Sirius Black had met them with a smile for the girls, but his expression was less playful than they were used to seeing. Sirius looked a touch more haggard than usual and his eyes were angry.
They had been shown into a large room with almost a dozen Aurors, as well as several other men dressed in different robes that Iris didn't recognize. The whole scene was slightly intimidating, but Amelia Bones was present which made it less nerve wracking for Iris. As her father's boss Amelia was someone that Iris knew, at least as something more than a complete stranger.
Amelia had been direct to the point of bluntness. She had told the girls that they weren't in any sort of trouble and had asked both Iris and Hermione if they would be willing to share their memories, of the events the night before as the only witnesses capable of giving a memory. Iris's father then showed them both how to go through the process of bringing out a memory and removing it so that it could be viewed.
The two of them managed without to much trouble and then set the memories inside of a very large pensieve. The two girls had never given a memory before, but both had seen a pensieve before, and they had both even been inside memories before. The Potter's had a family pensieve, the girls had used with the family from time to time.
Both girls had then waited in silence as all of the Aurors including Iris's father and Sirius had gone in to view the memory. Lily had joined them as well. One of the Auror's had started to protest but had shut up under the combined glares of Sirius, James and Lily. Amelia had simply shrugged before they went into the memory.
When they emerged from the memory a few minutes later, there were stunned looks all around.
Though the first thing Lily said was "What were you thinking going to attack those Death Eaters!?"
"We didn't attack them!" Hermione protested and then shifted nervously when Lily's angry glare was focused on her.
"You both drew your wands. You were about to attack them! You could have gotten killed!" she half shouted with a pointed glare at Iris. Lily wasn't usually one to shout at her children, but at the moment she was upset that her daughter had been about to put herself into danger so recklessly.
However Iris stood up and met her mother's shout with a stubborn lift of her chin. "They were torturing someone. I wasn't just going to stand by and let that happen!" Iris' voice raised to match her mother's, as vibrant emerald green eyes met vibrant emerald green eyes. Both not willing to concede their positions.
Any further confrontation was cut off when one of the men Iris didn't recognize spoke up, cutting off the brewing confrontation. "Oui, that someone, or someones in this case were my daughters."
That turned the attention in the room from the brewing confrontation to the polite though serious looking man standing farther away from the group. Amelia met first James and then Lily's eyes. "I hadn't had the chance to make introductions. This is Claude Delacour. He's the Deputy Minister for the French Ministry of Magic. His daughters were the two you just saw being attacked in that memory. He's here at my invitation… and his country's insistence."
"I must thank you for your willingness to help my daughters." Claude nodded at the two girls and restrained a smile at the smug look that flitted across Iris face, and the narrowed eyes in Lily's. "Though based on the memory it seems like someone else beat you to the punch."
Iris felt a hand on her shoulder and glanced up to see her mother standing close. stern look in her mother's eyes before she turned her attention back to the group. Iris realized that Lily was reassuring herself that Iris was safe, almost as much as she was reassuring her daughter.
James nodded his head in acknowledgement to the statement Claude had made. "Do we have any leads on who it was?"
Amelia shook her head, "The best lead we have is in that memory you just saw." James just nodded in response and the expression on Claude's face seemed a combination of disappointment and thoughtful.
Amelia looked around, her monocle glinting in the light of the room. "I'd like to hear opinions on what we just saw."
It was Kingsley Shacklebolt who spoke up first, "Whoever he is he's fast. Did you see the rate of spells coming as he approached the scene? For a few moments I thought there was more than one person there." James nodded, though his tone was grudging at best. "I have to admit I was impressed. Sirius or I might be able to match him spell for spell on his approach, at least as far as pure speed is concerned."
This generated some raised eyebrows around the Potter and Sirius Black were considered the two best duelists in the entire auror company. While casting speed wasn't everything, it was still a significant admission.
"I'm not sure that he had a good grasp of tactics." Sirius stated, with a thoughtful tone. "He cast the first spell, and then just watched it. Now granted, that first spell was a doozy, but he just stood in the open afterward. Before he started rapid firing those curses."
There were nods all around at that, before Amelia spoke up, her voice thoughtful. "I'm not sure we can assert that quite so easily."
"What do you mean, Amelia?" came a question from the relatively quiet Auror, John Dawlish.
"He or she faced off against the death eaters and survived, and protected two people in the process. Whatever the death eaters may have expected as a response it was clearly not that." Amelia replied.
There was some murmuring at that but no one could refute the comment.
"I would also say that he's quite powerful." Nerton Dippet said, content to point out what it seemed like the others were trying to avoid mentioning.
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