Sabine was a wreck, but the story, with the help of Tonks, emerged. A group of Death Eaters had invaded the house. They attacked her and tortured her while her children had hidden upstairs.
"Children?" Amelia asked. "Where are they now?"
"A trustworthy neighbor is looking after them," Tonks said.
"What about the father?"
Tonks shrugged as Sabine sobbed. "Didn't look like there was one."
"Right," Amelia said, trying to get Sabine to focus. "So is that it? They attacked you and then the aurors came and stopped them?"
"They were interrogating her," Tonks offered.
Amelia frowned. "Were they trying to obtain forged documents or something?"
"No," Sabine said, shaking her head and hiccupping slightly. "They were asking about past work I had done."
"What past work was that?" Amelia asked.
"I can't be charged as long as it happened over ten years ago, right?" Sabine asked, seeming to pull herself together.
"That would be correct," Amelia said dryly, seeing that Sabine's previous assertion that it was only her father who forged must have been incorrect.
"Approximately twenty or so years ago, my father and I compiled a forged identity for a man named Harry Ashworth," Sabine confessed.
Amelia sat up her in chair. "Harry Ashworth? Are you saying that Death Eaters, presumably under the command of You-Know-Who, were interrogating you for the purpose of learning about Harry Ashworth?
"Yes," Sabine said, nodding in confirmation. "I wanted to put my statement on the record so that the Death Eaters will have no reason to ask me further questions or attempt to hinder me from reporting what I know."
"Putting your statement on our record doesn't tell the Death Eaters what they want to know," Amelia reminded Sabine.
"You're assuming that the Death Eaters have no access to Ministry records, ma'am."
"Tell me what you know about Harry Ashworth, then." Amelia directed, brushing past Sabine's implication that there were Death Eater spies in the Ministry.
Sabine shrugged. "I don't really know all that much. He approached my father and me around Christmastime in 1975. He needed a complete identity-said he had lost his old one."
"Lost his old one?"
Sabine shrugged again. "He claimed he was not on the run from the law. He said that he had merely lost his identity."
"Continue, then," Amelia directed, wondering absently as to how Ashworth might have 'lost his identity.'
"He paid ten thousand for a complete package," Sabine said.
"I see," Amelia said. "In cash?"
"Yes, cash."
"How did he find you?" Amelia inquired.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean," said Amelia, "that people who perform your sort of service are part of a community. Presumably this Ashworth found you through some connection or another."
"Right," Sabine admitted. "I don't normally reveal that sort of thing, but it doesn't matter now. He was referred by Bellatrix Black."
"Bellatrix Black?" Amelia echoed, a look of surprise showing on her face.
"It makes sense," Tonks interjected. "Ashworth was pretty involved with the Blacks and Malfoys right up to when Malfoy and Minister Black were killed."
"I was aware of that," Amelia said, "but wasn't Bellatrix Black a teenager at that time? When did she learn about professional crime to the extent she could refer some random wizard to a forger?"
Both Tonks and Amelia looked to Sabine for the answer. Sabine was willing to oblige. "My father and I did a lot of business with Cygnus Black."
"The late Minister Black?" Amelia asked, sounding faintly surprised. "What kind of business?"
Sabine shrugged. "Black was involved in the real estate business, except that he dealt with Muggles."
"Why would you need a forger for real estate?" Amelia asked.
"Because he was selling magically created property to the Muggles," Sabine explained. "He would go into new developments-the ones with all those flats-and magically add a few floors. He would then sell the apartments. My father and I did the forgeries that fixed up all the relevant Muggle records to reflect the extra property and floors. It's not unlike Platform 9 ¾, except that Muggles have access. It didn't hurt anyone."
"And how was his daughter tied into all of this?" Amelia asked, frowning deeply.
"She was usually with her father at work. There were days when she ran things-interacted with the Muggle customers, filed paperwork with the Muggle government, and even interfaced with my father and me." Sabine explained.
"I'm not sure I can believe that," Amelia replied. "Cygnus Black was not the sort to interact with Muggles comfortably."
"It was the only way Cygnus could eke out a living," Sabine defended. "I'm not saying the Blacks loved Muggles. I'm saying they made their business off of Muggles."
"I see," Amelia said absently. "Was there anything else you can tell me about tonight's incident, or perhaps even about Harry Ashworth?"
.....
The report on Sabine's interview with Madame Bones earned Tonks a spot in the Order's inner circle-at least for one meeting. Dumbledore, James, Lily, Sirius, Moody, Arthur, Molly and a few others were listening with rapt attention as Tonks concluded, "And then, Madame Bones assigned me to escort Sabine to St. Mungo's."
"How extraordinary," Dumbledore commented. "When I met with Mrs. Black, she implied that she had spent many of the past years among Muggles. From your account, it sounds as if Mrs. Black would actually be able to abide among Muggles with few problems."
"Sounds like she might have had a way to make money, too," James observed.
"Theoretically, she has had access to the entire Black fortune," Lily reminded everyone present.
"If that is so, it seems like we would have seen more of the Black money moving around," Molly suggested.
"That is a good point," Lily admitted. "The Bellatrix I knew certainly would have spent piles of gold in abundance, albeit shrewdly with the purpose of making profit."
"And there aren't all that many places to spend wizard gold," Sirius added.
"Indeed," Dumbledore agreed, taking control of the conversation. "The main purpose of this meeting is to discuss Bellatrix Black and our future interactions with her."
"What about Harry Ashworth?" Lily demanded.