#ifndef HJP_RIGHTS

#define HJP_RIGHTS

#include "DISCLAIMER_HJP_NOT_MINE.h"

#endif

A/N: Some knowledge sharing. The above is preprocessor code in the C language.

Also, little acronym help:

DoT - Department of Transportation

DoM - Department of Mysteries

HoP - Hall of Prophecies

UD - Unspeakables Department

Chapter 2: Three levels

"You'd make my day a helluva a lot better if you got something for me," said a weary Amelia Bones.

An equally weary, if not more so, Alec Tompson finished his spell work with a grumble. "Where do I start? They got in by the Floo Network, but how they moved through the departments so easily is still a mystery." Alec hesitated, looking both ways down the corridor that led to the Hall of Prophecies and motioned for Amelia to come closer. "And there's far more to it than that. It's just what I've uncovered is something I almost wish I hadn't."

Amelia's lips drew into a thin line, "With me then. Seems there's a meeting I'm running late for and your presence would be beneficial."

Her message had been clear: 'follow me so we can chat about this behind closed and heavily warded doors.' The deep frown on Alec's face was only visible for a moment before they started towards Amelia's office. As they went, a dozen or so Ministry employees passed them with smiles and gave greetings of 'hello' or 'good-day.'

Amelia was well known because of her disposition and no-nonsense attitude. Alec shared a similar rapport amongst his fellow co workers since their attitudes were strikingly similar. Many speculated that was why the pair of them got along so well, as it was semi-odd the head of a branch in the Ministry would be so 'buddy-buddy' with one of the underlings but then again, everyone wasn't Amelia Bones. Alec snorted to himself, 'If only they knew the half of it but then again, better off they didn't.'

Alec wasn't exactly a pushover either and he credited his way of life to his parents and family, a line extending almost as far back as some of the Ancient houses. The difference between his line and many others was the Tompsons purposely stayed away from the political side of government unless they had no choice but to engage it. Interestingly, that was enough reason to keep them from being allowed to register as an Ancient and Noble house.

Regardless, Alec couldn't have cared less for the 'bumbling and egotistical bastards who controlled the pigsty of a circus' which he often called them. What Alec did care for was the education of wizards and witches, a concern many past 'Heads' of his house also shared. As a result, nearly every generation of the Tompson family was involved with the Board of Governors or the Trustee Association of Hogwarts. Alec was also quite aware lofty goals were all well and good, but it was the Galleon that achieved tangible results in conjunction with having the proper connections.

To make sure those influences would be in place, he made a career of being an Auror and a bloody good one at that. In addition, he served in some capacity on the Board and to a few other things which mattered most to him. So far, the hard work and dedication seemed to be paying off, despite the many setbacks he encountered along the way.

No one noticed a twinge of regret settle in his eyes as he looked at Amelia from behind. Realizing his folly, he shook his head clear and focused on the present. Past woes would one day be set right, but the last few weeks coalescing into the nightmare of today, wouldn't be solved so easily.

Once Amelia and Alec were both in her office she twirled her wand around and several privacy wards sprang up into place.

"Alright Alec, out with it. What's going on?"

Amelia sat down and Alec took his usual chair just off to the side in front of her desk. They often chatted on their down time about various things. Both were often in agreement on how many of the department heads were 'bumbling and egotistical bastards' or BEBs as they had jokingly labeled them. They had even talked at length about BEBs in front of some who Alec and Amelia believed were at the top of the member list. There was a certain thrill and humor to be enjoyed when you could insult someone to their face and they had no idea you were doing so.

'Ah, the wonder of inside jokes.' The memory of a rather hilarious conversation from the past got Alec chuckling before he could stop himself. It wasn't too difficult to reign it in this time, seeing he had a slightly perturbed boss in front of him. "My apologies, Amelia, the mind is beginning to show its fatigue."

Her face softened in understanding and she motioned for him to speak. Alec sighed and crossed his arms, "So the facts. We know, or rather, I know someone broke in last night at around eight o'clock. Someone who had the knowhow and the power to break the various locking charms on the communal floo in the DoT which was the entry point into the Ministry."

Amelia nodded, confirming what she already knew.

"Things get dicey right after the break in as there are signs of a struggle, likely some other party followed them in, but whoever it was the two forces didn't seem to get along. The damage done was moderate, conclusive to a low or mid-level duel and several Unforgivables were cast, all Cruciatus and no AKs fortunately. That's about all I was able to glean from the residual magic in the area."

Again, Amelia nodded and Alec took the time to take a deep breath and steeple his hands.

"After the skirmish ended, the winners strode, not blasted, not fought, not even batted an eyelash and descended three levels to the DoM. Three bloody levels Amelia! Guarded by random spells increasing in severity the deeper you go and whose castors are randomly selected, daily, from the entire list of Ministry employees ranging from the bloody grounds keeper to the Minister himself."

Alec had stood up by this point and was pacing back and forth.

"This is beyond unprecedented, in fact, it should be bloody well impossible. I counted no fewer than forty different defense spells per level and they got past all that?"

The Auror stopped pacing and sat back down in a huff. He was agitated, tired and right pissed off someone could waltz in without a care in the world. Whoever it was could have been blindfolded and still not had a scratch.

Amelia let her friend stew a bit and calm down before she sighed aloud, effectively getting his attention. "Do you know what was taken?"

He shook his head, "No. You caught me just as I was finishing up before heading into the HoP. What I do know is the attackers left from there. Again, I don't know how the hell they did it, but there's no sign of anyone backtracking." Alec snarled, his eyes flashing and surprising Amelia. It wasn't often anger got the best of him. "And if that's not enough, I detected another set of signatures just as you stopped to chat. So by my count, we have three separate parties entering the Ministry at various times starting at eight o'clock last night, two of which were easy to spot and another set I have yet to follow up on but they seem to materialize out of thin air! It's bloody ridiculous!"

Amelia sighed again and took out her wand. If Alec's report and frustrations were anything to go by, this was going to be a long day. Said Auror growled angrily as he watched Amelia toy with her wand when something tingled on the far edges of his awareness and he calmed considerably; magic was moving around them and it just barely touched his senses.

Amelia smiled, "You're getting better I see."

Alec flushed at the praise, "Well, I should hope so. It'll be about time to retire once I plateau but to my defense you were always the better enchanter. What was it you just did?"

Her smile fell, "The last of the secrecy wards going up. We're in a restricted zone now and what I am about to say must stay in this room."

He nodded without any hesitation, "You know me, Am. Your secrets are mine."

She allowed herself this one moment of peace and gently took his hand. Alec revelled in it, having been so long since she dropped her guard and as her hand slipped from his, so did her mask fall back in place.

"Your findings match what a small team of Unspeakables detected earlier when I had them quickly breeze through to see if there were any nasty surprises left for us. I wanted to make sure everything was safe before I sent in the private hound. Between my contact in the UD and from your work last night and this morning, just six people in the entire Ministry are aware You-Know-Who paid us a most unwelcome visit."

"Oh hell."

"Quite. Most employees know someone broke in, but they don't know who and to the extent. I haven't even briefed the Minister yet," said Amelia, pausing to take a breath. "Also seems a group of individuals did follow him in, or at least close to it. Dolores Umbridge and some students from Hogwarts appeared just as You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters were getting ready to descend. The students were quickly taken care of and they're currently recovering at St. Mungo's. As you've gathered, no one was seriously hurt."

She watched as her he breathed a sigh of relief and she smiled to herself. He always did have a soft spot for students, even if they were snaky Slytherins.

"What about Umbridge?"

Amelia's face hardened, "Good question. She may have been the one to lead them through all of the protections. It's also possible she knows of another way down. As much as I hate to say it, in her position she would have access to the building's archives and therefore blueprints. I haven't seen them myself, but if it's anything like Hogwarts then the possibility is there."

Alec nodded, "Agreed, but that last bit clashes with what I've seen. Someone descended the 'normal' way and did so without setting off any alarms or being cut to ribbons. A number of those protections were right nasty stuff so you had to know what to look for. Since You-Know-Who is involved, I'm a little less surprised over the whole thing, but something still doesn't add up. Dark Wizard or not, you would need information in order to disarm those traps."

Amelia bowed her head, "Yes, which is probably the most troubling part about this whole thing. I see three plausible scenarios, minus one issue. A) You-Know-Who smashed his way through. B) Umbridge knew of the raid and led them down or C) There are spies who aided Umbridge and You-Know-Who in some capacity. None of those cover the third party, which by the way went undetected by the Unspeakables. This new group is news to me."

Alec grimaced and didn't bother to hide it. Normally, one might consider such a statement a compliment given the difficulty of finding something an Unspeakable could not, but now certainly wasn't the time. Each one of those points was unsettling, let alone the unknown individuals who have yet to have a purpose for entering the Ministry. "Let's negate Umbridge, at least to the point of her orchestrating it. While she has the potential, I don't see her having the intelligence. She's up there on the BEB list as you know, so I feel confident in the assessment."

Amelia hid the chuckle, but not the smirk.

"What bothers me is she wasn't one of those sent to St. Mungo's, meaning she played some part in the affair, as you said. In addition, You-Know-Who isn't necessarily lucky but he is powerful and I'm sure luck can be on his side just as well as anyone else. Yet I don't believe he could be that lucky so he had to get the information from somewhere. Tack on the assumption of spies who would have to everywhere and you get a cesspool of shite I honestly don't want to waddle in."

Amelia laughed but there was no humor as she sat back against her chair. She had been up since yesterday at six in the morning and the bags under her eyes were really starting to show. Alec didn't look much better.

"All of this," he said while gesturing wildly about him, "doesn't tie in our third group but like I said, I only detected them close to the HoP. That may be telling on it's own."

Amelia groaned, "Alec, if this doesn't prove it then I don't know what would," and her voice softened to a murmur, "the Ministry is corrupt."

His face mimicked hers, "I usually enjoy agreeing with you Amelia, but this is not one of those times."

She tiredly took out her wand and started to cancel the privacy spells, "We'll talk more on this once we're appropriately rested. Damage is done; all we can do now is a proper clean up. I'll get Tonks to take over for you and she'll start where you left off. Maybe fresh eyes will help."

Alec nodded as they stood, "Start her in the hall leading to the doorway before she scans the main chamber. It's where I detected the third group and I'm not beyond error. I may have mistook the signatures for ghosting of those who actually descended or even simple disturbances from spell fire. She's pretty good too, might pick up something I missed."

Amelia agreed and flicked her wand once more, canceling the last spell. "That's where she'll start then. In the meantime, get yourself home and stay there for the next 24 hours. I don't want to see you unless I call for you, understood?"

She walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently and drew closer but a pop! gave her pause and a little elf appeared before them, standing by the door.

"Master Alec!"

The wizard and witch shared a surprised glance before Alec bent down to his little elf, "Hello there, Elle. Is everything alright?"

The cleanly dressed elf bowed to them. "My apologies, Master. I tried to follow your commands but several wards prohibited me from reaching you and I have been delayed. Nothing is wrong, I am simply alerting you as per your instructions: should anything in the Nomen change, you are to be notified immediately."

Alec paled considerably and Amelia steadied him. For a moment, she thought he might fall over in shock.

"What is it?"

He looked to her and shook his head, "Nothing to worry about, not yet anyway. It's one of the many spell books I have in my keeping dealing with Hogwarts. I shall see what this is about and let you know."

Amelia nodded in agreement, moving for the door. Alec smiled, he could tell she wasn't pleased. "By Patronus," she said. "I'll be expecting it within the hour."

'Always on the ball that one.' "Well," he said while turning to Elle, "can you pop us right to the library?"

"Of course, Master Alec."

XX

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Harry awoke to the sound of a rhythmic beat of splashing water. He rolled off of his matting, which resembled a certain bed in a cupboard, and stretched.

The dungeon Snape had brought him to was deep underneath the castle and as such, there were no windows or sources of light from the outside. For all Harry knew, he could have been asleep for just ten minutes.

Rubbing his eyes wearily, he retrieved his glasses from the floor, close to where his head had been during the night. As the haze of sleep wore off, the dripping sound became prominent in his mind and he searched for the source. Just outside the cell, across the room from where he stood was a small puddle that had formed underneath where water leaked from the ceiling.

'Did it rain last night?' he wondered for the puddle had not been there when he was brought down. He stared as each drop fell into it, causing ripples to flow out from the point of impact to the edges of the miniature lake. He was just about to turn his attention away when the last drop caused the ripples to appear in a rainbow of colors and then something brushed against his senses. The room grew quieter and the chill in the air receded, giving way to a warmer atmosphere.

Almost instantly he realized the drip drip drip which had been so clear and even soothing, stopped. As he looked around the room for a possible threat, his eyes caught sight of a shining silver droplet of water, almost level with his eyes. Harry studied it briefly and was stunned to see the droplet moving, although slowly, towards the puddle on the ground.

"Hi there!" cried a girl's voice in his ear and he jumped away, letting out his own shriek in the process. To his wonder, a not so pale, slightly luminescent and semi-transparent Luna Lovegood smiled adoringly at him.

His mouth moved like a fish for a moment before things started working again, "Uhhh, Luna?" She giggled and the warm tingly feeling he felt last night in Umbridge's office returned.

"Not Luna," she replied happily, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Try again?"

Harry studied the witch in front of him, or she seemed like a witch and she definitely acted like Luna. She looked the part too; complete with a bottle cap necklace made with caps from the Hog's Head. For all their similarities, there were only two glaring differences he could see. First was the hair color, as Luna's was a light blonde, almost silver but this girl's looked like either a shade of brown or red, which one Harry couldn't tell. The other difference was in the eyes.

Instead of pale silver, she had a combination of silver and forest green. An odd mix he decided, but it worked for her. He also found it rather enticing to just watch the two blobs of color circle in her irises. The hues occasionally fought one another in what looked like an effort to be the dominant color.

"Am I that interesting to look at?" she asked with genuine interest.

A tinge of red covered Harry's face, "What? Oh, uh, no. I mean, well, you have very colorful eyes."

She beamed at him, "Thank you! No one has ever paid me such a nice compliment before, save Luna of course."

He blinked, "You know Luna?"

"Yes, we're both very good friends. Are you a good friend of hers too?"

Harry nodded slightly, "Yes um, not good friends I suppose, but we are friends." His own admission felt wrong and he vowed to correct it as soon as possible. If she was affected by it or even noticed, it didn't show.

"Wonderful! But regardless of how complementary you are or even being her friend, I won't let you get out of here without at least knowing my name."

'Get out? How am I supposed to get out of a magically locked prison?'

"This wasn't supposed to be a prison cell you know. Originally it was a cold climate storeroom. I'm fairly certain it was meant to be used by the potions professors as there are a number of ingredients which prefer colder and damper environments."

His fish impression was being practiced a lot today, "How did you"

"know what you were thinking?" she replied cheekily. "We're connected now, or at least somewhat. We agreed to this, you know. Don't you remember?"

A moment's pause and then "Your voice!" he awed in recognition. "It was you who spoke to me last night, in Umbridge's office. But... does that make you, Hogwarts?"

The girl squealed in delight and launched herself at Harry, forcing him to twirl her around, "You recognized me!"

Doing his best to ignore the awkwardness, Harry smiled and allowed her to lead him around the cell. Once she calmed down and they separated, she beamed at him.

Her whole attitude was of Luna and he just couldn't shake the resemblance out of his mind. "You're really not Luna? You act a lot like her." While it was true Luna had never been this forward with him, their little quirks were just too similar to be written off as coincidence.

"Nope!" she half sang. "Not Luna and truth be told, not-Hogwarts too but that's getting a little ahead of things. Since this will likely become a problem and 'Not-Luna' is decidedly a terrible means to refer to someone, you can call me Mai."

Harry shook his head in bemusement before offering out his hand, "Well hello there Mai. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Harry Potter."

She happily took it and shook with enthusiasm, "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Headmaster."

Up until now, Harry had blissfully forgotten about Dumbledore's letter and maybe, just maybe, some part of his consciousness had written the whole thing off as a strange dream. Yet the parchment lay rolled up by the mat, a clear reminder what Dumbledore had told him was very real.

He was the Headmaster.

Harry frowned with uncertainty. How would his friends react to this? What was going to happen now? Would anyone even believe him or would this turn into another Tri-Wizard fiasco? He turned, gaze settling on the stairwell that lead out of here. 'I wonder if Snape knows or if that's what he wanted to talk about.'

"Want to get out of here?"

He put on a fake smile, "Yes, I do. Last few days have been a bit crazy and I want to check in with everyone, Sirius in particular."

She agreed with him, "That it has, but don't worry. Dumbledore did say that Sirius was all right."

Several hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he quickly put several things together, "You can read my mind."

Mai nodded, sensing his discomfort, "Well, yes because we're connected. I can't see completely into it, not like a bond would allow. What we have is similar to Legilimency and will in no way hinder you, plus it's not always open to me."

"I can't say I'm happy about that. There's someone else who has access to my mind, without my permission I might add. He creates enough trouble as it is so how do I know this won't be the same?"

Mai looked at him for a few seconds. The seemingly blank but incredibly focused stare reminded him once again of Luna and the moment those thoughts jumped across his mind, she sighed.

"I know we seem similar, but you'll have to ask her as to why. I was hoping you wouldn't be so defensive but I know there are a cupboard's worth of reasons behind it." He stiffened at the double meaning and her gaze turned to that of a warm and understanding smile. "I want to help you, Harry."

She floated over to one side of the cell, grasping the bars and leaning her head against it.

"You wish to know more about who I am and why we're connected this way?"

His eyes hardened, nodding in confirmation and he was surprised then when she fidgeted slightly.

"Well, I can't tell you exactly who I am. That's not for me to say and you'll have to ask Luna if you truly wish to know. What I can tell you is I am a part of Hogwarts. I'm not the castle nor her consciousness but you can think of me as an extension to her will. The hand to her arm you might say."

"Was it you I heard in Umbridge's office?"

"Yes and no. When a Headmaster is not chosen by the Board of Governors but by the castle, she comes to him or her in a dream. The barriers between reality and magic breakdown there and the agreement we made is done between the soon to be Headmaster and the castle directly."

Harry scratched the back of his head, "Except I wasn't dreaming and didn't really have the chance to do so, meaning you were the shortcut?"

She smirked, "In a manner. I was the conduit, hence why it was me you heard but Hogwarts was the one driving my actions. We further complicate things by throwing Luna into the mix as she was the path to you."

His head spun slightly, but understood. "So Hogwarts went through you since you're a part of her which went through Luna to get to me due to our friendship?"

Mai beamed at him, "That's right! The part I can't explain to you is why I'm connected to Luna and you'll have to ask her yourself. Had the circumstances been different, I wouldn't be involved."

Harry sighed, accepting the answer for now. Luna would be able to tell him more when he got around to asking her, if she could or would that is. The hardness in his eyes began to bleed away and his shoulders slumped, "I'm sorry. We've only just met and I'm badgering you with questions and being a prat about it too."

Mai looked to the stairwell before turning back to him with an answer. "I don't mind. You have more than enough reason to be cautious, especially with those who have such strong insights into your mind. I promise though, I am only here to help and I'm sure Luna would be willing to tell you who I am. If you can't trust me, you can trust her when she says I'm not trying to harm you."

A loud clap sounded throughout the dungeon and Harry looked all around before looking to Mai. He wasn't sure what was going on as the sound continued at the same pitch without changing for quite some time. Eventually, it just stopped.

"Bugger," she pouted, dispelling the unpleasant air around them. "I was afraid of that. Oh well, it seems our time together must end for now." They both stood up and dusted themselves off. "I'll be seeing you later, okay Harry?" She moved to go around him, walking towards the back of the cell.

The sound came back and it was louder than before. After a few seconds, he realized it was coming from the stairs. On instinct, he tried to seek out the source but as soon as his eyes landed on the stairs and off of Mai, the sound stopped.

"Okay, but where are you go…?" he asked only to find no one but himself in the cell.

The loud noise resounded down the stairs again but this time, Harry recognized what it was just as the steady drip drip drip made its way back to his ears. Blinking in surprise, the sound of footsteps ceased as Snape stood before him.

"Good, you're awake," and he unlocked the door. "Breakfast starts in one hour which should be plenty of time for you to get back to your dormitory and fix up before then. We'll save the discussions about last night for the start of your detentions tonight. Move it Potter, or I'll see you lose House Points before the day even starts."

XX

Harry yawned as he walked in the Great Hall for breakfast, freshly washed and very hungry. In addition to the hunger, he wondered once again about the young girl he met a little over an hour ago. 'She seems nice enough. Not sure how I feel about being an open book though.'

His thoughts took a pause when he noticed Luna at the Ravenclaw table. She looked up at him as he walked in and he smiled at her, waving to her in greeting and she returned the gesture. As he neared his usual spot at the Gryffindor table, his best mate was the first to announce his presence.

"Oy! Harry! Did you manage all right?" asked Ron sliding over to give him a spot to sit.

"Yeah," he replied and looked to Hermione with a smile as he climbed over the bench to sit between them. He had been thinking about how to break the news to them about his new title and was about to start when instead of sitting on a bench, Harry yelped and found himself suddenly on the floor. Ron looked at him oddly as did Hermione, but Harry just gawked at his spot on the bench as it had literally disappeared.

Ron noticed it next and glanced up and down their side, "Now who do you think did that?"

Hermione studied the missing section before getting up. She glanced at Harry worryingly before pulling out her wand. She waved it in several alternating patterns while muttering under her breath only to stop and stiffen after the missing section remained missing.

"Well that's odd," she mumbled. "I'm sure I did it correctly."

"You did. The form was off a bit but the rest looked..." and he cut off as a stab of pain hit him in the head, like a sudden headache but it vanished mere seconds after it started. The pause was enough to make the others think he stopped on purpose, as if he was thinking about it further.

"Harry," Hermione began, "that was the Restorio spell and it hasn't been taught yet and won't be until next term in Charms. How did you know that?" Ron's own look of confusion added to Hermione's query.

His mouth opened and closed, unsure of how to answer given he didn't know either. Before he could make an attempt, he let out another yelp and was suddenly flying backwards toward the head table.

It was like someone lassoed him and was pulling in the direction they wanted him to go. As he struggled, everyone started laughing, thinking it was a prank. His body stopped moving for a moment, only to be jerked around a bit before rocketing towards the head table faster than before. So it would seem the prankster was annoyed (or pleased) at the students and their reactions.

Just before his back hit the table, his feet flipped up and Harry went sailing only to cartwheel in the air before landing perfectly in the empty seat that was the golden throne for the Headmaster of Hogwarts.

The laughter died soon after that.

XX

Amelia was just sitting down for a much needed spot of tea and breakfast when a silver fox appeared in front of her.

"To Hogwarts. A new Headmaster has been chosen."