Chapter 2: Welcome to MI7
Albus Dumbledore was waiting patiently for the chess pieces to move into the correct position before he made his grand entrance. He'd seen Harry and his group enter the Ministry through the phone booth and now he was waiting for the Order to follow suit. The anonymous message he'd left for Severus would get them moving soon. Then all that would be left is to wait for Tom to appear and he would be able to make his play. The life-defining moment was coming, and he knew it.
Albus wanted the be the greatest wizard of all time, and so far his achievements had put him the conversation but not good enough to be at the top. No, to become greater than Merlin and the founders of Hogwarts he would need one more thing to get him over the top: defeating a second dark lord would do the trick. But the blasted prophecy was getting in the way of greatness, and he couldn't see any way around it.
Harry Potter. The flaw in my plan for eternal glory, he mused. But no matter, the plan to remove him from the equation was already in place. It'll even weaken Tom in the process in a way that no one will realise, then I shall swoop in and claim my rightful place. Albus smiled to himself, thinking: I just need to be patient and let my master plan play out.
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Roy led the two teens through a corridor towards the double doors visible at the end. Harry wondered what was going on but felt he would be alright with Hermione there. Roy pushed open both doors, "Welcome to MI7". Harry & Hermione both stood agape at the massive area before them. Situated on the first-floor balcony, they could see everything before them. There was what looked like a training area with dummies that seemed to be properly attacking the people using them; a potions room encased in glass with multicoloured smoke everywhere and people with their heads encased in bubblehead charms, working over cauldrons; a full third of the room appeared to be dedicated to desks and paperwork and people sent and received the same type of messages the ministry above them used.
Roy snapped them out of their stupor, "Impressive, isn't it? This is the department that doesn't exist. Everyone must make an unbreakable vow to work here, with severe penalties if they disclose any information or secrets that belong within these walls." Hermione looked like she was going to say something, but Roy seemed to read her thoughts. "Oh, I know Miss Granger that you are thinking that you two haven't made any oaths or vows, but that may happen depending on our conversation today. Worst case scenario is that we must take the step to completely wipe your memory and you will wake up back in the room with the portrait thinking you got knocked out by two Death Eaters." Hermione closed her mouth and looked a little sheepish at being read so easily. "Don't worry Miss Granger, I have been doing this for a while. So, shall we go somewhere we can talk properly about what is happening?"
Roy moved without waiting for an answer, with Harry & Hermione exchanging a quick glance before catching up with him. Roy led them down some stairs to the main floor before turning into a very comfortable looking meeting room. Roy offered them a seat and began to pour everyone each a drink from a water pitcher on his desk. "Here, you must be thirsty. After all you've had a bit of a night already and I doubt you've really thought about how dehydrated you are?" He placed the drinks directly in front of Harry and Hermione on the table in front of the sofa they were sitting on.
Harry looked at Hermione and raised an eyebrow as if asking, "Should we really drink this?" Hermione seemed to read his thoughts and shook her head ever so slightly. She turned back to Roy and asked, "How do we know you've not put something in the drink? It could be anything." A big smile appeared on the face of Roy. "Very good Miss Granger, that was a test. A rather obvious one, but you would be surprised how many people don't think twice about taking the offer. Allow me to go first." Roy sat down behind a clear desk and casually took a drink from his own glass. His demeanour then changed from very pleasant to serious in an instant.
"Now then, let's get started. Why are you here? Well to be honest, I've been looking for an opportunity to talk to you two for quite some time. I am the recruitment chief of this department and oversee the training for the agents who join us. My boss gave me the task of contacting you two to see if you would be interested in joining our department. Your little expedition into the Ministry tonight brought you to me, but I wasn't sure the opportunity would present itself and yet, here we are. If you accept, we will start training tomorrow. You will be put through several tests to establish your mental, physical and magical attributes to give us an idea of what we are working with. Your training will be individually set up based on the results of those tests and the visions we have for your future. You will receive a base level training in all aspects regardless, but it will become evident what the plans are as we progress. Training will be every day for a single moon cycle, towards the end of which there will be formal examinations and all going well we will start introducing you to what is really going on in the world and where we stand within it. Any questions?"
The silence hung there for a few seconds. Harry couldn't think of anything to ask, but he figured Hermione would bombard Roy with questions. He looked over to see her practically drooling at the idea of being given all this training and information. Ok, he thought, Roy has managed to break her. Harry cleared his throat, "You mentioned we'd be here for a month, how will that work with school and everything?"
"Good question, we will use a time turner to put both of you back to when you were stunned. Since you were both unconscious your previous selves will not see you get ready to re-enter the department of mysteries. We will also take precautions to make sure your current selves will not see your unconscious bodies, just in case."
Harry took a moment to let that information sink in. While Harry was cursing the idiots who invented time-turners and the headache they caused, Hermione asked, "Wait a minute. If we are using a time-turner to get back, that means you already know what we are going to do."
"Incorrect Miss Granger, how can I know what you going to choose if I have no part in you going back. If you choose not to join us, I will hand you over to our specialised Obliviators who will perform the necessary memory modifications. If you choose to stay with us, it will not be myself who is involved in your return to the Department of Mysteries. Thus, eliminating any possibility of persuasion, you will have freedom of choice."
Hermione nodded along as Roy was talking and seemed satisfied with his response. Harry asked the only questions he could think of. "Why us and what do you want from us?"
Roy smiled, "Yes, I had a feeling you would be wondering about that. The why is easy: you two are fantastic candidates for this department. I do not know for certain if you will pass training or excel as agents, but I have a good feeling. There are others at Hogwarts right now we are keeping an eye on, but you have both been on the list for quite some time. We don't want anything from you other than for you to work for us. As I'm sure you can imagine the world is a dangerous place and the requirement for us to find the best people for the job is at a premium. We cannot afford to let criminals get the upper hand over us."
Harry sat silent for a moment before looking at Hermione. Roy internally smiled as he could see these two were able to communicate without speaking and barely moving. A very handy trait if they both wound up in the field together. "Can we have a moment or two to discuss this in private please?" Harry asked. "Of course." and with that Roy left the room.
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Looking at the piece of parchment in front of him, Severus Snape wasn't a happy person. He already knew who sent the 'anonymous' tip. Of course, it came from Albus Dumbledore. The questions he had right now was what Albus was doing and why he was doing it? If he knew the students were in the Ministry, why wouldn't he go in himself to help? If he needed back up, wasn't it easier to simply ask for it? Things are beginning to not add up, Severus mused.
He'd already made the relevant floo calls to the members of the Order who were able to fight. They would all be leaving in a few minutes to get to the Ministry and try to save Potter and his merry band of idiots. Twisting the parchment between his fingers, Severus couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right and that Albus was playing some sort of game with them all. What the purpose of this game was he wasn't sure, but in Severus' opinion the decisions Albus had made in the last few years had started to chip away at the 'Leader of the Light' persona he created for himself. The traps in guarding the Philosopher's Stone were defeated by three first years. It was almost as if he was testing Potter…
"Severus, time to go!" Lupin's voice rang out from the fireplace.
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Hermione turned to face Harry and asked, "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking that we take this deal and see where it goes. After all, what better chance are we going to get to fight Voldemort than this? We get the training we need, and we get to find out what's really happening here."
"What about Dumbledore, shouldn't he be the one to give the training to fight Voldemort and his death eaters. After all, he is the only one Voldemort ever feared. Surely that would suggest he has knowledge of magic that Voldemort doesn't which would give us an advantage? And then there's the Order? Everyone in the Order was approved to join by Dumbledore himself. He wouldn't let someone join if they didn't have any skills that could contribute to the end of Voldemort. Shouldn't we trust them to take the fight to Voldemort and then when we are trained fully, we can ask to join and help?"
"You do realise that Dumbledore hasn't spoken to me since basically Christmas; McGonagall didn't seem to be able to do anything about my detentions with Umbridge; Hagrid failed to stop the recruitment of the giants; and all year we've not been taught even one defensive spell. The Order hasn't managed to get a single thing right so far. Look at Mr Weasley, he nearly got killed defending something for Dumbledore when he didn't even know what it was!" Harry stopped for moment to catch his breath.
"Dumbledore doesn't tell anyone anything useful and expects his Order to have blind faith in him. I don't think we'll ever get the full picture if we only follow him."
Hermione looked conflicted as she listened to Harry's rant. As much as she didn't want to agree with him, every point he was making was true. With a sigh of resignation, she nodded her head. "Ok Harry, I can't dispute any point you've made, but how do we hide whatever we've learned here from Dumbledore? It's not like we will be able to act like we don't know more than we do.
Harry thought for a moment before blurting out, "Occlumency! We could ask if they can teach us how to… erm do Occlumency? Perform Occlumency? Whatever the phrase is, but we need them to show us Occlumency that way we can hide what we learn here. Might also help me keep him out of my head?"
Hermione nodded in agreement, and Harry could see the twinkle in her eyes at the prospect of learning something new. "OK Harry let's do it. So long as you let me read anything they want us to sign. The last thing either of us need is to be trapped in a situation we can't get out of."
Harry shuddered involuntarily as memories of the Triwizard tournament flashed in front of him. After seeing his reaction Hermione took Harry's hand in her own. "Oh, I am so sorry Harry, that was really insensitive of me." Harry shook his head, "No Hermione, it's alright. Just one more reason to fight back. Shall we let Roy know we are in?"
"Let's do it" Hermione stated firmly as she stood to get the door. Hermione found Roy standing at the balcony, overlooking the department below. "We have made a decision" she informed Roy, and without waiting for him she re-entered the room and sat beside Harry.
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Ginny and Neville cautiously moved through the room, braced for any spell fire or noise that would indicate the attack beginning again. Nothing came out and before they realised it, they had reached the end of the room. The door that was meant to be there had been blown clean off the hinges after the four teens burst into the room. Ginny came to decision and signalled to Neville that he should pop out into the doorway aiming high, and she would pop out from the other side aiming low. Neville nodded and mouthed, "One, Two, Three". They did not expect to see what was in the corridor before them.
At least six Death Eaters were on the floor, completely unconscious. A couple were bleeding and one looked like he was going to need some serious help with all the broken bones in his right arm, but that wasn't the most confusing part of this image. No, that honour went to the two people looking at the from the other end of the corridor. Ginny nor Neville couldn't make out who they were in the dim light, so both crouched with their wands ready.
"Don't fire!" a male voice shouted, "It's only us!" a female voice added. Ginny and Neville looked at each other, both thinking the same thing "Is that who I think it is?". The two people moved closer to them, and it became clear it was. It was Harry and Hermione! Ginny ran over and grabbed them in a hug, fighting the tears of relief and fear that had started to creep up. "Oh, thank Merlin" she kept repeating over and over until she finally calmed down. Neville hugged them both after and asked, "Where have you two been?".
Harry gave Hermione a quick look, as Hermione filled them in. She told them about the split up; the fight with Crabbe and Goyle; getting lost and then ambushing the Death Eaters around them. Ginny could sense they weren't telling the whole truth, but at that moment she couldn't care less.
Thinking it would be best to move along before Ginny asked any more questions, Harry started to look around, "Where's Padma, Ron and Luna?". Neville, not clocking on to the same sense that Ginny was getting, answered "They are back in the room behind us. They are in bad shape Harry. We need to get out of here and quickly!".
"Couldn't agree more mate. I've seen more than enough of this place!" Harry started moving to the room behind them to see how badly hurt the others were. They needed to get out of here and quickly as he just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. And if he had learned anything from the last month, it was to trust his instincts. They were normally on the money.