Chapter 7 - Department of Mysteries with a twist and a shimmy, or enter the "Team"

If you knew that the person you were looking at when you took in the perfectly manicured nails, long fingered aristocratic hands, perfectly tailored suit, delicate complexion of cream that was fanatically maintained, pale silver grey eyes and a full head of white blonde hair cut scandalously short you would never think that such a person was the head of the Department of Mysteries. That the seemingly ageless man sitting so elegantly behind the hand carved oak desk completely covered in rolls of parchment, muggle file folders full of mission reports, unanswered messages, broken quills, a pen knife nearly hidden by a stack of books precariously stacked on a corner, a money pouch full of enchanted gold and what appeared at first glance to be a crystal ball until you noticed the pale pink lightening that played in the foggy clouds, was none other than Mirach Malfoy esteemed Head of the Department of Mysteries and the man involved in nearly every aspect of running the country.

The premier Unspeakable with more closed cases than the current top four agents combined had been an unpleasant surprise to both of his parents. Which if asked he would tell you was his saving grace. Left to the house elves and tutors to be raised and educated he was allowed the choice to think for himself without the brainwashing that his older brother Abraxas endured. As such Mirach was shunned from the sight of his parents and subsequently raised on tales of the Unspeakables and their great deeds by one particular governess who did everything in her power to keep the toddler from making enough noise to draw the unwanted attention of his parents. Mirach knew from the time he was old enough to choose what he wanted to be when he grew up. An Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries. So that's what he did. Seven years at Hogwarts, application after application and finally his dream was realized and it had been everything he had thought possible. Years passed and gossip slowly forgot about the black sheep of the Malfoy name. Mirach rose in the ranks until he was chosen to be the next Head of the Department of Mysteries. His only family became the men and women who stood beside him wearing the grey robes of an Unspeakable that he called brother and sister.

The year was 1974 and he had just received the most recent OWL exam results and the notes that had been added by the teachers for each student, if they had one. Most students just had a short note about acceptable behavior and grades that gave nothing into the child who had gained the scores he was looking over. Noting the names that he wanted to get to before either Dumbledore or Riddle got their claws into them he made a note on a spare bit of parchment floating around his desk of Narcissa Black, Morwenna Lestrange, James Potter, Sirius Black, Severus Snape, Lily Evans and Rowan Broadmoor. He knew that he would lose half of the kids he choose but it was always something he was willing to pursue. That and even if Riddle or Dumbledore got their hands on his candidates if they had been initiated they were Unspeakables first and anything else after. Spying was one of the duties of an Unspeakable.

Six of the seven children had been brought before him. The only one he was missing was Lily Evans. But as she was the only muggleborn among them he wasn't really surprised to not see her. She had such potential too with an apparent genius with charms and the ability to look through most concealing charms he was very interested in testing her limits. The children standing before him were no less impressive though. James Potter and Sirius Black showed to those with the sight to see it, the telltale markers that they were either very close or had achieved the ability to become animagi an unheard of feat in ones so young. That told Mirach that they were sneaky, clever, devious and driven. All traits that would help them succeed along the path to being an unspeakable. Severus Snape and Morwenna Lestrange showed an uncanny gift with potions, not mentioning Snape's ability to learn and create Dark magic like he was born to it. He had literally seen the Broadmoor's abilities when they had toured through the greenhouses. The herbalist had nearly had a heart attack as the devil's snare had reached out and caressed the child like he was a favored pet. The child had been amused and gently pet the plant before saying a few words that had sent it back to it's corner. Briar Edgecombe had pulled him aside after the children had been sent to the next part of the tour and apologized profusely as the snare was not normally so active or friendly. Mirach had simply smiled and told the man that the child had an uncanny gift with plants and if brought in would be part of Edgecombe's team. The other man had gotten very thoughtful for a few moments before the gleam of a genius wanting to test a theory entered his eyes. Mirach had chuckled as Briar had walked away mumbling to himself about the Broadmoor child.

Narcissa Black was probably the child that he was most interested in after the Evans girl. Narcissa had inherited some form of magic from her family line that gave her something special about seeing through concealing charms in an apparently different manner to Lily Evans. When asked about it she would only say that it was a Black tradition and then Sirius, her cousin, would pipe up becoming both protector and distraction. Mirach was very interested in her talent because unlike the Evans girl the only thing he could tell about the talent was that it was indeed a blood gift. The Evans girl had the marks of Fae around her, showing that in part her gift at sight was indeed a gift given to her as well as a blood gift. He was eager to test them against each other and see which gift was more powerful and complete.

Now they were standing before him in a neat row. He smirked at them and said

"Welcome to the Department of Mysteries. You have been given the tour of our facilities and have seen for yourselves what we can offer to yourselves if you can pass the training and initiation. Now I can see some animosity between some of you. That is fine, but remember once you don the black robes of an Unspeakable trainee there are no longer house rivalries, no longer any differences in blood purity, and especially no longer any childish squabbling. The Unspeakables are an elite group of the ministry. We do not follow rules, laws or regulations. We make them. If you believe you have what it takes to be an asset to this body than I will provide you with an initial contract that will state in delightfully confusing legalise that we the Unspeakables will provide food, lodging, training and education to the trainee for a period of five weeks and at the end of those weeks if you have triumphed we will induct you as full members into the department. At that time you will be free to make the choices you or your family deem appropriate. Bear in mind that the Unspeakables have no allegiance except to their brothers and sisters in the grey robes. It is why we wear grey, to show we are neither good nor bad, light nor dark. The Unspeakables merely are, and it will always be such. Now do you have any questions?" The teenagers looked at each other and James Potter asked

"What about our parents? What are we going to tell them? Most of us just can't disappear without a reason." Mirach smirked and said

"That will be your first test. Any others?" The six teens before him looked at each other obviously weighing options. It would be interesting to see which of the children managed to show up and which ones didn't. Mirach looked them over again, they were a sad bunch right now but there was such raw talent there that he was just itching to see them in action. Three equal pairs, with three sets of friendships to destroy and rebuild. It would be a challenge and a pleasure to make these children into Unspeakables.