Chapter I: Harry
"I can't believe they put us through all that rubbish just to nab one bloody hag!" Ron growled.
"Yeah… it's a good sign though, isn't it?" Harry said, "means there isn't much going on."
"Well, yeah, but," the elevator pinged as it reached the floor of the Auror offices, "I thought it'd at least be someone of, I dunno, death eater level. They should've just sent that new kid, Abercrombie."
"There haven't been death eaters for five years, mate." Harry said, ticking off the years in his head. "'Sides, better to have a job than sit around."
"I s'pose. How's Ginny?"
"Ron, you saw her yesterday," Harry said, thinking of his wife. "She's fine."
"Never know," Ron shrugged, "still not puking yet, then?"
"No, she's not puking," Harry said firmly. They stopped outside the Head Auror's office. "I'm going to run the report by Robards, see you in a bit."
"I'll see if Hermione's off for lunch, then." Harry nodded and put his hand up to knock, just as the door opened and Hermione herself appeared, looking rather frazzled as she sometimes did.
"Oh. Harry!" she said.
"Guess you won't have to go after all," Harry said, adding, "afternoon, Kingsley," as the minister appeared behind Hermione.
"Potter, Weasley," Kingsley said in his slow, reassuring voice. Though, Harry noticed, not as reassuring as usual. He as well seemed a bit unsettled. "If you'll excuse me."
When he was gone, Ron asked, "Hermione, what were you and Kingsley doing talking to Robard?"
Hermione looked around, flustered. "I-I don't even know where to begin. Let's go to your office." Harry and Ron exchanged looks as she set hurriedly off to their shared office. When they were safely inside, Hermione stood with her back to the door and took a deep breath.
"So?" Ron demanded.
"Have you ever heard of mage magic?" she blurted.
"What?" Both replied.
"Mage magic." Hermione started pacing. "I can't believe I've never heard of it, or even read about it before! None of the books I've ever read ever mentioned it." She stopped for a second, then resumed her brisk pace. "Binns never even talked about it in History of Magic!"
"Maybe you were asleep." Harry said.
"Don't be ridiculous," Hermione snapped. "Mage magic. Apparently there's a whole other branch of magic that's older than wizarding magic."
"She's gone bonkers." Ron blinked.
"I'm going to head home early to research," Hermione muttered, "lucky I finished that revision early."
"What are you talking about?" Harry said. "Calm down and explain."
"I was just talking with Kingsley and Robard," Hermione said, taking a deep breath. "There's a group of people coming from Japan to meet with them on Friday. They're not wizards. They're-"
"What, muggles?" Ron laughed.
"-Mages." Hermione finished, shooting her husband an annoyed glance. "Mages, the first magic people. Kingsley told me about them. He says the wizarding world hardly ever interacts with them because of some prejudices between us and them, but their magic is entirely different from ours, and they want to meet with us, well, the Ministry, because they have big plans about the future of the magic world. The group that's coming is apparently a really famous-"
"Hold on," Harry said, holding his hand up. "That's ridiculous. That can't be true."
"That's what I thought, Harry, but Kingsley showed me on his laptop, they have a whole magic network on the muggle internet-"
"Magic on the muggle internet?" Harry said, his brain reeling. "That's impossible."
"Yes, apparently the mages are more interactive with muggles and muggle science than wizards, that's one of the things that wizards don't agree with, that's why we, I mean wizards, branched off-"
"Hermione, that's impossible!" Harry said, his voice raised, "I mean, if mages exist, then it's impossible that they could be separated from us. What about the war? Why didn't they do anything?"
Hermione stopped and looked at him, looking almost… afraid. Harry realized he had stood up and was yelling. He sat down again. "Er, sorry."
"I don't know, I don't know much about it yet. Kingsley gave me an internet key to their network so I could learn more… Ron?" Ron just looked at her, jaw hanging. "Anyway, I'm going home to research. This is- could be a big deal. I can't believe… well, I'll see you two later. Bye, Harry. Ron, floo me if you're going to be late." She hurried out.
The two men sat in silence for a minute.
"What d'you think?" Harry asked finally.
Ron shook his head slowly, leaning back in his chair so he was looking up at the ceiling. "It's ridiculous. But if Kingsley said so…" He stood. "I'm going home too. If this is true… it's too unbelieveable. I'll hear more from Hermione and stop by your place later."
"See you." Ron waved and followed his wife out. Harry stared after him, unable to process the information Hermione had just told them, but processing it all too quickly at the same time. Mages? A separate magic world, spurned by wizards? The way Hermione talked… were they more powerful? Was that even possible? Harry thought back seven years, when he had last spoken to his deceased mentor.
Dumbledore would've known. Dumbledore hadn't told him. No, Dumbledore knew he could figure it out himself, just as he had everything else. Except there seemed no sign that Dumbledore ever meant for him to know. Could this unknown world be out of Dumbledore's, the most powerful wizard's, grasp? Or… did Voldemort know about the mages? He must have come across them, in his journey for power. That meant they weren't a threat, weren't worth bothering with. Or maybe he was ignorant, as Harry was. Just another similarity between them.
What else don't I know?
Please R&R! :)
