Percy shoved the frozen blonde woman into the empty chair in the small makeshift room. Shortly after arriving at the scene, Caitlin had cast the impediment jinx and froze the woman in place. The room was small, even without Percy's large presence taking up space. Maybe five feet by five feet, with a small table and a pair of chairs. With a wave of his wand Dempsey flooded the room in light; the white walls of the small room nearly blinding as the light bounced off of them. Reaching into a pouch on his belt, Percy summoned a bottle of veritaserum into his palm. With one hand, Percy grabbed the back of the woman's head and yanked back, forcing her head up. He kept his hand on her head and with his teeth, popped the cork off of the bottle. Taking the bottle, he drained its contents down the throat of his assailant.

The effect of the potion was nearly instantaneous, with her eyes glazing over. Roughly releasing his hold on her, Percy re-corked the bottle and replaced it in his pouch with a mental note to refill it later. Hand still in the pouch, he commanded the enchanted bag to give him a pair of manacles he kept within. Feeling the cold metal collide with his hand, he pulled the restraints free and grabbed the wrists of the frozen woman. After cuffing her wrists together, he attached the restraints to a chain in the middle of the table.

Marching around to the other side of the table, Percy nodded at Dempsey who, with another wave of his wand, released the woman from the spell. With a quick look at Dempsey, the man nodded that Caitlin and Freeman were in the monitoring room, and the recording had started. Percy turned his attention back to their captive,

"What is your full name and date of birth?" He asked, putting some growl into his voice as he did so,

"Emily Patricia Atkins. Born May 12, 1989." Atkins responded, her voice, surprisingly gentle and utterly monotone.

"What is your profession?" he asked,

"Auror for the Ministry of Magic,"

Percy nodded, that matched the identification they had found on her person after she had been immobilized.

"Who sent you after me?" Percy demanded,

"I do not know," was her monotone reply,

Percy's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean, 'you don't know'?" he asked frustrated,

"I do not know who issued the mark. MacTavish was the squad leader. He was given the assignment but did not tell us who issued the order."

Percy growled, but closed his eyes and tried to steady himself, after a moment he released a wavering breath and asked, "Ok, why were you targeting me?"

"MacTavish said that you were a potential threat to the political stability of England and that you were working with others to orchestrate a plot against the Minister."

Percy narrowed his eyes dangerously. That was troubling on a number of levels, but also told him plenty. There were only a handful of people who knew who he even was in England, and almost all of them had been at the trial that morning. However, there were only a handful of people with the power or influence at the ministry to issue warrants to aurors and even fewer had that authority and were also in that courtroom. First in his mind was the minister, especially given the description of Percy by Atkins. In his initial file briefings of the man, Percy had seen that Fudge had been growing more and more paranoid. He had been issuing more executive orders, granting his office more power and authority over previously fairly autonomous departments. Specifically, he had established, with support from the Wizengamot, near full control over the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Previously, the director of that department ruled with full dictatorial control, able to do whatever, whenever, and with whomever, the director saw fit. However, in the last several months, all arrest warrants, claims, and other important duties of the department had to be run directly through the office of the minister. It allowed him to fully pursue any potential subversives to his rule. It was a common enough tactic, one Percy himself had seen in several Latin American countries not long ago.

And given how he had attempted to push Harry through a kangaroo court to have him expelled from Hogwarts, maybe even pushing for full arrest, he believed that Harry was part of this "Grand Conspiracy" against him.

He briefly considered Madam Bones, but dismissed it quickly. Percy had been monitoring the woman closely during their meeting. By focusing his will on the blood of a person, Percy had learned to hone in on the heart, in particular on how fast it was beating; this told him or rather gave him a clue as to whether someone was lying or hiding something. It wasn't perfect, but in a calm setting like the one they had been in it had worked well enough. Bones had not lied or misled him in the slightest during their discussions.

Filing the information away to be considered later, Percy refocused.

"MacTavish was your squad leader; did he often get these types of shadow assignments for your squad?"

"Yes," Atkins replied, she hadn't blinked since the potion took effect and honestly it was unnerving as hell, "In the last three months we have carried out twenty-two unsanctioned warrants of arrest and detainment against dangerous political extremists threatening the stability of the ministry."

Percy blinked, that was…unexpected, "Where the hell did they go once they were arrested?" Dempsey blurted out from Percy's side, "Bones sure as hell wouldn't have tolerated bogus warrants. No matter how tied her hands were."

"Don't know what happened to them" she answered, "Just dropped em off where we were told and left."

Percy sighed in exasperation and rubbed at his face tiredly. If Fudge was targeting political subversives for disappearance then things had progressed more quickly and more dangerously than they had anticipated.

"And I'm guessing you don't know the name of the person or person's issuing these orders?" Percy asked, hand still in his face.

"I do not." was the monotone reply,

"Ok…" Percy said slowly, trying to think of how to coerce any kind of an answer of a beneficial nature from the woman. He was interrupted in his thinking, however, by Dempsey,

"Was there anyone you could think of, close to the Minister, that MacTavish would have been meeting with, or seemed especially subservient to?"

"Dolores Umbridge." Was the immediate response, and Percy shot his associate an appreciative nod,

"Who is she?" Percy urged, even as the name seemed to ring a bell of familiarity in his mind,

"Junior Undersecretary to the Minister." she said, and suddenly, an image flashed in Percy's mind of the toad-faced woman from the courthouse. The only person to vote against Potter. The one to continually push back against him and Sarah's slew of evidence.

"What was MacTavish's relationship with her?" Percy pressed

"Once a week for an hour, he would meet with her in private. I do not know what the discussed, but usually shortly after those meetings he would have our next warrant."

"Wait…" Percy stopped her, "You said that you didn't know who was issuing the orders, it sure as hell sounds like you did, and for that matter, it sounds like MacTavish didn't want you knowing about these meetings. How did you know who he was meeting with?"

"You asked me if I knew, I did not know. All I know is that he would meet with Umbridge and then we'd have a new warrant." Percy rolled his eyes. Fucking magic and its annoying habit of taking everything hyper literally. Since she had no solid proof of the source of the warrants, she didn't technically 'know' as far as magic was concerned. "And I knew about the meetings because I was curious. He would disappear every week and nobody knew anything. So, I disillusioned myself and followed him." Atkins continued, she opened her mouth like she was going to continue, but then for the first time she blinked. The cloudiness over her gaze began to rescind, and the stiffness of her posture began to relax a bit.

Percy had to commend her, the ICW employed some of the best potions brewers on the planet, and the veritaserum they created was the most potent of any Percy had ever come across. To be able to throw off the effects of the potion spoke volumes of the woman's willpower and likely occlumency training to some degree.

Almost as soon as her muscles relaxed, they stiffened again and she tugged on her restraints, "Who the hell are you people?" she snarled, "Do you have any idea just who it is you're fucking with?"

Percy chuckled darkly, "You have that reversed miss Atkins," he said, before leaning forward so that he was a few inches from her. "The real question you should be asking, is do YOU have any idea who you have fucked with?"

She snarled, and spit in Percy's face.

Or at least, she tried to.

Before the saliva could impact Percy's cheek, it stopped in the air. Atkins stiffened in her seat, her eyes darting over to Dempsey, but his wand was currently sheathed and his arms were crossed over his chest. Her gaze shifted back to Percy, her eyes widening slightly in fear, just before the spit redirected in smacked her square between the eyes.

She recoiled in shock, and tried to raise her hands to wipe the spittle off her face, but her manacles restrained her movement. She leaned away, slinking back into her chair. Wandless magic, as far as many contemporary wizards understood it, was incredibly difficult to learn and harder to master. While Percy was no wand waver by any means, his little demonstration worked to cement his position as powerful, and not a man to be trifled with. Which to be fair, was an accurate assessment.

"Let me put this simply, I have more veritaserum I can shove down your throat to make you talk, but it's expensive and time consuming to make, and I don't feel like filing out a resupply form just yet. So, we're going to have a frank discussion, and you're going to be honest with me, because if you aren't…well…I can get creative." Percy said, as the spit slowly worked its way down the woman's face, and over the bridge of her nose.

His statement was a lie. He didn't torture, and the US government and the ICW, as of the last few years, had outlawed the practice entirely. Beyond which, Percy was simply not comfortable using pain as a means of acquiring information.

"Your Ministry has put you in a lose-lose situation, did you know that?" There was no response from the woman, who was now shaking slightly, "Umbridge, if she really was the one who issued the warrant, did not tell you who I was, not really anyway." Percy fished in his pocket for a moment, before withdrawing his identification. Opening the case, he slid it across the table so that it was sitting open in front of Atkins, for her to read.

"My name is Special Agent Percy Jackson, United States Department of Special Investigations and an acting Agent of the International Confederation of Wizards." If the woman had been scared before, she was beyond petrified now. The penalty for attacking or attempting to inflict harm on official ICW agents was severe.

Execution.

Most member nations of the ICW opposed the policy. On more than one occasion member nations had attempted to forward international legislation altering the penalty, however each time the bill was defeated before it could even reach the floor of the chamber. The simple fact of the matter was, in spite of the barbarity of the practice, the agents of the ICW were the foremost defense their world had against mortal discovery. As a result, most nations felt that the security for their world meant the protection of the enforcement arm of the Confederation. It was a strange stance, given the Confederation's feelings towards torture but honestly Percy didn't like to get himself involved in international politics.

"So," Percy cut across the woman's violent shaking, "I would suggest that you tell me everything I want to know." Percy leaned in again so that he was mere inches from the woman's nose, "Starting with the delightful miss Umbridge; and maybe, just maybe, you won't swing for this."

BREAK

"We are very rapidly losing control of our situation here." Freeman said a few hours later, as Percy closed the door behind him to the small conference room they were utilizing as their operations center.

"I would disagree on that." Percy said, pulling out a chair and plopping down next to Caitlin, "This Umbridge woman has a pair of brass ones on her, but even she isn't dumb enough to try anything more after it comes out that her aurors are missing."

"How do you figure that?" Dempsey asked, while in the middle of pouring himself a glass of water at a nearby sink, "The way I see it, she's tried to have you killed twice in matter of a month. I see no reason why she wouldn't try for a third."

Percy just smirked at the man, "Because starting tomorrow, I'll be working with British Department of Magical Law Enforcement as an international liaison on the curious case of Sirius Black. She's bold, but she is nowhere near bold enough to try something in the heart of the damned Ministry,"

"If she's even really the one who's pulling the strings here," Caitlin commented. It was a fair point, and one that Percy had already considered. While the evidence was certainly stacked against the woman, they did not have concrete proof of any real wrongdoings. A series of very suspicious coincidences? Sure, MacTavish had been meeting with her in secret on a weekly basis before being issued secret, non-sanctioned government hits on political opponents. Atkins had also informed them that Umbridge was the largest and loudest supporter of the Minister, and was an unwavering supporter of the Pure-Blood movement.

"That's a fair point, but ultimately it's moot. We aren't here to find out why someone at the Ministry is trying to put a hit out on me, we're here to stop an egomaniacal freak from trying to take over England." Percy said, crossing his arms, "Now, as you know, I met with Madam Bones today after the hearing. She's on the up-and-up and she's on board. We'll be bringing in three of her aurors who are also members of the Order to begin working on our surveillance operations. I've also enlisted the help of Black and he's working on some things on his end for me."

Percy paused briefly to take a sip of his coffee, and rub tiredly at his eyes, it had been a while since he last had a good night's sleep. "Like I said, the three aurors will be taking over the surveillance jobs. Figure I'll have two of them begin running down the list of known Death Eaters and start scoping out locations, businesses and the like. We'll be having the third begin compiling a list of potential Death Eaters based on the psychological profile we've had put together." Percy then turned to look at Caitlin, "I understand that you have a Mastery in charms, is that correct?" the woman hesitantly nodded, "Good. I want you to begin combing through any and all available information on the night Harry supposedly defeated Riddle. I don't care what anyone says, a one-year old could not have been able to beat one of the most accomplished wizards of the last century."

"That's a pretty tall ask Percy…" Caitlin said, sounding very unsure, "I have no idea how I would even begin to go about looking into that. I would need to know the kind of charms and defenses that the Potter's had on their home, what kind of protection magics they were using, that's before we even begin to consider what they might have done without anyone even knowing about it. They were in hiding after all."

Percy just nodded, before reaching into the pouch on his belt and withdrawing some documents, sliding them across the table, he said to his fellow agent, "That's why I took the liberty of doing a little digging of my own. I asked around the Order, and supposedly Lily Potter was a bit of charms mistress in her own right. She had a particularly close relationship with Filius Flitwick, I made some calls and you'll be having an interview with him tomorrow night, at the Leaky Cauldron outside Diagon Alley."

Caitlin just stared blankly at Percy for a minute before nodding her head very slowly. Percy had indeed been far from idle. In between running go between for the order and the ICW, the trial, and everything else, Percy had been extending his roots in the British magical community, trying to establish contacts and forge potentially beneficial relationships.

"Okay…" Caitlin said as her brain began to process, "But what is looking into what happened that night supposed to help us knock off the bad guy?"

Percy shrugged, "I don't know if it will to be honest." he said, and the woman just stared at him blankly so he sighed and tried his best to explain his thought process, "We're flying blind here Cait," he said, "I have no idea what might or might not be helpful which means that we kick over every stone to see what's underneath it. If it's helpful, great, wonderful even. The hard work was well worth it. But in the likely event that it leads nowhere, it's still a win in my book because it means we can eliminate options and gray areas. That is what this first phase is all about, narrowing the scope, trying to bring the picture into a higher resolution because right now, everything is just a jumbled mess and we have no damn idea what we're looking at. I hope that makes sense."

Caitlin just stared at him for another few seconds before nodding.

Satisfied, Percy turned his attention away from Caitlin and addressed Dempsey, "You'll be working with the Brits in the field. Bring 'em in, and show 'em how we do things. I want names, businesses, known associates. I want to know the who, what, where and when of anyone dealing with the Death Eaters. I want you to know their schedules better than they do. If these mother fuckers are having sex I want to know with whom and in what godsdamned positions."

Dempsey snorted at that but nodded all the same, "Easy enough," he grunted out.

Finally Percy addressed Freeman, "I need you to start putting feelers out there, see if any of the people we start digging up have friends or allies overseas or out of the country. We know that Riddle is reaching out to vampires, werewolves and giants, but I have a feeling he isn't going to stop there. Put a list together and start figuring out likely private contractors that Riddle would go after. With what he wants to accomplish, the pure-blood population of Britain is too small to do anything with, he's going to need to reach out."

Freeman nodded her understanding, "What will you be doing while we're working here?" she asked,

"I'm going to be looking into soul magic."

That comment stilled the room. As taboo as some magics were, soul magics were considered universally to be considered some of the darkest and most heinous. "Excuse me?" Freeman said, looking stunned, "I don't think I heard you right."

"No, you did. Soul magic. I'm going to be looking into it." Percy replied as he began flitting through a series of files on the table in front of him,

"Why…" Freeman started slowly, her voice developing a hard and dangerous tone, "Why in the hells would you look into the single most dangerous and outlawed forms of magic there is?"

Percy stopped what he was doing and looked back up at the woman, "A couple of days ago I was driving back from London when I had a thought. When Riddle died there was no body discovered, no sign of him. All that was left of the house that night were the bodies of Lily and James Potter, and baby with a new scar. From the report Dumbledore gave the Confederation after the death of Quirinus Quirrell, we know that a shade of Tom Riddle had attached itself to the back of Quirrell's head. What is a shade?" the question was rhetorical, "It's a dark manifestation of a mortal soul trapped in our plane of existence. Unable to pass on. So, here is my thought, Riddle died that night; whatever happened when he tried to kill Harry backfired and killed him instead. But it didn't, it didn't because Riddle had done something. He had done something to prevent his soul from passing on."

"How can you be so sure it was his soul?" Freeman questioned,

Percy raised a brow, "Aside from the fact that Dumbledore was insistent that Riddle had taken the form of a shade? Well, here's the thing about mortality; the human body is little more than a glorified carrying case for the soul. It's what keeps the soul anchored to this reality, keeps it on the mortal plane. When the body, the containment device, expires, then that soul no longer has something that keeps it tethered to this plane. It is meant to move on. However, there are those who cannot do that, according to legend, souls that cannot make the journey to the other side take the form of a shade. And if all of that isn't evidence enough, then the ritual he needed Harry for back in June tells me, that he found a way to transfer his soul back into a new body."

"Wait," said Caitlin waving a hand, "So if shades are human souls that are unable to pass on to the neverafter, how do you explain ghosts?"

"They're not actual manifestations of the soul, they're echos," said Percy simply. He understood why they were having a difficult time understanding this. When Nico first tried to explain the difference a few years ago, every word of it had gone over Percy's head, but eventually it had started to make sense.

"Ghost's are an echo of a soul that has passed on, usually because as a mortal is attempting to make their crossing, they feel so strongly that they have unfinished business left on the mortal plane, that they leave behind a trace of themselves. It's very different than a shade." Percy explained,

"So," Freeman began, "You believe that Voldemort used some form of soul magic to keep himself tethered to this plane of reality, in the event that his body was destroyed?"

Percy happily snapped his fingers at the woman, a big smile on his face, "Exactly!" He exclaimed happily. Proud that someone had caught on to what he had been trying to say, "So, I'm going to start looking into that, I have some old friends stateside who should one able to help."

"I'm sorry," Dempsey interrupted, "Not that this theoretical discussion on astral projections hasn't been fascinating, but how is it in any way relevant to what we're doing right now?"

"You really think that now that Riddle has a new body, he won't do the same thing he did last time? That he won't try and double down or even do something greater? He screwed up once and it cost him; Riddle is insane and arrogant as hell but there's a reason he's as powerful as he is. He does learn from his mistakes and I guarantee he won't leave himself unprotected. As soon as we know how he's protecting himself, we can begin planning to either reverse or cancel what was done." Nobody had much to say after that.

Percy sighed, and rubbed at his eyes again, he needed to make some calls. Checking his watch however, it was getting late and it had been a long day for all of them. Him in particular. Looking back up, he addressed the now sullen room, "Alright, let's call it for today. Get some shut eye and get started in on the work tomorrow morning. I have business at the ministry to attend to and some calls to make on my end." he then turned his attention back to Freeman, "Think you can get me a portkey back to the states for tomorrow evening, around seven?" he asked, "I'm going to make some inquiries with an old friend of mine that should hopefully help us expedite my research into soul magic."

Freeman looked taken aback by the comment but nodded, "I should be able to have something put together."

Percy nodded his thanks before dismissing the team, packing up his things, and heading out of the pizzeria.

It had been a long day, and tomorrow would be even longer.

BREAK

"We need to talk," Percy said, not wasting any time as he strode into the office of Amelia Bones the following morning.

"Hello to you too Agent," was her very dry reply, not even bothering to look up from the paperwork she was working on.

"Seal the room." he said, and that did catch her attention, she looked up from her work, her eye narrowing behind the monocle on her face as she studied him. Then, without another word, she drew her wand and touched the tip to the same rune she had used the day before.

After the now familiar feel of magic, Percy spoke without further preamble, "Four of your aurors followed me last night. Tried to jump me at a rest area just outside the city. Two of em, MacTavish and Gillian are dead, Emmerson is currently in an offsite holding area as our healers try and fix her shattered spine and Atkins is in our custody."

A beat.

A blank stare.

A very deep, and very slow exhale.

"Ok," said the director slowly, her otherwise calm demeanor betrayed by the shaking anger in her voice, "Please explain,"

"After interrogating Atkins, it would appear that there are parts of your ministry that are taking a more active role in ensuring that Fudge maintains his recent political acquisitions."

Her calm facade collapsed as she exploded in anger and exasperation, "Quit with the damned games and speak plainly!" She roared, a vein on the side of her neck pulsing.

Had Percy been another man, he would have been intimidated, but he had faced down more terrifying foes than the director of Britain's pseudo police force. "Fine," he said "We interrogated Atkins, according to her, MacTavish was meeting with Dolores Umbridge at least once a week. Shortly after their meeting, MacTavish would return with an official arrest warrant. The squad would mount up, find their target, kidnap them and deliver them to a predetermined location. I haven't had the time yet to look into the names we received but I wouldn't be surprised if the people being targeted were members of the ministry that were outspoken critics of Fudge or the administration."

Bones stared at him. She didn't say anything she just stared at him. Reaching down, she withdrew the same bottle of firewhisky they had shared the day before. Instead of grabbing glasses again, she merely uncorked the bottle and tipped it back into her mouth. She took several long, deep, pulls from the bottle before pulling it away. Setting in down on the desk, the director turned her head away from her desk before belching loudly, a stream of magical fire escaping her as she did so.

"Driving me to drink is what you're doing," she muttered, more to herself than to Percy. "How reliable do you think this is?"

He shrugged, "Fairly, Hard to lie under the influence of Vertisaserum after all." He paused for a moment to think over his next words, "That being said, we got nothing concrete. All of the evidence so far is fairly circumstantial. The only real evidence we have is that MacTavish and Umbridge were meeting, shortly before the hits took place. Suspicious as hell? yes, enough to prosecute? Absolutely not. I can have my people forward what we have on the first attack-"

"First attack?" she interrupted hotly,

"Oh," Percy said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck, "Guess I forgot to mention the part where I got jumped by hit-wizards the night of the dementor attack."

"You did," Bones ground out through gritted teeth.

He raised his hands in a placating gesture, "I promise you; it was not on purpose! I have had to deal with a lot recently and I genuinely forgot. Point is, I got jumped, took care of the ambushers, and we followed a money trail that went nowhere."

Bones just rubbed at her face, and waved a dismissive hand at the man, "Just make sure I get a copy of everything you have so far." Percy nodded and allowed the woman a few moments to try and collect herself. When she was a bit calmer, she shifted gears slightly,

"You think that Voldemort has Fudge in his pocket?" she asked,

Percy shook his head which seemed to surprise her, "Fudge is no Death Eater, he's slimy and dirty but the only person he is subservient to is himself."

"Then why bother telling me this?" she asked,

Percy shrugged, "Like I said yesterday, this is a partnership. I want us to have open and honest communication, it's the only way that this relationship will work. Unfortunately, we don't really have the resources or the manpower to be able to help out much but if you need anything ask and we can at least try."

She nodded her appreciation at his words, "As much as I appreciate that, it doesn't change the fact that members of my ministry are not only targeting you, but are also targeting British citizens. This is something we need to take care of."

Percy nodded, "I agree with you," he said, "But our operation is small, and to be perfectly honest we have bigger fish to fry at the moment. If you want to look into this, unfortunately you'll have to it on your own for now."

She glared at him, "You have been targeted by these people twice now, you would be foolish to think that they would stop now."

Percy shook his head, "They might, they might not, ultimately it doesn't matter or concern me. I can handle whatever it is they have to throw at me. And like I said, we have too many other priorities at the moment than dealing with rogue elements within the ministry."

"I still don't know understand why you don't think that these aren't the actions of Voldemort. If he really is biding his time and trying to garner strength both in and out of Britain, wouldn't the Minister be the first person you would target for control? I have it on very good authority that Lucius Malfoy is a personal advisor to the minister, and I'm sure I don't need to remind you which team Malfoy plays for."

"You're right," Percy agreed, "It is entirely possible that Malfoy has imperioused Fudge and is currently forcing his actions. I just don't think so, when victims are under the effects of the imperius curse, they lack the more expressive emotions. I don't know what you were watching in that courtroom yesterday but it sure didn't look to me like Fudge was having a difficult time controlling his emotions."

Bones snorted but couldn't exactly refute the point,

"If you want to keep an eye on him though, I can add Fudge to the list of candidates we have, I just think it'll be a waste of time. Like I said, Fudge is loyal to Fudge, nobody else."

Bones sighed and rubbed at her temples, "You're going to drive me into the dirt before Voldemort ever has a chance to, I just want you know that."

"I tend to have that effect on people," Percy said in understanding, before nodding his head towards the door, "I think it's time we make some introductions."

Bones nodded, replacing the bottle of firewhisky in the desk before standing up and striding to the doorway, Percy on her heels. They stepped out into the bullpen of the department and Bones raised her wand and fired a shot into the air that sounded like a starting pistol. All at once, all noise in the department ceased. Conversations ended, and those who were flitting between desks or compiling paperwork immediately stopped what they were doing and directed their attention towards their department head.

Clearing her throat, Bones spoke loudly, "Alright people, got some important announcements, this," she gestured at Percy, "Is special agent Percy Jackson, from the American Department of Special Investigations." As she spoke, Percy kept a watchful eye on the gathered aurors. Just because he knew that he couldn't afford to divert resources towards uprooting the corruption in the ministry, didn't mean he couldn't begin compiling his own notes for later use. The way he figured it, MacTavish and Atkin's squad would not be the only group of moles within the department, there were sure to be others. Even if he didn't think that Fudge's administration was in league with Riddle, it didn't mean that there weren't sympathizers or Death Eaters already planted and actively working against the cause.

"Agent Jackson," continued Bones, unaware of Percy's internal monologuing, "Will be joining us for the foreseeable future. The American Magical Congress is lending him to us to aid in the search for Sirius Black. I expect you all to be welcoming and hospitable towards our guest for the duration of his stay with us."

Percy caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Shifting his focus slightly, he turned his gaze and watched as an older man, maybe in his early forties, was furiously writing something down on a blank piece of parchment. Percy tuned out the rest of whatever Bones was saying, his attention now directly square on the man writing the letter. The man finished a few more lines, before he hastily grabbed his wand, and tapped it to the letter. The parchment folded itself into a neat little paper airplane, before it zoomed out of the department. The man watched the memo disappear, before he turned his attention back to Bones and Percy, but froze when Percy met his eyes.

As he heard Bones finish up her introduction, Percy spoke, allowing a feral and dangerous grin to play at his lips. With his eyes never leaving the man who wrote the letter, Percy said,

"Thank you, madam Bones, I very much look forward to working with you all." He channeled a little of his divine will as he spoke, and his eyes began to glow slightly. The man looked like he was about to be sick when Percy finally tore his gaze away and took in the rest of the room. Dozens of faces were staring at him curiously, ignoring them, as well as the curious look Bones was giving him, he asked her loud enough for the room to hear, "Is there a conference room where I can meet with the rest of our unit? I have some suggestions for our next course of action and would like to get to work as soon as possible."

Bones just stared hard at him for a moment before nodding her head, turning her attention away, she barked out, "Shacklebolt, you and your new squad can have Conference Room B for the remainder of the day. I want a detailed report on your next course of action on my desk first thing in the morning."

The tall dark form of Kingsley nodded his head, "Of course ma'am," he then strode forward away from the desks he had been standing by and approached Percy, his hand outstretched, "Kingsley Shacklebolt, I'm in charge of the Sirius Black task force."

Percy gripped the large man's hand firmly in his own and smiled broadly, "Pleased to meet you," he released the grip and gestured around the auror, "Lead the way." Kingsley nodded, gesturing to Tonks and a witch Percy didn't recognize to follow him.

Kingsley led them into a fair-sized conference room. The inside was sparse save for a single, circular table in the center of the room, several decent looking chairs, and a chalkboard. Kingsley held the door as they all filed into the room, shutting the door behind him as he walked in after them. As soon as the door was closed, Percy raised a single finger to his lips in a gesture to all not to speak.

Reaching into his coat pocket, Percy withdrew a single piece of chalk and walked over to the door. With a few deft strokes, he drew a rather intricate series of runes on the doorway. Turning around, Percy then repeated the process on the three adjoining walls. It was a rather simple privacy rune, one that worked with divine magics as well as the type employed by wand wavers. Lou Ellen had shown him how to draw and use the runes some time ago, shortly after he had first been approached to join the DSI.

The process itself only took a few minutes, and his companions in the room allowed Percy to finish his work undisturbed. When the final rune was drawn, Percy walked back over to the rune on the door, pressed his palm to it, and channeled some of his divine power into it. The rune flashed blue for a moment, and the three others lit up at the same time.

"Sorry about that," said Percy turning back to the room, "But now we can speak without worry." He turned to the unknown witch, a tall and attractive dark-haired woman, maybe only a few years older than him. High-cheek bones on an angular face gave her the attractive look of a woman more befitting the aristocracy than a glorified beat-cop.

Extending his hand out to her, he smiled, "We haven't met yet, Percy Jackson, pleasure to meet you."

She smiled back at him, gripping his hand firmly, "Hestia Jones, I've heard a lot about you,"

Percy laughed, "I assure you, it's all true," he said, and she chuckled back. Percy then gestured to open chairs around the table. The assembled wand wavers took the hint and all grabbed a seat.

"Now," Percy began, taking his place at the forefront of the table, "I assume we all know why we're here?" he asked unnecessarily, but the others nodded all the same. "Good, unfortunately, before we begin there is a bit of housekeeping that we need to take care of." Percy folded his hands on the table as he looked each person in the eye in turn. "I need you all to be well aware of the risks involved in what we're doing." Percy closed his eyes as he thought over his next words carefully, when he opened them again, he saw that he had the rapt attention of the three others.

"We decided to start this international task force because we are undermanned at the moment. We have goals, and ambitions, but we could not do this alone. It was why I joined the Order in the first place. When I joined, I was under the impression that we would be taking a proactive approach in the defense of your country. I was wrong, and I believe I have made my opinions on Dumbledore's approach to the war clear."

Tonks snorted, "Bit of an understatement mate,"

Percy ignored her, "Taking a passive stance, reacting instead of acting, will not stop this madman, at least not without putting thousands of innocent lives at unnecessary risk. What we will be doing, what this task force is designed for, is a proactive role in the war. What we do will be dangerous. It will be hazardous to your health and your mental state. I will ask you to do things you will not like, and the things that we will have to do are more than likely going to make it hard to sleep at night."

Percy paused, and let his words sink in for a moment, "I will ask you to kidnap, to extort, to hurt people, and destroy private property. I will ask you to kill, I will ask you to kill a lot. In spite of what Albus Dumbledore may preach, wars are not won with honeyed words and kindness of heart. They are won by action, and by blood. The opposition has made it abundantly clear that they will murder indiscriminately to achieve their goals. We have to be prepared to do the same. We will kill. The ICW has decreed that all followers of those calling themselves Dark lords are marked for death. No trial, no judge, just execution, and we will be the hangman."

Percy stopped again and released a shaky breath. For the first time since he had arrived here, all of sudden the gravity of what he was doing was beginning to sink in. Percy had long ago come to terms with his role in the world. In spite of what others may have tried to tell him, Percy knew exactly what he was. He was a weapon, a sword to be wielded to strike down evil. It was why he existed, why he was born. He had made peace with that, but it didn't make it any easier. Especially now, at the precipice of another war. His right hand began to shake slightly and he wrapped his left over the knuckles of his right in attempt to stem the shaking. Taking another calming breath, he looked back at the others.

"I need you to be one-hundred percent on board with all of that. To be certain that you know what you're getting into and what you'll have to do. Things will get ugly and you'll be in the thick of it. If you don't feel comfortable with any of this, just know that I will not blame you, that no one will think less of you, should you choose to walk away from all of this. This is your one opportunity, because after this, it's going to be all or nothing."

For a bit, nothing there was nothing but silence in the conference room. The three assembled aurors just looking down, deep in thought. While they had heeded the warning from Madam Bones the day before, now, with Percy sitting here, laying everything out. Suddenly everything had become very real. The threat and danger of what they were prepared to do, was very real, and for all of them, it was terrifying. They would be acting against not only the forces of Voldemort, but likely against their own ministry. The consequences for being caught would be…harsh to say the least. And that wasn't even considering what was being asked of them.

Deep down, all three knew what needed to be done. While only Kingsley was old enough to remember the last war, he had been too young to fight, but all three had heard the stories. They knew that they had lost the war, and it was only the miracle of the boy-who-lived, that caused the downfall of Britain's most dangerous wizard. They could not afford to let that happen again, to allow madness and murder to run rampant. If no one else would stand up to the threat, then they would.

Finally, after a few minutes of quiet contemplation, Percy had been kind enough to allow them to think over what he had said, Tonks spoke, "I won't speak for the others. But I know my answer." she said, her eyes glinting slightly as she made her decision, "I'll fight. I'll do whatever is necessary. Mum won't talk about what happened last time but I know, I know how bad it got. I refuse to sit on the sidelines and let other people get their hands dirty. This is my country, my home, and my problem."

"I'm in as well," said Hestia quickly, a look of resolve and determination on her face.

"I am as well." said Kingsley.

Percy smiled brightly, as the tight feeling of discomfort disappeared from his chest. He would admit to be being genuinely worried about them not being willing to do what needed to be done. He had made peace with it himself.

"I am going to have to ask all of you to make a vow that everything we say and do here will not be repeated to those outside our little circle." he said

The others nodded at that, it was something all of them had assumed was coming, "What kind of a vow?" Kingsley asked, his deep voice a rumbling murmur but still clear in the quiet room.

Percy just opened up the carrying case he had brought with him to the ministry. Withdrawing a series of papers, he dispersed them to the assembled group. On the paper was written: "I (insert name here) swear on the River Styx that I will not speak to others outside the assembled task force what we do in defense of Britain against the forces of Tom Riddle as a member of the ICW Task force. I also swear that\ I will in no way betray this group, or attempt to relay information pertaining to our actions to outside forces."

It was a bit lengthy, but Percy had learned the hard way that he needed to be specific when making vows. As he passed the paper's around, he informed the group, "This will act very similarly to an unbreakable vow, the consequences for breaking this oath are not pretty and not something that you will wish to do."

As the assembled read over the message, they began to, one by one, read the verse aloud. When they had finished, three tremendous thunderclaps rang out overhead, signaling that the oaths had been heard.

Percy smiled broadly, "Awesome, now that, that is out of the way, I can officially welcome you to the team. I can assume that you all have had the chance to look over the documents I gave to Director Bones?" he asked and the assembled nodded in affirmation, "Great," he said, clapping his hands together happily, "Let's get to work then."

He began passing out another set of files, each person began looking through the files in turn, as they were looking, Percy spoke, "Phase one of the operation is fairly simple. It will be akin to what you've already been doing with the Order but on a bigger scale." He gestured to the files on the table, "Thanks to Harry, as well as the Order's records on the last war, we have a decent idea of the who. Chances are, everyone who was marked last time, can be considered active now. We need them followed. I want addresses for their homes, getaways, hangouts. I want to know who they're meeting with, for how long, and why. Where do they do business, how are they doing their business, are they funneling money towards a war effort. All the nitty gritty. You three will be working with my colleague Teddy Dempsey. He'll give you a crash course in how we're going to be doing this." He then pointed at Tonks and Hestia, "You two will be taking the bulk of the fieldwork for right now. No offense Kingsley, but you tend to stand out in a crowd and Tonks can literally be anybody." Kingsley just nodded his understanding,

"I'll be pairing you with the head of the DSI substation Abigail Freeman, she's a vet and she knows the score so she can bring you up to speed quickly. I want the two of you working your international connections, I understand you've spent a few years abroad?"

The large man nodded, "Three years in France, a year in Germany, and half a year in Spain," he explained,

"Good, I assume you still have some connections with the locals?" Percy asked and the man tilted his head in acknowledgement, "I want you to work those, Riddle is funding an army and his forces here in Britain aren't going to be enough to take it over. Start poking around, see what kind of private contractors are suddenly off the market, you're going to be looking for large groups, you'll probably want to start in France, from my understanding that's where he drew the bulwark of his forces last time."

Kingsley grunted his ascension as he continued to pour over the files in front of him.

"Now, this will probably take a couple of months, it's time consuming but it will be useful. When we start hitting targets, I want them to be meaningful and painful. That's where the second phase will come in, after w know-" He was interrupted as there was a loud knock at the door. Without having to be asked, Kingsley cast an illusory spell over the files on the table, the contents changed to be a series of names and locations associated with Sirius Black, Hestia waved her wand and the chalkboard filled with writing. Names, dates and potential associates appeared on the board and next to it, courtesy of Tonks, a map of the globe conjured up, with red circles around 'key' locations and probable hiding places.

Percy grinned, they had made the right choice, he gave Hestia a thankful wink and strode over to the door, snapping his fingers as he did so. With a minor application of will, divine magic flooded the room, and the runes seemed to disappear.

He opened the door, standing on the other side was a man, heavier set and older and beginning to gray a bit around the temples. "Can I help you?" Percy asked,

The man thumbed over his shoulder, "Madam Bones needs to see you in her office immediately," he said,

Percy just raised a brow skeptically at the man, but rolled his eyes, "Tell her I'll be there in a minute,"

"She wants to see you now,"

"And I want six figures and peace on earth, we don't always get what we want," and he closed the door in the stuttering man's face.

Turning around, Percy strode over to his bag and wordlessly passed along a series of cards. On the cards was the address for the pizzeria and safe house the DSI and ICW were using. With one last look at Kingsley, Percy said, "Time to get to work," and strode out the door without another word, making sure to collect his things as he went.

The spluttering man he had slammed the door on was still sitting outside when Percy re-opened the door. Percy promptly ignored him in favor of making quick strides towards the director's office.

Once there, he knocked twice before opening the door without waiting for an invitation. Inside however, was not just Madam Bones, but three additional bodies. Slowly, another feral grin worked its way onto his face., as Cornelius Fudge, Dolores Umbridge, and Lucius Malfoy turned to look at him.

He could work with this.

"Well hello there Minister," Percy said, his grin widening,

"You didn't have to come all the way down here just to say hello,"

AN: Okay, so I'm very sorry for how long this took for me to get out. I just hit a wall with this and couldn't move forward, like I have a plan and key points I'm trying to get to but it's getting to those points in a fluid manner that is difficult as hell. Next chapter will introduce a woefully underutilized character as well as Percy scaring the hell out of government officials. No idea when it'll come out but it will eventually. Thanks again for all the patience, love and support, and I hope all of you stay safe during these trying times.

Love,

LilDB