May 15th, 1888 - Ministry of Magic Offices

Usually if he was going to get hired, it happened before the client's face was plastered onto the Daily Prophet. Similarly, usually August was significantly more willing to take on a client who was going to pay him this much, but he just wasn't sure. The headlines reminded him of his older brother, Sebastian. So this meeting was, technically, a paid consultation.

There were several rounds of Ministry security clearance - he even had to turn over his wand which convinced August that, if nothing else, Scrimgeour was dangerous - and then, finally, the door to Mr. Scrimgeour's interrogation room was opened by one of the Ministry security guards. August stepped inside and held up his 'LEGAL COUNSEL' badge.

"Mr. Scrimgeour," August said. "Before we start, I have some policies for you to be aware of: don't lie to me, don't lie to the Wizengamot, and if there are any other illegalities I should be aware of, tell me now."

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set by Bree

The last few weeks has been nothing short of detrimental to everything Argus held dear. Ever since his daughter had decided to vanish, the former auror had found himself at the end of the very thing he had to punish her for; rumours and gossip. And it had only escalated when she decided to show herself once again.

Aurors - old colleagues - had entered his house and arrested him pending investigation about what had happened the day he visited his daughter. Law enforcement seemed to be under the impression that he had done more than just discipline his child and some seemed loathe to arrest the person they used to work with. Others, however, seemed more than happy to take him into custody.

 Once he was taken to the Ministry of Magic, Argus had his wand confiscated and was assigned what appeared to be a full-time security detail. Did they think him a dangerous dark wizard now? What had Annabelle told them? That he tortured her and attacked her viciously with malice in his eyes? How many lies had she told?

Despite his thoughts on these proceedings, Argus was certain of one thing: his family was now suffering because of his daughters actions and he was angry though in spite of his anger, he found himself calmly sitting in an interrogation room awaiting one August Echelon-Arnost. He had been told some good things about the defense lawyer though Argus had some very different thoughts on how liberal the lawyer seemed to be.

He didn't care much for the lawyers views on society at the moment, however; he was more interested in whether the lawyer could help so he offered August a very nice sum to be his defense lawyer.

Argus nodded as the lawyer entered the room and returned the greeting, "Mr Echelon-Arnost," Argus shuffled in his seat, "I have no intention of lying to anyone. This situation has escalated more than it ought to have."

Argus wasn't aware of having done anything illegal to begin with so the question of more illegalities frustrated him slightly. He thought it best to not say much more than the lawyer asked, however.

Instead, Argus peered over to the guard standing just outside the room - visible through a slit in the door - before turning his gaze back to the lawyer, "What is it you wish to know, Mr Echelon-Arnost?" Argus looked firmly forward, his fingers locked together.

  

August sat down across from Mr. Scrimgeour. He set his cane against the table and eyed the man across from him. Scrimgeour was tall, but not as tall as August - but there was a certain physicality to him. This was a man who had been an auror once. It was a man who had the potential -- the potential - to have tortured one of his daughters. What August needed to know, now, was the truth - as his potential client saw it.

"When the prosecutor has you on the stand, he's going to ask you many detailed questions about your daughter, and what happened between the two of you on April 23rd," August explained, "So we're going to start at the beginning, today."

There were a few ways that he could go about this. August pulled out his notebook and marked the date at the top of the paper.

"Your daughters, Miss Annabelle and Miss Araminta Scrimgeour. What are they like?"

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set by Bree

Argus let his eyes wander to the cane as August placed it carefully on the table, noting the small knots in the varnished cherry. The former auror's thoughts drifted momentarily to why August had a cane. He had seen August's limp when he had come in but Argus hadn't much thought on it.

Now however, as the lawyer spoke, Argus wanted very much to talk about the cane and what happened to August. He didn't want to talk about Annabelle. He was fine talking about Araminta; she was everything he'd wanted in a daughter though the very thought of having to talk about his other daughter did nothing short of make his blood boil.

Argus cleared his throat, moving back in his seat, and nodded at August's words.

"Araminta is a perfect example of how a young lady ought to be," Argus began succinctly, "She's respectful and knows what her status in life is. She is a good child."

Argus paused, perhaps longer than he ought to have, as he pondered how to talk about his other daughter. The one people are claiming he assaulted, the one he allegedly tortured.

"My other daughter is...-" Argus swallowed, "She's misguided."

What else could he say? That she was turning into nothing short of a common whore? That she would rather defy her family than accept responsibility for her actions and apologise?

"She was raised - before coming back home - by people who don't understand the importance of etiquette and social responsibility," the retiree continued, his tone shifting slightly, "forgive me, Mr Echelon-Arnost, I'm not entirely sure what else to say. Annabelle is not a child I can say I am proud of and I shan't lie about my disappointment in her."

  

Yeah, that was not going to play out well on the stand.

August didn't bother writing it down, because it did not tell him anything he didn't already know. "I understand, Mr. Scrimgeour," he said, "My family tree has its share of lackluster branches." No one had ever been arrested for assaulting one of those branches, but he could ignore that for the sake of this exercise.

"Did you feel this way before the rumors about Miss Annabelle Scrimgeour? I refer, mostly, to the debacle with Mr. Reuben Crouch."

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set by Bree

Argus couldn't help but think this lawyer was trying to get into his head. He didn't like it one bit. His head was the one place even Argus dared not venture into though he supposed that if he was going to try and avoid a fate within the walls of Azkaban, he should probably give August the thoughts dwelling in his head - at least the parts August asked for.

Argus nodded, "I've always been disappointed in how she is. When she was returned to to my family, she was not the type of lady a Scrimgeour should be and the way she spoke... It was worse than some common slum-dweller." Argus could feel his blood pressure raising slightly so he took a moment to inhale before continuing, "She has never understood that she can't just walk around doing whatever she wanted without a care in the world," the former auror had never cared much for his daughter; ever since her return it was evident that she was too far gone to be a valuable member of society, but she was a Scrimgeour and that, to him, held value, "but we took action to help her grow, and have her live with a more positive - or we thought - influence."

Media's sister had done nothing to help Annabelle grow as a woman and from what Argus could see, she had only acted to perpetuate whatever bad set of behaviours Bella had.

"And what has transpired between her and Mr. Reuben Crouch only... made me aware that my kindness shown to her in order to help her develop as a lady has fallen on the blind and deaf," a pause, "it infuriated me. I had done everything to help her and stop her acting like this--" Pulled from his rant by the sudden realisation that he was just rambling at this point, Argus interrupted himself, "Excuse me, Mr. Echelon-Arnost, yes. I had felt that way about my daughter before she had gotten involved with the Crouch boy."

  

There was a level to which Mr. Scrimgeour's frustration was understandable. There was a difference in the way that those of the working class and those of the upper class were socialized. The Scrimgeours were notorious purists, as well. So there was that frustration, but then there were the assault charges that the department was leveling, and the sense that Argus Scrimgeour was still similar to Mr. Echelon. August paraphrased Mr. Scrimgeour's words onto his notebook.

"Why did you decide to visit your daughter on April 23rd?" he asked.

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set by Bree

The next question August asked had an easy and fairly honest answer. Argus knew why he visited her and it wasn't - contrary to what the public may have thought - to assault her.

Argus moved once again in his chair and spoke with a calm tone, "To speak with her about her prior actions and seemingly constant appearance in that tabloid."

The former auror wasn't the type to go into a situation with the mindset of allowing it to escalate; he had not thought that violence was going to be the outcome of his meeting with his daughter but, unfortunately, his daughter did need to be disciplined. His temper may have flared but in the eyes of the Scrimgeour patriarch, he had done no wrong.

"I needed her to understand that she cannot act how she had been acting. My intention was never for the situation to end up the way it did."

  

That was good for Mr. Scrimgeour - it meant that there wasn't predetermined intent. August's face did not betray this, but he wrote down what Mr. Scrimgeour said on the notepad.

"What did you say to your daughter when you first reached her? What did she say in turn?" August asked. He wanted to know exactly when things escalated - and what the Scrimgeour patriarch intended to do once the escalation started.

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set by Bree

"I asked her why I kept finding her to be at the end of all that gossip and," Argus paused for a moment. What were his exact words? He couldn't remember them exactly so he had to paraphrase, "and if she cared about how her actions affected her family."

Inhaling, Argus twisted his wrists and moved once again in his chair. He wasn't very comfortable though he suspected it wasn't high on the priority list to make alleged criminals very comfortable.

The former auror continued and answered the next question, though his tone was audibly less calm and more furious at this point, "And she kept defending her actions as if they were not her fault. Her actions. As if anybody else was in control of her behaviour. She wouldn't listen to me when I tried to explain once again that her behaviours were her own; her transgressions were hers. Nothing I said would get through to her. I believe at one point she blamed society for her getting intoxicated, unchaperoned, with Mr Crouch and such." Argus exhaled and calmed his tone once again, "Excuse me. This went back and forth for a short while. I wanted Annabelle to take responsibility for her actions and understand the impact it would have on her family and, as true to her nature as birds fly, she would not listen."

  

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August listened attentively. If this story didn't end in the photos he had seen, he would have thought that Annabelle Scrimgeour was a bit of a brat. As it was, that still may be possible - Merlin knew that this man was unlikely to raise anyone well-rounded - but paled in comparison to the actions that Mr. Scrimgeour had taken.

"...And what happened when she didn't see your reasoning?"

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set by Bree

Argus couldn't really remember what had transpired when he visited his daughter. He knew what had happened and how it happened but it was a blur. It was as if someone had taken over his body and were making him do things he would never do. It was as if he was outside the room watching through a frosted window; he could see the lights and the motions, but the details were muffled and muted.

Argus wouldn't - he thought he wouldn't - ever lay a finger on his family, however angry they made him. He prided himself on that fact. And now... now that was gone. He may have disagreed with Annabelle on a lot of things but he never thought he'd physically harm her. She was his blood, after all.

"I.." Argus began to speak, his eyes trailing off and tone going quiet. He paused before looking back at August.

He couldn't show weakness. He was Argus Scrimgeour; he used to be an auror. He couldn't admit that he lost control of his actions.

"I had to discipline her, as any father would. " Argus continued, his tone once again becoming stone-like, "Words would not get through to her so I had to show her that her behaviour was unacceptable. I had no intention of causing her any permanent or major harm, if that's what has happened. I haven't seen her since she... apparated away. It only escalated from there and..."

He couldn't say he was attacked by his daughter (even if she had failed at doing anything), that would be weakness again. But what else could he say? He was an an impasse.

"... It got out of control through no intent or fault of my own. As I say, Mr. Echelon-Arnost, I did not go with the intent on bringing her to harm."

  

This was what August had feared - an ultimate attempt for Mr. Scrimgeour to divorce himself from the consequences. Beyond being something that he could not personally abide, this was a bad sign as Mr. Scrimgeour's possible defense lawyer. The Wizengamot, composed as it was, was unlikely to put much stock in such a defense; and if Mr. Scrimgeour was so forgetful, this just increased the likelihood of his being placed in an asylum.

"Intent only goes so far with the law, I'm afraid," August said. He closed his notebook. "I cannot help you if you're unwilling to be honest with me as to what spells were used, Mr. Scrimgeour. Have the aurors shown you the photos of your daughter?"

August had one in the file folder, a copy he'd gotten from one of his department contacts.

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set by Bree

Argus shook his head. The Ministry, truth be told, hadn't been very forthcoming with their hospitality toward the former auror though it wasn't hard for Argus to guess why. It was all down to publicity. Whether they knew it or not, a former Auror-turned-Abuser certainly wasn't too good for the public image, at least not to Argus. To him, most things were about reputation and image and most everything was second to that.

"I haven't and I had used a knockback jinx and a few non-severe spells as disciplinary tools," the man started, his voice taking on a more monotonous tone than before. Argus had realised perhaps he ought to not try to sway the situation to his favour and perhaps just be truthful. His usual tactics wouldn't work on the lawyer, it seemed. "And a stunning spell once she-" Argus swallowed, "-once she opted to strike me. Nothing else beyond the shield charm after which."

Argus eyes then drifted to the small folder before returning to meet the gaze of the defense lawyer, "Have you a picture of her? Might I see?"

It felt strange, for a moment, to ask to see pictures of his daughter after he'd attacked her though his interest seemed more of an investigative nature than of a morbid curiosity. In part, he suspected, due to his history as an auror.

  

August, who had been prepared to stand and leave after just a moment, paused. There was the honesty he'd wanted all along - and at least if Mr. Scrimgeour was not telling him the depths of his misbehavior, he was admitting to some of it.

He opened the file folder and slid out the black-and-white photo of Miss Annabelle Scrimgeour, flipping it around so that his client could see the scarring on his daughter's jawline and neck. "There's others on her arms, according to the report," August said, "But I only have the one photo."

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set by Bree

Argus's jaw clenched at the sight of his injured daughter as a strange mix of emotion washed over him. He leaned it toward the picture and carefully traced his finger along the scarring as August spoke.

"That should not have happened," Argus spoke quietly, "I was to discipline her. I was not there to cause any harm that would result in injury like this. I did not even desire to have to discipline her in such a manner."

At this moment, Argus turned to look back at the lawyer, "Something else must have happened to cause that kind of scarring. You can test my wand. The spells I used should have all been non-severe. Do you know what happened after she had apparated from me?"

Perhaps Argus shouldn't have been the one to be asking the questions but right now, it seemed the auror within him was wanting to surface for a change.