From what Igora could see, it looked like the woman held a set of vials. “Bring her forward,” she commanded to Lovegood. The blonde stepped closer, the animal in her arms. The woman handed her one of the vials. “Make sure she drinks it all,” she said. Then she turned to Bertrice, tilted the girl’s head back, and poured the contents of the vial into the child’s mouth. Lovegood cradled the kneazle like an infant, uncorked the vial, and slowly let the creature lap it up.

Very slowly. “Hand over the items,” the woman motioned for her associates to collect them from Parkinson and Granger. The two women handed them a gold trinket and a drawstring bag. “According to Bertice,” Lovegood said, “it doesn’t taste very good.” Igora glanced at the young girl and frowned. She hadn’t heard her say anything.