Chapter Twenty-One – The Mole
Percy Weasley scowled as soon as he closed the door to his office. His brother Ron would have read the letter he sent. Someday he hoped his brother would understand and forgive him for what he was doing. But he very much doubted it. Ron was simply too stubborn. The letter sung the praises of Dolorese Umbridge and encouraging Ron to stick close to her and stay away from Potter.
He knew his brother would do the opposite. But he hoped his friend Hermione would interpret the letter correctly. A warning to stay clear of Umbridge. The woman was looking for an excuse to expelled Potter and any of his friends. Hopefully, they would keep their crazy stunts to a minimal this year. Unlikely. Potter attracted trouble seemingly just for the fun of it.
The interview he gave the reporter from the Daily Prophet left him equally angered. Malfoy had successfully steered Fudge to focus all of his attention on Hogwarts and the Minister was simply too blind and stupid to see how he was being manipulated. So rather than investigate some of the strange happenings around the Wizarding world the Minister had spent most of the last month pushing his 'reforms' of Hogwarts through the Wizengamot. And in order to keep his position Percy had to spout off like a trained house elf about all the good they would do for the school.
But he knew he was lucky. It had been a very near thing after the disaster with Crouch. He should have noticed his superiors changed behavior and raised questions. But he was too excited about having access to all of the International Cooperation department's files. He had managed to copy everything he had access to and forward it to his contact at MI5. That fact that no one else in the Ministry noticed anything wrong with Crouch would not have protected him. He was the low man; they would pass all blame to him. His father didn't help. He made it harder for Percy to be taken seriously.
It had been Elder Sinclair's idea for him to play to Fudge's vanity. Play up his rift with his family. That hadn't been as hard as he thought. His father really did lack ambition. His eccentricities had made it more difficult for Percy to advance. And frankly his parents were fools to rely on Dumbledore to save them. The man hadn't done much of anything the last time except watch people die.
No one had. Percy may have been young at the time but he still remembered the fear that permeated the house. Waiting around for another lucky accident to befall Voldemort was not an answer. Another Potter wasn't going to pop up and save them all this time. The only reason Potter was still alive today was blind luck. Percy didn't believe in luck. He believed in hard work and strategy. His parents could hero worship all they want. Percy was going to actually do something.
He had struck up a friendship with Elder Sinclair early on in his days at the Ministry. To Percy the Elder was a strong-minded man who believed in things being done the proper way. He wore black robes to Wizengamot as a sign of respect. He always pushed for strengthening the Aurors and clamping down on Wizarding pranksters and law and order.
It had almost a month after their first meeting that the Elder had broached the subject of sharing information with him about happenings in International Cooperation. At first he had just shared information with Sinclair. He was an Elder, so Percy really wasn't breaking any rules. Then the Elder had sat him down and explained the Covenant. The Wizarding worlds true relationship with the British crown.
The truth had come as a shock to Percy. But the Elder convinced him to provide MI5 with information about Wizarding world. Form Percy's perspective the Wizarding world had an agreement with the Crown. An agreement they broke by not dealing with Voldemort. So he was just following a different set of rules. He took a brief leave of absence from his position in the Ministry and spent two weeks training with MI5.
The Elder was right, if another threat like Voldemort appeared the British government needed to be kept informed. And, as Percy had been learning over the past year, muggles knew a lot about magic. The fact that they had provided him with devices to copy files and record conversations, all of which worked in the Ministry, showed they were quite capable of challenging Wizards on their own terms.
Besides with a powerful Elder as his patron behind the scenes Percy could advance far at the Ministry, regardless of his family. And if he was discovered he could always move into the muggle world and work directly for the Crown. His knowledge of Wizarding world would be invaluable and his loyalty now would make it possible for him to advance pretty far in the muggle world as well.
But the time for reflection was past. MI5 had tasked him with getting a copy of the complete file on the search for Sirius Black. They didn't tell him why. As he learned during his training, it was safer that way. But Percy could guess that it meant they were preparing to make their own moves against Voldemort and his followers. And they were going to start with one of the most notorious murders in Wizarding world. Good.
Time to put his plan into action. Percy took a breath, gathered a few papers and left his office to have his regular morning meeting with Minister Fudge. Malfoy may be a Death Eater, but watching him manipulate the Minister had taught Percy a great deal about how to manage his superior.
He entered the Minister of Magic's office to find Fudge smiling over a copy of the Daily Prophet.
"Ah, Percy my boy," Fudge said. "Just reading the Daily Prophet. You did an excellent job. You'll go a long way in this world."
"Thank you Minister," Percy plastered on his usual professional face. "If may Minister, I believe it is important for a man in your position to kept up to date on all the major projects happening in the Ministry."
"Yes of course," Fudge replied. "But I simply don't have the time."
"That is why I am here sir," Percy said. He'd been laying the groundwork for this the past few days. Slowly allowing the amount of paperwork on the Minister's desk to pile up to nearly unmanageable levels. "Perhaps if I took over monitoring one or two of your projects it would free up your time to focus more attention on the vital reforms you're attempting at Hogwarts."
"Yes," Fudge nodded his head. "That's an idea. It's past time I started expanding your responsibilities Weasley. You've proven yourself a loyal and hard working assistant. Did you have something in mind?"
"Well, there is the matter of improving our relations with the North African Ministry," Percy said. "I developed good relations with them while working with International Cooperation. Perhaps something with the Aurors. Maybe that matter over at St. Mungo's?" Now if he dropped the right suggestions over the past couple of days Fudge should send him exactly where he wanted to go.
"You would be perfect for the situation in North Africa," Fudge said. "But not St. Mungo's. I think you would benefit more by keeping track of the Black investigation for me. Draft a memo to Shacklebolt that all reports are to go directly to you from now on and I'll sign it."
"Whatever you think is best Minister," Percy smiled inwardly. It worked. Bastard though he may be, Percy did need to thank Malfoy for his objects lessons in managing Cornelius Fudge. "I will, of course, need to review the entire case file up to this point. I want to be certain I provide you with only best information Minister."
"Good thinking my boy," Fudge said. "Make sure you include a section in the memo saying that you are to be allowed to have full access to all information regarding Sirius Black."
"Of course Minister," Percy said. "Now, to review your schedule for the day."
Percy spent the next few minutes reviewing the days schedule with Minister Fudge and getting the list of things that needed to get done that day.
It was mid afternoon before Percy found the time to head to the Department of Magical Law
Enforcement. After he arrived he made his way to where Shacklebolt was managing the search for Black.
"We still need to follow up on the lead from Tibet," Percy heard Shacklebolt say as he entered the room. "And I want to dispatch an Auror down to Paris to coordinate with their Aurors on a possible sighting in the south of France."
Percy shook his head. He remembered the number of requests Shacklebolt filed with International Cooperation to coordinate with other Aurors throughout the Wizarding world to track down Black. It seemed at times like almost a quarter of all Aurors were busy hunting Black down to the corners of the Earth. But even after two years they were still no closer to finding him.
"Excuse me, Auror Shacklebolt," Percy said. "But I believe you were supposed to have some files ready for me this afternoon."
Shacklebolt looked at Percy. Annoying sycophant he thought. Turning his back on his family to kiss up to Fudge. "Yes of course Weasley. I received the Minister's memo just after lunch. The complete copy of the case file is right here," he lifted up a large filing box and handed it to Percy.
"Thank you Shacklebolt," Percy said. "Please remember, from now on all of your reports are to be routed to me."
"I'll make certain of it," this should make my job easier Shacklebolt figured. Percy doesn't know anything about tracking people. Fooling him should pose no big problem.
"Thank you again," Percy smiled. "I will be certain to mention to Minister Fudge how helpful you've been."
With that Percy returned to his office. He set the file down on the floor. He sat at his desk and pulled a small wire out from under his shirt collar. He attached it to his glasses just behind his ear. With his hair brushed down it was virtually invisible. He reached under his robes and into the pocket of his shirt and switched the device on. He had put fresh batteries in this morning so he should be able to get at least four solid hours of use out it.
His father would go nuts over his glasses. They had a very small digital camera built into the frame. Unless someone knew what to look for, pretty much impossible in the Wizarding world, it was invisible. He picked up the first file and began scanning through the material. From the perspective of anybody coming into the room it looked like Percy was diligently reviewing the material. He was. At the same time he was also recording all the information into a micro-hard drive concealed in his pocket.
It was early evening when Percy finally left the Ministry. Following the routine he had begun soon after starting with the Ministry, Percy left through the Visitor's entrance to walk back to his apartment in Diagon Alley. He stopped at a small muggle coffee shop. Most people at the Ministry wrote off Percy's enjoyment of his after work affectation for muggle coffee as the leftover influence of his father and were perfectly willing to overlook it.
Percy ordered his usual and sat at a booth in the back of shop. When he finished his coffee and pastry he got up to leave. As he passed the garbage can in the shop he tossed his napkin into the bin. Wadded up inside was the hard-drive. It was a classic dead drop. Executed by spies since spies first came into being. No magic, no special devices. When done right, as Percy did here, no knew anything was even happening. The cleaning service used by the coffee shop was a front for MI5; the night janitor would retrieve the hard drive after closing.
By mid-morning tomorrow Jerry Cromwell would be busy reviewing the first half of the Black file. Within two days MI5 would know everything about Sirius Black that the Ministry of Magic did.