Chapter Text
Amelia Bones was thankful the day was almost over. The last two months had been busier than usual. The number of petty crimes was up and corresponding paperwork was taking up most of her desk. Not to mention the little matter of Sirius Black breaking out of Azkaban. Between the paperwork, trials and all of the man hunts she had to stay on top of, Amelia had hardly gotten to spend any time with her niece Susan and time was running out. She only had a few more weeks before Susan would be back at Hogwarts.
Things had become so crazy that Amelia had requested the second week of August off to ensure she had time for Susan. They were going to spend two days at a Swiss Spa and then head over to Paris for some shopping. Just the thought of some new dress robes got Amelia through the day.
Signing the last report of the day, Amelia breathed out a sigh of relief. All she had to do now was grab her bag, drop the reports off with her assistant, and floo out the office before another crisis, aka something that Fudge couldn’t handle by himself, popped up.
As if summoned by her thoughts, a message box flew into her office. Thankful it wasn’t a ministry scroll she grabbed the letter inside. Should she read it now or save it for tomorrow? It wasn’t important so it could definitely keep for a day, but she didn’t become Head of the DMLE from her lack of curiosity. Deciding the letter shouldn’t take much time to read, she opened it. After reading a few lines she put her bag down, plopped back down into her chair, and started reading the letter again.
Dear Madam Bones, I am writing to you because I have cause to be concerned about the living conditions of Harry Potter. I understand that my concerns should be directed to the Department of Child Welfare, however since they don't seem to know where he lives, I do not think that will be of much help.
In the two years since Mr. Potter has returned to the magical world, he has said some worrying things about his treatment by his relatives. To go along with that I have noticed that Mr. Potter does not return to relatives during the Yule or Easter break. Now I realize that families do not always get along and that is not an indication of mistreatment, however Mr. Potter seems to be quite small and unusually skinny. Again, I understand this could happen naturally. Which is how I have stopped myself from saying anything so far.
However, during the children’s return from Hogwarts I witnessed a distressing scene between Mr. Potter and his uncle that has not allowed itself to be explained away. As they were leaving the station I saw Mr. Potter’s uncle dragging him by the arm and expressing his displeasure at having to come to the station and pick Mr. Potter up. He then mentioned locking up Mr. Potter’s belongings as soon as they got home.
That scene haunted me until I gave in and wrote to the Department of Child Welfare that I had cause for concern and asked if they would check in on Mr. Potter. Please understand that I did not want to be overly dramatic and hoped after a quick house call I would be proven wrong. Instead, I got a reply telling me that Harry Potter was probably the most looked after and protected child out there and even if the department wanted to they did not have access to Mr. Potter. That a third party was in charge of checking in on Mr. Potter and their yearly updates show that Mr. Potter was happy and well looked after.
Now Madam Bones, I may not be the smartest person but if Mr. Potter was getting yearly visits then shouldn’t he have been aware of the magical world before he was 11 years old. Shouldn’t this person have also been available to introduce Mr. Potter to the magical world themselves instead of Hagrid, Hogwart's groundskeeper?.
Again, I don’t want to seem extreme but the more I learn of the situation the more uneasy I feel. Since the DCW was unable to help I felt you were my only option.
Sincerely,
A Concerned Citizen
Amelia was stunned, was the information in this letter real? Did the DCW really not know where Harry Potter was or with whom he was living? They had just taken the word of someone else that a child was safe, and to top it off, not just any child but the bloody boy-who-lived! No, this couldn’t be true. No one would be dumb enough to let that happen. So she would just pop into the DCW and have a quick chat with Glenda before she went home.
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Sitting by the fire later that evening with a glass of her favorite scotch, Amelia thought about all she had learned today. The DCW didn’t know where or who Harry Potter lived with. They had never checked on his living conditions and were taking the word of Albus Dumbledore that he was safe and happy.
She understood that these were not Glenda’s decisions. Amelia had also inherited a mess when she became head but to not have straighten it out was rubbish. Glenda had been head for over 5 years and that should have been enough time to straighten things up and get control of the situation. It was the DCW’s job to check up on the placement of orphans, investigate claims of abuse, and make sure the education system in U.K. met international standards. It would seem that wherever Dumbledore was involved Glenda’s power was curbed.
The question now was should she involve herself? Technically there was a miscarriage of law happening in the Potter case. If she took this up, she would be going against Dumbledore, Fudge, and who knows what other politically influential people were involved. It wasn't like she didn’t already have her hands full with the Black case. On the other hand, there was a child that could need her help.
Amelia sat in front of the fire long into the night weighing her options.