Chapter Three- The Ministry of Magic
Haiden awoke at half-past five the morning of Harry's trial as abruptly and completely as if somebody had yelled in his ear, heart pounding and adrenaline running through his system. For a few moments he lay immobile as the worries and fears of what might happen to his brother filled every tiny particle of his brain. Unable to bear it, and knowing he wouldn't be going back to sleep anytime soon, Haiden leapt out of bed and put on his glasses. Mrs Weasley had laid out his freshly laundered jeans and T-shirt at the foot of his bed. Haiden scrambled into them. The black picture on the wall snickered at him.
Ron, who was not going to support Harry, was laying sprawled on his back with his mouth wide open, fast asleep and loudly snoring. He didn't stir as Haiden crossed the room, stepped out onto the landing, and closed the door softly behind him before walking quickly and quietly down the stairs, past the heads of Kreacher's ancestors, and into the kitchen.
With how early it was, Haiden expected the kitchen to be empty, but it was not. When he reached the door he heard the soft rumble of voices on the other side and when he pushed it open he saw Mr and Mrs Weasley, Sirius, Remus, Severus, Tonks and Hermione sitting there almost as though waiting for him. All were fully dressed except Mrs Weasley, who was wearing a quilted, purple dressing gown. She lept to her feet the moment he entered.
"Breakfast," she said as she pulled out her wand and hurried over to the fire as Hermione lept to her feet and rushed to him.
"What are you doing up? I thought you'd still be asleep." Haiden muttered hugging her close to him, needing as much support as he could today was going to be difficult for him.
"I'm going to the trial as well," Hermione told him, "you are going to need all the support you can, everyone else is going to be there for Harry, but this is hard on you and Draco as well. Me and Luna have been talking, while she's going to be there for Harry, Myari is going to be there to support Draco while I'm there to support you." Haiden was shocked silent for a long minute before he pulled her into a kiss, but quickly pulled away from the kiss when Mrs Weasley coughed at them.
"M-m-morning, Haiden." Tonks yawned out with a smirk at the blushing teens. Her hair was blonde and curly this morning. "Sleep all right?"
"Yeah." Haiden said as he allowed Hermione to lead him by the hand to the table.
"I've b-b-been up all night," Tonks said, with another shuddering yawn as him and Hermione sat at the table.
"What do you want, Haiden?" Mrs Weasley called. "Porridge? Muffins? Kippers? Bacon and eggs? Toast?"
"Just - just toast-" Haiden started.
"He'll have some eggs with that toast." Severus said, his tone leaving no argument. "If you want to come to the trial to support your brother, then you are going to eat eggs with that toast." Haiden caught Remus throwing Severus a loving smile before turning towards Tonks.
"What were you saying about Scrimgeour?" He asked her.
"Oh . . . yeah . . . well, we need to be a bit more careful, he's been asking Kingsley and me funny questions. . . ." Tonks started while fighting off yawns, Haiden absent mindedly watched Mrs Weasley cook his breakfast when he thought of something.
"How are we getting there?" Haiden asked and silence fell over the kitchen for a few seconds before Mrs Weasley answered him.
"Arthur and will be escorting you all to the building where you will be meeting up with Lucius who will then escort you into the court room." She told him, trying to sound unconcerned as she sat his breakfast in front of him. Haiden began to pick at his food, taking small bites whenever he caught Severus's looks tossed at him.
"The trial is going to be an open trial." Arthur informed everyone.
"Of course it would be." Severus growled out in annoyance.
"At least he was able to get a trial." Sirius said angrily. Haiden looked at him, but before he could ask anything, Mrs Weasley answered him.
"Professor Dumbledore doesn't think it's a good idea for Sirius to go with you, and I must say I-"
"-think he's quite right." Sirius finished for her through clenched teeth. Mrs Weasley pursed her lips.
"When did Dumbledore tell you that?" Haiden asked, he hadn't really seen or talked to Dumbledore since being brought here to stay a week into summer vacation, it was almost as if the man was avoiding him.
"He came last night, when you were in bed." Mrs Weasley told him. Haiden sighed and looked back at his plate and stabbed moodily at his eggs with his fork at the same time that Sirius stabbed moodily at a potato with his own fork. The thought that Dumbledore had been in the house on the eve of his brother's hearing and not asked to see him to cheek up on him made him feel that Dumbledore really was avoiding him. But why? What had Haiden done to deserve being treated like this?
"How are you feeling?" Mr Weasley asked him and Haiden looked up from his plate to the man. He wasn't wearing wizard's robes but a pair of pinstriped trousers and an old bomber jacket. Haiden shrugged and finished the last of his breakfast and showed Severus his plate earning a small nod of approval. "It'll all over soon, " Mr Weasley said bracingly, "in a few hours' time Harry will be cleared." Haiden said nothing as he reached over and took Hermione's hand and squeezed it, earning a loving squeeze back.
"Don't lose your temper." Sirius said abruptly causing everyone to look at him. "You may not be officially on trial, but Harry is your younger twin. He is very powerful and smart. They'll also be watching how you react as well. They'll be judging the two of you as one. As an ex Auror myself, I've seen many cases where one twin was on trial and they brought in the other twin and however that twin reacted either hurt or helped the other one."
"Why?" Haiden asked.
"There's a theory going around," Hermione started, "that magical twins are one soul in two bodies. It is why twins born with magic tend to be closer than muggle twins. It is also why twins can usually use each other's wands without any backlash."
"She's right." Severus said. "Though, you and your brother seem to be the exception to that."
"That would be because their connection to each other has nearly been severed." Mind Healer Krystan said as she and Myari walked into the room startling everyone as they hadn't visited the Head Quarters before today. Haiden hadn't even known they had been told about the Head Quarters, but at the moment Haiden wasn't worried about that fact.
"What do you mean nearly severed?!" Haiden asked panicked his mind flashing back to how him and Harry had once been. How close they had been. How with almost a look Haiden could just know what his brother was thinking and feeling. But that had changed when they got to Hogwarts, no, it had changed right after the snake incident. Had his actions almost severed his connection with his brother?
"It's not something you could do, Haiden, do not fret. A connection between twins (at least the magical ones) are within the soul, it not something one can easily or accidentally do. It would take an inhumanly amount of magic and intent to do. Meaning one would need to have the power of an ancient one and want to purposefully sever the connection." Krystan explained as she took a set in between Sirius and Severus while Myari sat on the other side of Haiden.
"But why would one want to sever a connection between twins?" Remus asked and Krystan shrugged.
"One could only guess. But to punished one or both twins by dooming them to always feel incomplete." Krystan said with a sigh.
"But I don't feel incomplete." Haiden said.
"That would be because the connection was nearly severed and not completely severed. It is still technically there and only working one way. The connection is completely severed on Harry's end but not on your end. Which is why Harry's body is so much more malnourished than yours, and why Harry's emotions and mental state is so much more unstable than yours." Krystan told him.
"What? What does our connection have to do with the malnourishment?" Haiden asked.
"Magical twins share more than just magic, feelings, and thoughts, they also share the effects of things. Let's say we have a set of twins, let's make them two boys, and put each of the boys in two different rooms. Now, lets have one twin get hit, the other twin may not actually feel the pain of being hit, but he'll get the bruise. Now, lets give one twin food and starve the other twin. This is where it starts getting a little complicated. The twin the has the food will most likely suddenly find himself eating twice the amount that he normally eats because he is sending half the nutrition to his twin while the hungry twin is sending him the effects of being starved. Now, let's mentally traumatize one twin with a clown, and a day later show the other twin a picture of a clown the never used to terrify him, that twin is now suddenly terrified of the clown." Krystan explained and Haiden looked at her in horror.
"That's with twins with a complete connection. With you and Harry, your connection is still there meaning you are able to send him the effects of your abuse and neglect. And since Harry's connection was severed he could even out the effects meaning he was getting double to amount of abuse and neglect. That's why Harry is so small and why Harry is so much more powerful than you. Normally twins share their magical abilities, but Harry can't and is also getting your share of the magic and he can't send you his share." Krystan explained and Haiden felt like he was about to throw up. What had they done to this thing that nearly severed their connection for them to make Harry suffer the way he had?
"There's also a theory that hasn't been proven that twins can also share dreams and nightmares." Myari said softly as a heavy silence fell over the kitchen as everyone soaked in the information they had just learned. A dangerous growl suddenly came from Remus as he shot to his feet, his eyes flashing a dangerous gold causing almost everyone to tense up.
"And you're just telling us this now?" Remus growled out as Severus jumped to his feet and wrapped his arms around the man.
"I apologize for keeping this information from you, however had I thought that there was a way to repair the connection without summoning an ancient one, that may or may not kill us, then I would have mentioned it. As it stands, there was nothing that could be done and as the twins are now away from the abuse I do not see any danger from it." Krystan stated calmly as Severus went about calming Remus. It was a long moment before Remus finally relaxed in Severus's arms.
"Mind Healer Krystan, though I appreciate your work with Harry thus far, I ask that the next time you come across information about Harry that might effect his health, please inform me and Remus." Severus asked through gritted teeth.
"Of course." Krystan nodded. Haiden jumped when something very cold trickled down the back of his neck; for a moment he thought someone was putting a Disillusionment Charm on him again, then realized that Mrs Weasley was attacking his hair with a wet comb. She pressed hard on the top of his head.
"Doesn't it ever lie flat?" She asked desperately and Haiden shook his head he doubted that even Harry with his magic could get his hair to lie flat. Mr Weasley checked his watch and looked up at Haiden before glancing at Severus.
"I think we'll go now." He announced. "We're a bit early, but I think that will be for the best. It will give you time to secure some seats. I'm sure that with the kind of attention Harry was getting before this that everyone will want into the court room to watch.
"Okay." Haiden said as him and Hermione stood up almost as one, Krystan and Myari stood along with Mr Weasely.
"Everything will work out, Haiden." Tonks said patting his arm.
"And if it doesn't... Well, we'll burn that bridge when we get to it and help Draco storm Azkaban." Myari joked weakly. Haiden smiled weakly as Mrs Weasley hugged him.
"We've all got our fingers crossed." She told him.
"Right," Haiden said, "the next time you see us, we'll have Harry with us." With that said the small group that now included Krystan and Myari followed Mr Weasley upstairs and along the hall. He could hear Sirius's mother grunting in her sleep behind her curtains, and part of him wondered how Harry would handle the woman. Mr Weasley unbolted the door and they stepped out into the cold, grey dawn.
"You don't normally walk to work, do you?" Myari asked after Mr Weasley paused to get his baring before they set off briskly around the square.
"No, I usually Apparate." Mr Weasley informed them. "However, I can't do two person Apparation, and we don't have badges that will allow Severus, Remus, or Mind Healer Krystan to Apparate into the building, so I thought it'd be best to arrive in a thoroughly non-magical fashion... makes a better impression..." Mr Weasley trailed off awkwardly as he kept his hand inside his jacket as they walked. Haiden knew it was clenched around his wand. The run-down streets were almost deserted, but when they arrived at a miserable little Underground station they found it already full of early morning commuters. As ever when he found himself in close proximity to Muggles going about their daily business, Mr Weasley was hard put to contain his enthusiasm.
"Simply fabulous," he whispered, indicating the automatic ticket machines, "wonderfully ingenious."
"They're out of order." Hermione said, pointing at the sign.
"Yes, but even so..." Mr Weasley said beaming fondly at them. They bought their tickets instead from a sleepy-looking guard (Severus handled the transaction shocking both Hermione and Haiden with how well Severus knew Muggle money, as Mr Weasely was not very good with Muggle money) and five minutes later they were boarding an Underground train that rattled them off towards the center of London. Mr Weasley kept anxiously checking and rechecking the Underground map above the windows, annoying Severus who kept telling Mr Weasley that he would not allow them to miss their stop.
"Four stops, Haiden . . . three stops left now . . . two stops to go, Haiden. . ."
They got off at station in the very heart of London, swept from the train in a tide of besuited men and women carrying briefcases. Up the escalator they went, through the ticket barrier (Mr Weasley delighted with the way the stile swallowed his ticket), and emerged onto a broad street lined with imposing-looking buildings, already full of traffic.
"Where are we?" Mr Weasely asked blankly, and for one heart stopping moment Haiden thought they had gotten off at the wrong station despite Mr Weasley's continual references to the map and he was sure Severus would kill the man for that; but a second later he said "Ah, yes . . . this way," and led them down a side road. "Sorry," he muttered, "but I never come by train and it all looks rather different from a Muggle perspective. As a matter of fact I've never even used the visitor's entrance before."
The farther they walked, the smaller and less imposing the building became, until finally they reached a streets that contained several rather shabby-looking offices, a pub, and an overflowing dumpster. Haiden had expected a rather more impressive location for the Ministry of Magic.
"Here we are." Mr Weasely said brightly pointing at an old red telephone box, which was missing several panes of glass and stood before a heavily graffittied wall. "You all still have your codes I gave you?" He asked looking at Severus and Remus who nodded before seeming to panic when his eyes landed on Krystan. "Er, I don't think I gave you a code." He began to pat himself. "I don't think I have your code."
"Lucius gave me mine last night, we weren't supposed to travel with you, we were supposed to go with Lucius. However there was a last minute change in plans, but don't worry, I have my code." Krystan explained and Mr Weasley nodded.
"Right, well, after you, Haiden." He said opening the telephone box door. Haiden stepped inside, wondering what on earth this was about, why did they need codes? Mr Weasley folded himself in beside Haiden and closed the door. Haiden had to stop himself from panicking as a strange wave of fear and a memory of being alone in a small room with his cousin (a memory he knew wasn't his) washed over him. It was a tight fight; Haiden was jammed against the telephone apparatus, which was hanging crookedly from the wall as though a vandal had tried to rip it off. Mr Weasley reached past Haiden for the receiver.
"Mr Weasley, I think this might be out of order too." Haiden said.
"No, no, I'm sure it's fine." Mr Weasley said, holding the receiver above his head and peering at the dial. "Let's see . . . six . . ." he dialed the number, "two . . . four . . . and another four . . . and another two. . ." As the dial whirred smoothly back into place, a cool female voice sounded inside the telephone box, not from the receiver in Mr Weasley's hand, but as loudly and plainly as though an invisible woman were standing right beside them.
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."
"Er . . ." Mr Weasley said, clearly uncertain whether he should talk into the receiver or not; he compromised by holding the mouthpiece to his ear, "Arthur Weasley, Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, here to escort Haiden Potter to the trial of Harry Potter. . . "
"Thank you." The cool female voice said. "Visitor, please take the badge and attach it to the front of your robes." There was a click and a rattle, and Haiden saw something slide out of the metal chute where returned coins usually appeared. He picked it up: It was a square silver badge with Haiden Potter, Trail for Harry Potter on it. He pinned it to the front of his T-shirt as the female voice spoke again. "Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium."
The floor of the telephone box shuddered. They were sinking slowly into the ground. Haiden watched apprehensively as the pavement rose up past the glass windows of the telephone box until darkness closed over their heads. Then he could see nothing at all; he could only hear a dull grinding noise as the telephone box made its way down through the earth. After a minute, though it felt much longer to Haiden, a chink of golden light illuminated his feet and, widening, rose up his body, until it hit him in the face and he had to blink to stop his eyes from watering.
"The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day." The woman's voice said.
The door of the telephone box sprang open and Mr Weasley stepped out of it, followed by Haiden whose mouth had fallen open. They were standing at one end of a very long and splendid hall with a highly polished, dark wood floor. The peacock-blue ceiling was inlaid with gleaming golden symbols that were continually moving and changing like some enormous heavenly notice board. The walls on each side were paneled in shiny dark wood and had many gilded fireplaces set into them. Every few seconds a witch or wizard would emerge from one of the left handed fireplaces with a soft whoosh; on the right-handed side, short queues of were forming before each fireplace, waiting to depart.
Halfway down the hall was a fountain. A group of golden statues, larger than life-size, stood in the middle of a circular pool. Tallest of them all was a noble-looking wizard with his wand pointing straight in the air. Grouped around him were a beautiful witch, a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf. The last three were all looking adoringly up at the witch and wizard. Glittering jets of water were flying from the ends of the two wands, the point of the centaur's arrow, the tip of the goblin's hat, and each of the house-elf's ears, so that the tinkling hiss of falling water was added to the pops and cracks of Apparators and clatter of footsteps as hundreds of witches and wizards, most of whom were wearing glum, early-morning looks, and strode towards a set of golden gates at the far end of the hall. He heard a snort from behind him and turned to see Remus glaring at the statue.
"I always hated looking at that statue whenever I came to visit James and Sirius." Haiden heard Remus mutter. It took his brain to understand why Remus would hate that statue.
"This way." Mr Weasley said.
Their group easily joined the throng, wending their way between the Ministry workers, some of whom were carrying tottering piles of parchment, others battered briefcases, still other reading the Daily Prophet as they walked. Haiden caught sight of the headline on the many copies of the paper.
Youngest Potter Tried:
A Menace or Misunderstood?
Haiden rolled his eyes. As they passed the fountain, Haiden saw silver Sickles and bronze Knuts glinting up at him from the bottom of the pool. A small, smudge sign beside it read:
All proceeds from the Fountain of Magical Brethren will be given to
St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
'If Harry isn't found guilty allowed to come home and continue at Hogwarts, I'll put in ten Galleons.' Haiden found himself thinking desperately.
"Over here." Mr Weasley said, and they stepped out of the stream of Ministry employees heading for the golden gates, towards a desk on the left, over which hung a sign saying security. A badly shaven wizard in peacock-blue robes looked up as they approached and put down his Daily Prophet.
"I'm escorting some visitors." Mr Weasley said, motioning to the rest of their group.
"You," he grunted pointing to Haiden, "step over here." The wizard said in a board voice. Haiden walked closer to him and the wizard held up a long golden rod, thin and flexible as a car aerial, and passed it up and down Haiden's front and back. "Wand." He grunted at Haiden, putting down the golden instrument and holding out his hand.
Haiden produced his wand. The wizard dropped it onto a strange brass instrument, which looked something like a set of scales with only one dish. It began to vibrate. A narrow strip of parchment came speeding out of a slit in the base. The wizard tore this off and read the writing upon it.
"Eleven inches, phoenix-feather core, been in use four years. That correct?"
"Yes." Haiden said nervously.
"I keep this," the wizard, impaling the slip of parchment on a small brass spike. "You get this back." He added, thrusting the wand at Haiden.
"Thank you."
"Next, you- hang on..." The wizard said pointing towards Hermione as his eyes darted from the silver visitor's badge on Haiden's chest to his forehead.
"Me next, right?" Hermione said stepping in between the wizard and Haiden. The wizard blinked before scanning Hermione and her wand before moving to Myari. The process repeated until Remus, who seemed to make sure he was last, stepped up. The golden instrument gave out a loud and angry buzz and the wizard went into defense mode until Remus pulled down his shirt sleeve to show the man a small, black metal bracelet that Haiden had never seen on Remus before. The wizard picked up another instrument, this one like a small black rectangle and waved it over the bracelet. Both Remus and the wizard seemed tense for a moment before the instrument hummed and spat out silver looking chain and tag. Remus glared at the chain for a second before grabbing it on and put it around his next like a choker. It was only then that Haiden realized that it wasn't a choker but a collar.
"Wand." The wizard growled out and Remus produced his wand. Haiden, remembering Sirius's warning, kept his anger in check as he watched as the wizard began to treat Remus as if he was nothing but garbage.
"Thank you, Eric." Mr Weasley said through gritted teeth before he steered the group away from the desk and back into the stream of wizards and witches walking through the golden gates. Haiden caught Mr Weasley turn to Remus and open his mouth.
"I'm used to it." Remus told him shortly as he scratched at his collar.
"It's not painful, is it?" Hermione asked softly.
"It's not actually silver." Remus told her. "It's just, I haven't had to wear this is so long, at least 15 years give or take, so it's a little irritating." His dislike of the statue made a lot more since now. Jostled slightly by the crowd, Haiden and the others followed Mr Weasley through the gates into the smaller hall beyond, where at least twenty lifts stood behind wrought golden grilles. Their group joined the crowed around one of them. A big, bearded wizard holding a large cardboard box stood nearby. The box was emitting rasping noises. Haiden saw the man glance at Remus's collar and shifted a half step away.
"Everything all right, Arthur?" The wizard asked trying to sound at ease yet his eyes never left the collar.
"What've you got there, Bob?" Mr Weasley asked, looking at the box.
"We're not sure." The wizard told him seriously, finally looking away from the collar towards the box as he got a better grip on it. "We thought it was a bog-standard chicken until it started breathing fire. Looks like a serious breach of the Ban on Experimental Breeding to me."
With a great jangling and clattering a lift descended in front of them; the golden grille slid back and they moved inside it with the rest of the crowd. Haiden found himself jammed against the back wall of the lift with Hermione right next to him. Several witches and wizards were looking at them curiously; he took Hermione's hand and refused to look them in the eyes while trying to flatten his fringe as he did so. Haiden and Hermione grunted when everyone shifted closer to them and whispers suddenly started up, and at first Haiden was afraid they were about him until he caught the tail end of one.
"...werewolf." His eyes snapped up and noticed that everyone was now watching Remus who was standing in the middle of the lift head held high in defiance while he looked forward. Severus, who was standing right next to him, was holding his hand and glaring at the golden grilles as they slid shut with a crash and the lift ascended slowly, chains rattling all the while, while the same cool female voice Haiden had heard in the telephone box rang out again.
"Level seven, Department of Magical Games and Sports, incorporating the British Irish Quidditch League of Headquarters, Official Gobstones Club, and Ludicrous Patents Office."
The lift doors opened; Haiden glimpsed an untidy-looking corridor, with various posters of Quidditch teams tacked lopsidedly on the walls; one of the wizards in the lift, who was carrying an armful of broomsticks, all but ran out of the lift and disappeared down the corridor. The doors closed, the lift juddered upward again, and the woman's voice said, "Level six, Department of Magical Transport, incorporating the Floo Network Authority, Broom Regulatory Control, Portkey Office, and Apparation Test Center."
Once again the lift doors opened and four or five witches and wizards rushed out; at the same time, several paper airplanes swooped into the lift. Haiden stared up at them as they flapped idly around above his head; they were a pale violet color and he could see Ministry of Magic stamped along the edges of their wings.
"Just Interdepartment memos." Mr Weasley muttered to him. "We used to use owls, but the mess was unbelievable . . . droppings all over the desks . . ." As they clattered upward again, the memos flapped around the swaying lamp in the lifts ceiling.
"Level five, Department of International Magical Cooperation, incorporating the International Magical Trading Standards Body, the International Magical Office of Law, and the International Confederation of Wizards, British Seats."
When the doors opened, two of the memos zoomed out with a few more witches and wizards, but several more memos zoomed in, so that the light from the lamp in the ceiling flickered and flashed as they darted around it.
"Level four, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, incorporating Beast, Being, and Spirit Divisions, Goblin Liaison Office, and Pest Advisory Bureau."
"'S'cuse me." The wizard carrying the fire-breathing chicken and he left the lift pursued by a little flock of memos. The doors clanged shut yet again.
"Level three, Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, including the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, Obliviator Headquarters, and Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee."
Everybody left the lift on this floor except for their group and a witch who was ready an extremely long piece of parchment that was trailing on the ground. Haiden saw Remus let out of breath of relief and relaxed a little. The remaining memos continued to soar around the lamp as the lift juddered upwards again, and the doors opened to show and impatient Draco Malfoy with Luna hanging off his arm standing with Lucius Malfoy and the voice said, "Level two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters, and Wizengamot Administration Services."
"Follow me, quick, they changed the time and the room. We've got five minutes to get to there." Mr Malfoy explained and the group rushed out of the lift and followed Mr Malfoy to another lift where he hit the down button.
"Come ON!" Haiden heard Draco growl. "Don't tell me to calm down, Harry needs us and this stupid lift is taken too long." Haiden glanced over to Draco and Luna to see her whispering in his ear. The lift clattered into view and they hurried inside. Every time it stopped Draco cursed furiously and pummeled the number nine button.
"Level Nine?" Mr Weasley asked shocked. "Those courtrooms haven't been used in years!"
"Yes, Arthur, I know." Mr Malfoy told him tightly.
"I can't think why they're doing it down there - unless - but no. . ." A plump witch carrying a smoking goblet entered the lift at that moment and neither Mr Malfoy or Mr Weasley elaborated.
"The Atrium," the cool female said and the golden grilles slid open, showing Haiden a distant glimpse of the golden statues in the fountain. The plump witch got out and a sallow-skinned wizard with a very mournful face got in.
"Morning, Arthur, Lucius." He said in a sepulchral voice as the lift began to descend. "Don't see either of you down here . . . much less together . . ."
"Urgent business, Bode." Mr Weasley told him as he bounced on the balls of his feet and throwing anxious looks over at Haiden. A horrible feeling settled in the pit of his stomach as the thought that Harry wouldn't be found innocent floated throughout his mind. His eyes began to fill with tears, this may be the last time he ever saw his baby brother. Hermione reached over and gripped his hand tightly.
"Ah, yes." Bode said, surveying Haiden unblinkingly. "Of course." Haiden barely had emotion to spare for Bode, however his unfaltering gaze did not make him feel any more comfortable.
"Department of Mysteries." The cool female voice said, and left it at that.
"Quickly now." Mr Malfoy said as the lift doors rattled open and they sped up a corridor that was quite different from those above. The walls were bare; there were no windows and no doors apart from a plain black one set at the very end of the corridor. Haiden expected them to go through it, but instead Mr Malfoy seized him by the arm and all but dragged him to the left, where there was an opening leading to a flight of steps.
"Down here, Haiden." Mr Malfoy informed him as they took two steps at a time.
"The lift doesn't even come down this far . . . why they're doing it there . . ." Mr Weasley panted. They reached the bottom of the steps and ran along yet another corridor, which bore a great resemblance to that which lead to Severus's dungeon at Hogwarts, with rough stone walls and torches in brackets. The doors they passed here were heavy wooden ones with iron bolts and keyholes.
"Courtroom ten, here we are." Mr Malfoy said as they came to a halt outside a grimy dark door with an immense iron lock checked the time. "A minute to spare. Come on." Mr Malfoy lead them into the room room, forcing Haiden, who had halted in the door way at seeing a similar courtroom from Dumbledore's memory, to continue walking. They made it to the seats around the room that were filled with many different witches and wizards whispering to each other.