A/N Welcome all to Book 2 of the Rangers and Wizards Series. This book is pretty dramatic. Lots happening on both sides of the Stones. Hermione works to unravel a conspiracy and prepare to search for Harry. Harry will meet Cassandra, and Morgarath has some surprises in store. Particularly interested in what you think of Hermione's doings so far. Please review, it helps on many levels, especially if there is feedback about what you like, don't like etc. and will improve the quality of this story. Without further ado, enjoy.

Prologue

Halt and Will had been trailing the Wargals for three days. The four heavy-bodied, brutish creatures, foot soldiers of the rebel warlord Morgarath, had been sighted passing through Redmont Fief, heading north. Once word reached the Ranger, he had set out to intercept them, accompanied by his young apprentice.

"Where could they have come from, Halt?" Will asked during one of their short rest stops. "Surely we've got Three Step Pass well and truly bottled up by now."

Three Step Pass provided the only real access between the Kingdom of Araluen and the Mountains of Rain and Night, where Morgarath had his headquarters. Now that the kingdom was preparing for the coming war with Morgarath, a company of infantry and archers had been sent to reinforce the small permanent garrison at the narrow pass until the main army could assemble.

"That's the only place where they can come in sizable numbers," Halt agreed. "But a small party like this could slip into the kingdom by way of the barrier cliffs."

Morgarath's domain was an inhospitable mountain plateau that towered high above the southern reaches of the kingdom. From Three Step Pass in the east, a line of sheer, precipitous cliffs ran roughly due west, forming the border between the plateau and Araluen. As the cliffs swung southwest, they plunged into another obstacle called the Fissure—a huge split in the earth that ran out to the sea, and separated Morgarath's lands from the kingdom of the Celts.

It was these natural fortifications that had kept Araluen, and neighboring Celtica, safe from Morgarath's armies for the past sixteen years. Conversely, they also provided the rebel warlord with protection from Araluen's forces.

"I thought those cliffs were impassable," Will said.

Halt allowed himself a grim smile. "Nowhere is ever really impassable. Particularly if you have no respect for how many lives you lose trying to prove the fact. My guess is that they used ropes and grapnels and waited for a moonless night and bad weather. That way, they could slip past the border patrols."

He stood, signifying that their rest stop was at an end. Will rose with him and they moved toward their horses. Halt gave a small grunt as he swung into the saddle. The wound he had suffered in the battle with the two Kalkara still troubled him a little.

"My main concern isn't where they came from," he continued. "It's where they're heading, and what they have in mind."

The words were barely spoken when they heard a shout from somewhere ahead of them, followed by a commotion of grunting and, finally, the clash of weapons.

"And we may be about to find out!" Halt finished.

He urged Abelard into a gallop, controlling the horse with his knees as his hands effortlessly selected an arrow and nocked it to the string of his massive longbow. He also had a wand holster Harry had made for him ready to be activated and deactivated by him saying the words 'Holster Down/Up' respectively. Will scrambled into Tug's saddle and galloped after him. He couldn't match Halt's hands-free riding skill. He needed his right hand for the reins as he held his own bow ready in his left.

They were riding through sparse woodland, leaving it to the surefooted Ranger horses to pick the best route. Suddenly, they burst clear of the trees into a wide meadow. Abelard, under his rider's urging, slid to a stop, Tug following suit beside him. Dropping the reins to Tug's neck, Will instinctively reached for an arrow from his quiver and nocked it ready.

A large fig tree grew in the middle of the cleared ground. At the base of it there was a small camp. A wisp of smoke still curled from the fireplace and a pack and blanket roll lay beside it. The four Wargals they had been tracking surrounded a single man, who had his back to the tree. For the moment his long sword held them at bay, but the Wargals were making small feinting movements toward him, trying to find an advantage. They were armed with short swords and axes and one carried a heavy iron spear.

Will drew in a sharp breath at the sight of the creatures. After following their trail for so long, it was a shock to come upon them so suddenly in plain sight. Bearlike in build, they had long muzzles and massive yellow canine fangs, exposed now as they snarled at their prey. They were covered in shaggy fur and wore black leather armor. The man was dressed similarly and his voice cracked in fear as he repelled their tentative attacks.

"Stand back! I'm on a mission for Lord Morgarath. Stand back, I order you! I order you in Lord Morgarath's name!"

Halt nudged Abelard around, allowing him room to draw the arrow he had ready on the string.

"Drop your weapons! All of you!" he shouted. Five pairs of eyes swung toward him as the four Wargals and their prey turned in surprise. The Wargal with the spear recovered first. Realizing that the swordsman was distracted, he darted forward and ran the spear into his body. A second later, Halt's arrow buried itself in the Wargal's heart and he fell dead beside his stricken prey. As the swordsman sank to his knees, the other Wargals charged at the two Rangers.

Shambling and bearlike as they might be, they covered ground with incredible speed.

Halt's second shot dropped the left-hand Wargal. Will fired at the one on the right and realized instantly that he had misjudged the brute's speed. The arrow hissed through the space where the Wargal had been a second before. His hand flew to his quiver for another arrow and he heard a hoarse grunt of pain as Halt's third shot buried itself in the chest of the middle creature. Then Will loosed his second arrow at the surviving Wargal, now terrifyingly close.

Panicked by those savage eyes and yellow fangs, he snatched as he released the arrow and knew it would fly wide.

As the Wargal snarled in triumph, Tug came to his master's aid. The little horse reared and lashed out with his front hooves at the horrific creature in front of him. Unexpectedly, he also danced forward a few steps, toward the threat, rather than retreating. Will, caught by surprise, clung to the pommel of the saddle.

The Wargal was equally surprised. Like all its kind, it had a deep-seated instinctive fear of horses—a fear born at the Battle of Hackham Heath sixteen years ago, where Morgarath's first Wargal army had been decimated by Araluen cavalry. It hesitated now for a fatal second, stepping back before those flashing hooves.

Halt's fourth arrow took it in the throat. At such short range, the arrow tore clean through. With a final grunting shriek, the Wargal fell dead on the grass.

White-faced, Will slid to the ground, his knees nearly giving way beneath him. He clung to Tug's side to stay upright. Halt swung down quickly and moved to the boy's side. His arm went around him.

"It's all right, Will." His deep voice cut through the fear that filled Will's mind. "It's over now."

But Will shook his head, horrified by the rapid train of events.

"Halt, I missed…twice! I panicked and I missed!" He felt a deep sense of shame that he had let his teacher down so badly. Halt's arm tightened around him and he looked up at the bearded face and the dark, deep-set eyes.

"There's a big difference between shooting at a target and shooting at a charging Wargal. A target isn't usually trying to kill you." Halt added the last few words in a more gentle tone. He could see that Will was in shock. And no wonder, he thought grimly.

"But…I missed…"

"And next time you won't. Now you know it's better to fire one good shot than two hurried ones," Halt said firmly. Then he took Will's arm and turned him toward the campsite under the fig tree. "Let's see what we have here," he said, putting an end to the subject.

The black-clad man and the Wargal lay dead beside one another. Halt knelt beside the man and turned him over, whistling softly in surprise.

"Dirk Reacher," he said, half to himself. "He's the last person I would have expected to see here."

"You know him?" Will asked. His insatiable curiosity was already helping him to put the horror of the previous few minutes to one side, as Halt had known it would.

"I chased him out of the kingdom five or six years ago," the Ranger told him. "He was a coward and a murderer. He deserted from the army and found a place with Morgarath." He paused. "Morgarath seems to specialize in recruiting people like him. But what was he doing here…?"

"He said he was on a mission for Morgarath," Will suggested, but Halt shook his head.

"Unlikely. The Wargals were chasing him and only Morgarath could have ordered them to do that, which he'd hardly do if Reacher really was working for him. My guess is that he was deserting again. He'd run out on Morgarath and the Wargals were sent after him."

"Why?" Will asked. "Why desert?"

Halt shrugged. "There's a war coming. People like Dirk try to avoid that sort of unpleasantness."

He reached for the pack that lay by the campfire and began to rummage through it.

"Are you looking for anything in particular?" Will asked. Halt frowned as he grew tired of looking through the pack and dumped its contents onto the ground instead.

"Well, it strikes me that if he were deserting Morgarath and coming back to Araluen, he'd have to bring something to bargain for his freedom. So…" His voice died away as he reached for a carefully folded parchment among the spare clothes and eating utensils. He scanned it quickly. One eyebrow rose slightly. After almost a year with the grizzled Ranger, Will knew that was the equivalent of a shout of astonishment. He also knew that if he interrupted Halt before he had finished reading, his mentor would simply ignore him. He waited until Halt folded the parchment, stood slowly and looked at his apprentice, seeing the question in the boy's eyes.

"Is it important?" Will asked.

"Oh, you could say so," Halt told him. "We appear to have stumbled on Morgarath's battle plans for the coming war. I think we'd better get them back to Redmont."

He whistled softly and Abelard and Tug trotted to where their masters waited.

From the trees several hundred meters away, carefully down-wind so that the Ranger horses would catch no scent of an intruder, unfriendly eyes were upon them. Their owner watched as the two Rangers rode away from the scene of the small battle. Then he turned south, toward the cliffs.

It was time to report to Morgarath. His plan had been successful.

-Page Break-

"Harry, where are you?" The phrase repeated itself over and over in Hermione's mind. At first, she thought he was simply taking his time on his expedition, and that the Runes on the stones were fascinating. But day after day slipped past with not even a whisper of the Boy Who Lived.

He would have at least sent word. So where was he? Hermione jolted wide awake a few weels after Harry had disappeared, realising the significance of what she had been telling herself. RUNES! They weren't just idle magic, they could be extremely powerful and as far as she could tell, not many people bothered the long trek to examine them.

After that realisation, she couldn't maintain the excuse that Harry was taking his time or had gotten lost or anything. Something bad had happened at those Stones and Hermione was going to have to figure out what, and how to get him back, if indeed it was possible.

A few weeks of researching everything she could about the Stones, their location and all about Runes, she had finally found an opportunity to go to the Ministry to place his will onto his file and deal with a few other matters. Before Harry had left, he had handed her his latest will and made her promise to file it if he didn't make it back after a decent amount of time. That would have indicated he had decided to leave directly to travel the world. The fact that the Stones could have done something to him was a possibility neither of them had foreseen, not that that would stop her filing it.

She made her way to the public entrance of the Ministry and went through the processes she needed to get access to the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt. She knew he was a good man. As she entered his office, her heart seemed to drop like a stone however, as her cheeks flared up in rage as she beheld a woman with white curly hair and a poison green robe. "Rita! What in Merlin's name are you doing here in the Ministry?," she demanded, furiously.

Rita smiled a sickening smile and said, "I'm now juggling two positions, Harmony Grange. I am naturally proud of being promoted to Managing Director of the Daily Prophet, but being an Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic is an honour to rival it."

Hermione blanched. What?! How was this even possible? Rita Skeeter as Undersecretary to Kingsley?! Unheard of! Something was fishy here and something was so very wrong! Especially surprising that there was not mountains of outrage by the public at Rita Skeeter taking that role. Something had to be quashing it, but what?

While she struggled to form a complete sentence, Rita smirked at her and said in her sickly, poisonous voice, "I shall go and see if the Minister is prepared to receive you," she said. Hermione calmed herself using all her training in Occlumency and the few other techniques she knew of. The very sight of that woman had sickened her, and her name was NOT Harmony Grange! Even after being taken down once by her own idea that Harry write an article about the truth of the night of Voldemort's return, Skeeter still insisted on screwing with her name. That Skeeter bug would PAY!

As Rita started to walk off though, she seemed to change her mind and walked back to Hermione, saying in a sickly sweet voice, "But I could probably help you without needing to impose on our good Minister's time. What is the nature of your business with him?"

Hermione's eyes started becoming damp once more as she ruthlessly suppressed her fury at this strutting green insect. "It's none of your business," Hermione snapped. "Oh, but it is, and unless you see fit to tell me to the nature of what you're planning on discussing, if not the specifics (as I'd know what he'd say), I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist you leave. I cannot waste our Minister's precious time with every quibbling little problem, especially problems of a woman who's cheated on our dear Harry," she said."I'm going to file Harry's will," she said succinctly, insides simmering with loathing and disgust, wanting to use the Bat Bogey Hex, bowel loosening charm, and Densaugio simultaneously.

Rita leaned back towards her ear and whispered once more, "Then I will kindly ask you to leave, Miss Hermoy Graindee. If that is your only purpose here, you have no business here. Mr. Potter's file is placed under a confidential seal which you do not have the... qualifications to access or modify," she said. Hermione felt dazed at that news, as though she had taken a blow to the head.

"Impossible!," she whispered. Rita shook her head pityingly, which made Hermione's blood boil. "I'm also here to share some confidential information with the Minister which I have recently seen which is concerning news for the wizarding population if not acted upon," she said. Rita's gaze sharpened for a moment. "And what might that be about?," the witch demanded. "It's none of your business, meant only for the ears of the Minister."

"Well, if you won't tell me, I can't get the Minister to take time out of his schedule to make you feel better about your imaginations while he is doing important work for the betterment of all of Wizarding Britain," Skeeter insisted.

"Then the other thing I need is a copy of Harry's files," she demanded, daring Rita to counteract that. She did. Rita shook her head sadly. "Due to this need to know secrecy, I am prohibited from further informing you about the state of Harry's files, regardless of your dubious and... questionable history with him." Hermione was struggling not to level half the Ministry while taking Rita with her at that barbed comment. It felt like it would be almost worth the sacrifice. In her current whirlwind of emotions, she felt like she could easily do such a thing with her magic as roiling as it was.

"Well, thank you so much for wasting my time here today. I'm glad to see the Ministry caring so much about Harry's wishes," she said, managing to mask most of the sarcasm she loaded the statement with. To her loathing, Rita answered the comment. "Oh but we do, Miss Gamer. The privacy of the files of such a famous, iconic figure of our world must be maintained. It's the least we can do to honour our hero. Now, if there's nothing else you need, kindly get out of my office. I have work to do," Rita said, turning her attention completely to her parchments with an offensive, dismissive gesture at Hermione.

After she strode out of there, she stood silently outside the office for a number of minutes, regathering herself and shaking in both rage and sadness that she couldn't comply with Harry's last wish. She swore to herself that she would get to the bottom of this and would eviscerate that snake, Skeeter, personally. She could always get an apprenticeship with a vivisectionist...

In addition to the past meeting, she was furious at Rita for the way she had learned the sorry excuse for a bug had leaked immense amounts of sensitive information to the Death Eaters during the war. Looking back on their time at school, the only ones that seemed to give her interviews were Death Eaters, and they seemed like they did it often. And towards the end of the war, she had discovered that many of the secrets of many non Death Eaters were being leaked to Voldemort and his high ranking sympathisers.

Later on in the war, she and Harry (after Ron was gone) had learned about a LOT of skeletons in her cupboard in her younger years and wanted to take her out, but had too many other pressing responsibilities. As well as the articles she had wrote during their time at Hogwarts. It was personal between them. She had a score to settle which she would soon see settled.

To see her working as Undersecretary for Kingsley and working two cursed jobs (in her opinion - both the Undersecretary position just like Umbridge, and effectively running that rag - ugh) was absolutely appalling. She seemed to relish how Harry had simply vanished into thin air... and was clearly delighting in countering everything Hermione had told her she intended to do. Hermione hadn't missed the slight increase in her attention when she indicated she knew something crucial to the wellbeing of wizardkind.

As Hermione was standing there trying to regain control of herself and prevent the largest bout of accidental magic in history, she saw Dolores Umbridge walk into the room she had just passed. Fortunately, the pink troll hadn't noticed her. That was the second time that day she was nearly compelled to use the killing curse. Wasn't that ugly toadlike excuse for a teacher supposed to be cooling her heels in Azkaban for a few decades after being tried for her many crimes?!

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. She quietly walked up to the door and listened into their interaction, after casing some privacy charms and wriggling behind a statue so if someone came to see them while they were talking, she wouldn't be spotted as easily. "Ah, my dear Rita Skeeter. I thank you for agreeing to meet with me. The records have been modified to show what you requested. Harry Potter's file will be moved to the jurisdiction of the Department of Mysteries very soon. How has our dear Minister been?"

"The Deserving Minster's plans with the Agent are bearing fruit. If all goes well soon, the Puppet Minister is going to lose all control within his own mind. Any time he has even a single thought we disapprove of, the Deserving Minister will be able to change them, or completely possess him more completely than the Imperius. I hope the Collector has those final few ingredients for the ritual soon," replied Skeeter's voice.

Hermione blanched. The implications of what she was hearing were horrendous. Her stomach bottomed out and she felt like she was going to throw up her lunch. With a huge effort of will, she regained control, knowing that even as quiet a sound as a slight cough may give her away.

"I'm so glad we came upon that cunning, hook-nosed freak. He is strange, but does have his uses. It was a good contact he gave us from the Unspeakables to seal Harry's file where no one we don't want will find it. No one can know of our plan... ever. I was surprised to hear you got my old position the ther day, Rita," Umwitch said. "Would you like to hear how I managed that, Dolores?," Rita asked with a smirk clear in her voice.

Deciding that she had heard enough, Hermione very quietly made her way away from the door. She made her way as inconspicously as possible to the lift. Doing her best to shove the discussion she had just heard to the far back of her mind for now, she strode to the Records section of the Ministry, blending into the crowd to the best of her ability.

-Page Break-

Hermione placed a couple of Glamours on herself, modifying her appearance slightly. She got on the lift, which was fortunately empty, and made her way to the Records section of the Ministry. The guard was resting his eyes for a moment as she passed him, and Hermione seized the opportunity to slip quietly past him and into the records room. It was a while before she found Harry's files. Judging by the dust on some of the records around Harry's folder, Harry's was the only one that had been recently viewed or modified.

"I can't let you through, Sir," she heard the guard's voice say in the distance. Hermione froze for a moment, indecisive. She did not want to be seen near Harry's file, or be caught at all. "I have a pass from the Minister's Undersecretary to transfer the files pertaining to one Harry James Potter to a secure location. They have now been made confidential and as such need to be relocated from Public Records," a man's voice replied. She would describe it as silky yet gravelly.

Then, after a moment, the import of his words caught up to her. She swore to herself mentally. This man was probably the Agent Rita had mentioned. She had only moments to act. She whipped out her wand and performed the copy spell she had taught Harry, which she had learned during the war. Her tension increased considerably when she flubbed the pronounciation and had to begin again. She couldn't afford to take long at all on this.

To her relief, the spell copied the entire folder and its contents into her hand. Stuffing it inside her beaded bag the moment it was completed, she lightly ran to a pile of records that needed to be organised nearby. For once, she was extremely glad the Ministry didn't keep this entire room tidy. She carefully ducked behind them, adjusting them slightly so they looked untampered with and provided a very slight gap through which she could see.

The man she had heard strode in confidently, wearing robes of a high ranking ICW wizard. As soon as she saw the hooked nose, it took all her willpower to prevent a gasp slipping out of her mouth. She had briefly considered using the Silencio spell as she hid behind the loose files, but a strong feeling in her gut told her it would end badly.

The man strode directly to Harry's files and murmured to himself, "Goodbye Harry Potter. Say goodbye to your trunk, then once my other tasks are complete, say goodbye to your life. You won't know you needed to say goodbye to your file too." And with that, he strode out of the room, carrying the files that Hermione had just managed to copy in the nick of time.

-Page Break-

Hermione didn't wait around for long after the man left. She modified her appearance with a glamour and a muggle wig and left the room. She peeked fractionally around the corner until she could spot an opportunity to distract the guard. After some minutes, she knew that she had to take a hand, so cast a Confundus spell at him before integrating smoothly into the rest of the crowd.

After some minutes with no pursuit the highly strung tension she was under began to release and she started shaking slightly with the adrenalin moving from her system. Even after the many times it had happened, it still was very unpleasant and shaking couldn't yet be stopped entirely.

As her fear eased, her anger resurfaced and she stormed out of the Ministry. How could that WORM, that evil little cockroach, dare to take Harry's file as he had?! And she was still steaming about Rita and Umbridge. She was venting her feelings in every movement she made. She punched the button on the elevator hard enough to bruise her knuckle. She kicked a few doors open for her to pass through and slammed them as she walked through. Fortunately, by the time she was out of the Ministry, she had some more control.

She thought about what to do next as she strode along. She was determined that she would go after this Agent as soon as she could and stop him at all costs if he would cause any risk to Harry. But she needed to be ready for anything , not knowing where he would go. There was something she could set in motion for her to be fully prepared.

She apparated to Hogwarts and called, "Kreacher!" When the now-loyal old elf arrived, she explained, "I believe you know about the Room of Requirement. I want you to collect and update my library with every book that you can possibly get. Start with any banned, forbidden or otherwise less accessible books, then get books on an assortment of branches of knowledge, muggle as well as magical. Use your magic to ensure you're not at risk. You can ask the room for those books, it should be able to stock any book you ask for. Don't just restrict yourself to British books, get works from other countries if you can, particularly different cultures describing their magic in any areas.

"Now, Harry and I, before Harry disappeared into thin air, had come across two trunks with a lot of space inside and that we can even expand more if necessary. I will leave it with you and would like you to organise it for me and first put away all of those books. everything you find of the slightest use in the room I will show you.

"When the first room is empty, I would like you to fetch the Vanishing cabinet. If you can, fix it in a reasonable time or figure a way it can be fixed. I would like it in my trunk. If you can't get it to work within a few minutes, I would like you to fetch the Gryffindor sword from Minerva's officem the Resurrection Stone from the floor of the Forbidden Forest, and the broken halves of the Elder Wand from under one of the bridges leading into the castle. Then proceed to gather me as much knowledge as you can in the time before we leave to find Harry," she explained.

Kreacher nodded gravely. "Kreacher will do it, Miss Hermione. Kreacher thanks you for looking for Master Black. As Black House Elf, it is my duty to find Master Harry as soon as I am able." And so saying, he looked expectantly at her. Nodding her understanding, Hermione paced three times in front of the wall, explaining how to ask the room for what you want, and asked for the Room of Lost Things.

As she opened the Room, Kreacher got right into his task. "If you have any problems, Kreacher, come and tell me," she said. Kreacher nodded his understanding then exploded into action, doing exactly as she had requested. Hermione smiled and created a path to the Hogs Head Inn in Hogsmeade from the room directly. Aberforth, Dumbledore's brother, had been a good deal more helpful than Albus had, and met her with a warm smile.

"Do you need a drink to keep you warm in this cold weather?," he asked. Hermione smiled and said, "Thank you but no need, Abe. I am on urgent business. Harry is missing, and I need to find out what is going on at the Ministry too," she explained quickly about what she knew of both matters, much to Abe's growing consternation. "I will help with the investigation as best I can. Come by the pub later, and say goodbye before you leave," he said.

Hermione nodded and apparated from inside the tavern to Diagon Alley. The place was still mostly destroyed but many of the wares still remained. Looters and clean up crews had dealt with most of it, but Hermione could still see many products, though many were sadly too damaged to be of use.

However, Diagon Alley was not her focus. Her eyes fixed on the path to Knockturn Alley. She hated to do it but knew it would pay off. If she could prevent the Agent getting those cabinets or any of the people working with him, it would give her much satisfaction and foil their plans for Harry. And if not, she could still use them, leaving one with the Council as she tracked him. She could return to gather supplies, rest, or whatever else she needed.

She disillusioned herself and cast a series of undetectable spells on herself, a chain she and Harry had learned after Ron's demise. It involved a silencing spell, various confusion spells, and when they were particularly keen not to be seen, even the Fidelius, which they had only recently learned to cast at all.

As totally invisible as she could be, minus the Fidelius this time, Hermione made her way down the alley, very aware of her surroundings. She did not want to run into anyone. When she got to Borgin and Burke's, she waited for an opportunity then slipped into the store which had a few customers. She inched her way around, checking her surroundings first to ensure any of the dark items on sale weren't going to expose her as she passed them.

As she made it to the second Vanishing Cabinet, she cast subtle but very strong notice me not charms one upon another before she prepared to take it in a box she had prepared for the purpose of taking larger items, similar to her beaded bag. As she was about to move to do so, two customers entered the shop so she was obliged to wait. She couldn't help overhearing their conversation as she crouched next to the Vanishing Cabinet.

The first talking to Borgin was an old lady, might even have been a hag, and the second was a very capable young man. His eyes were initially welcoming and friendly, but she realised it was a mask when, once he was out of the public eye, his eyes grew cold and wild. He was handsome and looked very comfortable with the variety of weapons she could see about hiim, some of which she didn't recognise. Fortunately, she had enough sense to stay quiet and unmoving.

"I thank you for this," the hag said. "It's such a... shame, that the Minister is so compromised in his security. Once we finish this ritual, dear Borgin, we shall finally have the puppet that can't be detected and Pius can resume his rightful place as Minister of Magic, thanks to Master Assassin here. [A/N in this AU Pius is alive and was merely kicked off his seat as Minister towards the end of the war].

"Make sure you have what the Agent needs. He will not be pleased if you delay him. He wants to take out the Potter brat as soon as possible and the Legendary Artifacts, then...," she said, clearly delighted. At that point, though, the Assassin (as Hermione dubbed him) intervened with a furious glare, which shut the hag up at once. "Your mouth is too big for your own good," he said simply as he killed her within a matter of seconds, in complete silence.

Hermione's heart was hammering inside her chest. It felt like King Kong was trying to break her ribs to escape prison bars. She smiled to herself - what imagery that was, it was her way of coping with situations where she felt in over her head. Ridiculous imagery made her smile and made the stress manageable.

She couldn't believe how efficiently and easily the hag had been taken down. That man was certainly skilled, she couldn't deny. To her horror the man smiled to himself with amusement, suggesting he saw it as nothing but a bit of fun. There was a detached, mischievous and mysterious air about him which thoroughly unnerved her. (A/N for reference, I picture a blend between Robert Carlyle who played Durza in the Eragon movie, and Julian Sands performance in Warlock)

The assassin turned towards Borgin and said, "Next time, we want that Vanishing Cabinet. That old hag had too loose a tongue and let slip important information. If you ever repeat even in your mind what you think you heard, I will come back at the earliest opportunity and torture you to an inch short of death. Very... slowly... then have the Actor take your place. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

Hermione froze as they locked gazes for a time. "Now, you have one week to finish repairing that Vanishing Cabinet," the man said, looking around. She hoped with every fiber of her being that her spells would hold. The Assassin's eyes narrowed and his eyes bored into where the cabinet was concealed. Hermione swore violently in her head, then abruptly cut it off as she realised that would make her mind more noticeable to anyone highly trained in the arts.

Straining her mental resources and imagery to remain calm and partially conceal her mind, she stayed unmoving, barely breathing, for the tense seconds that passed. "Next time, do not hide it from my view, Borgin. I can see through magic somewhat as you are aware, so it is arrogant for you to think of hiding it from me. I am glad you got that Physics of Magic book. But by the time I return next week, I will want to see your copy burn. I will not have others knowing about its existence. Now, the Agent will be here soon. You know what to do. Your days are already numbered, I warn you not to move up the timeline," the Assassin said, threateningly.

Borgin nearly fainted in fright. The Assassin curled his lip and stalked out, not making a sound. Hermione realised that she couldn't leave yet, she had to wait. At least until this Agent made his appearance. Everything she was learning was deeply troubling and boded ill for all of them, especially Harry.

Waiting in the dark (as the sun had now set), Hermione shivered slightly and kept herself focused on searching for the Agent and other matters - anything but what had happened so far this day. She knew she was in real danger of releasing accidental magic when she focused on what she knew. She needed to be somewhere very safe before she considered that information properly. She would be calling an emergency council of war at the soonest opportunity, but first to survive and get out of this place to somewhere safe.

Borgin was only now recovering enough from his fright to take interest in his surroundings once more as he looked impatiently out of his windows for the Agent. It was some ten minutes since the Assassin had left. Hermione remembered she had a way to expedite matters once she could escape from here. She had the fragment of mirror from Abe and kept it with her, in case he needed it. She withdrew it as silently though as quickly as she could do safely. "Abe, urgent council of war. Please call them. Be there soon," she whispered as silently as possible. She repeated it a few times until she saw a thumbs up in the mirror and smiled to herself.

Before she could return her attention to Borgin's watching at the windows, she realised a man with a sharp, hooked nose and cruel twisting mouth, and unevenly spaced and multi-coloured eyes (one more blue and one more green - overall a very memorable face) silently descending from the ceiling.

She recognised him from the ministry and her blood froze in her veins. He silently undid the restraints keeping him secured to the rope. Then he crept up, unnoticed, and fetched the considerable sized box set aside with For the Agent inscribed on it, which confirmed her suspicions of his identity. He returned to his rope and secured both the box and himself before speaking loudly.

"Thank you for your contribution Mister Borgin." Borgin spun around and dropped into a dead faint in fright at the sight of the man. "You have gone well beyond even illegal with your contributions. I sincerely hope the aurors don't get to you too soon," the Agent shouted at the top of his voice. Softening his tone for just Borgin to hear, he added, "Heaven forbid if the Assassin is let down in my absence. Bon voyage," and so saying, he left a fainted Borgin on the floor of the shop while he escaped through the ceiling with his prize.

Hermione realised that the loud shouting was to attract attention here. It was high time she was away before they arrived. She hastily scanned the shelves and found a few useful items, which she quickly checked for curses or traps and then put into her beaded bag to sort through later. As she was about to leave, she saw a book with the letters -ICS visible in one of Borgin's drawers.

She quickly made her way to it and to her amazement, it was the very book the Assassin had mentioned - the Physics of Magic. She snatched it up as quickly as she could and heard people entering the shop. With no time to get back to the cabinet, she slid her body underneath the counter and hastily pulled a crystal ball nearby in front of her face.

It was another patron to the shop but the man was surprised to see Borgin on the floor unconscious. So he 'appropriated' a few things he liked the look of. To Hermione's horror, he approached the bench where Hermione was hiding. She wriggled backwards as best she could and kept her face pressed into the ground. She fingered her wand and mentally prepared herself to fight if the situation made it necessary. There was no way she was going to miss this council of war. She had vital information and needed to get it back there to more people who could help her.

She practically held her breath and after grabbing something on the top of the bench, to her surprise, he bent down. She froze, even staring straight ahead without moving her eyes or blinking. It was as much a fear response as a planned one. With a sudden instinct guiding her, she placed her face flat to the ground, leaving the top of her head facing where the man would look. To her astonishment, he picked up the crystal ball and quickly stood up again. Her heart was hammering and she once again had to tamp down on her occlumency to avoid accidental magic giving away her presence.

Finally, the man left. She wriggled back out and, as she heard another group about the right size for an Auror patrol (6 people), dashed as silently as she could across to the Vanishing Cabinet, placing it in the box hastily, though slowly enough that she didn't make a stupid mistake or place it incorrectly, and apparated away silently in the blink of an eye.

She knew if they were Aurors, as she suspected, they would likely follow her trail so she followed a regime Ron had devised for hiding an apparation trail. Dizzy after her fifth apparition, she sat on a rock near the river and tried to get some control over her thoughts.

What on Earth had she just seen?! She couldn't think clearly right now. She now had to confront these memories and finish her preparations to take this Agent out. With that in mind, it was time to attend the meeting. With a final deep breath, she apparated with a quiet crack.

A/N This chapter has been considerably updated with new information as of 25/11/2022. If you have read it before this date I would recommend re-reading this chapter.