A/N: In response to a couple of reviews, there is a reason that I did not have Sirius commenting during the discussion of Hermione's past. Remember, he was suffering from major Amnesia until recently, and everything seems to be coming back slowly. That's rather important for the story.
The Minister of Magic jumped when his brother-in-law stepped through his fireplace. It wasn't every day that Harry came into his office, much less without warning him first. From that, Percy Weasley surmised that something was going on. His suspicion was confirmed when Ginny appeared after Harry.
Harry smiled grimly at Percy and shook his hand. It had been surprising when Percy was elected Minister of Magic five years ago, after Kingsley Shacklebolt decided to retire. Harry was glad that Percy got elected – he was one of the few people he'd trust to run the Ministry fairly.
"Harry, I'm glad to see you. And here, of all places!" Percy commented, hoping that his questions would be answered without him asking them. It was a lucky thing that Percy had to work a little late that night. It was nearing seven, and most of his staff had floo-d home already. Any normal night he was back home at six.
Ginny was glaring at Harry as she walked up to her husband. Percy rose his eyebrow at his sister, wondering what had got her knickers in a twist. Harry, he guessed, had left without her permission. She must have been in the room at the same time to hear the Floo address. What would cause Harry to do that? Percy wondered.
Harry looked at his wife and sighed. "It's a long story, and it may seem crazy, but I have to say something. I can't let this go." Ginny's expression softened. So maybe Ginny does know what this is all about. Harry looked back at Percy. "I need a favor."
Percy nodded. He had suspected that. Harry never set foot in the Ministry, much as Percy had tried to get him to join the Auror's Office. Harry didn't want to work in the Auror's department; he said he'd seen enough battles to last a lifetime. The combined fortunes of the Potter and Black families, Percy surmised, were probably enough to support twenty fully grown wizards who didn't work. Merlin only knew why Harry lived in Grimmauld Place when the Potters had a family mansion as well. It was a mystery neither half of the Potter couple would talk about. "What can I do for you?"
"I need to know where Hermione is." Harry answered.
Now Percy's eyebrows shot up together. "I don't know what you expected, Harry, but I don't have any more idea where she went than you did."
Harry laughed. "Percy, do you really think she could have gotten settled in the Muggle world without going through the Ministry? Even if she did, do you really think that the Ministry, after the war at least, would have let her go without sending someone to follow her?"
"Harry!" Ginny admonished, shocked at her husband's rudeness. "I'm sorry, Percy, he's had a bit of surprise this morning."
Percy looked back and forth between the two, before finally resting his eyes on Harry. "Harry, I honestly have no idea where she is. If there are investigators following her, they were sent long before my time, and they were ordered to keep quiet about it when I got elected. Why the sudden interest in finding her? Does it have something to do with your 'surprise' this morning?"
Harry glanced at Ginny, then back at Percy. He knew he could trust Percy with this; if anything else, Percy knew he wasn't a nutter. "Sirius Black is alive. I need Hermione's help to find him."
~~~~~~~~~Lorena, the same time~~~~~~~~~~
Maggie and Marcus had taken Rodney to Merlin's Library at Brooklan castle, to search for anything that could help in the war effort. Now, four hours later, John, Rodney, Teyla, Kleit, Sirius, and Hermione had finished testing the effect of spells against different weapons.
The six had split up into pairs; Ronon with Hermione, Teyla with Kleit, John with Sirius. The Lanteans would take turns with the wizards (and witch) in shooting off attacks. Just as those with magic assumed, the projectile weapons weren't able to burst through their shields. The three had explained that it was a rule of magic, something that couldn't change no matter how strong the projectiles were.
Hermione hadn't been surprised when John had asked them to cast the Unforgivables (except the Killing curse) on his team. She knew he'd want them to be prepared for the upcoming battle. Luckily, she had the ready excuse any decent witch or wizard did when they were presented with such a proposition: the Unforgivables required a certain amount of hatred towards the victim. Since none of the Lorenians were particularly miffed with the Lanteans, it was an impossible endeavor. She agreed to show them the effects of normal battle spells instead.
Ronon's energy weapon had been a bit more interesting than the Lanteans' projectile weapons. It seemed the shields broke at a short-range distance; say around 10-15 feet or so. Any further than that, though, the shield was able to absorb the energy shot out of his weapon. The findings had those with magic scratching their heads in confusion. All three explained that, normally, energy weapons fired at any distance would be blocked by the shields. The fact that there was a range in which Ronon's weapon worked was surprising.
"Does anyone else have your weapon, Ronon?" Kleit questioned after the experiment was done. The Lanteans glanced at each other worriedly, knowing what Ronon's reaction would be.
Ronon stiffened, tensing up his muscles as he shoved his gun back in its holster. "No." He responded gruffly.
"Where was it made?" Kleit asked, not catching Ronon's tenseness.
"My homeworld." Ronon replied curtly. He hoped the idiot wouldn't pry any further.
Sirius laid a hand on his subordinate, glancing apologetically to Ronon. He knew Kleit had a hard time seeing when others were uncomfortable. "Patientia, Kleit. Now is not the time." He spoke using the Ancient Tongue, a language he'd had to learn in the first two years of his sojourn on Lorena.
Hermione looked at him quizzically from where she'd been watching Ronon with concern. She hadn't known that Sirius knew Latin, and voiced the comment.
Sirius was confused. "Latin? I was speaking the Ancient Tongue. That's where my Lorenian name comes from; it means 'determined'." Sirius shrugged. "I had to learn it when I first arrived here. Most Bernians use it as a code during battle. My team has never felt comfortable with that, so we never did develop the habit."
Hermione's eyebrows rose in surprise, shaking her head slightly with a smile. "And you used to tease me about being a know-it-all."
Sirius grimaced, remembering now that she spoke the truth. "I hadn't remembered that until now."
"Why do you think you lost your memories when you came here?" John asked him.
Sirius shrugged again. "I don't know, honestly. I don't even know how I got here."
"It's obvious isn't it?" Hermione asked. "You Ascended on Earth, then Descended here."
"Ascended?" Kleit questioned, brow furrowed. The Lanteans were all nodding, understanding what the young witch was getting at, but Kleit and Sirius were confused.
"The Ancients (that's what we call Merlin's race) were so advanced that they evolved to a higher plane of existence, where they all exist as immortally as energy." Hermione explained. "The process is known as Ascension, and it's possible if you have an Ancient helping you."
"So you think I Ascended?" Sirius asked.
"Yes. It fits." Hermione agreed.
"How so?" Kleit posed.
"When someone Descends, they are typically left without their memories, or any form of clothing." Hermione looked at Sirius. "That is how Marcus found you, isn't it?"
Sirius nodded. "But why would I Descend? I would've done more good as energy, wouldn't I? There has to be some sort of power that comes with that form of existence."
Rodney laughed. "Yeah, there are. The Ancients don't feel it's their place to interfere with mortal affairs."
"You're kicked out if you do." John put in.
"Somehow I don't see you agreeing to that philosophy." Hermione added.
Sirius, however, had stopped listening. He was too lost in a memory to notice anyone around him…
~~~~Brooklan Castle, Merlin's Library~~~~
Marcus sighed, pausing from his notetaking. He was sitting next to Maggie in one of the private studies reserved for research in Merlin's Library. The study was a small room, with a single table about eight feet long and five feet wide. Four torches hung in the corners of the room, enveloping the study in their light. The door was hidden by a bookcase, so neither of them expected any interruptions.
They'd left Rodney on the second floor, using his own private study. Marcus didn't know what the scientist expected to find up there. Most of the books on the second floor were untranslatable, written in a language that had been lost to Lorenians for centuries. Other books were written half in the Ancient Tongue and half in the mysterious language, using terms no one on Lorena understood completely. That was why the Bookkeepers called this floor the "Hidden Floor": the substance within the books themselves or their origin itself was still a giant question mark. Their Bookkeeper had shown Rodney the second floor when they'd Floo-d in. The scientist had taken a book from the shelf, one written in the mystery language, and requested a chance to go through the books on Hidden Floor even before seeing the books on Open Floor. Though curious as to what he had found, Marcus granted him permission and told him to find the Bookkeeper when he was ready.
Maggie had spent the last four hours searching their records of Merlin's history, hoping to find anything that could help them in their current situation. So far, she'd found a lot of information that was interesting, but nothing that pointed to how the Wraith could be defeated, or where the Achnids had first come from. Legend stated that Morgan LeFay had trained the Achnids on their homeworld when she found her rival training the Lorenians, but no records provided facts for the age-old theory. It was her hope to find something, anything, about a weakness in either the Achnids or the Wraith.
Marcus was hoping, in contrast, to develop a new tactic that could help them defeat their enemies. He knew Merlin's Library contained records of how to combine magic and technology, though none of the Lorenians ever had had a use for them. Maybe, in these books, there would be some way to create a powerful weapon to help them defeat their enemies.
So far he'd found records on building spaceships in a way that merged technology and magic. These records contained instructions on building an engine using energy from a Patronus charm to help generate its power. It was an interesting concept, considering that the Patronus charm was one of the most powerful forms of magic the common wizard could control. In its raw form, the Patronus was pure energy, more than enough – he suspected – to run an engine.
The door to the room, sliding to the side as the bookcase blocking it moved out of the way. The Bookkeeper walked in, Rodney following closely behind him. "RodneyMcKay has answered many of our mysteries," the Bookkeeper said.
Marcus raised his eyebrow. "Really?"
Rodney nodded. "The Mystery Language is actually Ancient."
Marcus shook his head. "No it is not the Ancient Tongue, not all of it."
Rodney looked confused for a second, and then realized Marcus must be referring to the Latin he'd discovered in some of the newer tomes. "Are you referring to the Latin I found?" He said, showing the Lorenian a phrase of Latin in one of the books he had with him.
Marcus nodded. "Yes, that's the Ancient Tongue. I do not know this 'Latin' you speak of."
"It's what we call it on Earth." Rodney explained. "I'm saying that the Mystery Language is the language of the Ancients; or the Ancestors, as you call them."
Marcus stared at him. "You speak this language?"
"Yeah, I do." Rodney replied. It's very similar to Latin in the spoken version, and we've been able to crack the written version ourselves, thanks to our head linguist." He opened the book. "But that's not the point." He showed Marcus a picture of what looked like a large snowflake-shaped spaceship. "This is."
"What is that?" Marcus questioned.
Rodney smiled. "It's Atlantis. Or, more specifically, one of five Ancient cities spread across the galaxy." He picked up another book, opened it to a second picture, and showed it to Marcus. "And this." Rodney seemed excited as he spoke. "This is a ZedPM. It powers Ancient technology."
Marcus looked at Rodney, watching the scientist's excited expressions in slight confusion. "I'm not sure I entirely understand what you're trying to tell me."
"These tomes tell us where to find the five Ancient cities, and what machines in these cities build ZedPMs." Rodney explained. "At full power, Atlantis would be a force to reckon with. With four other cities, we would have a serious advantage over our enemies."
Marcus nodded, finally joining Rodney in the excitement the young scientist displayed. "I think we should return to my office."
"Very well, sir." The Bookkeeper intoned, cutting into their conversation. "I will lead you all back to the front desk, where you may check out your selections."
"Thank you, Bookkeeper." Maggie replied, following the Bookkeeper out of the room, Rodney and Marcus close on her heels.
~~~~~ Earth, the same time~~~~
It was now nearing eleven, much to Percy's displeasure. He still hadn't found anything about Hermione and where she had been placed, despite knowing for a fact that there was a Magical Protection Program for those involved with life-threatening situations. He had to lie to Harry and Ginny, which he didn't like doing, but he couldn't have told them about the MPP, since it required a certain amount of secrecy to operate. He didn't think he'd have an issue with Harry and Ginny blowing the program, but if Hermione really was in MPP, and she didn't want to be found, then he needed to find her first before letting Harry have a go at it.
Percy had had to go to Grimmauld Place before he finally admitted that Sirius Black was still alive. Much to Harry's chagrin, he ended up agreeing with his sister when it came to doing anything about it. Percy started by going to the Department of Mysteries himself and asking the Head of the Department, an ex-Ravenclaw by the name of Torrence Allen, about the Veil that Sirius fell through. He had been sworn to secrecy before he got his answers.
"We don't entirely know what the Veil does." Allen started, "But we suspect it's some sort of transportation device. Where it goes, and when it goes, are still a mystery."
Which was why it was in the Department of Mysteries to begin with.
Percy put the Head of the Auror Department, Seamus Finnigan, on the case of Sirius's disappearance. He told Seamus ahead of time that he didn't really expect the Auror to find anything, but it was worth it to look. He also told them that there was no need to go to the Department of Mysteries, since he'd already discounted that possibility himself.
By now, he was ready to call it a night, and get back on these problems in the morning. It really wasn't feasible to believe that he'd find anything. There was something about this case, though, that had Percy's brain wheeling in a way that he knew it would be impossible for him to sleep that night unless he did find something.
No wonder the Sorting Hat considered placing me in Ravenclaw, Percy thought bitterly.
He was now down in the Archives, a section of the Ministry that was only known to the Ministers themselves. Here was stored all of the old files from every term any Minister ever served. The Archives were below the Department of Mysteries, and only accessable by a button on the elevator hidden from anyone who wasn't the current Minister. An ancient ghost – the ghost of Henry McDonald, the first Minister of Magic – haunted the rows of boxes of age-old files. McDonald was there to serve the current Minister, whomever he or she may be.
Percy was sitting at the lone desk in the long room, which was laid out much like the Prophecy Room in the Department of Mysteries. He silently thanked Merlin for McDonald; it would have been impossible to go through all of these files on his own. "Henry," Percy called.
The ghost appeared by his side, with a bright, "Ah, hello Percy, how may I serve you this time?" It only sounded a wee bit sarcastic.
"I need any files you can find from my predecessor on a witch by the name of Hermione Granger." Percy commented.
The ghost raised his eyebrows. "Not going behind the back of your illustrious bride, are we?"
Percy snorted. Obviously the ghost had read his own file, in which Penelope was mentioned. "No, nothing like that. Just a missing person's case Harry Potter has asked me to solve."
"Oho! A favor, then. You're the first Mister in years whose asked to help a friend. Right-o, my boy, I'll get on it in a snap."
Percy shook his head, reminded too much just then of a certain Defense professor that had been far too enthralled with himself.
Absentmindedly, Percy remembered his first encounter with the peppy ghost.
Percy walked into the Archives on his first day in office, not knowing exactly what the were, since he'd never seen the button in the elevator before.
Suddenly, as soon as he sat down in the chair at the lone desk in front of the elevator, a ghost appeared by his side. "So you're the new Minister! A pleasure to meet you, young one."
Percy, so shocked by the whole situation, had just sat there, jaw hanging open.
The ghost's face fell. "So you weren't told about me, were you? Of course not. I never actually met your predecessor, so you'd have no way of knowing." The ghost heaved a sigh. "I am Henry McDonald."
"Th-the first Minister?" Percy asked excitedly. "Are you really?"
The ghost beamed. "Yes, glad to se someone who knows who I am for once. Just who, exactly, do you have teaching History of Magic at that school of yours?"
"A dreary ghost by the name of Professor Binns." Percy commented.
"Oh, yes, now I remember. No one speaks well of him." Henry nodded. "Now, I bet you're wondering what in Merlin's name this place is."
"Yes, I am. I've worked in the Ministry for years and I've never seen that odd button before today."
"Well, my boy, you are in the Ministry's Archives. It's a section devoted entirely to organizing the old files from my term onwards."
Percy grinned madly. What a find! "And I'm supposed to pass the information onto my replacement, when they're elected?"
"Yes. I'm not entirely sure why you never got the information. You are next in line after Rufus Scrimageur, aren't you?"
Percy shook his head. "I think I know why. Scrimageur probably never told his replacement, since that one was put in place by You-Know-Who."
"Who?" The ghost asked.
Percy grinned as he remembered his shock at the ghost's lack of knowledge about current affairs. By the time he had left the Archives, the rest of the Ministry was up in arms. He'd had a hard time explaining his disappearance. From then on, Percy made sure to visit the Archives only at night, when no one would miss him.
McDonald floated back to the desk, his hands clutched around a set of folders. Yes! Some luck at last! "Here you are, my boy."
"Thank you, Henry." Percy replied, wondering again exactly how McDonald was able to hold solid objects. Alas, like the other times he'd been down here, he hadn't the time to ask the ancient ghost about that. Instead, he opened up the files and began reading.
There was Hermione's picture in the corner, staring blankly back at him. Percy shuddered, reminded about how Hermione was after Ron's death. He flicked the photo behind the rest of the papers, not too keen on thinking on that subject.
He saw her birthday, records of her parents, when she started school, what house she was in… ah! Here was what he was looking for.
Current status: MPP
Reason for placement in MPP: depression, possible danger from rogue Death Eaters
MPP file number: 713
Percy looked up, searching through the stacks of files on his desk. There. He had found Hermione's MPP file.
Name: Hermione Granger MPP Persona: Dr. Madeline Marshall
Placement: British Embassy, USA Occupation: British diplomat, to USA
Agent in charge: Hannah Abbot-Longbottom Current location: Unknown
So Percy had to go see Miss Abbot.-Longbottom. He'd do that in the morning. As it was, it was time to go to bed.
"Thank you, Henry. You have, again, been most helpful in this matter." Percy said to the ghost.
"Anytime, Percy, anytime." Henry replied, waving as the young Minister entered the elevator and left the Archives. "Fine young lad; just what I'd like in a Minister myself."
A/N: I know, I know… nothing really happened in this chapter, but it needed to be written, otherwise other things later on might be all screwy.