Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters or included in this story. Everything other than the new plot belongs to J.K. Rowling. I'm not making any money off this, I'm just having a little fun.
A/N: So I realize that I've been seemingly dead for a very long time. So if anyone's been reading what I have so far and wondered what happened, well I let other stuff take over, but I'm here now, so let's get started on Damage Control, which will be a story that explains how the changes I'll be introducing to canon happen before I get to the big Harry-Potter-Goes-To-Hogwarts-And-Does-Stuff story.
Damage Control
Part One: The War Room
The location of the headquarters of the British Ministry of Magic is not a secret. By the time they have finished their education, most of Britain's witches and wizards are aware that the Ministry headquarters is located under the road Whitehall in London. And as far as almost anyone knows, there are ten underground levels. The Minister for Magic and other high-ranking officials have offices on the topmost level, while Level Ten is home to the official court chambers used by the Wizengamot and the Council of Magical Law in criminal cases. And underneath the courtrooms is the holding area for prisoners awaiting transport to Azkaban, the most secure magical prison in the world.
If any adult witch or wizard in Magical Britain wanted this information, they could look in public records and find it. But that's where the reach of public knowledge stops. Any further information about the deepest depths of the Ministry is disclosed on a need-to-know basis.
And as one of, is not the most powerful wizard in the world, Albus Dumbledore needed to know. Because at the end of the most desolate hallway in the holding area was a staircase. This staircase was exceptionally long, the descent having taken Dumbledore seventeen minutes while at a brisk pace. At the bottom of the staircase was an empty corridor that led to a blank wall. Having been informed of this when arranging the meeting, the Hogwarts Headmaster reached into his robe and retrieved a folded piece of paper, which he then unfolded and read.
"The War Room is at the end of the empty hallway under the Ministry of Magic Holding Cells."
As the note disintegrated in his hand, the wall in front of him seemed to slide away in several directions, revealing a wooden door with no handle. As per his instructions, Dumbledore knocked three times. After several seconds of silence, the door shot open and slammed into the wall of the chamber behind it.
Dumbledore entered to find a room with a stone floor, stone ceiling, and stone walls. There was a round wooden table, and seven wooden chairs set up around it, all looking equally uncomfortable. In the chair farthest from him sat a stocky man wearing a brown overcoat that concealed the rest of his clothing, with grey hair and one eye, with the other socket being occupied by a magical replacement eye.. Dumbledore had never asked the man where he'd gotten it, and the auror didn't seem inclined to share it. Dumbledore walked over to the man and smiled politely.
"Good morning, Alastor," he said.
The man in question, Head Auror Alastor Moody, had been glaring at Dumbledore since the Hogwarts Headmaster had entered. Reaching into his pocket, Moody pulled out a flask and took several large gulps, then placed it on the table. For several moments, neither man moved, then finally Moody spoke.
"You're late, Albus," he growled.
Raising an eyebrow, Dumbledore reached into his robe and pulled out a pocket watch, glanced at it, then put it back.
"Alastor, I'm well over half an hour early. How long have you been waiting here?"
"Since last night. Constant vigilance Albus. I had to make preparations. Now then, please do me a favor and explain what it is you needed to say."
Dumbledore sighed, then began speaking. "Yesterday morning, Horace Slughorn came to my office, in a state of panic. He claimed that he had something of vital importance that I needed to know."
Moody had not taken his eyes off of Dumbledore. "Did he?"
"It was most alarming. First of all, as Sirius told us several months ago, Regulus Black was in fact a Death Eater."
"Unlike you, Albus," said Moody, "I never doubted that. That whole family's rotten. Miracle that Sirius isn't just like the rest of them. If I –"
"Apparently, neither was Regulus," Dumbledore interrupted. "He's dead, Alastor. He died stealing from Voldemort."
"That only proves my point. Those people can't even rely on each other," Moody said. "How does Slughorn even know about this? I assume he's not generally privy to Voldemort's secrets."
"Young Mr. Black's house elf, called Kreacher, came to Horace yesterday. I also spoke to him afterwards. Regulus brought the elf with him during his, errand, so to speak, and when it became clear to him that he wouldn't make it out, he ordered Kreacher to find Horace."
Moody took another gulp from his flask as Dumbledore continued.
"However, Kreacher himself told me very little. Apparently he'd been ordered not to tell anybody except Horace. But he was more than willing to recount his prior experience, when Voldemort used Kreacher to test the security on the object."
Dumbledore paused to take a breath, and Moody interrupted him before he was able to continue.
"Just what is this item?" he asked. "What could possibly be important enough for the security Voldemort placed to kill Black? For that matter, what was the security? Black wasn't without talent."
"I was just getting to that, Alastor. Voldemort placed it in a cave near the coast-"
"Near the coast where, Albus?" Moody cut in.
"Kreacher wasn't aware, and if he was he didn't tell Horace. As I was saying, inside the cave was a tunnel that could only be opened with a blood sacrifice, and at the end was a lake, with Inferi hidden under the surface. The locket was apparently on an island in the center, but Kreacher was unwilling to tell Horace how it was safeguarded there."
Moody sighed, and took another drink. "And what was it? What was so valuable that the bastard used Inferi, of all things, to protect it?"
Wordlessly, Dumbledore reached into his robe and pulled out a small box, then placed it on the table. Moody opened it carefully, lifted the box, and flipped it over, allowing the object inside to fall on the table. It was a golden locket, inlaid with green stones which seemed to form a serpentine S.
Dumbledore spoke softly. "It's a horcrux, Alastor."
Moody's eyes, both the real one and the magical one shot up at Dumbledore.
"You can't be serious."
Suddenly there were three knocks at the door, which then shot open as it had earlier. And while Dumbledore certainly was serious, the man at the door was much more so.
A/N: So that's Chapter One. I have no idea when the next one will be up, but I have off from school all next week, so hopefully I'll get something done by then. Again, sorry for vanishing, thanks for reading, and please review!
~ThePillowOfDoom