"Harry?" A tentative voice said from the doorway. "Harry, are you alright?"
It was Ron's voice.
"Harry, you're not angry about what happened yesterday, are you?" Ron continued. "I don't know what came over me, it was like a sudden blast of anger, all directed at you for some reason… I can't say anything but I'm sorry." Ron's voice held so much despair that, for a moment, Harry almost honestly forgave him.
Instead, he hardened his heart and said what he had planned to say. "Ron, I'll accept your apology." When Hell freezes over, he didn't add aloud. He still held on to his bitterness and anger towards Ron, after all, he tried to kill him!
"Thanks Harry!" Ron said, cracking a relieved smile. "I knew I could count on you to forgive me!" He paused. "Do you think you could talk Hermione into doing the same?"
Before Harry had opened his mouth to say that he would do no such thing, Ron was already out of the room, humming jovially.
Harry mentally groaned, trying to see a way out of this mess that wouldn't involve attempting to keep a secret from Hermione.
.oOo.
"Harry, do you know much about the Ministry?" Mister Weasley was saying as He and Harry walked out of the door of the Burrow and turned to start on their hike to the Apparation point nearest.
"I know that it monitors Underage magic." Harry said, it was true that the best lies contained a kernel of the truth. "But, other than that, I can't say I'm an expert on the Ministry."
"Well, Harry," Mister Weasley said, adopting his lecture tone of voice, the one created for ultimate efficiency. "It does more than search for Underage Magic –mainly because that's impossible." The last bit was added in an undertone as they hopped over a bit of fencing that had been blown into their path.
"In fact, the Ministry of Magic is much like the Muggles' government, only instead of Ministries it has Departments. Of course, I am oversimplifying it, since it is truer that the Muggles have a more complicated version of what we have, but it gets the point across.
"There are five basic departments within the Ministry. The Department of Mysteries, the Department of Magical Games and Sports, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, the Department of Magical Transportation and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Almost everything the Ministry does is connected to one of those five departments, the example you brought up, the Improper Use of Magic Office is part of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Where I work is also part of it.
"Now, the Minister of Magic is not chosen through a General Election, instead the Five Department Heads chose every ten years who they think is the best man for the job, from within the Government… and the Minister must be a member of at least a semi-Noble bloodline
"Well, we've reached our stop…ready?" Mister Weasley finally asked as they neared a small clearing in the trees that were near the very edge of the property.
"As I'll ever be." Harry responded, curious what Apparation felt like.
"If you're ready then." Mister Weasley said, already grabbing Harry's shoulder.
Harry then learned what Apparation felt like. It lasted for less than a second and yet every detail of it was etched in his memory as it happened. He could best liken it to being pulled through an opening much too small for his body to go through, and yet goes through nevertheless. It also didn't help that his mind conjured up sick bending and crunching noises as he travelled through the void.
"Well…" Harry said once they appeared in the atrium of the Ministry. "That was unexpected… Isn't there a visitor's entrance or something you could've used instead of apparating directly into the atrium?" Besides, what about Floo? Harry thought to himself, as much as he hated floo, it seemed preferable to Apparation.
"You get used to the sensation after a while." Mister Weasley said. "Besides, this can get you to more places." He paused for a moment before gesturing to Harry. "Well, look around, Harry." He said. "This is the best-looking place inside the entire Ministry, the Atrium." Mister Weasley sighed. "A gigantic waste of Magic if I ever saw one."
Indeed, it was grander than Harry remembered it being when he'd visited the Atrium earlier –or would he be visiting it later? His tenses were getting all mixed up; something that he'd never thought would happen to him!
The marble pillars were all polished until they practically gleamed and a reflection was easily visible to any whom decided to look. The wrought gold was all polished until they resembled nothing so much as miniature starbursts when one squinted their eyes just so. The Fountain of Magical Brethren was still standing, and the gold seemed to have been polished by somebody obsessive about his or her task, as it looked like gold as a six year old would draw it, not at all like the gold Harry knew, with it being shiny enough that it turned into a yellow.
"Barney." Mister Weasley nodded at the guard who was manning the desk leading into the Ministry proper. "This is-"
"Mother of God." Barney whispered in shock, interrupting Mister Weasley. "It's Harry Potter." He managed to keep his voice down and drew no glances from the assorted people currently inside the Atrium.
"You don't need to see me, Arthur." Barney said. "And nor does Mister Potter. I've got special dispensation from the Minister to allow him through without checking his wand." Only the slight narrowing of Mister Weasley's eyes told Harry how irregular it was.
"Suppose I wanted my wand checked?" Harry asked, his brain already firing into "Don't Trust Politicos" Mode and unlikely to be stopped. "Would you be able to do that for me?"
"Sure thing, Mister Potter." Barney said as he took the proffered wand and started the process.
All told, the process took about five minutes, but his wand was registered and the Ministry would know all the spells used on it whilst within the Ministry building. Harry hoped that this would help avert any designs on Fudge's part, even though Fudge wasn't exactly anti-Potter yet, or had he anti-Potter? It was those damn tenses again.
"Thank you." Harry said to Barney after his wand was handed back to him.
"Thank you, Mister Potter." Barney replied. "It's my pleasure."
"Err…. Okay." Harry said, still uncomfortable with his fame in the Wizarding World.
"Harry." Mister Weasley said after an uncomfortable minute. "Follow me." He walked through the door that lead into the Ministry proper and let Harry into the gilded lift that had serviced them on Harry's last visit… not that Mister Weasley would remember it, of course.
After stopping on the level servicing the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Arthur guided Harry out of the lift. "Follow me," he said and he walked into the mass of people that was the Department.
After ducking and weaving through the throng of people enough to last Harry several lifetimes, they eventually stopped in front of an office door with a simple "DIRECTOR BONES" embossed on it and Arthur rapped on the door.
"Come in." Came the gruff response and Arthur hesitantly opened the door. "Director Bones," he said. "Harry Potter is here for his hearing on the misuse of underaged magic."
"Send him in." The voice that Harry recognised as Amelia Bones said and he tentatively stepped inside the office.
The office was sparsely decorated, the ultimate flaunt of luxury in the cramped conditions of the Ministry of Magic. On the Director's desk was a picture of Susan Bones as well as several stacks of paperwork. The walls were sparser yet, only a magical window that showed a relatively sunny day with little wind.
"So, you're Harry Potter." It was a statement.
"Yes, ma'am." Harry replied in a small voice. Dammit, he'd faced the entire Wizengamot, why was this so different!
"Underaged Magic." Amelia looked as if she were searching her memory of that night. "You have one other notice on record for Underaged Magic as well, do you have anything to say in your defence?"
"Nothing really, except that I needed to wake up a friend and normal methods weren't working." It was as much of the truth as Harry would tell, and it was enough –he felt- to help lessen the severity of the problem.
"And, how about the earlier incident?" Harry could see that Madame Bones was already thinking of the paperwork required to shred a wand.
"A House Elf did it." Harry replied sullenly, realising just how dumb it would sound.
"A House Elf?" Harry winced at the tone of Madame Bones's voice.
"A House Elf." Harry confirmed. "If you want I think I might be able to summon him here." At Madame Bones's nod, Harry closed his eyes and tried to open himself to magic even more than he was normally. "Dobby?" He finally asked once he felt he was as open to magic as he would ever be.
"Harry Potter calls for Dobby?" Dobby asked as he popped into the Director of the DMLE's office.
Damn, that actually worked! Harry thought to himself. "Actually, Dobby, I was wondering if you could explain to Madame Bones here what you did in my relatives house two summers ago… you see, I got a warning for that Hovering Charm and I'd rather not get my wand shredded for two incidents of Underaged Magic." His voice was level, but he was pretty sure that he'd made the House Elf understand how dire the situation was.
"Dobby is sorry, Harry Potter." Dobby said before turning to Madame Bones. "Dobby would like to file an official claim of magic acts that have been wrongly attributed to Mister Harry Potter." The Elf's tiny voice seemed to grow as he went on, becoming more and more confident with every word.
"Of… of course." Madame Bones said, slightly flustered by being addressed so by a House Elf. "I'll have to get your Master to sign off on it first." She said, stalling for time to allow for her mind to catch up with the rest of her.
At this Dobby's ears drooped and he looked apologetically up at Harry. "Dobby is afraid that Dobby won't be able to help Harry Potter." He was about to snap his fingers and disappear before Madame Bones spoke.
"Wait, Elf." She said in her most commanding voice, reminding Harry why she was the Director of the DMLE. "Why are you unable to help Harry Potter now, and yet were so eager to help him earlier?" Her voice was bereft of any compassion as she sized up the House Elf. "Are you shirking your duty as a House Elf?"
"Dobby…" Dobby's voice trailed off as he looked at the floor in shame. "Dobby has no… has no Master." He finally said, his shame readily visible to all.
Madame Bones seemed taken aback for a minute or two before she collected herself. "Then, Elf," she finally said. "I think we can do without your Master's signature so long as you swear that all you tell me is truthful."
Dobby looked down at his feet again before looking up and looking directly in Madame Bones's eyes. "Dobby so swears." He said before launching into a narrative about how he had tried to 'save' Harry Potter, the "greatest most best wizard ever."
Once his narrative was complete, Madame Bones was squinting so hard that Harry was sure that she'd rupture her monocle's glass lens. "I see," was all that she said before she hastily scribbled down a note on a piece of paper and folded it into a paper aeroplane before giving it a good toss. Not five minutes after she had done that, Mafalda Hopkirk appeared in the office's door.
"Mafalda," Madame Bones said. "It appears that your Office is in error regarding Mister Potter's alleged Magic Use two years ago."
Hopkirk didn't give any appearance that she remembered the incident and, in all likelihood, she didn't, until: "hovering charm? Room full of Muggles?" She asked.
"Yes." Madame Bones replied, evidently not at all surprised at Hopkirk's perfect recall.
"How was my office in error, Director?" Hopkirk said in a perfectly respectful tone. "I recall sending him a letter regarding the improper use of underaged magic as he was the only Wizard our records showed and if we had made an error he could've always sent us a letter about it at that point. Since he didn't we've been forced to assume that he did do it."
"Well, as it turns out." Madame Bones said. "The Hovering Charm was cast by a House Elf." That was as far as she got before Hopkirk cut her off.
"Impossible! Our instruments can differentiate between Wizard and House Elf Magic!" Hopkirk's face that went a startling shade of red that would've given almost any Weasley in the world a run for their money.. "Begging your pardon, Director."
Madame Bones waved away the apology. "Not needed, but are you certain that you just didn't get a magic warning for Number 4 Privet Drive and assumed that it was Wizard Magic?"
Hopkirk frowned slightly and her brow furrowed. "I wasn't in the office when it was detected and I only read about it the next day." Her evidently perfect memory was, apparently, failing her. "Let's see… we had an Auror in the room… James Reynolds I believe. And it was he who reported that there was illegal magic performed at Number 4 Privet drive…and activated the letter-spell." Hopkirk's voice trailed off. "Wasn't he arrested a few weeks ago on account of corruption?"
"Worse." Madame Bones replied. "He was actually a Death Eater that had somehow slipped through our nets, Frank Delen was his name. Thankfully he's been dead for the past two weeks and the mess he's created is currently being patched up… I'm guessing that this is going to fall under that heading."
"Ah." Hopkirk said. "I'm assuming that Mister Potter then didn't receive the appeal section of his letter than." It wasn't a question. "In that case, Mister Potter," she said turning to face Harry for the first time in the conversation. "I am removing the citation for underage magic from your record." With a short bow to Madame Bones –more a nod of the head than anything- she left the room.
"Well, Mister Potter." Madame Bones said after a minute of silence. "It appears that this piece of magic isn't going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back." She smiled a little at Harry's crooked eyebrow. "Under the circumstances of that night, however, I am going to be removing this piece of magic from your record and it shouldn't be brought up again in any legal capacity." With a rather genial smile she dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "Oh, and Mister Potter."
"Yes, Madame Bones?" He said, turning from his position halfway between the door and her desk.
"Tell anybody about this at your own peril." Harry noticed that Madame Bones had a slight smile on her face and he decided that she was having him on before exiting the office.
"Well, what'd she say?" Mister Weasley asked after Harry came out the door.
"I can't say." Harry said, letting his voice trail off. "I was warned by Madame Bones to talk about what went on in there at my own peril… however," Harry continued. "I am cleared of my earlier infraction so, even if this isn't cleared than I'm still clean." Harry decided to allow the little lie… probably more of a grey lie than a white one.
Mister Weasley nodded. "Fair enough." He said, then he turned to his left and started leading Harry to his office. "Now, the conditions are rather cramped." He cautioned Harry before opening the door and revealing the office was rather like Harry remembered it being from last summer… or would that be a future summer?
"I can't say I really mind." Harry said, realising that his experiences at the Dursleys' must've imprinted more upon him than he'd previously –or would that be would have?- realised. At least, that was what he was hoping.
Mister Weasley must've heard something in his voice that betrayed Harry's thoughts as he looked up sharply at him, but allowed his gaze to slide back down to his desk. "Perkins hasn't shown up yet." Mister Weasley said, albeit somewhat unnecessarily. "So you can take his desk until we get a call or the day ends… whichever comes first."
Harry just shrugged and took the proffered seat before allowing his eyes to wander over the assorted items that Mister Weasley had stored haphazardly on racks. He didn't see much that stood out except for two items, two very dangerous items. Very dangerous as in "send-somebody-to-Hell" dangerous.
"Ah." Mister Weasley said noticing Harry's attention drawn to the two items. "I see you've noticed our two latest finds of Wizards using Muggle Items. Highly illegal modifications were made to both of these weapons, the first one you're looking at is a modified ass-lift right-all." Harry had to suppress a snort at Mister Weasley's mispronunciation of assault rifle. "The other one is a heavily enchanted long-knife, picked it off an Italian nut-job about a month ago, in fact both are set up to be destroyed by the Ministry today as it so happens.
Harry's mind was in overdrive, while he wasn't a hundred per-cent certain, he was relatively sure that the rifle that he'd noticed was an AK-47 or a variant on the design –look's like watching some of Dudley's games last year (or next year?) did/will pay off!
Deciding to swipe the two weapons at a later time –preferably before they were destroyed- Harry turned back to face Mister Weasley, trying to think of a way to pass the time. It appeared to be a bad-luck day for him as Mister Weasley was doing some paperwork while he was waiting for Perkins, a call or the end of the day. Resolving to steal both items then, and damn the consequences Harry stood up and walked over to the AK-47.
Immediately, Mister Weasley stood up, his wand extended. "Harry, I must ask that you step away from that ass-lift right-all." He said, ignoring Harry's snickers. "It is a very dangerous weapon and I don't want to explain to everybody why you're dead."
Harry put on a face as close to injured innocence as he could manage. "I just want to hold it." He said in his best "I wasn't doing anything wrong" voice. "I wasn't going to point it at myself and press the trigger, I'm not a total idiot." Not that your son would agree with that last statement.
Mister Weasley's face softened. "Okay." He said, lowering his wand. "But don't tell my boss."
Thanking every God and Goddess, real and imagined that Mister Weasley had bought it, Harry looked down on the AK-47 in his hands and was surprised by its lightness. He committed every line and curve of its design to memory. Then he set it back down on the rack, deciding to wait until Mister Weasley had turned his back to make his move.
Thankfully a paper aeroplane swooped into Mister Wesley's desk and chirped several times to get his attention. And, again just as fortuitously, Mister Weasley turned to his desk for the half-minute required to read the piece of paperwork that had just cropped up. It was half-minute enough for Harry to transfigure a piece of cheese he'd found in his pockets into a passable duplicate of the AK-47, switch the tag, and then place a shrinking charm on the real AK-47. In all, he'd just dropped the miniature AK-47 in his pocket when Mister Weasley had turned around. "Well, we're off." He said at once. "Looks like there's some type of demonic tea-kettle in Hastings."
Harry nodded. "I'm ready."
Mister Weasley escorted Harry out the Auror Department and then into the lift, which they rode back up to the atrium. "Checking out my wand." Harry said quickly to Barney the Guard, who merely nodded and shredded up the piece of paper that had Harry's registration on it with a spell. Then, they were at the apparition point.
Already Harry was pretty sure that he'd never want do go through the uncomfortable feeling of being pushed through a hole too small for his body to fit through again. But, this time he actually got a feel for the magic as they appeared in an alleyway beside an antiques store –which Harry supposed was their destination. To Mister Weasley's good credit there wasn't anybody looking down the alley nor was there anybody in the alley at the time of their arrival.
Cautiously following Mister Weasley out of the alley and around to the front door of the store Harry paused briefly before walking through the open door.
"Kingsley." He nodded to the big black Auror who was currently standing in the store apparently keeping the 'demonic tea-kettle' at bay.
"Arthur." Harry noted that the two seemed familiar with each other, which made sense, but it still seemed odd to him that Mister Weasely would know people from the 'New Order' prior to joining. "I debated on calling you or not, but this appears to be an enchanted tea-kettle that has some intelligence to it."
Arthur frowned. "Has your team noticed anything else amiss in here?" It was than that Harry noticed several aurors were combing through the store while somebody Harry assumed to be the shop-keep was cowering in the corner; Harry even thought he noticed a tantalisingly familiar head of pink hair.
"Not really, though we do have a trainee with us for some on-the-job training as it is and she's noticed a few things so far. This store has at least seventeen different Dark Artefacts stowed away in it." At his words the Shop-keep gave an involuntary twitch and a pitiful whine. Kingsley grimaced at the man's whimper but continued. "Now, the problem's just going to be finding the damn things."
Mister Weasley nodded before drawing his wand and chanting out a string of Latin that Harry didn't recognise, but the teakettle stopped and fell over. From the looks of it, Kingsley didn't recognise the Latin either. "Well, it's out for now. I don't know how long that shield should last, but it will work for the interim." He shrugged a little before turning to Harry. "Let's get you back, Molly will be having kittens soon." He then turned his head back to Kingsley as they walked out of the shop. "Drop it off in my office when you get back, I should be there."
With that they walked back to the Alley and disappeared.
.oOo.
"Have you seen anything, Weig Redclaw?" Longtooth asked finally, breaking the silence that had fallen upon the two Goblins over the past few hours as they sat pouring over several books.
The former teller looked up at his new Leige-lord. "No, my liege." He said submissively. "I cannot say that I have found anything to further Nefrag for the time being." The Goblin showed what could only be called embarrassment. "My skills, it appears, are not up for the task ahead."
Longtooth appeared pensive for a moment before grinning a predator's grin. "Go and collect the special files on Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore." He said, making sure to use the mage's full name. "Our plan of attack was in error." For a Goblin it was a dangerous declaration –one's decision was one's honour in Goblin society and a wrong decision could cost a Goblin his honour and his life.
"At once, my liege." Redclaw bowed as he hastily stood up and ducked out of the room, leaving Longtooth alone with parchment and quill. He quickly abandoned the plan and moved on to something… special.
He reached for a new sheet of parchment, and then gripped the quill tightly, he wasn't good with human runes and he needed this letter to look as good as he could manage.
Dear Mister Potter the letter started. Sometimes it was good to be a high-ranking Goblin in Gringotts…
A/N: Well that's a chapter! Not much here but filler, but I , hopefully, post Chapter 13 by Summer…Sorry for the delay, but I will rehash what I've probably said several times: this story will not be abandoned… it may be forgotten several times, but it will not be abandoned. Finally, a nod to both Jbern and S'Tar'Kan in this chapter… arguably even one to Ruskbyte if you look deep enough…
Here's to hoping that Chapter 13 comes quicker…