Chapter 4: Worlds Meet
In the Para Bellum dimension . . .
"Extraordinary," Professor Dumbledore said yet again as Hermione finished recounting the meeting with the three mysterious witches. "I think that inter-dimensional travel is possible, but I never would have guess that it would be a probable explanation for what has been happening."
"It makes so much sense, though," Hermione said, gesturing excitedly with her hands and leaning forward in her chair as Ron looked on. "Harry and Ginny seem to be completely gone. And then . . . there was the Azkaban breakout. That could be how these witches identified themselves as Unspeakables. They might be genuine Unspeakables from another dimension."
"Indeed," Dumbledore admitted. He peered at the roll of parchment clutched in Hermione's hands. "Let me examine that document. It may contain more information."
Hermione passed the roll of parchment to Dumbledore, who examined it carefully before breaking the wax seal and unrolling the parchment.
"What does it say?" Ron asked.
"Very little," Dumbledore answered after he had taken a few moments to study it carefully. "It is the standard letter of introduction that the Ministry sends to foreign governments with any ambassador. The main difference is that Sirius Black's name has been inked in on the line naming the ambassador."
Ron and Hermione frowned while Dumbledore finished unrolling the parchment and skimming through the text.
"But," Dumbledore said, "it will be interesting to see just who signed the document making the appointment." He reached the end of the document and let out a deep breath before setting the parchment down on the table and steepling his fingers thoughtfully. "Would you agree that these witches bore a certain resemblance to Bellatrix Lestrange?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes," Hermione agreed, "they have the same hair, build, and facial structure. The eyes are different, though."
"And they said their mother was the Minister of Magic, did they not?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yeah," Ron said.
Dumbledore nodded. "Then you will not be overly surprised to learn that Bellatrix Black appears to be the Minister of Magic in this other dimension."
Hermione's face blanched.
"But, she's a Death Eater!" Ron exclaimed.
"In this dimension, yes," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "But perhaps not in the other dimension."
"Maybe You-Know-Who took over the other dimension's Ministry and made Bellatrix the Minister," Ron argued.
"Perhaps," Dumbledore shrugged. "There is another signature, though, Mr. Weasley, from the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Whose signature do you suppose that is?"
"How would he know?" Hermione said, sounding exasperated.
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "It appears that Percy Weasley has risen to a high Ministry position in this other dimension. If the Percy of the other dimension is serving as a Department Head, you can rely on the fact that Minister Black likes him and the Weasley family. I think that is a reasonably good omen."
"Maybe," Ron said doubtfully. "You don't know Percy that well, do you?"
Dumbledore spread his hands in a placating gesture. "You have brought good news Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger. I will pass it to the Order, and we shall all wait breathlessly for the next stunt these mysterious witches pull. I will, by then, be prepared with a very large number of questions to ask Ambassador Black."
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The exhaustion from staying up well past curfew ensured that Ron and Hermione were late to breakfast. Upon entering the Great Hall, they found that a wave of Daily Prophet owls had inspired pandemonium. Nearly every student in the Great Hall was ignoring their breakfast as they attempted to sneak a look at the Daily Prophet while Professor Umbridge desperately tried to gather and destroy all the newspapers the owls had delivered with the morning post. Unfortunately, for her, the Weasley twins were magically duplicating and distributing the newspapers faster than she could gather them.
"Blimey!" Ron exclaimed.
"We need a copy," Hermione said, nervously eyeing the chaos as Dumbledore caught her eye from the staff table, winked, and raised his goblet to her and Ron before casually engaging Professor Flitwick in conversation.
Ron pushed into the fray surrounding his twin brothers and managed to emerge with his own rolled-up copy of the newspaper. Not wanting to be an easy target for Umbridge, Ron and Hermione departed from the Great Hall and found a secluded corner where Ron handed the Daily Prophet over to Hermione.
"Oh my . . . ," Hermione gasped after unrolling the paper and seeing the front page. "It's very indecent!"
"Give it here," Ron said. He looked it at it and began laughing. A picture of Minister Fudge posing in the buff graced the entire front page. Laughing hysterically, he opened the newspaper to the internal pages and found that each page contained a full-sized shot of the Minister of Magic in various poses and states of undress.
"It is kind of funny, isn't it?" Hermione giggled as she peeked for a second at the pictures and blushed.
"I'm not sure how this gets Sirius exonerated," Ron said.
"It's blackmail, of course," Hermione said.
"But those witches have already played their hand," Ron pointed out. "What do they have left to motivate Minister Fudge to do something about Sirius? They've exposed all they can expose of Minister Fudge."
"No Ron," Hermione said, "this was the warning shot across the bow. I daresay they have something much worse up their sleeves."
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By lunchtime, posters containing photos of Minister Fudge had been posted in every hallway, classroom, and toilet. During a brief visit to the loo on her way to lunch, Hermione discovered that some of the posters had even been charmed to say highly embarrassing things.
At the Gryffindor Table, Hermione found Ron reading a special edition of the Daily Prophet.
"What does it say?" Hermione asked as she filled up her plate.
"Tells how they did it," Ron said through a mouthful of food.
"Don't talk with your mouth full, Ronald," Hermione said sternly as she grabbed the newspaper away from Ron and helped herself to a sandwich.
Ron was outraged. "But you asked me a question!"
Hermione ignored him and found the pertinent article.
Daily Prophet Press Vandalized by So-Called "Musketeers"
Early this morning, after the Daily Prophet staff sent the newspaper to press, four unidentified individuals dressed as seventeenth century French musketeers attacked the press building. Denouncing the press staff as minions of the evil cardinal, the so-called Musketeers proceeded to overpower the press workers and run an altered version of the Daily Prophet.
In response to a silent alarm triggered by a brave press worker, Aurors Shacklebolt, Tonks, Clarington, and Chesterfield arrived just as the Musketeers began to run the adulterated version of the newspaper on the press. A fight broke out between the Musketeers and those the Musketeers dubbed the Cardinal's Guards. Unfortunately, the Musketeers proved to be far more ruthless, and the Aurors were overpowered, but not before doing their own damage. "They didn't walk away scratch-free. That much I can tell you," Chesterfield declared. "There were black eyes and broken noses all around, and I'm sure at least two of those Musketeers have some broken ribs. And, they all had spell damage. These knaves are clever, but they quail in the face of brute force."
Minister Fudge has vehemently denied that the scandalous pictures inserted into the adulterated newspaper edition depict him. Experts suggest that the so-called Musketeers could have taken face-shots of the Minister and pasted them onto other photos, but were unable to confirm for sure that this is what the Musketeers did in this particular instance.
The Department of Magical Law Enforcement requests that anybody with information about this crime come forward and asks the public to report the identity of any witches or wizards who appear to be suffering from the effects of the injuries described above.
~!~!~!~!~!~!
Sirius Black paced back and forth in the kitchen of #12 Grimmauld Place. "Why haven't we heard anything yet?" he demanded, pounding a fist into the palm of his other hand while Tonks and Moody sat more calmly at the kitchen table with Professor Dumbledore.
"Patience, Sirius," Dumbledore advised from his seat at the head of the table, his blue eyes twinkling as he read the article about the Musketeers attacking the press. "We may have to wait until Minister Fudge gives up hope that he can capture your counterpart and the three witches. Only then will he be willing to cave into blackmail demands."
"That kind of depends on what the blackmail threat was," Tonks said, grinning at Sirius from behind a bottle of butterbeer. "Fudge might have a deadline before all hell breaks loose."
"Were the witches Black and the other Sirius badly injured in the fight?" Dumbledore asked Tonks.
"Nothing life threatening," Tonks said, setting the bottle of butterbeer down. "The newspaper described the injuries correctly, I think. I must admit, I was tempted to deliver a firm kick to the crotch of the other Sirius Black, though."
"You should have," Moody growled, clearly still thinking of Grey Poupon. "That cheeky wanker deserved it."
"I would have, but I wanted them to actually win the fight," Tonks said with a smile. "Their Sirius was the one carrying them through the fight with us. Those witches have no clue about battle or fighting tactics, hence their black eyes, bloody noses, and broken ribs. I'm guessing that the other Sirius Black is an ex-Auror, and a very good one, too."
"Interesting," Dumbledore murmured as he put down the newspaper. "An Auror, but now in diplomatic service."
"Nepotism," Moody said matter-of-factly, sparing Sirius a suspicious glance. "I don't know if we can trust a Sirius Black who willingly works for his cousin."
"That is something to think about," Dumbledore agreed.
Just then, a flash of flame announced the arrival of Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix. In the bird's talons was a letter that the Ministry had apparently delivered to Hogwarts. "This might be the development for which we have been waiting," Dumbledore said, taking the letter from his phoenix, opening it, and reading it as Sirius, Moody, and Tonks looked on.
Dumbledore's eyes began to twinkle madly. "Minister Fudge wishes to discuss with me the possibility of your innocence, Sirius. It looks you might be an innocent man before nightfall if Fudge can be persuaded to merely accept my word on the matter."
Sirius let out a whoop of joy.
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In the Delenda Est dimension . . .
Harry Potter's second day of standing watch in Ginny's hospital room proved to be slightly more entertaining. The night before, Draco Malfoy had lingered at Ravenbourgh after dinner long enough to take Harry to the Ravenbourgh library and suggest that he pick out some books to keep him occupied. Harry had found some excellent Quidditch books owned by the other Harry. Then, Rose had appeared from out of nowhere to insist that Harry also pick out some more books that were educational in nature.
After arriving at the hospital for his second day with Ginny, Harry finished the Quidditch books within a few hours and was yawning his way through some textbooks after lunch. He had just dozed off for a few minutes when the door to the private ward opened to admit a Mediwitch.
She was holding a clipboard and looked up from it to give Harry a motherly smile. "Are you family to Miss Chovee?" she asked.
Harry stared at her, but then remembered that Leo had registered Ginny with the hospital as Anne Chovee. "Uh, yeah," he fibbed. "Yeah. Is there anything new?"
"We just got a packet of documents from the Ministry. It seems that Minister Black has appointed Leo Black to serve as Miss Chovee's legal guardian," the Mediwitch announced to Harry. "She's also coughed up enough supplies from the Ministry's emergency stores to keep Miss Chovee reasonably comfortable until the curse wears off."
"So, what now?" Harry asked, wondering how it was that this news merited a visit to Ginny's bedside.
The Mediwitch went to Ginny's bedside and began checking her vitals. "Now that we're sure that the traditional treatment for the curse is possible, we're thinking that we may as well end the potion-induced coma," the Mediwitch explained to Harry as she finished checking Ginny's vitals and picked up Ginny's chart. She began writing on it. "I'm making a note to the nurse to administer Miss Chovee's final sleeping potion at, let's say, two in the morning. With any luck, Miss Chovee will wake up tomorrow morning and feel like she's had nothing more than a good night's sleep."
"And what happens if Miss . . . Chovee is not so lucky?" Harry asked.
The Mediwitch shrugged. "Then she'll feel like she woke up on the wrong side of the bed."
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In the Para Bellum dimension . . .
Cameras flashed as Minister Fudge, Professor Dumbledore, and Sirius Black stood together behind a Ministry podium that had been erected after Fudge caved into Sirius and Dumbledore's demands that he immediately hold a press conference to announce Sirius's exoneration.
"As soon as it was brought to my attention that Sirius Black, the Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, might be innocent, I personally investigated the matter," Fudge orated, carefully enunciating his words and posing for the cameras. "As I examined his file, I found subtle discrepancies. After asking the right questions after so many years, I found the right answer."
Sirius held up his hand to his mouth and faked a cough. "He would have exonerated me even if I was guilty," he muttered to Dumbledore. "In fact he's still trembling in fear from whatever it was those delightful Black witches threatened him with."
"Hush," Dumbledore said as he scanned the crowd. Part of the reason he had demanded a press conference was so that the word of Sirius's exoneration would get to Ambassador Black and the witches Black as soon as possible. He needed to speak with them.
"Sirius Black is the scion of a noble family," Fudge continued, "and I, for one, am pleased to know that he was always on our side."
Sirius sniggered.
Minister Fudge continued his speech. "The Ministry has prepared an extensive explanation of the entire story. We are opening our files on this. I want there to be full transparency regarding this mistake. In addition, I would also like to announce that Mr. Black will be receiving an Order of Merlin, Second Class, for all his efforts during the war with You-Know-Who."
Fudge's speech eventually ended, and Sirius and Dumbledore were free to mingle with the press while Fudge handed out pamphlets and press releases, apparently hoping that if he flooded the media with enough material, they would not have enough room to publish any further speculation about his nude photos that had appeared that morning.
Eventually, the crowd dispersed, and Dumbledore and Sirius were left standing alone in the Ministry Atrium. "I was hoping our guests would appear at some point," Dumbledore sighed.
"Give the other me some points for subtlety," Sirius protested. "Trust me, he'll catch up with us." Sirius laughed to himself as he thought about the deictic conundrum in his sentence.
"I am not sure that I am looking forward to having two versions of you wandering around in the same dimension," Dumbledore said, only half-joking. "There's a Muggle pub nearby. Let us go enjoy a celebratory pint."
"Still hoping for contact with the other me, eh?" Sirius said. "I think your plan might work."
"And, I am thirsty," Dumbledore countered.
"Right," Sirius said as the pair made their way to the phone booth exit.
They had been walking for about a block when a black BMW suddenly screeched up to the curb near them. Not wasting a minute, Sirius ran to the BMW and stuck his head through the already-open passenger-side window. "Do you have any Grey Poupon?" he demanded.
A slightly older and more healthy-looking Sirius Black grinned back at him from the driver's seat. "I already found some. Get in. Maybe we can find some for you, too."
Wasting no time, Sirius flung open the passenger door and hopped in while Dumbledore more carefully let himself into the backseat. The headmaster raised his eyebrows as he surveyed the inside of the car. "Where did you get this car, and who did the spell work on it?"
The ambassador grinned at his passengers. "This is one of my cousin's old cars. The spell work was done by Weasley Corp."
"Do you speak of your cousin Bellatrix Black, the Minister of Magic?" Dumbledore asked as the other dimension's Sirius pulled away from the curb and barreled into traffic recklessly.
"Why yes, I do believe she is the Minister of Magic," Ambassador Sirius said airily as he wove in and out of traffic and then stomped on the brakes to avoid running a red light and colliding with a bus.
"Minister Black must have a more tolerant attitude toward Muggles than the Bellatrix of our dimension would have," Dumbledore commented, try to act casual as he gripped his seatbelt.
The recently exonerated Sirius had kept the window down and was drumming his fingers on the door. He did not seem to mind the other Sirius's reckless driving habits.
Ambassador Sirius shrugged in response to Dumbledore's probe as the light changed and he floored the gas pedal. "Uncle Cygnus was into shady Muggle real estate, and she was in his schemes up to her eyebrows," he explained. "You can't avoid learning about Muggles when you're always ripping them off. Then when she married Harry, she got control of the Black and Malfoy fortunes, and the only financial investing she really knew how to do was the Muggle kind. Bella doesn't love Muggles, but she sure isn't going to kill the golden goose, now is she?"
"Wait, you said 'she married Harry,'" Dumbledore said, sounding astounded.
Exonerated Sirius gaped at Ambassador Sirius. "Please tell me that she married Harry Smith or Harry Jones or some other non-sequitur."
Ambassador Black got a mischievous smile. "Uh, yeah. In my dimension, Harry Potter got married to Bellatrix Black."
"What in the blue blazes was that boy thinking?" Exonerated Sirius shouted, his voice carrying through the open window and echoing off nearby buildings.
~!~!~!~!~!~!
Exonerated Sirius was still clenching his fists angrily by the time Ambassador Sirius had parked the BMW in a parking garage beneath a skyscraper and led him and Dumbledore to a lift.
"Get over it," Ambassador Sirius said as he punched the button to summon the lift.
"It's wrong," Exonerated Sirius growled.
Ambassador Sirius shrugged as the lift doors opened. He gestured for his guests to step in. "Besides, my dimension's Bellatrix is one of the sexiest witches alive."
"Oh, and that makes it all right," Exonerated Sirius responded.
"Not really," Ambassador Sirius said, "but you're not accepting any of the other time travel and 'she made good' arguments I've been trying to make."
"I'm more interested in what this information tells us about that dimension's Harry Potter," Dumbledore said to Exonerated Sirius as the lift zoomed upward at high speed.
"He's mentally disturbed," Exonerated Sirius said darkly.
"Not really," Ambassador Sirius countered as the lift bell dinged and the doors opened to reveal an entire skyscraper floor devoid of décor, walls, and paint. "This is where the triplets and I are staying."
"The triplets must be the children of Harry and Bellatrix," Dumbledore mused.
"Spawn, more like it," Exonerated Sirius corrected.
"Sirius is right," Ambassador Sirius said. His eyes scanned the room. "I'm back!" he yelled. "And I brought a couple of visitors."
"Are you talking to the triplets?" Dumbledore asked.
"Maybe," Ambassador Sirius said. "I'm not so good at tracking their movements. Their mother gave them a long laundry list of things they need to do in this dimension. I suspect they are out and about accomplishing things. On the other hand, maybe they lounging on invisible couches preparing to pull a prank on us."
"So, what's the purpose of this empty skyscraper floor?" Exonerated Sirius asked as Ambassador Sirius conjured some armchairs.
The three wizards sat down. "The triplets are basically looking to set up an official embassy building," Ambassador Sirius answered. "Following the typical methods of their mother and grandfather, they magically added a floor to this building. Their next step is to expand upward and add another dozen floors to the building. They've already dubbed it the Tower of London."
Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled. "It sounds like an ambitious project."
"I suppose so," Ambassador Sirius acknowledged. He leaned back and stretched. "So, tell me, what can Ambassador Black, acting in his official capacity, do for you, today?"
"Isn't there anything we can do for you?" Dumbledore countered shrewdly. "After all, it was Minister Black who sent you to establish contact. She must want something from us."
"She needs information," Ambassador Sirius said. "One of your Dark Lords has been sneaking in and out of our dimension. She wants that to stop. Unfortunately, her Unspeakables have not produced an easy solution to the problem. So, she needs to gather some information before making the hard decisions about this problem."
"One of our Dark Lords?" Dumbledore asked.
"The triplets report that you have two, separate Dark Lords running around your dimension," Ambassador Sirius said, looking back and forth between Dumbledore and the other Sirius.
"Bloody hell!" Exonerated Sirius exclaimed.
"Are they quite sure about that?" Dumbledore asked quietly.
"I think so," Ambassador Sirius said. "Bellatrix seems to accept the fact. One of the potential explanations is that the Dark Lord of a third dimension has invaded your dimension. If that is true, the solution becomes very complex."
"What other potential explanation is there?" Dumbledore inquired.
Ambassador Sirius frowned and began toying with a ring on his right hand. "Ah, well, there is actually only one other potential explanation. That explanation is classified information. Sorry."
"If we're going to start giving you information, you will have to be cooperative as well," Dumbledore told Ambassador Sirius. "We want to be involved in the decision-making process. At this point, we are not prepared to surrender our resources and then blindly take marching orders from Minister Black."
Ambassador Sirius shrugged. "Well, that is an issue, isn't it? Bellatrix likes to be the one giving marching orders. In fact, that is the primary reason she wanted to become Minister of Magic. She has never had an agenda to push."
"Oh, Merlin," Exonerated Sirius said.
Ambassador Sirius pushed on. "To be perfectly frank . . . and serious, I am of the opinion that Minister Black is well qualified to be the one giving marching orders in the coming conflict. According to the triplets, your Ministry is a disaster. Our Ministry has personnel who have experience with successfully fighting the Dark Lord. I realize this is not something that will make you happy. If you want to send a specific message to Bellatrix, I will pass it along. However, what I suggest is that we each take some time to think about the situation and then discuss it another day."
"Your suggested course of action is agreeable. I would like to discuss the situation with some others before going too much further. Now, why don't you tell us about our Harry?" Dumbledore said.
"As far as I know, he is happy, health, and bored," Ambassador Sirius reported.
"Why didn't he come back to this dimension with you?" Exonerated Sirius demanded.
Ambassador Sirius shrugged. "Bellatrix thinks he should stay there for now."
"Why?"
Ambassador Sirius shrugged again.
"She knows that he is the key to defeating Lord Voldemort and will not willingly let him out of her claws," Dumbledore sighed.
"Talons," Ambassador Sirius corrected. "I always saw her as being avian."
"Regardless, I have no doubt that Harry is going to figure prominently in our future discussions," Dumbledore said. "And what of Miss Weasley?"
"She's not as healthy as your Harry. When we left our dimension, she was in a potion-induced coma at St. Mungo's thanks to her jumping in front of a curse to save Harry. They anticipate a full, if slow, recovery," Ambassador Sirius said. "If her parents would like to send a note or something, I'm sure we could arrange it the next time the triplets travel back to our dimension."
"I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Weasley will want to send a message and also get a full report from St. Mungo's," Dumbledore said.
"We can arrange that, eventually," Ambassador Sirius said. "Now, when would you like to meet again?"
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A throbbing headache exacerbated by faint light streaming in through the windows informed Ginny Weasley that she was alive. She let out a pathetic moan as she contemplated whether opening her eyes would be advisable. Curiosity won out, and she opened her eyes to discover that she was alone in a St. Mungo's ward. The light ceased making Ginny uncomfortable as soon as her eyes became more accustomed to it.
"What happened?" she croaked to herself as she tried to remember how it was she ended up in St. Mungo's. The memories suddenly flooded back to her. "Those witches . . ."
"Sorry, dear?" came a voice from near the door.
Startled, Ginny glanced to the door and discovered a nurse entering the ward with a tray of potions and a bowl of what Ginny hoped would be breakfast.
"Good morning, Miss Chovee. You'll be wanting a pain relief potion, I think," the nurse said to Ginny as she set the tray down on bedside table. "It's the dull yellow one. Then, feel free to eat as much porridge as you can. Try to get the other potions down, too. They'll help you feel better."
"Sorry," Ginny said, her voice still sounding scratchy, "but did you just call me Miss Chovee?"
"That's what it says on your patient record," the nurse said, pulling a sheet of parchment from Ginny's medical file and handing it to her. "Anne Chovee. That's your name, right?"
"I guess," Ginny said slowly, frowning at the unfamiliar handwriting and wondering what infernal prankster would give her such a name. She handed the sheet of parchment back to the nurse. "I'll eat breakfast, now. Thank you."
The nurse smiled cheerily and departed, leaving Ginny to work on her breakfast and medication. After an hour, Ginny had consumed her entire breakfast and gagged down every potion. Somehow, the nurse knew this and arrived at the exact time Ginny was finished with the breakfast dishes and potion flasks. The nurse took them away and returned to help Ginny with some of her bodily needs before disappearing.
Ginny did not have long to wait before Harry Potter poked his head into the room and then walked in. "Uh, hey, Ginny," he said, suddenly blushing.
"Harry . . ." Ginny said, also feeling her cheeks begin to flame. She told herself that she was blushing because of how she had pushed Harry down and taken the curse aimed for him. It had nothing to do with being in the same room with Harry.
Harry was carrying a large book bag, which he set down on the floor near Ginny's bed before sitting down in the chair next to Ginny's bed. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
"All right, I suppose," Ginny answered, trying to sit up a bit more in the bed so that she could look over at Harry instead of up at him.
"Oh, do you need help?" Harry asked, seeing that Ginny was struggling awkwardly.
"Uh, sure," Ginny said, doing her best to sit up and lean forward while Harry stood up and tried to rearrange the pillows behind her head. For several moments, the only sound in the room was the faint creak of the firm stuffing in the pillows as Harry tried his best to set them up so that they would prop up Ginny better.
Eventually, Harry returned to his seat.
"So, what happened, exactly? I mean, after I got knocked out," Ginny asked, doing her best to sound casual—as if she and Harry were old friends. She had not enjoyed the opportunity to develop a friendship with Harry because Ron and Hermione were always with him, particularly Ron, who did not like to share his friends.
"It's a long, crazy story," Harry said before launching into an explanation of everything that had happened since Voldemort had rendered Ginny unconscious.
Ginny listened attentively. After he was done, she sat staring at Harry in silence. "This is insane," she observed. "Basically, we're stuck here, and who knows what is happening in our own dimension while Bellatrix Black makes up her mind about what to do next."
Harry nodded. He was about to respond, but a Mediwizard entered the room.
"How are we this morning, Miss Chovee?" the Mediwizard inquired cheerfully.
"Fine, I suppose," Ginny responded.
"But, you could be better, I fear," the Mediwizard said as he methodically checked her vital signs and flipped through her chart, seemingly more from habit than any actual need. "For the next several months, you will need to take a weekly does of a certain potion that counters the ongoing effects of the curse you were put under. On days right after you have taken the potion, you will feel fantastic—perhaps fantastic enough that you would not know anything was wrong. As the week wears on, you will begin to feel unwell. On the day before you take your weekly dose, you might even not feel well enough to leave bed."
"Why?" Ginny asked, concern etched into her face. "What kind of curse was it?"
"A very nasty one, I fear," the Mediwizard said. "But there will be no lasting damage if you're careful. All you really need to know is that you should not miss your weekly dose and that you should not exhaust yourself in the early part of the week after you've taken your dose because you will need that strength later on."
The Mediwizard smiled encouragingly at Ginny and patted her shoulder. "We'll keep you here until your next dose and then send you home if nothing out of the ordinary occurs. Now, if you'll excuse me, the walk-in emergency ward is running short today." With that, he departed from the ward.
Ginny sighed. "This is not good."
"Could be worse," Harry said.
"Yes," Ginny admitted.
There was a brief silence.
"How long are you going to be here, today?" Ginny asked.
"Probably until right before dinner," Harry responded. "That's when Draco gets off work, usually."
"Right, you mentioned that," Ginny remembered. "Do you suppose they have any games around here?"
~!~!~!~!~!~!
Late that night, Tonks offered a salute to the desk guards as she and Auror Katie Bell walked through the Ministry Atrium on their way to check up on the guards in the Wizengamot wing. "I think you have potential to get promoted soon," Tonks was saying to Katie. "They do recognize skill and sometimes value it over seniority."
"But I joined the Auror Corps when I was older," Katie countered as they entered the lift. "It's not worth training me to be a senior officer when my retirement will be that much sooner."
"Why didn't you stick to Quidditch?" Tonks asked. "You were deep into that before your sudden career change."
"I'm a player and aged out," Katie said as the lift descended. "I have no desire to coach or get into the business side of things."
Tonks grinned. "Ron Weasley had no problem transitioning into a coach."
"Well, he never was a good player, was he?" Katie countered as the lift stopped and she and Tonks exited and found themselves in the darkened halls of the Wizengamot wing. "He's a superb strategist, but not so good when you put him in the thick of things."
"Oh, I suppose you're right," Tonks acknowledged as they walked the halls.
They eventually came across a set of guards stationed at the beginning of the hallway that led to the Wizengamot offices. The guards saluted Tonks. "As you were," Tonks muttered, saluting and leading Katie past them and toward the Wizengamot chamber.
"I reckon your name might come up for consideration when the promotion board meets next week," Katie said, grinning at Tonks. "You could be an Auror captain by next month."
"I highly doubt it," Tonks said as she pulled open one of the massive doors to the Wizengamot chamber and peeked in for a moment before letting the door bang shut. "You weren't an Auror yet, but back when I was promoted to the rank of Auror lieutenant, Director Stick-up-his-butt Longbottom had a hissy fit and accused my aunt of nepotism. Somehow, I doubt the promotion board is going to risk that debacle repeating itself."
"Was it nepotism?" Katie asked as they walked back to the lift.
"I don't know," Tonks mused as they got back into the lift and rode it to the Atrium. "Sometimes I think it was. My aunt is always tapping family members for important jobs. But sometimes, I doubt that she had anything to do with it. She's cordial to me, but I haven't exactly detected any sort of affection from her."
"I don't think your aunt has affection for anybody except her husband," Katie observed as the lift stopped at the Atrium. "I think it's more a matter of her hating or not hating people."
Tonks nodded. "I think you may be correct."
Tonks and Katie exited the lift. As per usual, it was only them and the desk guards in the Atrium.
"What next?" Katie asked.
Tonks smirked. "Let's go sneak up on Higgins and Jones. We might catch them—"
Alarm bells were suddenly ringing throughout the Ministry.
"Merlin's beard!" Tonks exclaimed, spinning around to look at the directory hung near the entrance to the lift she and Katie had just gotten off. One of the department listings was glowing red. "It's the Department of Mysteries. Come on."
She and Katie got back on and Tonks punched the button for once of the courtroom floors.
"That's the wrong floor!" Katie exclaimed.
"Whoever triggered the alarm is going to be looking for the lift," Tonks said as she cast protection spells on herself. "We'll get take the stairs from the floor above."
"Right," Katie said, copying Tonks and casting protective spells on herself as well. "What about backup?"
"The Auror captain on duty will take care of that," Tonks said as the lift ground to a halt.
The lift doors opened, and Tonks and Katie ran out and for the stairs. Leaping down the staircase, three or four steps at a time, Tonks and Katie were soon on the stairwell landing of the floor that held the entrance to the Department of Mysteries. From the other side of the door, they could hear the reverberation of explosions caused by spells. "Sounds like the Unspeakable guards are holding the entranceway," Tonks said to Katie. "The hallway is narrow. We can just come up behind the attackers and blow them to kingdom come, assuming we can do so without harming the Unspeakables."
"Right," Katie nodded.
Tonks cracked the door open and peered into the hallway. She looked back and nodded at Katie. "Two or three. Let's go."
Tonks flung the door open and charged into the hallway with Katie on her heels. As soon as they had a clear shot, they started casting stunners rapidly at the attackers who were trying to gain entrance to the Department of Mysteries. There were three of them, clothed in dark robes with hoods. The stunners flew true, and each of three attackers were hit multiple times. However, the stunners seemed to have no effect.
"What the bloody hell," Tonks growled as she switched to explosion hexes. Katie followed suit.
The explosion hexes shredded the robes worn by the attackers and damaged the walls near them, but did not seem to deter the attackers in anyway. After several exploding hexes had landed, the attackers stopped trying to enter the Department of Mysteries and turned around, directing stares at Tonks and Katie.
"They're . . . dogs," Katie observed as she and Tonks stopped casting spells and stared at the intruders.
"Or demons," Tonks breathed out as she stared at the intruders.
With their dark robes mostly destroyed by Tonks's exploding hexes, the nature of the intruders was more easily apparent. They seemed to be humanoid dogs, towering at seven feet and standing on what should have been hind legs. Fiery eyes and viciously sharp claws completed the ensemble. Slowly, they began advancing toward Tonks and Katie.
"Reducto!" Katie yelled. Her spell failed to impede the menacing advance of the demon hounds.
Tonks waved her arm and cast a powerful banishing charm. The charm exploded against the hounds and catapulted them back against the barricaded door to the Department of Mysteries. Uninjured, but now angry, the hounds scrambled to their feet just as reinforcements arrived on the lift.
"What is happening, Lieutenant?" the captain asked.
"Demon hounds, or something," Tonks yelled, casting another banishing curse that knocked the hounds down. "They seem to be immune from injury."
"The central board detected arcane magic down here at the same time the alarm sounded," the captain told Tonks as he waved for Aurors to follow the pattern of banishing charms Tonks had established.
"If we can't destroy or kill them, we need to find a way to restrain them," Tonks suggested.
"Yes," the captain agreed.
For the next several minutes, the Aurors maintained a barrage of banishing spells designed to control the movement of the demon hounds. But the hounds were beginning to learn how to anticipate the charms and brace against them. Slowly, they got to their feet, constantly bracing against the attacks of the Aurors and began a menacing advance.
"Aurors, prepare to retreat to the lift," the captain instructed.
Abruptly, a pink fireball whizzed from behind the Aurors and exploded into crackles of lightning as it engulfed the demon hounds. The hounds began to howl in agony. The Aurors spun around and stared in shock as Minister Black, her wand drawn, stepped forward from the lift, her violet eyes glowing strangely as tiny crackles of pink lighting danced on the tip of her wand.
"Push them into a circle in the middle of the hallway," Bellatrix commanded tersely as the pink glow faded from her wand.
Without question, the Aurors rushed to obey, and with various banishing and summoning charms managed to force the screaming hounds into a pile in the middle of the hallway. Bellatrix stepped forward and used a beam of fire from her wand to etch a circle of runes around the hounds. When the circle was complete, Bellatrix produced a small knife from her sleeve and pricked one of her fingers. She allowed a single drop of blood to fall onto runes before using her wand to activate the circle. The blood was absorbed into the runes, and they began glowing purple.
Suddenly looking very tired, Bellatrix spoke to the Aurors. "They will not be able to cross the runes."
"What should we do now, ma'am?" the Auror captain inquired.
"Send for Director Longbottom," Bellatrix said. "I want every inch of this building searched for intruders or non-intruders who might be under a spell. And then, I want Longbottom to figure out how we can prevent another such intrusion from happening in the future."
"Yes, ma'am," the captain said.
"Lieutenant," Bellatrix said, nodding to Tonks, "come with me." Bellatrix gestured to the entrance of the Department of Mysteries. With a swish of Bellatrix's wand, the door that had withstood the attack of the demon hounds opened to reveal some rattled-looking Department of Mysteries guards. Tonks moved to follow her aunt into the Department.
"Wait, Minister," the Auror captain said. "What about these dog creatures? What do we do with them?"
Bellatrix looked back at the imprisoned demon hounds and paused. "My husband will be here . . . soon. Have him burn them with fiendfyre."
"Right," the captain said.
With Tonks following close behind, Bellatrix strode into the Department of Mysteries, which had once been her domain.
"What's going on?" Tonks whispered as she, Bellatrix, and the Unspeakable guards stepped into the circular room and watched as the walls spun.
"I wish I knew," Bellatrix said as the room stopped spinning.
Bellatrix strode through a door and made her way to the Chief Unspeakable's office. The intricate spells placed by Hermione Granger Weasley to guard her domain allowed Bellatrix access, and the whole group followed her into the office that had formerly belonged to Bellatrix when she had been Chief Unspeakable.
"We shall need some privacy," Bellatrix said, gesturing for the Unspeakable guards to leave her and Tonks alone in the office.
"This is highly irregular," one of the Unspeakable guards said.
"And?" Bellatrix said.
"We'll wait outside," the other guard said.
"Good," Bellatrix said, watching them leave and locking the door behind them.
As soon as the guards were gone, Bellatrix cast a spell on the floor of the office. The floor began to transform. From it arose a stone pedestal with a bowl made of obsidian atop it. Intrigued, Tonks watched as the pedestal and bowl rose and stopped. Another spell from Bellatrix's wand caused a smoky, silvery liquid to begin flowing into the bowl from a hole in the bottom.
"What is it?" Tonks asked.
"A Pensieve," Bellatrix answered as she produced a dull, lead flask and drained the contents of the Pensieve into it.
"Oh," Tonks said. "Whose memories are those?"
Bellatrix smiled grimly. "Do not worry about it. The important thing is that I want to get this to a place where nobody will think to look for it."
"That'll be a good trick, seeing as you have a squad of bodyguards following you around most of the time," Tonks said.
"Yes," Bellatrix responded, "we shall have to evade them."
"We can't get in or out of this Department without passing the main entrance," Tonks countered.
Ignoring Tonks, Bellatrix stepped toward the fireplace, lit it with some magic, and then threw some Floo powder in. "There are exceptions," she said. "You must come through at the same time with me."
Tonks stepped into the green flames with Bellatrix, and the two witches zoomed directly to another fireplace. Coughing, Tonks stepped out of the destination fireplace to find that Bellatrix had taken her to the Minister of Magic's office. Sitting at the desk was somebody who looked exactly like Bellatrix. Her eye's widening, Tonks drew her wand and pointed it at Bellatrix's duplicate.
"It's only Harry using Polyjuice," Bellatrix said to Tonks.
"Is the situation serious?" Harry asked, sounding concerned.
"I am not sure yet," Bellatrix said. "I am going to hide the memories. Can you take the BMW and my squad of bodyguards back to the Minister's Mansion and then double back as yourself to help the Aurors deal with the mess outside the Department of Mysteries?"
Harry nodded. "Yes. It would help if you would tell them to send your car around. I don't do so well at mimicking your exact persona when giving orders."
Bellatrix rolled her eyes, but went to her desk and brought out a small mirror. A charm on the mirror activated it to link with one of the on-duty Ministry employees. "Prepare my car for departure," Bellatrix said tersely before deactivating the mirror.
"All right then," Harry said, standing up.
Bellatrix held her hand out to him. "Don't be a dimwit, Harry."
Harry smiled as he moved toward his wife and took her hand. "I doubt there is any danger in this."
Instinctively, the two moved toward each other, apparently preparing to kiss each other.
"Gross," Tonks said.
Harry and Bellatrix stopped as they realized the awkwardness the Polyjuice potion had caused.
"Er, right," Harry said blushing as he looked between Tonks and Bellatrix. "We'll save that for later." With that, he departed from the office.
Bellatrix shook her head, sighed, and walked to the fireplace. She took a pinch of Floo powder and threw it into the fireplace. "Let us not waste any time, Nymphadora."
Tonks gritted her teeth at the sound of her given name and followed her aunt into the green flames.
~!~!~!~!~!~!~
As soon as the Polyjuice wore off, Harry strolled out of his and Bellatrix's bedroom at the Minister's Mansion, saluted the Auror guards, and made his way via Floo to the Ministry. Within moments of stepping out of one of the many Ministry fireplaces that lined the corridor to the Atrium, several Aurors had rushed up to Harry.
"Director Longbottom is expecting you," a sergeant informed Harry.
"Right," Harry said, allowing the Aurors to lead him to the lift, and hiding his discomfort as several of the Aurors stared at him with admiration.
They arrived on the floor housing the entrance to the Department of Mysteries within less than a minute. There, Harry found Director Frank Longbottom and Hermione having an intense argument as the demon hounds relentlessly tried to break through the circle of runes Bellatrix had created to imprison them.
"I'm sick of these shenanigans you and Minister Black are constantly pulling," Frank was saying. "I want explanations, and I want them now. Failure to keep me uninformed is reckless!"
"I told you to put the Ministry guards on high alert," Hermione shot back, sounding extremely exasperated. "It is not as if Bellatrix or I expected that something remotely like this would occur, anyway."
Neither Frank nor Hermione had noticed Harry's approach, so he cleared his throat loudly. They both turned to him, relief apparent on their faces.
"I'm glad you're here, Lord Black," Frank said as Hermione raised her hand over her mouth to hide a smile.
"Happy to help," Harry said smoothly in an attempt to disguise his annoyance at being called "Lord Black." The use of his ultra-formal title was an irritation that had begun plaguing Harry when he had stepped down from his position as Minister of Magic.
Hermione had at one time explained to Harry that those who referred to him as Lord Black were those who wanted to acknowledge Harry's superior power and achievements without referring to him as Minister. The use of the "Lord Black" appellation had become even more common and pronounced once Bellatrix had ascended to the Minister's post because it became impossible to refer to Harry as Minister Black without confusing him with his wife.
The "Lord Black" problem also implicated a subtle political undertone that Harry did not particularly appreciate. He did not know who to react to it either. Some of those who referred to Harry as Lord Black were suggesting that he either was or should be the real person controlling the Ministry.
"Can you test the fiendfyre without destroying Bellatrix's runes?" Hermione asked. "If the fiendfyre doesn't kill these dog creatures, we don't want it to set them free."
"I think so," Harry said, brandishing his wand. He cast the fiendfyre, and it consumed the hounds. Once it was clear that they were gone, Harry allowed the fiendfyre to inch outward and purge Bellatrix's magic, too.
"Excellent," Frank declared. "Now tell me, Lord Black. What is going on?"
Harry winced. He did not want do anything that would undermine Bellatrix's authority, but he did want to ensure that the crisis was under control. "Frank," Harry said, "there's some sort of Dark Lord doing attacks. Basically, you need to prepare for a siege more attacks like this. Hermione, we probably need to find ways to prevent this sort of thing from happening again. It would also be good to prepare to deal with creatures like these in the future."
"I examined the creatures while we were waiting for you," Hermione affirmed. "And of course, your wife seems to have already known a good spell to deal with them. Frank, I'll have my staff make up a memo with suggestions for how your Aurors can combat creatures like this."
"Good," Frank said to Hermione. He looked at Harry. "More details would be useful."
"I am confident that my wife will get them to you within the next couple of days," Harry said. "We just need to finalize some decisions on how best to cope with the situation. Then, we will be actively doing things. Naturally, you will play a central role."
"So be it," Frank said, stalking away.
~!~!~!~!~!~!