Chapter 4 Magiccam
Percy hurried back to the office, his ear still ringing from the fireworks. Honestly, Fred and George had such an attitude these days. He was only trying to do his job. At least now he had a clue: the invasion was something about a prophecy stored in the Department of Mysteries.
Percy remembered that Mr. Fudge had mentioned images captured on Magiccam. It was a newly installed security measure after the terrible incident with the snake and Percy's father. Percy was still shaken up about that. It was a miracle that the portrait of Everard had heard a noise and called someone in time to save Arthur Weasley. Percey had had to fend off embarrassing questions about what Arthur was doing down there, and as a result he'd had to distance himself from his family still further and not even visit his father in the hospital. That hurt, because Percy still cared about his father and was glad he had recovered.
So the Ministry had decided to put in the latest available security device, a hovering invisible Wizard Camera that would take pictures of suspicious occurrences after hours. Percy decided on a bold frontal approach to the Magical Law Enforcement Department to see the pictures for himself.
He approached the harried desk clerk and said, "The Minister's Office would like to see the Magiccam shots of last night's break-in again." This was basically true, since he worked for the Minister's office.
"All right, all right," said the clerk, who was distracted with organizing piles of paperwork. "Here you are. Tell the Minister he shouldn't have given them back so soon if he wanted to keep looking at them. " She handed him a thick folder of prints.
Percy riffled through the pictures. Most were useless; the Magiccam had sensed so much suspicious activity that it had whirled every which way, getting terrible camera angles. One was pretty clear, though. Percy caught a glare from the image of He Who Must Not Be Named standing in the middle of where the fountain used to be.
"Do these include the Prophecy Room?" he asked casually.
"No, the Minister didn't ask for those before," said the clerk. She fished out another file and handed him that too. This was working out very smoothly, he thought. Almost too smoothly.
Then, as Percy hurried down the hall, he ran into a short witch with bright orange hair. He dropped the folders and the photos scattered everywhere.
"Wotcher, Perce," said the witch. "Lemme help you pick those up."
Now he remembered her. It was that young Auror who was always changing her looks. He really didn't want her to get a close look at the photos. His good memory for names came to the rescue.
"Thank you, Nymphadora," he said.
"That's Tonks! On second thought, pick them up yourself!" She left in a huff.
Percy scooped up all the pictures and rushed back to his office.
The initial scenes in the Prophecy Room were quieter and the Magiccam had gotten some better shots. Percy was shocked to see both Ron and Ginny in the group of students walking through the shelves. He knew Dumbledore had attracted many students to his side, but it was another thing to see his own family openly flouting the law for him like this.
He came to a shot of Harry Potter reaching out for a glass orb on the shelf. Percy felt he had been right to warn Ron about getting mixed up with that young hooligan. He prodded the figure.
"Move aside for a moment. I want to see the label on that shelf."
Harry's image moved over and Percy was able to make out the inscription: " S. P. T. to A. P. W. B. D. Dark Lord and (?) Harry Potter."
Percy easily identified the famous initials of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. But who was "S. P. T"? A prophet or prophetess... Sibyll Trelawney perhaps? He would have to find out her middle initial.
His next step was clear. He would have to go to Hogwarts tomorrow and check out this lead. It wouldn't be easy, since it was the heart of the enemy camp and Dumbledore would be watching. But Percy had no choice but to try.
Percy hurried back to the office, his ear still ringing from the fireworks. Honestly, Fred and George had such an attitude these days. He was only trying to do his job. At least now he had a clue: the invasion was something about a prophecy stored in the Department of Mysteries.
Percy remembered that Mr. Fudge had mentioned images captured on Magiccam. It was a newly installed security measure after the terrible incident with the snake and Percy's father. Percy was still shaken up about that. It was a miracle that the portrait of Everard had heard a noise and called someone in time to save Arthur Weasley. Percey had had to fend off embarrassing questions about what Arthur was doing down there, and as a result he'd had to distance himself from his family still further and not even visit his father in the hospital. That hurt, because Percy still cared about his father and was glad he had recovered.
So the Ministry had decided to put in the latest available security device, a hovering invisible Wizard Camera that would take pictures of suspicious occurrences after hours. Percy decided on a bold frontal approach to the Magical Law Enforcement Department to see the pictures for himself.
He approached the harried desk clerk and said, "The Minister's Office would like to see the Magiccam shots of last night's break-in again." This was basically true, since he worked for the Minister's office.
"All right, all right," said the clerk, who was distracted with organizing piles of paperwork. "Here you are. Tell the Minister he shouldn't have given them back so soon if he wanted to keep looking at them. " She handed him a thick folder of prints.
Percy riffled through the pictures. Most were useless; the Magiccam had sensed so much suspicious activity that it had whirled every which way, getting terrible camera angles. One was pretty clear, though. Percy caught a glare from the image of He Who Must Not Be Named standing in the middle of where the fountain used to be.
"Do these include the Prophecy Room?" he asked casually.
"No, the Minister didn't ask for those before," said the clerk. She fished out another file and handed him that too. This was working out very smoothly, he thought. Almost too smoothly.
Then, as Percy hurried down the hall, he ran into a short witch with bright orange hair. He dropped the folders and the photos scattered everywhere.
"Wotcher, Perce," said the witch. "Lemme help you pick those up."
Now he remembered her. It was that young Auror who was always changing her looks. He really didn't want her to get a close look at the photos. His good memory for names came to the rescue.
"Thank you, Nymphadora," he said.
"That's Tonks! On second thought, pick them up yourself!" She left in a huff.
Percy scooped up all the pictures and rushed back to his office.
The initial scenes in the Prophecy Room were quieter and the Magiccam had gotten some better shots. Percy was shocked to see both Ron and Ginny in the group of students walking through the shelves. He knew Dumbledore had attracted many students to his side, but it was another thing to see his own family openly flouting the law for him like this.
He came to a shot of Harry Potter reaching out for a glass orb on the shelf. Percy felt he had been right to warn Ron about getting mixed up with that young hooligan. He prodded the figure.
"Move aside for a moment. I want to see the label on that shelf."
Harry's image moved over and Percy was able to make out the inscription: " S. P. T. to A. P. W. B. D. Dark Lord and (?) Harry Potter."
Percy easily identified the famous initials of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. But who was "S. P. T"? A prophet or prophetess... Sibyll Trelawney perhaps? He would have to find out her middle initial.
His next step was clear. He would have to go to Hogwarts tomorrow and check out this lead. It wouldn't be easy, since it was the heart of the enemy camp and Dumbledore would be watching. But Percy had no choice but to try.