Disclaimer: my $ownership != JKR::RightsOf($HJP)
A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I'm glad you guys are enjoying this. Cookie if you recognize the above syntax.
Chapter 9: Gathering Storm
June 26th 1996 - Wednesday at noon
"Can you believe it? Pothead is now the Headmaster?"
Draco fumed quietly and kept mostly to himself as the other Slytherins bickered during lunch.
"Just goes to show the school is shot to hell," said another, 6th year if Draco remembered right. "How much harder is it going to be to run the circles, now the goody two shoes is in charge?"
Murmurs of agreement sounded around him, but Draco could care less. The so called 'Circles' mentioned was the drug ring some of the older Slytherins had established. Despite popular belief Hogwarts was a 'clean' environment, it was anything but. There were prominent buyers from the high and mighty Ravenclaws and even some secret Griffs on the pandlers' lists. With clientele like that, business was booming.
Draco had no use for them.
Drugs and magical substances weren't his thing, never was. With Black blood flowing in his veins, he knew some of the darker potions out there and what one might do with them for 'recreational activities.' No, Draco's mind was focused entirely on the new Headmaster of Hogwarts and the debacle that had been the Ministry investigation.
The second he and the others stepped it into the Ministry, Umbridge disappeared and then Death Eaters of various rank made a mockery of the students before they were all knocked out and sent to St. Mungo's.
It wasn't how easily they were swept aside, it wasn't Umbridge's sudden and unexplainable desertion, but the manner in which it all happened.
They were treated like cattle! Herded, toyed with and then metaphorically slaughtered. Draco even recognized two of the Death Eaters and he was sure they saw him. They hadn't even tried to hide their faces which meant they were confident and in control. The whole thing was done on purpose. They were led there to be made fun of and scared out of their wits on purpose
And he was a Malfoy! Such treatment was inexcusable! How could they!?
Draco sighed, running a hand through his hair.
None of this would have mattered; he would have convinced himself into thinking they were recruits or maybe they hadn't seen him like he thought they did. That's how it would have been and life would have returned to normal. He could have gone on as Father instructed and continued the game.
If only Potter hadn't changed everything.
A ruckus started from over on the Gryffindor side and Malfoy watched idely as the youngest Weasley's got into another one of their infamous spats. He chuckled to himself as Ron stormed after an equally irate Ginny. Draco watched with a coy smile as they left, thinking for a poor pureblood, the red haired girl didn't look half bad.
Traitors could be redeemed after all.
'Then again,' and he turned his eyes toward the empty Headmaster's chair.
Harry was there when the disgraced Inquisitorial Squad was discharged from St. Mungo's. The bastard picked them up himself. Draco thought it was a trick at first, the Golden Boy sent to pick up the miscreants. He thought Dumbledore was surely back by then, newly installed as the rightful Headmaster.
But no! It was Harry Potter Hogwarts had chosen!
Draco had seen red, was sure of what was to come as they started their journey back to the castle. Expected it, just as one expects to breath but he was surprised yet again.
No jaunts, no jeers, the difference in Potter was equally staggering and the effect only amplified when they got back to the grounds. Draco wouldn't have believed it, but the castle seemed to resonate as he drew close. The doors opened on their own, something no one among the group had ever seen.
No, something was different. Potter was different. The school seemed different.
'Or maybe… Maybe I'm different.'
Students started to finish and get ready for the second half of the day. Draco stood, stretching and glanced at the clock. He'd have time to rethink everything later during a free period and during the trials tomorrow. Maybe then he'd get a glimpse into what Potter was really after.
XX
Harry stood at the foot of a bed in the Medical Ward and stared at the occupant. Hermione's condition improved overnight but she
was still unconsciousness.
Poppy said, after Luna was released, the Ravenclaw had a natural talent for medical work. She also admitted to hearing a little of what they had been talking about the other night and agreed; Luna was likely right, on more than just one account.
Wordlessly, he came around the bedside and sat down on the mattress while making sure not to disturb Hermione.
"But what do you think?" he asked her quietly.
The fight from the other day replayed itself numerous times in his head. While watching every action, analyzing every mistake, he came to a terrifying and wondrous conclusion: Hermione was his everything.
When this happened, he wasn't sure. That's what he'd been doing the entire morning, trying to figure out when she became such a central part of his life. Was it during the Triwizard Tournament, when everyone abandoned him but her? Or before, when he sat quietly by her petrified form not so many years ago?
Harry didn't know, but he couldn't deny the the soul lifting relief of seeing Hermione's face full of color again. He couldn't deny his heart jumped when she smiled at him, nor her balm-like effect when she hugged him.
He lightly brushed a few strands of hair off her face before getting up and tucking her in. She didn't need it, but it eased the restlessness. He was doing something for her, he was helping.
Harry walked over to a window and a sigh escaped him. The new duties as Headmaster should have been enough, but now Voldemort threw his lot in as well.
Worse yet, he was out of time.
Luna's offer still stood and tonight marked the deadline for attempting the magic safely and gain some advantage over the exams tomorrow. Similar words had come from Mai and the thought made him shiver. If he and Albus had not interfered, Hermione would be dead and Voldemort in her place. That in of itself was chilling, but the potential for it to happen shouldn't have existed in the first place.
'How much of these last few days were Voldemort's doing?'
Did he know something? Was he purposely leading his prey into a trap or was it really just a stroke of fate? Harry sighed again, turning away from the window and glancing back to Hermione.
'What do I do? Luna said Hermione already chose but we never talked about it. We could link tonight, I could check on how she's doing and I could learn some things for tomorrow but… but what if Hermione doesn't want to? What if Voldemort knew of some weakness or what if he did something to her and Coetus would only make it worse?'
He paced back and forth a few times, coming to a stop at the foot of her bed.
'If I did this and you regret it, would you forgive me?'
XX
9:00 P.M.
Nymphadora Tonks grumbled as she continued with filing paper from a stack the DMLE managed to create over the past week. The inbox looked like a mountain: security reviews from every department, requests to overhaul nightly lockdown procedures, prisoner transport requests, the pile went ever on. The funny bit?
She hated paperwork.
It was easily the most craptacular part of the Auror job description. Of course there was tree-killing to be done, after all she worked for a government but this was worse than her internships! She finished another memo and stood to stretch.
"This blows," she moaned and cracked several bones in her neck.
Her current assignment was really meant for newbies instead of people who were actually good at their job. Tonks however, was not so frustrated to forget she had been handpicked by Madame Bones and given a separate office to boot. The fact there were some heavy duty, borderline Dark wards keeping her new privacy very private, Tonks couldn't help but sigh and take one for the team. Something was definitely going on and she already had a lot to consider.
She wasn't a key spy in the Order's Network for nothing and despite the hectic last week, it brought a treasure trove of information. The supposed break-in had been completely orchestrated, from the moment Voldemort stepped inside up to the meeting of his group and the Order. He knew of every gate barring his way and how to pick every lock. Miraculous in its own right, he did have help which leant a possible explanation to the impossible waltz through the Ministry.
Umbridge had been with him and that was strange.
Dolores was a known 'secret' supporter of his efforts so in one manner, this solidified her allegiance. Being the Undersecretary would have given her access to all the locks too, which would explain the effortless raid.
But something didn't add up.
Umbridge was horrendous with fight-or-flight situations. The think-on-your-feet-or-die scenario would see her chance of survival plummet to negative numbers, repeatedly. Chess play was more her forte; careful manipulation of pawns, Knights to do your dirty work, that sort of espionage she excelled at.
Tonks knew this, could confirm it a hundred different ways so to find evidence there were three raids and that Umbridge of all people was the linchpin made very little sense.
She shook her head, feeling a migraine coming. No matter how many times she thought about it, Tonks couldn't wrap her mind around it. The raid everyone knew about involved the Dark Lord directly but there were two others going on at the same time. One of those raids occurred at Gringotts, which the Goblins quickly hushed and the third wasn't really a raid at all but unexplained activity in the Minister's office.
Tonks would have never known about them had she not been making a daily effort to check the detection net for potential information. The net was just a series of monitoring arrays, their functions being so simple most people forgot about them. What made this a hair raising problem occurred the day after the raids, when she checked the net like usual only to find data from the past 24 hours had been erased. There was literally a big gaping block where ink used to lie on parchment. By a stroke of luck, the redundant records hadn't been destroyed and Tonks made a copy of them. The following day, those too went missing.
The backups were encoded and it took a good deal of study and effort on her part but Tonks was able to decrypt everything earlier in the week. The information she found linked Umbridge to all three activities in addition to other shady events: unexplained visitors at odd hours, random movements between the departments and so on.
A stray thought, one that occurs from being in the business for so long, made her think to check the financial records and compare them to what she knew. Turns out it was a hit, showing invalid transactions corresponding with the erroneous activity from before and during the raid.
The Goblins should have stopped it, but they hadn't.
She then became a liaison on behalf of the Order to the Goblin Nation in hopes of dealing with the matter. Tonks wouldn't have been so concerned (or scared but she'd never admit it) if the Goblins hadn't shown surprise the way they did. Goblins were never surprised when it came to gold and to actually see it happen spoke volumes.
The last nail in the 'I'm-not-scared' coffin was hammered into place when she started to sort through old reports that were kept in her current office. The last time this place saw use was back during the War of Grindelwald. A spy was rumored to have found its way into a high profile position and the DMLE Head at the time did what he could to sniff out the culprit.
The issue then and by extension now was the spy never got flushed out. The investigator leading the search, who also happened to be the previous owner of her office, was found dead in his home shortly after the case closed. Tonks may have been a little nervous on finding that out and it certainly didn't help she knew things many people would kill for.
*Knock knock!*
The Auror nearly jumped out of her skin but managed to have her wand ready with a nasty curse on the inside of her lips.
"Auror Tonks, I hope things are going well?"
The pink haired Auror sighed in relief as Amelia Bones stepped through the door. "As good as it can get, Ma'am."
Amelia chuckled, "At ease, but keep your guard up." A troubled look passed over Tonks' face at the contradiction however she nodded to it nonetheless. In the meantime, Amelia helped herself to a seat.
"So tell me, how's the paper treating you?"
"Horribly. I've lost count of how many times I've had to mend cuts and I never want to see another interdepartment memo ever again. That's a pipe dream though so I'd settle for at least three weeks."
Amelia took the moment to laugh at her subordinate's expense and produced another piece of parchment, "Consider this a prescreening."
Arrest warrant for Dolores Umbridge goes into effect this day, Thursday the 27th of June 1996. Anyone who comes into contact with the aforementioned is required by law to notify the Aurors immediately and to...
Tonks' eyes nearly bugged out as Amelia chuckled, "Quite the announcement isn't it?"
"This… this is big."
"Yes it is."
"This is really, really big. Most of the Ministry supports her. This won't go over well."
"Yes they do and no it won't."
"Merlin, she's… she's the Undersecretary! Merlin's pants! Tomorrow is the meeting of the Wizengamot and Hog…"
Tonks stopped short as several things in her mind began clicking rapidly into place. Amelia misjudged her pause and started fishing for something in the pockets of her robes while Tonks' mind continued to buzz. There had been several references referring to Hogwarts in the data she recently collected and given everything on the agenda for tomorrow… if an attack were to occur, the Ministry would be at its weakest since the Aurors would be split between the Headmaster's examination and the trial scheduled in the Wizengamot. A generous estimate at best, assuming none of her lazier colleagues slipped out the back to see what the Boy-Who-Lived was capable of.
This was not good.
Amelia produced from her robes a small slate of granite with several runes carved into the stone. The markings were different from the typical style Tonks was familiar with and it piqued her interest. Upon closer inspection, she nearly jumped out of her chair again and Amelia, having anticipated this, already had her hands up in a show of submission.
"It is Dark but I have just one thing to say and if need be we can go about our ways as if this never happened."
Tonks didn't trust her voice and simply stared.
"As you've noticed, it's a dual blood sealing ward. It requires your blood and mine in order to set up a nearly impenetrable shield of security and is practically undetectable. No one can get in and we can't get out for the duration it's active. If you want to know what this about, you know what to do otherwise say so and I'll be gone."
'Ohhh crap…'
The DMLE was about to issue an arrest warrant for the individual who, for all intents and purposes, was second in command of the Magical Government in Britain. This move could be considered as an attack and power play on the current Minister of Magic, let alone all the other things going on. The one responsible for this madness was now sitting in front of her with a borderline or over the border Dark artifact.
The circumstances were too strong to ignore and Tonks had to acknowledge her favorite boss might just be in on everything she was secretly investigating. Should that be the case, then this was likely an assassination waiting to happen. On the other hand, Tonks trusted Amelia. It was unlikely Amelia Bones would carry out a hit and if she were wrong, Merlin help the living.
Tonks took a deep breath and locked eyes with her employer and friend, "I don't know what this is about Amelia, but I trust you. Something like that isn't carried around lightly, especially by the likes of you."
The young Auror removed a small hidden knife from her left breast pocket, slit her thumb and allowed several drops of blood to fall onto the stone. The runes sizzled and started glowing a deep red.
Amelia smiled to her, "I trust you as well hence the precautions," and she also gave some blood to the ward. There was a loud hissing sound that soon stopped as they both felt the magic swirl into place.
Tonks wasted no time, "What in the seven hells required this?"
Amelia looked her straight in the eye, "What we're about to discuss would be considered insubordination, treason and several other unflattering political terms." She paused, making sure that the pink haired woman in front of her was ready. "I won't stall. The Ministry is corrupt, Tonks. Completely corrupt."
Tonks fell back into her chair, "Bloody hell, so you do know."
That was not what Amelia was expecting, "What?"
Tonks shook her head, "There's more to it, so much more." She hesitated, "Amelia, can you… Will you swear your allegiance to the Light?"
This time the boss went on guard. She was aware Tonks knew more than the average employee, this was part of the reason for keeping her close by. Amelia wanted to keep tabs on the young Auror and protect her if the stuff hit the fan but now Tonks was acting as if she needed the protection.
"What kind of allegiance?"
"I swear by my life and magic I fight against Voldemort and his kind."
A swirl of magic, although dampened by the field they were in, confirmed Tonks' words. Amelia was shocked, one for the oath and two for the blatant use of the Dark Lord's name. The hesitation lasted for only a moment though, before she spoke the same words.
The next several hours lead to some of the most startling revelations either witch had ever been a part of. Amelia and Tonks were in some proverbial sense, two sides of the same coin. Seperately they each had mounds of information but together they something to make any politician's mouth water.
Amelia had info on the other break-ins but not of the financial situation, while Tonks did. Tonks knew nothing on Amelia and Alec's secret investigations into past Ministry activities and a great deal more dirt was exposed to the pink haired Auror. It would be some time later before they realized how late it had gotten.
"We should go," said Amelia and as she stood Tonks came around and in a surprising move, bear hugged the older witch.
"You have no idea how happy I am to know you're firmly on our side."
A smile accompanied the answer, "Same to you and I can vouch for Alec as well."
"I'll speak with Dumbledore immediately. We must warn Harry and prepare for tomorrow. I'll see to it that you get initiations to the Order as soon as possible. We were thinking about extending one to Kingsley as well."
Amelia's smile vanished, "You can't do that."
Tonks looked at her boss in confusion for a moment before realization sunk in and her mouth opened in horror, "No… No, not Shack. Is he marked?"
"I don't know but I've been tailing him long enough to know where his loyalties lie."
Tonks cursed under her breath and immediately reached for two knuts on her desk. Several hushed incantations later and she handed them to her boss. Amelia looked them over and was surprised to see a phoenix emblazoned on one side and a small hole for a chain in the top. "Portkeys," said Tonks. "Sound and touch activated, current code is 'OOP.' In addition, if you wear it for at least five minutes, it tunes itself to your magic so they become much harder to break by outsiders. You and Alec should know how to change the codes and don't bother trying to crack the destination. It's under a modified Fidelius."
Amelia whistled, "Impressive."
Tonks smiled while shrugging, "It's Dumbledore, you get use to it. All I ask is you give Alec the same Oath I gave you. More or less, you became a 'trial' member because you took it and if Alec does the same, so will he."
Amelia nodded grimly. She knew of the fabled Order of the Phoenix. It was legendary amongst the Auror Corps, a kind of unspoken inspiration they all worked towards. The Order devastated Grindelwald and was responsible for holding Voldemort somewhat at bay the first time. She'd be a fool to refuse an invitation.
"I'm in and I'll see to it that Alec is too."
XX
"Are you certain this is what you want, my Lord?"
There was a long pause, "You do not trust in the exercise, then?"
"Of course I do and while I understand your reason, I am not sure if publically declaring my allegiance is beneficial or not."
Voldemort regarded Snape with interest and motioned for him to explain.
"We are both in agreement Potter isn't capable as he is and it will take little to destroy the trust others have in him. Should I state my intentions so boldly, it will most certainly do away with the little power base he may have acquired."
Snape paused to take a breath, "But Potter will be able to recover and by cutting loose our one thread that ties us to the castle, we will no longer know of its comings and goings. I do not fear Potter, my Lord. I fear what lies hidden to our eyes within those walls."
Voldemort was pleased, his grin widening.
"Well spoken, Severus. Time and again, my faith in you is justified and I have not failed in choosing my second." He steepled his hands, "You are correct, there is much to be feared of Hogwarts. Not for the castle itself, but the knowledge it contains. Even I do not know the debts of its Library or if perhaps the Founders delved deeper than history shows but I am not concerned."
Snape leaned forward, clearly interested, "Would you be willing to explain, my Lord?"
Voldemort laughed and stood, "I have more than just you lying in the shadows, my friend. While you are without a doubt the most useful within the castle, I have even better ears and eyes roaming the woodwork."
Snape followed and they both headed for the hallway of the muggle home.
"Discrediting Potter is far more valuable, especially if tomorrow succeeds as I feel it will. Even if our hand is exposed prematurely, the Ministry will still be forced to put pressure on Potter. We're looking to damage and gather data this round. Any collateral is simply a bonus."
Voldemort smiled, stepping over the dead body of an old man, "And besides, I have greater use for you here."
They moved through the darkened hall and towards a back room. When they entered, Severus caught sight of a woman, in her early thirties if he guessed and a squib at that. She was backed into the corner, blood dripping down her face and a gun pointed in their direction.
She fired off a few rounds and the bullets dissolved within feet of them.
"To work, my Lord?"
Voldemort sneered at her, but had to tip his head to her courage. Not once did her eyes betray fear and it had been a long time since he'd found such defiance.
"To work, Severus and be careful. I have high hopes for this one."
XX