A Mysterious Incident in the Not-So-Normal Life of Harry Potter

by BellaDeS

Harry Potter is now the Head of the Auror Office; he holds the Black, Potter, Peverell, and Head Auror seats in the Wizengamot; the war is long in the past. But something is stirring in the depths of the Department of Mysteries and Harry is pulled back down there after twenty years. Pairings not a main feature, but canon ones are mentioned (Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione etc.).

I'm back! Albeit with of completely different story, but I am nevertheless back! I'll try to update bothe of my other stories soon, but you know that pesky writer's block I mentioned before? It's still here with regards to those stories. This is just a plot bunny I had and wrote down, it won't be a long story if I choose to continue it beyond this one chapter (I feel that this comes to quite a nice close) but I may still do an epilogue if I opt against more chapters. - Bella :)

Harry Potter swept from Number Ten, Downing Street, ignoring the camera flashes of the press who were assembled outside, awaiting any movement either in or out of, the home of the British Prime Minister.

The were the normal cries relating to his work ('What can you tell about your meeting with the Prime Minister, Lord Potter?') and some stranger ones, which never failed to make him smile ('Lord Potter, is it true you have applied to send your eldest son to St Brutus' Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys?').

He swapped his black, leather briefcase from his right hand to his left and opened the back door to the dark grey, shiny car which was waiting to take him back to the Ministry of Magic.

Yes, the Ministry of Magic.

For Lord Harry Potter was a wizard, and quite a famous one at that. At only one year old he was able to banish the darkest wizard since Grindelwald for nearly fourteen years; at seventeen, he defeated him for good. After joining the Auror office as a field agent after the war, he became head of the department at twenty-seven. Not to mention the fact that he officially held four seats in the Wizengamot.

The Muggle Prime Minister always had some aurors in his security team. They had been advised to do so by the Minister of Magic ever since the Herbert Chorely incident of 1996, (unfortunately he was still in St Mungo's). That was why Harry Potter had visited Number Ten on that sunny Thursday morning; they had been discussing the rotation. It definitely wasn't because Harry had not agreed with a recent bill which was about to be passed in the House of Commons and as a Lord with supposed considerable influence he could change it with one complaint, which is what the muggles thought. Harry laughed at how little faith the British, non-magical population seemed to have in their government, and accepted the ready-made cover story.

Once inside the car and sat upon the smooth, leather seats, Harry undid the buttons on his jacket and flipped open his briefcase. Inside was a single sheet of parchment and a long stick of wood: his wand. He read through the list of names on the parchment once again, and when he was satisfied that all was in order, he duplicated it a few times with a simple spell. Then, he placed all the parchments and his wand back in the case and closed it.

Eventually the car stopped and the driver turned around and spoke with a provincial accent.

'We're in Whitehall, Lord Potter. Would you like me to drop you by the alley next to Scotland Yard to apparate, or can you go from the car?'

'I'll go from here, thank you Samuels.'

Then Harry disappeared with a crack.

He reappeared not even a second later in the middle of an almost empty hall. The Ministry Atrium was always quiet at this time. Only the security wizards and a few other workers or visitors were moving around. Harry strode through the room and towards the lifts. He took the first one that opened and pressed the button for Level Two and it began to move swiftly to his destination.

When he exited in the lift on the blue, carpeted landing, Harry strode up the corridor until he eventually reached the door labelled 'Auror Office'. He opened it and came into a long room with cubicles (there was one for each auror), and three doors at the end, labelled 'Deputy Head Auror,' 'Assistant to the Head Auror,' and 'Head Auror'. Another door off to the side led into the Trainee Office where all of the junior level aurors were based. In the main office, in which Harry stood, there was no one about. Today was one of the few days where all were out on assignments or helping the juniors train.

As he walked to his office, Harry took three of the parchment sheets out and placed them on the desks of three specific aurors: Elouise Smith, James White and Edward Vaughn. It would be a nice surprise for them: everyone wanted to be put on the Prime Minister's watch.

Harry then headed into his own office and shut the door.

The room felt cosy with its deep red carpets and mahogany furniture, despite the fact that there was a large window displaying a sunny view over Whitehall, courtesy of Magical Maintenance. There were photos of all of Harry's family on the mantelpiece over the fireplace: his wife and children, his nieces and nephews, his in-laws, and his own parents.

Having checked his desk for any memos (there were none), Harry sat down on the chair behind his desk and closed his eyes, enjoying the moment of tranquility which he knew wouldn't last very long.

He was shaken out of his daze when there was a knock at the door.

'Come in!' He called as he at up in his chair and pretended that he was reading over some files, which in truth, he had approved and sent copies off of days ago.

The door opened and his secretary entered. She was a petite woman with a no-nonsense face and blonde hair tied tightly in a bun at the nape of her neck. She was wearing robes of mouses grey with a dark brown trim, which showed her attachment to both the Auror Office and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

'Mister Potter,' While he rarely admitted it to people he did not know very well, Harry hated his title. When he had become Head Auror, he had insisted that all of the people in the office call him 'Mister', it had even caught on over the rest of the offices in the Department. However, once out of the safety of Level Two, all but his closest friends and family reverted back to calling him 'Lord Potter' for fear of reprimand. 'I have a notice from Mister Robertson in the head office: a matter has arisen and he requests your presence in Interrogation Room Four, immediately.'

'Really? Well I better get going then,' Harry stood up and removed his suit jacket and hung it on the hat stand in the corner by the fireplace. He swapped it for his robes of a very dark brown, darker than the robes of all of the others in his office, the colour signifying his position as the Head. 'He didn't say what it was for, Miss Winchester?'

'No, I'm afraid not, although he mentioned that it was a matter of the upmost security and urgency.'

'Right, thank you. Would it be possible for you to let my wife know that I shan't be coming home for lunch?' Harry enquired as he checked his watch which had once been Fabian Prewett's. For his wife had been expecting him home in half an hour, and something told Harry that he wouldn't be able to be there.

'Of course, Mister Potter,' the secretary said as he went from the room.

With his wand now safely stowed on his person, Harry jogged towards the lift. Just as he reached it, he saw his sister-in-law, Hermione, come out of a door, and rush over to get in as well.

'Has Mister Robinson called for you too?' Hermione Weasley was the wife of Ron Weasley, Harry's wife's brother. Harry, Hermione and Ron had always been inseparable at school but since they all got married, they had been truly family. Hermione was currently working as the Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Her robes were a dark grey.

'Yes, he did,' Harry replied as he pressed the button for Level Ten ('Interrogation Rooms, Holding Cells, and Wizengamot Court Rooms'), 'do you have any idea of what this is about?'

'No, I don't. Although when I got the memo, the handwriting was rather messy, it's unlike him as he usually writes extremely neatly. From that I could assume its something big. They also wanted a Veritaserum Warrant!'

Harry was shocked. They hadn't needed a Veritaserum Warrant for the best part of ten years; the last time it had been used was after the capture of Lucius Malfoy. While the man had been pardoned after the war, he had become involved in an assassination plot for the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt not four years after. Naturally he had been caught and pleaded the Imperious; Veritaserum told the authorities that he had been lying, and Malfoy was thrown in Azkaban.

'Who approved it?' Harry asked, referring to said warrant.

'Well, I did, since he is the one requesting it, Mister Robertson can't. But because we technically don't have the approval of out head of department, I need another head of office to sign. I was looking for you, actually, when I saw you by the lift. But I suppose you'll want to see what all the fuss is about before you commit to anything.'

'Right you are Madam Weasley,' Harry quirked a smile.

'So how was your meeting with the Prime Minister?' Hermione changed the subject just as the lift opened on Level Eight to admit a couple of unspeakables who were conversing in low tones.

'Yes, yes. It went well. We changed the rota quite considerably after Ron and Neville left last year, but I felt that it could do with another shake-up. We've got Smith, White, and Vaughn on permanent rotation, now,' Harry explained. Hermione nodded.

'Yes, they're good. Quite dependable from what I've heard.'

'Indeed.'

The doors then opened on Level Nine and the unspeakables got out. Once again the doors closed and they were moving.

Eventually they reached Level Ten and began the long walk towards the interrogation rooms through the black, tiled corridors in the bottom of the Ministry if Magic. There was no one around except for the odd Auror, but that was unsurprising unless there was a Wizengamot meeting.

Hermione reached the door first and listened. Harry caught up and did so too. He could recognise the voice of Mr Robertson, as well as those of Auror Edward Vaughn and another which he couldn't place. The latter seemed to be that of a woman and it sounded croaky, as if she had a sore throat or hadn't spoken for a while.

Harry then knocked at the door and heard a muffled 'come in' from Auror Vaughn. Harry and Hermione pushed opened the door and stepped over the threshold.

The walls of the small seven feet by seven feet room were a dull grey, as we're the floor tiles. In the middle was a wooden table and a chair. Behind one side of the table stood the two people whose voices he had identified previously, Mr Robertson and Edward Vaughn; on the other side, sat in the chair, was a woman wearing a confused expression, whose appearance caused Harry's jaw to drop; he had only met her once before, many years ago.

Why the surprise? Harry was one hundred percent sure that Amelia Bones was dead.

'Ah, Mister Potter, Madam Weasley. You got my message.' Mr Roberson said gravely. Harry slowly nodded while looking cautiously at the woman.

'What is going on, Sir?' Asked Hermione. She looked as though she vaguely recognised the woman, but had no idea who she was.

Mr Roberson sighed.

'This woman was found wandering the Department of Mysteries three hours ago by the Unspeakables. She claims to be Madam Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement from nineteen-eighty-nine to nineteen-ninety-six.'

An expression of realisation crossed Hermione's face.

'But she's dead. Madam Bones is Dead! I remember reading about it just before... Sixth year, wasn't it Harry? Twenty years ago, that was,' exclaimed Hermione.

'We have questioned the woman and she had answered everything correctly. You understand the reason now for a Veritaserum Warrant?'

Both Harry and Hermione answered the affirmative and the former signed the warrant with a quill which he produced from inside his robes. Vaughn then left the room to get the potion while the other three remained behind, observing the so-called Madam Bones.

The woman hadn't spoken for the whole time that Harry and Hermione had been in Interrogation Room Four. She didn't look upset or annoyed, but to the same extent, she didn't look smug either. If anyone who hadn't known Amelia Bones walked in at that very moment, they would have thought that she was merely someone assisting the Aurors in a minor investigation.

When Vaughn returned with the small vial of clear liquid and a glass, the woman didn't look worried. Vaughn handed the vial to Harry while while he filled the cup, then Harry put three drops of the liquid in. The contents on the glass was then poured into the woman's mouth, causing her eyes to slip out of focus; a side effect of the potion. Once Hermione was ready with her dicta-quill Mr Robertson began the Veritaserum-induced questioning.

'Twelve oh four on the twenty-seventh of May, two-thousand-and-fifteen. Interrogation of unknown subject under the influence of Veritaserum, claiming to be Madam Amelia Susan Bones, who died on the day of the fifth of August, nineteen-ninety-six. Interrogator Mister William Andrew Roberts, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; witnesses Lord Harry James Potter, Head Auror; Mister Edward Howard Vaughn, Auror; Madam Hermione Jean Weasley Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.' Mr Robertson briefly looked at Hermione to confirm that the quill was working. Hermione read the writing through, then nodded.

'Questioning to commence at twelve oh five.' He then turned to look at the woman. 'What is your full name?'

The woman spoke with a low, monotonous voice.

'Amelia Susan Bones.'

Everyone's eyebrows shot up. One could not lie under the truth potion. While it would have been possible thirty years ago and what would have been said after taking it would not have been viable evidence, potions experts at the ministry had altered the recipe somewhat, causing even the most skilled occlumens to have an incapability to lie.

Mr Robertson shook his head then continued.

'What is you occupation?'

'I used to be the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.'

Silence.

'Can you tell us the events of this morning, Madam Bones?'

'I don't know how or why, because I clearly remember dying, but I fell out of a veil in a circular room. It looked like one of the court rooms but there was a large dais in the middle. I guessed that I was in the Death Chamber in the Department of Mysteries, while it was just a rumour for most, as the head of my department I had been informed of its existence. I then began looking for a way out. The two unspeakables found me when I was trapped inside a circular room with a number of doors. Then I was brought here.'

The people in the room were stunned to silence. This was really Amelia Bones. She had come back to life. Mr Robertson was the first to speak, in order to end the official questioning.

'The interrogation finds the subject to be Madam Amelia Susan Bones. Questioning ends here at twelve oh eight.'

Hermione tapped the quill with her wand and it fell down against the paper.

'Vaughn, contact Madam Bones' family and have them come here.' Vaughn nodded and made to leave the room, 'and would you mind filing this while your at it?' He handed a stack of parchment to the young Auror, including the sheet with the recent revelation written upon it in purple ink. Vaughn nodded again and went out.

'I do apologise Madam Bones,' Mr Roberson began, but he was interrupted by Madam Bones.

'Don't worry. I had guessed myself that this was an impossible feat and understood the need for questioning.' She smiled then turned to Harry.

'My you've grown, Mister- or should I say Lord- Potter. It doesn't surprise me in the slightest that you've become Head Auror.'

'Thank-you.' Harry answered, somewhat awkwardly. His mind spinning as he spoke to a woman once dead.

'Did you say the year was two-thousand-and-fifteen?' She enquired.

'Yes, I'm afraid it's been quite a while,' said Mr Robertson.

There was another knock on the door and a panicked looking Edward Vaughn looked around.

'I'm sorry, I haven't been upstairs yet, but there is another. A man claiming to be Caradoc Dearborn, died in nineteen-seventy-four. The unspeakables just brought him up.' A voice called from the hallway and Vaughn turned back, 'and another woman claiming to be Sophia Abbot, died nineteen-ninety-eight.'

The head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement rubbed his temples.

'Right, Vaughn, after you have completed the jobs I have given you already, would you return here to bring Madam Bones up to speed of the important events since she died, my that sounds odd, it is on my authority that you are exempt from any other orders from your superiors. Is there anything else, Vaughn?'

'The unspeakables are also requesting Mister Potter and Madam Weasley in the Department of Mysteries. They say they are the only ones, besides the Minister and Arthur Weasley, with sufficient security clearance. They need more manpower.'

Vaughn the disappeared and Harry and Hermione began to head out.

'Mister Potter, would you mind sealing this floor off to all those with clearance lower than level five, so only senior aurors, unspeakables and the like can get in without being accompanied. The last this we need is this leaking to the press now.'

'Yes Sir,' Harry nodded and followed Hermione out.

Once in the corridor, Harry and Hermione had to push past a large number of people, there were lots of unspeakables and aurors and other people high up in the ministry heirarchy. Word had traveled extremely fast. Nodding at the two Hit Wizards who passed them to get into department from the single lift, Harry then began to wave his wand in a complicated flourish. A few moments after he was finished, the same voice which spoke in the lifts echoed around the whole of the Ministry.

'Level ten is accessible to those only holding security clearance higher than level five until further notice. We ask for your cooperation in this matter.'

Harry and Hermione then got into the lift and pressed the button for Level Nine.

'Are you alright?' Asked Hermione, concerned, as Harry had a brooding expression on his face. He remained silent. 'I know what your thinking, Harry. And I think it's perfectly possible if the other two people who arrived are telling the truth, but I don't want you to get your hopes up only to have them crushed if they don't come back.'

While Harry's temper had gotten better since his school days, there were still a few times when he couldn't stop it.

'I know, Hermione!' Harry snapped.

'I'm only trying to help. Just remember you have your own family now and you can't spend the whole time pining for people who have died, it's not fair on Ginny, or James, or Albus, or Lily.'

The lift dinged and announced their arrival in the Department of Mysteries, Harry and Hermione got out.

'You know I'm right,' she added, quietly. Harry's face softened at the mention of his three children.

An unspeakable accosted them as soon as they got out of the lift and told them to wait where they were as they were expecting a few more people.

The unspeakables, while officially a under the jurisdiction of the Ministry, actually answered to the larger International Association of Mysterious Departments, therefore very few people outside of their elite group were allowed any further than the lift on Level Nine. As soon Harry, Ron and their other friend Neville had completed their auror training many years before, they had been given level seven security clearance by the Department of Mysteries. When they had enquired as to why, as this was unheard of for most ministry workers, let alone newly qualified aurors, the head of the department turned to them and said with a smirk:

'Well you've already broken in once, and who knows when we'll need some of your lot down here.'

When Hermione was promoted to her current position, she was also granted the same clearance; as were Arthur Weasley and Kingsley Shacklebolt after the war.

Once again the lift opened and two men stepped out. Both were tall, one had bright red hair, a long nose and blue eyes; he was wearing purple robes which clashed with his hair, while the other had blonde hair and a round-ish face; he was wearing dark green robes which were slightly speckled with dirt.

'Hello, I was told you'd be here,' said Ron smiling at his wife and best friend. Just as Hermione opened her mouth to ask about their two children, he interrupted, 'don't worry, Angelina's at the shop today and said she'd keep an eye.' Hermione relaxed. Ron worked at his brother's joke shop: Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and had done ever since he resigned from the Auror Office. Neville was the new Herbology Professor at Hogwarts, after Professor Sprout became Headmistress.

'What brings you two down here?' Asked Harry.

'They needed more people with the clearance,' answered Neville, 'never thought I'd see the day I was back down here.'

'Dad and Kingsley are on the way down, as well, you know. Something pretty big is going on, do you know what it's all about?' Said Ron as he straightened his tie.

'They haven't told you?' Harry's asked astonished.

'Nope, they said we'd be told once we got here,' answered Ron, completely and utterly oblivious. Just then the lift opened a third time and the Minister and Arthur stepped out with a serious-faced unspeakable. The latter spoke before any greeting could be uttered.

'Everyone upstairs is genuine. We've had three more since you left, Fabian Prewett, Emmeline Vance, and Florean Fortescue.'

'Fabian Prewett?!' Exclaimed Arthur, who had obviously been informed of the unfolding events.

'Yes, Mister Weasley, I believe your wife will be informed momentarily,' he said shortly, before momentarily softening. 'I hate to ask you, but would you mind working through this. We are desperately short of people.'

'Erm... yes, yes, of course,' said Arthur said distractedly. Meanwhile Ron was looking confused. Hermione put a hand on his arm and sent him a look that said "I'll explain in a moment."

'We better get going. You'll all be stationed in the Death Chamber and if any more come though, which is likely, you'll need to log them in and send them up.' No one opposed his ordering around of the senior ministry officials and ex-aurors as they all respected the unspeakables very much, nor the seemingly mundane tasks which they had been assigned to do. 'Minister, we'll need you to oversee everything.'

Kingsley nodded serenely and followed the unspeakable who had waited since Harry and Hermione got there, and the others follows him. As they walked the unspeakable turned back again.

'We're already sure that these people are who they say they are, they're falling through the Veil in the Death Chamber for goodness' sake, but to keep our independence from the British Ministry as secret as possible, we've been sending them to be questioned,' he explained.

They wound their way through the confusing maze that was the Department of Mysteries and eventually arrived in the dimly lit Death Chamber, which was uncharacteristically buzzing with activity. Harry tried to ignore the knot in the stomach, reminding him that the last time he was here was when his godfather, Sirius, died.

He must have looked a little uneasy because Neville, who was walking next to him, put a friendly hand on his shoulder and nodded in encouragement.

The group was soon assigned more specific tasks and split up. They had been told not to enter the five meter exclusion zone around the archway where the black veil was swinging in the non-existent wind. The only people inside of it where specially trained wizards who were investigating why the curtain was now suddenly spitting people out.

Harry had just finished speaking to a very upset woman to whom he was trying to explain that the Ministry was no longer corrupted by Death Eaters. He had just sent her on her way with one of the unspeakables when he heard the thump and the scramble of someone trying to get up. There was more scuffling, as if someone was trying to run away. Harry chose that moment to turn around and promptly fell back in shock. Standing I the centre of the room was Sirius Black.

Currently, Kingsley was trying to calm him down. Understandably, the minute he had recognised his surroundings, and that they were filled with unspeakables and aurors, the fugitive had tried to bolt, only to be cornered by a large number of people. Obviously in the panic, everyone was forgetting to tell the man that he had been cleared of all charges, so Harry took it upon himself to do something before his godfather did something stupid, like turn into his animagus, in the spur of the moment.

Silently, Harry made his way around the circumference of the room. He then aimed his wand at Sirius' back and non-verbally cast the stunning spell. The man crumpled to the ground, having not noticed what had hit him, and the room was silent.

Harry rushed over to Sirius at the same time as Hermione and Kingsley. Both he and Hermione knelt beside the unconscious wizard. He looked alright, pale but fine, the only thing amiss was the ghost of his shocked expression still etched upon his face.

'I wouldn't recommend taking him upstairs like this, Harry,' said Kingsley, observing Sirius from his standing position, a good five feet above Harry and Hermione, who were knelt on the ground, 'I'll see if I can get you somewhere private to talk down here.'

'Thanks,' replied Harry, genuinely grateful.

'I'd recommend you go with them too, Madam Weasley,' he inputted before striding over to speak to one of the unspeakables. Hermione nodded and helped Harry to cast a spell to levitate Sirius a few inches above the ground. They looked at each other and both remembered the evening they first met the man they were levitating, when it was Professor Snape in Sirius's position.

Kingsley soon returned and led them to a small, disused interrogation room, and left them to it. Hermione stood in front of the door and Harry at on top of the table in front of the chair, he then pointed his wand at Sirius and woke him.

'Rennervate.'

Sirius blinked a few times then looked around in panic. He reached in his pocket for his wand but it wasn't there. Realising his only route of escape was flanked by a Department of Magical Law Enforcement witch, he dropped back into his chair, dejected, which he had hastily vacated in his alarm. Not noticing the concerned looks the two other people in the room were giving him.

'You'll be calling the dementors, I assume?' He asked with his head in his hands, 'or have you done that already?'

Harry's heart wrenched for his godfather. While he had been planning a practical joke of some sort, to welcome him back, he now felt that doing such would be horrendously unfair on Sirius. The resignation in his voice was heartbreaking.

'We're not going to do that, Sirius.' Harry told him, calmly, blinking back the tears. Sirius looked up and stared at the strange man who had spoken. It was Harry, he was sure of it. He had aged a lot and bore a many more scars, but that was definitely his godson.

'Harry! You're Harry!' Sirius exclaimed. 'You're alright!' He threw his arms around Harry, who now stood a little taller than him, and Harry couldn't be more thrilled. Hermione watched from the sidelines, smiling.

Once the two men had broken apart, Harry conjured three comfortable chairs. Harry, Hermione, and Sirius sat down and the two former began to explain the situation.

Half an hour later, Sirius had been brought up to date. The older man had been extremely saddened at the news of Remus' and Tonks' deaths, and like Harry and Hermione, wasn't daring to hope for anyone else to come back.