4:12 AM, Whitehall, London.
Alexander Sorenson POV
"Clean up that signal!" She barked furiously as the alarms blared in the background. The myriad of analysts and magical assist personal scanned and probed their screens and magical charts frantically as the blips rippled across the membranous surface of the giant floating orb. It hung there unmoving at the center of the circular chamber like some silvery star about to explode.
She looked beyond fierce standing there under its glow in her black and white robes. There was such deliberate intensity blazing in her eyes that I feared maintaining direct line of sight concerned that I might catch fire if I did. Working as both the head of the Department of Mysteries as well as the directress of Britain's Central Intelligence Bureau, Hermione Granger, a witch under forty had quickly become one of the most impressive minds the magical world had ever seen.
Although in truth I was less impressed with her than I was by it. I observed closely as the Great Eye displayed the anomalies and magical output of every wizard on earth. This was Great Britain's new might, I asked myself incredulously. How could their founders wall be this powerful?
"Ma'am massive static from channel twelve is overwhelming us." The analyst that spoke, or more appropriately squeaked was young and thin, his brown hair cut short and shaggy. He looked terrified. "The interference, it's coming in from sector three-zero-one-one."
"The forbidden forest?"
"Hogwarts Ma'am!"
"What about the anomalies in Paris and Kyoto?" She asked rabidly, her words harsh and biting.
"They are of a completely different class and origin. Founders walls from the other houses are interfering with our analysis. We can't get a lock on them."
"Squads two and four, isolate and record the anomalies out of country and the rest of you focus on deciphering the signal from channel twelve. Vivian! I need a status update. Are experiments G54 and G56 running smoothly?"
"Ma'am I'm holding the spells firm and the results should be ready by dawn. There is no chance of meltdown so long as Burke, Olivia and I keep to our work."
"Excellent, then return to the lower levels." Minister Granger finished her sentence with a satisfied sigh that belied the horror of the alarms ringing.
"It would seem" I began. "That I came at a most inopportune time. Or rather, perhaps, I came at the most opportune time possible. When the supreme mugwump told me I would be meeting with Britain's very own Hermione Granger I never suspected it would be under such… eventful circumstances."
"Minister! We're having trouble confining the frequency!"
"Step aside you pansy ass idiot!" She shrieked, kicking a young analyst from his seat to begin weaving wordless spells together at an alarmingly fast pace. She continued silently for another minute before the static cleared up. "There you imbecile! Its done, now monitor the other wavelengths and write up your findings. Fix the other signals now" She spat angrily at the poor fool. She suddenly spun around to address the entirety of her staff with a twisted scowl on her face. "Listen, all of you! This class of event has not occurred in years and I want your very best work or you'll answer directly to me. Fail me tonight and I'll have your wands snapped and your memories wiped!" She had such command over her staff that I knew she held their undying respect and loyalty. That or she was just too frightening for them to risk disobedience or miscalculation.
"Representative Sorenson, what an honor it is to meet a dignitary of your… renown and repute. You are I believe the youngest warlock of the past millennia are you not?" She wore a smirk on her face that dissolved the enthusiasm in her voice. Her sarcasm told me she was unimpressed by my record and accomplishments. She continued almost immediately without so much as leaving me the time for what would have been an equally insulting reply. "And who is your British attaché then? I don't recognize him in the least, and I am quite intimately familiar with the majority of our country's talent."
"Vex Ma'am. Vexler Avery" he offered confidently, tendering his hand forward. She rolled her eyes and let his hand hang limply in the air without making any move to grasp it. She merely huffed derisively at the mention of his last name.
"Bah an Avery. And here I thought that the old world nepotism had been stamped out. How you managed to win a position within the ICW i'd love to know, but it makes no difference. Since your highly skilled boss is here to witness the new strengths of our nation let us begin the show."
"You should know that I handpicked Vex. He's… An old friend, and a more competent wizard than you give him credit for." I felt very protective of X and couldn't help but feel compelled to defend his exceptional skills. She had no business judging him.
"The world no longer has a place for the pure bloods, you are delusional if you think a Slytherin could possibly be your friend. They steal, they use, they plot and manipulate—"
My anger boiled over as the overloud blaring of the systems rang on as she ranted. I pointed my wand exasperatedly at the floating orb and shot a stream of energy towards it. The alarm had been debilitatingly annoying and I needed it to stop before my head flew off. That and I knew it would interrupt Minister Grangers string of abuses. Immediately twelve wands were raised menacingly at my head and chest. X had not even had time to draw before he too had been surrounded.
Vex POV
"Alex!" I yelled at my blond idiot. Why did he always have to show off?
"See, no harm done." He offered calmly sheathing his wand with a smirk. I nearly whacked him upside the head. This was a jumpy lot that could have shot us full of holes before we'd killed half of them, It wasn't wise to test them.
"Ma'am the signal on channel twelve… the Warlock… he managed to stabilize it." Hermione Granger's jaw fell open for a tenth of a second before she caught herself and turned menacingly towards Lex. I had been surprised too. How had he been able to resolve the issue?
"Minister Granger, don't ever presume to speak ill of Vex again while in front of me. You may be a remarkable witch and even a powerful warlock yourself, but you have no business condescending towards those you know nothing about. Vex has been my friend since before either of us knew how to walk, and i would not hesitate to die for him. He is a remarkable wizard and a noble companion." Truth be told Alex and I were more than just friends. I loved the blond Swede more than I'd ever loved anyone in the world, even more than my friend Marvolo. He was brilliant, fierce and ambitious, but more than anything he was kind.
Instead of apologizing for her judgements, Hermione merely smirked as though she had guessed at our relationship by the fierceness of Alex's protective instinct and that her own perceptive prowess granted her license to be rude. Her arrogance made for a more than unpleasant character trait. She was eyeing Lex with curious amusement as though she were mildly impressed with his ability to stabilize the signal within a system he knew nothing about.
"So Minister. How was this thing installed?" Lex asked curiously.
"The Great Eye was adapted based on designs my nephew drew up when he was five. He used to scribble formulas and blueprints all day long. Its interesting you were able to understand so much from just a mere glance."
"You're joking right? Al designed this thing?" I asked dumbfounded. I couldn't believe that that adorable little munchkin could produce magology of this caliber… even less at five years of age.
"You know my little prodigy do you?" She asked curiously. Of course I knew Al and Scor. They reminded me of us when we were little. Of course those two were infinitely more gifted.
"I was at Hogwarts when he started his first year. Everyone claimed he was Merlin reborn, they say neither Dumbledore nor Voldemort could have equaled him. Does Al know you stole his plans… for this" I asked waving at the floating orb and room filled with spies, scientists, and black robed unspeakables.
"He was too young to comprehend or envision the full potential of this system, there was no need to explain it to him."
"And now that you have it spying on half the free wizarding world you don't have any ethical concerns that its creator should at least be notified of how its being used?" I was beyond livid that she employed Al to design a system of mass espionage without his informed consent.
"And the other half is protected by founders walls."
"That is irrelevant to my point."
"Your point itself is irrelevant. Your job here is to observe not consult or offer your opinions."
"Vex works for me. His job is what I say it i—"
"Minister! Its coming from inside Hogwarts!"
"It might be a student. Contact the DMLE and check the Trace on anyone within the grounds. I want to know who is responsible for this."
"Ma'am... protocol dictates that students of Hogwarts will not be monitored while within school gro—" The wizard was silenced mid sentence by a stern look from the minister. "Right… I'll bypass their system and look into it directly. Just… give me a moment Ma'am."
"Are you even aloud to do that?" I asked skeptically. She gave me the same look as her analyst, which made me laugh. "I have Alex here so i'm not nearly as afraid of you as that sodding idiot hunched over his desk over there. You're not going to silence me with a look Ma'am." I offered cheekily.
"Erm… Ma'am."
"What!?" She snapped infuriated. I wonder if this was what she was like when she had been fighting in the wizarding war. Was this really the witch that taught Al his magic? The witch that raised little Rosie? The list of Department heads that went insane running the DOM was longer than I cared to recount. The job changed people.
"The student… the magical disturbance… its coming from Albus Potter."
