Having offered to find another Auror to join in the taskforce to track down and if necessary eliminate the monster plaquing the Black Lake, Walter went to work on finding one. In general he couldn't say he was particularly close to any of his fellow Aurors but a few he knew well enough to gage their interests. He made it known he wanted to talk to them when they had a spare moment.

After taking care of a few things he returned to his office and noticed a note from a fellow Auror stating they will be back later to see him. Checking the time Walter saw he hadn't missed the auror's return so settled into his seat and reluctantly pulled out some case reports he had to finish writing up.

OOC: open to any Aurors currently not part of the taskforce to find out what sort of monster is in the Black Lake.

  

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“Staghart,” Trystan greeted, having finished up his last training drill with the young ‘uns for the day and meandered up through the cubicles of working Aurors. The active Auror offices had a certain kind of tense, wired energy of their own that Trystan was long familiar with, although nowadays he – now more used to the high-strung and slightly panicked ambience of the training rooms – could saunter through them with an easy, impervious grace.

Still, he missed being in the thick of it from time to time. (Although you’d never think some, like Walter Staghart for one, actually enjoyed the work: Staghart had such a dreary devotion to complete and utter seriousness that one wondered whether he enjoyed himself ever.) But Trystan wouldn’t hold it against him, not today. He’d read the memos, seen the notices, heard a little talk of the Black Lake expedition – and he hadn’t quite decided how invested he was, but he was intrigued enough to prod at the idea of it. Finding Staghart currently without company, Trystan kicked out a spare chair by Staghart’s desk and perched sideways on it. “How’re you getting on, then?” he asked, genially enough.

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Walter hadn't expected Trystan to show interest in the Black Lake Expedition, given he was the current Concealment and Disguise Instructor for Auror trainees. Then again, perhaps he was simply bored of teaching and eager to be out in the field for a change.

"Good day Mr. Selwyn," he greeted in return. Walter watched the casual easygoing manner Trystan seated himself and a part of him both envied and resented it. For all his life Walter always had to work hard, remember his place and achieve so much more in order to be recognized for his diligence while those of better means only needed to mention their surnames. He never knew Selwyn to be arrogant or pompous, at least not around the office. Despite their difference in class and blood Walter respected the man for his better qualities and hard work.

"Well enough," came his simple response to Trystan's question. "Are you interested in joining the expedition into the Black Lake? Mr. Greyback did tell me if I knew of any other Aurors who may be interested to send them his way."

  

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See, Staghart never was one for excess chitchat. Refreshing enough, even within the offices; he was the sort of fellow where you got what you saw, Trystan thought, plain and honest, no game-playing.

“I might be,” Trystan said, as yet non-committal, propping up one foot on his other where he sat. The working Aurors would get first pick, of course – but he didn’t like to be counted out just because he was retired. Besides, as far as assignments went, creature-finding didn’t seem like so great a trouble. “Just came to hear what you knew about it, really,” he added with a shrug, although a touch of honest curiosity was written in the slight lift of his brows. “It’s not often there’s a taskforce set to go out on Hogsmeade’s very doorstep, is it?”

Not that he lived in Hogsmeade – he was not particularly perturbed by the problem for his own sake – but it was mildly intriguing that whatever was lurking in there had concealed itself so well until now.

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"Precious little to be honest," Walter responded, leaning back in his own chair. "What eye-witness accounts we have compiled so far is mostly nonsence and a tooth is all the real evidence we have. My own efforts to learn more so far have proven fruitless. At best I've managed to eliminate pretty much every non-magical creature a Muggle could get their hands on and release into the lake."

As far as he was aware there hadn't been such a taskforce assembled for quite some time and certainly not in Hogsmeade. It wasn't unusual for Aurors to work with other departments, especially when investigations involved magical creatures, experiments or a high likelihood of magical combat. He was far more familiar with cases intercepting with other areas of law enforcement however, than with any others.

"It's not that often at all, but I can't help wondering if various incidents occurring over the last few years aren't connected in some way. This monster being the latest such event. We may have a dark wizard working behind the scenes, or at the very least a nasty mischief maker." He was of course referring to the accidental contamination of Amortentia into Hogsmeade's tea, the Laughing Plague, the magic affecting fog and other similar incidents.

  

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Trystan hummed thoughtfully, nodding along at intervals as Staghart explained what little they had, what had already been ruled out. He had to wonder where this so-called monster would fall: for a dark wizard, the Black Lake was an odd choice of base – and although it was a deep lake, surely not large enough to sustainably hide a creature in forever – and for a mischief maker, the dead or missing fishermen were perhaps a mishap too far.

It was very Beowulf, this – heading off to defeat Grendel. “So we’re counting on there being some evidence beneath the surface,” Trystan questioned mildly, for it sounded as though there was little else to be found above it. The lake was called black for a reason, of course, murky and Scottish; but Trystan could only imagine that anything unusual in there would have some manner of disguise, else the merpeople would have had some information to add. (That was the DR&CMC’s purview, though.) So far, it sounded as though the Aurors aboard would be primarily required for backup, and the magizoologists would be taking the lead. “What’ll you be going down in?”

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"It is the hope the mission will reveal the monster itself and perhaps the bodies of the missing fishermen." Walter doubted they would find the bodies, he expected they would have been eaten by the monster or by something else. He expected the merfolk would have been asked by now to search for the bodies and would have found them by now otherwise. Then again the Black Lake was rather large and deep and it's waters murky so possible even the merfolk couldn't find the bodies.

Walter picked up a random object from his desk and fiddled with it, more to keep his hands busy as he was still very much focused on the conversation. It also gave him a moment to think about how much about the case he should reveal then decided the means to go down into the Black Lake wasn't classified information nor the excursion itself.

"I believe the plan is to enchant a boat of some kind to travel underwater and allow us to see around as we go." A part of him wondered just how they will defend themselves while inside a boat. They may have to resort to using bubblehead charms and exiting the boat should they need to defend it from the monster or otherwise eliminate the threat it represented.

  

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“Interesting,” Trystan commented, of the underwater boat. He was intrigued to see it – and if he couldn’t get time off the trainees’ schedule, he might still have to take a tour around the vessel to check it out. “Still, if worst comes to worst, I hope you and everyone going can swim?”

He laughed, although it was only half a joke. If something went wrong, who knew what they’d have to do. (Aurors were better prepared than most for facing the worst, of course... but he was having a hard time picturing Staghart spending his summers on the beaches of the Sanditon Resort.)

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Walter snorted. He knew how to swim but wouldn't consider himself a strong swimmer. He certainly was level-headed and least likely to panic should he end up in the water than others likely to be part of the expedition. He was also skilled enough in non-verbal magic to cast a bubblehead charm to avoid drowning if they happened to be pretty deep.

"I believe knowing how to swim is a requirement to be part of this expedition," Walter stated. "I've done my fair share of swimming in the Black Lake during my years at Hogwarts. A few times I had to do it in order to investigate or apprehend a dark wizard during my career. Hopefully the committee assigned to build and enchant the vessel don't make any mistakes."

  

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Trystan smirked, pleased to have made Staghart laugh. (More than anything, he pitied his colleagues who hadn’t even a hint of a sense of humour.)

“Hm,” Trystan mused, at the thought of swimming and vessels and this whole setup, “you’re giving me all sorts of ideas for a new training exercise or two.” His smirk turned thoughtful, mind sparking with half-formed schemes – but brainstorming training exercises was not why Staghart was sitting here.

“I don’t know that I’ll be able to get away for the field duty,” he admitted (and no doubt, he was not the first choice when there were younger, active Aurors on the force, but that reason was rather less in his head); “but if you do find something hidden in the depths, you can be sure I’ll be reading your reports. With bated breath.” Indeed, it was practically a concealment and disguise expert’s dream, to unmask a mystery like that. He chuckled again, easily. “And I hope you don’t drown.”

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"It would be a good idea for future Aurors to know how to swim and combat in water," Walter agreed. "Though rare, it's possible to use water as a weapon in a duel, either just dumping it on somebody's head or animating it to strike and envelope them."

"I'm sure if we do find something it'll be interesting to say the least," Walter responded. If he hadn't been selected to be part of this expedition he would be eager to read the mission report once it was all over. "Unfortunately my report will likely be rather dull reading, I only state facts in reports. The Prophet will likely have a much more colourful and exaggerated version to entertain the masses."

"I will definitely do my best to avoid drowning, it's certainly not the way I wish to go." Walter had no idea what sort of death he would prefer, besides avoiding it as long as possible."

"Was there anything else you wish to talk about Mr. Selwyn?" Walter inquired. "If not I should get back to work, still plenty to do before we leave for the expedition."

Trystan Selwyn

  

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He snorted good-naturedly at Staghart’s protests about his reports. A by-the-book man if ever he’d met one; Trystan probably would enjoy the extra dash of drama sprinkled in by the Prophet.

“No, no, I’ll not keep you,” he added with a grin, taking the hint and standing up, ready to leave Staghart be. “But best of luck, eh?”

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