A/N: Man I'm just on a roll lately! But Monday is coming soon and I'll be busy again most likely. Anyway, enjoy.
Chapter 21: We're All Mad Here
"Daphne?" Tracey called out as she entered the Slytherin 6th year girls' dormitory. Daphne looked up from her bed and sniffed.
"Yeah?" She didn't want to talk to Tracey, she didn't know if she should tell her what Harry had said.
"What happened, Daph? Where's Harry?"
"He left, he was really angry."
"Well… did he say anything?" Daphne sighed, making up her mind. Tracey was Harry's friend, she deserved to know too.
"Yeah, he said he has more important things to deal with, and that he has… nothing. I don't rightly know what he meant by any of it." Tracey frowned, that didn't sound much like the Harry she knew.
"Maybe when he comes back we should sit down with him and talk honestly, and calmly." Tracey smirked and Daphne groaned, letting her face drop into her pillow.
"If he comes back. I was awful to him, Trace. I need to learn to keep my mouth shut more often."
"I think the decision is unanimous then," the blonde nodded, smiling. But her smile faded slowly. "What do you think he meant?"
"I don't know, but he seemed really serious, and sad, like he really felt sorry for himself."
"Well with all the stuff that's happened to him over the years, he's not wrong. And we probably don't even know the whole truth about everything." Daphne nodded, more to herself. "How about I talk to him first, then you can come and grovel for forgiveness? I'm sure he'll be back by dinner." Daphne couldn't decide if she should laugh or cry.
"Yeah, better that way."
"Alohamora," the young Malfoy cast, pointing his wand at the door of the dilapidated shack on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. "Blasted thing is charmed shut. Lateque silentium," Draco cast once more, the slight buzz of an area effect silencing charm settling onto the area around him. "Reducto!" The door splintered and flew into the interior of the rickety building. The Dark Lord had taught him much, but stealth wasn't on the curriculum. Once inside, Draco could see huge gashes in the walls and a few completely destroyed items of furniture.
"Bloody hell. Lumos." Looking around the room, Draco saw only one possibility for the entrance to the tunnel that Snape had told him would be here. Really he was surprised that this place wasn't better defended. Then again, it wasn't really an ideal staging area for an invasion. Approaching the trap door in the corner of the room, he kneeled down to get a better look. "Lux in limine," Draco intoned, and the trapdoor began to glow as the wards surrounding it were revealed.
"Infundibuliformibus," Draco spoke as clearly as possible, and the spell took hold, funnelling power away from the ward, directly using Draco's magic. It was a very costly and inefficient way to break a ward, but the blond was short on both time and skill, so it would have to do. Provided he didn't faint.
The ward buckled and faded away, and Draco fell back onto the floor, catching his breath. Pulling himself to his feet, he picked up his dropped wand and opened the trapdoor, jumping down into the tunnel below.
"Merlin, what is that smell?" He covered his nose with his sleeve as he progressed down the tunnel, wand lit and held in front of him. The tunnel continued even farther, and Draco guessed that by now he was surely under the Hogwarts grounds somewhere, maybe under the Lake. Turning a last corner, he saw the tunnel leading up, and another trapdoor. Casting the ward detection charm once again, he saw no protections on the way out, so he creaked open the door above him, slowly. A much louder creaking was coming from above the door, and Draco wasn't at all sure he wanted to find out what it was. Upon opening the door the rest of the way, he found himself staring at the Whomping Willow. Suddenly the tree's branches spun around and came to rest above him. Draco winced, almost knowing what was about to happen.
As he grabbed a hold of the edge of the passage, one of the branches slammed into the ground close to him. He scrambled to his feet and took off, sprinting flat-out. He may be a Death Eater personally trained by the Dark Lord Voldemort himself, but that didn't mean he couldn't be crushed by a ton of wood. As he stumbled under a covered walkway, he slowed to a halt, smiling to himself. He was back. And now, the real work began.
The first thing Harry noticed was that he wasn't dead. The second was that, unless he happened to be encased in some other metal, he was still wearing the Black suit. Upon attempting to open his eyes, he found that the face of his helmet was solid and opaque, but that was quickly remedied as a flap slid downward and suddenly he had a solid field of vision. White marble. It hadn't been a dream, at least. The day's events were as real as the headache he knew he would have as soon as he got some proper answers. He sat up, and the armor creaked slightly. A previously unnoticed door opened (why did this one have a handle?), and the same man as before came out, wearing his usual genial smile.
"You are awake." Harry nodded. "And now you are looking for answers." Another nod. "Fear not, answers are everywhere." This time, the man received no nod in return, but he remained completely unfazed. "You performed admirably earlier, and as a preliminary examination of your skills, I am satisfied. However, I must tell you that if an agreement is not reached, you will have no memory of this place. Or anything that has occurred concerning this series of events."
"An agreement about what?"
"Marvelous, you are getting curiouser and curiouser!" The man clapped like a child, nodding his head. "An agreement, Harry Potter, about the work you will be doing for us."
"Work? I didn't come here to work for you, I came here to learn things I can't learn anywhere else so that I can-" Harry didn't know if he should continue.
"Ah, yes, of course, you wish to receive knowledge and training and give nothing in return. Sadly, that is in the next room to our left." Harry felt as though he was being mocked, but the man's expression did not change at all. "In this room what you need carries with it a price."
"How much will it cost me?"
"You are referring to currency. Harry Potter, we do not want your money. We want you."
Deciding for the moment to ignore what the man was saying, Harry became curious about the plural. "Who's we?"
"Before I may disclose anything, I must ask you one question more. Do you agree that everything has a price?" Was that true?
"No. What about love?" The man's brow furrowed slightly. Harry was taken aback. He had yet to see this much negative emotion on the man's face.
"Love, Harry Potter, is the most expensive affliction of them all, you will surely find. Yes, if the rumour should be trusted, indeed you will find this to be true. I will ask again. Do you agree that everything has a price?" The man clearly wanted one answer, and one answer only. Harry had not come all this way to be turned away. So he could do nothing but oblige him.
"Yes, I do."
"Remember your words here today, Harry Potter. Now it is time to begin giving you what you seek… My name is Xavier."
"Is that your real name, or a cover?"
"A name, once given, is real by definition. We find ourselves now inside the operations center of the Department of Mysteries." Harry's eyes widened. That would make this man…
"I am an Unspeakable. You have already guessed, I see."
"What… what do the Unspeakables want with me?"
"We want you, Harry Potter. We know that you are in search of knowledge and the power to do what you believe is right. We are prepared to offer you all you search for." Harry was glad those muggers in Knockturn hadn't gotten him, this was turning out to be a very good day after all.
"However, only an Unspeakable may access our consolidated knowledge."
"So if I want to learn, I have to… join you?" Perhaps not such a good day.
"There is advantage to learning in any particular place. All I can offer you is the advantage that can be found here." Harry waited for him to go on. "You will die before you disclose our secrets. You will ensure the continuing safety of our institution and its members through any means at your disposal. You will learn from us, you will learn with us, and you will teach us. You will reach as far into the heart of magic as your arms allow you." Xavier stood silently now, perhaps waiting for Harry to say something.
"I… will. I will." Xavier nodded, possibly for the first time ever.
"Naturally. You have much to learn. Come." The man walked briskly out the door, and Harry struggled to get off the bed he had been on. He had gotten one leg over the side when suddenly his legs gave out and he found himself on the floor, much in the same position he had been when we woke up.
"Bloody hell," the young man cursed, and wearily pushed the button on his belt, making the armor retract quickly into its resting place. He finally managed to get to his feet just as the last clicks and whirs were heard from his midsection. The door had no handle, once again. This time however, Harry was not fooled and set himself a good pace as he approached the door headfirst. As his face made contact with the door, he realized that perhaps the Unspeakables' door system was not as simple as it appeared.
Xavier, probably having heard the sound that Harry's face had made against the wood, stepped back into the room. "Ah, my apologies, this room was set not to allow you to leave in case we did not come to an agreement." Harry snorted. How convenient of the old man to forget something like that and walk into a door. He couldn't help but feel as though he was the butt of an age-old joke. "You are the one thousand four hundred and thirty third person to make close acquaintance with that door. The magical world is full of mystery." The old man smiled his usual smile straight ahead as Harry glowered and walked past him back into the hall.
"So, what happens now… Xavier? Will I meet your leader and receive an assignment?" Xavier gave a very quiet laugh, surprising Harry.
"Very few ever meet the Grand Master. We receive our directives on magically written parchment in the room adjacent to the Grand Vault."
"The Grand Vault? What do you keep in there?"
"The Grand Master, naturally." Harry blinked.
"The leader of the Unspeakables lives in a vault?! Why?" Xavier shrugged, almost expressively for him.
"There are few things the Unspeakables do not question. The Grand Master is one of them. He does, as he does."
"How does he eat? Or survive?"
"I know nothing of what he does inside the vault, but I know that since I joined this institution, the Grand Master has never vacated the Grand Vault. Although it is not our place as seekers of truth to speculate, I would venture that the Grand Master is able to survive through the ambient magic flowing in and out of this structure." Harry stared off to the side, contemplating the possibility of doing that. That was exactly what Voldemort wanted, immortality. If he only knew that the Grand Master of the Unspeakables lived only off of the magic surrounding him, he would most probably stop at nothing to duplicate such results.
"I see you understand already how important your silence is in Unspeakable matters." Harry nodded, silently agreeing. "Traditionally when a new member joins our ranks, his superiors acquaint themselves with him and he is given a chance to meet his colleagues. New members are also subjected to tests of many kinds. However, because of the unusual circumstances under which you have come to be here today, it has been decided that your initiation will not be traditional." Xavier looked off into the distance. "In place of preliminary testing, you will prove yourself."
Harry's eyes narrowed in concern. "How will I do that?"
"That is entirely at your discretion, Harry Potter. However, I can tell you that you will be given an assignment to complete, after which you will begin to receive some of the answers you seek. You will receive through inconspicuous means a parcel containing some objects that you may put to use, depending on how you opt to carry out your task."
"What kind of objects?" Harry wasn't sure at all that he liked the sound of these tasks. Their tests were beginning to sound like the Tri-Wizard Tournament or something similar.
"I do not know, I will not be assembling your parcel. My function is to act as a gatekeeper as well as a teacher. Decisions are not mine to make, only to pass on." Out of a pocket, Xavier pulled a small metal ring that gave off a soft red glow, and offered it to Harry. "This will take you back to Hogwarts, Harry Potter."
"But I thought it was impossible to portkey into Hogwarts!" Xavier smiled.
"Every door has a key," the old man answered in his usual infuriating manner. "Be warned, Harry Potter. Your trials will not be easy. From the moment you agreed to become an Unspeakable, your moral compass ceased to indicate true North. Take heed." As Xavier finished issuing his cryptic warning, the younger man saw the colour of the metal ring change from red to yellow, and finally to green as he felt the usual pull of a portkey.
Tracey Davis normally considered herself to be a relatively relaxed and disinterested individual, but this was not turning out to be one of the days that she could consider a success on the personality front. For over two hours she had been waiting around the corner from the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, watching the comings and goings of students as she waited for one particular one to show up. She had been preparing herself to give up and go to bed as she heard a quick but confident walk that she thought might belong to the green-eyed young man she was waiting on. Looking around the corner, she didn't see anyone in the hallway.
"Harry?" She half-whispered, hoping she wasn't going mad and someone had really been walking around there somewhere. Suddenly Harry Potter appeared out of thin air as if stepping out of an… invisibility cloak! "Where did you get one of those?"
"It was my dad's, Tracey. What are you doing here?"
"Well obviously I was waiting for you, what do you think, that I enjoy standing around here risking getting caught out past curfew?" Harry grinned despite himself.
"Never stopped me before," he chuckled quietly.
"I came to see you because… because I was worried about you. And because Daphne is too. And she's sorry about what she said." Harry's face darkened.
"And now, you're here to get the truth out of me about what I said. And maybe after that Daphne will come and apologize. Right?" Tracey considered denying what he had said, but ended up nodding slowly after meeting Harry's eyes. "Well she can forget about it. I'm not going to say anything to you if you're just going to run back to her and give her the report." Tracey's eyes widened angrily.
"Now look Harry, just because she said something in anger, doesn't mean she doesn't care about you! And for that matter, just because I'm here on behalf of Daphne doesn't mean I don't care about you, either! So if you could just step off your high horse and say something real instead of making up excuses to argue, maybe we could make peace and be better off for it!" Tracey huffed, folding her arms. Harry fought a laugh, but eventually it escaped him. Tracey looked affronted at the idea that he was laughing at her.
"I'm sorry but, you were just so adorable right there, I could kiss you." Tracey frowned, she hadn't come here for their usual flirting. Noticing her expression, Harry quickly calmed down. "Alright, Tracey, I'll answer your questions as best as I can, but you should know that I can't exactly answer everything, there are some things I just can't talk about. And I have a condition before I say anything."
Tracey raised an eyebrow, her arms still folded. "Oh?"
"You have to agree not to tell Daphne anything I say, and let me decide what to tell her and when." Tracey exhaled sharply. Was that a commitment she was willing to make, in exchange for knowing just what the hell was going on with Harry? Daphne was her best friend, but… on the other hand, the argument could be made that she was helping both her and herself in the long run by finding out more about Harry.
"Fine, I promise." And with that, she drew a deep breath.
A/N: Another chapter down, this one was fun to write as I contemplated the possibilities now that Harry is part of something potentially life-changing for him.
Feel free to include in a review or PM some ideas for what his first few assignments might be, but make sure they are unrelated to Voldemort and such. Don't be afraid to make them morally ambiguous or taxing. The Unspeakables operate above and below the law. Maybe I'll use that line in a chapter sometime. :D
Anyway thanks for reading. R&R!
Next, Chapter 22: Plot is Thicker than Water