After chatting with the visiting neighbors and friends, Alan formed a clearer picture of this circle of wizards. Mr. Lovegood had peculiar ideas but was remarkably naive and unbelievably straightforward. Mrs. Lovegood was a Charms scholar who spent her time researching and developing new spells.
The Diggorys were a very proper family, behaving like a kind, stable couple you'd find in any quiet neighborhood.
The Weasleys, meanwhile, gave Alan a standing invitation to visit them before the new school term started. This was partly because Molly felt a strong connection with him, and partly because of the high regard the Prewett brothers held for him. Of course, Alan suspected the main reason was simply that the entire family loved to eat.
Mr. Weasley was particularly fascinated by him after learning he was Muggle-born. He possessed an extraordinary curiosity about the Muggle world, likely linked to his work in the Office for the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts. His department was responsible for dealing with wizards who cast spells on Muggle items, but Alan suspected Mr. Weasley was the type to abuse his position just to experiment with those very items himself.
The gathering passed quickly, and the guests bid farewell to the Longbottoms and Alan with sincere satisfaction. The Longbottoms were delighted with the holiday, and Augusta was beaming with pride. The food Alan had prepared was almost entirely gone, and the old matriarch couldn't stop praising his culinary skills to anyone who would listen.
Once the vacation ended, Frank and Alice resumed their grueling schedules. Death Eaters had recently stepped up their activity. Reports of the torture and killing of Muggles, as well as ambushes on wizards and Aurors, were flooding in. The Auror Headquarters was in a state of constant, desperate crisis.
Alan found the situation difficult to understand. The primary job of an Auror involved patrolling wizarding enclaves like Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, and areas like Ottery St. Catchpole. However, there was no effective alarm system. If an attack occurred, they were forced to passively wait for a rescue call, assuming the victim could resist long enough to send one. Most of the time, the Aurors arrived far too late. Their tracking methods were equally archaic, relying mostly on eyewitness reports and slow intelligence gathering.
Alan discussed these operational issues with the Longbottoms during a quiet evening. They explained that the Ministry of Magic possessed a powerful detection array covering all of Britain, housed within the Improper Use of Magic Office. Aurors were typically split into two units: one on patrol and one on standby at headquarters to maintain mobility. However, the detection system had a significant delay and struggled to pinpoint individuals in areas where magic was common.
In a house like the Longbottoms', the Ministry could detect a spell being cast but couldn't identify the caster. With thousands of people using magic daily, and the added burden of monitoring the Trace on underage wizards, the system was overwhelmed. Only high-energy magical reactions or the specific fluctuations of Unforgivable Curses triggered an immediate response from the mobile units. If a Death Eater used lower-intensity spells to subdue a victim, the Ministry often missed it entirely, only learning of the conflict if an injured survivor reported it.
Communication was another bottleneck. They relied on an advanced application of the Patronus Charm to transmit intelligence, but many Aurors hadn't mastered the technique. The most common method remained Apparating to deliver messages in person, making intelligence the most fragile factor in the war. To make matters worse, the Ministry was riddled with sympathizers who leaked Auror movements to the Death Eaters. The Ministry was effectively operating in the light while the enemy stayed in the shadows.
*So that's why the Order of the Phoenix exists,* Alan thought. It made sense that a clandestine organization, free from Ministry oversight and leaks, was necessary to mount a real resistance.
Still, it didn't solve the problem of inefficiency. It felt like a feudal society where crimes were only dealt with after the fact, despite having so many efficient supernatural tools available. While Death Eaters could communicate via the Dark Mark—a direct line for Voldemort to summon or command his followers—the Aurors lacked any comparable warning system. If every wizard had a personal alarm device or an emergency spell to alert the Auror Office instantly, the number of successful attacks would plummet.
Alan also learned about the Hit Wizards within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. They held higher authority than standard Aurors and handled the most dangerous front-line combat duties. While some Hit Wizards were also Aurors, the roles were distinct; Mad-Eye Moody, for instance, was a captain of a Hit Wizard squad while also overseeing Auror operations. In Alan's view, Aurors were the regular police, while Hit Wizards were the specialized tactical forces.
However, given that these wizards rarely experienced organized warfare, their combat quality left much to be desired in Alan's eyes. When a fight broke out, they generally rushed in without coordination, flinging spells as individuals rather than a unit.
Finally, Alan learned about a role called the "Patrolling Hit Wizard." It wasn't an official Ministry position so much as a title for bounty hunters. They received no salary but could earn significant gold by capturing Dark wizards or high-value criminals. The Ministry issued a certificate for such individuals, which carried some weight internationally.
These roving hitters had no domestic legal authority, but the certificate allowed them to pursue bounties across borders with the recognition of foreign Ministries. If they violated local laws abroad, however, they were on their own. The profession was nearly extinct, though the application process remained open even for part-time work.
According to Frank, Sirius had once applied for a certificate because he thought the title sounded cool. He'd thrown it away shortly after, calling it a waste of paper. He argued that since the Ministry paid bounties to anyone who captured a criminal regardless of their status, the certificate was a pointless extra step—unless, of course, one planned to hunt beyond the shores of Britain.