Chapter Three
Mission: Impossible
Ron and Hermione came to the Ministry the following morning armed with the clipping from the newspaper they'd seen the day before.
"I'm telling you, he has to already know this… the article said that the German and British Ministries were already collaborating…"
"Then he may have already known everything we've told him up to this point," Hermione said defiantly. "Regardless, it is our job to tell him anything we find on Robertson, whether we discover it in our off time or not."
"Right…" Ron grumbled, but it still seemed to him they were on a pointless mission.
They arrived outside Simon's office door – just down the hall from their own – at a little past eight o'clock. Hermione reached up and knocked briskly on the door. It opened almost immediately and Simon appeared in the doorway.
Simon was in his fifties, but with the look of a very seasoned Auror. His face contained lines and wrinkles that the average man wouldn't have been graced with for at least another decade. His eyebrows seemed to be constantly furrowed in thought and there were faint scars covering his visible skin from various wounds he had received throughout the years. His dark wizard fighting days were over, but he was the nominal head of the Auror office and was an excellent leader and example for the rest of them.
Not, of course, that Ron and Hermione had been on any actual missions to glean this expertise from, nor that they even needed it because of their life experiences with Harry, but that was a moot point.
"Weasley, Granger," Simon said gruffly. "I was just about to come and retrieve you from your office…"
Ron's eyebrows raised in curiosity but Hermione plowed on with her planned speech.
"Sir, Ron and I were reading the Daily Prophet last night, and we found this article on Robertson…" She presented the clipping to him. "It's breaking news, sir, he was only just sighted two nights ago…"
Simon took the clipping, gave it a half glance, and looked back at Hermione.
"I appreciate your dedication to the task before you, Granger, but this information is not new to me," Simon said.
"Told you…" murmured Ron. Hermione glared at him.
"I was actually coming to find the two of you to brief you on all the information we have on Robertson thus far," Simon continued. "However, since you seem to have saved me the trip, please step inside my office," he finished, and stood aside to let them through.
Ron glanced nervously at Hermione but she was already walking past Simon with her head held high. Ron resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he followed her. Simon closed the door behind them and took his place sitting behind his desk.
"Please, sit," he said, motioning to the leather chairs across from the large mahogany desk. Ron and Hermione did as they were told and waited for Simon to start.
Simon heaved a very deep sigh before beginning.
"Joshua Robertson was convicted three years ago of brewing and selling illegal potions. His products were vast and his clientele large. He served two years in Azkaban before being released. This you know."
"Yes, sir," they replied in unison.
"After his release he supposedly went crazy and murdered twelve people in two weeks: ten female muggles and two witches. The only thing they had in common was that they were female; there was nothing else to tie them together at all besides the way that they were murdered, which was—"
"They were all stabbed non-fatally multiple times with a short knife before being hung by the neck from the ceiling," Hermione supplied, interrupting.
"Correct, Granger," Simon replied, seemingly unbothered by the interruption. "None of that was ever proved, as Robertson fled before his trial. However, there was strong convicting evidence against him and the wizarding world held very little doubt that Robertson was guilty."
Ron and Hermione nodded. None of this was new information to them. Simon pressed on.
"As you saw from the paper last night, Robertson was spotted in Germany."
Simon paused as Ron and Hermione affirmed this.
"What the paper did not say," Simon continued, "was that Robertson was also captured and brought into custody yesterday afternoon."
"What!" Hermione and Ron exclaimed in unison.
"That information is currently being kept from the public, and I will explain why in a moment. Robertson is currently being held in the Department of Mysteries, where he underwent extensive questioning with multiple heavy doses of Veritaserum alongside various Psychiatric Healers."
"Well then surely that proved his guilt, he must have confessed to everything," Hermione suggested.
Simon gave her a hard look for a moment before replying.
"If only it were that easy, Granger," he began. "Veritaserum is a very tricky truth potion. It forces the person who takes it to tell the truth, but it cannot force the person to tell things that they do not know or remember."
"But I thought Veritaserum could draw out even the most mundane things from a person's memory?" Hermione asked. "Even if they happened ten years ago!"
Simon sighed.
"This is technically true, but what you have stated is a person still having the memory. It is just buried beneath other, more important memories. The Veritaserum is, therefore, still able to seek it out. Veritaserum cannot locate a memory that no longer exists, however."
Hermione bit her lip. "But sir, even memories that have been psychologically suppressed, or people suffering from severe cases of amnesia, have had memories forced out of them by Veritaserum. Wouldn't those be similar cases?"
"You are very sharp, Granger, and one would think that. But consider someone who has been, say, obliviated. A spell has actually removed their memories. They are not suppressed; they are gone and stored in the core of the wand of the wizard who performed the spell, unreachable by the mind of the victim and therefore any truth potion he takes."
Hermione squirmed nervously. She knew that fact well, as she had been the one to take her parents' memories, modify them, and then return them to them after Voldemort had been defeated. It had been a very tricky and difficult process, but she had managed it.
"But then… what, besides a powerful spell, could cause someone's memories to completely vanish?"
Simon smiled sadly. "Many things, I am sure, but it appears that it is, indeed, a spell that has caused the absence of Robertson's memories."
"But who…"
"It seems that Robertson knew we were coming for him," Simon replied. "He possibly only had minutes, even mere moments, to prepare before he was accosted on the streets in Germany. When the German Ministry officials located him, he was sitting at the corner of a building, much like a wandering homeless person… babbling incoherently to himself. In his hand he held his wand… but it was broken into two pieces, and the dragon heartstring core was missing entirely."
Hermione and Ron were both speechless.
"He seems to have done a very botched memory removal job," Simon continued. "Very important pieces of information are, of course, missing, but from the extensive questioning he has undergone, we have been able to piece together two very crucial things: the location of his flat in Munich, and the fact that he was once again engaged in selling illegal potions and had several customers lined up for the next month. No matter which way we arranged the questions, he did not know the names of these wizards, so their names were clearly one of the things he had erased from his memory. We have reason to believe, however, that he surely must have had a compilation or list of these wizards somewhere in his flat."
Ron and Hermione were silent, waiting.
"I have gone back and forth over the various options for retrieving this information and how to locate and capture the wizards it contains. My first thought was to send in a skilled Auror immediately, bring the list back to me, and send teams out of find and capture the suspects."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Ron chimed in. It was the first he'd spoken since the explanation began.
"On the surface, it seems like a good idea," Simon countered. "However, there is no guarantee that all of the wizards could be caught at the same time or even on the same day. It would surely cause a public disturbance, which would alert any wizards on the list that were not yet caught and cause them to go further into hiding, thus complicating the situation."
"Oh… right…" Ron said. "That makes sense." Trying to redeem himself, he continued. "So, then, having someone go in by stealth would be a much smarter option?"
Simon smiled.
"In a way. The goal is to arrest each wizard one by one, in secret, with no public attention drawn to them whatsoever. They will simply vanish from existence as far as anyone close to them knows. We are currently in cooperation with the German Ministry of Magic and will petition the cooperation of any other countries necessary to keep the arrests under wraps and not report the wizards as missing."
"That's bloody brilliant," Ron said.
"I like to think I am," Simon replied with a chuckle.
"But sir," Hermione interrupted, "Their families… surely if they have family, they will notice that their relative is missing and report it to the authorities… they will surely tell people they know… word will spread…"
"As soon as we receive word of each arrest, a letter will be sent out to the person the suspect is closest to with a powerful version of the Fidelius charm enclosed in it detailing the arrest. Only the reader of the letter will know the information it contains and they will be unable to dictate it to anyone else."
"But if someone else notices they are missing?" Hermione pressed. "Someone besides the recipient of the letter?"
"The letter will also contain a type of Confundus charm. Anyone who comes to the recipient concerned of the whereabouts of the suspect will be led astray by the letter recipient. Told to not worry about it, that they know where they are, that nothing is wrong, that sort of thing."
Hermione bit her lip, trying to find further loopholes.
"All of the charms will break as soon as the arrests are made public," Simon assured her.
"But how long will that be?" Hermione asked.
"We are not sure," Simon admitted. "It depends on how many wizards need to be arrested and how difficult they are to find."
Simon paused before continuing.
"The decision for who to send on this mission was surprisingly easy," he said. "I would need to be able to send one wizard on the mission indefinitely, to live in Robertson's flat for as long as the arrests take to complete. I would need another to stay behind to create and charm the letters sent to the family members. So, I thought, who better to select than the team I've had researching Robertson from square one?"
Ron and Hermione both gasped rather dramatically.
"Us?" Ron asked. "You've got to be joking…"
"I assure you I am not," Simon countered. "You both have had significant life experience in dealing with dark wizards, and Granger, you are highly proficient in Charms. I have no doubt that you would make an excellent team on this mission. Weasley, I would require you to be sent to Munich while Granger stayed behind to support you with the information and Charms to protect you. Potter would come in as Granger's office team member to cover the backup paperwork and research while you are gone."
Ron and Hermione just stared at him.
"I need your confirmation of acceptance of the mission before I can brief you on specifics," Simon prodded.
"When would I leave?" Ron asked hesitantly.
"Immediately," Simon answered.
Ron and Hermione looked at each other.
"Could we… maybe… have a moment to talk?" Hermione asked.
"Certainly," replied Simon, standing from his chair. "I'll be back in five minutes." He walked out of the room and Hermione and Ron stared after him until the door was firmly closed.
"What… in the hell…" Ron said quietly. Hermione swallowed hard.
"Ron… there's no way we can refuse this. I'm absolutely certain that our jobs are resting on what we say to him…" Ron looked up at her.
"Hermione, I could be gone for days… weeks… maybe even months… I have no idea what I might find in his flat… what if he has hundreds of people waiting to buy from him?"
"I know but… we knew what we were signing up for… we knew the risks… It's not like we haven't been separated before. I mean, I was petrified in second year for ages… and then there was all the summer breaks where we didn't see each other… and then when you… when you left us for a while… during the Horcrux hunt…" Hermione voice faded away as she said the last bit. With a jolt, she was brought back in her mind's eye to the day she and Harry had lain together by the fire… the day she lost her virginity while Ron was gone…
"There's one big difference between all those times and now," Ron said, breaking her out of her memories. "We weren't engaged then."
Hermione bit her lip. "That does complicate things a bit but… we're strong, Ron. We're strong as people and we're strong as a couple. We can handle it. Who knows, maybe it'll only be a week and then you'll be home again."
Ron sighed. "Something tells me that's wishful thinking, but it never hurt to hope…"
They were silent for a few moments.
"So, we're going to accept it, then?" Ron asked quietly, looking over at Hermione. She met his gaze and held it.
"Yes… yes, we have to. For the sake of our jobs but also for the greater good."
Silence again.
"I love you so much, Hermione," Ron whispered, taking her hands in his. Hermione swallowed hard.
"I love you, too, Ron…" she replied. He leaned over and brought his lips to hers gently. Hermione fell into the kiss easily and kissed him back passionately, greedily, knowing it would be the last kiss they would share for who knew how long…
"As far as anyone is concerned for all our job's sakes, I walked in and found you two sitting in those chairs exactly as I left you," came Simon's voice from the door. Ron and Hermione broke away quickly, both turning red.
"Sorry, sir," they said together, adjusting themselves.
"Considering the circumstances I'll overlook it this time," he said, and sat down behind his desk again. "Have you decided to accept?"
"Yes, sir," they chorused.
"Good," said Simon. "Weasley, it is absolutely imperative that the location of Robertson's flat be kept under wraps. As such, once you are there, you will not be allowed to return to any place that has the comforts of home – not your flat, not Potter's house, not your family's home, nothing. We cannot risk you bringing someone back to it and the location being jeopardized."
"Yes, sir," Ron said.
"The location is being kept secret for your protection and that of the mission," he continued. "Granger, if you somehow happen to discover the location using that exceedingly clever brain of yours, I need your word that you will not attempt to travel to it."
"Yes, sir," said Hermione.
"I have decided that the best way to complete the arrests, Weasley, is for you to appear to the suspects in the persona of Robertson. As far as anyone knows, Robertson is still at large, so it will come as no shock for his clients to see him. This will be executed, of course, using polyjuice potion. We will be sending a stock with you that has already had Robertson's hair added to it. Should you require more for whatever reason, just let us know."
Ron winced at the idea of having to take the sickening potion in copious amounts, but nodded nonetheless.
"Upon your arrival at the flat, we need you to search it thoroughly. Record any and all relevant findings and send them back to us. If, during your stay, someone should call at the door, make sure to drink polyjuice potion before answering it. If someone is expecting Robertson and an Auror answers the door, that is surely to cause a lot of trouble."
Ron nodded again.
"Further instructions will be provided to you as you send information back to us. Until you have heard from us, lay low and stay out of trouble."
"Yes, sir," Ron said.
"Granger, once Weasley leaves I will assist you in perfecting the charms required for the letters we will be sending. I have no doubt that you will learn quickly and easily."
Hermione nodded.
"With that said, I think we can get you on your way, Weasley," said Simon, standing from his chair. Ron and Hermione did the same as Simon pulled a pocket watch from his jacket and pointed his wand at it. It glowed blue for a moment before he handed it to Ron.
"I have just activated this as a portkey. You will be transported in sixty seconds," said Simon. Ron looked at Hermione, his eyes clearly full of worry.
"It'll be okay, Ron," Hermione assured him, taking his hand and leaning to give him a quick kiss. "You'll be great, and you'll be home before you know it."
"I sure hope so," Ron said. "Good luck back here with all the charms."
"Won't be an issue, I'm sure," she replied. They still hadn't broken eye contact.
"I'll see you soon, Hermione," he said. "I love you."
As he finished the words, he disappeared before her eyes.
"I love you, too…" she whispered. She felt tears tugging at her eyes but she blinked them back. It was their job. It was work. They'd signed up for it, and they were strong. They could handle it.
She could handle it.
"Granger," said Simon gently.
Hermione blinked a few times and looked at him.
"Yes, sir?"
"I'll need you to go to Potter's residence today and inform him that he is temporarily on full-time duty until Weasley's return. As he is on your team, you are permitted to tell him the details of this mission. However, it must stay within your team. I cannot stress enough how important it is to keep all of this tightly under wraps."
"Yes, sir, I understand," Hermione said softly.
"After you visit Potter," Simon continued, and he placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder, "feel free to take the rest of the day off on emotional rest. Full pay."
Hermione forced a smile.
"Sir, that's really not necessary…" she began, but as she said it a single tear fell down her cheek. Simon noticed it and a handkerchief appeared in his hand, which he used to dab away the tear.
"You are strong but your eyes betray you," he said quietly. "I insist, Granger. The day is yours. I don't want you back here until tomorrow morning, with Potter by your side. There is nothing that can be done until we receive information from Weasley, and that will at least take until tomorrow."
Hermione nodded, determined not to show any more weakness.
"I'll see you in the morning. You're dismissed."
"Thank you, sir," Hermione said, and turned and walked out of the office with her head held high, heading for the Atrium where she would then floo to Harry's place.