Roy's Plan

The next day, Harry was the last to appear for the DA meeting in the secret room, where he Apparated directly.

He asked Ares in the casual tone of voice they had all become accustomed to, after the initial slight reserve between Harry and the Incorruptibles had given way to a certain camaraderie: "Did you find out anything with your Dad?"

"A few things," Ares replied, "but unfortunately nothing really helpful. The most important info is that Julian's grandfather was actually killed in the Battle of Hogwarts."

Harry nodded sorrowfully. "Over the weekend, I visited a retired colleague who was involved in the investigation after the battle at the time. He also confirmed it to me," he said to Julian. "I'm really deeply sorry for you."

Harry drew a piece of paper out of his cloak. "My colleague also remembered the place where Death Eaters were buried."

"... burrowed," Ares growled.

"No, buried!" returned Harry sharply. "The graves are on the municipal graveyard of Kinkirk, some fifty miles from Hogwarts. There was no closer cemetery because they had to find one whose keeper was a Squib. They are in a part of the graveyard that is protected from Muggle eyes by a confusion spell, but can be easily entered by wizards and Squibs. The Muggles have placed a memorial tablet for their war dead at the edge of their cemetery. Go through this plaque as you would through the barrier at Platform nine and three-quarters and you are in the Wizards' Graveyard. The Ministry did not place any gravestones, but marked each grave with weatherproof signs so that relatives could find them. Some families have since placed gravestones or transferred the dead to their family tombs."

"That's hardly likely to have happened to my grandparents," Julian said bitterly, glanced briefly at the note Harry handed him and pocketed it. "Thank you very much". And after a moment when no one really knew what to say: "It's all right. After all, I've assumed for sixteen years that they are dead. Let's start now!"

During the past week, they had all successfully learned how to Apparate. Albus was still lagging a little behind, but he was already able to manage short distances, and Ares had promised him to practise with him outside DA meetings for as long as necessary. This week's programme would include disarming, shocking, paralysing spells and the like. The older ones knew a lot of it already, but Harry wanted to be sure that they mastered it all. Nevertheless, he said now:

"Not yet. We should first think about how to proceed. Julian's grandfather is unfortunately dead, so he can't tell us anything about this special control spell he describes ..."

"Excuse me," Orpheus cut into him, "but I still can't get over the fact that the author has adopted a pseudonym that is an anagram of 'Rodolphus Lestrange'. I mean, how likely is that to be a coincidence?"

"Quite unlikely," Harry admitted, "but since the author himself is living underground, he might have wanted to mislead the Aurors who could come across his writing and get them searching for a dead man."

The argument seemed plausible. No one argued.

"Well," Harry continued, "I've been thinking about Sulphangel's text again. Basically, what is new about the method he describes is not how it is done, but the purpose for which it is done: not to directly control the will of the person concerned, but to first take root in his conscience, and from there to gradually take control of the entire personality. I would guess that the actual method of penetration is not that original at all and is much the same as what Voldemort practised elsewhere."

Harry looked for a moment into the faces of the six Incorruptibles, who hung on his lips, and continued:

"Voldemort used three methods: Firstly, direct penetration via personal contact and eye contact; secondly, marks that were visible on the skin of the victim, especially the Death Eater Mark, and in my case the scar he had given me when he tried to kill me as a baby." He involuntarily grabbed his scar. "Thirdly, Horcruxes. Voldemort committed murders, among other things, in order to be able to split his soul into pieces, each of which living in unsuspicious objects. Anyone who had intensive contact with these objects could be controlled by him."

"And since our unknown wizard probably learned from Voldemort's methods," Julian now added, "we must first ask ourselves which of these gateways he could have used to control Hermione's soul – am I getting you right?"

"Exactly."

Julian cleared his throat. "Well, let's start with the simplest: a mark that is visible on the skin. Not to be indiscreet, Harry," he said with a smug grin, "but how much of Hermione's naked skin do you know?"

"Probably not enough for our purposes,"– Harry grinned as well –"I once saw her in a bikini and didn't notice a mark. On the other hand, of course, there are certain parts of her body that I don't know ..."

"... the most interesting ..." interjected Julian, while Roy, Orpheus and Ares chortled.

"Can't you make your lad jokes in the absence of women and children?", Arabella, half serious, half amused, called out, causing general laughter.

"I'd have to ask Ron, he knows first hand," chaffed Harry, "but seriously: Hermione loves the Muggle world, but what she doesn't like at all is this horrible tattoo fashion, and why else would she get any mark on her skin? I think we can rule out the possibility of intrusion via some kind of mark or magical tattoo. That leaves direct intrusion by the will of a living person and intrusion via a Horcrux. To put it more generally: It would have to be either a person or an object that Hermione has permanent personal contact with."

"This is something you should be more familiar with than all of us here," Arabella said to Harry. "Are there any objects she is always carrying with her, maybe a piece of jewellery?"

Harry shook his head. "Of course, she is carrying her wand with her all the time. But I can't imagine anyone ever having had the opportunity to bewitch her wand. Apart from that, of course, she wears jewellery – understated, as is her style – but not always the same ... apart from her wedding ring, of course ..."

"Do you think," Roy now asked him, "her wedding ring might be bewitched – in other words, our Anonymous has somehow put his soul in her wedding ring?"

Harry reflected for a moment. "To do this, he would first have to have stolen her wedding ring, then committed murder, thereby splitting his soul and placing part of it in the wedding ring, then smuggled this ring back, all without her noticing. Honestly," he said, "novelists may invent such things, but to me it all sounds too complicated and implying far too many uncertainties! We shouldn't completely dismiss the possibility, but I would look for a less exotic hypothesis first."

Everyone was thinking.

"So it means," Arabella asked again, "our Mr X would have to be in constant personal contact with Hermione. Harry, who's a candidate for this?"

"There are only three," Harry said. "One is her husband Ron Weasley, but I vouch for him. He would never try to control Hermione with a curse, never ever! The second is her personal assistant, our common brother-in-law Percy Weasley, the inevitable. It simply can't be him!" Harry had to laugh. "Percy is about as demonic as a paperclip."

"And the third one?" asked Roy.

"Is Cesar Anderson, Head of the Personal Protection Unit."

"Cesar Anderson, you say?" exclaimed Roy with excitement.

"Yes," Harry replied in surprise. "What's so amazing about that? Anderson is her chief bodyguard."

"I got the ministry's new weekly bulletin this morning," Roy said, pulling a sheet of parchment from his robe and reading it aloud:

With effect from 1 October, the Ministry of Magic has created the Magic Security Office (MSO). It is directly responsible to the Minister. In addition to the tasks of the previous Personal Protection Unit, it is also responsible for the fight against Death Eaterdom as well as all kinds of seditious activities. For this purpose, the MSO has been granted special powers by the Minister."

"Special powers?" whispered Harry in horror. "Is there anything more specific in the bulletin about the nature of these powers?"

Roy shook his head.

"The powers of the Auror Department so far are pretty impressive, I can assure you!" said Harry. "And there must be reasons why they don't reveal anything more ... 'Special powers' sounds to me like: Arbitrary arrests, clandestine house searches, possibly authorising the use of the Unforgivables ... Hermione has founded a secret police!"

"And here's the point!" added Roy, still holding the bulletin in his hand. "Because I wasn't finished yet: Head of this newly created service is the previous Head of the Personal Protection Unit, Cesar Anderson."

"Cesar ..." murmured Harry. "I don't want to imagine it, but it would explain a lot of things ..."

"Indeed it would," Roy confirmed. "In many countries, the Head of the Secret Service or Secret Police is the actual secret Head of state. Getting control of the Minister to give oneself an unassailable position of power, while always being able to act in the background and in the dark – this would be the perfect way to become an unrestrained de facto dictator."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. "This fits in with what I also learned during the conversation with my colleague. The Aurors intensively questioned captured Death Eaters at the time to find out more about Voldemort's methods. Of course, not just any Aurors could do that, only those who were particularly skilled in Dark Magic. Of the officers in the investigation team at the time, only one is still in active service today. And now guess who!"

No one needed to say it. The seven of them looked at each other.

"What's puzzling me is just ... Cesar isn't the type to do that," Harry said. "I know him well, I myself appointed him chief bodyguard. I would have sworn that he was not only an ace at his job, but also hundred percent loyal! A sober officer type, a soldier rather than a policeman, not someone you would trust to indulge in dreams of power. On the other hand, he often withheld information from me, supposedly on Hermione's instructions ..." Harry murmured, lost in thought, but then looked up and said again in a firm voice:

"Be that as it may: A career like his requires you not to wear your heart on your sleeve. He is quiet and rather secretive, who knows what is going on behind his forehead. If we keep to the objective evidence, he is the person we are looking for."

"Then our task, while still not easy, seems easier than we assumed," said Orpheus. "If what we suspect is true, all we would have to do is to cut direct contact between him and Hermione to keep her away from his influence."

"If I had only known!", Harry was annoyed. "Just a little more than a week ago, all I would have had to do was to post him elsewhere. Now we would have to ..."

He paused, looking up at the ceiling, pondering.

"... kidnap him! But that will be damn hard, he is the best security man of the Ministry. Even I wouldn't easily trust myself to take him on."

"With respect, it wouldn't be very purposeful either," Roy objected. "Fine, let's say we could kidnap or even kill him. Just as a matter of theory," he added impatiently when he saw Harry's irritated look. "Hermione would then be free of this curse or control spell. Well, she would probably soften her methods, maybe disband her secret police, lift her taboo spell – and stop treating her best friends like dirt," he said with a glance at Albus. "Then you would have achieved your goal, Harry, but we wouldn't have achieved ours. For we are not only fighting her methods, but also and above all her goals. What you want is to save Hermione, what we want is to save the wizarding world."

"Do you think I don't care about the fate of this world?", Harry cut him off angrily.

"No one is insinuating that, Harry," Arabella said soothingly. "But please don't be miffed when we are making our point."

"We have the problem," Roy explained, "that Hermione is pursuing a utopia of which she is completely convinced. It sounds so attractive: We and the Muggles go hand in hand for mutual benefit, learn from each other, and all people become brothers and sisters! If she really goes on this way, she will end up with the same kind of dictatorial methods she is applying now, and then without any curse – simply because her utopia doesn't work. Then she might have a bad conscience, but that's of no use to us, she will still do it."

"But if the curse is no longer effective, we will be able to talk to her about it and convince her through arguments," Harry objected.

"You think so?" asked Roy doubtfully. "Why should Hermione be any better than countless Muggle politicians, none of whom are under a curse, but who are nevertheless completely inaccessible to argument when it comes to pursuing their favourite utopian projects?"

"Hermione is neither stupid nor malicious by nature," Harry exclaimed, and Roy had to smile when he saw Albus energetically nodding in confirmation. "On the contrary, she always responds to good arguments ... well, almost always," Harry specified, as some counter-examples were crossing his mind.

"Maybe, but we are talking about forecasts here," Roy countered. "She says her utopia will work, we say it won't. The only argument to disprove a forecast is reality. Once the barriers between the magical world and the Muggle world are torn down and it only then becomes apparent that it doesn't work, it is impossible to undo because the Muggles then know about the existence of our world and you can't eliminate that knowledge. We can Obliviate individual Muggles, but not seven billion."

There was a long pause.

"Apart from that," Roy resumed his train of thought finally, "the idea of kidnapping Anderson is based on the hypothesis that he is the one bewitching her. What if he isn't – and even you are uncertain about it, aren't you, Harry? In this case, she'll just carry on, and we won't have saved her or the wizarding world, but we'll have another problem, namely how to set Anderson free again."

"Why," Harry asked with a lurking expression, "do I feel that you've a counter-proposal up your sleeve?"

"Quite simply," Roy grinned, "because that's what I actually have."

"Then let's hear it!"

"If we want to achieve both," Roy replied, "that is, free Hermione from the curse and protect our world from her, we indeed have to kidnap someone, though not her secret service boss, but the Minister herself."

Everyone stared at him.

"And what would be the practical advantage?", Harry asked.

"If she is under Anderson's curse, which only works through personal contact, she will be freed from that curse. On the other hand, if she is under someone else's curse, as an Auror you will have the means to find out once she is under your control, won't you?"

"Sure," Harry said thoughtfully, "we're trained in Legilimency to be able to get into a suspect's mind if need to, unless the target person good at Occlumency himself. So if Hermione is possessed, I should be able to detect it as soon as she can't avoid me. But with that, I still don't know how to kick that person out ..."

"But you could find it out," Julian asked, "once you can get into her minds and know exactly what you're dealing with?"

"Possibly," Harry admitted hesitantly.

"How about the anti-Imperius?" interjected Orpheus. At the astonished looks of the others, he continued: "Actually, the term 'anti-Imperius' is misleading. It is not only effective against the Imperius curse, but according to its logic against every control spell! With that you would purposefully shoot our stranger out of her soul!"

"But this really would be the very last resort," said Harry, "if nothing else works. The anti-Imperius is barely researched, I would risk wiping Hermione's self out with it."

"But you agree," Roy now demanded, "that you cannot lift the curse without being in physical control of her?"

Harry was silent for a moment. Then he sat back and said:

"Yes, I do."

"Excuse me, Roy," Ares now intervened. "I still don't quite understand why you are hoping to stop her policy by kidnapping her. If you don't want to lock her up forever, you will have to let her go at some point, and then she will return to her office and carry on just as before, maybe with a little more bad conscience, maybe not even with that. We've been through all this before!"

"Or should Harry put the Imperius Curse on her before she returns to office?" asked Orpheus. "That would be ..."

"...completely impossible!" Harry cut across him. "When she is set free by kidnappers, the first thing they will do is checking her for the Imperius Curse, and it usually only takes a few minutes to detect and lift it! Apart from that, the Aurors are trained to recognise from subtle signs that someone might be under the Imperius, which means that even if I am not kidnapping her, but somehow getting close to her to hex her, Cesar's Aurors will notice."

"That's what I thought, too," Roy said, "and that's why my idea is a bit more complicated." He grinned smugly.

"Don't keep us in suspense!" called Julian.

"You'd have to do it," Roy now said to Harry. "You invisibly enter the Ministry, go into Hermione's office, shock her or knock her out, take a hair from her, dip it into the Polyjuice Potion, take her appearance, make the real Hermione invisible and take her with you into a hideout at the end of the day. On the following days, you go to the Ministry as Hermione and take her place. You lift her tyrannical laws and send Anderson on a long trip abroad. As soon as you have established the conditions for setting the real Hermione free again, that is, when you have broken the curse, you resign as Hermione from the office of Minister for Magic and cast a Memory Charm on the real Hermione, as a result of which she believes that she herself has resigned. Then, when a new minister is needed, you apply for the post in your real identity as Harry Potter. I think they would like to take you."

The Incorruptibles and Harry stared at him with open mouths.

"What you're suggesting, Roy," Harry said slowly, "is no more and no less than ..."

"... a coup d'état."