The Ministry Knows When to Stop
Department of Magical Catastrophes
Ministry of Magic — London
The crystal array screamed.
Red runes flared across the monitoring table, spinning wildly.
An Unspeakable staggered back.
"Merlin—another surge!"
"How many is that now?!"
"Seven—no, eight—no—nine Aurora-level awakenings!"
The room erupted into controlled chaos.
"These aren't gradual!"
"They're instantaneous! That shouldn't be possible!"
A senior Unspeakable slammed his staff against the floor.
"Locations!"
The crystal shifted, projecting glowing sigils across a floating map of Britain.
One by one, markers appeared.
Then—
Silence.
Everyone froze.
"…Bones Manor."
"…Greengrass Estate."
"…Vole Keep."
A younger analyst swallowed.
"…Sir?"
The head Unspeakable slowly closed his eyes.
"…Shut it down."
"What?"
"I said shut it down."
"But sir, protocol demands investigation of multiple Aurora awakenings—"
The Unspeakable opened his eyes.
They were tired.
"Young man," he said calmly,
"Protocol exists to keep us alive."
The room went still.
Department of Magical Law Enforcement
Amelia Bones was halfway through paperwork when her office door opened.
Madam Marchbanks entered, pale.
"Amelia," she said carefully,
"…have you done anything recently I should know about?"
Amelia didn't look up.
"No."
A pause.
"…Is Keith Argus Runcandel involved?"
Amelia sighed and leaned back.
"Yes."
Marchbanks closed the door gently.
"…I see."
She straightened her robes.
"The Unspeakables detected multiple Aurora awakenings tied to your bloodline."
Amelia arched an eyebrow.
"And?"
Marchbanks hesitated.
"…They've halted the process."
Amelia smiled faintly.
"Good."
Wizengamot Observation Chamber
The Chief Warlock reviewed the report twice.
Then a third time.
"…So let me summarize," he said slowly.
"Within twelve hours, several children and adults from House Bones, House Greengrass, and House Vole advanced to Aurora and Elite Aurora."
"Yes, sir."
"And all are directly connected to Keith Argus Runcandel."
"Yes, sir."
The Chief Warlock closed the folder.
"…Close the case."
A clerk blinked.
"Sir?"
The Chief Warlock looked at him evenly.
"We do not interfere with stabilizing pillars."
"…Pillars?"
The old wizard leaned back.
"Those families are not threats."
He tapped the folder.
"They are anchors."
Unspeakables — Private Discussion
A junior Unspeakable whispered:
"…Shouldn't we at least observe?"
The senior Unspeakable chuckled darkly.
"We did."
He gestured at the dimmed crystal.
"And the system told us exactly what would happen if we continued."
The junior swallowed.
"…What?"
The senior Unspeakable smiled thinly.
"Interference would be… discouraged."
Ministry Memo — Classified
Subject: Multiple Aurora-Class Magical Awakenings
Status: MONITOR ONLY
Affected Houses:
– Bones
– Greengrass
– Vole
Action Taken: None
Reason:
Political Stability Maintained
Bloodline Sanctity Preserved
No Hostile Intent Detected
Additional Note:
DO NOT ENGAGE RUNCANDEL ASSETS WITHOUT UNANIMOUS WIZENGAMOT APPROVAL
Stamped in red ink:
CASE CLOSED
Somewhere in Runcandel Territory
Keith paused mid-bite of dessert.
"…Hm."
Raphael's voice echoed calmly in his mind.
"Several monitoring spells were activated.
All were terminated voluntarily."
Keith smiled.
"Smart."
Luna glanced at him.
"Ministry?"
"Mm."
Grayfia smirked.
"They realized where the line is."
Keith took another bite, relaxed.
"Good."
Outside—
The wizarding world remained ignorant.
Inside the Ministry—
They had just learned a very important lesson:
Some fires are not meant to be extinguished.