C21 The Attack on The Ministry

Severus Snape returned to Hogwarts and immediately made his way to his private quarters. He sat down at his desk and pulled out a bottle of fire whiskey and filled a small glass. He then placed the glass on the desk in front of him, simply staring at it. Then he slowly reached into the back of the boots he was wearing and pulled out his extra wand, carefully placing it next to the glass of fire whiskey. Then he took the glass and quickly downed the liquid, ignoring the burning sensation that filled his throat.

There was a knock at the door, and the potions master looked momentarily at the extra wand and then at the door before calling out to his uninvited guest to enter.

The headmaster opened the door and walked over to the desk and took a seat facing his spy. Raising an eyebrow at the empty glass and the bottle of fire whiskey he then looked at the potions master, "Well, Severus, how did things go?"

Snape returned the question with a silent sneer as he poured himself another glass. After quickly downing his second glass of fire whiskey he began to speak, slowly at first. "As I told you, the Dark Lord was planning on attack on the director of the DMLE. Obviously you managed to warn her."

Albus smiled and nodded his head slightly, indicating that he wanted Severus to continue the story.

"The attack was a failure in the eyes of the Dark Lord," stated Snape. "While the DMLE lost over a dozen wizards and witches, the director was not even there." Snape paused before he continued. "The Dark Lord is not a fool. He knows that someone must have tipped off the DMLE and warned them. However, as he only announced the plan to attack a mere few hours before the attack, he knows it was someone within his inner circle."

Snape once again poured out a glass of fire whiskey, this time bringing forth an extra glass and silently asking the headmaster if he would care to join him, which Albus agreed to with a slight nod of his head. Albus picked up his glass and held it near his lips, waiting for Severus to continue with the story.

"I managed to take out Nagini during the battle," he said sombrely, "but someone saw me cast the spell."

Albus nearly dropped his glass as he was surprised by this turn of events.

Snape raised one eyebrow at the headmaster's reaction and then he went on to explain what happened once they returned to Malfoy Manor. "I was called out, I told the Dark Lord that the witness must have been mistaken. I was even accused of being the one who warned the DMLE. The Dark Lord chose to examine my wand, he did not use legilimency on me at that time."

Albus finally spoke again. "And he saw what spells that you cast? Yet you are here, you were able to return."

Snape glared at the headmaster, "What do you take me for after all of this time? I didn't show him this wand that I used for the patronus message or that I used to kill that damnable serpent." He then flicked his arm and his other wand flew into his hand. "I showed him the one which I used to help heal and take care of the Death Eaters who were injured. He may have actually believed me that the blue light of the spells that I cast looked green due to the surrounding flames of everything that was set on fire."

Albus listened to the take and then gulped down the fire whiskey. Snape finished his third glass and then he poured them each another glass.

"So, your secret is still safe then," commented Dumbledore.

"So it would seem," replied Snape, "why else would I still be alive and allowed to return?"

Albus shifted slightly in his chair and then looked back at the potions master. "Perhaps we can use this to our advantage, but we may need to help rebuild his trust in you. We may need to offer him some information which he would feel is useful. That may help him overlook any inconsistencies in the events of earlier tonight."

Snape raised an eyebrow once again and nodded silently and then looked at the empty glass. "Very well, but for now, I believe that I shall retire to my room, I really could use some sleep."

Albus smiled at his friend, "A wise decision, my friend. So, I will bid you goodnight." With that he placed his empty glass on the desk next to the other one, rose from his seat and left the potions master's office.

*** HPVMI.21.1 ***

The following day at breakfast when the latest issue of the Daily Prophet arrived by owl post, two professors were quietly surprised to see no mention of the previous night's attack against the home of the director of the DMLE. The paper did not even mention that there had been any kind of raid or any casualties. The headmaster stared in disbelief that such an event would be completely ignored by the Daily Prophet. He wondered to himself what Rufous Scrimgeour was up to with trying to cover up what had happened. Snape for his part just tossed the magical newspaper aside. The actions of the two faculty members were not lost on several students who were present for breakfast.

Hermione turned to Harry, "What do you make of that?"

Before Harry could answer, Ron interjected, "Make of what? We're busy eating here, nothing else is happening this morning."

Hermione rolled her eyes as Harry looked up at the faculty table and then over at the Slytherin table. Turning back to Hermione, Harry managed to answer her question, "I'm not sure, but it seems that at least a couple of the professors were expecting to see some sort of news in the Daily Prophet."

"But what news?" wondered Hermione.

"Probably about Death Eaters, the war, or something like that," replied Harry as though it was as plain as day. "What else could they be looking for?"

Ron looked at his two friends, then turned to look at the faculty table, then he looked at the food on his plate. "I think you two are imagining things, if Snape is upset about something he probably just wants more bangers with his breakfast."

"I would hate to think that the new minister is playing the same games as Fudge, and hiding things from everyone," stated Harry thoughtfully.

Hermione shook her head, "It would be just plain wrong for the Ministry to try and cover anything up again."

Ron dropped his fork heavily onto the table. "What is it with you two and your conspiracy theories this morning? Can't we just eat breakfast in peace?"

Harry ignored Ron's little outburst and looked over at the Slytherin table and caught Daphne's eye. He then turned to Hermione as he grinned, "I think I am going to head to our first class of the day. It's transfiguration, isn't it?"

Hermione noted his grin as he stood up, "Okay Harry, you run on ahead, I'll stay behind to make sure Ron finishes eating and actually makes it to class on time."

Harry noted her eyes shifting from him to the doorway. Harry nodded and turned to leave. After stepping out into the large entryway, he waited momentarily for Daphne to show up, and he was not disappointed.

"So, my green eyed friend," she stated as she stepped up next to him, "what has you all discussing things so intently while staring at the faculty table this morning?"

Harry leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek. "Good morning to you too," he said softly. "Hermione and I were just wondering what seemed to be bothering the professors today. They seemed irritable once the Daily Prophet arrived."

"We picked up on that too," she readily agreed.

As Harry and Daphne were wandering through the halls. Daphne leaned into Harry's side. "So, you have the title of Lord Black, and Lord Potter," she mused.

Harry shifted slightly on his feet and rubbed his chin. "Well, the goblins have acknowledged that I am Lord Black, and magic has acknowledged it as well as evidenced by what happened with Lestrange. Why? Is there something more I need to do?"

Daphne shook her head slightly. "You really need to go to the ministry, announce formally that you are claiming the headships of both houses, and demand your seats on the Wizengamot."

Harry's hand shifted and now rubbed his eye and forehead. "Wait a second, I have to demand my seats? Isn't that a little harsh?"

Daphne put her hands on her hips as she continued to explain some of magical Britain's politics. "Well, one would think you could simply just take the position, but due to some archaic old pure-blood law, you have to physically show up at the ministry and request your seat, or seats as the case may be. Part of the problem is you have to gain admittance to the Wizengamot when they are in session, but they don't necessarily have to let you in if you're not already on the Wizengamot."

Harry shook his head and rubbed his forehead, trying to push away the oncoming headache as he considered the bizarre and pedantic rules which magical Britain had come up with. He then looked up at Daphne, "So how do I 'demand' my seats?"

She shrugged, "Well, if you get the Chief Warlock to invite you to the session, he can arrange for you to be present so you can formally petition for your seats."

Harry tilted his head slightly as he thought about her words. "But wait, there is no demanding involved in that scenario."

Daphne sighed and looked around where they were standing in the hall and made sure that there were no nearby portraits. "Think about what I said is required if you do that. The Chief Warlock has to invite you…"

She let her words sink in for a moment. Then Harry frowned suddenly when the problem dawned on him. "Dumbledore," he said with a slight hiss, "as the Chief Warlock he probably isn't about to invite me to any meetings of the Wizengamot."

"Which is why you have to go see the minister and demand your seats," added Daphne.

Harry raised an eyebrow, "Is that how others get their seats?"

Daphne shrugged her shoulders once again, "Unless they have a particularly good relationship with the Chief Warlock."

Harry took a deep breath, and then looked at his girlfriend. "So, I'll have to find a way to speak with Scrimgeour then, and demand I be given my seats."

"That seems to be about the size of it," agreed Daphne.

"So, when do we head to the ministry?" wondered Harry.

Daphne thought about the question for a moment before suggesting that they plan on heading there the next afternoon, as they both had a free period. Harry argued that they would need to have permission to leave the school. Daphne smirked at the worried expression that betrayed Harry's concern, "Leave that up to me," she added with a quick kiss to Harry's lips, "after all, I am the Slytherin here."

Harry rolled his eyes at her comment as he rubbed the back of his head with his left hand, "I almost was a Slytherin, but I think I already told you that."

"There's a big difference between being almost a Slytherin and being an actual Slytherin," she added with a smile.

The two then proceeded to make their way to their class, but they did not notice the fourth year student who had stopped just around the corner from where they were having their conversation. The blonde student allowed a smile to slowly come across her face as she turned to go to her own class.

*** HPVMI.21.2 ***

A little later that day, Daphne was making her way to the owlery to send a message to her father to arrange for both her and Harry to visit the ministry on the next afternoon. As she was ascending the final steps to the entry, she heard the door close up ahead, and then she nearly bumped into a blonde student who was leaving.

Daphne steadied herself as she recognised the student as a fourth year Slytherin, "Vala Yaxley, funny running into you up here."

Vala was momentarily startled by running into the sixth year known to many as the Ice Queen.

"I didn't mean to startle you," added Daphne.

"Oh, no worries," replied Vala as she put a hand on her own chest. "Just sending a message off to mother, you know, letting her know how my term is going."

Daphne smiled at the girl, "Of course," she said readily agreeing, "just sending such a note to my father."

"Well, I really need to get going to class," stated Vala as she made her way past Daphne. "I don't want to keep Professor Snape waiting now."

Daphne smiled as the other girl made her way past her and on down the stairs. Daphne then entered the Owlery and summoned her personal owl and quickly attached the short note to her father. She smiled smuggle to herself as she was sure that her father would arrange for both her and Harry to head to the Ministry of Magic tomorrow afternoon.

*** HPVMI.21.3 ***

Yaxley stepped out of the floo, the letter he had just received from his daughter in hand. He nodded curtly to one of the Death Eaters who was standing on guard at the floo entrance at Malfoy Manor and then made his way to the ballroom where the Dark Lord had arranged what was essentially a throne room. He knocked sharply on the door and waited for the command to open the door and enter. After a brief moment he heard Voldemort calling for whomever was at the door to enter into his presence. Yaxley strode in purposefully with the letter tightly gripped in one hand. He approached the dais and stopped about fifteen feet away, then bowed his head.

Voldemort could easily read the surface thoughts of his followers. He immediately sensed that Yaxley felt he had important news. "Well, well, Yaxley, what is it that brings you forth from your position at the Ministry?"

Yaxley did not raise his head as he replied with a slight wave of his hand with the parchment he had received from his daughter. "My daughter sent me a quick note today," he began, "and it seems that she overheard a private conversation between Potter and the blood traitor who is consorting with him."

Voldemort raised an eyebrow ever so slightly at his lieutenant's introduction. "Go on, then, Yaxley."

"It seems that Potter will be venturing to the Ministry tomorrow for some sort of personal business," Yaxley concluded quickly.

Voldemort tilted his head to one side and frowned. "And this is important to me, how, exactly?"

Yaxley raised his head slightly, a small twitch forming on his lips. "The arrogant youth will be vulnerable," he explained. "He will not be under the protection of the headmaster. He will not be hidden behind the wards of the castle at Hogwarts."

Voldemort's features slowly morphed into a feral grin, if only holding the expression for a moment. "If he is not travelling with Dumbledore, then who is he travelling with?"

Yaxley flashed a quick smile as he replied, "Only with the blood traitor herself. No teachers. No aurors. They will be unprotected."

Voldemort started to pace slightly and then he turned to face Yaxley once more. "So, we know where Potter will be, and we have a general idea of when he will be there." He continued to pace slowly. "We will then arrange a special greeting for him. And I will be there myself to properly greet the young man who continues to dare and defy me, the greatest wizard of all time!"

Yaxley smiled slightly with the knowledge that he had presented this information to the Dark Lord and he anticipated a reward for providing such key information.

*** HPVMI.21.4 ***

The next afternoon arrived and Harry met up with Daphne in a classroom near the main entrance to the school as soon as their free period began. Both had told their friends that they were going to head to the library to study. Harry smiled when Daphne came up and greeted him with a quick kiss on the lips.

"So, you have made the arrangements?" asked Harry.

"Of course, I did," she replied with a smirk. "One of the professors is going to let us use their private floo connection."

Harry stepped back and his face dropped. "We have to go to Snape's office?"

"Oh, no, that would be too obvious," stated Daphne.

"McGonagall wouldn't let us do this, of that I'm sure," said Harry as he tried to figure out just what Daphne had done.

"No, of course, not, and I wouldn't have wasted my time asking her," proclaimed Daphne.

"Then who?" asked Harry who was clearly perplexed.

"Follow me," she said as she left the classroom.

They started to head down some stairs to a different part of the dungeons, away from where the Slytherin dorms were located. It soon dawned on Harry that they were heading towards the Hufflepuff dorms, although that still did not help Harry with figuring out just what the plan was. After following Daphne for a minute he reached out and gently tugged on her hand which caused her to stop and turn around.

"Is this where Professor Sprout's office is located? I thought she had an office in the greenhouses," observed Harry as he looked down the hall in front of him.

"She has an office there for her classes, but as head of the Hufflepuff House she keeps an office close to their dorms so she can be available to them when necessary," explained Daphne.

"And just what is Professor Sprout going to do for us? Or rather why is she allowing us to use her floo?" wondered Harry.

"I told her you needed to speak with my father about an important issue," stated Daphne as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What sort of issue?" asked a worried Harry.

Daphne shook her head with a smile and pulled Harry to follow her again. "Don't worry about that, he won't even be at his office when we step through, although Professor Sprout won't know that."

Harry was growing increasingly concerned as they approached the office for the herbology professor. As they walked into the office, Pomona Sprout seemed to nearly jump out of her chair. She clasped her hands together as her face grew into a large smile. "Oh it is so wonderful to see you two! And on such a special occasion!"

Harry turned to face Daphne. "What exactly did you tell her?"

Before Daphne could answer, Professor Sprout spoke up. "Don't worry, Mr. Potter, your secrets are safe with me!"

Harry just smiled and nodded at the odd situation. "Well, that's good to know," he conceded. He turned back to face Daphne, when the professor spoke up once again.

"I'm sure this will come as a surprise to everyone, but I'm sure that he will give you permission once you explain things to him," added Pomona.

Daphne interjected, "Well, Harry has been a little nervous about how this might go, but I have tried to explain to him how our traditions work."

Harry nodded, feeling like he was missing something. Professor Sprout continued to smile at the two students, "For someone raised by his muggle relatives, he sure seems to be learning things about our society quite well." She then turned to Harry and frowned slightly before adding. "No need to worry, Mr. Potter, I'm sure once you explain everything to him, he will be only happy to say yes."

"Well, that is a bit of a relief," Harry agreed, still feeling uncomfortable with the situation.

Daphne then took Harry by the hand, "We really do need to get going, as he is expecting us and we don't want to keep anyone waiting."

"Of course, of course," agreed Professor Sprout. "Just step on through after tossing in the floo powder."

Daphne led Harry to the fireplace, quickly grabbed some floor powder and tossed it in to the fireplace and stepped through, calling out Greengrass Enterprises. She disappeared into the green flames. Harry then quickly took a small amount of the floo powder and followed his girlfriend through the floo, wanting to leave behind the oddly behaving professor.

Harry tripped slightly as he came out into the offices of Daphne's father's business. Seeing her waiting for him he asked her what had just happened.

Daphne smirked, "I told her you needed to speak to my father about an important family matter."

Harry tilted his head sideways, "But your father doesn't have anything to do with my speaking with Scrimgeour."

Daphne nodded, "Of course not, but she has no idea you're going to meet with Scrimgeour."

"But then what does she think we're doing here?" asked Harry. However, before Daphne could reply his face went pale. "You told her that I needed to speak to your father about, about," he stuttered for a moment before he finished his thought, "that I was going to ask your father for permission to…"

"Hey," interrupted Daphne, "it got us through the floo so you can arrange to take your seats on the Wizengamot."

"But she thinks we're about to get engaged!" protested Harry.

"And she said she would keep our secrets," added Daphne. "I trust Professor Sprout. She'll keep silent about all of this because she said she would. Besides, she is absolutely besides herself with excitement about what she thinks is happening."

Harry just shook his head. "How do things like this happen to me?"

"Nothing has happened to you, Potter," snapped Daphne. "But we need to get going to the ministry. We can step through the floo from here to the main entrance of the Ministry."

Harry sighed as he followed Daphne through the fireplace one more time.

The young couple made their way through the entrance and had their wands weighed before proceeding to make their way to the lift that would take them to the administrative offices and in particular the office of the Minister for Magic. Shortly after stepping onto the lift, they heard a loud clap of thunder and felt the lift shake.

"That can't be good," commented Daphne, who now had a worried look on her face.

Harry was worried too, and he noticed their lift had stopped moving. Then there was a sudden lurch as the lift dropped another floor. The door opened slowly and it became evident that the lift had skipped the first level, where they were headed and where the Minister's office could be found and were now at the second level which included the offices of the DMLE. Harry and Daphne heard some more crashes and explosions above them and they looked at each other.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," commented Harry.

"Enough Han Solo comments," quipped Daphne, "why would someone attack the ministry now?"

Harry stared at her for a moment. "There is only one reason they would attack now," stated Harry.

Daphne raised an eyebrow, "And what would that be?"

"They know that I am here," affirmed Harry.

"Merlin's hairy," Daphne began to state, only to be cut off by Harry, "who knows if they're hairy?"

The lift that they had just stepped off of shuddered and dropped down to another floor. Daphne refrained from screaming as she was startled by what happened.

"Do we he or do we fight?" asked Daphne expectantly.

"We have no idea who is here or how many," began Harry as he was thinking about what was happening around them. He started to make his way quickly down the hall to his left, with Daphne following closely. "I say we find out from the DMLE just what is going on."

They were approaching an office door and Harry hoped that it was the Aurors office, however he didn't realise that they would have had to turn the opposite direction to find the Aurors office. Harry opened the door and found that there was a reception area with a scared witch partially hiding behind the desk. There was a bulletin board that had fallen off of the wall behind her. She looked up tentatively over the desk.

"Who are you?" she shouted out, scared.

"We're just here to try and meet with the Minister for Magic, when the explosions started," stated Daphne.

"You're, you're Harry Potter," gasped the witch as she stared at Harry's forehead.

"Yes, I am," admitted Harry, "and who are you?'

"I'm Patrice, I'm the secretary for the DMLE training offices," she explained. "The message system shut down as soon as the first bang shook the building."

"It's probably Death Eaters," commented Daphne.

"But why are they here? How many are there? Are they after the Minister?" asked Patrice in rapid succession.

"We don't know," stated Harry. "Is there a safe place to hide in here, or is there a way to get out of here?"

"There is a back stairs that can take us up to the main floor," said Patrice who was seeming to be less afraid as she spoke with the two teens.

"Why don't you show us," offered Daphne, "then we can all get out of here, regardless of what is going on."

Patrice had a puzzled look on her face for a moment, then Harry pointed out to her that the lift system had just malfunctioned and they were lucky to have gotten off before it crashed to lower floors. Patrice nodded in understanding and then told the two to follow her down the hallway to her left. They had travelled about thirty feet towards a door when there was a large rumble and a crash.

Harry noticed the ceiling above them start to crack and crumble. He then jumped back as a large section gave way, which separated him from Daphne and Patrice. Realising that he could not make it past the rubble he called out to them, "You two go on ahead, make your way up the stairs if they're safe. I'll find my own way out." He then turned to run the other direction.

"Harry, don't be a fool!" called out Daphne.

As another tremor shook the building Harry did not hear her call.

Harry made his way out into the hall and turned to his left once again. After about thirty feet he found an unmarked door. He opened it slowly and stepped into a large chamber. In the middle of the chamber he was surprised to see a Virtual Magical Reality machine. As he stared at the device he remembered that they were told that the DMLE was using one for training their Aurors.

Harry approached the machine and found the control panel. Having watched Hermione use the other machine he knew how to turn it on, and then he saw the options of what sort of Virtual Magical Reality scenarios could be created and he realised that it was identical to the one at Hogwarts. He started to look through the menu and the various options. Even the settings were identical to what he had seen back at Hogwarts.

*** HPVMI.21.5 ***

Up in the atrium chaos reigned as the Death Eaters had stormed the entrance to the Ministry for Magic. Powerful and destructive spells were wreaking havoc all around. In the middle of the fighting the Dark Lord himself appeared. He turned around slowly, surveying the scene. He seemed to take little account of the spells that were flying about, occasionally casting a shield or waving his hand to bat a spell away.

He muttered to himself, "What is wrong, Harry? Why can't I find your thoughts anymore? Have you finally mastered occlumency despite Snape's active attempts to thwart you all of last year? I will find you regardless." With a wave his wand a large hole was blasted through a wall to his side. He made his way through the debris and headed down a hall. His wand hung loosely in his hand and directed him towards where he would find his target.

Voldemort came upon the entrance to the lifts and stepped into the space where the lifts had been. They had already come crashing down with the first attacks on the Ministry which included taking out the wards that governed transportation within the Ministry and they also closed all of the floo exits. Having a few Death Eaters stationed within the ministry proved effective in preparing for the surprise attack. He knew that he Aurors would be working on defending the atrium as well as key areas that they assumed he would be going after. However, he had no need to attack the minister at this time, as the subject of his attack was much more important to him than the head of the magical government. The one person who had defied him multiple times and still managed to draw breath was within his grasp, and trapped within the Ministry. He would have his vengeance for all of the times the lucky blood traitor had managed to escape his wrath, and he would be victorious. As he floated down the shaft where the lifts were supposed to travel he sensed the presence of the Boy Who Lived on level two. He stepped out into the hall and looked right and then left. He smiled wickedly as he made his way down the hall towards his left. He briefly stopped outside a door on is right, and it was clear to him that Potter was not behind that door. Whomever was there was of no consequence to him, so he continued on. About thirty feet down the hall, he sensed Harry's presence behind a door on his right. He cast a spell and the door crashed open, sending splinters of wood flying about. He stepped into the room and noticed a simple white door. All around the door was a magical darkness. Voldemort quickly assessed the scene in front of him, and he understood that Harry had cast the darkness, but that did not matter, as he could sense that Harry had gone through the door.

"At last I will have you, and you shall not escape," stated the Dark Lord as he opened the door.

AN: the next chapter should be concluding the action for this story...while I have had a difficult time getting these last chapters written I do have a couple of other stories well along the way for getting published...