A/N: Next chapter is up! Updates are forthcoming!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
The next day, they met up with a delegation of Bulgarian and Russian wizards. The Russian muggle army was planning a siege of Berlin. Unfortunately, the real threat did not lie in the city, but below it. Grindelwald and his knights of Walpurgis had miles of bunkers stretched underground, completely protected from clumsy muggle explosives. The problem was this: the tunnels were unplottable. The British and Bulgarian ministries had been working for nearly six months to uncover a way into the tunnels and discover their layout. But to no avail. The only way in now was for an informant to help them.
Knowing Grindelwald, the bunker was a rallying point for the vast remainder of his followers. The upper echelons could house their families. Some wizard was bound to help in exchange for amnesty and a way to flee the city. The cooperating ministries had placed anti-apparation shields over the majority of the city and put wizard families on lists of evacuees to detain.
Albus had not approved, but Minister Xanos claimed this was the fastest way to end the way and prevent further bloodshed. In addition, with the convening of Russian, Bulgarian, and British forces, bands of fighters were now actively capturing wizarding families in Berlin.
However, when her order came, Minerva was given a different assignment. Because of her recently registered animagus abilities, she was given a more dangerous, challenging assignment. Minerva was to hunt out Knights of Walpurgis hidden among the staff of the Reichstag. She was to memorize a list of 50 faces and prowl the key Nazi buildings in feline form. If she found one she was either to attempt capture or place an unbreakable tracing spell on them. As soon as Albus heard, he attempted to insist he be assigned to the same duty. But Minerva convinced him that would call far too much attention to their relationship. Meanwhile the McGonagall clan had a very curt discussion about their last wishes, which were sealed and locked in a safe box. From there, the danger was not broached again. The McGonagall line was fierce and brave. They were practical, but not ones to dwell on danger. Even so, Albus' heart only left his throat for the few precious hours he held Minerva in his arms.
This dredging of Berlin went on through the third week of April. Albus had a few Russian and Bulgarian friends among the wizarding camp. He and the McGonagalls spent many of their evenings fraternizing with their starved, tattered, tired Eastern brethren. Apollo brought home three from his squad, a broad, wise wizard named Pavol Dolohov; a spry, middle-aged Russian named Erasmus Najinski who had a passion for dancing; and a fearless, exceptionally witty Ekaterina Maximova. Juno befriended a young, newly wedded witch named Illyana Karkarov. The McGonagall sitting room, makeshift though it was was never short of company.
And so the nights banished the thought of the morbid days. Until, at the end of the third week in April, Minerva did not return to Headquarters in the evening. Albus stayed up all through the night combing the city. The Russians did not find her among the muggle prisoners. On the second day, a search party whet out, and Albus began to panic in earnest. There was still no sign of her.
The third day, Albus was poised to storm the Reichstag himself, but as he approached the Headquarters office, he could sense a change in the camp's energy: They had finally broken into Grindelwald's defense. They would go in as soon as they could coordinate with their colleagues.
A/N: I promise, I will NOT leave you hanging. Updates are on the way! Do let me know if you're still interested…