Hunter's Snare

[Alexander Piper]

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Alexander Piper carefully placed the silencing, and anti-apperation charms around the perimeter of their camp while Nora was in a near by town buying supplies for the next couple of days. They were in New Zealand after hearing a tip about a gathering of werewolves in the area. The country seemed to be a hot bed for the creatures. It was disappointing that Merrill hadn't mentioned anything to them in the last 5 years. Schools were always filled with rumors buzzing around, but she had failed to report anything to them. Alexander had tried to get her to visit with them while she was able to go to Brightstone, but his daughter had said she was too busy with homework, and quidditch to go out. He supposed he could understand the homework part. OWLs were a hard year. Of course she wouldn't need them if she would just settle into their career like he wanted her to. Rhys was already excelling, and Alex was looking forward to taking his boy on his very first hunt after graduation. It would be a true father son bonding moment for the pair.

Once his charms were done Alex set to work setting up the tent, and getting the campfire ready. The tent was as easy as one spell, as was the fire. It was almost summer in New Zealand so they didn't need a big fire, and since they didn't want the smoke to draw attention Alex just cast a bluebell flames spell. Of course they had other ways of casting light, but Alex felt the look of a campfire brought a homey look to everything, and when you spend all your time on the road you take small comforts where you can. It always brought back memories of Rhys, and Merrill when they were young. On rare occasions they would all make smores, and tell stories around the fire like they were just any other family on vacation. While he waited for his wife to return Alex poured himself a drink, and reminisced on those precious years.​

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[Nora Piper]

While her husband prepared their campsite in the forest, Nora busied herself with gathering the necessary supplies from a nearby town for the night ahead. The woman carried an armful of eco-friendly paper bags, filled with an assortment of food and other essentials, and departed from the grocery store, listening idly to the sound of the automatic doors open and close behind her. It was a quiet town - but they always were. In her experience, werewolves didn't frequent busy cities. It was too easy for them to be spotted and killed, with so many people about. The smaller areas were far less prepared for the evils that lurked in the night, while its people wandered around, blissfully unaware of the potential dangers they faced. She and her husband were doing so much good for these innocent people, and most of them would never even know.

Nora's eyes turned skyward as she made her way back into the forest treeline, frowning slightly at the thick grey clouds rolling in from the distance. The weatherman had reported a small chance of rain in the area, and she hoped it would hold off for the majority of the night. There was nothing worse than hunting a werewolf in the slippery mud. turning her gaze back down, the woman trudged on, eventually entering the clearing Alex had set up for them. She smiled warmly, and tossed him a cold sandwich in a plastic container from the store. That's all they had left. Is everything set up here?" She asked, setting down the other bags outside the tent entrance.
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[Alexander Piper]

Alex was still enjoying the fire when he heard footsteps headed towards his position. After listening for a few seconds he recognized them as his wife returning from town. His shoulders relaxed, and a smile grew on his face as she got closer. Even after 20 years, and two children he still couldn't believe his luck in landing a woman like her. Beautiful, talented, and terrifying in all equal parts. "I'd happily eat roadkill if you gave it to me." He told her as he unwrapped, and took a bite out of his sandwich. It was a bit soggy, but still food. They would need the fuel for the fast approaching night.

"Everything is set up as usual. Want to go over the notes we've gathered one more time?" He asked reaching into his sweater pocket, and pulling out an old worn leather bound notebook. It was one of his more ingenious ideas. A set of notebooks that let them speak even if they were separated. Anything you wrote in one would magically appear in the other. It had taken a long time to get the spells right, but was their most important tool.​

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[Jesiah Howell]

The Ministry had been trying to keep an eye of the Pipers for some time now, a task made more difficult by how often they seemed to travel between countries, ever since their daughter had disclosed what they did for a living. Hunting werewolves was of course illegal, and nothing short of blatant murder, but as it was, it was the word of a fifteen year old girl against theirs. Sometimes, children who were unhappy with their parents made up stories out of spite, in an effort to get them into trouble, and they had to keep an open mind about the fact. It had taken some time to investigate the claims, and compare missing persons reports to the details Merrill had given them about her parents, but now they had enough concrete information to arrest the Pipers and bring them in for questioning, assuming they could be found.

Thankfully the Pipers had been tracked to a small town in the country, on a night all too close to a full moon, and incidentally where a small group of registered werewolves had been known to meet in its out-skirting forests. Howell and one of the younger aurors, donning muggle attire to blend in, apparated nearby the location and made their way into the town. It hadn't taken long for them to spot one of the suspects, Nora, coming out from one of the small town's stores. Not wanting to risk tipping off her husband by apprehending her then and there, the pair followed the witch at a distance, entering the forests treeline as she disappeared into it.

Once they were out of sight of the townspeople, Howell unsheathed his wand from his wrist-strap and continued on, slowly approaching what looked to be a small camp. A fire crackled, and the pair inside appeared to be talking, but no sound carried through the forest. A silencing charm, it seemed. The fact became more obvious as the auror slowly trudged on, entering the sound barrier and suddenly hearing the Pipers voices, crystal clear. Howell cleared his throat and raised his wand to get their attention. "Alexander and Nora Piper." It sounded like a question, but was more of a statement. They had pictures, he knew who they were, it was all merely down to formalities. The man raised a metallic insignia to specify their position as aurors. "My name is Jesiah Howell, this is Allison Shaw. We're from the Auror Department. We have a few questions, if you wouldn't mind accompanying us back to the Ministry." There was no telling if they were to expect a fight, or the two to come quietly, but giving them a non-violent opportunity was worthwhile in most cases, and not always something they could offer. It may have been two against two, but they were trained aurors against alleged werewolf hunters. Hunting wolves wasn't the same as dueling highly trained law enforcement officers.
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[Allison Shaw]

Allison followed Jesiah's leader as they trudged through the forest, tailing their suspect. Tracking wasn't the exciting field work she looked forward to on a regular basis, only ever hearing about the more interesting arrests and duels with dark wizards and scitorari in the past, but it seemed like rarely did she get an opportunity to actually participate herself. This werewolf hunter case was the most interesting thing to cross her desk in months, and part of her hoped they'd put up at least a little bit of a fight. There was no telling what kind of people hunters were, and how far they were willing to go for what they believed in. She could understand the fear, and the pain that some people experienced at the hands of werewolves, but it didn't excuse their actions against them. Whether it was vigilantism or just a sick sport, murder was murder.

Entering the suspects cute little camping setup, Allison stood with a hand on her hip, and the other holding her wand at her side, while Howell did all of the talking. There wasn't exactly any input needed from her, and she was much happier to just hang out on the sidelines until poop started going down.

 

[Alexander Piper]

Alex was finishing up his sandwich as he opened up his book, and began to look through the notes that they had carefully gathered over the last few weeks. Muggle townsfolk had reported howling in the forest during the full moon. Of course most people dismissed it as a couple dogs getting loose for the night, but it had been enough for them to start investigating. There were large claw marks left in trees, and an elk carcass left near by. Seeing as there had been no attacks in the town they could at least be sure that the beasts were taking their wolfsbane potions.

As he was going over his notes Alex began to hear the sound of someone walking around their camp. He didn't think too much of it. There was a high school in the town, and children loved to hide away from the adults in the brush. Besides even if someone came up on them they just looked like a couple of campers enjoying a trip. He quickly stowed his book back into his pocket as the pair approached. It was two adults, and he didn't like the look of them. Too official, and definitely not muggles. Alex stood up as they entered the perimeter of their charms, but didn't get a chance to any anything before the auror was arresting them. "What could the ministry possibly want with us?" he asked trying his best to sound like a harmless middle aged man. He glanced over at his wife for a brief second. If they searched the camp they would find some very incriminating things. They had talked about this moment. He knew what to do. In a swift motion Alex had his wand drawn, and pointing at the wizard. "Stupefy!" he cast hoping he would hit his mark as he turned to run into the forest.​

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[Nora Piper]

Nora seated herself by the fire to eat, but hardly had a chance to enjoy the food before the sound of footsteps approaching broached their charmed field, accompanied by two people. It wasn't exactly uncommon to see others in the forests they hunted in, from campers and hikers, to teenagers doing whatever it was teenagers did for fun these days, but rarely were they ever actually approached by these other groups of people. The woman tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ears and rose to address the newcomers, but froze as one of them spoke. They weren't simply the usual muggles they were used to seeing. These were aurors. But how had they found them? Had she been followed? But why? Surely they couldn't know what they'd been doing. They were careful to cover their tracks. She tried to reassure herself that it was nothing, it could have been completely unrelated to the werewolves they were removing from the community, but with a brief exchange of glances with her husband, she knew they couldn't risk it being anything but. They were ready for this situation, she had just hoped it would never come to this. She didn't want to have to hurt innocent people, just trying to do their job, but they had their own job to do. Like the Aurors, she believed they were doing the right thing and protecting the people. "Stupefy." Nora incanted firmly, wand aimed toward the witch as her husband took care of the wizard.​

 

[Jesiah Howell]

Howell barely had a chance to open his mouth and respond before the male attacked first, sending a stunning spell his way. Jesiah was used to this, and as much as he would have preferred the two to simply give up and come along quietly, it was too much to ask for. The auror side-stepped the jet of crimson energy, hearing it spark and fizzle out against a tree behind him as he followed the man's retreat with his own wand, judging approximately where he'd be in the next moment. "Incarcerous." He chanted, conjuring thick coils of rope to ensnare Alexander. To his left, he could see Allison deflect the stunning spell Nora had sent her way with a rudimentary wandless shielding charm, and fire a stun of her own back on the older woman.
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[Alexander Piper]

Alex was almost out of the barrier of their camp where he could apperate away when he was suddenly slapped, and wrapped up with thick rope. The speed of it stung, and burned as it wrapped him tighter. Alex cursed up a storm as he rolled himself on to his back so that his face wasn't in the dirt. How could this happen? How did they find them? The family had always been so careful, and plotted so carefully. Now after ten years they finally caught up? He looked over to see if Nora had gotten away, and to his horror she was lying stunned on the ground. Now on top of questioning them they would also be booked for resisting arrest.
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[Jesiah Howell]

Only once both Alexander and Nora were no longer posing a threat did Howell take a step forward, his wand held semi-loosely at his side as he inspected first the bound man, kicking his wand out of reach with the toe of his boot, where Allison retrieved it and pocketed it away. Noting the binding spell had done its job well enough, the auror turned his attention to the woman, who had taken a direct hit with his colleagues stunning spell, and ensured she too was out of the fight. It had been simple enough, while allegedly they may have been experienced Werewolf hunters, it didn't stand against an aurors training, and Howell was grateful the brief conflict had ended sooner rather than later, without any real injury. Though, if they'd been able to track the two down sooner, perhaps a few innocent lives would have been saved. "We'd appreciate your complete co-operation from this point on. Further resistance is a waste of both of our times, Mr Piper." Neither of them were really in any position to resist, at least not for the time being, but that didn't mean they wouldn't prove to be difficult later. Nor did it mean Alexander was in any way incapable of making their transportation any more difficult. He may have been tied up, but he could still squirm. The auror kept himself brief and polite, erring on neutral. While they were accused of being killers, that was still to be proven in the Wiizengamot chambers, and he wasn't going to start treating them as less than human on the off chance it really was nothing more than a false allegation and unfortunate coincidences. Resisting arrest hadn't exactly helped their case, but he'd been doing his job long enough to know not everything was necessarily straightforward. Taking hold of the ropes and hoisting the man to his feet, Jesiah disapparated to the Ministry, returning soon after for Nora, whilst Allison scoured the couples camp for any evidence of their crimes.
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