The Ministry of Magic was not the flourishing centre of the Magical world it once was, inside politics combined with outside corruption had left it fighting itself from within. Departments were stretched thin, the annual budget was diminishing and staff morale was at an all time low. Some days were an uplifting representation of what an achievment the Ministry could be, other days were more grim than a dinner party of Dementors, and it was on one of these particulary nasty days that George Oddleby, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was sitting at his desk, completely unaware of the disturbing news that was about to reach his ear.
The door burst open just about the same time George was about to take a sip of a well deserved green tea, his disheveled assistant James Gantree sprang into the room completely out of breathe.
"For Merlins sake James! Ive told you to knock!" This welcome clearly took James offguard as he simply stood there like he had swallowed a snitch.
"Well... Spit it out man!? What are you an unspeakable?"
"Sorry Mr. George er sir, news jus in, one of the interns heard it through a muggle channel, theyve found something under one o the muggle 'ospitals see, some sort of hidden room, the muggle police men havent poked their noses around too much yet so there may still be time"
"Well... What is it?"
"Bodies sir...Lots of em, Some in large vials of water, some o them missin bits, some hooked up to each other in strange ways sir"
"So someone murdered these people and put them in a kinda mass grave? Whats this got to do with our world?"
"Dats the thing see, they werent murdered, they were all already dead, brought there as it seems after they died, and around each of their ankles the muggles found some parchment they did."
"Parchment, on a muggle?"
"Yep and thats not all, on the parchment it only says their name, blood status and the name of the frigging place they were keepin em, "St Mungos Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries".
The bustling traffic off of Westminster bridge was nearly at a stand still this time of day, not only were the roads packed out but the huge amount of tourists all visiting for the nearby attractions made this an undesirable place to be for the locals. It was into this chaotic mess of bodies that two people appeared, completely undetected to the oblivious bystanders around them.
"Funny place for a hospital isnt it? What if its an emergency, its so busy youd be dead before you got there?"
"Look Flynn, lets just get there okay, the quicker we get there, the easier this will be... hopefully."
"Right you are Anna, lets go"
Flynn Stone and Anna Black were the Ministry officials despatched to the scene, Anna was a transfer from the Goblin Liason Office to Magical Law Enforcement, and Flynn was fresh off the Auror Initiative Program, both being relatively new to their departments this was their first case together.
"What is it again Anna, St. Timothys?"
"St Thomas's"
"Oh yeah thats the one, never was very good with names, or numbers for that matter"
"Wonderful, how did i get so lucky?"
"Well I think everyone else was busy"
"That was retorical Flynn"
"Right you are"
After wandering in a slight circle they finally find St. Thomas's, its a modern building unlike anything they have ever been in before and this being their first unsupervised case, nerves were running high.
"So remember we just stick to protocol okay? We go in ask the questions from the handbook, perform the necessary charms then get to work" Anna was one for following rules and wanted to get a solid plan in motion before they stepped inside, also she was worried about the paperwork at the end and wanted everything to be by the books.
"Your the boss, Im just here to fight the baddies"
"Yes well i doubt there will be any "Baddies" in the reception area of a muggle hospital, but im glad your here anyway"
They take one glance at each other before they enter, as per the handbook, their muggle outfits are in line with regulations and their visit should arouse no suspicion, at least visually. Both of them slightly nervous they march into the building, trying to look more important and official than they actually feel.
Flynn looked around his brightly lit, clinical, sterile surroundings, it amazed him just how quickly it took to get the information and access they needed, Anna had done all the talking, little display of confidence here, memory charm there and now they were heading into to the scene of the crime, the belly of the beast. Anna was busy making lists, checking everything had been done by procedure of course, she was dressed in a way, too nice to be doing "official" work in his opinion. Gazing at her dark brown hair his mind slowly wandered, does she make lists in her personal time? Would a date consist of crossing things off a list?
"Flynn did you get that?"
"Err Sure, something about more power?"
"What... No! I said we only have an hour, and theres a lot to do, lets go.
They descended the stairs into the lower chambers of the hospital, according to muggle officials, construction workers had gotten a tip and discovered a hidden room while surveying for a new development. At first it seemed like an extra storage room, then its more sinister purpose was revealed.
"Okay here we go"
Flynn gingerly opened the door, it had no handle and as the door slid across the damp floor, the extent of the horror was revealed to them. Flynn froze in shock and Anna surpressed a cry, what was before them was unlike anything they could of imagined. Bath tubs full of naked corpses were in each corner, each one mutilated in some shape or form. Around the walls were huge glass containers with yet more corpses floating with what looked like cables and wires coming out of them. In the centre of the room stood strange equipment and desks and shelving which had been stripped clean. Flynn and Anna slowly took in the scene around them, after what seemed like an eternity, Anna was the first to speak.
"Im going to send for backup, this needs to all be gone and wiped clean within the hour, and theres a lot of memorys to obliverate"
Flynn didnt respond, instead he walked over to one of the corpses, crouching down to examine a piece of parchment tied around one of the victims. He brushed his dark fringe out of his eyes.
"St Mungos"
"What?"
"These bodies their all from St Mungos"
"I know, it was on the call in report"
"These were all Witches and Wizards, it doesnt make sense tho."
"What doesnt?"
"Their dead but... cant you still feel the magic in the room."
The Ministry clean up had taken hardly any time, and all evidence was relocated to the Ministry for evaluation, from what Flynn and Anna had observed someone from every department had been assigned to this even from the Department of Mysteries. They sat in a small shabby office in Magicial Law which had been temporarily assigned to them, there was to be a meeting tomorrow regarding the case, as lead investigators they would of course both attend.
"I just dont get it, Wizards dont conduct "Muggle Science" who would do this?"
"I dont know Flynn, theres a part of me that doesnt want to know.
"I felt something in there, like power, I cant explain it"
"Did you put it in your report?"
"Errr no, I want to keep my job not be locked up in St Mungos myself"
They went on like this for the rest of the day, going over possible theories and explanations why a Muggle or Wizard would do such a thing, completely unaware that while the Wizarding World looked to St Thomas's in the Muggle World, across London something even darker was about to unfold something, unnatural.