Chapter Twenty: The Ministry of Magic

¡°So, that¡¯s where babies come from, Kora.¡± ¡°No, Pop, don¡¯t joke around. What¡¯s happening with Azkaban?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, Kora. We¡¯ve reinforced the guards, Fudge has been docked his Christmas holiday in order for him to keep working on the problem, and there has been no further attacks. Nothing to worry about.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll bet it wasn¡¯t that easy to push aside when you sent me that note warning me to be careful. You were worried Richard¡¯s going to come and take me.¡± ¡°Yes, Kora. I feared that it was going to happen.¡±

A few knocks sounded on the front door. I finished pouring Pop¡¯s coffee and went over to let Jim in. The first thing he did was hand me a long, russet-red feather. Uh, Torque kinda dropped this when she was trying to tear my head open. ¡°Nonsense, Jim, an owl was heading for Number 26 and Torque just got agitated. Come on in.¡± In the kitchen I told him, ¡°Pop¡¯s taking me to the Ministry with him today.¡± What? The Ministry? ¡°Yeah. He¡¯s going to show me around and stuff. D¡¯you want to come?¡± Okay.

Well, that was easy. I had thought that Jim was going to freak out. The Ministry of Magic was a big place and high in status. Visiting it would be an honour. I had never gone inside myself, but I had heard stories from Pop.

He was watching the clock in the kitchen. The minute it struck nine thirty he got up, his long velvet robes swirling behind him impressively, and strode into the living room. He took a small silver box off the mantelpiece of the fireplace and opened it. He offered it to Jim and me. ¡°Right. Now, make sure you guys say ¡°Ministry of Magic¡¯ really clearly, okay? And make sure you say it in a completely British accent otherwise you might end up in the Muggle African Republic. Kora, you go first.¡± I took some Floo powder from the box and threw it into the burning fireplace. Immediately the flames burst into emerald green, and it tickled as I climbed into them. ¡°Ministry of Magic!¡±

Pop and Jim¡¯s faces swam out of sight ¨C I was off and away down the fireplace. Flashes of rooms zipped by my eyes, it was too fast to see the pattern of this or the size of that or whether the rooms I was seeing were Muggle or wizardkind. The ride didn¡¯t take too long. In no time I was falling out onto a clean, nicely tiled floor, and a wizard by the fireplace was saying in an automatic voice, ¡°Welcome to the Ministry of Magic.¡± Well, he was saying it till he recognized me, then his voice stopped at just ¡®Ministry¡¯. As a guard he would have seen Pop around all the time, and he would¡¯ve smiled and said hello how are you and meant every word of it. But now, there was an exception. No matter who my grandfather was, I was still vermin. He was glaring at me now, this man whose name badge read ¡®Tom Achilles¡¯.

¡°Good day, Ms Rastrick.¡± He sounded cold. He reached into his desk and handed me a pin. It already had my name on it. I said nothing, but pinned it to the front of my jumper. A few seconds later Jim appeared, dusting himself off. Tom Achilles was about to comment ¨C probably to ask us what we were doing in the Ministry ¨C when Pop himself popped into the scene. He gave Tom Achilles a great grin and nodded. ¡°Morning, Tom. A badge for young Jim Rickman here, if you please.¡± ¡°Good morning, Verdi, of course, here it is.¡± Jim stuck it to his jumper, thinking to me, Not a very pleasant man, is he? I had to laugh.

Pop moved to the front. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll be showing you guys around for a while, then I¡¯m going downstairs to the Mysteries dep. So bear with me for now, okay?¡±

The Ministry lobby was huge. It was bigger than the Great Hall by maybe a league or two, or maybe even five. All around the room there were fireplaces, and every minute there was somebody appearing or leaving through them. Guards like our Tom Achilles sat at these fireplaces. In the middle of the large hall was a huge fountain. It looked like it was made from squeaky clean gold. The statues that made it up depicted a house elf, a goblin, a witch and a wizard. All of them were spouting water, so the hall seemed to be filled with the rush of a waterfall. Jim thought it was wrong. House elves do look up to humans, being slaves, but goblins detest humans. That¡¯s not right, for that goblin to look so happy about this witch and wizard. ¡°Yes. Jim.¡±

Pop brought us into the lift, and the whole time we were in there paper planes were flapping around our heads. Pop swiped one out of the air and opened it. ¡°Hmph. I would have thought. Charles Downer needs me to draft a new legislation for his cousin Alexander. That Squib really should get going on his own work instead of relying on his cousin so much to rely on me.¡± Pop handed me the plane, and Jim and I spent the rest of our time playing catching games with it in the lift.

Ping! We had stopped at the Department of Magical Sports. Pop checked his leaflet. ¡°What?¡± he mumbled, more to himself than anyone else. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right, they¡¯re moving around the departments this year. Magical Maladies is on the sixth floor now¡­¡± He took us out anyway. Here, everything was about Quidditch. I saw a few posters on the older games, but the modern wizarding sport was what dominated the floor. Pop pointed out a big man with a large paunch laughing with some others and said, ¡°That¡¯s Ludovic Bagman the Head of this department.¡± He used to be in the Wimbleton Wasps! ¡°I think so. That just might be it.¡± Next he showed us Bartemius Crouch, who happened to be on the next floor below us. Then there was the Head of the Department of Magical Creatures, Muggle Practices and Legislation Control, the Part-Human Act, and Improper Use of Magic. In every one we saw the witches and wizards running around like crazy, trailing scrolls of parchment, envelopes, wands, and even flames and burnt paper in their wake. Some places were large and had tons of people working in that department. Others were just barely there, with only five people working on it or less. Pop introduced us to Arthur Weasley, and I pointed out that his son was in his seventh year at Hogwarts. Arthur became red-eared at this, and said something about Charlie Weasley being the second in the family to go into the school.

Everywhere Pop went he always had to be stopped by someone, whether it was to have an hour-long conversation or just to pass on a few notes to this and that in department whatever. At these intervals Jim would wander over to a pedestal or a statue and pose or do something stupid. Hey, look at me. I¡¯m Edward Munch. ¡°That¡¯s not Edward Munch, that¡¯s just the portrait he¡¯s drawn. Of himself. Whatever.¡± I wasn¡¯t at all that good at Muggle things ¨C we had been outside the Muggle department that time.

At some points we would see people we knew, like Professor McGonagall. Jim saw her first, and pointed her out talking to Bartemius Crouch from the fourth floor. What would she be doing here? ¡°I have no idea. Maybe she¡¯s always been here. You know that time she was away when Snape caught us outside the dorm. If we had gotten her I¡¯ll bet we would¡¯ve gotten a better detention.¡± Nah. She would¡¯ve made us clean up all the bathrooms in the school. She¡¯s done it to Peter Gobb in sixth year.

We also saw Frances¡¯ dad. He was busy working away at someone else¡¯s desk ¨C Pop had beckoned for us to be quiet and had opened the door. We watched him for a while ¨C the man was practically writing away, even muttering solemnly as he did so. If you ask me, he seemed kind of mad. Outside, Pop told us, ¡°He¡¯s taken someone¡¯s place in the Department of Magical Exports for today, and it¡¯s costing him death. He isn¡¯t used to writing stuff like this, in Mysteries he just tests things to find out if they work and practical things like that. I take care of the paperwork, and Bode does a bit of both.¡± ¡°Are you sure that isn¡¯t too much information about your work, Pop?¡± ¡°So far I haven¡¯t mentioned anything about what we actually do. I¡¯m allowed to say how we do it, aren¡¯t I?¡±

There were more departments, but Pop had only a few minutes to spare. ¡°Sorry I can¡¯t take you guys to see my office. Maybe next time we¡¯ll bring the Imperceptible Cloak or something, okay? To get out of here just use Floo powder, go via the fireplace opposite the one we came here in.¡± He kissed my forehead and ruffled Jim¡¯s jet black hair. ¡°Bye! Travel safe!¡±

I turned to Jim, unsatisfied. ¡°I would¡¯ve gotten a bigger kick out of that if we had spent more time exploring.¡± You¡¯re not saying we¡­? ¡°Great idea, Jim. Let¡¯s go.¡± And before he could protest I speed-walked into the next lift I saw. Jim had no choice but to jump right in after me. You¡¯re crazy, you know that? ¡°Yup.¡± Kids don¡¯t just walk around the Ministry of Magic, it¡¯s crazy. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t use the word ¡®crazy¡¯ two times in a row,¡± I said for the sake of it, just as the lift stopped at the education dep. The lift doors opened, and I was overwhelmed by the man who stepped inside.

He was tall, naturally, as we were kids and we were short. He was dressed all in black, but not black like ¡®Snape¡¯ black. That was the first thing I noticed about him. The second thing was his hair. It was long ¨C it stretched right down his back. It was the brightest white, almost silver in appearance. The third thing I noticed was the staff he held in his hand. It was like a cane, but the top part was the bronzed head of a hissing snake. It looked very intimidating. The fourth thing I noticed was the expression on his face. It was stern and hard, and had a tint of boredom. The face itself was perfectly lined with his jaw, making him look powerful, and his posture was straight and formal. He reminded me so much of my Potions teacher¡­maybe even better.

He must have seen me looking at him from the corner of his eye because he turned his head and looked down at me. His eyes ¨C a glare of silvery-gray that acknowledged even the tiny girl beside him ¨C grew in their own curiosity of me. He was beautiful.

¡°Well, well, well¡­¡±

His voice came out smooth for such a stern, hard face. He looked at Jim, then back at me.

¡°Children,¡± he said lightly, ¡°in the Ministry. I¡¯d thought that you two were goblins, given your heights. Alone? Surely not. Fudge isn¡¯t that much of an imbecile to have organized this sort of felony, I hope.¡± Whoever this guy was, he wasn¡¯t afraid to reveal his opinions. I felt my breath caught in myself ¨C who was he?

¡°Who are you here with?¡± Seriously, Kora, don¡¯t answer him, he doesn¡¯t look all that safe. He reminds me of Snape somehow.

I didn¡¯t turn away, I just kept looking up at this¡­this angel, this wonderful silvery-gray-eyed man who was talking to me, not taking his eyes away from my own like he wanted the answer as someone who was taking notice of me for once.

¡°V-Verdi Rastrick,¡± I managed to squeeze out, and looking back up at the lift doors he gave the tiniest shadow of a smile. ¡°Good old Verdi. Man seems busy these days, never has time to grab a decent chat or even a coffee with old friends.¡± God, he¡¯s handsome! ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯d know what he¡¯s up to in his department?¡± Don¡¯t tell him anything. Fat chance, like I knew anything that went on in there. ¡°S-sorry, no. It¡¯s all secret, still.¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± He nodded, and I stood there wordlessly, mentally dropping all my faith for Snape and giving it all to this man. Geez, I didn¡¯t even know who he was! And yet¡­

The lift stopped on the defence force floor. Without looking back, he said, ¡°We¡¯ll meet again someday rather.¡± And looking over his shoulder, he added, ¡°Patience is a virtue.¡± The lift doors closed, and I heaved a great sigh. ¡°Jim! Did you see him? Oh, Jim, he was gorgeous.¡± Yeah, I saw him alright. Honestly, Kora, the people you fall in love with. You realize that you¡¯ve got a better chance with Snape since you see him every school week? You probably won¡¯t ever see this guy ever again. Right, can¡¯t believe I¡¯m encouraging you to like Snape.

By the end of the day I was over the man I had fallen for. I still asked Pop about him when he came home from work that evening. He pretended to think for a while. ¡°Long silver hair, black clothing, staff with a snake on it¡­well, if it isn¡¯t Lucius Malfoy. He¡¯s one of Hogwarts¡¯ school governors.¡± ¡°Oh, Pop, he¡¯s the most beautiful person I¡¯ve ever seen¡­except for you, of course.¡± He laughed, and tucked my blanket in around me.

¡°You won¡¯t remember, but he came over once when you were a tiny baby. He came over for coffee, I believe. And to expect that from a man who frowns upon Muggle practices¡­¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t like Muggles?¡± ¡°Sweetheart, the man used to be one of He Who Marvels Nigh Bottom Nearby¡¯s supporters.¡± That struck me hard, but I still said, ¡°Wow¡­just like Snape.¡± ¡°Yeah, baby. Just like Snape. Now get to sleep, make sure you dream about Lucius tonight. Lord knows you need something to occupy yourself with. I have to agree that he is a bit of a hottie.¡± I slugged him hard from under the covers.

I didn¡¯t mean to ask the next few questions. They weren¡¯t the best questions I could ever ask, but I asked them anyway. I had to know some things.

¡°Pop, how come Richard never went with Voldemort and them?¡±

¡°Gee, Kora, um...¡± Pop looked off into the darkness outside my window and stared for a bit. When he answered me, his tone was quieter, as if someone was outside straining to hear everything he was going to say.

¡°I don¡¯t know. I haven¡¯t exactly stayed in touch with him, as you know. From the years I have spent with him, he never really seemed like an anti-Muggle person whereas all of Voldemort¡¯s supporters hated Muggles and wanted to dispose all Muggle-borns in wizarding families. Which is a bit rich, as Voldemort himself was a half-blood.¡± ¡°Really? How did you know that?¡± ¡°Oh, just a minor case of schoolhood. I was in my first year and he was in his sixth. It pays to know who some of your school prefects were.¡±

I had never known that Pop had gone to school with the creep. But then Richard was an even bigger creep, so anything was possible.

¡°Well...so Lucius hated Muggles as well?¡± ¡°Mmm, maybe. I wouldn¡¯t put it against him. He said that he didn¡¯t, that he was just playing to get into Voldemort¡¯s good books or something like that. Either he¡¯s lying or he really was under the Imperius Curse like he claimed he was.¡± He slugged me back, and said in an accusing sort of voice, ¡°I still don¡¯t want to believe that you find the man attractive.¡± That started a tickling bout, and by the end of it we were both beaten and pretty exhausted. I patted my quilt and Pop climbed in with me. He propped himself against the headrest of my bed and held me in a grandfatherly way. He sighed into my hair.

¡°Only two more weeks left before you go back.¡±

I didn¡¯t say anything to that. Two weeks sounded such a short time, I didn¡¯t know how we were going to go through with it. I was glad that I didn¡¯t say anything, because all of a sudden Pop¡¯s body began to shake, and I realized straight away that he was crying. It really shook me ¨C I had always known Pop to be a strong happy person. The fact that he was now quietly sobbing very close to me was impossible to believe. Yet¡­I didn¡¯t know what to do, so I did the next best thing. I twisted myself around and reversed the action ¨C now I was the one holding Pop like he was fragile and needed to be taken care of. If the people from the Ministry had seen him like this¡­at least they would¡¯ve known to give him more days off.

I wasn¡¯t surprised that I didn¡¯t cry along with him. After all, crying had never really been my thing. I felt a little guilty, like I should have done so or something, but it wasn¡¯t something that you could just do at will. I wasn¡¯t a famous Muggle actor to do that kind of thing on set.

Pop ended up falling asleep beside me. I had fallen asleep first, and had woken up in the morning in great risk of being rolled off the bed.