Hermione Granger was irritated. She had been called in at eight on a Friday evening to deal with a bomb falling in the middle of Diagon Alley as the only one in the Ministry who knew enough about the muggle world to figure out how it got in. It wasn't her fault that the parliament had started a war it couldn't win - hell, she even voted for the opposition.

"I need an explanation, Hermione: how did this manage to get into the Alley?" Shacklebolt said as she stepped through the doorway into the Minister's office.

"I'll need a minute to examine it, Kingsley. And even then all I can give you is my preliminary report," she said, walking up to the table with the supposed bomb as Shacklebolt waited. Looking it over, she said, "Well, the anti-bomb wards were first installed in 1918 during the first muggle World War. They were designed to set off the explosive charges at a safe distance above the street so that no one would get hurt. This, though, isn't a bomb."

"What is it, then?"

"I'm not sure. It's obviously something electric. Did it do anything when it entered the alley?"

"No, but when Auror Thomas went to pick it up it shocked him. How did they get a machine to work around magic?" the Minister asked.

Hermione thought for a bit, turning the object over in her hands. She continued, "Do you see the wire shell that surrounds it? That looks like a type of shielding that protects against an electromagnetic pulse - the kind of power magic uses when it destroys electronics. The Department of Mysteries has been working with it for years to try and integrate muggle devices into magical ones. The problem is that it doesn't get rid of the energy, it just stores it and converts it into electricity. If too much power is consumed, it ends up breaking down and discharging the electricity into whatever is near to it like a small bolt of lightning. Auror Thomas was just unlucky enough to be at the receiving end of that."

Pausing for a moment, Shacklebolt absorbed the new information. "You said earlier that it wasn't a bomb. If it wasn't that, what is it?"

Hermione gestured down at the probe. "That's where it gets very difficult. Do you see this protrusions here on the bottom and these three around the side?"

"Yes."

"I'm pretty sure those are cameras. And this thing sticking out on top looks like some kind of high-powered antenna, which could be used to transfer images wirelessly."

"Who would be interested in sending cameras after us with so much shielding?"

"My guess?" Hermione said, "It probably has nothing to do with us. EMPs have come into heavier use in muggle militaries. This probably has to do with the war. The Joint European Forces drop thousands of pounds of bombs on muggle England every day. This could be some sort of guidance device for the bombs."

"If it was transmitting, though," Shacklebolt asked, "could the Statute of Secrecy be broken? Could whoever sent this have photos of us?"

"Maybe, but I doubt it. The ward line likely produced a strong enough pulse to break through the shielding the moment the device hit it. You see how the wiring inside the cage looks black and melted? I'd bet that it overpowered the electronics."

"What do we do if they got the photos through?"

"Well, the Europeans are fighting together. That means that the magical governments of France and Eastern Europe have already made their muggle governments aware of us here at Diagon and know that we're neutral. Then they will have told the Germans and the other people without magical governments, or will at least answer any questions if they're asked. We should probably notify the ICW, but we won't have to send out obliviators unless it gets worse or the muggles spread the knowledge too much."

"Can we keep any more of these out?"

"I can work with the Department of Mysteries to strengthen the bomb wards over the entire magical sector. We'll figure out a way to overpower any shielded devices. We should be able to get something working within a few days."

"And if more are sent before we're ready?" Kingsley asked.

"We'll have to put up temporary wards to overpower the shields with brute force until we have a more elegant solution. It will cause disturbances in the muggle areas bordering the magical sector, but that can't be helped. We can also station an Auror team on the roof of the Ministry to keep a lookout for anything coming from the sky."

"That will do for now." Shaking his head, Shacklebolt continued, "I'll put in the order for the new wards. Damn the Prime Minister for getting us into this mess."

"We just have to do enough to keep ourselves safe," Hermione reassured herself. "We'll make it through this muggle war comfortably by sitting on the sidelines, as we've always done. For every new camera or probe they design we will make ten new spells to counter them. There's nothing they can do that will prevent us from staying safely out of sight, no matter how hard they try."

"Hope is always good, Undersecretary Granger." Shacklebolt gave her a tired smile. "Get some rest and I'll see you in the morning. All of us will have to put in extra hours this weekend."

"Yes sir," Hermione said.