Amelia and Claude exchanged a look at that comment, before Amelia spoke up "Please, explain that conclusion if you would."
Nerton suddenly looked nervous at being put on the spot in front of the entire group, 'Well, it's obvious innit? I mean it's not like he was up there just casting stunners. Stunners don't explode when they hit people. Those were some powerful spells."
Claude looked at Amelia and she nodded. "That dovetails with what my daughter told me." When everyone's attention turned toward him. "My daughter Fleur, is still recovering from the cruciatus curse that was used on her. As such, any memory she would offer would be too fragmented to do any good in a pensieve. However she remembers some details very vividly."
Claude looked around before his gaze met James'. "One, when you saw him transfigure that wall between my daughters and the oncoming spells. She spoke to him and asked him not to hurt her sister." There was no mistaking the anger in the father's voice at the thought of his daughter's being in that position. But there was also no mistaking the clear pride that was in his voice at his older daughter's protective streak for the younger in the face of such dangerous circumstances.
"We know this person is male because she clearly remembers his voice telling her that he wasn't there to hurt her." Claude looked around again, knowing everyone's attention was on him. "And that helps us how? Narrowing it down is a step, but a very minor one since it still leaves half the population." Sirius asked, a touch of impatience to his voice when Claude seemed to pause there. Amelia Bones shot him a glare, but Claude didn't seem bothered by the impatience at all.
Claude gathered himself and looked around, "For those of you who may not be aware. My beautiful wife, Appoline is a veela." He paused there, as if expecting a comment or protest, though there was more than one soft murmur in the room, nothing else was said so he continued. "My daughters are obviously Veela as well. One of the gifts of the Veela race is to be able to sense the magical power of those they come into contact with."
Claude paused a moment, his voice turning slightly to that of someone giving an oft repeated lecture. "This ability has several uses, but it is believed to be a trait that was evolved and developed in order to find a mate that was more likely to produce healthy and powerful offspring. An evolutionary imperative which would in turn help the survival of the species as a whole."
"Fleur told me that she had never sensed anyone or anything as powerful as she sensed when he was there. She said her senses were nearly overwhelmed and she felt like she was drowning in magic." Claude paused a moment and held his hand up, "Now please remember there could be several caveats to this. She was still suffering from aftereffects of a cruciatus, and was still in danger. And the wizard was in the middle of a high stress situation and firing so much magic his aura was much more vibrant and close to the surface than it might otherwise be." There was silence as those around digested this bit of information.
"No matter how powerful he was, I can tell you one thing for sure; he wasn't there to play nice with them." Frank Longbottom's grim voice spoke up.
The serious-faced Auror looked around at the rest of the group.. "He wasn't playing the 'let's throw stunners at one another for a bit then everybody go home'. He was using blasting and cutting curses." it was hard not to hear the grim satisfaction that was present in Frank Longbottom's voice. Everyone knew he hated death eaters with a passion.
"He was limping," a female auror noted.
Kingsley spoke up, "One of them got him in the leg, right there after he cast that first big spell." "I've never seen that whirlwind spell he used," Dippet mentioned, slightly bolstered that his first observation had inspired such discussion.. It had been very good at preventing anyone from hitting him with anything, but it also prevented anyone from seeing anything inside.
Lily Potter, the most knowledgeable spell creator of the people present, interjected. "Banished objects and dust clouds are usually employed as physical attacks or as area protections through denial of visibility. I haven't ever seen them brought together as a defensive screen in that manner. I'd have to do some research, but I'm not aware of any spell with the effect we saw. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure I accept that this is just one person."
James spoke up, a puzzled expression on his face, "What do you mean?" Lily frowned, "I know we only saw one person in the memories. But you saw on his approach, after the initial spell, there was a maintained shield while he was firing those curses. That takes a lot of skill at splitting your focus and your power."
"I didn't see anyone else in the memory he could possibly be working with." Amelia stated thoughtfully.
"That doesn't mean they weren't there. It just means Iris and Hermione didn't see them. They could have been disillusioned, or just plain hiding, maintaining a shield. The only reason I have to doubt it was two people is because his actions are erratic enough that i have a hard time believing he had someone there keeping pace and tabs on him." Lily sighed.
James spoke up again, "Even putting aside concerns about his actions, or his powers, he summoned that whirlwind in a matter of seconds. Afterwards he was still banishing things at the death eaters, while somehow simultaneously maintaining his focus on the whirlwind. That would be very difficult, even for two people. I must say it was incredibly effective though."
Lily crossed arms as she considered, "Given the way he used it, I might say there's some law enforcement training there. We would need to reach out to ministries in other countries and see if any of them have that sort of spell. That might help us determine a country of origin for the stranger, or at least narrow it down a little bit."
Claude spoke up, "That's actually the other reason we are here. Because that was the other thing my daughter told me. Whoever that was, based on their accent, they were definitely British. Not only that, but they knew my daughter's family name, calling her "Miss Delacour." Fleur doesn't think she's ever heard the voice before."
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