"How big do think the archives are?" asked Ron as they made their way out of the Auror Office and towards the lifts.
"Well," said Hermione "Since the Ministry has been active for nearly three hundred years and that it's got dozens of departments and committees carrying out thousands of different tasks so probably quite large" said Hermione with a look of excitement that both he and Ron knew meant that they would probably have to pull her out of the archives, or she'd never leave.
"I guess were going to be here a while then" sighed Ron causing Hermione to give him a censoring look to which Harry just smiled as they reached the lifts. He pressed the button and they waited for around a minute before the lift arrived with a "ping" and a group of witches and wizards from various departments walked out in various stages of boredom, tiredness and in one case apparent bewilderment that got Harry thinking but his thoughts were interrupted by Hermione's cry of "Harry" as she held the doors open with a look that clearly said, "Hurry up".
He complied and to an amused Ron scrambled through the closing doors whilst Hermione tapped the number eight before turning to him and raising her eyebrow.
"Sorry Mione, was wondering why that guy looked bewildered, that's all" he said causing her to nod as the lift started going down, stopping on floors three and six which conversation impossible as they were crammed in at the back by the hordes of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes and Magical Transportation workers that he assumed were going to their morning break.
They reached the Atrium a bit more squashed than they would have liked and looked around for a few minutes until they saw a sign that said, "ARCHIVES OF THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC" and hurried towards the door where they saw a bored looking receptionist sitting behind a large desk covered in parchment. She glanced up at them as they approached, and Harry saw her look at their Intern badges before Hermione spoke
"Hello, we're here to collect some files for our mentors"
"Name and department, please" asked the receptionist with a look that told him that this was the most interesting thing that had happened all day.
"Hermione Granger, Auror Office"
"Ron Weasley, Auror Office"
"Harry Potter, Auror Office" he said with a dry throat and hoped that she wouldn't draw attention to him. He felt a surge of annoyance as the receptionist's gaze swept over his forehead and he saw her eyes widen slightly before she cleared her throat before she spoke.
"I just need to verify your badges before I let you in" she said as she picked up her wand and pointed it at Hermione's badge before rotating it anti-clockwise as Hermione's badge glowed green.
"That's you cleared" she said to Hermione before she repeated the process on Ron who's badge also flashed green before turning to Harry. She performed the motions as she looked him over before his badge flashed green causing her to sigh.
"Your cleared, have a nice day" she said as she turned back to the desk with a look of boredom as he quickly made his way towards the entrance. As he opened the heavy oak doors that were inlaid with the Ministry emblem he was struck by the smell of ink and old parchment with hints of mould and dust in the air as they looked around at the archives.
They had all been expecting something akin to the library at Hogwarts and they were not disappointed. What they were not expecting was that the inside of the archive was similar in size to Wembley Stadium than the school library. Thousands of draws on thousands of shelves spread over what had to be hundreds of levels and dozens of sections all covered in all manner of official books, parchments, and papers.
"Bloody hell" he heard Ron mutter and he could only agree with the sentiment. The archive seemed too big to actually exist before he heard Hermione say "this place must have a really powerful extension charm in place" as she just looked around in excited wonder.
"What?" asked Harry curiously.
"The archive. To have a room this big inside the Ministry it must have an extremely powerful Extension Charm placed upon it. There really hard to perform so it must be done carefully and by someone who knows what they're doing".
"How did you know that?" asked Ron.
"I…." she began
"Read it in a book" said Ron and Harry in such perfect synch even Fred and George would be proud of them. Hermione just mock glared at them although they could see the sides of her mouth stretching upwards.
"So where to now?" asked Harry as he looked around. It was all well and good then being in the archive but finding the files that they needed might be a problem.
"Er" said Hermione with a nervous look until Ron pointed to their left and said, "I bet that's where we find stuff" and Harry followed his finger to see what looked like a large book on an equally large lectern sitting against a set of bookshelves. Hermione just gave Ron a look that Harry couldn't read as they made their way over.
"So now what?" asked Harry as they reached the book that was about the same size as a map sign at the zoo and was purplish in colour.
"There's probably an index page" said Hermione as she opened the book with a surprisingly effortless pull and a list of options was shown. She placed her finger on the top of the list and started to work her way down muttering as she went
"Overview, no, History, no, staff no, Ministers of Magic, definitely not, ah Departments" she said as she pressed her finger of the word and immediately another list dropped down below the title 'Departments'. Pressing on the second option of 'Department of Magical Law Enforcement and then the 'Main Divisions' option and then the Auror Office they found themselves on a list of topics that the archive associated with the Auror Office.
Sweeping down the list Hermione pressed the heading 'Case Files' before the heading flashed red and a loud sound similar to a game show buzzer echoed from the book until a square formed on the page with the words 'YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO ACCESS RESTRICTED INFORMATION PLEASE SCAN YOUR BADGE FOR ACCESS' followed by another square forming beneath it that read 'PLEASE SCAN BADGE/S HERE'.
"Okay then" said Hermione as she unpinned her badge and pressed it to the page firmly, there was a blip like a supermarket checkout before it flashed green and the words 'APPROVED, HAVE A PLEASANT DAY, INTERN GRANGER' causing Hermione to smile as she moved aside to allow Ron and Harry to scan their badges before they checked the list again and saw that the case files were separated into ten year slots.
A machine on the desk made a noise and a piece of paper emerged similar to a fax machine with directions to the area that they needed. Unfortunately, it appeared that they were in for quite a long walk.
"So, Level 100, Sections 29 and 30" said Hermione as they all looked up at the sheer height of the archive and internally gulped at the prospect of walking up so many staircases.
"Well, we better get going I guess" said Harry as they headed towards the stairs as for some reason there wasn't a lift. After 20 minutes of walking past archives containing all manner of things from financial reports on the value of sweets to the cost of maintaining the Ministry itself and the uses of various charms to improve workplace productivity until, panting like they were in the desert, they reach level one hundred.
"They…really…. need a…. lift" panted Ron with his hands on his knees as he panted before straightening up and wiping the sweat off his forehead before he suddenly dropped to the ground as a file zipped over his head and down a shoot that they hadn't seen.
"I wish we could do that" panted Harry as he caught his breath, due to Quidditch and having to flee from Dudley for so long he was noticeably fitter than either Ron or Hermione "It's probably a Summoning Charm" said Hermione breathlessly "we learn them in Fourth Year" she spluttered as her breathing finally started to return to normal. After another couple of minutes, they were more or less fine and dreading the trip back down they made their way down the corridor that was marked 'Section 20-30'.
They carried on pass rank upon rank of magically expanded filing cabinets until they reached the end of the corridor and came upon the two sections that they needed. Harry needed to go right to the end of Section 29 whilst Ron and Hermione needed to go just shy of halfway down Section 30.
"I'll see you in a bit then" he said as he made his way down towards to the end of the very long corridor. He counted down as he walked down "1989, 88, 87, 86, 85, 84, 83, 82, 81" he said as he reached the area with the years of what the world thought were Sirius' crimes. He looked at the draw and saw the alphabet on the front. Following what they had done earlier he pushed the letter 'B' and a rumbling sound was emitted by the draw before a chime was heard and the draw became still again.
Tentatively he opened it and saw that all the files started with the letter 'B' making his job much easier. Thank Merlin he thought as he started flicking through the files and quickly realised that they were ordered by the first name meaning that Sirius would be near the back. He pulled the draw out more and kept flicking unconsciously aware that the draw was extending out far more than a normal draw would.
After a few minutes of flicking through countless files and enough parchments to leave him dreading doing schoolwork ever again he came upon the section where the first names started with S. He flicked a little further and found a file that read 'BLACK, SIRIUS'. This is it he thought as he eagerly pulled out a file that seemed to be a bit thin.
Thin was an understatement the file seemed almost empty to Harry as he pulled it out and placed it on the top of the now very extended draw that now served as a convenient table. He opened the plain bluey-purplish file and saw that it only contained six pieces of parchment. He quickly looked at the titles of each Sirius Black Dossier…. Arrest Order…. Crime Report…. Order sending him to Azkaban… a Confirmation of Arrival form and an Escape Report. Harry was no legal expert and even less so on Wizarding Law, but this file seemed to be missing quite a lot as most of the files around where he had found it were at least three times the width of Sirius'.
He grabbed the first page and started reading:
Department of Magical Law Enforcement
Dossier
of
Sirius Orion Black
Name: Sirius Orion Black
Date of Birth: 3rd November 1959
Birthplace: Islington Place, London, England, Great Britain
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Grey
Skin Complexion: White
Height: 5 foot, 9 1/2 Inches
Weight: 154 lbs
Father: Orion Black
Mother: Walburga Black
House: Black
Wand: Truciolo, 10 1/2 inches, Phoenix Feather, Springy
Blood Status: Pureblood
Marital Status: Single
Nationality: English
Uncommon Magical Abilities:
Hogwarts House: Gryffindor
Crime(s): One count of Mass Murder, Thirteen counts of Murder, Two counts of Accomplice Murder, One count of Death Eater Activity, One count of Espionage, One count of using magic in the presence of Muggles and One count of Irresponsible Use of Magic.
Additionally added after his escape on the 31st of July 1993: One count of escaping Azkaban, One count of breaking and entering, One count of Assault and One count of Illegal Enchantment of Minors.
Sentence: Life Imprisonment (later upgraded to the Dementor's Kiss by MoM Cornelius Fudge after his escape from Azkaban)
Status: Alive (Escaped and on the loose, Considered extremely Dangerous)
Harry read through the rest of the document before he moved on to the next entitled "Arrest Report that stated that:
"The suspect was apprehended in London without resistance on suspicion of Mass Murder as well as sleuth of lesser crimes including destroying a street leaving a large crater. The Suspect was remanded in custody in Azkaban Prison on the Orders of the Head of the DMLE until a trial date was set."
Harry read with a scowl as he worked his way through the report of his Godfather being imprisoned for Pettigrew's crimes and felt a sudden desire to ask Mad-Eye about painful curses before he snapped himself out of his anger and picked up the third piece of parchment.
Department of Magical Law Enforcement Crime Report- N11-2-23-41
"Perpetrator and Death Eater spy Sirius Orion Black henceforth referred to as Black did on the 2nd November 1981 track down his long-time friend Peter Pettigrew and kill him and thirteen innocent Muggles on a street in London at approximately 23:41pm via a Blasting Curse that left a large crater at the scene and required the deployment of Dragon Squadron, Magical Law Enforcement Squad who arrested Black as well as members of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes who were first on the scene under the command of Junior Minister Cornelius Fudge, and members of the Department of International Magical Cooperation to create a preliminary report on the incident for the International Confederation of Wizards.
Prior to arrest numerous muggle civilians stated that Black was laughing like a madman after the street just exploded. This was confirmed by members of MA&C before the Obliviator's removed the memories of the muggles. Nothing was found of Pettigrew apart from a finger although body parts of several muggles were found and turned over to the muggle police for identification. Suspect was sent to Azkaban to await trial due to risk of escape and suspected Death Eater infiltration of the Ministry"
Harry felt his anger return as he read the report and for the first time, he truly realised that not only had Pettigrew ruined both his and Sirius' lived but he had also ended the lives of thirteen muggles, thirteen innocent people all dead because of one man's cowardice. Pushing his anger down something that he had become quite good at this summer he read the Crime Report which was basically a rehash of the Arrest Report plus a few things that he already knew before he read the next page which only had one sentence of any real value:
"By order of Bartemius Crouch Senior, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Mr Black is remanded in Azkaban until a trial can be arranged"
He read the Confirmation of Arrival Form which basically confirmed that he had arrived at Azkaban and was placed in a Maximum-Security Cell under full Dementor Guard at the top of the tower. The Escape Report basically said that Sirius had escaped and that they hadn't got a clue how he had managed it much to Harry's amusement.
Something was rubbing Harry the wrong way about the file in front of him, he wasn't a legal expert, but the file just seemed to lack substance and well contents, half a dozen pieces of parchment didn't seem like a lot for a life sentence in Azkaban. He mused that it was possible, no probable considering who was leading the Ministry that someone hadn't bothered to do their job properly and he and Sirius had paid the price for it.
Glancing at his watch he realised that he had been in this section for nearly half an hour and decided that he should get back. He picked up the file that he wasn't entirely sure that he was supposed to have read and pushed the draw closed with surprising ease before he made his way back the way that he had come. After a few minutes he heard Ron and Hermione chatting away as they waited for him. As he turned the corner, he heard Hermione speak
"Harry, what took you so long?"
"Sorry guys the file I was after was hidden right at the back" he said causing them both to nod before Ron smirked
"We thought you'd be lost forever in this maze" he said causing Harry to laugh
"Unlike Hermione I wouldn't like that" causing Hermione to whack him on the arm as she tried to control her laughter and failed miserably. After taking a moment to compose themselves they made their way back to the stairs and looked over the railing to the bottom a hundred flights below.
"Don't suppose you know a spell that can get us to the bottom, Hermione?" asked Ron as he looked at the number of stairs that they had to walk down.
"Well, a Slowing Charm could but we don't learn how to slow heavy objects until Fifth Year and I'm in no rush to experiment at the moment" she said, and Ron sighed.
"Pity, guess we'd better get going" he said as they began to descend and fortunately, they were quicker this time and were back in the Atrium in around fifteen minutes and thankfully they didn't attract the attention of the receptionist and quickly made their way back to the lifts.
"I'm really glad that we don't have to use anymore stairs" said Ron as they pressed the button to take them back to the DMLE. They arrived on Level 2 and headed back to the Office, past the on duty Hit Wizards and back into the Office proper. Here they separated and headed back to each of their respective mentor's cubicles. As Harry approached Mad-Eye's cubicle he flicked his wrist and slipped his wand into his hand before knocking on the door and waiting for Mad-Eye to open it.
The door swung open, and he raised his wand to see Mad-Eye sitting in his chair looking towards the door with his wand drawn, an expression of gruff contemplation on his face.
"Good job on remembering Potter" he said as he holstered his wand and Harry did the same as he walked into the cubicle.
"Here's the file that you needed" he said as he placed the file down on the desk and took a step back.
"Thank you, Potter" said Moody gruffly "How did you find the archive?"
Harry thought about replying with 'big' but he didn't think that that was what Moody was looking for, so he went with one of Ron's observations that he wholeheartedly agreed with.
"They really need a lift" he said, and he looked at Moody anxiously before he saw Moody chuckling.
"That's what every intern says including me half of magical history ago" he said with a laugh as he looked at Harry's sweaty face.
"Take the rest of the day off, Potter. I think you and your friends have earned it"
"Thank you" said Harry as he walked out of the cubicle after receiving a nod from Moody.
-X-X-X-X-X-
Harry sighed as he made his way out of Moody's cubicle and back towards the entrance as he saw Ron already waiting with a smile on his face.
"Tonks just gave me the rest of the day off" he said causing Harry to reply "yeah Mad-Eye gave me the same" he said with a smile as Hermione approached them from the direction of Kingsley's cubicle.
"Kingsley said that we're free for the rest of the day" she beamed as she reached them and turned towards the doors to leave causing them to follow her.
"So, what are we doing for the afternoon?" asked Harry as they walked.
"Lunch" said Ron hopefully causing Hermione to roll her eyes before agreeing much to Ron's surprise.
"What I'm hungry" she said with a huff as they reached the exit.
"Leaky Cauldron" asked Harry to which they both nodded and started to walk before Hermione looked at Harry.
"Hey Harry, Ron and I will get us a table whilst you should go and get Susan" she said with a look that Harry couldn't decipher.
"All right" he said as he felt a sliver of nervousness creep up his spine as he turned and began walking past various offices on the way to the Department Heads office. As he approached the outer office, he pulled open the door and saw that a young lady with long blonde hair was sitting at a large desk of polished pinewood situated in front of a door that read
'Office of the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones'
The young lady looked up and smiled as he entered and greeted her with a smile.
"Hello what can I do for you?"
"Hi, I'm looking for Susan Bones" he said causing the young lady to tap a notebook on her desk before tapping it again.
"They'll be with you in a moment" she said as she pointed to a set of chairs by the wall.
"Feel free to take a seat"
"Thank you" he said with a smile as he took a seat and debated whether to pull out a book before deciding that it probably wasn't worth it. That was another thing that he had noticed this summer he was starting to enjoy reading more than he usually did before, he was never completely opposed to reading like Ron, but he wasn't obsessed with it like Hermione was. He was interrupted from his thoughts by the door opening and Susan walking out followed by her aunt.
"Hi Harry" she said with a faint blush as she stopped a foot from him as he got up and smiled at her.
"Hi Susan" he said before he turned to look at Madam Bones who was looking at him expectantly.
"Well Mister Potter what do you want my niece for?" she asked sternly although secretly she was amused.
Harry immediately felt nervous for some reason but managed to keep his voice steady as he spoke "I was wondering if Susan would like to join my friends and I for lunch" causing Madam Bones to regard him for a moment that felt like hours before she turned to her niece.
"Well Susan, do you want to go to lunch with your friends?" causing Susan to nod before speaking "Yes, Auntie".
"Then off you go" said Madam Bones before Harry spoke again "We're actually free for the rest of the day so we were wondering if Susan could join us for that as well?"
Madam Bones looked thoughtful before speaking "Susan has performed well so far this summer and therefore I think that you deserve a treat, dear" causing Susan and Harry to smile.
"Off you go then" said Madam Bones before she turned and headed back to her office secretly smiling to herself.
"Shall we go then?" asked Harry.
"Yeah okay" said Susan before she stopped "er where are we going exactly" she said causing Harry to smile.
"Well first we're going to the Leaky Cauldron and after that we hadn't decided yet" he said and she nodded as she pulled on her cloak and grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder as they exited the office.
"How did you get the day off?" she asked as they made their way down the corridor.
"We had to go to the Archives" he said with a sour look that caused her to giggle for which he gave her a stern look that only increased her giggling.
"Let me guess you had to walk all the way to the top?" she managed to get out through her giggles causing him to send her a half-hearted glare that sent her into full out laughter.
"Some Hufflepuff you are" he grumbled.
"Sorry, it's just that my auntie did the exact same thing to me earlier in the summer. She said that if you haven't had to walk to the top of the Archives then you aren't a real intern".
"Well at least we weren't the only ones" he said as they reached the lifts.
"Yeah, I think it's something that only Magical Law Enforcement Interns have to do" she said, and Harry nodded as he pressed the button to summon the lift.
"How has your day been, apart from going to the Archives" asked Susan as they waited.
"It's been pretty good so far. Ron and I are probably going to drop Divination" he said.
"You can drop subjects?" asked Susan with a frown.
"Yeah, apparently but I'm guessing that you still have to do at least two electives" he said causing Susan to nod.
"What are you going to replace Divination with?"
"Mad-Eye suggested that I take both Runes and Arithmancy so probably those" he said with a smile at the thought of no more Trelawney.
Harry saw a flash of nervousness cross Susan's face before she spoke "I took Arithmancy and Runes so if you want any help"
"Yes please" he said instantly causing them both to blush "I still need to write to Professor McGonagall to ask to change but I'd love to study with you"
"Thanks" she said
"Ron won't thank you when he realises that he's studying with Hermione alone" he said with a smirk causing her to laugh as the lift arrived and was surprisingly empty as they pressed the button for the Atrium and waited a couple of minutes as they made their way to the Atrium.
"You know I think that might be the first time that I've ever had an uninterrupted trip in these things" she said as they got out and began making, they're towards the floo.
"Really"
"Really"
"Why don't they have any at Hogwarts?" he asked, and Susan looked stumped.
"I've honestly never thought of that" she said with s look of deep thought.
"Maybe so we all get some exercise" he offered as they reached the fireplaces.
"Maybe" she said as they both waited for the elderly witch ahead of them to use the floo before they could go.
In a moment she was gone, and Harry approached the pot of floo powder and put his hand in before he felt something that felt like a hand under his and turned to see a blushing Susan looking down and he realised that the hand that he had felt was Susan's.
"Are you alright?" he asked, and she nodded before saying "I just wasn't expecting it that's all" she said as he smiled and held out his hand which she nervously took and stepped into the fire with him.
"The Leaky Cauldron" he said as he threw down the powder and with a whoosh they disappeared.