A/N: Ok folks, I'm back in action. The last chapter was fun, but this one is better. People keep asking me if demons are immune to truth potions. Well, if I told you that, you wouldn't need to read the chapter, now would you? Well, I'm sure you guys are looking forward to reading about the Ministry's investigative practices, so let's get right into it, shall we? Onward, my readers, onward!
**
Chapter 15: The Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing but a Pack of Lies
**
It was in Transfiguration when Hermione finally noticed it. She was wearing her Cloak of Shadows in school! They looked like ordinary cloaks, but if anyone around possessed a natural scanning ability, she was in trouble. She looked at Harry in a panic, only to find that he too was wearing his Cloak of Shadows. She leaned over to him, and quietly asked why they were wearing them, and why she hadn't noticed earlier.
(Quick A/N: Putting on a Cloak of Shadows doesn't mean getting it out from the closet and using it like an ordinary cloak. The cloaks are a defense mechanism of the Shadow Masters, which they can consciously control. They basically absorb an exorbitant amount of magical energy, rendering many spells cast in their direction absolutely useless. Hope I cleared that up for you.)
Chuckling quietly, Harry responded. "I wondered when you were going to notice. They take a while to get used to."
"What takes some getting used to, Harry?" Hermione asked. Since her recent transformation, her mind was more eager than ever to expand its knowledge.
"Your instincts, Hermione." Harry said, still smiling. "I put mine on this morning as well, without really knowing why. It seems as if our inner selves do not want us to be completely human today."
No sooner had he spoken those words, than Professor Mcgonagall told him that the Headmaster wanted to see him in his office. She told him to leave his things, and she would make sure that they found their way to his room.
"Looks like our instincts were right." Harry said, still smiling a little. "I don't know what he wants, but I bet he's not just calling me up there for tea."
Hermione gave him a tight hug, and a kiss on his cheek. "Good luck, Harry. Be careful of what you say, and keep your shields up."
Harry nodded, returned her hug, and left the room. Hermione lost five points for disrupting class, but the lesson returned to normal shortly after.
**
Inside the Headmaster's office, everything was ready. Professor Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, carefully schooling his features into an expression of dislike. He wanted Harry to believe that this was a Ministry investigation, but he didn't approve. Professor Snape was standing in the corner, his famous sneer clearly showing. He was reveling in the moment. Rebecca Adams was sitting at a small desk, her quill ready for dictation. She was there to record the Veritaserum transcript, and had no personal interest in the proceedings. Special Investigator John Simons, of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was pumping the Professors for information. He was working a very important case for the Ministry, and it seemed that Harry Potter had some of the answers he needed. Fudge's body was in the morgue, being examined, but there were four other bodies being investigated. John Simons was heading up the investigation, and was looking for any kind of information.
His first big lead had come from Ollivander's the previous morning. While going through his records, he had found a core match. It was a Basilisk fang. When he had relayed this information to Albus Dumbledore, the man had given him the next big lead. There was a Basilisk body in his school, inside the Chamber of Secrets. After that, he got another lead from the man. There were only two people in the world who could open the Chamber. Those two people were Harry Potter, and Lord Voldemort. The Headmaster had set up several wards to prevent Lord Voldemort from entering the school, and none had been disturbed. That left Harry. John suspected that Harry Potter had supplied the wand core materials to the Imperial Dragon Circle, which would mean that he could supply him with more clues, and maybe even a contact.
**
When Harry walked in the room, everyone was waiting. Harry looked around at the faces of his inquisitors, and instinctively tightened his mental blocks. Something wasn't quite right about this situation. He found out in a moment what it was.
"Harry, I've called you up here today to answer some questions for the Ministry. The Ministry seems to suspect that you supplied some people with materials used in a murder." The Headmaster said. "John Simons has been authorized by the Ministry to question you under Veritaserum."
Oh, so that was the game. Harry knew that John Simons, the leader of the Dragon Shepherds, the group in the Ministry trying to find the Circle, was working with the Order of the Phoenix. They intended to use Veritaserum to make him talk, did they? Harry let his mind become even less human. If they intended to use Veritaserum, he would have to use an experimental technique to avoid the questions. He's come up with the theory in mid-August, when working through his Potions essay. Now he'd get a chance to see if it worked.
"Alright, Sir." Harry said. It was best not to tip his hand too early. "The accused would like to call a witness for his inquisition." It was not unheard of to do so. Veritaserum required witnesses in order for the transcripts to be used in court.
"Harry, there are two of us in the room. Both of us are here to see that you are not questioned unfairly." Professor Dumbledore said.
"True, but I want someone that I trust to be here for it." Hermione wanted to see if their experiment would work, and would no doubt want to take notes on how the Ministry questioned people under Veritaserum. "I believe I already made myself clear on the matter of trust."
"Very well, Potter." Professor Snape sneered. "I guess you will want Miss Granger for this?" Harry nodded. "It won't do you any good, but she might as well be here for it, if only to see her hero disappoint her." Harry breathed a sigh of relief. Hermione would never forgive him if he let a learning experience like this go to waste! Since he was going under the truth potion, he couldn't very well take notes on its procedure, but Hermione could.
Harry made himself comfortable while they waited for Hermione. Professor Snape was whispering to Professor Dumbledore, and the Headmaster was nodding every once in a while. Harry suspected that they were trying to figure out how to deal with the wild card that he added. Harry was fairly sure that they would either use a sleeping spell, or a potion in her tea. It would be amusing.
Hermione arrived about five minutes later. She took a seat, and readied her quill to take notes. The two Professors paled considerably when she pulled out her writing instruments, but said nothing, other than to offer her some tea.
"Why thank you, Professor. I would love some tea." Hermione smirked, causing Professor Snape to jump with surprise. Hermione smirked? It defied logic, the thought of Hermione smirking.
Professor Snape, who was standing in front of the tea service, turned around to pour the tea. When he turned around with the tea in his hand, Harry could see the dull glow of the sleeping potion in the tea. He glanced at Hermione, who met his eyes smiling. She noticed it too. She accepted the tea, and made to blow on the steaming cup. As she blew on the liquid, Harry watched with amusement as her aura flared around the teacup, obliterating the potion's magical properties. When Hermione's aura faded back into her skin, the teacup had stopped glowing. Harry could render the Veritserum useless as well, but that would not help them. His method was going to be different.
Five minutes later, everyone was still sitting, waiting for some sort of signal to begin. Professor Snape was still scowling at Harry, but kept glancing over to Hermione. Hermione was sitting waiting to start taking notes. Harry was watching everything with a smile on his face. Finally, Professor Dumbledore nodded, and John Simons administered the Veritaserum. Almost immediately, Harry's mind got fuzzy, and he stopped thinking, letting the previously made connections reassert themselves.
John Simons started. "What is your full name?" This was a standard question to open any Veritaserum interrogation.
"Harry James Potter" Was the answer he got. Checking his records, he found it was true. Veritaserum did not allow them to use shortened names, but Harry was the name on his birth records. The serum was working.
"Did you procure a Basilisk fang for someone you met over the summer?"
"No." It wasn't a lie. He had procured two Basilisk fangs over the summer, but not for someone he met over the summer. One was for himself, the other Hermione.
John was surprised by the answer, so asked it again, slightly differently. After all, it was almost a fact that Harry was the only person in the world that it could have been. "Harry, did you enter the Chamber of Secrets over the summer?"
"Yes."
"Did you take any fangs from the Basilisk?"
"Yes."
"Did you give them to someone?"
"No."
"Do you still possess them?"
"No."
"What happened to them?"
"They were taken." Over the summer, after Harry's Veritaserum epiphany, they had invaded the Chamber of Secrets and taken the fangs. They then left them next to a tree in the forbidden forest. The next day, Hermione went back and took them. It was the truth.
John Simons was discouraged. Harry admitted to taking the fangs, but it seemed they were stolen from him. That didn't help his investigation. He yielded the floor to the teachers, who were still pale-faced. Hermione was still not asleep, and was taking very thorough notes. Professor Dumbledore took the floor.
"Harry, who taught you Occlumency?"
"Professor Snape." It was a true answer. Snape had taught Harry Occlumency last year. He did a horrible job of it, as he was more interested in making Harry re-live the worst moments of his life than teaching him how to block the spell.
"Did you have extra help in practicing Occlumency over the summer?"
"Yes."
"Who helped you?"
"Nytemare."
The assassin. Assassins had taught Harry and Hermione over the summer. Seeing his chance, Dumbledore continued his questioning. "How many members of the Imperial Dragon Circle have you met?"
"Six." That was the number of confirmed assassins they were aware of in the circle. It seemed as if Harry had met them all. Hermione was still taking notes, even though this questioning could implicate her.
"Do you know any of their real names?"
"Yes."
"What are they?"
"None of your business." Once again, it was a truth. Hermione couldn't help but smile. Veritaserum may force you to tell the truth, but as long as the statement was truthful, and the person giving the answers believed the statement, it was a usable answer. Since Harry honestly believed that the Circle's true identities were none of the Order's business, he could tell them that.
John Simons was mortified. He had only seen that type of answer once before. Harry seemed to have been conditioned. Conditioning was a type of brainwashing used to beat Veritaserum. Basically, it supplied the brain with answers to certain questions. What that meant was that when Harry thought about the true identities of the Circle, his first thought was that it was nobody else's business. He was horrified at the thought of any other triggers. He gave Harry the antidote before Snape could start questioning him.
Hermione gathered her things, and the two Gryffindors left the office.
**
After the two teenagers left John filled everyone in on the possibility of conditioning. He also brought up the fact that conditioning was only ever used on spies and assassins because they were the ones that most often got caught when they failed.
"I think that those two are being trained as assassins for the Imperial Dragon Circle. Watch them carefully, Albus. The last thing we need is for those two to get out of our control." John said.
"I'm not sure we can control them anymore, John." Albus replied. "I think we need to induct them into the Order, so we can have them swear loyalty to the light. As Order members, they would not be allowed to keep secrets that would endanger people's lives, so they would have to give up the identities willingly."
It was decided that Harry and Hermione would be offered the chance to join the Order of the Phoenix at the next meeting, right after Ron Weasley gave his report on his findings. The Headmaster had received a note from the boy earlier stating that he's found some very interesting information, and would reveal it at the next order meeting.
Snape was in a bad mood for the rest of the day. Damn that Potter!
**
A/N: Everyone Hates me! I feel terrible, so I think I'll stop this story. There, see what you've done? I hope your happy! Just kidding folks, I'm not done with this story yet. Nope, to answer everyone's unspoken question, Demons are not immune to Veritaserum. However, they do not necessarily have to tell the truth. They just can't lie. Coming soon, Flame and Blade disrupt more meetings!