The Mysterious Department
Arc Two- The Mystery Continues
Chapter Nine: Take me to the Rapture Ball
Hermione wiped the sweat from her brow. With Dora's help they had rounded up all the zombies into one room, bound them with magic, and locked them into it. Even Lord Silver was there after they got him down from midair. It had not been fun running from them as bait, but at last all of them were accounted for. A blast shook the mansion, not the first of many. It signified that an ongoing battle was ensuing. That was Bellatrix no doubt taking care of Pepper.
How could a house elf turn evil? From what Hermione knew, they didn't just do that. Was the pin influencing it like that? It could be possible.
"Let's go help your aunt now," Hermione said, now that the horror of a full scale zombie apocalypse had been put away.
"I think Ginger is already helping her, but something tells me that she'll need all the help she can get to take Pepper down," Dora stated.
"Are house elf's usually this strong?" Hermione asked as they raced along. Her feet were aching and she had discarded her heels long ago, ripping the bottom half of her dress away so she could run better. Dora had shook her head at Hermione's more barbarian methods before she simply magicked them both sneakers and sweat suits so they could be more comfortable.
"Yes. But their magic is held back and only used to serve wizards."
"That's kind of messed up. Forcing them into slavery like that."
"They like it." Dora shrugged, reconsidering her words. "I don't know. It's just how the world is."
"Doesn't mean it's right."
Debate on that topic was put on the back burner for they had arrived outside, where dust and smoke was curling from the ground. Shouts were coming from inside it. Bellatrix must be there, along with Ginger and Pepper.
"Dora. Hermione." A wispy voice called out to them behind the giant wrought iron fence. Hermione jumped, jittery from this whole experience and not needing more scares. It was only Luna, peering in on the chaotic scene. What was she still doing here?
"I was collecting data, observing what I could, and I have more information. The artifact isn't just the pin. That's only the means of communicating the spell used to turn humans into Inferi," Luna said, in her hand a weird object that looked like those giant satellite dishes humans used to read the skies. "There's two artifacts on the loose, one of them using the pin's aura to hide their own aura behind it."
Two artifacts? That couldn't be good!
"Then what is the other artifact?" Dora asked.
"It's the house elf."
"The elf is the artifact?" Hermione said in incredulity. "How does that even work-?"
"Yes. That's why it's also blood magic. Because it's a living object!" Luna exclaimed.
"How do we stop it?" Hermione questioned.
"Quite obviously, with the neutralizing spell. It should put it right out. Thanks Luna!" Dora filled in and rushed off to tell her aunt.
Hermione followed after her to the battle site. Magic was thrumming thickly in the air and blasts of red and blue spells raced through the air. The field looked even, both Ginger and Bellatrix's magic balancing out Pepper's magics. His eyes had turned red now and he was floating in the air, in a swirl of malignancy. Debris swirled around him, acting as a shield that made it hard to aim at him with magic.
"What shall Ginger do?" Ginger asked, fretting because her mistress had already been hurt and she hated seeing her hurt. She would have healed her but Bellatrix ordered her not to.
"Keep throwing your magic at it!" Bellatrix ordered. Then she saw Dora and Hermione rushing towards her. She scowled. "What are you doing? It's dangerous for you two to be out here!"
"We have news, auntie! The elf is an artifact according to Luna."
Bellatrix took a second to process this. "Alright, then take up positions. We need to do a barrage of assault on the elf and then I can use the spell."
Hermione and Dora got right to work, taking up strong stances and whipping their wands over their heads, uttering spells to blast apart the debris around the elf. But when one got knocked out of the way, all he did was rip more of the ground from underneath their feet to protect himself as his own magics leaked out in static bolts that blasted over head like loud thunder cracks.
"This isn't working!" Hermione shouted as a shard hit her in the face and she felt the warm trickle of blood. Another one hit the floor and she fell onto her back. Dora shot her a look of concern, leaving herself vulnerable to a hit that electrocuted her and made her hair stick up funnily as smoke wafted up from her.
"I can tell!" Bellatrix snapped out through gritted teeth. She had no choice but to utilize a highly dangerous spell. Many would blanch to use it for it was nearly impossible to control. But Bellatrix exerted tight control over it, forcing it to do her will. And it would do her will now.
"Fiendfyre!" she screamed out and from her wand green fire erupted. It quickly took on the shape of a massive dragon. Only it's head and shoulders were formed but even then it took up a massive portion of the sky. With a ferocious roar it opened it's maw and flew straight at the elf in midair.
"What is that?" Hermione gasped out, eyes wide. She could feel the heat of it even a good distance from Bellatrix and she could imagine it must be absolutely sweltering using this spell. Bellatrix's face was pink and sweat was trickling down her temple. Her jaw was clenched tightly as she held on tightly to the wand.
"It's Fiendfyre," Dora said with a low whistle. "It's a most dangerous and dark spell but auntie's an expert at it. I just didn't think she'd pull it out so soon. She must really be pissed off at that damned elf artifact."
The two watched as the dragon swallowed up everything, Pepper letting out a scream as the scorching heat consumed it. The cries were terrible and made Hermione cringe. How could an artifact feel pain?
The dragon roared back and spat out the elf, the burnt being crashing right into the floor, steaming and little bits of it's skin still flaming. The smell was horrendous.
It writhed on the floor as Bellatrix recalled the Fiendfyre spell. It fought against her, not wanting to go back into her wand. "Finite Incatatuem!" she hissed out, her wand arm shaking in exertion. With a displeased snarl it slipped back in and finally she was able to breath properly, the moisture having been sucked out of her nose and lungs because of how hot it had been.
The elf began to try and get up, still intent on hurting them but before it could, Dora landed the neutralizing spell and the elf crumpled to the floor. There it turned into a small statue made of stone.
It was over.
Luna clapped happily from behind the fence, smiling serenely at their victory.
Hermione let out a ragged breath and rose to her feet, wiping the blood trickling from the cut on her chin. Bellatrix picked the stone up, looking it over. The elf had turned into a statue which was not normal. Something else was up behind this. "Odd indeed," she said before pocketing it. Attached to the stone had been the pin. Killing two birds with one stone.
"What we do with all the zombies?" Hermione asked.
"The what?" Luna blinked.
"The Inferi," she corrected.
"Oh, well, now that we have the artifact, we can use it to reverse the spell."
"And the elf will just let us do that?" Hermione asked.
"If we force it to, it will have to. And if it's not capable of doing that, I'll just brew a draught to fix it all. Speaking of, I really should mine Lord Farnsworth's memories of where he got this elf from. We don't need more elf's like that popping up." Bellatrix hurried off. As the Lord was a zombie, asking him verbally would garner no results and she was far too impatient to wait to turn him back before finding out some information. So she would be deep diving into his memories.
"We'll need to memory wipe everyone here as well," Luna stated grimly. "They cannot know what has happened."
"Memory wipe. But that's-"
"How things work here," Dora concluded to Hermione's statement. "It's okay, you don't have to do it Hermione. I'll do it myself. You can go around and repair the state of the manor with Ginger's help."
Hermione thinned her lips, still not happy with this. Dora didn't seem to mind, except one detail. "Man, Auntie will be upset when she finds out all the memories had to be wiped and she'll have to host the ball next year again anyways." Then Dora strode off, shaking her head to herself in amusement.
Hermione focused on repairing the mansion in order to keep her mind off of the way people were being stripped of their rights by having their memories wiped without their consent. With Ginger's aid they hefted up huge chunks of wall, repaired cracks in the ground, and mended any smaller breaks.
By the time they were done, the guests were vacating the house, laughing and talking to themselves and entirely unaware of the whole debacle that had happened. She walked past them, they paying her no mind. They must have forgotten she was muggle born too.
Hermione felt guilty for all this.
"Did we really have to wipe them?" Hermione asked Dora who tipped her head at her friend.
"I could wipe your memory too if it bothers you."
Hermione backed up at that but Dora was laughing. "Relax, I won't hurt you. Besides, we're cursed to remember everything that happens. Sometimes it's better to forget the awful. But we can't. Not ever."
Dora said this in a light hearted manner but it really wasn't a topic to joke about.
"I have news on Farnsworth," Bellatrix announced as they stood in one of the hallways. The guests had all cleared out, with the exception of the Inferi who were still locked up. "He has no recollection of what happened. All he knows is that one day he was walking in the markets and the statue called his name. It held an unnatural draw on him and he took it home, where he cleaned it with a cloth and cut his finger on the sharp point of the spear and that's where he doesn't recall things. Everything up until the statue's destruction has been a blur for him. Which means the object must have been planted there for him, so it could possess him."
"But why possess him? For what good?" Hermione could not make heads or tails of it.
"As far as I can tell, it was so it could infiltrate this party. But why? To cause chaos?" Bellatrix shook her head unsure. "Until we do further research we cannot tell for sure. And I will be keeping a close eye on Farnsworth to see if perhaps the artifact was not possessing him for monetary aims." She uncrossed her arms from her chest. Her wonderful dueling outfit had been ruined with rips and tears and some blood. Hermione hoped her partner wasn't too badly injured.
"And what about the pin?"
"The pin was probably in Lord Farnsworth's possession already. It's something that I know has been passed down from generation through generation. Purebloods tend to have blood objects as heirlooms. But because it had been handled so well over the years and kept locked up we didn't suspect it to be so powerful. To be in reality an artifact. The fact he had one might be another reason he was a target," Bellatrix deduced. "For now, let's just get the artifacts locked up safely."
The Inferi were brought back to the department where Bellatrix set about brewing a potion to help them. Hermione wished to over look the process but Bellatrix had told her it was a delicate process, not to have noses stuck into, before rudely slamming the door in Hermione's face.
So, she was forced to sit at her desk and read up on magical creatures, namely elf's, and Inferi.
Dora was out, overseeing the estate with Ginger and following up on the wellfare of the guests who had left, while Luna was doing research.
Hermione had cleaned up before arriving here. Her wounds healed with a quick Epiksey and her clothes magicked into her usual pants and buttoned up shirt.
Five hours passed in this boring manner, only ended by Luna arriving up to inform Hermione of her discovery. As if sensing Luna was done, Bellatrix emerged from the room she had been brewing potions in, the Inferi stuck in another room of high security.
She wiped her hands on her apron, a smudge of purple power on her cheek. Hermione felt tempted to wipe it off. But she held back.
Luna started speaking. "I did research on the statue that we got. It's a shabiti."
"A what?" Hermione asked as reflex.
"In ancient Egypt, they were small statues that would come to life and help serve their masters. But this one must be corrupted. Either that, or it was following the orders of some master but not Farnsworth. One with ill intentions."
"Do we know who ordered it to do such a thing?" Hermione asked.
Luna tapped her chin. "Shabiti don't take the form of elves, however. They are women or men of short stature. Yet this one did."
"Which means one thing," Bellatrix said grimly. She turned to Hermione, urging her to make the analysis, testing to see if she was right. Hermione would rise to the challenge.
"The association with Ancient Egypt, the infiltration and cause of chaos- it can only mean Apophis."
Bellatrix nodded her head yes. "It means he's on the rise again and so soon." She closed her eyes, annoyed. "And he made the statue assume the form of an elf so it could fit into our culture and not be so conspicuous. Which is smart on him."
"But why invade the party?"
"Chaos. Why else. And perhaps to test us," Bellatrix surmised grimly. "As soon as I finish with the potions I'm going to Farnsworth's mansion and checking it for any clues that might offer us something."
"In the meantime, I'm going to keep an eye open for these statues. Something tells me this won't be the first and last one," Luna said.
"But let's keep it as the first and last," Bellatrix said steely, as she turned to return back to the potions room.
"I'm coming with you to the mansion," Hermione added as the dark haired woman left.
"No, you are not."
"Yes, I am. I'm not a baby. I can dust for prints you know," she shouted back but the door was already slamming shut.
Rude.
Hermione waited, waited for Bellatrix to begin leaving the department office before she rushed after her. "Hermione," Bellatrix growled out in warning as she shrugged on her coat.
"Listen, it's just dusting for prints. I know how to do that because I've been doing it in my muggle job. Just allow me this if you won't allow me to help any other ways."
Bellatrix didn't turn around but she did give an aggrieved shake of her head. "Fine."
They arrived there but it was the middle of the night. "I don't know if anyone will be awake at this time to allow us in," Hermione said in consideration.
Bellatrix gave her an odd look. "We're breaking in."
Hermione jolted at this. "B-breaking in? But that's illegal-"
Bellatrix gave a heavy sigh. "And this is why I didn't want to bring you along. All you do is complain!"
"But we can't do such things!"
Bellatrix span around, her face in Hermione's space. "Things work a bit differently in the wizarding world. Especially if you work for the ministry departments. Besides, no one is home and it's imperative we go in to check for leads on our case. Artifact hunting and the protection of the wizarding and muggle race is all important, more important than some societal rules." With that she span back around, taking out her wand so she could take down some wards around the house.
Sucking in an irritated breath, Hermione squared her back. She didn't like all this breaking of the rules, but Bellatrix had been doing this job a hell of a long time and she was alive. Maybe there was a method to her madness?
Hermione decided she wouldn't complain, or keep the complaining to a minimal because if she didn't, she wouldn't get to tag along with Bellatrix, and that was the opposite of what she wanted.
She followed Bellatrix in, and set about observing Bellatrix's methods of investigating Farnsworth's items. She tried not to touch anything or interrupt with her thousands of brimming questions. She also felt like they might get discovered, but by the end of the half hour, Bellatrix had found what she needed, or rather, a lack of it, and they left without a trace of being there.
"Nothing at his house to give us further insight into this. Our next stop will be questioning him once the draught sets in and makes him human once more," she said as she put the wards back up into place.
"I suppose we'll be looking over the market where he bought such a thing?"
"I'll be looking over it," Bellatrix clarified stubbornly. "No doubt it was bought at a black market and the type of company kept there is not the best."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Do you think I'm a delicate flower whose never held a gun before, whose never got into fist fights, whose never had to endure vile criminals?"
"Oh I have no doubt you did," Bellatrix's upper lip quirked up. "But wizard criminals are of an other sort and they'll smell the muggle born on you. You won't make it past the doors."
Hermione's forehead furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that literally, in order to gain entry, you must be of pure blood." Bellatrix finished off the wards and tapped her wand tip to the veins on her wrist. They were royal blue under her pale pallor. "Otherwise you'll be incinerated by the magics preventing entry and I don't think you'd like that."
"Oh." Hermione swallowed harshly. "That's...that's cruel."
Bellatrix's smirk dropped. "It's how things are in the upper classes. How they've always been." She said with a hint of melancholy.
A month passed after that. An exhausting month. Five more cases of the Shabiti turned evil elves arose and Bellatrix went to shut them down, with Ginger's help. Not Hermione's, but Ginger's. It was utterly frustrating. Hermione was her partner. Not the house elf!
"Just give her some time," Luna told Hermione who had been silently fuming as they packed away yet another one of those things into a special crate to hold them from releasing magic. Luckily none of these had carried other artifacts, proving them to be more nuisances than actual threats.
"How much more does she need? I am capable. Just because I didn't grow up in this world doesn't mean I cannot adjust to it. I'm already at normal capacity for spells. I know about over a hundred of them, and I'm getting top marks in all my evening classes. Why won't she let me into her line of work?" she cried, out frustrated.
"Did you think that maybe she's doing this to protect you?" Luna suggested. It cut Hermione's anger in half.
"Protecting me? How?" She spluttered.
"She lost her partner, who was a halfborn. And he was more capable than you when it came to understanding how this world worked. She probably doesn't want to lose another, especially since you still have a lot to learn about this world."
That was...well, Hermione hadn't thought of it this way. It was oddly endearing. But still, she didn't need to be babied. She was well aware this new world was dangerous, but so had been the muggle one. And she had survived it.
She'd even gotten through a zombie apocalypse at a ball. So what was the big deal?
"But whose going to protect her? She can't do everything herself."
Luna let out a small laugh. "She can. She's stubborn. You tell her she can't do something and she'll still do it just to spite you. But you are right. There comes a time when one needs a partner. She's just seen so many die throughout the years. It took a toll on her. She probably doesn't want to have anyone help her because she doesn't want to watch another one die."
"Well, then good thing I'm not going anywhere," Hermione said with resolution. "I'm as stubborn as her. I'll prove to her she can trust me. That I can deal with whatever comes my way."
"I'm not giving you a shabiti case," Luna said sternly, losing her willowy edge for a second as her normally air headed nature faded. "That is out of your league."
That was fine. Hermione would find another case to work on, without Bellatrix's help. And she was going to get her wish sooner rather than later.
