Chapter 15: Arriving at the MoM, the DOIMC with Gareth, a lunch with the Minister, and Harry and Daphne plots and plans.
Tuesday, September 12th, 2018, 11:00 AM
Jimmie and Goodnight appeared in a green flame in one of the floos in the new Ministry of Magic's floo room, which was close to the restaurant and lounge in the basement. From here, they took the stairs up one flight, where they came out into the lobby on the ground floor and walked up to the security desk.
The guard at the desk didn't as much as glance up at them since he was reading the Prophet that was laid out flat upon the desk behind the counter. He only held his hand out to Jimmie, and boredly muttered, "Wand?"
Jimmie handed the guard his wand with a smirk, which was placed upon the wand-weigher's shiny brass dish. This made the guard quickly look up with surprise after the brass instrument spat out a slip of parchment stating that the wand was thirteen and three-thirds inches long, was made of elder with a dragon heartstring core and belonged to one James Cyrus Greengrass-Potter, which had been in use for a little over eight years. Of course, nobody knew that he and his siblings, along with Goodnight, had been trained by the Potters since they were seven and that they had all used the Potter family's wands, which were several.
Here, the security guard, who was now flabbergasted, was trying to impale the slip of parchment upon the brass spike sticking up from its brass stand on the desk, but his aim was off as his mouth was moving with nothing coming out at the moment. Jimmie was afraid that the man might impale his hand instead of the slip.
During this comical act, Jimmie thought back to what Garrick Ollivander had told both Jimmie and his father about the wand's makeup. Ollivander had said the core had come from a rather large male Hebridean Black, and that the wand was "powerful, slightly flexible, but unyielding." Over Jimmie's seven years at Hogwarts, the young mage believed it, as it was especially good with Illusions, Transfiguration, and Charms. Jimmie had never lost it to a disarming or summoning charm, either, while at Camp X, in Defense Against the Dark Arts, or in a few school duels that his parents didn't know about - he hoped. He and Goodnight were also to purchase a backup wand, and he was hoping that they could travel to New Orleans for that, and visit Dewayne's grandfather's shop to purchase them.
Ollivander had also stated that the elder tree in question had been struck by lightning, though he was unsure about how many times, though it was at least twice, and that it had come from the cemetery at Godric's Hollow. Garrick noticed that this seemed to unnerve the two Potters, and it did the old wandmaker as well, as he knew who was buried in an old sandstone above-ground tomb just beyond the kissing gate at the church. Just across from the tomb was where the elder tree had once stood by itself, and it had been struck by lightning, again, just after Jimmie's grandparent's death, and during a hard rainstorm around the first of November. Garrick had harvested it when the pastor at the Potter's funeral, a week later, had told him that they were to cut it down.
Unknown to the Potters, Garrick had also thought that Harry still carried the Elder Wand, though he kept that to himself, as Harry would have been foolish to place it back inside Dumbledore's tomb after it had already been stolen once. He also knew that his son had been born on January first and that the zodiac periods for wand wood could overlap approximately one week, which leaned more toward "rebirth" with elder. Plus, Professor Sinistra had told him that Jupiter was more prominent that New Years' morning instead of Saturn, which signified a white horse instead of black. However, this wasn't set in stone, as the wand selected the wizard, where Tom Riddle had ended up with a yew wand instead of birch. Garrick thought it odd, and spooky, about how these coincidences came about in wandcrafting, but he also knew of the Potters bloodline leading back to the three Peverells, who were of the most mysterious and old aristocratic wizarding families in old Britain. He never spoke of any of this, though, while the two Potters were in his shop.
Here, Ian Munch, who was the old security guard Eric Munch's son, smiled after coming back to his senses, as he picked Jimmie's wand up from the weigher's brass plate. "Mr. Greengrass-Potter, it's so good to see you here today!" This also obtained several wizards and witches' attention who were standing in the lobby. "Here to start work?"
Jimmie glanced around the lobby quickly, before he smirked. "Yes, my wife and I are to start working within the ministry today."
"Is that so," Ian asked with another smile, before looking over at Goodnight, who was standing beside Jimmie. "Mrs. Greengrass-Potter, your wand if you please." As she handed him her wand, he commented, "I know both your parents. Fine people who come here all the time!"
Ian finally handed Jimmie's wand back, and then placed Goodnight's upon the shiny brass dish. It wasn't but a second later when a slender strip of parchment shot out of its base again. The parchment stated that the wand was twelve inches long, and was of rowan and dragon heartstring construction, which belonged to a Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Greengrass-Potter, who was born on February first just after her husband, and that it had been in use for a little over eight years.
"It'll be good to have you, Mr. and Mrs. Greengrass-Potter, here with us at the Ministry," Ian said, as he handed Goodnight's wand back to her. "The Head Girl and Head Boy working with us, imagine that! You're clear to enter the ministry, and a good day to you both."
"Thank you, Ian," Jimmie said, as he took Goodnight's hand, and walked toward the large polished bronze doors of the lifts. They could already hear mumbling from those standing in the lobby, which made Jimmie grin.
Once the lift doors slid closed, and they were alone, Jimmie looked over at his wife, and smirked. "Think everyone in the lobby heard enough of that to start the rumor?"
Goodnight snorted. "Of course they did, and it will be circulating within Hogwarts by this evening at the latest."
Neither had heard Ian, though, who was a wandlore buff, mutter that the two wands had balanced each other out on the scale. "Elder and rowan, hmmm... They've tied the proverbial Gordian knot." Of course, back in 333 BC, Alexander the Great, while on his march through Anatolia, reached Gordium, which was the capital of Phrygia, where he used a bold solution to solve his problem, thus, "untying the knot." The two Potters, from what he had heard of them, were definitely close, Ian thought, and he didn't think that anyone would be untying that knot in the future, no matter how hard they tried.
Jimmie and Goodnight stepped out of the lift on the third floor, which was where the new DOIMC was located, after a female voice announced, "Level Three: Department of International Magical Cooperation, incorporating the International Magical Trading Standards Body, the International Magical Office of Law, the International Confederation of Wizards - British Seats, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry's Auror Offices, the Department of Criminal Records, and the Improper Use of Magic Office."
A sign on the wall of the hall pointed toward the DOIMC being to their left, and the MLE to their right. Here, they made their way left down the hall, and it was not very far where they found an open waiting area with plush seating, with a witch sitting behind a mahogany desk, who was filing away a stack of parchment in her outbox. It was Mrs. Miranda Bowers née Goshawk.
"Mrs. Bowers," Goodnight said, "my husband and I were told that the Head of the DOIMC, Gareth Greengrass, was expecting us."
Miranda studied the two for a second until the resemblance of the young man standing before her rang a bell in her head about Sir Harry and Dame Daphne. It also dawned on her that the young lady was his wife.
"Mr. and Mrs. Black?"
"That's us," Jimmie replied with a smirk.
Miranda quickly launched herself up from her chair at this, and blushed, as she made her way to Gareth's door behind her desk. "Give me just a second to see if he is ready to receive you." Here, she gave his door two quick knocks, and when she heard him say enter, she cracked the door open, and stuck her head inside.
It wasn't but a few moments before she fully opened the door, and stood back to usher them inside, where she closed the door behind them.
"Ah, my favorite great-nephew," Gareth said, as he strolled from behind his desk, "and his darling wife."
"Uncle Gareth!" Jimmie said with a huge smile, as Gareth stepped over to give Jimmie a manly one-armed hug, and then turned to kiss Goodnight's hand.
"Please," Gareth said, "both of you, have a seat!"
As the young Potter couple sat down, Gareth studied them for a moment. "Anything to drink? Maybe a brandy?"
"Tea would be fine," Goodnight said, "if you have it, or coffee as well."
"We're running on fumes, Uncle Gareth," Jimmie said, "since we both arrived back early this morning, and then we came here upon Da' and Mum's directions."
"Ah, yes," Gareth said, "we'll get to that in a moment. Let me have Miranda bring us a tea service, and then we'll have our meeting."
Gareth buzzed Miranda on his intercom, and they waited until she brought in the tea before the three got down to business.
"Now, you two..." Gareth began, but Jimmie held up his hand cutting off his great uncle, as he glanced over his shoulder at the door, and then back to his great-uncle.
"If you don't mind, Uncle Gareth," Jimmie muttered, as he pulled out his wand, and began casting privacy spells. "There - done! Now, what are we to do?"
"Just like your da' and mum, you are," Gareth said with a smirk. "I'm to get you situated here at the DOIMC for your cover.
"You two will come here twice a week during the mornings, and make yourselves known to any foreign visitors. You'll have a small office just down the hall, and you're to also work with this office during meetings with state representatives, ambassadors, and liaisons both here, and abroad from the embassies.
"Jimmie, you'll travel with me to meetings out of the country sometimes, and Mary, you'll work with me, here, when we have state visitors. You'll both use your aliases as everyone in this office will address you as Mr. and Mrs. Black, but in reality, you'll be protecting me, and taking back everything you have learned to Harry and Daphne. Your reports will also be carbon copied to the minister as well.
"Also, you'll be monitoring a mirror in your office that will show the interior of this office during state visits. Mr. Finnigan just had that installed along with some new warding a few days ago, and he added a tape recording device, I believe he called it, to your office. He also gave me a small Protona Minifon wire recorder to keep in my desk drawer, which he showed me how to use. Quite inventive, those muggles. Also, nobody will be able to apparate into this office unless it is me, the minister, the head auror, Harry, Daphne, or you two over the warding, and I'm being monitored from the DOCS as well. That saved the minister's life once, you know.
"The most of your time will be spent back at the DOCS doing what Harry and Daphne ask of you."
"I think we can accomplish all of that, don't you think, dear?" Goodnight asked Jimmie.
"Of course, we can," Jimmie replied. "This should be rather interesting."
"Nah," Gareth said with a shake of his head," the ambassadors, reps, and liaisons can be quite boring. Conceited and arrogant as well, to be honest. Now, allow me to show you to your office, and then you'll need to head up to the fourth floor, as Kingsley wants to see you before lunch."
Here, Gareth stood and ushered the young Potters from his office, where he took them two doors down to a small and narrow office, which had two desks against the wall closest to Gareth's office. On the wall, and in front of both desks, was a mirror, and it indeed showed the inside of Gareth's office. Between the desks sat an Akai 280D-SS reel-to-reel tape recorder on a stand beside an electric coffee urn, in order to record the visitors' conversations. They noticed two high-security filing cabinets in the room under the clock, which had combination locks on them, and there were two iron safes about two feet high on either side of the desks.
Just as Gareth had finished showing them everything, including handing each a slip of parchment with the combinations for the safes and cabinets as they were beginning to leave, Gareth had them to pause.
"I forgot to tell you about how this will all work," Gareth stated. "My department signed a two-year contract with MDOCS, where the DOCS started a private account at Gringotts. That account pays into your personal account weekly, as we issue your salary from here. If anyone looks into anything, it will look as if the both of you are employed here. Any incidental expenses related to your occupation will come from another special account at the Mage's Security & Deposit Bank, and that will be transferred to your account. Both of you will also have an 'operating expenses' credit card through there, as well as two safety deposit boxes within their vault. Got that?" When the two nodded their heads, Gareth continued. "You'll see a weekly deposit come into your Gringotts' account issued by Miranda, so don't be surprised when it states Mr. and Mrs. Black. This office is where you'll cut your teeth before you go on into more, shall I say, clandestine things, and if this program works out, many others will start here just like you two.
"Now, off with you two, and get going so that you can meet up with Kingsley."
"Thanks, Uncle Gareth," Jimmie said, as he shook his great-uncle's hand before taking Goodnight's hand in his and making his way to the door.
"Thanks, sir," Goodnight replied as she followed her husband out of the office.
As the two were riding the lift up, Goodnight glanced over at her husband and smirked. "So that's how they work these things, what with those secret bank accounts. My, how Slytherin!"
Here, Jimmie chortled. "Well, mum was a Slytherin, and the Sorting Hat wanted to place da' in Slytherin as well, but da' talked it out of it."
"What? Why?" Goodnight inquired.
"Well, you see..." However, Jimmie was cut off by the female voice of the lift when they reached the fourth floor.
"Level Four: Minister for Magic and other administrative staff, the Wizengamot Administration Services, the Wizengamot Member's Offices, the Chief Warlock's Office, the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, including the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, the Obliviator Headquarters, and the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee."
"Come on," Jimmie said, as he stepped out onto the red carpet, "I'll tell you about that later."
Here, the two made a left down the hall, and then made their way toward the lobby for Kingsley's office. However, both were held up when one of the portraits called out to them. "Young James?"
Both stopped and spoke to Jimmie's great-great-grandfather, Henry Potter before they made their way on down the hall, where they paused again to look at the unmoving portraits of Harry and Kingsley.
Goodnight couldn't believe that this was her father-in-law, as she raised her hand, and touched the frame. "Geez, he's so young!"
Here, Jimmie wrapped his arm around Goodnight's back as he took in the portrait of the stonily-looking young black-haired teen staring back at him with his wand drawn, which actually resembled him a lot. Finally, he swallowed the knot down in his throat, and muttered, "Yea, he was. Come on, don't want to be late."
When they walked around the corner, and into the oak-paneled lobby, they found Marlene, Kingsley's secretary, who was looking at a cheap mail order catalog that contained phallic shaped plastic battery-powered vibrators. Here, neither of the young Greengrass-Potters could help themselves, and both snorted, which caused Marlene to quickly drop the catalog as if it had burned her. What neither knew, was that several were now hooting with laughter back at the DOCS.
"May I help you?" Marlene embarrassingly inquired.
"Mr. and Mrs. Black to see the minister," Jimmie said while trying to hold in a chortle. "He's expecting us."
Marlene did a double-take at the name Black until she took a good look at the two, and then it hit her who they were. They were Sir Harry and Dame Daphne's son and daughter-in-law.
"Uh, uh, yes," Marlene stuttered, "the minister is expecting you. Let me buzz him, and then you can go on in."
As Marlene made herself busy with the intercom on her desk, Jimmie and Goodnight couldn't help but look at each other and smirk. Within a few seconds, they were brought out of their musings when they heard the minister's baritone voice say, "Send them in."
Here, Marlene quickly stood from her office chair and opened one of the two large oak doors leading into Kingsley's impressive office allowing the young couple to enter.
"Good day, Minister!" Jimmie and Goodnight said at the same time, which made the old man chuckle as he motioned for them to take a seat in front of his desk.
"Ah, young James and Mary!" Kingsley exclaimed with a huge smile. "It's so good to see you both again, and here you both are, Hogwarts' head boy and head girl, and ready to enter the workforce. Why, I can remember when both of you were wee little tykes, and now you're both grown.
"Ah, that's just the ramblings of an old auror that has been at this for too long, so, how would you two like to join me for lunch at the Wands & Wizards?"
Jimmie quickly looked at his Rolex, and it was, indeed, ten minutes till twelve. "I didn't realize it was that late."
"Time flies, doesn't it?" Kingsley replied, as he stood from his desk, where he placed several thick file folders into a combination-locked security file cabinet at the back wall of his office. Here, he paused to look outside at the grey clouds of London, as it looked like rain, but then he turned back to the young witch and wizard and smiled. "Follow me to my private floo, where we'll floo into Wand & Wizards since it looks like it might rain."
"Sure," Jimmie said, as Goodnight nodded, and both stood to follow the minister out of his office.
"Marlene," Kingsley said as he walked past her desk, "I'll be gone to lunch for about an hour. We'll be at the Wands & Wizards if you need me."
"Where's your security?" Marlene asked.
"They're with me," Kingsley replied with a smirk, as he turned the corner, and made his way down the hall.
Both of the Greengrass-Potters looked stunned at the minister's remark, as well as Marlene.
The two followed the minister down the hall and turned a corner, where they stepped into an office on their right, which had two security guards watching several mirrors, while two aurors were lounging back, and shooting the breeze with them. They all stood at attention, though, when Kingsley stepped into the room, and as one, they all said "Minister" in greeting.
"Relax everyone," Kingsley said, as he made his way to the large fireplace on the wall behind the aurors. "I'm going out for lunch, and I'm taking these two with me as security."
This made everyone's eyebrows shoot up to their hairlines until one of the witches sitting at the mirrors noticed who was with the minister.
"Mary?" The one monitoring the closest mirrors questioned.
"Hello Aunty Gemma," Goodnight replied.
"First day on the job?" Gemma asked, as her niece walked behind her with her husband.
"Yup," Goodnight replied, "and we didn't think that we'd have this important of a duty this soon."
Here, Gemma laughed, as the three were now standing in front of the large fireplace behind her. "The minister likes throwing the newbies into the deep end." This caused Kingsley to chortle.
"I'll go first, Goodnight," Jimmie said, as he withdrew his wand, "then the minister, and you bring up the rear."
"Got it," Goodnight said, as Jimmie threw down a pinch of floo powder on the hearth and stepped into the flames, where he disappeared after stating "Wands & Wizards Café." Kingsley followed, and then Goodnight stepped out last into the café, with her wand hidden while holding it at her side. She and her husband quickly scanned the pub for any threats, and when satisfied, they both nodded to Kingsley.
Kingsley walked over to the bar, where he smiled at Ivy, who was the bartender. "Can I have my usual private room upstairs?"
"Of course, Minister Shacklebolt," Ivy replied. "Head on up, and a waitress will be with you in a few minutes."
"Thank you," Kingsley replied, before he turned, and smirked at the young operatives. "Follow me."
The two followed the minister up a set of wooden stairs just around the corner from the bar, where he opened the first door on his left off the hall. Here, they followed him inside and found a round table set for six within a cozy oak-paneled room.
"I didn't know that this was here," Jimmie said, as he began to ward the room against eavesdroppers.
"Your father, mother, and I use this for private meetings, Jim," Kingsley said, as he sat down in the chair that faced the door, which was a wise move, Jimmie and Goodnight thought. "They have two private dining rooms up here, a conference room, and a private lounge."
Jimmie pulled out Goodnight's chair to the right of Kingsley and then sat down beside her. "I've got the room warded well, Minister, so you can speak without fear," Jimmy said.
Before Kingsley could reply, there was a knock, and the door opened where the waitress walked in. After the three gave their order and received their drinks of choice, Jimmie checked the door and nodded at Kingsley.
"Jim," Kingsley said, "I've got a favor to ask of you." Here, Jimmie's eyes widened. "Your father supposedly dropped the Resurrection Stone on his way into the forest on the night that he dealt with Voldemort. I would like to see if you can recover that stone, as the DOM people think that they know where it comes from. We do not think that your father would like to relive those memories to retrieve it."
Jimmie didn't say anything for a moment as he studied Kingsley. "Why would they want it?"
Here, Kingsley became slightly uncomfortable. "They would like to try to speak to a few wizards and witches from the past, and it concerns studying the death chamber within the DOM as well, which we call the veil."
"Which wizards and witches?" Goodnight inquired.
Here, Kingsley thought over his words carefully for a moment. "Grindelwald and Bellatrix Lestrange."
"What! Why?" Jimmie asked as this unnerved him.
"Grindelwald left behind some artifacts, but they were hidden away, and with Bellatrix, it's to question her about her daughter and to ask her if she knows of anyone else who might have dabbled with Horcruxes and if Tom spoke of any others who did. We intend on trading information about the wellbeing of her daughter to obtain the other information from her. That is if she doesn't already know about the whereabouts of her daughter and her condition. We found that her daughter's new family later moved to Darjeeling, and are doing well for themselves in the tea business."
"I'll have to talk to da' and mum about this," Jimmie said.
"What about this death chamber, Minister?" Goodnight wondered.
"We believe that one of the Peverell brothers took a piece of the stone from the veil's arch long ago, and used it to create what he did. The entire arch is enchanted and laced with ancient carved runes.
"The veil has another name - it's called either Pluto's or Hell's Gate, and there were several of them built around the Roman Empire at one time, which they chucked their sacrifices through. In sacrifices, I mean live humans. The Romans brought one here, and they placed it in a Roman temple just outside the City's walls where our old ministry is now located. That was when the City of London was still called Londinium. Over time, and after the stone temple was almost in ruins, it was covered over, and the city was built up on top of it as it expanded, which the old Wizards' Council found. The arch is thought to have come from Cape Tenaro in Greece, where an ancient Roman bath was found, as there was a temple to Pluto there as well. The arch had supposedly been inside a part of an underground cavern close to the shore, which was destroyed by an earthquake and began to cave in. The arch, itself, is carved from a solid black volcanic stone, probably basalt, and these arches were described by several ancient writers such as Strabo, Cassius Dio, and Damascius.
"Anyhow," Kingsley continued, "it is thought that Cadmus Peverell was the one who took a piece of the stone from the arch, and then crafted an artifact which could recall the shades of the long dead."
"You do know that the stone is still a Potter artifact and that together, they make my father the Master of Death," Jimmie said.
"Yes," Kingsley replied, "and you not only have my word but that of the Head Unspeakable, who is a good friend of your father, that the stone will be protected and returned after our research."
Jimmie thought about this for a moment, but before he could ask more, they heard a knock at the door, which opened, where the waitress brought them their lunch.
Harry and Daphne were in their office, with the door closed, when she placed a file upon Harry's desk, which quickly caught his attention. "Is this who I think it is, the Big Pharma guy?"
"Yes it is, my dear husband," Daphne replied with a smirk, "and that man has been up to many very bad things. We have a lot of photos of him and his wife attending private Heaven and Hell parties with many of the muggle elite. He seems to like young girls as well."
"They're swingers?" Harry asked, and Daphne nodded.
"He's a nonce?" Harry inquired with a smirk, and Daphne nodded again.
"How old were the girls?" Harry muttered, as he quickly scanned through the photos, which made him grimace. "For fek's sake, they're in someone's manor garden doing the nasty!"
"Yup, and the owner of that garden is a well-to-do socialite! Those photos were taken this spring at a bacchanalia party, and the youngest was fifteen, with the other, sixteen," Daphne remarked, as she sat back in her swivel office chair. "They got them from Soho out of a clip joint, sex store, and strip club. Fake IDs, of course, were provided by the club's owners, who just happen to be organized crime figures from Malta. There are dirty coppers involved as well. 'The Syndicate,' which is a vast callgirl ring, still exists, and some of Big Frank's relations are still around."
"This sounds like the same blackmail group..." Harry replied, and trailed off. "Mr. Ward's old racket? I hear that they're about to finally bust their counterparts down in Florida as well."
"Under new ownership, of course," Daphne explained, "but it's the same Anglo-American Establishment elite circle and blackmail racket. The Maltese have always supplied the girls, who are the most expensive in Soho. A squib relation to Blaise named Octavius was once involved at Clerkenwell, though they spelled their surname slightly different when they ran that gang. They were the 'king of the racecourse gangs,' and, as you well know, the family is still into gaming and the bookie racket."
"What do you intend on doing about our big pharma guy?" Harry inquired.
"Well," Daphne replied with a huge smile, "since this is tied to Abazi, I thought that you could make a little unannounced housecall, and show him a few of our photos. In other words, scare the living shite out of him, and let him know where he'll end up if he keeps helping Abazi, and keeps looking for the fountain of youth."
Here, Harry gave Daphne a huge grin, which looked like a shark about to devour its prey, as he pushed his desk chair back, and swiveled it around to face his wife. "Oh, I would be delighted! You know, dear, that there was a reason that you caught my eye, and tied me around your little finger."
"Did I, now," Daphne said in a husky voice, as she quickly stood, and gave Harry a searing kiss after settling herself into his lap.
A/N: Somehow, chapters 1, 7, and 9 were replaced with chapters from Intrigue I, which was due to spellchecking by me. That was fixed, and it happened after Chap 14 was posted. If anyone has started reading this late, then the story will make no sense until you read the correct chapters.
