CHAPTER – 25 - Mysterious takedown

Alicia, Hermione, and Harry spent the next week learning all about the operations and the people who made up the Department of Mysteries. Hermione was surprised at the lack of supervision of the whole department. They had no oversight at all. They did whatever the Directors thought was necessary. The Minister of Magic only made requests of them and they could help or decline as they saw fit.

Harry asked the question about how they received financing that took Alicia two days to answer. The more Hermione knew, the more she realized this entire organization was serving their own self interests and because the four directors were purebloods, it was invariable to keep the pureblood interests served best.

Within five days they had enough understanding that Harry developed a plan to take them down. The one thing that he demanded is that the four directors would be captured and taken to trial. Alicia was adamant that the general department didn't have the whole picture and could not be directed without those four in the director's chair.

At any one time there were only about fifty-five people in the department working and that most were working during the day. The fifty-five were made up of admin and researchers and would not be difficult to take down. Hermione felt that if they could find a way they should try to activate the unspeakables in small groups.

Alicia informed them that there was a system to call in teams to their ready rooms but unless they had a means to stun them immediately they ran the risk of high casualties. Harry began to smile "I know the perfect way to do this and it won't even be a problem."

Hermione grinned "Ok, I am listening Wonder boy."

"It's simple really." He started "Hermione you do an anti apparition and anti port key rune so they can't escape and a magical dampening field. We have the ready room saturated with a very quick acting sleeping gas. Once they apparated in they will have very little time to react and no magic available to counter the sleeping gas.

Hermione smiled "I do believe that is an absolutely brilliant plan."

Alicia asked "What do we do with them after they are captured?"

Harry looked at both of them "My vote is to take them to the veil room and question them. If they have not committed any big crimes then the courts will handle it. If they have, then throw them through the veil."

Hermione arched her eyebrow "I hate to say it but your plan has merit."

Alicia looked at them in shock "You can't just execute people without a trial."

Harry looked at her "Alicia we only deal in the truth and if they admit to crimes with witnesses, that is enough under the new law to punish them."

"But you can't just kill them like that." she exclaimed.

Hermione got her attention "If a director can order someone to dump one of their own in the muggle world and bind their magic, what wouldn't they do?"

Alicia listened and although she was adamantly against executions she had to agree that they were accountable to no one for far too long and most likely had committed many crimes.

Harry brought the high guard in early Monday morning and had them positioned throughout the Ministry. If anyone had noticed they would have realized that the High Guard presence was triple the size of normal.

Harry had snuck in on Sunday using his invisibility cloak and using the passwords that Alicia provided was able to scout out the entire department room by room. In the research areas he had enchanted select objects to place the employees into a deep sleep that required a parselmouth spell to undo. He put a heavy compulsion spell on it so that any employee that came within ten feet of it would have to touch it.

In the four Director's offices Harry placed the same parselmouth spell on their chairs. He then went about doing the same thing to other items within the offices. If everything worked like it should, then no director would be able to give orders or warn anybody else.

Harry had remained during the afternoon and then into the evening. He finally placed wards to alert him to anyone entering the area and transfigured a cot to sleep. The wards did not go off during the night and his alarm woke him up at 6:00 am. Harry had 21 minutes before the first Department of Mysteries employee would show up. He went to each of the unspeakable team ready rooms and activated the runes he had placed yesterday. He then did the same for the director's offices. He then went to the revolving room and waited for everyone to start their work day.

At 6:21 the first employee entered and they made their way to the research room door. Over the next hour he watched forty people enter the various doors. He had not seen one director enter as of yet. When he got to fifty people he waited five minutes and then began entering the various areas. Alicia and Hermione had joined him and they found one employee in the break room who was still conscious. They fixed that quickly much to the employee's surprise.

The High guard took each prisoner and moved them to a very restrictive magical holding cell. Eight more employees entered while they were cleaning up. They had to stun two employees' who caught them roaming the areas. By 8:21 they had fifty-eight department members in the cell. Alicia moved to the main administrative office and flipped a panel down.

She pre-recorded a message, formatted correctly and then began calling teams 1 through 20 one at a time into an emergency meeting that required they enter the department by apparating into their ready room to await further instructions. Alicia had made the emergency such that only a director could enter or advise them on the mission.

Teams one through eight complied as ordered but team nine, an older team, had apparently not trusted the Director's and had sent one member ahead before the other three entered. With no code returned the other three did not enter. The only other team that did not respond was team sixteen. It was later found out that team sixteen was actually the Director's themselves with glamours.

The director's were sent individual messages by Alicia acting as another director. The emergency code she gave was the same as all out breach was in process. Within forty-five minutes all directors were found in an enchanted sleep in their office chairs.

Harry, Hermione, and Alicia made their way to the holding cell and began to awaken them in the veil room and give them the truth serum. Disoriented, each employee was given the serum before they actually understood what had happened. Not one researcher or administrative person committed crimes, nor had any knowledge of others committing crimes. It had taken until lunch to get through these 69 employees. They were released, given the week off, and told to report to the ministry on Monday.

The teams went through the same process and what they found was astounding. A dicta quill was taking notes as the team members admitted they had done many heinous acts. Harry was kept busy the entire afternoon banishing unspeakables into the veil. Team nine was an exception to the rule and after questioning the only team member available, they decided to discuss with the team nine members before making any decisions.

The Directors, when questioned were the worst of the whole department. Three of the four were sleeper death eaters and the fourth was neutral but took no action because he agreed with the death eater philosophy. Alexander Gromander was saved for last and Alicia is the one that did most of the questioning. When she finished, she stripped him naked and bound him leaving him inches from the veil of death. When she enervated him she gave him a smile. Alex immediately tried to re establish her love for him and the fact that they had a child together. Alicia was happily pretending to accept his lies as the truth.

"Oh Alex I have waited so long to hear you say that. Will you name my son as your heir?" Alicia asked him.

Alex was caught and hesitated which was enough for both of them to realize all that his talk was a ruse.

Alicia smiled sweetly "As regent of the Devonshire house I publically call blood feud with house Gromander for the crime of binding my son's magic, binding my magic, and unlawful exiling us from the magical world."

Alex Gromander smiled "Won't work Alicia, you can't steal a house birth right that way."

Alicia smiled as she looked to the right of him at Harry "Mr. Gromander if you're thinking about the pureblood law that states she must have witnesses, you are wrong we have witnessed her call of blood feud."

"P-P-Potter… you're here?" Alex said with hesitation.

Harry came to stand besides Alicia "Oh, I am here and today we have been the instrument of the complete dismantling of the Department of Mysteries. Alicia was the key to it all. She was one of two people that had the complete knowledge of this organization."

Hermione came from around the other side "I find it extremely funny that in all your blood purist bullshit, that your need for muggle born organizational skills and your laziness, was your undoing. You gave her the knowledge to that which you claim to be superior to and she ruined all of your plans."

Harry smiled "I, Lord Harry James Potter, of the ancient and noble house of Potter, do claim that I acknowledge the blood feud of house Devonshire with House Gromander, so mote it be."

Alex became enraged "No, Potter you son of a bitch you can't do this. She is stealing my house. You can't allow this."

Alex calmed down a little "The only way to complete this and claim my house by conquest is by dueling me." Alex smiled "You have to release me and give me a weapon to defend myself."

Hermione laughed "You purebloods really are stupid aren't you? Have you ever read the rules for Blood Feud?"

"Don't be silly." Alex answered "I have been taught them from an early age. I know them as well as anyone. You have to give me the chance to defend myself."

Hermione grinned "That is correct, Mr. Gromander, the rules explicitly state that Alicia has to give you the same defense she was given by you." Alicia walked up to within inches of him and his frightened eyes.

Alicia patted his cheeks "Alex baby do you remember what team eleven required before they would obliviate me, bind my magic, and abandon me in the muggle world?"

Alex searched frantically as Alicia held up a pen for him "That my dear Alex is the defense you gave me. You wrote your orders out on parchment and signed the document. That is the entire defense you gave me but unlike you I am able to stand in your face and do this…" Alicia took the pen and stabbed him in the jugular vein. Alex struggled, gurgled, and began to bleed out the life within him.

Alicia looked at him "Goodbye you son of a bitch. Your son Thomas will carry on the Gromander house, a secondary house to the muggle Devonshire house. Alicia began laughing as she released the hold and kicked him into the veil just before the light in his eyes winked out. Alex's last thought was he had completely underestimated a muggle, an inferior human… but she was not inferior, he was and then his world went completely black.