Lost Lambs

[Wentworth Davenport]

His steps echoed through the halls as he made his way to the headmistresses' office. Getting called to Salazar's office was usually associated with an eternity of detention. Suffice to say, being called to that tower was a fate not to be envied. Of course, it was not in Salazar's power to give him detention. Only fire him, he frowned at the thought. Having a former auror as his boss had never been a welcomed element in his life but not until now did he sense real trouble. Students getting involved with dark magic was no doubt extremely disturbing in the eyes of a ministry loyalist such as Sarafina. Such ignorance. Putting limitations on yourself wasn't healthy, one should strive to be the best one can be. That was one of Wentworth's most basic guidelines to life.

The evening was an ominous one. The sky had that disturbing, dark grey color that always put him on edge. That, along with the fact that the headmistresses' tower was always so lonely and empty, made for an off putting mix. As torches lit his path, Wentworth approached the gargoyle concealing the staircase leading to Sarafine's office. Clearing his throat, Wentworth gave the password.
"Ginger Newt."
Such a boring password. He had one suggested "unicorn turd" as a password, suffice to say, it wasn't well received.

Wentworth made his way up the stairs with the calmest expression he could muster. She suspected him, that much was clear. He was damn near certain that the dark arts would be the main topic of their conversation. Therefore, he needed to look as laid back as possible. No need to call more suspicion on himself. To be honest, he wasn't really that worried. After years of concealing his involvement with dark magic, this little ordeal wouldn't put him in Azkaban. With surefooted steps, he walked into Sarafina's office with a cheerful smile and greeted the headmistress.
"Madam, you look lovely, as always."
Without waiting for an invitation, Wentworth sat down in a chair at the headmistresses' desk.
"What gives me this great pleasure?"

[Sarafina Salazar]

"Professor Davenport. So good of you to arrive so promptly."

A tight smile etched into Sarafina's features as she stood and greeted the man into her office, her words as tight as her smile. Her hand jutted out into the direction of one of the rather short, uncomfortable armchairs that sat in front of her desk. She had them purposely transfigured as such for when the students of Hogwarts were sent to her office. She had briefly considered making them more comfortable for when Davenport would arrive, but quickly decided against such a notion, in hopes that he would wind up being as uncomfortable as the students when summoned. Sarafina decided to deem it necessary to speak with certain members of her staff after students had been caught doing dark magic. That, and the Ministry was now breathing down her neck to fix the situation. Immediately. Of course, Sarafina would have done something anyways, but the extra incentive didn't hurt, and she was sure the Ministry realized that.

"Ginger newt?" Sarafina offered, extending a tin of her favorite treats to the man, an eyebrow arched as if daring him to refuse.

After a moment of waiting until Davenport either accepted or declined the offer, Sarafina returned the tin back to the front of her desk, leaving them open in case he wanted one/another one. Sitting in her high-backed, padded chair, Sarafina subtly waved her wand behind her desk, unlocking her desk drawer. Putting her glasses on, she rumaged through the drawer for a moment before pulling out a rather large manilla folder with DAVENPORT, WENTWORTH written on the tab.

Wentworth Davenport. The name rang an unpleasant bell in the back of Sarafina's mind. As an ex-auror, she was familiar with the list of witches and wizards suspected of dark magic; it was a list that all aurors became familiar with quite quickly as it could come in handy at a moment's notice. And it just so happened that Wentworth Davenport was on that list. A suspected wizard practicing dark magic in her school where students have suddenly been found practicing dark magic? Well, Sarafina didn't like to jump to conclusions, but an educated hypothesis was a different story.

"Let's get down to business, shall we?" she asked rhetorically as she flipped open the folder, her eyes briefly analyzing the man before him over the top of her glasses. "Accused of dark magic and put on the Ministry's list at the mere age of seventeen. You then proceeded to apply as an...unspeakable, correct? Ah, but of course you were turned down with that history...And then a curse-breaker at Gringotts? That's quite impressive. Until of course you were fired for..."reckless behavior" it says. And then of course you came here. Tell me Professor Davenport, why did you choose to apply at Hogwarts? It seems a bit...tame for your taste if your work history has anything to do with it."

[Wentworth Davenport]

”Well, it’s not every day you get called to the headmistresses’ office is it?”
That was because he was so good at avoiding trouble. It was a simple enough feat. One simply had to be careful with ones action and eraze the word trust out of your dictionary. Secrets are great, until you get caught. But if you follow those simple guidelines getting caught will seem a distant future, he found. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. He had to learn this the hard way, during the experience that would come to define his entire life. He fidgeted in the hard chair, feeling a bump digging up his behind. A sensation that would make anyone feel uncomfortable. There was no way anybody manufactured a chair like this, he concluded. No, Salazar had fiddled with it, using transfiguration probably. That was practically turning his own tricks against him. Grinning, Wentworth found a semi-comfortable spot and looked up at the headmistress.

Wentworth accepted the offer when it was presented to him, reluctantly taking a newt. For a moment he simply fondled the thing, wondering what Salazar might have put in it. For all he knew there was truth serum or something mixed in with the piece of candy.
”Well, we could always chat about the weather if you like.”
He suggested humorously. The Transfiguration professor listened to her as she went on about the little.. setback from his final year at Hogwarts.”An unspeakable, among other things. Quite a few others in fact. But yes, that was the ideal profession in a simpler time. Now, I think all the secrecy that comes with the department of mysteries makes it a very unattractive career choice. Secrets will make corpses of us all, you know.”
That was a lie of course. The department of mysteries was the best source of advanced magical knowledge. That was a fact. Typical that the obnoxious ministry would run it. Wentworth was not one to complain, however. He found a whole lot of forgotten secrets buried in those ancient tombs Gringotts had him inspect. And now, he found himself in the second greatest source of magical knowledge. There was a lot more than met the eye with Hogwarts. Below all that children’s magic and ”no foul language in the classroom” was a world of limitless power. Wentworth had known this since his earlier school years.

”I thought it was time for a change to be completely honest with you.”
It was true, making a change was one of the reasons for his arrival at Hogwarts. Being around his old life would only worsen his pain. Anything that reminded him of his daughter could send him down a downward spiral resulting in severe depression. Even talking about Angelica could end with an empty whiskey bottle, he wasn’t about to mention her to the headmistress.
”I needed stability, as a Curse-Breaker I was always on the move, never staying in one place for long. Spending an entire week in my own bed was a rarity. This cost me three marriages. Here, I can truly settle down.”
The former headmaster had asked him a similar question. He’d given him the same answer. Why bother expanding the truth when it was much safer to stick to the same story?

[Sarafina Salazar]

"Stability. Interesting."

Sarafina stood slowly, eying the folder below her. To be completely honest, she had memorized the contents long ago, but interrogation techniques had taught her many different methods to extract information, and she felt that going along this route might be her best bet with Davenport. She trailed her finger down the parchment, as if she were trying to follow what she was reading, even though she knew full well what she was about to say next. It was a favorite tactic of hers as an auror; pretending you're just discovering the information as you go along. She wouldn't be surprised if Davenport saw right through it, but to be honest, she didn't care all that much. She could always change tactics if need be. And besides, she had a feeling it might get to him either way.

"Oh, yes, you're right. Three marriages. I see it her now," she said, nodding her head and widening her eyes slightly, as if actually surprised. "Oh and look at that...you lost a daughter as well. Is that why you lost her? Because you were always on the move? Is that why the courts deemed you an...unfit parent?"

Sarafina paused slightly before her last words, looking up at Davenport now, pinching her eyebrows slightly and tilting her head to the left, acting as if she were actually curious and didn't have the answers to her questions right in front of her.

She scooted around to the other side of her desk and perched herself on the edge, not quite in front of Davenport, but to the side. She sat there a moment, her head tilted to the side, her eyebrows knit together slightly still and a confused look in her eyes. She "absentmindedly" (at least, she made it look that way) grabbed a ginger newt and popped it into her mouth, chewing almost thoughtfully. After she finished it, she continued.

"So you want to settle down at Hogwarts, and you expect to find your perfect woman here? Am I to understand that correctly Professor Davenport?"

[Wentworth Davenport]

Wentwoth followed her movements as he sat in that tiresome chair. He had always had an eye for detail, a quality need for both transfiguration and the dark arts. Her movements and words had all been carefully calculated, this much he knew. As an auror she’d probably gone through this process a thousand times over. If there was something he admired, it was precision. The headmistress had this, which earned her respect. She was sitting on the other side of the interrogation table, however, and that made her his adversary. He bore her no ill will, it was simply a matter of staying out of azkaban. This sentiment shifted as Angelica was brought into the conversation. His eyes turned hostile at the mention of her, trying to suppress his anger, Wentworth clenched his jaw and tried to keep a straight face. The woman pulled no punches, the trick was to let her have at it and remain as indifferent as possible. A feat that got harder at the mention of his estranged daughter.

With an attempted grin, Wentworth corrected the woman.
”Oh no, you’ve got it all wrong. The reason I lost my daughter was that my ex-wife had a damn good lawyer. I underestimated her and I payed the prize for it, it’s as simple as that. Do I miss my daughter? Yes of course, but look on the bright side. If I hadn’t lost her, Hogwarts would never have had the pleasure of my company. It would have been hard to raise a child and teach your fine students transfiguration at the same time, wouldn’t it?
One could tell by his voice that it pained him to talk about Angelica, no matter how hard he tried to cover it up. Nevertheless, the sincerity behind his words was also quite obvious.

He didn’t take his eyes off her as she ate that ginger newt, Wentworth bit the head off his, establishing that they probably weren’t tampered with as consuming your own truth serum wasn’t a very smart tactic and Salazar obviously wasn’t the type to come with a stupid tactic.

As she continued the interrogation, Wentworth couldn’t help but to chuckle at her next question. With an ernest grin this time, he answered her question.
”First off, after three marriages, you realize that there is no such thing as a perfect woman. Second, wouldn’t you say three marriages is enough? I certainly would. I didn’t come here looking for love, I came here seeking to enlighten young minds and a change of environment. But if I find this perfect woman I’ll be sure to let you know, headmistress.”
That last comment was spoken in a very suggestive tone. He didn’t want to provoke the woman too much, but rattling the cage a bit wasn’t going to do too much harm. The rumors going around about Salazar’s sexuality was mostly considered to be just that, rumors, but it was worth a shot. After all, she went straight for the jugular, he could at least bite back.

[Sarafina Salazar]

"So you're telling me that you're not bothered by the fact that you will never be able to see Angelica again?"

Sarafina knew from the tone of his voice that he was in fact bothered by this fact, at least to some extent. After all, who wouldn't be? We're talking about someone's flesh and blood here. 'Of course, I've met plenty of monsters who could care less about their own flesh and blood. Sarafina nearly absentmindedly start to reach around to her back to rub one of the places where her scars bore into her skin, but she stopped herself, not wanting to give herself away. She cleared her throat slightly and sat up straighter. She refused to show a sign of weakness, and she refused to let anything or anyone rattle her; it wasn't her style. But she also knew that she could rattle herself better than anyone else could, which is what she had just done, so in an attempt to distract herself, she grabbed another ginger newt, this time popping the whole thing in her mouth. Still slightly startled, she went to grab another ginger newt and had it halfway to her mouth when Davenport made a rather...suggestive comment. Or at least, the tone seemed to be suggestive, in Sarafina's opinion. And if she wasn't on edge before, she certainly was now.

She felt her entire body stiffen at the statement. If there was one subject matter that could always put her on edge, no matter what, it had to do with relationships. Of course, as far as Sarafina knew, Davenport had no idea of her sensitivity to the subject. No one knew, actually. It was her sexuality that put her on edge; being gay and in the position of Hogwarts' Headmistress could cause her many problems, and she would never reveal her sexuality because of it. Besides that, she knew that she was ashamed; she hated being gay and would do anything to change it, so she just opted to forgo relationships all-together.

Sarafina stood from her seat on the desk and quickly walked (actually, more like slowly ran) around to the other side of her desk again, sitting down, pulling her chair close to the desk. She tossed the file onto her desk and clasped her hands together.

"Professor Davenport, I will only ask you this once, and I can promise you that I will know if you're lying so I suggest being completely honest. Did you come to teach at Hogwarts in hopes of seeing your daughter if she went to school here?"

[Wentworth Davenport]

Wentworth sighed at her question.
”No, I’m not saying it doesn’t bother me. What I am saying is that the past is just that - the past. No one ever got anything good out of dwelling upon it.”
That was enough about Angelica. Talking about her wouldn't get them anywhere on the dark magic front. Guess he should have seen that coming, but somehow the topic of his daughter always caught him off guard. He told himself to keep his pokerface on and stick with it. As the headmistress propped two ginger newts in her mouth, Wentworth grinned once again.
”You must really like those sweets.”
It was understandable enough. He himself had a bowl of licorice snaps in his office that he couldn’t get enough of. Though, in this case it seemed as if Salazar’s apatite had something to do with her emotions.

The Transfiguration professor witnessed as her body langue changed at the mention of him getting her the prefect woman. It had been a bit of a stab in the dark but it seemed to have hit a nerve. What was he to take from this? She hadn’t even tried to deny it. He was a bit chocked as she slammed his file onto her desk and looked at him like she was prepared to rip his head off right then and there. It didn’t even bother him when she mentioned Angelica again. He was too amused and intrigued to take offense to that frankly desperate inquiry. It took him a while to answer the question but it was not because he couldn’t think of a convincing lie, he was good at making up those, it mostly just because his mind was elsewhere, thinking of ways he could use this to his favor.

”I highly doubt that my ex-wife would put her in the same school I’m teaching at. Trust me, she would not be sloppy enough to put her in my classroom by mistake. Hogwarts isn’t the only school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world, you know? I’m a realist, headmistress, I tend to keep my history in the past where it belogs.”
Although all that was true, there was still something deep inside him that hoped that he would get the chance to see his little girl at Hogwarts, no matter how unlikely it might be.
"What's with the mood swings? I thought we were having a civilized conversation here."
He made sure to make it very clear that he was mocking her.

[Sarafina Salazar]

"Professor, I do not know what you are referring to when you refer to my having 'mood swings' as my town has remained fairly the same throughout our entire conversation. And I wouldn't go as far as to this is a friendly conversation Professor Davenport. There are far too many questions involved, wouldn't you agree?"

Sarafina looked him directly in the eye, quirking her left eyebrow into a high arch. It was her "classic move" as her fellow auroras used to say; she tended to use it during interrogations or "friendly conversations" when she knew that she was right and had put the other person in their place (at least, that's how she viewed the situation). For a minute, she just sat there, looking at Professor Davenport, trying to figure out what method she wanted to use next. Usually she would exhibit a rapid fire change in tactics; it was actually her favorite interrogation method, and it tended to be her most useful. She usually acquired the most confessions that way, namely because people usually couldn't keep up with the speed at which she could change methods. Something told her such a method wouldn't work on Davenport though. First of all, he was a Slytherin (or at least an ex-Slytherin), and Slytherins were known to be quite cunning. Not to say that Sarafina wasn't, but she was more witty than cunning, which is why she decided to go with the one approach that was used probably the least amount (at least on her end): the direct approach.

"Professor Davenport, as you are aware, there have recently been students caught practicing dark magic. Through investigations, the Ministry has uncovered that there are professors teaching the students said dark magic. Due to your...colorful past, it should be no surprise to you that the Ministry suspects you of teaching such practices. So, why don't you tell me the truth: have you or have you not been teaching the students dark magic?"

Sarafina doubted that the professor would tell her the truth, but by asking him directly, she would be able to read his facial reactions and try to gauge whether or not he was lying. Not all aurors learned how to read facial muscles to gauge reactions, but if one moves high enough up the chain of command, they are sometimes trained more in more highly-skilled areas. Sarafina had been taught some, mainly for one of the operations she was leading, but most of her knowledge came from years of experience. Of course, she wasn't perfect; no one was (although Sarafina sometimes liked to think so). She knew though that, at this point, this was her best bet at finding out the most information.

"Keep in mind Professor Davenport, that if you are truthful with me, I can put in a good word with the Ministry."

[Wentworth Davenport]

The professor let out an amused giggle as she countered his comment about her mood swings. The way she composed herself was impressive though, seeing as she had looked like an ice tip just a moment ago. Bet it must be.. problematic being a lesbian in her position. That was probably why she had reacted so strongly to his comment. Or maybe she was just really unconfortable with her sexuality? Probably both. It was too early to draw conclusion however. It warranted further investigation though.
”I don’t wanna be picky but I said civilized, not friendly. The two have some differences do they not?”
Letting out another amused giggle, Wentworth continued.
”But never mind me, I was just making sure everything is alright. Forgive me if I’m a bit absentminded, there might not be a perfect woman out there but it is a rather distracting fiction. I’m sure you understand.” It wasn’t as apparent as his previous comment but it was suggestive never the less. She probably wouldn’t react as strongly to that remark as the previous one, but Wentworth enjoyed being bit annoying from time to time. He wasn’t too worried about the headmistress uncovering something that could put him in Azkaban, he’d faced worse than that washed up auror.

And finally the foreplay was over. Wenworth sighed and leaned back in the chair with an expression on his face that said ”wow, didn’t see that one coming”. He let her finish before he forced the bony chair closer to Salazar's desk, leaned forward, put his hand under his chin and simply said:
”No.”
Before the headmistress got the chance to respond, he put a finger in the air and interrupted her.
”No, pause for dramatic effect.”
With a smug chuckle, the Transfiguration professor continued.
”Seriously though, I’m not stupid enough to try to teach the students dark magic. You’re bound to be discovered eventually. Besides, what could I possibly get out of that? I’m paid to teach Transfiguration, not the Dark Arts. Also, I wouldn’t know how, I’ve been accused of practicing the Dark Arts, nothing was ever proven. Proof would be something you’d need to make any actual allegations towards me, would it not? Which I assume I don’t have since I haven't done anything wrong.”

[Sarafina Salazar]

Sarafina studied Wentworth's face, looking for any hint of a lie on his face. She literally stared him down for a good minute in silence, reading each line, each flinch of his face, trying to find any hint of a lie. She couldn't. And it pissed her off. This guy had to be in on it. There were only a handful of professors with a history of dark magic, and he was one of them. Granted...it was never proven per say, but he was on the list, and the list was almost never wrong. He was the perfect candidate for this sort of thing, so how could he not be a part of it? 'He must be an excellent liar.' Sarafina refused to accept the notion that Davenport just wasn't involved. She sighed and closed her eyes briefly before opening them to look at Davenport one last time. Pinching her lips together, she dismissively waved her hand.

"Well then. You may go Professor Davenport. But keep in mind that I will be watching you."