Chapter 31 – Little Lies
This time last year, serious planning for the so called Golden Trio would've involved sitting around the Gryffindor common room procrastinating for several weeks until they decided to bodge something together on the fly. Fast forward to the present day the additional heads inside Grimmauld Place meant that planning something as an audacious as a day time raid on the Ministry of Magic had been reduced to a few days.
Several ideas had been rejected, Dean's idea to run in as their costumed alter egos had been quickly shot down. The Ministry was largely incompetent but the addition of several high ranking Death Eaters to the staff probably meant they would be waiting for that. Ron suggested using their new teleporters to get straight into Umbridge's office, catching her unawares. It wasn't a bad idea and after Keira checked their morphers, she they would penetrate the building without too much trouble. Eventually they disregarded that idea, certainly for their main point of attack any way. Having all six of them teleport in would create too much trouble and if they didn't get the locket the first time, it was highly likely that Umbridge would put it somewhere they couldn't get it.
That only left them with one option, a small scale infiltration. They didn't have any Polyjuice Potion so they would be relying on Dean's illusion power. The green ranger immediately paled and disappeared to a quiet area of Grimmauld Place to practice. Whilst he was doing that, the others hammered out a quick plan. Umbridge was the head of something called the Muggleborn Registration Committee. If they could get someone into one of her interrogations, they could stun her and grab the locket before she even realised it.
It was late in the day when Dean finally re-emerged from his personal training session. The green ranger looked absolutely exhausted, "Guys I'm not going to be able to cover all of us. I can maintain the identity for a couple of people plus myself but not all six of us".
"Damn it", Harry muttered, "so we're back to square one".
"We could always explore the Polyjuice option again", Cho suggested, "I know it would delay us by an extra month but I can't see any other way".
"A month's something we don't really have", Ginny countered, "Voldemort already found a way to Chi power some of his strongest followers, how long until he powers up all of his Death Eaters?"
Over the other side of the table, Kat was sitting with her American friends listening in on the conversation. She had her own plan formulating, "Dean would it help if you didn't have to mask the identity of your captive too much".
"Possibly", Dean shrugged, "the less power I have to put into the illusion, the longer I can maintain it for". He paused for a moment and looked at the blonde, "Why what are you suggesting?"
The Australian dancer took a deep breath but didn't respond for a few moments. Eventually Tommy caught onto her train of thought, "Kat no", he began, "it's too dangerous".
"Am I missing something?" Ron asked.
"She's the mother of a muggleborn witch, a foreign one at that", Hermione surmised, "she wants Dean to take her into the Ministry".
Harry sat back in his chair for a moment, "You know how dangerous this could be, they'll despise you for stealing magic to use for your daughter", he let his voice trail off, the unspoken threat to her life hung in the air based on the recent round of propaganda about muggleborns stealing magic for their personal use.
Kat swallowed and pulled out her old Turbo Morpher, "I'm a Power Ranger and if things get nasty I can always morph".
"We'd lose the element of surprise", Cho stated to her fellow pink ranger, "it'll turn from an infiltration to a full scale battle".
"I'm trying to protect my daughter", Kat stated firmly, "this Voldemort guy isn't going to be satisfied with ruling England, how long until he sets his sights on America or Australia?"
"Alright so we've got our victim", Harry began, knowing there was no arguing with the veteran pink ranger, "I can sneak in with my cloak but I'll need a fourth person to come. That's if Dean thinks he can maintain the cover for all three of them".
"Now that I don't have to any effort into disguising Kat, I should be able to cover a third person", the green ranger replied.
That gave Harry a dilemma, who would be the most useful person on this mission? The other four rangers all had their strengths but this would require subtlety and most importantly, speed, "Hermione you can be Dean's partner partner, your speed could come in useful". He then looked at Ginny, Cho and Ron, "You three are the back up, I'll keep a communication channel open so if anything goes wrong don't be afraid to beam across".
"Alright you can count on us", Cho replied and the other two nodded.
"When are we going to do this?" Ron asked.
"As soon as possible", Harry answered, "if that's alright with everyone else. The quicker we get that locket away from the slimy fat toad the better". The other rangers nodded in agreement and the plan was going to be put into operation in two days time to allow Dean some further preparation time.
Two days later and very early in the morning and the Ministry assault team were hiding around the corner from the prisoner entrance to the building. This entrance wasn't known to the public due it's potentially dangerous nature. To muggles it looked like an abandoned Chinese restaurant but it actually linked directly to the DMLE. This allowed Aurors to bring dangerous criminals directly into their offices and not through the visitors or employees entrance. To help Dean maintain the illusion easier, he and Hermione had borrowed some old Auror robes from Sirius's room. They all knew Sirius was an Auror during the first war but they weren't sure why he had a set of female robes as well. Sadly they wouldn't be able to ask his that particular question.
"Alright everyone set?" Harry asked his team, "Dean this is your lead, we'll go with whatever you decide". The green ranger nervously nodded his head, "Don't worry we believe in you".
"Not too late to change your mind", Hermione said to Kat.
"I know", the Australian replied simply but didn't address the point any further.
"Are you sure these ID's will do", Dean flashed a couple of identification badges that they had been able to create using Sirius's old one.
"Looks like the one Tonks has", Harry replied, "you don't think that the Ministry would actually update their equipment did you".
"Yeah but the names", the green ranger held up his card, "Stevie Nicks, that's not even the name of a man".
"It passed the Pureblood test yesterday", Hermione added show her own card with the name Lindsey Buckingham, "I don't think anyone in the Ministry is going to know the names of Fleetwood Mac".
"Alright I think we're set", Harry grabbed his communicator, "you read me Ron?"
"Yeah loud and clear mate", the blue ranger replied, "just say the word and we're be there in seconds".
"Good, glad to know you three have our backs", Harry then turned back to Dean, "time to do your thing".
The green ranger nodded and closed his eyes. To them it looked like nothing was happening but everyone else's perception of them was slowly changing. Dean decided to keep it simple so his body bulked up a bit and he sprouted a beard. Hermione's hair colour darkened until it was jet black and it shortened until it stopped just before her ears. Numerous piercing appeared in her ears and her eyebrow, giving her a very dangerous look.
The group walked confidently until they paused next to a car, "Wow not bad", Dean commented, "got a little bit of the Samuel L Jackson going on".
"You can admire yourself later", Harry hissed from underneath his invisibility cloak, "let's get in an out as quickly as possible. I don't fancy staying in enemy territory any longer than I have to".
The others silently agreed and approached the door to the restaurant. They took a few moments to compose themselves before pushing the door open and confidently stepping through. Inside the walls were cold stone with a few Ministry logos dotted around. At the far end of the room was a small desk with an elderly looking man sitting behind it. Grabbing Kat roughly by the arm, Dean strode over to the desk, "Excuse me, Auror Nicks", he spoke with a posh accent, "we've brought in a prisoner for magical theft".
The man behind the desk looked at the ID and then back at Dean, "Don't recall seeing either of you two around before".
Hermione flashed her badge and spoke with an East London accent, "Auror Buckingham, we're new around here, brought in especially by the new regime", she looked down her nose at the man, "if you get me".
The desk guard's shoulders froze up slightly, "Alright report to Yaxley, he'll tell you when the trials are taking place". He waived his wand and opened the door, allowing them access into the DMLE offices.
When they walked through the door, the quartet were surprised by the room. Apart from a few moving portraits, it could've easily have passed for an ordinary muggle office. They walked between the cubicles but to their surprise, no one was around, "Great security", Kat whispered to Dean, "and could you loosen your grip slightly".
"Sorry", the green ranger replied, "I had to sell it".
"This is strange, where is everyone?" Hermione half spoke outloud.
"We're overstretched", a voice called out from a cubicle. A male in his early thirties stood up, he had dirty blonde hair and thick stubble, "thanks to the new Registration Committee, we've been stretched to breaking point". He nodded his head at the desk behind them, "Doesn't help that experienced Aurors like Tonks haven't been back to work since the new guy took over".
"Someone should look into that", Dean stated.
The Auror laughed, "You new guys have got a lot to learn", he then looked at Kat, "another for the committee", they nodded, "take her straight down to Courtroom 10, Umbridge is in session all day".
Dean and Hermione nodded and quickly hurried to the lift. The green ranger was beginning to feel fatigued so as soon as they were in the lift, he relaxed the illusion slightly, "How you holding up?" Harry asked him.
"Not too bad", Dean replied, "but I'm going to sleep well tonight".
"Let's just hope that we're not kept waiting too long", Hermione added.
Suddenly the lift began to slow, forcing Dean to re-establish their false identities. To their surprise Mr Weasley entered the lift and immediately turned his back to them. Part of them wanted to identify themselves but they couldn't risk putting him in any more danger than he already was, "New registration", Mr Weasley said gruffly.
"What if it is", Dean spat back.
"Perhaps you should try capturing some actually criminals for a change", Mr Weasley snorted.
"Watch your tone", Hermione began, "wouldn't want to draw too much attention to yourself". Mr Weasley turned around and glared at the yellow ranger and it took all of Hermione's acting talent to hold her head up in defiance. Fortunately for them, Mr Weasley reached his floor and got out the lift without saying another word, "God that was hard", he sighed.
"I know but it was for his own good", Harry replied.
The lift stopped again, this time at their floor. Dean once again grabbed Kat and forcibly dragged her out the lift, this time though the blonde made more effort to resist him, "Let me go, I've done nothing wrong", she hissed.
"That's for Madam Umbridge to decide", Dean said and turned to the clerk of the court, "we've brought someone to the Committee", he flashed his ID badge.
"Prisoners name?" the clerk asked.
"Katherine Hillard", Hermione began, "Australian national currently residing in Britain. She's accused of stealing magic and giving it to her daughter".
"A foreigner?" the man looked at Kat with disgust, "Madam Umbridge has a slot available now, take her straight through". The pair nodded and the court room doors opened. They smiled to themselves, things were going according to plan.
Back at the prisoner entrance, the new head of the DMLE Aldious Yaxley walked up to the entrance guard and flashed his ID badge, "Those new Aurors you've hired have already found themselves a muggleborn", the guard said.
"New Aurors?" Yaxley asked, "what were their names?"
"Nicks and Buckingham I think", he replied, "must be pretty good, don't remember seeing them before".
"No, neither do I", Yaxley pushed his way past the guard and into the DMLE office. Someone had infiltrated the Ministry and he had a good idea who it was.
