Chapter 36

The residents of the Granger household were having a quite morning, they had just returned from their annual summer vacation, this time they had been to Germany. The ringing of the doorbell alerted them to the presence of unannounced guests at their door. It was Emma Granger, who answered the door with a smile, a tired smile. She was in her early forties, with little specks of grey in her hair.

"Good Morning, how can I help you?" she said in a warm voice, she might be tired, but there was no reason not to be welcoming to guests, no matter how rare it was for them to have guests, even if it was too early to come unannounced.

There was a man at the door, flanked by two young people, one a young woman and the other a man. All the people were dressed in a very professional manner and had an air of cool confidence around them. The man in the lead was dressed in a black suit with a white shirt and black tie; he looked the picture of the stereotypical spymaster from the tele. The young woman to his side didn't appear much older than her own daughter and was dressed conservatively. The other man appeared no older than thirty and appeared alert, his gaze cataloguing everything he saw.

Emma wondered who had found their way to their door, but she was soon to find out.

"Dr Granger?" the man in the lead asked.

"Yes," she confirmed her identity.

"Are you daughter and husband home?" the man asked in a rich baritone.

"Yes, but whose calling?" Emma was forced to ask.

"May we please come in? We would like to have our discussion with your daughter with your permission and in your presence," the man said and waited to be invited in.

"Please come in," Emma invited the people and called for husband and daughter.

"What's it Em? I think it would be better to call it a day at the practice," Daniel, her husband called.

"There are some people, who want to talk to Hermione, they are," Emma paused, "with the government," she finished, as the man in the lead supplied the information.

It wasn't long before Daniel and Hermione joined and all the parties were seated as Emma served tea.

"Before we begin, please sign this," the man supplied them with three folders and what Hermione thought were blood quills, "Official Secrets Act, and before anyone of you asks, we are not the MI5, but we are very much in Her Majesty's Service."

They signed the documents.

"Good, it's important to safeguard the knowledge of what we are to discuss," the man said in a faux cheery voice.

"Why would my parents need to sign this? The ministry doesn't involve parents into matters dealing with that side of things," Hermione asked.

"We are not the Ministry. We are a Department of the Ministry, that works exclusively under the direct command of the Crown. As for the need for signatures of your parents, they are your guardians and we like to keep things above board as much as possible," the man said.

"I am Saul Croaker, Director of the Unspeakable Researchers, the young lady by my side is, Penelope Clearwater, an Unspeakable Researcher and the man is Adam Carter, an Unspeakable Field Operative," the man finally introduced himself and his companions.

"We work with the Department of Mysteries and we are here to talk about the prospective employment of Miss Granger with the Department of Mysteries as an Unspeakable Researcher," Croaker came straight to the point, without beating around the bush.

"Department of Mysteries?" Dan asked.

"The Department of Mysteries is an autonomous department that answers directly to the Crown. The Unspeakable Research is responsible for the study of all past and existing magic; the Unspeakable Development is responsible for developing new magic, spells, potions, enchantments, wards, and everything you can name. The Unspeakable Field Operatives are responsible for acting on behalf of the Crown, they guard the royal family against magical threats and take part in operations of military nature at the authorisation of the Crown," Croaker said in a measured tone.

"There isn't much information about the Department in any of the books," Hermione commented.

"Because we don't want any information to be there," Croaker supplied without hesitation.

"But, you seem pretty forthcoming with these pieces of information," Daniel said with his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Dr Granger, we want your daughter to join us and we need your consent for that, by the ancient laws governing us, we need an informed consent," Croaker informed them in a tone as if expecting that question.

"Ancient laws?" Emma couldn't stop herself, while she wasn't as inquisitive as her husband and their daughter; she was inquisitive all the same.

"We were founded roughly around the time of Hogwarts by Lady Ravenclaw. The founders couldn't come to an agreement, whether the school should be established with the patronage of the royals of the time. Lady Ravenclaw believed that it should, but the lands on which the school was built were provided by Salazar's family and he was of the view that muggles should be kept out of the affairs of witches and wizards. There was a schism between the two, but in the end, Lady Ravenclaw relented and established an Order of witches and wizards, who were beholden to the royal family governing the Isles and their duty lied in the defence of the realm. Since then we have evolved, but we remain a voluntary organisation," Croaker finished, as he sipped his now cold tea.

"That's not mentioned in the Hogwarts A History," Hermione complained.

"It has nothing to do with Hogwarts and we strive to keep information regarding us beyond the reach of the majority," Croaker answered.

"Why?"

"If the vast majority of the wizarding populace realises, how beholden we are to the Crown, there will be anarchy. The royals don't have magical blood and there are many, who won't like the idea of being subservient to the muggles, especially when we all are aware of the medieval witch hunts as they form a large part of the history curriculum in our schools. There are twenty-one ennobled houses on the Wizengamot, who share similar oaths as us and have hereditary seats to govern the Isles in name of the Crown, while there are twenty-six elected members, whose oaths are to rule for the benefit of the magical populace. Do your maths," Croaker answered.

"But, they live on the Isles, aren't they all subjects of the Crown?" Daniel asked as he tried to wrap his head around the impromptu lesson.

"Those who work for the ministry, they are, but the oaths of fealty are such, that they create large loopholes. If there was a royal pronouncement, many families supporting Voldemort would be forced to choose, whether to keep supporting him or face the loss of royal patronage. It is not done, because, many of the ennobled families provided financial support and do not join as active combatants. We fear that if the Queen was to issue a command, it would force more people in the arms of the madman and we will have a large-scale civil war. Most of the conflict is contained and remains on our side of the fence, with a little spill over onto the other side, but if the Queen was to be involved, it might degenerate into muggles versus wizards, and we do not want that," Croaker said in a tone, that conveyed, that he wished, that his audience understood what he was getting at.

"What about the ICW?" Hermione asked.

"They will never get involved in a civil war, as long as the Statute of Secrecy is preserved," Croaker's tone indicated that he didn't want to go down that road, therefore Hermione and her parents dropped it.

"Now, as to your prospective employment, the reason for which we are here today, we would like you to consider the offer. Should you accept the offer, you will study magical theory in our library under a mentor, who would guide you through your initiation. Once you are deemed adequately versed in the theory, you will choose a field of research and work as part of a team," Croaker informed them.

"What are the qualifications to apply to the Department?" Emma asked.

"One doesn't apply to the Department; the Department comes for you," Penelope said for the first time in a tone as if she had heard it said often.

"What about the UFO?" Daniel asked with a grin.

"Those with high OWLs scores, in theory, go to the Unspeakable Research, high scores in the practical get you in the UFO and a recommendation by the examiners get you into Unspeakable Development," Penelope informed them.

"From this OWL cycle, only Miss Granger is eligible for consideration," Croaker informed them.

"What about Harry? Greengrass has pretty high scores as well, and there are some in Ravenclaw," Hermione asked.

"Mr Potter, while he had the highest practical scores seen in past few generations and his theory was also nothing to sneeze at, is not eligible, even with the recommendations of all his examiners," Croaker said with an air of finality.

"Why?" Hermione couldn't stop herself.

"He is not a subject of the Crown and is unlikely to swear fealty to the Crown. He is likely to join the Mage Association and as such might not swear fealty to the Crown," Croaker informed them.

"Oh!" was all that Hermione exclaimed, not understanding the full story.

"Now, if it's alright with you, I shall leave Miss Clearwater to clear any doubts you have and answer any questions you might have," Croaker said getting up. He was a busy man and had to get back to his job, he was certain that Penelope would be able to convince them of the benefits of joining the Department of Mysteries. While it was true, that Harry Potter would have made an excellent addition to the Department, sadly that wasn't to be. Miss Granger's academic prowess would be put to better use by the Department and he hoped, that in time she would be able to move into Unspeakable Development.

XXX

Harry panted as sweat rolled down his brow. His day had been started in the similar fashion of sex, getting ready for the day and his first obstacle. He had made steady progress until lunch time, but it seemed he had hit a roadblock. He sensed there were some requisites to clear this one, but for all his efforts, he wasn't able to deduce, what he was missing. The wall to his right opened and in stepped an equally sweaty Ariana Gomez.

"Miss Gomez," Harry said in a surprised voice.

"Call me Ariana, Miss Gomez is my mother," Ariana said, as she got over her initial surprise. She had her hair in a ponytail and was dressed in a turquoise tank top, light brown shorts, calf-high boots, and tall white socks accessorised by fingerless gloves, a backpack, and a utility belt with wand holsters on either side.

"Err… you look nice," Harry commented after looking at her outfit, why she felt the need to dress like that, he had no idea, but it sure did look good. He was also glad that he was dressed; while not ashamed of his body, he had no desire to put up a show for the American witch. He had been surprised to find clothes by the bedside table after the night Mandisa had visited him.

"Thank you," Ariana said as she joined him, "How long have you been at it?" she asked.

"For about half an hour," Harry supplied, as he let the American witch study the wall, "the wall opposite this one is also warded, and there isn't a trace of magic on the walls we both came through," Harry informed her, as he followed her to the other side of the room.

"Huh," was all she said as she continued her study of the wall. She made a couple of back and forth trips and continued her study. Ariana took out a notebook and made some notes, Harry let her be, deeming it rude to intercept her and observed her in silence.

It was another half an hour before Ariana stopped and faced him.

"We need to work together to get through this room. Both of us has to work on a wall each and dispel the magic at the same time. It will require coordination and delicacy. Are you up for it?" she asked, as she handed him the notes.

A curse escaped his lips as he pursued her notes.

"Why didn't I figure it out?"

"Perhaps you were working under the assumption that you have to dispel it on your own," Ariana supplied.

"Err, I was. What about you?" Harry asked with a little sheepish smile. He hadn't considered that he might require help in getting through this one.

"After the initial examination, I figured we would need to work together. We haven't crossed paths since the first time we got here, so if we are meeting now, I assumed that it certainly must serve some purpose," Ariana explained.

"Seems like we will be working together now. The next one will be more difficult that this one and it's going to progressively get more difficult," Harry concurred and added some thoughts of his own.

"Shall we?" Ariana asked, as she made her way towards the wall, where they had first met. This meant that Harry had to go the other way.

With a gesture, they began unravelling the magic keeping them enclosed.

XXX

Harry and Ariana were sharing a meal after a hard day's work. The last obstacle had pushed them to the limit. Apart from the tiring aspect of the whole day, the flooding of the chamber hadn't helped them, while trying to work around the room's enchantments.

"I won't be sharing the bed," Ariana said, indicating to the single bed the room held.

"I wasn't expecting you to. You should take the bed, I will conjure a mattress," Harry said, as he had already considered their predicament. The room had only provided a single bed and Harry thought it was the gentlemanly thing to do, to let the lady have the bed.

"Why would you do that? You are as tired, if not more, as I am," Ariana said as her eyes narrowed.

"Err…" Harry stopped himself before he could state his reasons. He didn't think it would sit well with his companion, should he say that because she was a woman and he was doing the gentlemanly thing.

"Is it because I am a woman?" Ariana asked, correctly guessing Harry's reason, not that she knew that she was right and Harry wasn't going to tell her that she was.

"No, I am used to an uncomfortable sleeping arrangement," Harry answered swiftly, he had been thinking of an excuse, as soon as he had realised, that his initial response wasn't going to go down well with the American witch.

"Let's flip a coin. Should I win, I shall take the bed and use the bathroom first, should you win, you get the idea," Ariana said as she took out a coin.

"Heads," Harry called as she flipped the coin.

"Take the bed for tonight, tomorrow it will be my turn," Ariana said in a displeased, but a firm voice.

Harry made to offer her the bed, but one look from the witch convinced him otherwise.

XXX

The next morning they were eating breakfast in silence. After Ariana had come back from the attached bathroom, food had appeared on the table.

"You two made remarkable progress, better than many had expected," a not so unwelcome voice broke the silence.

"Cleopatra," Harry welcomed the witch and with a gesture invited her to sit. He conjured a chair for her at the table. Over the duration of his stay, he had gotten quite adept at conjuring and other forms of magic. He hadn't even realised it, but the continuous use and dependence on magic had helped develop his magical talents by leaps and bounds and it had happened without him realising, or even making a conscious effort.

"Always the gentleman," Cleopatra commented with an amused smile.

"I had hoped that putting you two in a room with one bed would have led to some interesting results, but perhaps it was too much to hope for. Never mind, next time you will have a room with two beds and a partition," Cleopatra said, as she gave Harry a lecherous grin leaving no doubt as to the interesting results she had hoped for.

"That would be appreciated," Ariana said.

"So, from now on, you two will have to work as a team. While magic allows for a great many things, it is an important lesson to learn to work as part of a team. It would not do, to have magi as powerful as yourselves, to be unable to work well with others," Cleopatra said to the two of them.

"Also, you will need to research to be able to get around the next obstacles. Therefore, whenever there is a need for it, a door shall appear leading you to the library. Make full use of the facilities of this ancient institution," Cleopatra said, as she picked up a sandwich from Harry's plate and took a bite.

"I had wanted to ask when we will be allowed into the library until now all I have done is hop around hoops and while it had been quite a challenge sometimes, it would be a shame to not access the library," Ariana said without pause.

"Everything happens here in its due time," Cleopatra said, getting up.

"Good luck with the rest of the tasks, your journey might be coming to an end soon, but it still is a long way to go," Cleopatra said as she disappeared the way she had come.

"Shall we?" Ariana asked, as she too prepared to leave. Harry followed suit and they were soon on their way to the next room.

XXX

They had been studying the enchantments in the room for the past hour and were no closer to dispelling them. The door to the library hadn't appeared and Harry didn't think it was going to. The past week had been tiresome and he was glad that he had company to help him break some of the enchantments. Some of the rooms had put them through a wringer; flooding, frigid temperature, swamps, heat, fire and everything in between and beyond had been thrown at them. Somehow they had managed to come this far, but this room had them stumped. They had difficulties before, but whenever they had hit a roadblock a door would appear and lead them to the library. The library was quite extensive and it took a little time to get used to it, but somehow they had managed. They had often used the opportunity to visit the library, as a break of sorts and had researched on topics not really concerned with the problems at hand. This time, however, there was no such door and they didn't know what it would take to break the extensive magic around the room. There was a door, and they had figured out that it was the one, that would unlock, once they worked out a solution to get out of the room.

"This doesn't make any sense," Ariana threw her hands up in the air in frustration. She looked a little haggard, not that Harry was going to say that to her face, as he didn't have any room to talk about appearances.

"No, it doesn't. And there is no door, so whatever it's going to take us to break open the door, doesn't require us to visit the library," Harry shared her frustration.

"Congratulations. You two have made remarkable progress to come this far. In the past three weeks, you had been here, you have come a long way from the novices you were," a voice reverberated throughout the chamber and seemed to come from all sides.

"You can't find a way to escape this room because there is no way out, save one of you walking out and the other staying behind. Success is the option as failure might mean death or loss of liberty," the voice said in an ominous tone.

Harry hadn't gotten over the surprise of hearing those words when he had to roll out of way of a spell sent towards him, courtesy of his companion of the past week.

"You heard what she said," Ariana said as a way of apology, "It thought Professor Ramirez was having me on when he said that I might very well lose my life in the quest. But, now I don't think he was."

Harry cursed Dumbledore for not giving him any information; he conveniently forgot that he was the one, who didn't ask the old headmaster any questions. In an instant his wand was in his hand, a disarming charm followed by a stunning spell, leaving his wand in quick succession. His opponent shielded against his spells and returned fire. Harry's face split into a grin as he deflected her attack. He looked around the room, to see if he could transfigure something, but he needn't bother, there wasn't anything.

Ariana's casting was fluid and she wasn't deterred, when her spells didn't find their mark and kept on casting. Harry chose to remain on the defensive, as he was certain that the witch wouldn't be able to overpower him. He chose to dodge her spells, instead of attempting to deflect them or to shield them. Moody had beaten it into his head, that the best way to avoid a spell, was dodging it. Deflection was tricky business and shields could be overcome, it was best to be out of the spell's trajectory.

"Why are you not fighting back?" Ariana growled. Over the course of the past week, Harry had observed that his companion didn't approve of differential treatment and any behaviour that could be attributed to sexual bias didn't go down well with her. Harry didn't think he was a sexist, but if it got to her than Harry would play the part.

"You know the growling is sexy, not as sexy as your rack, though," Harry quipped with a flirtatious smile.

"Why you…" she glowered as Harry made her shield a volley of spells from his side. Really the witch made it too easy to unsettle her, but Harry wasn't playing around.

They exchanged a handful of spells and Harry realised that his opponent left a lot to be desired from when it came to her footwork. Harry who had gone against the likes of Amanda, Tonks and Moody knew how important it was to have a good sense of one's surroundings and to never stay in a fixed spot for long. Ariana was surprised when various explosive curses flew towards her and went wide, the detonation of multiple spells shook her and disturbed her balance. Harry forced her to retreat a few steps before she tried to reinforce herself.

She conjured steak knives and banished them towards Harry. Harry transfigured them in flower petals which struck him harmlessly. Any other opponent and he might have tried to banish them back and enter a contest of force, but with the witch herself being a mage, meant that he didn't enjoy the same advantage as he did against most of his sparring partners.

"Lumos, Expelliarmus, Petrificus Totalus, Incarcerous," Harry used one of his favourite tactics as he used an overpowered Lumos charm to blind his opponent and the flurry of spells meant to disarm, petrify and bound the opponents. He was surprised when he didn't get the result that he had hoped for. A shield held firm, separating the two as Ariana blinked her eyes after the blinding flash of light.

"That's a surprise," Harry couldn't help himself from feeling impressed as he sent a jet of water towards Ariana.

"Elemental spells," Ariana observed as she sent a bold of lightening Harry's way. It was only his enhanced reflexes due to the vampire ritual, that helped Harry dodge the attack. He had to dance around for a bit as Ariana went on the offensive, but Harry knew that she wouldn't be able to hold the advantage for long. The spells, they had both found in the library, were draining and even Ariana had limits.

Harry snarled in pain, as the final bolt connected, it had chipped and didn't do much damage, but it still hurt like a bitch. His rituals gave him an advantage and where most people would have been a little more injured due to the spell, Harry shook off the results.

Ariana appeared a little smug, at having finally landed a hit.

"Are you done playing around? Or do I need to shock your system a little more," she couldn't help taunting him a little.

"I am. And forgive me for saying this, but your arse is more impressive than your rack and I am going to hand it to you on a platter," Harry growled.

His words had the expected reaction, as the witch snarled and sent a volley of spells his way. Harry danced around, his previous sparring sessions and exercise regimen had helped him build a lot of stamina and his agility had never been in doubt, Harry Hunting had seen to that. Going against her was a little like fighting a cross between Hermione and Daphne, Ariana had a spell repertoire to match his former best friend, with skill akin to his sparring partner at school. But her similarity to Daphne ended there, the Slytherin was a lot more clinical in her spell casting and rarely lost her cool. Ariana, on the other hand, was way more thin skinned and easy to rile up, there were a lot of things, that could be said and done to irk the American mage.

Harry sent conjured ice projectiles at the American witch, forcing her to dodge. The thought of Daphne had made him use one of the witch's favourite spells.

Ariana heaved heavy sighs, as she tried to regain her breath.

"This has gone on for long enough, I apologise in advance," Harry said in a calm detached tone, as he deliberately eyed her chest. He got the expected reaction, as Ariana noticed his gaze and growled in response. But before she could make her displeasure known, Harry was on the offensive and she had to cast a shield charm to hold off his attack. Harry kept on the assault, his training with the likes of Amanda, Moody and Tonks had made him a lot more proficient in spell casting, than most people his age and a lot of adult witches and wizards. Ariana stood no chance as she put everything she had in her shield. It wasn't long before she was disarmed and Harry twirled her wand, as his own went wherever it did, when Harry rendered it incorporeal.

"You make it too easy to get under your skin. Your spell repertoire is impressive, but it is no good if you can't use the correct spell at the correct time. Also, you take too much time to cast a spell and your footwork could use a little work," Harry said in the same clinical voice, that he used when critiquing Daphne and the same tone he had been subjected to at the hands of Amanda and Moody. He threw her wand back at her and made his way to the door, that had opened at the conclusion of their duel.

No sooner had he stepped away from the witch he had just bested, when a panicked cry attracted his attention. Ariana's feet were stuck to the floor, which seemed to be turning into quicksand, with her at the centre. Harry was by her side in an instant and held her, before she fell to the floor, as her balance was disturbed. The floor kept on expanding and even while Harry tried to pull her out; she got sucked into the quicksand. Soon Harry himself was in the grips of the sand and getting sucked into it. Ariana had a panicked expression, not that Harry was faring any better, but he soon got a grip of his senses. He had been in life threatening situations enough times by now, to realise that panic didn't help the matter and he needed to figure out, how to get them out of this pickle.

"Calm down, this is like any other obstacle the library had thrown at us and we need to figure out a way out of it," Harry told her, as their descent slowed. Ariana took calming a few breaths and tried forcing herself to calm down, as Harry tried to use his magic, to sense the magic around the quicksand.

As they gradually sunk deeper, Ariana joined her efforts with Harry, to help figure this one out. The two had worked well as a team and Harry was surprised at the quickness of her overcoming of the unexpected and unappreciated obstacle the room had thrown at them. They both were a little tired and the expanding quicksand made manoeuvring difficult.

"Fuck, we are so screwed," Ariana exclaimed, with a hint of panic.

"What is it?" Harry asked her.

"The quicksand isn't a result of an enchantment. It was enchanted to be the solid floor and now the enchantment is failing or more likely dispelled. It's going to take forever to enchant it back and we don't have forever," she informed him a little frantically. Didn't he just compare her to Hermione? Ariana was as brilliant as his friend and Harry was glad that she had figured it out since he was still searching for an enchantment, that was turning the floor into quicksand, not the other way round. He would have gotten there, he was sure, but he was glad that she did that first and saved them time.

"Put your arms around me and hold tight. We are getting out of this dump," Harry said in a firm voice, as he raised his wand. He was glad that she didn't question him and followed his lead without any hesitation. Harry cast an overpowered summoning charm on the door and when the door didn't budge, they started to move towards the door, as Harry still kept powering the charm.

When they came to the door it opened, Harry canceled the summoning charm, because otherwise, they would have crashed into the door, but their forward momentum carried them through the open doorway into the next depositing them on the floor in a heap, they both tried to get back to normal breathing and laid still on the ground for a while. They looked at each other and started laughing in relief.

"I didn't expect both of you to come through the door. But you shouldn't have worried, you have never been in any danger during the duration of your stay," Mandisa said, as her eyes flashed gold and both of them were cleaned of the muck that had followed them through the door.

Harry opened his mouth to retort but before he could say anything, he got an amused smile with a hint of mischief and a flash of gold. He was out like a light.

A/N: Thanks to Sirius Schleicher 95 for his help with editing the chapter.

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