Bellatrix Lestrange

Cissy, Lucius -

I regret that I bring bad news. However, I bring it with the intent that you may prepare yourself for what's to come.

Tomorrow morning, they will put out an arrest warrant for Draco.

Now. If you have recovered from that unpleasant shock, I will share with you my knowledge of the various reports, as I feel it only right that you know precisely what was found in the course of the investigation. I am aware that you both have held fast to the hope that Draco was taken from the castle as captive. Perhaps there is even some truth to that, as the connection between Draco and Snape remains purely speculative rather than certain. However, what has become certain is that Draco will be charged with willfully engaging in miscegenous activities and exposing a legal nonperson to the magical arts.

Minus official jargon, the evidence is as follows:


PHYSICAL


Letters - The mudblood's correspondence could not be determined as authentic, since there are few samples of its handwriting. Handwriting analysis, parchment-matching, and ink-matching all determined that Draco's was authentic and non-forged. The contents of the letter (which I will spare you) leave no doubt as to the writer's romantic intent.

Recordings - These were obtained by Teddy Nott Jr., who before his death claimed to be collecting them out of a suspicion that Draco was romantically interested in the mudblood, or vice-versa. Only after capturing the recordings did Nott Jr. determine that Draco was teaching it magic. The recordings are both visual and aural, and of good quality. They were captured using magically charmed mirrors similar to those used by MLE in our own surveillance, and feature a tamper-proof time and date stamp. Nott Jr. claimed to have cut out the "insignificant bits." What is left confirms that Draco and the mudblood were in a "hidden" room together on at least fourteen occasions in the last six weeks. They usually arrived and left this room separately, but on two occasions arrived together, and on one occasion left together. In those times they left and arrived together, they can be seen speaking to one another. The transcript of their conversation was not determined as condemnable; the frequency of their meetings, however, was, as was the fact that it took place in a location that was inaccessible to others. After much searching Investigators did find this hidden room; it seems to be a storage space of sorts, full of abandoned rubbish. Experimentation with the room revealed that the room is only accessible to others when it is empty, or when the occupant is expecting someone else to arrive.

Colocation Devices - A set of boxes, one transfigured into a ring, designed to allow the passing of objects from one box to the other. The ring-box was found on Draco's finger, and a second box was found in the mudblood's sleeping area. Harry's testimony confirmed he also owns a box of this nature (given to him by Regulus Black), which he has not used in some time, and that a fourth box was stolen from his trunk some months ago. Nott Sr suggested that his son intercepted the letters (see above) using the fourth stolen box.

Wand - The mudblood's illegal wand, which it claimed to have stolen from Buckingham, is over one-hundred years old (Ollivander's work) but is in good keep. There are no records of a wand having been stolen from Buckingham since the mudblood came under Harry's ownership. P.I. indicated that the last five spells ranged from intermediate to highly advanced, suggesting that the mudblood had been either well-trained in magic, or (more likely, I think) had someone else demonstrate advanced spells to it using the wand.

Rings - Draco and the mudblood both wore rings on their left ring finger. On first glance they appear to have nothing in common. In-depth study revealed that they are in fact made from the same materials, only designed to look different; both, too, were imbued with a spell to make them largely unnoticeable. On my first search of the mudblood, I in fact missed the ring, and did not see it until it later animated. Draco's ring was in the shape of a dragon, and quite expensive in appearance. The mudblood's was a snake, and quite plain. The rings are designed so that the wearer can, in effect, poison and kill him or herself through nonverbal magic, should the need arise. These are not toys: the wearer must be in genuine fear for their life, at which point the animal comes to life and bites the wearer, injecting him with three poisons. Not only did both rings have the same function, they were also crafted by the same person: a witch, young in age. Possibly with the guidance of one extremely skilled at potions.


TESTIMONIAL:


Various Students - For brevity's sake, I won't list them all here. In the course of questioning, Penderyn determined that Daphne Greengrass, widely accepted as Draco's current girlfriend, was aware that Draco was keeping dangerous secrets from her, but was unaware of what those secrets were. Greengrass and Pansy Parkinson were also questioned extensively about their romantic interactions with Draco; neither felt he had any unnatural impulses, but neither have had sexual relations with him, either. Hydra Lestrange revealed that she was giving Draco occlumency lessons at his request, but that when they began those lessons, he already had some skill in the area. She did not know whether he came by the skill naturally or had been taught by someone else.

Bellatrix Lestrange - In the course of my initial questioning on Saturday, 7 June, Draco occluded rather than submitting to legilimency. Even when I assured him that he had nothing to hide, he continued to occlude, though denied that he was doing so. The mudblood did not successfully occlude under Hydra's interrogation, though Hydra did report that the mudblood made an attempt at it. It is well known that Severus Snape was a master occlumens who was also skilled at spell-cast legilimency, providing him with the means to effectively teach occlumency.


OTHER:


- The journal archive was torched. Enough said.
- There are multiple anecdotal reports of Draco being called in to assist "Milland" in unspecified ways, often involving detention; however, there are no official records of those detentions, nor any record of Draco having lost house points.



When taken as a whole, the above evidence is more than enough to justify arrest, interrogation, and a hearing with the Wizengamot, who - barring veritaserum evidence that reveals otherwise - would surely find Draco guilty of all charges held against him.

I apologise that I must be the one to deliver you such unpleasant news. Know that aside from my own testimony, I have been only peripherally involved in the investigation, lest my involvement only serve to further incite Nott and Mulciber.

The mudblood's confessed to stealing the wand from Buckingham, was learning magic all on her own, apparently. So she says.

Now, whether Draco has a hand in this or not remains to be seen. Let me speak with him. I'll convince him that if he confesses to having been seduced by the mudblood, and at least "entertained" ideas about teaching her magic, that we will sort this out amongst ourselves. He'll believe me.

I'll give you the mudblood. I'm done with her.

Let my daughter watch - she still has much to learn.

Negligence, Negligence. My own, naturally. Though some might rush to my defence, given that I've an infant, a career, an extended family, and other various and sundry Protectorate business to attend to, there is never good excuse for negligence. And so I write.

On that subject, Hydra Elladora Lestrange, do not think that I've been so busy as to miss that you have decided to Owl your Father this week and not me. I believe I made it plain that I expect at least one Owl a week from you, describing the details of your lessons, your marks thus far, and a transcription of any comments (be it praise or criticism) verbalised to you by a Professor or Prefect. I hoped you had conveyed this information in the Owl to your Father, but when I read it I was greeted with some prattling nonsense about your robe rabbit and an ever-growing collection of sweets and chocolates.

So with your best interests in mind, I have Owled your cousin Draco and instructed him to no longer allow his mudblood to fetch you sweets. Bad enough you borrowed money from him for a trifling toy, but now you abuse the services of his slave, as well.

And Narcissa, please do not send Hydra chocolates out of pity. Or pocket money, for that matter. You may recall that Father rarely gifted me with such luxuries, and I am only better for it. As the eldest, Hydra will learn responsibility and self-sufficiency for her own good, even if you and my husband try to spoil her in secret.

Hydra, if you want pocket money, sell some of those sweets you've collected. Or perhaps the robe pet - they seem to be in demand enough.

I am pleased, however, that you have expressed an interest in becoming an Auror. In fact, it seems that Wright and Gupta made quite an impression on much of the Hogwarts' student body. I myself cannot recommend the career of an Auror enough - nothing compares. Such is why I have continued my field work instead of taking over for old Mafalda, or stepping into Rufus' shoes, for that matter.

Of course, not everyone is cut out for the life of an Auror. See your groundskeeper if you want an example of why.

It is fortunate that the season has blessed Him with good cheer, for I do not think that He would ordinarily allow an investigation like this to stagnate for so long. Happily, I made new ground earlier this week. All thanks to a goblin named Griphand or Hookgrip or somesuch, and a collection of blades meant to be worn like a set of claws, known simply as the Cat Gauntlets. A Belgravia townhome for one Mr. and Mrs. Greaves was got in exchange - more than they could hope for, given that they're childless and nearly old.

Hookgrip was cooperative enough, though in a decidedly goblinish way. True Owner indeed! Goblins do have their quaint ideas about ownership. Perhaps I do as well. I shall ask my Lord in our next vis-à-vis, and show him my new Cat Gauntlets while I am there.

I have other news to tell Him, and while it preys on me with urgency the Lord has requested that He be disturbed as little as possible in the coming days. His reaction to Hookgrip's revelation was very mild, so I cannot imagine that reports on my personal life should rate an interruption. I do not know what He is working on, alone in His palace, but if it is important enough for Him to forget my bir seclude himself during this festive time of year, then it must be very important.

Still, He shall be at Cissy's party. I think I will visit her today to assist her in the planning. Perhaps Hydra would like to come along. She does so love to play with Draco's toys when he's not there to stop her.