A/N: Another quick small update. Another tonight?
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Three Days Ago
Minerva had found her third Wizard among the Nazi staff. The previous two had had protective spells to prevent tracking jinxes. However, Minerva, after a few hours of observing this particular wizard, believed him to be neither important nor powerful enough to have such a spell on himself. But it was still worth an effort to cast the jinx.
Minerva was just in the act of transfiguring back into a human to place a curse on him when everything went dark. As soon as her eyes adjusted, she realized that she was under a large basket. Clearly she had been discovered. But now the question was either to go quietly and sneak out later, or fight and attempt escape. Instantly, Minerva knew she had better odds of getting away now. Seconds after the basket landed, Minerva shot up into human form and began throwing spells. She now saw, however, that there were four wizards backing up the one who had put a basket over her. This would not be an easy fight. She began to work her way backwards, but was quickly surrounded. Spell after spell left her wand and found a target, but the commotion had alerted a muggle guard, who seemed oddly unperturbed by the use of magic. Minerva saw him raise the butt of his gun. Just before the rifle butt hit her temple, she cast a subtle tracing charm on herself.
*!*!*!*
The Mcgonagal's sitting room had emptied painfully slowly on the night Minerva did not return. After a few hours, Albus began pacing.
"Sit down, lad!" snapped Juno, stretched to her limit. "You're not the only one who is worried about her."
"I'm sorry, Juno. I'm starting to worry deeply for her safety. I'm also infuriated by the lack of action from the head aurors." Albus sighed, "And all this time, I was preparing Minerva to lose me. I never thought I could lose her. I cannot live without her! I should never have asked to have her on this mission."
"Ha," Apollo laughed, half-heartedly, "As if even you could keep her away from a good fight. No, my boy, Minerva would have ended up on that mission whether you built a wall with dragon guards around this place. She never shies from danger."
"I can't stop myself thinking… if she's captured, what will they do to her?" He growled, "If Grindelwald knew who she was…"
"If they know who she is, they will realize she's a pure-blood witch. I'm told the sick monsters in that place have a deep reverence for that. IF, and I still mean IF she is captured, I am hoping that they will be easier on her, perhaps not rough her up too badly." He began to falter. Juno stood from her chair, and came to embrace his strong frame as he poured over a map of Berlin. A few sparks shot from Albus' hands without his permission.
"If he has touched her, if he has harmed her in any way, there will be no mercy," The older couple gazed at him in slightly worried awe. Neptune began nervously feeling for his wand in his robe pocket. The room seemed to carry a gravitational pull swirling around the now irate wizard. "He knows this is between us, and has nothing to do with her." Confusion now mingled with worry in the faces of the Mcgonagall family.
"Albus Dumbledore, whatever do you mean?" Whispered Apollo, a dark look of suspicion creeping onto his face. And then Albus Dumbledore opened the floodgates, with a powerful wrath told the rest of Minerva's family to bloody story of his and Grindelwald's shared past.
*!*!*!*
She was very deep underground. This was the first thing to register as Minerva woke for the second time in her cell. The guards who had beat her senseless on her first return to consciousness had left, and Minerva could finally appreciate the unusual silence. For the first time in a month, the sound of heaving bombing was absent. Being buried at this depth would make escape more challenging.
Of course, she was wandless as well. Minerva could perform a few spells wandlessly, but only with great difficulty, and a level of concentration that was not easily accessible when her body had just been beaten to a fine pulp. She made her most valiant attempt at a wandless Alohamora only to be rewarded with a faint, rusty clicking, but the lock mechanism remained closed. Her options of escape currently limited, Minerva automatically switched to surveying the area for important details she could pass on in the event of her escape. She was in a series of cells set off an expansive middle cavern. She could see in the middle several devices for torture, many of which she had seen in her training, and a few with which she was not familiar. It looked as though there were roughly a dozen cells, but only four others were locked. Continuing her survey, she saw two sets of double doors off the chamber, each guarded by a single guard. Light came from dreary orbs floating above the chamber. Minerva was not familiar with the spell to create them, so creating darkness as a diversion would not be a safe option. The cell doors were only made of wood, with windows cut in the top. The locks holding them were not incredibly complicated. Clearly, these wizards were not too worried about people leaving their cells. There must be other protections on the holding area.
Suddenly, a wild thought floated to the top of Minerva's mind. She could try to contact Albus through the legilimency link they established. She tried to reach out her mind, slowly sinking into a quiet, emotionless state. For one grasping moment, she thought she had brushed his mind, bumped into his consciousness, but she could not be sure. Something was there, but the throbbing of her injuries prevented deeper focus.
Minerva was stopped in her deductions at this point, as four guards came towards the cell. She heard whimpers from the occupied cells. The door opened and she was dragged out before she had a chance to stand.
And then Minerva felt pain as she had never experienced it before.
*!*!*!*
It was the second night since Minerva's capture. He was restlessly pouring over maps for the hundredth time. They refused to yield any new information. He had been over every corner of the city, and nothing gave him any clues.
Just as he was about to roll up the parchment and attempt sleep in his piteously empty bed, he felt a small whisper in the back of his mind. He reached for it, dove as if for a life line. But it was gone. This frustration was enough.
Seeing the dawn on the horizon, Albus stormed over to the entrance to auror command.
"Minerva Mcgonagall…" He stopped, every important auror was gathered around a table staring at an unrolled map. A small green blip was flashing on the map, very faint.
"It's coming in as a spell cast by Mcgonagal," Percifal Prewitt whispered to the intruding wizard. "Do you think it might be…?"
Albus gazed at the map, holding his breath as he studied the location. They had their way in.
A/N: Not quite as short as I planned. There still might be an update tonight again. We'll see.